The Delpit marriage case, sometimes known as the Delpit affair (French: l'affaire Delpit), was a controversy concerning marriage and religion in Quebec at the turn of the 20th century.
On 2 May 1893, Édouard Delpit, aged 23, married Marie Berthe Aurore Jeanne Côté, aged 16 and 2 months, in Montreal. At birth, both Delpit and Côté were Catholic. They later abandoned the faith. They were married by Reverend William S. Barnes, a Unitarian minister.[1][2]
The marriage did not go well. Côté filed for divorce in court.[1] After Côté's filing, Delpit sought assistance from the "ecclesiastical authorities",[3] requesting a declaration that the marriage was a nullity.[2] Delpit argued that his marriage to Côté was a clandestine marriage because Delpit and Côté were Catholic but had been married by a Protestant.[3] A clandestine marriage was a marriage performed contrary to canon law.[4]
Delpit won initially. Monsignor Marois,[a] the vicar general of Quebec, declared the marriage void in canon law.[5] On 23 November 1900, an ecclesiastic judgment issued at Rome confirmed the Quebec determination, holding that the Delpit marriage was void in canon law because clandestine.[3] On 13 January 1901, Archbishop Paul Bruchési sent a pastoral letter to Quebec churches stating that civil courts had no authority to overturn ecclesiastical authorities' determination of a marriage's validity.[6] On 16 January, Delpit filed in the Quebec Superior Court to request that the judgment at Rome be given effect in Quebec.[7]
On 30 March, in a judgment cited 20 RJQ (CS) 338, Justice John Sprott Archibald[8] of the Superior Court held that ecclesiastical authorities had no power to declare a marriage void in Quebec civil law—and therefore that the marriage was valid in Quebec.[9]
Notes
edit- ^ Likely Cyrille Alfred Marois. See Jesuits' Estates Act. Montreal: Witness Printing House. 1889. p. 21. OCLC 1047482390.
- ^ a b Delpit Case 1901, pp. 3–4.
- ^ a b "The Delpit Marriage Case". The Cyclopedic Review of Current History. 11 (1). Boston: Current History Company: 46–47. March 1901. OCLC 1043226645.
- ^ a b c Delpit Case 1901, p. 5.
- ^ Stone, Lawrence (11 October 1990). Road to Divorce: England, 1530–1987. Oxford University Press. p. 96. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198226512.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-822651-2.
- ^ "The Delpit Marriage". Hartford Courant. 1 April 1901. p. 8.
- ^ "Question of Marriages". Victoria Daily Times. 14 January 1901. p. 1.
- ^ "Delpit Marriage Case in Civil Court". The New York Times. 17 January 1901. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Greene, B. M., ed. (1927). Who's Who in Canada (19th ed.). Toronto: International Press Ltd. p. 1423.
- ^ "Delpit Marriage Case Is Settled". Buffalo Enquirer. 30 March 1901. p. 1.
Sources
edit- The Delpit Case. Montreal: Charles Hébert. 1901. ISBN 9780659908971. OCLC 1042118581.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Further reading
edit- Delpit v Côté, 20 Rapports judiciares de Québec (Cour supérieure) 338 (Que Sup Ct) (30 March 1901) – complete text of Justice Archibald's judgment