SWATOW 710 flWATOW
office or of his benefice or of both office and benefice, before he exhibits the requisite letters — suspension
Suspension from office means that one is forbidden from the right of election.
to exercise the power of orders or of jurisdiction, or to Suspensions reserved to the ordinary are incurre4
act as an official administrator; suspension from ipso facto: (a) by a cleric who without his ordinary's
jurisdiction |;enenJly forbids any act of jurisdiction, leave cites anyone enjoying the privilege of the forum
whether ordmary or delegated, m either forum; sus- before a lay judges-suspension from office; (b) by a
pension from divine functions forbids any exercise fugitive religious in sacred orders who has left his
of the p|Ower of orders which one has obtained through conmiunity, but with the intention of returning —
ordination or by a special privilege; suspension from general suspension reserved to his higher superior,
orders forbids any exercise of the power of orders Non-reserved suspension is incurred ipso jaclo: (a)
obtained through ordination as distinct from the by a priest presuming to hear confessions or to absolve
power of juri^ction or the powers received by from reserved sins, without obtaining the necessary
special privilege. Suspension from sacred orders jurisdiction — suspension from hearing confessions;
forbids any exercise of the power of orders received (b) by those who with malice have had themselves
through major ordination; suspension from a particu- ordained without dimissorial letters or with false
lar omer forbids any act of that order, and the su»- ones, or before the canonical age, or without having
pended party may not confer that order on another received the lower orders — suspension from the order
or receive a hi^er order himself ^ or exercise it if he received; (c) by a cleric who presumes to resign his
received it in spite of this prohibition. ecclesiastical office, benefice^ or dignity into lay
No suspended cleric may be promoted to a higher hands — suspension from divme functions; by an
order. Anyone exercising an order from which he abbot or prelate nuUius who has neglected to obtain
has been suspended becomes irregular. While sus- the necessary episcopal blessing within the fixed time —
pension imposed by the common law of the Chureh suspension uom junsdictionj (d) by a vicar capitular
affects the offices or benefices held anywhere by the who unlawfully grants dimissorial letters for ordira-
suspended party, an ordinary cannot suspend a cleriq tion during a vacancy — suspension from divine
from a particular office or benefice held in another functions; (e) by religious superiors who unlawfully
diocese. Just as in the case of exconimunication, a presume to send their subjects to be ordained by an
cleric who is suspended from the administration of extern bishop — suspension from sa3ring Mass for a
the sacraments or sacramentals cannot lawfully ad- month.
minister them unless when he has been requested by Suspension ex informata conscieniia. — ^This extra-
the faithful to do so. He may always consider the ordinary remedy may be applied by the ordinary
request legitimate, unless he was suspended by a only when the usual method of procedure cannot be
condemnatory or declaratory sentence, in which followed without grave inconvemence. The decree is
case it is only in danger of death that the faithful generally but not necessarily to be in writing and
may ask for absolution, or, if there is no other priest should contain the exact date, an express statement
present, for the other sacrainents or sacramentals. that the suspension is ex informata conscieniia^ and
Again, no cleric under suspension after a declaratory indication of the duration, which must be temporar^%
or condemnatory sentence can validly exercise the unless the suspension is infficted as a censure, m
right of election, presentation, or nomination, or which case the cause must be stated, and furtnei^
acquire any ecclesiastical dignity, office, benefices more should clearly mention what acts are prohibited,
or pension. If such a sentence were pronounced any The suspended cleric may appeal to the next higher
pontifical favor received later by the suspended cleric superior. An important change is that, while it
would be of no effect, unless the suspension wa, may never be infficted for a notorious crime, it may
mentioned in the rescript. be imposed for a public offence: (a) if the crime is
Suspension reserved to the Holy See is incurred revealed to the ordinary by unimpeachable witnesses
ij>so facto (a) by a consecrating bishop, the assistant who alone can prove it but who cannot be induced to
bishops or priests, and the bishop consecrated when give evidence in court, and no judicial proof can be
the consecration takes place without an Apostolic obtained from others^ or (b) if the cleric himself
mandate— general suspension; (b) by claries promoted prevents the judicial myestigation from being begun
to orders by simony or receiving or administering any or completed; or (c) if the judicial process would
other sacrament simoniacally — general suspension; involve a conffict with the civil law or probably
(c) by one who has presumed to receive orders froni cause scandal. It rests with the bishop in his dis- a person censured by sentence, or from a notorious cretion and charity to reveal the cause or crime to apostate, heretic, or schismatic — suspension from the cleric involved.
divine functions; those, however, who acted in good
faith in receiving these orders are prohibited mm Swatow, Vicariate Apostolic of, in China, was
exercising them, until they receive a dispensation; erected on 6 April, 1914, under the name of Chao-
(d) it is mcurred for a year by anyone who ordains a chau, by separation from the Prefecture Apostolic person not subject to him without proper dimissorial of Kuan Tom (Canton); on 18 August, 1915, the name letters, or his own subject without testimonial letters, of the vicariate was officially changed to Swatow. or his own subject without testimonial letters from The mission has an area of 50,000 square miles and the ordinaries of the places where he lived long enough embraces the civil prefectures of Chaochau and to contract a canonical impediment, or by one con- Kie-yan^ and five sub-prefectures of Honitchow, vis., f erring major orders on a candidate wno lacks a Chang-mng,Lu-feng,Lung-chuan, Lien-ping. Ho-ping. canomcal title, or (apart from a privile^) on a It is bounded on the north by the vicariate ot Southern religious who does not belong to a house situated in Kiang-si and Fu-kien, on the east by the vicariate of the territory of the ordaimng bishop, unless the Amoy and the Chinese Sea, on the south by the bishop of the place of residence of the religious con- Chinese Sea and on the west by the Vicariates of seats or is of a different Rite or is absent or not Hong-kong and Canton. The islands in the Chinese holding ordinations at the specified times or has Sea belonging to the civil districts mentioned above died and left no one with epbcopal orders in his are under the jurisdiction of the vicar. The vicariate, place — suspension from conferring orders; (e) by a which has a population of six millions, mostly of the religious in major orders whose profession has been Holo and Kaxka races, is under the spiritual care of declared null by reason of his deliberate deceit — the Foreign Missions. The first and present vicar general suspension; (f) by a chapter or those who Apostolic is Mgr. Adolphe Rayssac, b. at Lunan in admit a person elected, presented or nominated, the diocese of Cahois, France, on 4 November,