REISCH
731
RELATIVISM
the affairs of the Catholic Church in Germany, he
attacked the current anti-ecclesiastical ^dews and
tendencies, especially with regard to mixed marriages,
in his work "Was haben vni von den Reformat oren
und Stimmfuhrern des katholischen Deutschland
unserer Tage zu halten?", which appeared at Mainz
in 1835 under the pseudonym Athanasius Sincerus
Philalethes. In 1836 he became Bishop of Eichstatt
(Bavaria), and, by the foundation of the boj-s' semi-
narj- (1838) and the erection of the lyceum (1843),
rendered the greatest ser\-ices to the ecclesiastical
life of the diocese. As delegate of the pope and the
Kings of Prussia and Bavaria, he mediated in the
Prussian ecclesiastical dispute, and the rapid settle-
ment of the "Cologne muddle" (Kolner Wirren) was
due primarily to him. In recognition of his ser^•ices,
he was named in 1S41 Coadjutor, and in 1847 Arch-
bishop of Munich- Freising. His zeal on behalf of the
Church ha\Tng rendered him unplea.sing to the Govern-
ment, he was, at the request of King Maximilian II
of Bavaria, summoned to Rome by Pius IX as car-
dinal-priest, with the title of St. Anastasia. He con-
ducted the concordat negotiations with Wiirtemberg
and Baden, took a prominent part in the prepiirations
for the council, became in 1867 President of the Con-
gregation of Ecclesiastico-political Affairs, in 1869
first legate of the council, was consultor of the Con-
gregation for the Index, for the publication of the
ecclesiastical canons of the Eastern Churches, for
Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, for the Examina-
tion of Bishops, member of the Congregation of the
Propaganda and of Sacred Rites, Minister of Educa-
tion for the Papal States, and in 1868 Cardinal-
Bishop of Ostia.
Katholik, I (Mainz. 1870), 129 sqq.; Moutor. Cardinal Reisach (Wurzburg. 1874); AUgem. deutsche Biogr,, XXVIII (Leipzig, 1889). 114.
Patricius Schlager.
Reisch, Gregor, b. at Balingen in Wiirtemberg, about 1467; d. at Freiburg, Baden, 9 May, 1.52.5. In 14S7 he became a student at the University of Freiburg, Baden, and received the degree of mij(^ister in 1489. He then entered the Carthusian Order. During the years 1500-1.502 he was prior at Klein- Basel; from 1503 to shortly before his death he was prior at Freiburg. He was also visitor for the Rhen- ish province of his order. As %asitor he made everj' exertion to combat Lutheranism. He was a friend of the most celebrated Humanists of the era, e. g., Erasmus, Wimpfeling, Beat us Rhenanus, Udalricus Zasius, and the celebrated preacher, Geiler of Kaisers- berg. John Eck was his pupil. Reisch had a great reputation for adaptability and was regarded as an "oracle". He was one of the most conspicuous, if not the most conspicuous, of the intellectual men at the commencement of the new era who sought to prepare encyclopedic works of knowledge. His chief work is the "Margarita philosophica", which first appeared at Freiburg in 1.503 (not as early as 1496). It is an encyclopedia of knowledge intended as a text-book for youthful students, and contains in twelvebooksLatingrammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arith- metic, music, georaetrj-, astronomy, physics, natural historj-, physiologj', psychology, and ethics. The usefulness of the work was increased by numerous woodcuts and a full index. The form is catechetical: the scholar questions and the teacher answers. The book was verj- popular on account of its comparative bre\-ity and popular form, and was for a long time a customary- textbook of the higher schools. Alex- ander von Humboldt said of it that it had "for a half- century, aided in a remarkable manner the spread of knowledge". In 1510 Reisch also published the statutes and privileges of the Carthusian Order, and assisted Erasmus of Rotterdam in his edition of Jerome. Petre^js, Bibliotheca Cartliusiana (Cologne, 1609), 109-112;
HrRTEB, NamenclatoT. II (3rd ed. Innsbruck. 1906), 1278-79;
H.\BTFELDER, Grcffor Rdsch, in Zeilschrift fur die GeschicMe
des Oberrhnns, New Series. V (Freiburg, 1890), 170-200.
Klemens Loffler.
Relationship (Carnal and Spiritual). — The theologians understand by relationship in general a certain connexion of persons establislied either by nature or by the civil or canon law. Hence they dis- tinguish three kinds, natui-al, legal, and spiritual. With legal relationship we are not here concerned. Natural or carnal relationship originates in carnal intercourse of man and woman, whether marital or not. It is twofold; consanguinity and affinity. Spiritual relationship has been introduced by ec- clesiastical law. It is associated with the adminis- tration of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirma^ tion. It runs in each case between the minister and the recipient of the sacrament and also between the sponsors on the one hand and the recipient and his parents on the other. According to the existing discipline it operates as a diriment impediment of marriage between the persons named. (See Affin- ity; Consanguinity; Marriage.)
.Suiter. Manual of Moral Theology (New York. 190S); d'.\x- NIBALE, Summula Theologire Moralis (Rome, 1908); Bai^ LERisi, Opus TheoUgicum Morale (Prato, 1900).
Joseph F. Delany.
Relatives, Duties of. — The general precept of charity obliging us to love our neighbour as ourselves is of course appUcable to our relatives. The tie of kinship, particularly in the nearer degrees, confers upon the command a special emphasis. Thus, there is established an order of preference in favour of relatives in the observance of the law. St. Thomas teaches that the strength of the affection we have for another is contingent upon the intimacy of the bonds that unite us. Xo set of relations antedates that of the family, nor is there any more lasting. Or- dinarily, therefore, we are to love those of our own kindred more than mere friends, and that notwith- standing whatever excellences these latter may happen to possess. This is true not only of natural affection, but also of the supernatural act of charity. Theologians have endeavoured to determine what is the respective rank enjoyed by relatives as claim- ants for our attachment. They seem to be pretty well agreed that husband or wife hold the first place; then follow children, next parents, brothers, and sisters. It is obvious however that the succession here indicated, valid as it may be in the abstract, is often for good reasons subject to change. In any case its in\-ersion would not be a grievous sin. There is no doubt but that we are bound to succour rela- tives in distress. .\11 that is usually laid down in general about the duty of almsgiving, both corporal and spiritual, holds good with added force when our kinsfolk are to be the recipients. Other things being equal, they are to be aided if need be to the exclusion of any one else. A disposition to set no store by this obligation would seem to deserve the condemnation of St. Paul in the First Epistle of Timothy (v, 8): "If any man have not care of his own, and especially those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel."
.SUTER. Manual of Moral Theology (New York. 1908); RicK- ABY, Moral Teaching of St. Thomas (London, 1S96); D'.\xnibale, Summula Theolagia Mttralis (Borne, 190S).
Joseph F. Delant.
Relativism. — Any doctrine which denies, uni- versally or in regard to some restricted sphere of being, the existence of absolute values, may be termed Relativism. Thus one form of Relativism asserts that we are conscious only of difference or change (Hobbes, Bain, Hoffding, Wundt. Cf. Maher, "Psychology", 6th ed., p. 91). Another asserts that truth is relative, either (a) because judgments are held (i) to have no meaning in isolation and (ii) to be
