Page:Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Buckley.djvu/271

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238
SESSION XXV.

the decrees of the fathers; no Access or Regress,[1] in regard to any ecclesiastical benefice, of what quality soever, shall, even though by consent, be henceforth granted to any one; nor shall those heretofore granted be suspended, extended, or transferred. And this decree shall have place in regard to all ecclesiastical benefices soever, and as regards all manner of persons soever, even though distinguished with the honour of the cardinalate. In like manner, an regards coadjutorships with future succession, the same shall hereafter be observed; [to wit], that they shall not be permitted to any one in regard of any ecclesiastical benefices soever. But if at any time the urgent necessity, or the evident advantage of a cathedral church, or of a monastery, demands that a coadjutor be granted to a prelate, such coadjutor, with [the right of] future succession, shall not otherwise be granted but after the said cause has first been diligently taken cognizance of by the most holy Roman Pontiff; and it is certain, that all those qualifications are united in him, which, by law, and by the decrees of this holy synod, are required in bishops and prelates. Otherwise, the concessions made touching these matters, shall be accounted surreptitious.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Duty of the Administrator a of Hospitals. By whom, and in what Manner, their Negligence is to be punished.

The holy synod admonishes all persons soever who hold any ecclesiastical benefices, whether secular or regular, that they accustom themselves, as far as their revenues will permit, to exercise promptly and kindly the office of hospitality, frequently commended by the holy fathers; being mindful that those who love hospitality receive Christ in the person of their guests.[2] But as regards those who hold in commendam, or by way of administration, or under any other title soever, or even have united to their own

  1. For a complete account of these words in their ecclesiastical application, I must refer the reader to Du Cange, but more especially to the "Dictionnaire de Droit Canonique" of Durande and Mabillon.
  2. See Matt. xxv. 35, sqq.