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The term “religious foundation” (Ger. Stift) refers to a college of clergy (canons and prebendaries) who are responsible for choral services (Choir; Prayer) and who are supported by an endowment. In a diocese the chapter of the cathedral church is counselor of the bishop and, according to the relevant law, may have the right to elect the bishop. In the later Middle Ages the monasteries of the older orders (Benedictines; Cistercians) partially took over the organization of these foundations, with the…

The term “observance” (Lat. observo, “observe, watch, follow, keep”) is used legally with reference to custom or to mere tradition that has not yet reached the stage of custom. In Roman Catholic religious orders it is the effort to follow exactly the original rule without any later relaxations. In the Franciscan controversy regarding poverty in the 13th and 14th centuries (Franciscans), the reformers called themselves Observantines or Observants. Favoring a strict observance among Cistercians are th…

[German Version] Provida sapientique cura, a constitution issued by Pope Pius X on Jan 18, 1906 (AAS 39, 1906, 82–84), according to which the form of marriage introduced by the Council of Trent in cases of otherwise invalid marriage ( Tametsi, 1563), i.e. marriage in the presence of the Catholic parish priest and two witnesses, was declared obligatory throughout what was then the German Empire (including Hungary after 1909) only for purely Catholic marriages. Marriages of non-Catholics and confessionally mixed marriages were valid wit…

[German Version] This (unofficial) designation is in several ways inappropriate. It does not relate to any privilege as a special right of particular persons; moreover, the reference to Peter has no basis in the New Testament. The term refers to divorce, on the basis of papal authority (the so-called potestas vicaria), of a non-sacramental marriage, including cases in which, at the time of contracting the marriage, one party was already baptized (half-Christian marriage). The marriage is dissolved by papal decree. The sufficient reason is in general ¶ the salvation of the soul, no…

[German Version] ( Privilegium Pauli or Privilegium fidei). The Pauline privilege, today governed by canons 1143–1150 of CIC/1983, is the canonical implementation of the procedure leading to dissolution of a (valid) marriage (Divorce) between two non-Christians, in the course of which one of the spouses receives baptism. The biblical basis of the Pauline privilege is 1 Cor 7:12–15. The marriage is dissolved by a new marriage entered into be the baptized party if the unbaptized party departs or, upon being asked,…