APOSTOLIC^
646
APOSTOLIC^
well to alter or abrogate. Sucli re\'ision having been
made, having taken counsel with Our Venerable
Brothers the Cardinals General Inquisitors in matters
of faith for the Universal Churcli, and after a long
and careful consideration, We, of Our own accord,
with full knowledge, mature deliberation, and in the
fullness of Our ApostoUc power, decree by this per-
manent Constitution that of all Censures, either of
Excommunication, Supervision, or Interdict, of any
kind soever, which per modum latce scntentice ipsoqve
jaclo incurrcndce have been hitherto imposed, those
only which We insert in this Constitution and in that
manner in which We insert them, are to be in force
in future; and We also declare that these have their
force, not merely from the authority of the ancient
canons coinciding with this Our Constitution, but
also derive their force altogether from this Our Con-
stitution, just as if they had been for the first time
published in it. "
According to those introductory passages, the Bull "ApostoUc* Sedis" left all canonical penalties and impediments (deposition, degradation, deprivation of benefice, irregularity, etc.) as they were before, except those with which it expressly deals. And it deals expressly with those penalties only, the direct purpose of which is the reformation rather than the punisliraent of the person on whom they are inflicted, namely, censures (excommunication, suspension, and interdict). Moreover, it deals only with a certain class of censures. For clearness it is well to observe that a censure may be so attached to the violation of a law that the law-breaker incurs the censure in the very act of breaking the law, and a censure as decreed binds at once the conscience of the law- breaker without the process of a trial, or the formality of a judicial sentence. In other words, the law has already pronounced sentence the moment the person who breaks the law has completed the act of con- sciously breaking it; for which reason, censures thus decreed are said to be decreed per modum latce sen- tentioe ipsoque facto incurrendae, i. e. censures of sen- tence pronounced and incurred by the act of break- ing the law. But, on the other hand, a censure may be so attached to the breaking of a law that the law- breaker does not incur the censure until, after a legal process, it is formally imposed by a judicial sentence, for which reason censures thus decreed are called jerendae sententue, i. e. censures of sentence to be pro- nounced. Censures of this latter kind were left out by this Bull, and remain just as they were before, together with those penalties above referred to, the direct purpose of which is punishment. The Bull " .\postolica; Sedis Moderationi" deals, therefore, ex- clusively with censures lata; sententiae. Now, how has it altered or abrogated them? It abrogated all except those expressly inserted in it. Those which are inserted in it, whether old ones revived or re- tained, or new ones enacted, bind throughout the Catholic Churcli, all customs of any kind to the con- trary notwithstanding, because this Bull became the source of the binding power of all and each of them, even of such as might have gone into disuse any- where or cverywliere. The censures retained are in- serted in the Bull in two ways: First, it makes a list of a certain number of them; Second, it inserts in a general way all those which the Council of Trent cither newly enacted, or so adopted from older canons as to make them its own; not those, therefore, which the Council of Trent merely confirmed, or simply adopted from older canons.
We have so far determined those censures which are in force throughout the Bull "Apostolical Sedis", and which may be taken as the common law of the Churcli in that sphere of its legislation. But one who has incurred a censure can be freed from it only through ab.solution by competent jurisdiction. .\\- though a censure is merely a medicinal penalty, the
chief purpose of which is the reformation of the
person who has incurred it, yet it does not cease of
itself merely by one's reformation. It has to be
taken away by the power that inflicts it. It remains,
therefore, to consider briefly those of the Bull " Apos-
tolicffi Sedis" with respect to the power by which
one may be absolved from any of them. They are
classified in that respect by Pius IX in the Bull itself.
Any priest who has jurisdiction to absolve from sin
can also absolve from censures, unless a censure be
reserved, as a sin might be reserved; and some of the
censures named in the Bull "Apostolicic Sedis" are
not reserved. It may be well to observe here that
the absolution from sin and absolution from censure
are acts of jurisdiction in different tribunals; the for-
mer belongs to jurisdiction in foro interno, i. e. in the
Sacrament of Penance; the latter belongs to jurisdic-
tion in foro externa, i. e. without and outside the
Sacrament of Penance. Some censures of the " Apos-
tolicae Sedis" are reserved to bishops; so that bishops,
within their own juri.sdiction, or one specially dele-
gated by them, can absolve from censures so reserved.
Some are reserved to the Pope, so that not even a
bishop can absolve from these without a delegation
from the Pope. Finally, the Bull "Apostolicae Se-
dis " gives a list of tweh'e censures which are reserved
in a special manner {speciali modo) to the Pope; so
that to absolve from any of these, even a bishop re-
quires a special delegation, in which these are spe-
cifically named. These twelve censures, except the
one numbered X, were taken from the Bull " In Coena
Domini", and consequently, since the publication
of the " .4postolic£e Sedis", the Bull "In Cccna Dom-
ini" (so called becau.se from 1364 to 1770 it was an-
nually published at Rome, and since 1567 elsewhere,
on Holy Tliursday) ceased to be, except as an his-
torical document. Of these eleven canonical oiTences,
five refer to attacks on the foundation of the Cliurch;
that is, on its faith and constitution. Three refer to
attacks on the power of the Churcli and on the free
exercise of that power. The other three refer to at^
tacks on the spiritual or temporal treasures of the
Church. A few censures have been enacted since
the Bull "Apostolicie Sedis" was published. These
are usually mentioned and interpreted in the pub-
lished commentaries on that Bull. The commentary
by Avanzini and Pennacchi (Rome, 18S3), the learned
editors of the "Acta Sancts Sedis", is the most
complete. That issued (Prato, 1894) by the late
Cardinal D'Annibale, however, is of all others,
to be recommended for conciseness and accuracy
combined.
See Censure, Excommunication, Interdict, Sus- pension.
The text is found in Ada Pii IX (Rome, ISTO. 1. V, 55-72; and frequently in manuals of Moral Theology and Canon Law. e. g. SiMEONE, Lezioni di Dirilto Eccl. (Naples. 1905), II. 430 sqq.; Laurentius. Institutiones Juris Eccl. (Freiburg, 1903). nos. 395-443; Smith. Elements of Eccl. Law (New York. 1888). Ill, 317-26; Vering, Lehrbuch d. kalhol. oriental, und protcsl- anlischen Kirchenrechta (3d ed., Freiburg, 1893), 711 sqq.; SagmOlleh, Lehrbuch dcs knthol. Kirchcnrrchts (Freiburg, 1900), (i89 sqq.; A. Bcnacina, Censura- lata- ecntenlia nunc Vicentes (Rome. 1897); Hii.ahiu.s a Sexten, Tractatus de Censuris Eccl. (Freiburg, 1898); Hergesbother-Hollweck, Lehrbuch des kathol. Kichmrcchts (Freiburg, 1905'), 561 sqq.; Instruetio Pastoralis Eiiestetlensis (Freiburg, 1902), 218-26; KoNl.NGS, Comment, in Facult. Apo&tolicas (New York, 1893). M. 0'RlOHD.\N.
Apostolicae Servitutis, a Bull issued by Bene- dict XIV, 23 February, 1741, against secular pur- suits on the part of the clergy. In spite of many proliibitive laws of the Church some ecclesiastics had drifted into the habit of occupying thcinselves with worldly business and pursuits. The object of this papal i)roliibition was to check tha* abuse among tlio clergy. It recalls, therefore, and confirms the statutes made by former Popes against such abuses, and also extends them to such ecclesiastics as might, in order to evade the penalties attached, engage in
