SUMMO IUGITER STUDIO (On Mixed
Marriages)
Pope
Gregory XVI
Encyclical of
Pope Gregory XVI promulgated on 27 May 1832
Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic
Benediction.
The Apostolic See has always ensured that the
canons forbidding the marriages of Catholics with heretics have been observed
religiously. Occasionally such marriages have been tolerated in order to avoid
more serious scandals. But, even then, the Roman Pontiffs saw to it that the
faithful were taught how deformed these marriages are and what spiritual
dangers they present. A Catholic man or woman would be guilty of a great crime
if he presumed to violate the canonical sanctions in this matter. And if the
Roman Pontiffs themselves very reluctantly relaxed this same canonical
prohibition in some serious cases, they always added to their dispensation a
formal condition: that the Catholic party must not be perverted, but rather
must make every effort to withdraw the non-Catholic party from error and that
the offspring of both sexes must be educated entirely in the Catholic religion.
Mixed Marriages
2. Therefore, guided by the example of Our
predecessors, We are grieved to hear reports from your dioceses which indicate
that some of the people committed to your care freely encourage mixed
marriages. Furthermore, they are promoting opinions contrary to the Catholic
faith: namely, they dare to affirm that a Catholic may freely and legally
contract marriage with a heterodox party, not only without asking for a
dispensation (which must be obtained from the Apostolic See in each individual
case), but also without agreeing to the necessary obligations, especially the
duty to educate all the offspring in the Catholic religion. Indeed it has even
come to the point that these same persons insist that mixed marriages ought to
be approved when the heretical partner is a divorced person whose former spouse
is still alive. To this end they issue serious threats of punishments in order
to induce priests to announce mixed marriages in the churches and, afterwards,
to defend the act by which these marriages were contracted or, at least, to
grant the contracting parties what they call dimissory
letters. Finally some of these misguided people attempt to persuade themselves
and others that men are not saved only in the Catholic religion, but that even
heretics may attain eternal life.
Praiseworthy Situations
3. Some circumstances, however, lighten Our
grief which arises from this matter: namely, the constancy of most of the Bavarian
people in holding fast to the Catholic faith, their sincere obedience to
ecclesiastical authority, and the steadfastness of nearly all of their clergy
in carrying out their ministry according to the canons. We know that, although
you may not all hold the same opinion in this business of mixed marriages, all
of you are resolved to hearken to the Apostolic See and, with its guidance, to
protect the flocks entrusted to you, not even fearing to encounter dangers in
order to safeguard the sheep.
Help from King Louis
4. Through these letters We hope to strengthen
your fraternity so that in the matter under consideration you may continue to
preach the unchangeable Catholic teachings and to safeguard the observance of
the canons. Since Our opinion has been made known to you, We hope it will
result in a more perfect agreement between all of you and the Holy See. We hope
that Our dear son in Christ, Louis, the illustrious king of
History of Dictum Against Mixed Marriages
5. Next let Us start with the things which
concern the faith which, as We mentioned above, some are endangering in order
to introduce greater freedom for mixed marriages. You know how zealously Our
predecessors taught that very article of faith which these dare to deny, namely
the necessity of the Catholic faith and of unity for salvation. The words of
that celebrated disciple of the apostles, martyred St. Ignatius, in his letter
to the Philadelphians are relevant to this matter: "Be not deceived, my
brother; if anyone follows a schismatic, he will not attain the inheritance of
the
Help the Bavarian People Avoid Mixed Marriages
6. Strive to eradicate these slithering errors
with all your strength. Inspire the populace of
Responsibility of Clergy
7. But it may happen that these warnings and
admonitions go unheeded and that some Catholic man or woman is unwilling to
give up his perverse intention of entering upon a mixed marriage. If a dispensation
is not requested or not obtained from the Church or if the necessary conditions
or a certain one of them is not fulfilled, then it will be the duty of the
priest to abstain not only from honoring the marriage itself with his presence,
but also from announcing the marriage and from granting dimissory
letters. You must admonish the priests and demand that they abstain from every
such act. For one who has the care of souls and who acts differently,
especially in the circumstances prevalent in
Cases Involving Divorce
8. After these things it is hardly necessary to
add statements concerning those other, far more serious, cases of marriages
contracted between Catholics and heretics in which the heretical party may have
a previous partner still living from whom he separated by divorce. You know how
strong by divine law the bond of marriage is. This bond cannot be broken by
human authority. Therefore, a mixed marriage in such cases is not only illicit,
but entirely invalid and adulterous. The only exception is when the former
marriage, which the heretical party considers dissolved by divorce, was
entirely invalid because of some canonical impediment. In this last case, not
only must all the things which were said above be observed, but the new
marriage must not be permitted until after the first marriage has been declared
invalid by an ecclesiastical judgment made according to canonical standards.
9. These are the things, venerable brothers,
which We thought should be called to your attention in this matter. Meanwhile
We do not cease to ask our omnipotent and merciful God with fervent prayers to
clothe you and all the clergy of
Given in