of any one else, burned; a Catholic may sometimes co-operate, materialiter, in cremating the bodies of the dead, either as officials or as workmen, if such co-operation is not desired precisely because the officials or workmen are Catholics, and as a sign of contempt for the Catholic faith and if the cremation contain no profession of Masonry.

It is not allowed to give the last Sacraments to a dying man or woman, if he or she insists that after death the body shall be cremated; neither is it allowed to give the remains Christian burial, if it be known publicly that the deceased continued in this mind to the end of life.

It is not allowed to say Mass for such persons publicly or in the name of the Church, but Mass may be offered privately.

It is lawful to perform the last rites over the dead, either at their home or else in the Church, but not at the crematory, if it was not the will of the dead that his body be cremated, but the will of those in charge of the funeral, provided, of course, that all scandal be removed.

Again, it is permitted to give Christian burial to those who order that after their death their bodies shall be burned, provided they are ignorant of the Church's prohibition; also to those who, after having made such provision in defiance of the Church's laws, desired sincerely, before their death, to revoke the provision, but who for some valid reason were unable to do so.

This is a short synopsis of all the decrees concerning cremation, issued by the Holy Office in the last twenty-five years.

Mr. B., therefore, may not receive the Sacraments of the Church, as long as he continues in his resolve to have his body cremated, because he is in mortal sin, defying a grave law of the Church. And if it be known by the general public that he persevered to the end of his life in his resolve to have his body cremated, he can not receive Christian burial.

VIII. SECRET SOCIETIES

A convert to the Catholic faith is a knight of Pythias. He was a knight for many years before he became a Catholic. He carries a few thousand dollars life insurance in the order. As he is a poor man, it would be a great hardship for him to quit the order and forfeit this insurance. What shall he do about it?

Answer. There are two categories of so-called secret societies, forbidden to Catholics: (a) societies, like the Masons, that are forbidden under censure, i. e., under pain of excommunication; (b) societies, like the Knights of Pythias, that are forbidden under pain of sin, but not under censure.

On October 11, 1869, Pope Pius IX issued his famous Bull, Apostolicae Sedis, in which among many other censures, reserved to the Holy See, is the censure of excommunication pronounced against "nomen dantes sectae Masonicae aut Carbonariae aut aliis ejusdem generis sectis, quae contra ecclesiam vel legitimas potestates seu palam seu clandestine machinantur necnon eisdem sectis favorem qualemcunque praestantes earumque occultos coryphaeos ac duces non denuntiantes, donec non renuntiaverint."

Two qualifications are required in order that a society or organization fall under the bann of excommunication: (a) its members must constitute a sect, that is, they must be united very closely together by the profession of the same principles, that the society as a body professes and advocates; (b) it must war against the Church or against the State, even though it exist for other purposes also.

The societies generally understood to possess these two qualifications and therefore to be forbidden under pain of excommunication

are:

1. The Masons. Pope Clement XII, in 1738, first excommunicated the Masons. Then Benedict XIV, in 1751, reaffirmed the censure, as did Leo XII, in 1825, Pius VIII, in 1829, Pius IX, in 1869, in the Bull Apostolicae Sedis, just mentioned, and finally Leo XIII, in 1884, in the Bull "Humanum genus.”

2. The Carbonari, a secret political society organized in Italy, in the beginning of the last century, whose purpose was the overthrow of the existing government and the establishment of a republic. They were excommunicated by Pius VIII and Leo XII.

3. The Fenians. This society was prohibited under censure of excommunication, by the Holy Office, January 12, 1870.

4. Societies of Anarchists and Nihilists, in Russia especially, but wherever they may exist, since their purpose brings them under the ban of excommunication.

No Catholic, therefore, may belong to any of the above named societies, without committing mortal sin, and at the same time incurring excommunication, which excommunication is reserved to the Holy See.

In the second category of forbidden societies, namely, of those that are forbidden under pain of mortal sin, but without the censure of excommunication, are to be placed the three societies, expressly mentioned in the official papal documents, that is to say:

1. Odd Fellows; 2. Knights of Pythias; 3. Sons of Temperance. There are other societies also forbidden under pain of mortal sin, v. g., the Good Templars, Cremation Societies, etc., but our concern is at present with the three first mentioned. On February 13, 1896, the following letter was sent to the archbishops of the United States, from the Apostolic Delegation at Washington, D. C., for the information and guidance of the Ordinaries and clergy of the United States:

'Apostolic Delegation,

United States of America.

YOUR GRACE:

Washington, D. C., Feb. 13, 1896.

Under date of August 13, 1895, I received from the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda instructions regarding the application of the well-known decree of the Holy Office condemning the three societies, "Odd Fellows," "Knights of Pythias," and "Sons of Temperance." According to these instructions which I communicated to your Grace at the time, the condemnation was to be considered absolute, and wherever peculiar circumstances seemed to merit special consideration in particular cases, the matter was to be referred by the Ordinary to Rome. In consequence, many Bishops have, since that time, sent cases to the Propaganda which have been referred to the Holy Office for consideration. The Supreme Congregation, after deliberation on such cases, has, by a decree dated January 18, 1896, determined on a course which is explained by the words which I quote from the decree itself:

"Quæsitum fuit an remota quavis alia earundem sectarum participatione, hoc saltem liceat nomen proprium in sociorum catalogis retinere, necnon in præfatæ taxæ vel æris alieni solutione stato tempore perseverare.

"Quod dubium sane gravissimum, cum SS. D.N. Sacræ huic Suprema Congni commiserit enucleandum, eadem S. Congregatio, re mature perpensa respondendum censuit :-Generatim loquendo non licere: et ad mentem. Mens est quod ea res tolerari possit sequentibus conditionibus et adjunctis simul in casu concurrentibus, scilicet: 10. Si bona fide sectæ primitus nomen dederint antequam sibi innotuisset societatem fuisse damnatam. 20. Si absit scandalum vel opportuna removeatur declaratione id a se fieri ne jus ad emolu

menta vel beneficium temporis in ære alieno solvendo amittat; a quavis interim sectæ communione et a quovis interventu, etiam materiali, ut præmittitur, abstiendo. 30. Si grave damnum sibi aut familiæ in renunciatione obveniat. 40. Tandem ut non adsit vel homini illi vel familiæ ejus periculum ullum perversionis ex parte sectariorum, spectato præcipue casu vel infirmitatis vel mortis: neve similiter adsit periculum funeris peragendi a ritibus catholicis alieni.

"Quæ cum SSmo Dno N. papæ Leoni XIII relata fuerint, in totum approbata et confirmata fuerunt. Verum cum de re gravissima atque periculorum et difficultatum plena agatur, quæ plurimas non modo dioceses sed et provincias ecclesiasticas respicit, idem SSmus Dnus N. jussit ut uniformis regulæ servandæ causa, casibus particularibus Eminentia Tua et in Apostolica Delegatione successores providere possint."

I beg your Grace to communicate the above disposition of the Holy See as soon as possible, to your Suffragans and through them to the Confessors. With sentiments of highest esteem and fraternal charity, I remain,

For His Eminence, Apostolic Pro-Delegate,
Most faithfully yours in Xt,

D. SBARRETTI, Auditor.

From this decree of the Holy Office, it is evident that members of the three societies, or of any one of them, can not be absolved unless they absolutely renounce their adherence to the prohibited societies. This renunciation must be external, complete and made in good faith; because the aims and purposes of these societies are known to be dangerous to religion and to society, although the individual members of them may be quite ignorant of this fact.