appendix 952 Nevertheless, there are found some confessors so audacious that they have absolved some of the priests and clerics of this Congregation not only from the irrevocable oath spoken of, but also from vows, [resulting in] notable ruin for the same Congregation and the scandal of [their] neighbors and [even] the heretics living in those parts. Therefore, the aforementioned Superior humbly asks that your Eminences would deign to declare: i. That the vows of the same Congregation are not dispensable, except by the Holy See in a most grave case and at the request of the Superior of the same Congregation. ii. That those who have been dispensed from the aforementioned vows by some theologians8 have a duty to return to the said Congregation; otherwise they are to be dealt with as apostates. iii. That under the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae, even the Superiors themselves of the said Congregation, during their time [of office], are prevented from dispensing or absolving anyone from such vows. Which…etc. 8 According to some moral theologians, confessors had the ability to dispense from vows.
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