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THE BISHOP OF ST. HYACINTHE.
D. Girouard, Esq., M.P. Ottawa:
Sir,—I have the honor to inform you, in answer to your yesterday's letter, that I would be content to see disappear from our Code, not only article 125, but also article 126, which, in many cases, are very embarrassing for us Catholics. Bishops and priests oppose with all their might, as is imposed upon them by the Church, marriages contracted between such close relations, but there are circumstances when, for the welfare of the parties interested and the honor of families as well as the safeguard of public morals, they are obliged to solemnize such marriages, after having obtained from the Pope all the dispensations required in a similar case. A real service would thus be done us, were those two articles , which in my opinion, should never have been introduced into it, eliminated therefrom.
Article 127 might be retained, but worded as follows:—'The impediments to the marriage being admitted according to, etc. the Catholic Church concerning our impediments to marriages and our right to grant dispensation thereof are therein sufficiently recognized and safe-guarded I do not therefore, see any reason for not maintaining that article after making in it the slight change suggested by me. Wishing you succsss.
I remain most sincerely.
Your obedient servant,
The following letter was addressed by Mr. Girouard to the Bishops of Ontario:—
My Lord,—Your Lordship has undoubtedly noticed by the reports of the debates on my bill to legalize the marriage with a deceased wife's sister, that the opposition to the same is principally confined to that proviso which acknowledges the right of the Catholic Church to grant previous dispensation from the Pope. Without that proviso, the bill has a fair chance of being carried. Several Catholic members of your Province desire to know whether they should vote or not for the legalization of such marriages pure and simple, without insisting on any reservation as to Church discipline or regulations.
An answer will oblige,
My Lord,
Your obedient servant,
THE BISHOP OP SAREPTA.
D. Girouard, Esq., M.P.:
Dear Sir,—Although the marriage of man with his deceased wife's sister is prohibited in the Catholic Church as a general rule, still we are sometimes under the necessity of applying to the Holy See for a dispensation for such marriages. So I consider that it will be a satisfaction to know that the State recognizes the validity of such unions. I highly approve of the tenor of your bill. I hope that it will pass such as it is. But if the first proviso cannot pass, try to have the second.
I have the honor to be,
Your obedient servant,
† John Francis Jamot
Bishop of Sarepta,
Vienr Apostolic of Northern Canada.
THE ARCHBISHOP OP TORONTO.
D. Girouard, Esq.. M.P., Ottawa:
Dear Sir,—I think that a Catholic can vote for the bill in question, inasmuch as the Catholic Church grants, for grave reasons, a dispensation to marry a deceased wife's sister, &c.
The inconvenience is very serious in the case when a dispensation is granted by the Church and not by the State. The State looks upon, as invalid, a marriage which the Church holds as valid, on account of the dispensation, and the State holds as illegitimate the children, and that they are disqualified to inherit the property of their parents.
Respecting the clause about the dispensation I think in a Parliament like yours at Ottawa the Catholic members might overlook that, as it is supposed that a Catholic will always obtain such a dispensation when necessary from his Bishop or from the Pope.
The proviso may be retained that no clergyman is to be compelled to officiate at a marriage against the rules of his church. If
