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 DOMICILE

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DOMICILE

patterned as closely as possible on domicile. Like the latter, it is made up of the double element of fact and right, i. e. of residence and the intention of abiding in it for a sufKcient length of time, this time being clearly stated as a period covering more than six months — per majorem anni partem. As soon as these two condi- tions coexist, quasi-domicile is acquired and imme- diately involves the legal use of rights and compe- tencies resulting therefrom. (See below for a recent restriction in regard to marriage.) Finally, quasi- domicile is lost by the simultaneous cessation of both its constitutive elements, i. e. by the abandonment of residence without any intention of returning to it. Suffice it to add that in this matter the canon law, yielding to custom, tends easily to adapt itself to the provisions of civil law, e. g. as regards the legal domi- cile of minors, wards, and other analogous provisions. III. Present Law. — From the preceding explana- tion there results a very important conclusion which throws a strong light on canonical legislation concern- ing domicile and which we must now set forth. It is this: the law does not deal with domicile for its own sake, but rather on accoimt of its consequences; in other words, on account of the personal rights and ob- ligations attached thereto. This explains why domi- cile must meet divers requirements more or less severe according to the case in point, e. g. marriage, ordina- tion, judicial competency. Keeping therefore in view the legal consequences of domicile and its vari- ous forms it may be defined as a stable residence which entails submission to local authority and permits the exercise of acts for which this authority is competent. To this definition the laws and their commentators confine themselves, without touching on the legal ef- fects of domicile. As we have already seen, domicile, properly so called, is the place one inhabits indefi- nitely {toeus perpetuce habitatioyiis), such perpetuity being quite compatible with more or less transitory residence elsewhere. It matters not whether one be the owner or simply the occupant oi the house in which one dwells or whether one owns more or less property in the locality. The place of one's domicile is not the house wherein one resides but the territorial district in which the house or home stands. This district is usually the smallest territory possessing a distinct, self-governing organization. All authors agree that, from a civil viewpoint, the municipality is the place of domicile and, canonically considered, the parish or territorial division replacing it, e. g. mission or station. It is in the municipality that the acts and rights of civil life are exercised, and in the parish those of the Christian life. Strictly speaking, one cannot acquire domicile in a ward or hamlet or in any territorial division which does not form a self-gov- erning group. Of course there are certain acts that do not depend, or that no longer depend, on local author- ity; in this sense, it is possible to si)eak of domicile in a diocese when it is question e. g. of ordination, or of domicile in a province apropos of the competency of a tribunal. But these exceptions are merely apparent; they imply that one has a domicile in some parish within a given diocese. The canon law ha.s never rec- ognized as domicile an unstable residence in different parts of a diocese, without intent to establish oneself in some particular parish. Canon law (c. 2, de sepult. in VI), like Roman law (L. 5, 7, 27, Ad municip.), allows a double domicile, provided there be in both places a morally equal installation; the most ordinary exam- ple of this being a winter domicile in the city and a summer domicile in the country.— There are tliree kinds of domicile: domicile of origin, domicile of resi- dence or acquired domicile, and necessary or legal domicile. The domicile of origin, a somewhat inexact imitation of the Roman origo, is that assigned to each individual by his place of nativity unless he be accidentally born outside of the place where his father dwells; practically it is the paternal domicile for legit-

imate and the maternal domicile for illegitimate chil- dren. Again, in reference to the spiritual life, domi' cile of nativity is the place where adults and aban- doned children are baptized. — The domicile of residence or acquired domicile is that of one's own choice, the place where one establishes a residence for an indefinite period. It is acquired by the fact of material residence joined to the intention of there re- maining as long as one has no reason for settling else- where; this intention being manifested either by an express declaration or by circumstances. Once ac- quired, domicile subsists, despite more or less pro- longed absences, until one leaves it with the inten- tion of not returning. — Finally, necessary or legal domicile is that imposed by law; for prisoners or ex- iles it is their prison or place of banishment ; for a wife it is the domicile of the husband which she retains even after becoming a widow ; for children under age it is that of the parents who have authority over them; for wards it is that of their guardians ; lastly, for whoever exercises a perpetual charge, e. g. a bishop, canon, or parish priest, etc., it is the place where he discharges his functions.

Quasi-domicile is of one kind only, namely of resi- dence and choice and cannot be acquired in any other way. It is acquired and lost on the same conditions as domicile itself and is deduced mainly from such reasons as justify a sojourn of at least six months, e. g. the pursuit of studies, or even for an indefinite period, as in the case of domestics. Quasi-domicile is pre- sumed, especially for marriage, after a month's so- journ according to the Constitution "Faucis abhinc" of Benedict XIV, 19 March, 1758; but this presump- tion yields to contrary proof, except however when it is transformed into a presumption juris et de jure, which admits of no contrary proof; such is the case for the United States in virtue of the indult of 6 May, 1886, granted at the request of the Coimcil of Balti- more in 1884 (Acta et Decreta, p. cix) and extended to the Diocese of Paris, 20 May, 190.5. This being so, quasi-residents are regarded as subjects of the local authority just as are permanent residents, being there- fore parishioners bounti by local laws and possessing the same rights as residents, with this difference, that, if they so choose, they may go and use their rights in their own domicile. They can, therefore, apply to the local parish priest, as to their own parish priest, not only for those sacraments administered to every one who presents himself, e. g. Holy Eucharist and pen- ance, but also for the baptism of their children, for first Communion, paschal Communion, Viaticum, and extreme unction. Their nuptials may also be solem- nized in his presence and, e.xcept when they have chosen to be buried elsewhere, their funerals should take place from the parish church of their quasi-domicile. Finally, the quasi-domicile permits of their legitimate citation before a j udge competent for the locality. As regards marriage, the quasi-domicile affected its valid- ity in parishes subject to the decree "Tametsi" until the decree "Ne temere" of 2 August, 1907, rendered the competency of the parish priest exclusively terri- torial, so that all marriages contracted in his presence, within his parochial territory, are valid; for a licit marriage, however, one of the two betrothed must have dwelt within the parish for at least a month.

On the other hand those who have neither a domi- cile nor a quasi-domicile in a parish, who are only there as transients (peregrini), are not counted as par- ishioners ; the parish priest is not their pastor and they should respect the pastoral rights of their own parish priest at least in so far as possible. The restrictions of former times, it is true, have been greatly lessened and at present no one would dream of claiming pa- rochial rights for annual confession, paschal Commu- nion or the Viaticum. Something, however, still re- mains: for marriage transients must ask the delega- tion or authorization of the parish priest of their domi-