have accepted this suitable custom, and have incorporated it into their legislation, laying down specific conditions for the validity of a will.

MAY THE STIPEND BE RETAINED?

Question: A priest takes two stipends for two Masses on Sunday, contrary to the express prohibition of Canon Law (Canon 824, §2). He is conscious that he is doing wrong. Is he obliged to make restitution of the extra stipend afterward, and if so, to whom?

Answer: Some theologians believe that the priest in question must restore the stipend to the giver (or sometimes to the poor), because there was no title of justice for the celebration of the Mass. Others, however, argue that there was a valid contract (though illicit by the Church law) between the priest and the person who gave the stipend, so that after he has satisfied the obligation he can. be permitted to retain the stipend. This opinion is sufficiently solid to follow (cf. Regatillo-Zalba, Theologiae moralis summa, III, n. 245).

A SECRET CONVERT

Question: A non-Catholic woman married to a non-Catholic man desires to become a Catholic. However, she knows that if she enters the Church and her husband finds out about it, he will be very angry and will perhaps abandon her and the children. In these circumstances may she become a Catholic secretly? How would she conduct herself in such a case?

Answer: In the case described, the woman certainly has the right in conscience to enter the Catholic Church, irrespective of the will of her husband. And she has no obligation to let him know that she intends to enter or has entered the Church. She may receive instructions and be accepted into the Church privately. She need not attend Sunday Mass or observe the days of fast or abstinence, if it would arouse her husband's anger or suspicion, though she should go to Mass and receive the sacraments occasionally if she can do so. Of course, she should say her prayers regularly, and she is bound by the law of God as interpreted by the Catholic

Church-for example, in the matter of birth control. She should try to present the Catholic Church in a favorable light to her children. However, since her husband has not promised to bring the children up in the Catholic Church, she could permit him to have them baptized and brought up in a non-Catholic religion. She could even attend her husband's church, at least occasionally, although she would not be permitted to take an active part in the worship. FRANCIS J. CONNELL, C.SS.R.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The Dominican Scripture scholar, Fr. Thomas Reilly, contributing the leading article to The American Ecclesiastical Review for December, 1913, discusses the "Advent Gospels.". . . Fr. J. Fryar, writing from England, describes the various symbols that are used for the apostles and for the most celebrated doctors of the Church.... George Metlake, writing from Germany, gives us some examples of the severity of the rule of St. Columban, the monastic founder of the seventh century, in his article "St. Columban and the Penitential Discipline." Thus, for drunkenness a cleric had to fast for forty days, a layman for seven days. . . . Fr. P. Fernandez writes from India on "India's only canonized Saint." This was St. Gonsalo Garcia, who was born in India but died a martyr in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1597. He was canonized as one of a group of Japanese martyrs of Pope Pius IX in 1862. . . . Fr. W. Finn, C.S.P., insists that there should be a greater improvement in church music. Speaking of the results of the Motu proprio of Pope Pius X in the course of the past ten years, Fr. Finn says: "With all due respect for the many excellent musicians who have labored personally or as a board of diocesan commissioners, it must be said that the achievements up to date are chiefly negative, a few exceptions to the contrary.". . . Fr. Stanislaus Woywood, O.F.M., answers some questions concerning the canon law on marriage. . . . A reply to a question declares that when a priest says Mass without a server he should omit the phrases "vobis fratres" and "vos fratres," in the Confiteor. . . . In the Studies and Conferences section we are informed that "the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory has addressed to the Bishops of Italy a letter in which certain rules are laid down regarding the use of textbooks in seminaries. These rules point in the main to the exclusion of works that emphasize the critical spirit, inasmuch as such works furnish the student less with constructive than with destructive principles."

F. J. C.

COMMENT

SESSION II-VATICAN II

Five years have passed since Pope John XXIII announced to the world his intention of convoking an ecumenical council. This month the second session of the Council draws to a close. A remarkable change has taken place within the Church. The whole world has its eyes on Rome in its honest efforts in seeking reform and reunion. Pope Paul VI has promised to continue the work of his predecessor who called the Council "to open to the Church new horizons." In a magnificent address at the opening of the second session, Pope Paul listed the four main objectives of the Council. His words deserve careful study.

The first goal of the Council is an attempt to develop a greater "awareness of the Church." What is sought is an intimate knowledge of the Church, an attempt to express "the Church's real, fundamental constitution and manifest its manifold mission of salvation." The Pope admitted that we know much about the Church from Holy Scripture and that the Church meditating on the revealed images "has come to see herself as a historic, visible and hierarchically organized society." The encyclical Mystici Corporis of Pius XII has also helped present the full nature of the Church in a doctrinal form. Yet, "the Church is a mystery," and so "ever susceptible of new and deeper investigation." The Council aims not perhaps to proclaim a solemn dogmatic definition but to make known "by means of the Church's magisterium," what the Church considers herself to be.

How does the Church arrive at this new knowledge? Pope Paul explains that the self-awareness of the Church is clarified in three ways: "by faithful adherence to the words and thought of Christ, by respectful attention to the teaching of ecclesiastical tradition, and by docility to the interior illumination of the Holy Spirit, who seems to be requiring of the Church that she should do all she can to make known what she really is." The method to be followed is traditional-an examination of the scriptural and magisterial statements coupled with a receptivity to the Holy Spirit which is implied in every theological investigation. Can we read anything more into this statement? Is Father Gregory Baum, O.S.A., cor

rect when he says (The Commonweal, October 25th) that the Pope gives here his view on the question of the sources of revelation? Father Baum believes that the Pope is saying that there is only one source of revealed truth: "Christ's self-communication in His utterances," and in so doing he confirms the opinion held by Congar, Rahner, Geiselmann and Tavard. Such a conclusion forces from the text an interpretation it does not contain. That the Pope mentions Scripture first does not seem to be sufficient proof that he considers Scripture the one source of revealed truth. Also what is meant by "ecclesiastical tradition"? It is, then, perhaps truer to say that in the above passage the Pope gives the usual, traditional, theological method and does not intend to offer a solution. to the delicate question of the sources of revelation.

The second objective of the Council is the renewal of the Church. The Council aims at a "new spring, a reawakening of the mighty spiritual and moral energies which at present lay dormant." The Church must correct the imperfections that are caused by human weakness. The Pope adds that this does not mean that the Church can be accused of "substantial infidelity to the mind of her Divine Founder." The Council is not going to turn the Church upside down, but to return to that true tradition by "stripping it of what is unworthy or defective." The Church must be the Ecclesia caritatis if it is to be "capable of renewing herself and renewing the world around her."

Thirdly, the Council seeks the unity of all in Christ. "It is a Council," the Pope said, "of invitation, of expectation, of confidence." Then, in an impressive gesture, the Pope turned to the tribune on his left and addressed his words directly to the nonCatholic observers. He said that their presence at the Council was a sign of hope, but that their long separation from the Church was a source of sadness. With admirable humility the Pope went on to say something which surprised, if not shocked, some of his hearers. "If we are in any way to blame for that separation," the Pope said, "we humbly beg God's forgiveness and ask pardon too of our brethren who feel themselves to have been injured by us." The observers were amazed to hear such words from the Pope, and were moved by such frankness and honesty. In Germany, a Lutheran theologian, Dr. Hans Asmussen, was so impressed that he urged Lutherans to reply to the Pope. "Christians consider it

self-evident," he wrote, "that requests for forgiveness be received with open ears. But such requests must also receive a reply. Not to answer them is sinful intransigeance."

The Pope, however, did not ignore the historical fact that the Church too has suffered much because of the separation. He continued in the same spirit of honesty to say: "For our part, we willingly forgive the injuries which the Catholic Church has suffered, and forget the grief endured during the long series of dissensions and separations." This sentence belongs to the previous one and should be quoted together with it. Not all journalists did this. Xavier Rynne, for example, in his latest "Letter from Vatican City" (The New Yorker, October 26th), mentions only the first sentence. Thankfully, Pope Paul has put this sensitive problem of separation into historical perspective.

The fourth aim of the Council is to establish a dialogue between the Church and the contemporary world. The Church, as the instrument of the salvation of the world, accepts "mankind in whatever condition it may be, as the object of her dedicated mission of communicating the teachings of the Gospel." With special solicitude the Church looks upon the poor, the afflicted, the hungry and the suffering. Yet, she looks also to men of science and culture to receive the fruits of their experiences. The Church, "mother and teacher," is close to all. "Humanity," the Pope concludes, "belongs to the Church by the right which the Gospel gives her. She likes to repeat to all who make up the human race: 'Come to me, all (Matt. 11:20).

...

THE POPE AND THE CURIA

In an unusually affectionate and complimentary address on September 21st, Pope Paul spoke to the entire staff of the Roman Curia. His intention was threefold: to praise, to bring peace, and to exhort. He warmly greeted the members of the Curia and reminisced on his long and happy association with them. Recalling those years he referred to his excellent colleagues, teachers, superiors, and "unforgettable friends" in the Curia with whom he had shared many joys, sorrows, and responsibilities. He praised the fidelity, efficiency, and filial obedience of the Curia. "We would like to maintain," he said, "the comfort of your collaboration, of your prayers, and know that we wish to have for you the heart of