Indications and Proof of Non-Consummation Paul V
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Linacre Quarterly Volume 19 | Number 3 Article 3 8-1-1952 Indications and Proof of Non-Consummation Paul V. Harrington Joseph B. Doyle Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Harrington, Paul V. and Doyle, Joseph B. (1952) "Indications and Proof of Non-Consummation," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 19 : No. 3 , Article 3. Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol19/iss3/3 61 60 THE LINACRE QUARTERLY THE LINACRE QUARTERLY education methods of today will recognize that as clinical clerkship-a1 integl'al part of modern medical education. Here we are in the middle ages of Christendom-with seven centurie! Indications and Proof of I bel1ind us. But even at this point, the record of the Christian-that is ' tht Catholic-support and fostering of medical progress was nine centuries old Non-Consummation I stress "Catholic" because at that time there was only one Christian B. DoYLE, 1\1.D. HARRINGTON, J.C.L. AND JosEPH I 1 Catholic Faith, for it was three centuries before the so-called Reformation R�,v. PAUL V. Let us call as our witness another non-Catholic authority-the En'cyclo a Tri unal, the ordi1 ary work of the Dioces � � pedia Britannica. I refer specifically to the article on Hospitals, Eleventl N CONNECTION with � _ the assistance of med1cal experts Edition, Vol. XIII, Page 791, which states the following: , it is very often necessary to enlist objective judgment based on observable and to receive from them an "In Christian days no establishments were founded until the time 0 I o of the doctm·s The conclusi ns anatomical and physiological phenomena. Constantine ( about the fourth century) ... A law of Justinian referring t< ally an a their decision, which is essenti l t the judges in arriving t various institutions connected with the Church mentions among them the wi l assis to · a specific case. Thus the on of the law and. legal principles nosocomia which correspond to our idea of l1ospitals. In A.D. 370, Basi applicati a interpretation of the observed of the medical experts must be n had one built for the lepers of Caesarea. St. Chrysostom founded a hospita opi�ion that govern that particular species phenomena in the light of the legal norms at Constantinople. At Alexandria a religious order of parabolani was choser and legal definitions there is the possibility that t he medical by the prelate of that city to attend the sick there. In A.D. 416, Fabiola of case. Since since cases must be adjudicated of one and the same idea might differ and a rich Roman lady, founded the first hospital at Rollle, possessed of a is thought necessary f definitions, not medical definitions, it a in terms o legal com· lescent home in the country." le al tation to doctors who to explain and describe the g interpre Let me digress here for a moment to recall a personal experience. Ii and advisable h r Diocesan Tribunals. upon to assist in the work of t ei 1943 I attended a meeting at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia might be called description doctors might appreciate a a a ll a The thought that · all Catholic It was a region l meeting of the Americ n Co ege of Physici ns, and at i1 on Tribunals in cases of non-consummati a report was given on the work that was being done at a convalescent home of the procedure of Diocesan of p roof that l an account of the methods which had recently been established on the Hudson for the c�re of childrer. prompted the writers to inc ude l with instances. This outline is coup ed a a o a r are demanded and accepted in such with rheumatic fever. Those in ttendance were dvised t establish simil aries on ation as set forth in the comment institutions in their respective communities. This, mind you, took place ii a legal definition of non-consumm and Supreme Tribunals of the Church the year 1943 or ex actly 1500 and 27 years after Fabiola had founded hei the law, the jurisprudence of the hospital in Ro e ,vith its convalescent home in the country. But let us gel the responses of the Holy See. � ht and _ . , would demonstrate the rig back to the Bntanmca s record. I again quote from the Encyclopedia: A brief introductory paragraph, which marriage, o dissolve an unconsummated "On of tl e four great Fathers of the Latin Church-St. Augustine of the power of the Catholic Church t : � o ncile the . people find it difficult t reco Hippo, m Afn a-founded a hospital in this See city in the fifth century might not be out of place, since many : indissolubility. o with the divine mandate of These nosocomia ( or early hospitals) fell almost entirely into the hands o f fact of an ecclesiastical diss lution l a has the perfecting note of consum- the Church, which supported them by its revenue when necessary, nc When a valid sacramental marriage and verified the inseparable controlled their administration." . mation added to it, then there is expressed To quote further from the Britannica: the Church, which St. Paul so beautifully union of Christ with His Bride, an "Though hospitals cannot be claimed as a direct result of Christianity, the model upon which all Christi describes and which is set forth as thus no doubt it oftened the relations bet\veen o is completely indissoluble and men an d gra dua 11 y ten d ed to marriage is to be founded. Such a uni n f od are instill humanitarian ,·iews and to make ti 1enl popu I ar with the civilized Evangelical Law, where the stern words o G referred to in the 1 people of the world." no man put asunder." The recorded: "What God h as joined together, let More will follow in the next issue. the early Christian centuries and Latin and Greek Fathers, writing in man to vV1LLIAM P. CHESTER, M.D. arriage, refused to -allow a recognizing the indissolubility of m 63 THE LINACRE QUARTERLY 62 THE LINACRE QUARTERLY o o er with the power t been endowed by its F und the Church of Christ has remarry after he had separated from his wife, even if he alleged as a cauSl dissolve s uch a marriage. e e o ultery on the part of his spouse. Further evidence of this ir e o f a tl1 crim f ad . Holy Father does not act in virtu e · ases of tliis type , the o omising ruling of the Canon Law which states that , Smc m c, a in f und in the uncompr rather by the authority· d · n o ary jurisdiction but a be dis ers 01i al p ower of rdin "valid sacramental marriage which l1as been consumm ted cannot p . · absolutely neces power, it is essent ia l dan e 2 name o f Christ by a vic<irious . solved by any human power or f or any reason o ther than d ath." the sent � J USt and dispensation that there be pre for the validity of the 01 ervent10n; ot�e� If one of the above-described elements, either of sacramentality which would justify papal i�t o onately grave reason, ;:; rti o acte m ro e o u s there is a possibility of a dissolution o· econd marriage, c ntr p p r c ns mmation, i lacking, · ould be invalid and a s wise the dispensation w e s s ver� that marriage, since o ne o f the perfecting charact ri tics is mis ing. A be invalid. virtue of i t, w ould likewise a a e n t important fact to remember is that such a marriage is lw ys consid red t, e on is left to the prude constitutes such a r as . the last analysis, what be valid and, therefore, binding until tl1e actual dissolution l1as been conceded In dispute, that s�me but one fact is b eyond all . ment of the Holy Father 'ud The followm� is a An unconsummated sacramental marriage ( for that is to occupy ou. private, must be verified. r y whether public or e � !nc n accepted m tl1 a l o ue o e a r sacrament and, for thi· have bee attention more specific l y) c ntin s t b t ue which, singly or in combination lis! of :easons e der o f the s idea to the r a reason, is intrinsically indi,ssoluble by the divine law but extrinsically, it ca1 a prece de nt to give· ome past. and thus will serve s be dissolved provided that, in a particular case, there is verified a propor quality demanded: a e ely just and se ous reason which would dictate that the supreme . o t any liope of futur tionat ri a separation w1·tl i u 1) Complete and actu l authority of t l1e Church sl1ou]d be invoked. reconciliation. and of d 1sc· o1·d and a e scandal in the future A consideration of the sweeping and unlimited faculty which was con 2) P robable fear of gr v . r a ives. r e among blood el t e e rist on St. Peter and on a ll of his successors-"Whatsoever i. disag e ments . u e £ rr d by Ch ar of one of the spo s s o�ency �n th e p t o able suspicion of imp bound on earth, will be bound in Heaven and whatsoever is loosed on earth 3) Pr b l part f0 th e other er mcontmence, on t le coupled with a dang of will b e loosed in Heaven"-clearly indicates and demonstrates that the spouse.