Joseph Carrière, S.S. (19 February 1795, in Lapanouse-de-Cernon – 23 April 1864, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

) was a French

Sulpician The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

moral theologian, and from 1850 the 13th

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of the

Society of Saint-Sulpice The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

. Carrière was the first writer of note to treat theology in its relations to the

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

Life

Carrière entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice in 1812, and five years later, at the age of twenty-two, became a member of the society and was ordained a priest. The following year, he was appointed to teach the postgraduate course of

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics" A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfyin ...

at this seminary. In 1829 Carrière came to America in the capacity of official

Visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...

to the Sulpician houses, and was invited to take part in the

First Provincial Council of Baltimore The Provincial Councils of Baltimore were councils of Roman Catholic bishops that set the pattern for Catholic organisation in the United States. They took place in Baltimore. They were seen as having a unique importance for the Church in the Uni ...

. Conservative in temperament and by education, Carrière was one of the first to combat the ideas of Félicité de La Mennais.

Works

Carrière's published writings are: *"Dissertation sur la réhabilitation des marriages nuls" (1828–34); *"Juris cultor theologus circa obligationes restitutionis", by I. Vogler, S.J., enlarged and adapted to the French Law (1833), and incorporated in

Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...

's "Theologiae Cursus Completus"; *"Praelectiones theologicae: De Matrimonio" (2 vols., Paris, 1837; Louvain, 1838); a compendium of this work (1837), which has had eight editions; *"Praelectiones theologicae: De justitia et jure" (3 vols., Paris, 1839; Louvain, 1845), and a compendium (1840) which also reached its eighth edition; *"Praelectiones theologicae: De Contractibus (3 vols., Paris, 1844–47; Louvain, 1846–48), of which the compendium (1848) has had four editions. He was inclined to the opinion, generally held in France in his day, that the State had the power to create

diriment impediment In the canon law (Catholic Church), canon law of the Catholic Church, an impediment is a legal obstacle that prevents a sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament from being performed either Validity and liceity (Catholic Church), validly or lic ...

s to marriage among Catholics; but he abandoned it as soon as it was disapproved at Rome.

References

;Attribution * 1795 births 1864 deaths People from Aveyron Superiors General of the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 19th-century French Catholic theologians Roman Catholic moral theologians {{RC-philosopher-stub