← Back to Distinction 39

Dist. 39, Art. 2, Q. 4

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 39

Textus Latinus

Quaestio IV. Utrum in infidelibus venientibus ad fidem solvatur matrimonium.

p. 841

Quarto quaeritur, utrum in infidelibus venientibus ad fidem solvatur matrimonium propter personarum illegitimitatem, ut si habet sororem in uxorem. Et quod non, videtur:

1. Per illam decretalem Innocentii, Gaudemus8, in qua dicit, non esse separandos.

2. Item, ratione videtur: « Per Sacramentum baptismi coniugia non solvuntur, sed crimina tolluntur9 »: ergo cum istud fuerit coniugium apud paganos, non solvitur, cum baptizatur.

3. Item, « pagani canonicis constitutionibus non arctantur10 », sed tunc solum incipiunt arctari, quando ad fidem veniunt; « sed iura et constitutiones formam futuris imponunt negotiis, non ad praeterita revocantur »: si ergo ante contraxit, quam arctetur; constitutio tale matrimonium non solvit.

Contra: 1. Si aliquis infidelis contraxit cum duabus, ad fidem veniens compellitur alteram relinquere, quia hoc est contra constitutiones canonicas, sicut probatur per decretalem de Divortiis11, Gaudemus etc.: ergo a simili in proposito.

2. Item, si aliquis infidelis repudiavit uxorem quod quidem licitum est apud eos, ambobus venientibus ad fidem, compellitur recipere eam quia hoc, apud fideles non licet: ergo a simili in contrario tenetur talem uxorem dimittere.

3. Item, apud fideles profanum est uxorem accipere sororem uxoris12; sed noviter conversus debet se fidelibus conformare: ergo debet huiusmodi coniugium reputare profanum: ergo non debet amplius stare.

Conclusio. Quando conversi ad fidem matrimonium contraxerunt cum impedimento dirimente secundum legem naturae et divinam, separandi sunt; secus est, si impedimentum est ex constitutione Ecclesiae.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod illegitimitas personarum ad matrimonium est duplex. Una est se-

p. 842

cundum naturam et institutionem divinam, ut puta quod filius non contrahat cum matre, neque pater cum filia1; item, quod alligatus uxori non ducat aliam, vel etiam in gradibus divina lege prohibitis Levitici decimo octavo2, ut dicunt iurisperiti, ubi prohibetur secundus gradus; et haec illegitimitas astringit fideles et infideles. Et si in tali illegitimitate contrahitur matrimonium apud infideles, solvitur, cum veniunt ad fidem; quia, ut dicit Ambrosius3, « quod extra Dei decretum factum est non est putandum matrimonium, sed, cum cognoscitur, emendandum ». Unde si Iudaeus contrahat cum sorore in secundo gradu, ad fidem veniens ab ea separatur. Si autem contraxit cum uxore fratris, quia hoc est in Lege concessum4, minime separatur. — Alia est illegitimitas ex constitutione Ecclesiae, ut sunt personae infra quartum gradum; et haec non arctat infideles nec impedit matrimonium, quin contrahatur; et quia non ad praeterita revocantur5, non solvunt legitime iam contractum.

Ad 1, 2. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur de bigamia et repudio, solvendum, quod utrumque est contra ius naturae et contra ius divinum6; ideo non est simile.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod profanum est sororem uxoris7 ducere in uxorem, vel etiam habere; dicendum, quod hoc verum est propter Ecclesiae mandatum; quo quia iste non astringitur, non debet illud coniugium reputare profanum; unde iste, ex quo venit ad fidem, alligatur, ut amplius non contrahat contra Ecclesiae statutum; si tamen contraxit, non debet solvi, nec tenetur dimittere, quia ad ipsum non se extendit constitutio Ecclesiae8.

---

English Translation

Question IV. Whether among infidels coming to the faith the marriage is dissolved.

p. 841

Fourthly it is asked whether among infidels coming to the faith the marriage is dissolved on account of the illegitimacy of the persons, as for instance if one has a sister as wife. And that it is not [dissolved], it seems:

1. By that decretal of Innocent, Gaudemus8, in which he says that they are not to be separated.

2. Likewise, it seems by reason: "Through the Sacrament of baptism marriages are not dissolved, but crimes are taken away9": therefore, since that was a marriage among the pagans, it is not dissolved when he is baptized.

3. Likewise, "pagans are not bound by canonical constitutions10," but they only begin to be bound when they come to the faith; "but laws and constitutions impose their form on future affairs, they are not called back to the past": if therefore he contracted before he is bound, the constitution does not dissolve such a marriage.

On the contrary: 1. If some infidel contracted [marriage] with two [women], upon coming to the faith he is compelled to relinquish one, because this is against the canonical constitutions, as is proved through the decretal On Divorces11, Gaudemus etc.: therefore by a similar [argument] in the matter proposed.

2. Likewise, if some infidel repudiated his wife — which indeed is licit among them — when both come to the faith, he is compelled to take her back, because this, among the faithful, is not licit: therefore by a similar [argument] on the contrary he is bound to dismiss such a wife.

3. Likewise, among the faithful it is profane to take the sister of one's wife as wife12; but the newly converted ought to conform himself to the faithful: therefore he ought to reckon a marriage of this kind profane: therefore it ought no longer to stand.

Conclusion. When those converted to the faith have contracted marriage with a diriment impediment according to the law of nature and the divine [law], they are to be separated; it is otherwise if the impediment is from a constitution of the Church.

I respond: It must be said that the illegitimacy of persons with respect to marriage is twofold. One is ac-

p. 842

cording to nature and divine institution, as, for instance, that a son not contract with his mother, nor a father with his daughter1; likewise, that one bound to a wife not take another, or also in the degrees prohibited by divine law in Leviticus chapter eighteen2, as the jurists say, where the second degree is prohibited; and this illegitimacy binds both the faithful and infidels. And if in such illegitimacy a marriage is contracted among infidels, it is dissolved when they come to the faith; because, as Ambrose says3, "what is done outside God's decree is not to be reckoned a marriage, but, when it is recognized, is to be amended." Hence if a Jew contracts with a sister in the second degree, upon coming to the faith he is separated from her. But if he contracted with his brother's wife, since this was permitted in the Law4, he is by no means separated. — The other [kind of] illegitimacy is from a constitution of the Church, as are persons within the fourth degree; and this does not bind infidels nor impede the marriage from being contracted; and because [such constitutions] are not called back to the past5, they do not dissolve what was legitimately already contracted.

To 1, 2. To that, then, which is objected concerning bigamy and repudiation, it must be resolved that each is against the law of nature and against the divine law6; therefore it is not similar.

To 3. To that which is objected, that it is profane to take the sister of one's wife7 as wife, or even to have her; it must be said that this is true on account of the Church's mandate; and since this man is not bound by it, he ought not to reckon that marriage profane; hence this man, from the time he came to the faith, is bound not to contract further against the Church's statute; if nevertheless he did contract, it ought not to be dissolved, nor is he bound to dismiss [her], because the constitution of the Church does not extend to him8.

---

Apparatus Criticus
  1. 8
    Extra, libr. IV. tit. 19. (de Divortiis) c. 8. — Superius post sororem in cod. bb additur uxoris.
    Decretals (Extra), book IV, title 19 (On Divorces), c. 8. — Above, after sororem, in codex bb is added uxoris.
  2. 9
    Innocent. in praenotato C. Gaudemus, secutus August. supra a. 1. q. 4. fundam. 2. allegatum.
    Innocent, in the aforementioned canon Gaudemus, following Augustine, cited above at art. 1, q. 4, fundamentum 2.
  3. 10
    Innocent. loc. cit. — Minor est secundum Iustinian., C. I. de Legibus et constitut. (tit. 17.), lex Leges et constitutiones (7.). Cfr. C. Cognoscentes (2.) et C. Quoniam constitutio (13.), X. de Constitutionibus (lib. I. tit. 2.).
    Innocent, at the place cited. — The minor [premise] is according to Justinian, Codex, book I, On Laws and Constitutions (title 17), the law Leges et constitutiones (7). Cf. the canon Cognoscentes (2) and the canon Quoniam constitutio (13), X, On Constitutions (book I, title 2).
  4. 11
    Libr. IV. tit. 19. c. 8.
    [Decretals] book IV, title 19, c. 8.
  5. 12
    Ex repetitione huius propositionis, quae fit inferius in solut. huius obiectionis, et in qua cod. bb addit uxoris, hic et ibi adiecimus uxoris, quod in aliis codd. desideratur; edd. legunt uxorem fratris accipere in uxorem. Lectio codd. stare non potest, quia Ecclesia non patitur, neoconversos continuare matrimonium cum propria sorore, immo tunc nec in secundo gradu.
    From the repetition of this proposition, which occurs below in the solution of this objection, and in which codex bb adds uxoris, here and there we have added uxoris, which in the other codices is lacking; the editions read to take the brother's wife as wife. The reading of the codices cannot stand, because the Church does not permit the newly converted to continue marriage with their own sister, indeed not even then in the second degree. (This note begins in the p. 841 footer and its text runs over into the p. 842 footer block.)
  6. 1
    Cfr. supra pag. 664, nota 3.
    Cf. above, p. 664, note 3.
  7. 2
    Vers. 6. seqq. Vide Glossam in praeallegatum C. Gaudemus ad verbum in secundo (gradu).
    Verses 6ff. See the Gloss on the aforecited canon Gaudemus at the word in the second (degree).
  8. 3
    In Comment. super I. Cor. 7, 15. Cfr. hic lit. Magistri, c. 2, secundum quam a Bonav. verba allegantur.
    In the Commentary on 1 Cor. 7:15. Cf. here the Master's text, c. 2, according to which the words are cited by Bonaventure.
  9. 4
    Deut. 25, 5; Matth. 22, 24. Cfr. C. Deus, qui Ecclesiam (9.), X. De Divortiis (lib. IV. tit. 19.).
    Deut. 25:5; Matt. 22:24. Cf. the canon Deus, qui Ecclesiam (9), X, On Divorces (book IV, title 19).
  10. 5
    Supple: iura et constitutiones Ecclesiae (cfr. fundam. 3.).
    Supply: the laws and constitutions of the Church (cf. fundamentum 3).
  11. 6
    Vide supra d. 33. a. 1. q. 2. et a. 3. q. 1. seq.
    See above, dist. 33, art. 1, q. 2, and art. 3, q. 1f.
  12. 7
    Cfr. supra pag. 841, nota 12. — Aliquanto inferius pro alligatur cod. aa obligatur.
    Cf. above, p. 841, note 12. — Somewhat below, for alligatur codex aa [reads] obligatur.
  13. 8
    Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest.
    See the scholion to question 1 of this article. ---
Cited by

2 further references address the article or printed page this question belongs to, rather than the question itself.

← Dist. 39, Art. 2, Q. 3Dist. 39, Dubia→