French Court Upholds Illegitimacy of Priest's Children
By Editor
A RECENT decision of the Court of Cassation in France shows how far Popish ideas are still dominant there. Thirty years ago, during the revolution of 1848, a priest renounced his vow of celibacy, abandoned the priesthood, and was married. Four children were born to them. Last year the husband and father died, and the local court decided that the children were illegitimate, and could not inherit the father's estate. From this decision an appeal was taken to the Court of Cassation, and that tribunal affirmed the decision. The judges based their rulings upon the terms of the Concordat, and upon the Roman Canon Law; and they pointed out that the civil code expressly states that unfrocked priests must not marry. Such a decision would not be possible in any country where the civil law is not held in bondage to the spiritual despotism on the banks of the Tiber. The Catholic Review, of New York, however, declares this “a most sensible and logical decision.” We can infer what havoc Catholic supremacy would make with the best established features of American law.