Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1898 — TWO WIVES. [ARTICLE]

TWO WIVES.

One Gives by the Church and One by the State. Italy enjoys at the present moment the distinction of being the only civilized country in Europe where it is possible to commit bigamy without exposing one’s self to any danger of punishment, says the New York Tribune. Since the constitution of the kingdom in 1870 the authorities have insisted that only a civil marriage is legally binding. On the other hand, the church refuses to recognize this form of matrimonial union as valid, nnd requires the faithful to go through the religions service, venting its displeasure on those who seek an,v civil sanction to their alliance. The government has repeatedly tried to secure the enactment of a law providing for the punishment of any priest who should have jierformed the religious marriage service without the latter having lieen preceded by a civil ceremony. But the vast body of the people in Italy are Catholic to the core, and would not tolerate any measure which had the appearance of encroaching on the rights of the church. The result is that to-day large numbers of unscrupulous people take advantage of the condition of affairs to have two wives, one in the eyes of the church ami the other in the eyes of the civil authorities. And they can do this without the slightest danger of being called to account or of being punished.