ON AVOIDING LAW SUITS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 38, 11 January 1889, Page 29

ON AVOIDING LAW SUITS.

258. It ia very much against the teacnin r of the Apostle that a brother, namely, a Christian, should cone id ia a court of justice with a brother. St. Paul assigned the discredit and evil of doing to chiefly to tbe fact that the judges we.-c iafideis. Bat that judgment and dissuasion are by all means general, and are applicable to tha faithfil of Christ in every age, and (*t least per te) under' all circumstances. This Plenary Synod, followiag in the fo3tsteps of St. Paul, instructs the faithful, that if they have disputes abiut temporal matters, they should appoint, by mutual consent, as far as possible, upright and prudent men, free from prejudice, by whose arbitration the case in dispute may ba settled. 259. Priests must be on their guard, however, lest in withholding the faithful from vain, and, by no me ma necessary litigation, they appear to despise the law < f the laad, aad to bring the administration of it into disrepute and contempt. Lit them be mindful of the words of St. Paul—" Let every soul be subject to the higher powers."— Kom. xiii. 1, 2. 260. Should a disagreement arise between a priest and a layman on a mere worldly matter, the priest (who ought to ba a pattern of the evangelical virtues), should ba the first to propose that the matter at issue be decided by arbitration, as ab)ve stated Bjt if there be questions of contracts, wills, public documents, or other such matters, ia which the sentence of a secular judge is necessary for the effectual settlemeat of the case, in order to scop future suits, to prevent fraud, to uphold the reputation of the priest, and to maintain the gx>d of the Church, it appears equitable that the whole case be brought cautiously and temperately before the secular court. 261. But as no person is a fit and sufficient judge in his own cause, the priest shall in these circumstances bring the whole matter before the Ordinary, to be chiefly directed by his advice. 262. Should a question arise between priests on mere temporal matters, which may be settled privately, let not one cue the other before lay tribunals, but let the subject at iasus be referred to the Ordinary, and be settled by him, or by arbitrators chosen with his consent. Should the dispute concern contra :ts, or other such cases already enumerate 1, even though there be ueed of the decision of a secular judge, in no case can proceedings ba instituted in a secular tribunal, without first htviug a*ked permission from the Ordinary.