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Show A MARRIAGE QUERY. A Butte correspondent writes this paper for information regarding the validity of a marriage contracted in a foreign country. His case stated is "that a man, intelligent, of good moral character, charac-ter, was married to a young lady, whom he met only once, and of whose character, disposition or intelligence intel-ligence he had no knowledge. His friends and those of the young lady urge him to marry the j young lady for material reasons of their own, the young lady being represented to him as being all right. After marriage he learns the wife has two sisters who' are insane; the wife is subject to hallucinations hal-lucinations and delusions, and was so from childhood, child-hood, and. after a few months' marriage, becomes, insane. Her mother also was at one time an inmate in-mate of an insane asylum. Of all this he had no knowledge, and at the time the marriage, which was pressed upon him, took place, he thought he was marrying a sane person. The question asked is : 'Was the marriage valid V " There are, according to Catholic teaching, fifteen fif-teen diriment impediments which render marriage null. Only one could be brought to bear on the difficulty presented by our correspondent, and that is "error" relating to the girl who was married. The diriment impediment error is twofold, substantial sub-stantial and accidental. A substantial error invalidates invali-dates a marriage. It applies personally to the married mar-ried parties, as. for example, if the intended bride or groom was personified by a . different person, "the marriage would be invalid. An accidental error has reference to the conditions and qualities of the person, and does nut invalidate a marriage. If a man married a 'woman whom he considered a virgin, vir-gin, and wealthy, and after the marriage learns that Lis wife . was a widow and in poor circumstance?, circum-stance?, the marriage is Talid and binds till death. That error has reference to her qualities and not to her person. The "error" to which our correspondent correspon-dent refers, is indeed a very serious one; but was it a substantial or an accidental one ? As the case is presented, the error would seem to be accidental, and the marriage on the face of it was valid. Yet there are circumstances connected with the case which deserve serious attention and might be in-, vestigated by an ecclesiastical court. First, the young people met only once, and that in an. informal in-formal manner. Second, it occurred in a foreign country where, very often, courtship and espousals are unknown quantities. Third, the friends of the young people, for material reasons, thought the marriage of the young couple would be a very suitable suit-able alliance, and mutually agreed that it was the j right and proper thing for them to get married. I Fourth, the young man, thinking the young wo-j wo-j man was all right, and at the solicitation of friends, ; goes before the altar and gives ltis consent.. The mutual consent given then and there made them, to all appearances, husband and wife. It has all the marks of an approved -marriage, because the presence pres-ence of a priest officiating at the ceremony presupposes pre-supposes the, absence of an impediment vdiich would render tlie marriage null. ; It is contracted according -to" the laws of nature and the laws of i the "land. If there was 4io vsihstantiai error, the marriage was. valid, and 'wneteV; viewed as a natural natu-ral contract, or according' to the requirement's of the divine law, the Church has no jurisdiction over the matter, i. V.; it could ibot dissolve the marriage. Xor could the .Holy. Father, " who is the vicar of Christ, sanction the femarnage of divorced persons, per-sons, whose marriage' was: valid, because the divine law so commands.' "What .God hath joined together let no man put asunder." Again, "Every one that putteth away his wife and marrieth another, com-mitteth com-mitteth adultery; and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband commiteth adultery." This does not preclude the marriage of widowers and widows, for St. Paul says : "A woman is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband die she is at liberty; let her marry to whom she will, only in the Lord." To this law the Church rigidly adheres, claiming no jurisdiction over valid marriages, and, as divorces in such cases arc forbidden for-bidden by the' natural as well as the divine law, she is powerless when appealed to for her sanction. Her answer always has been that of St. Paul: "To them that are married, not I, but the Lord, com-mandeth, com-mandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband. hus-band. And, if she depart, that she remain unmarried, unmar-ried, or be reconciled to her husband." Insanity i.s a diriment impediment when it is absolute and continuous, because an insane per- j son, according to the natural law, is incapable of giving a deliberate consent as required in marriage. mar-riage. If it be not absolute and continuous, at the lucid intervals a deliberate consent, sufficient for a valid marriage, may be given. In the case stated there is ample reason to suppose both were sane and knew what they were doing when they gave their consent. The above principles, rules, laws and regulations regarding marriage are given for the guidance of the young man who is interested inter-ested in the case. For a positive answer ho must explain verbally to an ecclesiastical court the entire en-tire nature of the case. Circumstances sometimes alter cases. With the information sent, The Inter-mouutain Inter-mouutain Catholic could ot decide. |