The Trial of Saint Jerome

    Judge Wise (the brother of the naturalist U.B. Wise) silently read the written charges brought against St. Jerome, the famous doctor of the Church.

Judge Wise:"Father Jerome, there are some serious accusations made by the married NYC couple, Janice and James. They say that you have deceived and lied to them in regards to the true nature of marriage and have caused a deep trauma in their relationship. Janice and James, has St. Jerome done this to you? Is this the nature of the crime?"

Attorney Stubble:"Your honor, I am here today to represent my clients, Janice and James. The charges are correct. In his letter entitled number 47, St. Jerome states that it is a sin for a married couple to engage themselves in the conjugal or coital act. He also says that marriage exists for the purpose of having children, and that married couples are obligated to have children, or else they sin too."

Judge Wise:"Father Jerome, is this a personal opinion of yours that you have been spreading, or is it an official teaching of the Church?"

Attorney Stubble:"Your honor, if you don't mind, I would like to call Pope Damasus to the stand to answer this question. I would like to take the opportunity also, to ask him why he, as head of the Catholic Church in that period and responsible for the integrity and purity of our Faith, did not take an attitude before such an absurd teaching of St. Jerome."

Judge Wise:"Do you, your holiness, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Pope Damasus:"It is the nature of my office. Of course, I swear to tell the truth! As Pope of the Fifth Century, I really did not have time to analyze St. Jerome's ideas concerning marriage. There was too much confusion going on in the Church and the world at this time. There were Christological heresies to contend with. The Roman empire had recently fallen and there was much chaos in society. St. Jerome himself had fled from the city to find peace and security in the Holy Land. What St. Jerome taught was really just his own personal interpretations, that the Church in the future would have to investigate and resolve. If the Church did not take the time to deepen its knowledge of the sacrament of marriage at this period, it was due to lack of social and moral conditions and its involvement with other religious issues."

Attorney Bronze:"I object, your honor. I am here to defend my client, St. Jerome. Though the official magisterium of the Church did not approve of his teachings, neither did it condemn them at the time. Besides, he based what he said on the greatest authorities after that of Christ and St. Peter: the Scriptures and St. Paul the Apostle. We all know that St. Jerome is a great moral authority before the Holy Church of God. He has been given the very lofty and rare title of Doctor of the Church, that few saints possess. This is in recognition of his deep wisdom and contribution to the well-being of the body of Christ. He also has the title of saint and is therefore irreprehensible in his personal life and moral conduct. He is a man of profound spirituality and deep prayer. He is also very knowledgeable of spiritual ways and has conducted many others on the road to sanctity.

   In letter 47, he spoke very eloquently and well of marriage and defended it against those who would despise it. He himself knows the precious value of woman and was an intimate friend of another saint, Saint Paula. The only thing he did was to condemn the marital act as something sinful."

Judge Wise:"Father Jerome, from the testimony of Pope Damasus, it is clear that what you say in regard to the marital act is not the teaching of the Church. Your attorney claims that you rest your authority on Scripture. Where in heaven's name, is the conjugal act condemned in the holy book?"

Attorney Bronze:"Your honor, I will answer for him. St. Paul wrote that ...it is not good for a man to touch a woman...St. Paul, here, is referring to the moral goodness or badness  of the very nature of touching female  flesh. St. Paul said: it is not GOOD for a man to touch a woman. In other words, it would be a BAD or sinful action for him to touch the woman. Therefore, all those married people who involve themselves in the conjugal act sin and need to ask for forgiveness for their physical touching."
(A loud noise and murmuring is heard amongst the journalists, men and women, clerics, and others who had come for the trial. Janice and James break out in tears).

Judge Wise:"Silence please! Order in the courtroom! Attorney Bronze, are you telling me that married couples need to live like two united virgins? How would the human race ever continue? Why would God create something in our human nature called sexual desires if they are condemnable and sinful? If man is obligated to do something that is morally wrong, where is his free will in all this? I cannot believe that a man so intelligent as St. Jerome could arrive at such preposterous conclusions!"

Attorney Stubble:"He is not so intelligent after all. We must remember that Genesis says that everything that God created was seen by him as GOOD!

This includes, also the conjugal act of marriage. Psychologists tell us that it is a sense good, a lower good compared to other ones, but a good nonetheless. Therefore, it cannot be something condemnable. To condemn it, you would also have to condemn marriage itself, since it is intimately tied to it and inseparable. St. Jerome misinterprets the words of St Paul. St. Paul is not condemning the very nature of the marital act or the fact of touching a woman, but rather certain circumstances with which it is surrounded. It is really just a prudential measure. If a man cannot carry on a chaste friendship with a female because of his moral weakness, then Paul suggests that he avoid her, or simply marry to alleviate this aspect of his human nature. The term goodness refers to the situation that involves the person in question and his moral strength, and not the nature of the act in itself.

    We must also remember, in regard to St. Paul, that he was a late convert to Christianity and brought with him. the personal problems of his own human nature and experience. He speaks of his thorn in the flesh whose exact nature he does not describe. His struggles with purity and friendships could have colored his views in regard to women. Why did he not also say: it is not good for a woman to touch a man? Are women always the cause of sins in the world? If we accept Jerome's views, then your honor will have to imprison Jesus Himself. He, the Son of God, was accustomed to embracing women and was touched by them on various occasions. Your honor, I rest my case!"

Judge Wise:"I would please like to ask the jury to present their verdict"

Jurist Herman Gone:
"Your honor, we find Jerome, the Scripture scholar, guilty of culpable negligence, deception and fraud in regard to the authentic teaching on the sacrament of marriage, as found in his own letter entitled number 47, and having misled erroneously  generations of married couples in regard to its truth."

Judge Wise:"For this crime, you may condemned to many years in prison. However, due to the honor with which you are held by the Church and God for your work in many other areas, I will reduce the sentence to the following: I prohibit, from this day forward, that letter 47 be publicly exposed or read by the simple faithful. As a substitute, I declare to be, as obligatory and reparatory reading, the works of John Paul II and Robert and Mary Joyce on marriage and sexuality. Meeting adjourned!"

Anthony Mellace