Note 496 — Chapter I · JURISDICTION

This freedom, as Lehmkuhl remarks, exists for the members of the Society of Jesus, so that they are not obliged, when on a journey, to seek a priest of their own Order. Certain theologians, however, are unwilling to concede this to all Orders. Benedict XIV, in the Brief “Quod communi,” 30 March, 1742, allowed the Capuchins to confess to others not of their Order, attaching the conditions, however, that the priest to whom they confessed must be approved; the same condition was laid down for members of the Augustinian Order on June 3, 1863 (Acta S. Sedis, vol. 1, p. 677), and the S. Pœnitent., 18 April, 1867, the S. C. Ep. et Regul., 3 July, 1862 and 27 Aug., 1852 (see Bucceroni, Enchirid. pp. 127 et 128), demand the same condition for the dispersed Regulars. From which it is to be concluded that the Sacerdotes idonei, of whom the privileges of Sixt. IV and Innoc. VIII speak, must be approved priests. Cf. Aertnys, l. c. This seems also to hold for the congregations under vota simplicia, who possess the privilege of exemption from episcopal jurisdiction, as this regulation is based not upon the solemnity of the vows, but upon the said exemption.