Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/876

 RESIGNATION

786

RESPIGHI

A pastor then is obliged to dwell in his parish; and, generally speaking, by reason of local statutes, in the parochial residence or rectory. Because of greater responsibilities resting upon them, the Church insists that patriarchs, primates, metropolitans, bishops, or others in charge of dioceses or quasi-dioceses, even though they be cardinals, live within their own terri- tory, though not of necessity in the episcopal city. Bishops, moreover, are admonished by the Council of Trent not to be absent from their cathedrals, unless their episcopal duties call them elsewhere in the dio- cese, during Advent and Lent, on Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi, on which daj's espe- cially the sheep ought to be refreshed and rejoice in the Lord at the presence of the shepherd. The chan- cery office, the official centre of diocesan business, will be found more properh' at the cathedral, even though the bishop reside elsewhere. The si.x cardinal bi.shops (see Cardinal) whose sees are in proximity to Rome are permitted to dwell in the Eternal City, while suffragan bishojis administer their dioceses (const. Clem. XVI, "Pastorale officium"; const. Pius X, ".\postolica! Romanorum Pontificum", 15 Apr. 1910).

Some maintain that the duty of residence is incum- bent on parish priests and bishops by virtue of Divine as well as ecclesiastical law. The Council of Trent did not see fit to settle this controversy (cf. Bened. XIV, "De syn.", L. 7, c. 1). It would seem that while the canons demand a personal fulfilment of their duties on the part of pastors, the Divine precept is satisfied if the work be done even by others, though this is less fitting. The law of residence is not to be apphed so strictly as not to admit of absence at times. In some cases a reasonable or just cause of absence, e. g. necessarj' rest, legitimate recreation, a pilgrimage, a visit to relatives or friends, business matters, suffices; in others, a grave reason is required. Grave reasons for absence may be reduced to two. The first is urgent necessity, e. g. when one is persecuted, obliged by ill health to seek change of climate, called away in obedience to a lawful superior, attendance at an cecumenical council, making the prescribed ad limina visit. The second reason is charity in a marked degree, e. g. the prosecution of the rights of the diocese or of the Church, the promotion of peace among nations. For no cause should a pastor desert his people in time of war, pestilence, or on other occa- sions when their welfare is seriously menaced. The period of absence allowed may be continuous or inter- rupted. While the chapter may never be absent, indi\-idual members may annually have three months' vacation, if the constitutions of the chapter permit. A sufficient number for the offices required must be present. Bishops are counselled not to allow parish priests or rectors of missions more than two months' leave of absence yearly, unless the reason be urgent. Permission should be given in writing, except for short absences, and a substitute approved by the ordinary, with competent recompense, left in charge of the parish. Usually diocesan statutes permit an absence of a few days without consulting the ordinary. The law allows a bishop for just cause, when it is possible without detriment to his charge, to absent himself three months annually, though not during Advent or Lent or on the feasts enumerated above. For a longer absence, though advantage may not have been taken for years of the period annually allowed, a grave reason is required as well as express permission of the Consistorial Congregation. Clerics other than those mentioned are subject to local regu- lations, both as regards residence and absence.

Non-residence or unlawful absence is punishable in law. Canons lose all share in the daily distributions unless actually present in choir. Where it is per- mitted they may use with moderation the privilege of appointing substitutes. Besides being guilty of

mortal sin, bishops and rectors who violate the law of residence forfeit the fruits, i. e. salary or income, of their benefices in proportion to the time of their absence. A certain amount may be retained in rec- ompense for other duties discharged, such as the application of Mass etc. The money forfeited is used in repairing churches or in works of piety. Bishops also lose whatever rights and pri^'ileges they possess as assistants to the papal throne. Continued infringe- ment of the law may be more severely punished, even by deposition. If a bishop is absent more than a year, he must be denounced to the pope by his metropolitan. If the mefropohtan be thus absent, the duty of re- porting the matter devolves on the senior suffragan bishop. A parochial residence of one month suffices for the licit contracting of marriage in the parish (Ne temere, art. 5): the mere fact of thirty days stay, even though by chance, if morally continuous, is sufficient. By such residence one becomes a parish- ioner as far as marriage is concerned, and although retaining a domicile or quasi-domicile elsewhere, may obtain matrimonial dispensations from the ordinary of the place of residence. Canonists are not agreed whether this is true in the case of one who, though liWng in a diocese for some time, e. g. a week, only in various parishes, has not acquired a parochial residence of a month. It is certain that the previous legislation contemplated a parochial, not a diocesan, domicile or quasi-domicile.

Council of Trent, Seas. VI, c. 1; Sess. XXIII, c. 1, de ref.: Urb.in VIII, Const. Sancta synodus (12 Dec. 1634): Bened. .\IV. Const. Ad universx (3 Sept., 1746); Deer. Greg. IX. L. Ill, tit. 4. De clericis non residentibus.

Andrew B. Meehan Resignation. See Abdication.

Respighi, Lorenzo, b. at Cortemaggiore, Province of Piacenza, 7 October, 1824; d. at Rome, 10 Decem- ber, 1889. He studied mathematics and natural philosophy, first at Parma and then at the University of Bologna, where he obtained his degree ad honorem in 1845. In 1849 he was appointed as substitute to the chair of rational mechanics and hydrauhcs in the same university, two years later professor of optics and astronomy, and finally in 1855 he became director of the Bologna observator\% after having been for some time at the obser\-atorj- of Milan. From 1855 to 1864 he discovered, at Bologna, three comets (1862 IV, 1863 III, and 1863 V) and made himself known by other important works of meteorol- og\' and astronomy. In 1865 the ItaUan Govern- ment, already established in Bologna for five years, imposed upon the university professors the oath of subjection to the djTiasty of Victor Emmanuel II. Three professors refused to take it: Chelini, Filopanti, and Respighi. In consequence of this refusal, the last-named had to leave the chair and the direction of the observatory. He then went to Rome, which still continued under the government of the pope, and obtained the position of astronomer at the obser\'atory of the Capitol, directed by Calan- dreUi. In 1866, a year after the death of the lat- ter, Respighi succeeded him both in the director- ship of the observatory at the Capitol and in the chair of astronomy at the Sapienza. In 1866 he made important observations on the lunar crater Linnteus. In 1867 and 1868 he began his celebrated stud- ies of the scintillation of stars. In October, 1869, he made the first spectroscopic obser\'ations on the border of the sun.

Rome having been occupied by the ItaUan Gov- ernment (1870), Respighi (October, 1871) found himself again confronted \\'ith the question of the oath. He had been invited by the British Government to take part in an ex-pedition to the Indies for the solar eclipse in December, 1871. This in\'itation gave so much distinction to the astronomer that the Italian Minister of Pubhc Instruction offered