Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/471

 CASTRO

415

CASUISTRY

obtained by the Challenger Expedition were entrusted to him for description and classification. He dis- covered among them three new genera, two hundred and twenty-five new species, and some thirty new varieties. Castracane was a devout priest as well as an enthusiastic investigator. He shrank from prefer- ment and led a simple, regular life. He continued his work to the end, saying Mass even on the day of his death. He was the author of a large number of pa- pers, published chiefly in the proceedings of the Ac- cademia del Xuori Lincei, over who.se meetings he presided for many years.

Toni. CommcmoriKioih </. / conte ab. F. Castracane degli AntelmineUi in Mem d«Xta Pont. Accad. del Nuovi Lincei (Rome. 1S99). XVI; Mengarini-Traube, Castracane degli Anldmindti, in Biolug. Ccntratktatt I Leipzig, 19001, XX, 401- 402, 433-447.

Henry M. Brock.

Castro, Alphonsos db, Friar Minorand theologian, b. in 1495 at Zamora, Leon, Spain; d. 11 February, 1558. at Brussels. When fifteen years old he entered a little convent of the Franciscan Order near Sala- manca in the province of St. James. He taught theology at the University of Salamanca, and for forty-three years was confessor to Charles V and Philip II, and preacher at the Court of Spain. In 1545 he accompanied Cardinal Grennis as theologian to the Council of Trent, and during the fourth session took an important part in the discussion concerning Holy Scripture. As representative of the cardinal he subscribed to the canons of this session, and sug- gested that the words " prater hos sacros libros multa alia sunt tenenda quse scripta non sunt, sed observan- tur Ecclesia; auctoritate be added to the Decree " De Canonicis Script uris". In succeeding sessions he addressed the council on the advisability of vernac- ular versions of Sacred Scripture, and on original sin. He accompanied Philip II to England, returned with that monarch to the Continent in 15.57, and was ap- pointed to the archiepiscopal See of Compostella, made vacant by the death of Cardinal John Tolenton. His untimely death, however, prevented his consecra- tion. Castro's best-known works include (1) " Adver- sus omnes haereses ", first published at Cologne in 1 539 ; (2) "De justa ruereticorum punitione" (Salamanca, 1547). Both these works were published in one edi- tion at Paris (1571-78).

Wadding. .Inn. .\fin.. XVIII. 1546. IX-X; Hurter, Nomen- clalor, IV. 11S4; Theiner. Acta Genmna Cone. Trid., I, 30, 55. 63; Lingard, History oj England (Dublin, 1874), V. 231.

Stephen M. Donovan. Castro, Diocese of. See Acquapendente.

Castro, T. M. Ribeiro Vieira de. See Saint Thomas ot Mtlapi h, Diocese of.

Castro Palao, Fernando, Spanish theologian, b. at Leon in 1581; d. at Medina, 1 Dec. 1633. From his earliest youth he gave such proofs of sanctity that he became known as "the saint", "the angel", "the predestined child". At the age of fifteen, in 1596, he Dtered the Society of Jesus, and here his fame for learning equalled that of his holiness. He taught philososphy at Valladolid, moral theology at Com- postella, Scholastic theology at Salamanca, and finally became rector of the College of Medina, and con- suitor and qualificator of the Holy Inquisition. His death overtook him while he filled these hist three offices. He excelled especially as a moral theologian; his classes of moral theology were attended by a greater number of students than were ever known to follow the course at Compostella. His decisions were regarded as oracles, and the most difficult cases were submitted to him for solution. St. Alphonsus num- bers him among the principal authorities on moral theology (Dissert, schol. mor., Naples, 1755, c. iv, n. 119), and Gury calls him "a probabilist, a most learned, wise, erudite, and prolific author". His "Opus Morale" comprises seven volumes, and covers

in the same number of treatises the whole field of moral theology. It appeared first at Lyons, 1631-51 ; its fifth edition is dated 1700. A general index to • he whole work is found in the fourth volume of this last edition, and also in the third edition, which ap- peared at Venice in 1721. Immediately after his death (1633) there appeared at Valladolid a medita- tion book written by him, entitled "Manual del Cristiano de varias consideraciones para el exercieio santo de la oracion". The first part of this work presents meditations on the end of man; the second treats of the life of Christ and of His Blessed Mother; the third considers God in Himself and in His relations to us. An English translation of a letter of Father Castro Palao on the death of Father Thomas White appeared in the "Month" for 1890 (vol. 69. pp. 91- 93).

Sommervogei., Bibliolhique it la c. de J. (Brussels. 1S9U. II, col. st',7. sic; Mi i.i.endohff in Kirchenlex ., s. v.; IIcrtek, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1S92), I, 363.

A. J. M \ \s.

Castro y Bellvis, Guillen de, Spanish dramatk poet, b. of a noble family at Valencia in 1569; d. at Madrid in 1631. He appears to have been early distinguished in the world of letters, for when a very young man we find him a member of the " Nocturnos, a brilliant Spanish imitation of the "Academies" then fashionable in Italy. In early life he followed a military career. At one time he was a captain of cavalry; at another he had an important command at Naples, through the friendship of the viceroy, Count of Benavente. Returning to Spain, he gained the favour of the powerful Count-Duke Olivares, who gave him several posts that were lucrative as well as honourable. He also gained the friendship of the Duke of Osuna, who settled an annuity upon him. But if his literary ability won for him many influ- ential friends, a haughty and sour temper, a discon- tented spirit, and great obstinacy soon lost for him whatever advantages he had gained. He was ol iligei 1 then to turn to the theatre to earn a painful subsist- ence as a dramatic writer. He died in poverty and was buried by charity. As a lyric and dramatic poet Guilldn de Castro had few if any superiors. He wrote some forty comedies, all of which show the inventive genius and patriotism of the author, and they enjoyed great popularity both in and out of Spain. The best known probably are "Las Moceda- des del Cid" in two parts, "Enganarse engaSando", and "Pagar en propia moneda". To the first men- tioned Castro owed his European reputation, for it is from the first part of this play that the French dramatist Corneille gathered the materials for his own brilliant tragedy " Le Cid", which, according to Ticknor, did more than any other drama to determine for two centuries the character of the theatre through- out Europe. His comedies were published in two parts at Valencia, in 1621 and I(i2. r > respectively.

Ticknor. History o/ Spanish Literature (New York. 1857); Fitzmaurice-Kei.ly, History of Spanish Literature (London!. 1907).

Ventura Fuf.ntes.

Casuistry, the application of general principles of morality to definite and concrete cases of human activity, for the purpose, primarily, of determining what one ought to do, or ought not to do, or what one may do or leave undone as one pleases; and for the purpose, secondarily, of deciding whet her and to what extent guilt or immunity from guilt follows on an ac- tion already posited.

Being merely a science of application, casuistry must be based on the principles and established con- clusions of moral theology and ethics. These nor- mative sciences it presupposes; to them it is ancillary; and strictly speaking it is distinct from them. It does not define objective morality, nor the objective circumstances that modify morality, nor the psy-