HANDBOUND

AT THE

a. f.
/Q

PETEI

PKIVILEGIUM.

9FOTTI8WOODK AND CO., NKW-8TRUKT

AND PAHMAMENI STKEET

PBIVILEGIUM

THKKK PASTORAL LETTERS TO THE

CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE

BY

HENRY EDWARD

ARCHBISHOP OF

i.

rr,s

rov

paKapiov

Uf-rpov

WESTMINSTER

(puv^s

ipnevfvs

Ka8i<TTdfj.(vos.

EPIST. CONCIL. CHALCED.

AD

S.

LEON. MAQX.

Condi. Labbe, torn. iv. p. 1236.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND

1871.

co.

enim

Soliditas
laiulata,

credidit,

est

perpetua

fidei,

qua

et

sicut

permanet

permanet quod

ita

in

illius

in

S.

in

quod

Christus

Pet.ro

est
principe
Christo Petrus

Apostolorum
instituit.

LEO MAGN. SERM.

iii.

2,

Ed. Ballerini, Venet. 1753.

Magnum
suss

voluit

esse

et

mirabile,

divina

tribuit

dilectissimi,

dignatio:

principibus,

et

nunquam

si

nisi

huic

quid
per

viro

cum
ipsum

consortium
eo

potentiae

commune

dodit

csetoris
aliis

quicquid

non negavit.
Ibid. iv. 2.

Soliditas

factus

accepit,

enim
in

ilia,

quam de

Petra

Christo

etiam

ipse

Petra

suos quoque se transfudit hseredes.

Ibid, iv. 4.

PREFACE.
THE
in

three

PASTORAL

LETTERS,

now

collected

one volume, were written at separate times,

distinct parts of the

and contain three

subject

Roman
The

that

is

same

say, the Infallibility of the

to

Pontiff.
first,

Centenary of

which
St.

treats

Peter

of the

eighteenth

martyrdom, simply

affirms the doctrine of Infallibility as

it

has

been enunciated and taught by the Theological

tradition of the Church.

The second
tradition
lias

traces the line of the historical

by which the same Catholic doctrine

been affirmed.

The

third states

and explains the doctrine of

the Infallibility of the

Roman

Pontiff as

it

has

been defined by the (Ecumenical Council of

Vatican.

PREFACE.

Vlll

Taken

as a

whole the three Pastorals present

an outline of

at least

this revealed truth,

now

happily for ever placed beyond controversy or

doubt by the divine authority of the Church.

record, also, the indiction, the prelude,

They
and the

first

four sessions of the

first

Council of

the Vatican, the nineteenth (Ecumenical Synod

of the Catholic Church, which will leave
indelible

mark upon

of Trent has

and

left its

the future, as the Council

impression upon the past

present, of the Christian world.

CHRISTMAS 1870.

its

THE

CENTENARY OF SAINT PETER

AND

THE GENERAL COUNCIL:

PASTOKAL LETTER TO THE CLERGY

&c.

BY

HENKY EDWARD

AECHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER

LONDON

LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND

1867.

CO.

LONDON

PKIXTED BY SPOTTISVVOODK
NEW-STEEET SQUAEE

A If I)

CO.

CONTENTS.
Moral significance of the Centenary, 4; Five special Acts, 5;
of the Sovereign Pontiff on June 17, 1867, 6; Assembling
of the Bishops, 9 The Centenary and the Council of Trent, 12

Words

Limina Apostolorum, ] 5 Petrus in stiis successoribua

16.
praesidet et judicium exercet (Concil. Ephes. sess. iii.),

Visitation of the
vivit et

Petri,

Privileyia

four

tradition, the Fathers,

from

propositions

and Councils, 17

universal

Scripture,

Three

classes of evidence

of the Church, 21
Infallibility active and
office of teaching
The
24
23
Cathedra
Petri,
supreme
passive,
and ruling, 27.
for the

infallibility

Answer
Allocution of the Sovereign Pontiff, June 26, 1867, 28
Their recognition of the Supreme and Plenary
of the Bishops, 30
office of the successor of St. Peter, 34
Allegations of Protestant
;

critics,

35;

The

Encyclical of 1864, 37.

Condemned by Innocent XI.

Nationalism and Gallicanism, 41
in
VIII.
Alexander
and
1691,
47; The Church in France
1682,
;

in

The ordinary
of to-day, 53
ex Cathedra, 59.
;

medium

of Divine Faith, 57

Decrees

The order of truth is abiding/ St. Leo, 67 Reasons for con

voking the General Council, 69; The Supreme Pontiff and General
Councils, 71 The evidence of the first six General Councils, 73.
4

The Council of Trent, 75; Popular misunderstandings, 77; Two

The order of nature
elements of the discipline of the Church, 81
and the order of grace, 83.
;

The

Christian society of the world menaced, 85

The Protestant Reformation, 89

the past, 87
replevit

orbem terrarum 91
r

The Pope

world, 103.

The wounds
Spiritus

of

Domini

in presence of a hostile

CONTENTS.

IV

Public Documents of the Centenary.

1.

2.

Allocution of His Holiness, June 26, 1867, 109.

Homily of His Holiness, June 29, 1867, 116.

3.

Salutation or address of the Bishops, July

4.

Keply of His Holiness, 139.

1,

120.

REVEREND AND DEAR BRETHREN,

me
if I

I should not rightly fulfil the office which binds

and to the flock committed to
to
charge,

my

you,

were not to endeavour

far as I

am

able,

to

make you

in the great events

share,

so

which have

marked the Eighteenth Centenary of S. Peter s Mar

tyrdom. I need hardly tell you that, next after the
as I looked
feeling of joy which filled my mind,
upon the assembly of more than half the bishops
of the world gathered around the throne of the Vicar
of our Lord, there was nothing more present to me

than the wish that you could have been eye-witnesses,

with me, of these great acts of the Church; or, at
least, that I

might be able to convey

you some
light which I

to

what of the consolation, confidence, arid

This I will endeavour
trust they bestowed on me.
now to do. But at the outset I must disclaim both
the intention and the

power

to set before

you any

adequate picture of the beauty, majesty, and splen

dour of those solemnities. I can only say that all was
proportionate to the greatest kingdom upon earth, the
Holy Catholic Church. Of all that spoke to the eye,
therefore, I shall be silent.
A 2

I could not describe it if

would and
;

I leave it to others

who have

the gifts of

observation, and memory, and delineation required for

the task.
Some have already written of these great

solemnities

others will do so hereafter.

I shall con

myself entirely to that which did not meet the

I mean the moral significance, and, I
eye.
may say,
the moral beauty, majesty, and splendour of the late
fine

events in

The
the

Eome.

first

contrast

thought which arose in ray mind was

of the spectacle
displayed on the

Janiculum eighteen hundred

years
in S. Peter

ago,

and the

s.
On the day
solemnity then before me
of
the
martyrdom
Apostle, the people of Rome
hurried with rude and cruel
curiosity across the

of the

Tiber.

A multitude

of faces, distorted
passion, surrounded the cross of Peter.

by hate and
There, tra

dition says, he

hung head downwards in shame and

The other day, pastors and faithful from
agony.
all the world came
up to his tomb on the same
Janiculum, and surrounded in loving veneration the
throne of his successor.
In this victory of the Cross,

and in the perpetuity of the

victory, there
of

God

revealed.

No human power

is

the hand

could so change

the will in man.

Although I feel it impossible to describe the events

of those days, nevertheless there are five acts so

marked in their character that

rate them
First, was the Procession on

may

at least

enume

Christi, in

the Festival of
Corpus
which the Sacrament of our Lord s Pre-

sence was borne in the hands of His Vicar, attended

by half the episcopate of the Catholic Church

Secondly, the Consistory, in which the Sovereign
:

Pontiff announced his intention to convene an (Ecu

menical Council:
Thirdly, the eighteenth Centenary of S. Peter s Mar
The
tyrdom, held over the tomb of the Apostle.
of
that
was
and
probably
solemnity
splendour
beauty

never equalled.

It

was royal and

pontifical in all the

fulness of majestic grandeur.

Fourthly, was the Feast of S. Paul in his Basilica out

of the walls, where the relics of the Apostle of the
Gentiles are enshrined. This Basilica, which for grace

and beauty surpasses

S.

Peter

s as

much

as

it

is

sur

passed by S. Peter s for majesty and grandeur, was

once under the protection of the kings of England.
Since the unhappy schism of our country, no pro
tector

has been

named.

S.

Paul

still

awaits a

happier time.
Lastly, on the following day, the Holy Father gave
audience to the bishops, to receive from them the
Address or Response, in which they united them

and mind to their supreme Head. The

gravity and moral grandeur of that act we shall endea
vour to estimate hereafter. When the address had
been read, and when the Holy Father was about to
selves in heart

bestow the Apostolical benediction and bid farewell

He
to the bishops, the Angelus of noon sounded.

and began the Angelical Salutation, half the

Such a Salutation
bishops of the world responding.

rose,

was, perhaps, never before offered to the Mother of

God on earth. At Ephesus there were four hundred

and thirty bishops, but the Vicar of her Divine Son

was not there. So, simply and grandly, ended the
Centenary of 1867.
There was, however, one other event over which
I cannot pass in silence.
The 17th of June was
After the
the anniversary of the Pope s creation.
Mass in the Sistine, the Holy Father went to unvest

in the Pauline Chapel.

The Cardinal Vicar, in the
name of the Sacred College, made the usual address

of congratulation, ending with the words that they

wished the Holy Father health and many years to
c

see

and triumph of the Church.

His
words
in
which,
immediately answered,

the peace

Holiness

unfortunately, were not taken

down

but as nearly

I accept
they were as follows
your good wishes from my heart, but I remit their
verification to the hands of God. We are in a moment

as

possible

of great

human

crisis.

If

we

events, there

is

look only to the aspect of

no hope
but we have a
;

higher confidence. Men are intoxicated with dreams

of unity and progress
but neither is possible
;

Unity and progress based on pride

are
and egotism
illusions.
God has laid on me
the duty to declare the truths on which Christian

without justice.

Society

is

undermine

its

condemn the

foundations.

And

errors

which

have not been

In the Encyclical of 1864, and in that which

called the Syllabus, I declared to the world the

silent.
is

based, and to

and I condemned the

dangers which threaten Society,
falsehoods which assail

its life.

That act

now con

firm in your presence, and I set it again before you

To you, Venerable
as the rule of your teaching.
to
Brethren, as Bishops of the Church, I now appeal
assist

me

On you

in this conflict with error.

I rely

When

the people of Israel wandered in

the wilderness, they had a pillar of fire to guide them
in the night, and a cloud to shield them from the

for support.

You are the pillar and the cloud to

heat by day.
the people of God.
By your teaching you must
darkness by your example
guide the faithful in the
sun of this
you must shield them from the burning
;

moun
aged and alone, praying on the
are come to
tain; and you, the Bishops of the Church,
arms. The Church must suffer, but it will
hold

world.

am

up

my

conquer.
of season

u Preach the

word be instant in
;

season, out

with all patience

reprove, entreat, rebuke
and doctrine. For there shall be a time "-and that
u when
will not endure sound doc
;

come
they
The world will contradict you, and turn
trine."
For I am even
from you but be firm and faithful.
now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dis

time

is

"

solution
fight,"

is at

and

for you,

"

hand."

"have

and

have,"

kept the
for

I trust,

faith:"

me

"

fought a good

and there
"

is laid

up

a crown of justice,

also,
hope
which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me at
The power and emotion with which
that day."
these words were spoken moved every one who heard

them.

There

perhaps, hardly any

is,

who

Pontiff

has

governed the Church with more frequent exercises of

supreme authority than Pius the Ninth. The creation

of Hierarchies, the definition of the Immaculate Con
on the Temporal Power, the

ception, the declarations

condemnations in the Encyclical of 1864, manifest, in

a singular degree, the plenitude of his supreme office
as the Ruler and Doctor of the Universal Church.

Nevertheless there

perhaps, no Pontiff

is,

who has

united the whole episcopate so closely to himself, or

has called them so often to his side.
In 1854 the
bishops were invited to assist at the declaration of
the dogma, for which the whole Church had so
long

Two hundred and

waited with desire.

sembled about his throne in witness of the

fifty

as

faith of

the Universal Church in the Immaculate

Conception
of our Blessed Mother

and bore home

to their flocks

the pious belief of their hearts as an article of faith

defined by the Vicar of her Divine Son.

Again, in 1862,

power was

when

the conflict of the

temporal

at itshighest, Pius the

Ninth proclaimed

the canonisation of the

martyrs of Japan, and invited
the bishops once more to Rome. About two hundred
bishops obeyed his bidding, and, in words never to be
forgotten, united themselves to him in the conflict he

had
the

so long sustained for the

rights
Holy See; which are the rights

and

liberties of

and

liberties of

the Universal Church.

And now

a third

time he has

bishops of the whole world.

You

summoned

will all

the

remember

win

the intention

ii

when
when

was

first

made known.

It

was

the two years of the Convention were expiring

help was departing from him, and

men thought the time was come for the downfal of
The French armies were
the temporal power.
Then it was
in
December
1866.
to be withdrawn
all

human

Holy Father invited the bishops of the

world to surround him in Rome in June 1867. Men
While they
of the world counted it to be madness.
were prophesying revolution, anarchy, and I know
that the

not what, the Holy Father, with calm confidence in

God, began to make preparations for celebrating the

Centenary of S. Peter s Martyrdom over the tomb

The event has

of the Apostle.

justified his confi

dence, and taught a lesson both to the world and to

ourselves to us, that we be more courageous, and to
:

the world, that

it

It has manifested,

be

less pretentious in its prophecies.

with an evidence which no one has

dared to deny, the life and the power of the Catholic

Church. We had been listening to daily discourses

on the decline and

among

the nations.

exchanging

fall

At

of the Church as a power

the moment when men were

and congratulations, as they be

dead body, the Head of the Church

gifts

lieved, over its

spoke, and the bishops, literally from the four winds

of heaven, assembled round him. It was not a com

mand,

it

was not even an injunction

it

was a simple

Five hundred
invitation, an expression of his wish.
mid
bishops, with a multitude of the priesthood
faithful of the Church, came up from north, south.

10

and west, over land and sea, to the Suc

cessor of S. Peter, There were bishops from China,

east,

and the

far

east

the far west of

of

Asia

America

from

California,

from the

far north

and
of

Tartary, and of Canada; from Australia and the

islands of the Southern seas.
There were present

the chief pastors of at least thirty races and na

tions.
No voice but one in all the world could

have called together such an assembly the voice

of the successor of Peter, to whom the whole world

was committed, of the Vicar of Him to whom all

power in heaven and on earth is given.
It is not, then, in the majesty and splendour which
meets the eye that the magnitude and grandeur of
this event is to be measured. Taken
only as a demon
stration of

moral power, and of the superiority of

the moral over the material order of the world, the

assembly in Rome at this moment, in the face of all

menace of wars and of revolutions, has surely a signi

ficance far wider and deeper than
any event in our
times. More than this no event, since the last General
:

Council was closed, has manifested so

luminously to
so
may say,
palpably to the

the intellect, and, I

sense, the unity, universality, unanimity,

and autho

I am not
only true Church on earth.
but
to
only bound,
glad,
acknowledge the truthfulness,
and
candour
of
those
justice,
who, though not of the

rity of the

Catholic Church, have written from

Rome

the de

what they saw.

With one or two
scription
not
of
exceptions,
notice, their narratives
worthy
of

11

have been honourable, manly, and straightforward.

in Rome ought to awaken
Certainly the late events
in any Christian heart a noble and a generous sym

They were an exhibition of the Christian

pathy.
Faith and Church in acts of Divine worship, and of
divested of every accent of
charity to all mankind,
Whosoever believes in Christianity
controversy.
of the kingdom of our Divine
and desires the
spread

must have a sympathy in the great

Even those
assembly of the Church the other day.
who are separated from the Catholic and Roman
Lord upon

Church

earth,

recognise

Christendom.

it

as

They who

great foundation of
doctrine
reject parts of its
the

hold the Creed of the Apostles, which

it

has guarded

from the beginning they who rest their faith upon

that the cus
Councils, Fathers, and Scriptures, know
;

tody of

all

these

is

They who repose

mony and

ultimately in the Catholic Church.

their Christianity upon the testi

facts of history,

know

that the last and

in its
highest witness for the Christian revelation,
succession and even in its origin, is the Catholic and
Roman Church. It is impossible, therefore, that
this majestic
they can look without sympathy upon
demonstration of its indefectible life and immutable

identity.

without exaggeration be said, not only

manifestation
that, since the Council of Trent, no such
and universality of the Church has
of the
It

may

unity

been seen, but that the eighteen years of interrupted

and lingering toil of that Council in a valley of the

12

Tyrol never exhibited at any time such a demon

stration of the world-wide
organisation and central
authority of the Church as these last three weeks in

Rome.

Trent

not the tomb of the

Apostle.
Legates presided there here was the Vicar of our
is

Lord

in person.

At

the Council of Trent,

hardly a

hundred bishops were present on the

Centenary
of S. Peter s Martyrdom, five hundred
bishops of the
Church surrounded the throne of his successor.
:

But

it

pageant

be said that the

Centenary was but a
the Council of Trent is a
power, which for

may
:

three hundred years has

governed the Church.
most true nor can three
be

is

This

days
compared with
three hundred years; nor a Canonisation and a few
Allocutions be weighed against
of
:

eighteen years

supreme authority

in defining the faith

and legislating

for the Church.

Let us compare, therefore, this

Pontifical
act
great
only with the visible manifesta
tions of Trent ; and it will be within the bounds of
moderation to say that neither the
opening nor
the closing of that Council so drew to itself the
eyes of the whole world, nor so reflected the unity
and universality of the Church, as this

But

if

it

would

Centenary.
be unreasonable to
compare

these few days of festival in

years of legislation in Trent,

Rome
it

with eighteen

would be equally

unreasonable, and most superficial, to estimate the

moral significance of this
Centenary by the cere
monies and solemnities of those three weeks.
This

event

may

be taken, I believe, to be the

opening of

13
a

new

period,

and

reach over centuries

to contain a future
:

and

it

is

to this I

which may
would call

your thoughts.

And

first,

solemn celebration of the anni

this

versary of S. Peter s Martyrdom has in it a con

fession of faith, which must exercise a powerful action

both upon the Church and the world.

The words of our Divine Master, Thou art Peter,

and upon

this

rock I will build

my

Church, never

They
yet received a more majestic interpretation.
are blazoned round the dome which hangs above his
But the other day, the reality which they
The bishops of the Universal
there.
was
prophesy
Church assembled round his tomb. There they were,
resting upon him as the rock and foundation of their
power throughout the world. Fathers, doctors, and
sanctuary.

Councils have, in all ages, saluted Eome as the Chair

of Peter; but here, in honour of his martyrdom

and of his successor, five hundred bishops came from

the farthest regions of the earth to declare their faith
in the Divine centre of the Catholic unity, and their
vital

adherence to

to be

it.

impersonated.

was there

visible

The words of antiquity seemed

S.

There

Cyprian s axiom of unity

one God, and one Christ,

is

and one Church, and one Chair founded upon the

Rock (super Petram) by the voice of the Lord. * To

manifest unity, He has ordained by His authority
c

that unity should take

its

rise

from one

* S.
Cypr. Epist. xl. ad Plebem, &c.
t De Unit. Eccl.
Opp. p. 195.

[ Apostle].

Ed. Baluz.

14
of S. Augustin * were there before us
Peter personated [the Church] because of the pri
and of S.
macy he held among the Disciples

The words

Peter alone received the keys; and

of S. Leo, that our Lord has willed that whatsoever
He gave to the Apostles they should possess alone
Optatus,f that

through Peter ;J and of

there

is,

is

the

S.

Church*.

Ambrose, where Peter

In the midst of this

century, when faith is waxing faint

even in nations once Catholic, and men have been

nineteenth

deriding, and foretelling the downfal of the suc

cessor of S. Peter, as a relic of mediaBval super

and the shadow of an old usurpation, the

bishops of the world come together, to reaffirm their
faith in the supremacy and prerogatives of the Prince
stition,

of the Apostles, in the person of his successor

and
their absolute adherence and submission to his Chair
;

and to
In

his authority.

this

assembly of bishops in

Rome there was also

contained the recognition and fulfilment of some of

the highest obligations of the episcopate.
By a law
resulting from the primacy of
and
the
plenitude of pastoral care which
jurisdiction
was committed to S. Peter, and in him to his suc

of great

cessors,

bound

antiquity,

the bishops, as

pastors

of the flock,

* Enarr. in Ps.
108, torn. v. p. 1215.
f

De Scliismate Donat. Lib. 1. Opp. p. 10.

Leou. Serm. in Die Assumpt. suae. iii. Opp. p. 52.
Ambr. in Ps. xl. torn. i. p. 879, ed. Ben.

S. Optat.

S.
S.

are

to appear personally, at fixed intervals of time,

15

tomb of the Apostle. By the Constitutions

of Benedict XIV., it is ordered that all patriarchs,
and bishops shall visit the
primates, archbishops,
Limina Apostolorum: those of Italy and the neigh
before the

bouring shores every three years of Germany, Spain,

four years of
England, and the north of Europe every
of Europe every five years of Asia
the remoter
;

parts

and the more distant countries every ten years.

duty of

The

this visit consists of three

parts: first, per

sonal presence at the tomb of the Apostle second,
the act of reverence and obedience to the Roman
;

Pontiff;
is

and

thirdly, the account

bound to render

in

which every bishop

writing to

the

Pastor of

of his diocese, both of his clergy

pastors, of the state
and flock, descending into the minutest details of their

a recognition of
the supreme jurisdiction of the Vicar of our Lord over
It is a direct account, ren
the Universal Church.

number and

condition.

This

visit is

dered by each bishop to the Pastor who represents

If the Sovereign Pontiff
the chief of the Apostles.
were at Gaeta or at Avignon, the visit would be made
there, or

wheresover he

may

be.

Under the splen

dour and beauty of this Centenary, therefore, there

was this world- wide recognition of the supreme
care of the chief Pastor upon earth; and
pastoral

an account, minute and universal, of the state of

the whole Catholic Church, as of one fold under one
shepherd.

not without a Divine disposal that.

and above all other events at this moment,

It is certainly
lii

O_ih

16

should be manifested the universality of the Church

In an age when men are wan
resting upon Peter.
dering, or feeling their way uncertainly, believing
that a Church exists, but not knowing where to find

the two notes which S. Augustin held up before

the Donatists, the diffusa per orbem, and the Cathedra
it,

Petri, are visibly seen, not as texts in a page,

living facts before

our eyes.

hope that

but as
will

it

be

not unacceptable to you if I draw together old truths

with which, Reverend and dear Brethren, I know you
nevertheless, this moment gives them
a special seasonableness, and a new explicitness and
appli cation to our times.
to be familiar

What

I conceive
office

is
brought vividly before us is the
and action of Peter as the source

perpetual
of unity and infallibility to the Church and at the
same time the eminently practical and pervading in
fluence of this Divine order.
With those who are
,;

out of the Church, Peter is a historical name, a person

in the past, a subject of patristic
learning, a symbol of

To Catholics, Peter teaches and

unity and authority.
rules at this hour.
His prerogatives are wielded by
He is the source
successors, but the powers are his.
of jurisdiction, the organ of truth, the centre of
unity.
come and go, but Peter abides always. As

Pontiffs

one of the greatest of his successors has said

Simon
The Catholic
may die, but Peter lives for ever.
4

theology, therefore, and the Councils of the Church,

when they speak of Peter and of his prerogatives, are

using no rhetorical phrases, no oriental and allegorical

17

They use the words of strict law, and

They express the first principles of
Divine unity and authority of the Church of God.

exaggerations.
of exact rights.
the

When

Bellarmin enumerates the

eight-and-twenty
of
is
he
S.
Peter,
defining the exclusive
prerogatives
primacy of power and office which lies at the founda
tion of the Church,

over

and endures to

this day.

To pass

there are five prerogatives exclusively

belonging to him, which descend to his successors.
He was the first of the Apostles, and is so always desig
all others,

nated.

He had

name which, both in prophecy

made him the rock of foundation.

a special

and by promise,
He had, first and alone, the plenitude of all power. He
had a special stability of faith, by the singular assist
ance of the prayer of our Divine Lord
of which that stability

is

and an

office,

the condition, to confirm his

brethren; and lastly, he had the supreme and sole

In virtue of
charge of the whole flock on earth.
these prerogatives Peter became, and, in his successor,
is to this
day, the source of mission, the centre and

bond of Churches, the note of

unity, the

test

of

truth, the fountain of jurisdiction.

If there be, then,

any truth evidently declared in

Scripture and in universal tradition, in the writings

of Fathers, and in the decrees of Councils, it is that
which may be summed up in the following pro
positions
(

That

to Peter, first

and

alone,

our Divine Lord the plenitude of

B

all

was given by

power, both of

18
teaching and of ruling, together with the charge of
the whole flock on earth.

power was so given to him that he

was able to act alone and supremely, apart from the
other Apostles; whereas the other Apostles were
(2.)

That

this

unable to act except in subordination to him.

(3.) That to him a special assistance was granted
to sustain

him

in the

knowledge and declaration of

the faith, and a special office committed to him to

confirm and to sustain the faith of the Apostles so
;

that the deposit of faith was doubly secured, first in

the person of Peter, and next in the college of the

Apostles in union with him.

(4.) That this Divine foundation and institution of
the Church
successors,

perpetual that Peter lives on in his

and the college of the Apostles in the
is

so that both the Chair of Peter

episcopate

defectible

and

union with

Such

infallible,

and

is

in

also the episcopate in

it.

in

are,

embodied in

fact,

the

principles

this great solemnity

which were

and that

may

more

fully and completely express this confession

of faith, I will take the words of another, more

capable than I

am

to

convey

its full force.

bishop, successor of the Apostle

S. Peter, forms the centre of
unity to the whole

Rome, through

Church.

its

Hence those marks and

for the purpose of designating the

on earth, must, in virtue of such

notes,

which are

kingdom of God

title,

attach to the

Roman Church, as chief among all particular Churches,

19
the union of which constitutes the Church Universal.

And

especially in this characteristic of Rome,

as being the foundation, that the force of cohesion
as

resides

it is

Church one united and

which makes the

harmonious whole, in Rome,

too,

should be found the

Church s unity, sanctity, catholicity,

and apostolicity. Take from the Church the primacy
which Peter brought and bequeathed to Rome, and
the Church has ceased to exist it has vanished from
men s eyes, has lost its infallible teaching, and can no
conditions of the

longer guide mankind in the

way

of salvation.

was in a visible way that Jesus Christ designated

the Apostle Peter from the rest and in like manner
it is from its visible head, and from its union with
4

It

him, that the Church derives that complete fulness

of organisation which constitutes its beauty and its
glory.

and
the

The Roman Church

intrinsically,

possesses, immediately

the attributes which characterise

kingdom of God;*

all

them only
the One only

others share in

by their union with it. For Rome is

Church to which all others must conform, by reason
of its preeminent primacy, and because within it the
Rome,
Apostolic traditions have been preserved. f
with its arenas dyed with Christian blood, showing
on the line of its Pontiffs twenty- seven confessors in
the purple of
*

martyrdom

Lupoli, Jur. Eccl.

Rome, that

Ant. 1599, in 4to.

f

Th. Stapleton,
Ecclesise libri duo.

prnel. vol. I., p. 70, sqq.

Vere admiranda, seu de magnitudine Romnnae

S. Iren. adv. Hrcr. III. 3,

21, note 27.

n 2

for centuries

20

was one wide

field of slaughter, to

which the children

quarters of the Eoman

world to vindicate their glorious title at the price of
a cruel death.*
Rome is the Holy Church, which
of the Cross

came from

all

Christ has given for a foundation, in the person of

him to whom His own prayer secured indefectibility
of faith for all

who believe

in

Him

the Church which

has preserved, pure and intact, holiness of teach

from which descends the order that presides
ing
;

over the administration of the holy sacraments and

whose holy laws guide mankind to salvation. Rome
;

the Universal Church, whose gospel messengers

have traversed the whole world; whose faith is pro
claimed throughout the earth
which has accom
is

what pagan Rome attempted in vain, and

subdued that world to itself. f However numerous
and brilliant its victories, war never subjugated so
plished

many

nations to

beneath

its

it

laws.J

Rome owes

Christian peace has ranged

This unparalleled greatness and

to the Prince of

to the Apostles

glory
the Apostles, above

Church

as

all

hence

it

is

the Apostolic

and more, the Princely Apostolic Church.

it could come with a claim to the

If in ancient days

homage of mankind, and point with

*
lib.

Arringhi,
Stapleton, loc. cit. pp. 22, 23.
Blaetter, Bd. xi., s. 155, u. ff.

just

Roma

and holy
Subterranca,

i.

f Prosper, Lib. de Ingratis

Sedes Roma Petri, quoe pastoralis honoris

Facta caput mundi, quicquid non possidet armis
Relligione tenet.
t

S. Leo,

Serm. 82,

in Natal. Petri et Pauli,

t.

T. col.

321.

21
pride to
to-day,

twenty-five Pontiffs, how much more

it can claim the world s reverence and

its

when

admiration

with

who have

is this

the Church of

Eome

is

im

Placed in the swiftest stream of events,

perishable.

amid the

enough

fifty-three

successively in the Prince of

sat

bishops
the Apostles Chair.*

Nor

hundred and

two

its

vicissitudes of ages

and of empires, amid

the raging billows of every passion, exposed to every

by emperors, Gothic kings,

Greek exarchs, Lombards, and Franks by paganism,

fury, constantly assailed

schism, and heresy

moveable on that

there

it

has ever remained, im-

Rock of Peter:

that rock, itself

unshaken, of Apostolic and universal unity. What

could Nero do against it, or Domitian, or Decius, or
Dioclesian?
it,

What

or what can they

could the gates of hell do against

now ?

The evidence from

inspired and uninspired writings

for the infallibility of the

Church may be distinguished

into three classes.

First, those

which declare the perpetual

or infallibility of S. Peter,
successors.

stability

or of S. Peter and his

Secondly, those which declare the perpetual sta

to
bility or infallibility of the Church with reference
S.

Peter in his successors.

Thirdly, those which declare the perpetual stability

* Bellarmin. de Notis
Ecclesioe, lib. iv. c. 8.
Du
Droit
Eccles.
&c., translated by Crouzet.
t Phillips,
1855.
Vol. i. pp. 156-159.

Paris,

22
or infallibility of the Church, without reference to
S.

Peter and his successors.

It

would be disproportioned

to this letter to quote

at length the proofs of this assertion

am

compelled

to limit myself to affirming that the extent

explicitness
classes is far

of the

and the

under the two

evidence

first

beyond the extent and the explicitness

and further, that the

of the evidence under the third

evidence under the

first class is at least

equal to, if it
be not more than, the evidence under the two last.
The conclusion I would draw from this is, that

whensoever the perpetuity of the faith and the in

fallibility of the Church is spoken of, the foremost
and governing idea in the mind of the faithful has
always been the Divine order and assistance by which
S. Peter and his successors have been constituted as
the perpetual teachers of the Universal Church, and
guides in the way of eternal life.

The formation of the Church is traced in the order

God sent His Son into the
world to be made man. The Incarnate \Yord, in
Whom were hid all the treasures of wisdom and know
ledge, became the fountain of grace and truth, of
To the
doctrine, and of jurisdiction, to the world.
of the Baptismal Creed.

His Apostles He conveyed by the Holy

His communicable prerogatives, and
all

chief of

Ghost

thereby constituted him His vicar upon earth. Peter

became the head and guide, the fountain of doctrine
and jurisdiction, to the Apostles. The Church sprang

from him, and was formed, as

S.

Cyprian says,

like

23
the seamless robe of our Lord, from the top through
The texture of the robe spread downwards

out.

from the beam on which

The organisa
depended.
tion of the Church was unfolded from the plenitude
it

The prerogatives of stability, perpetuity,

indefectibility in the head became endowments
of the body united to him. But they existed in Peter
of

its

head.

and

before they were communicated to the Church, and

before the Church was organised to which they were
The indefectibility of truth,
to be communicated.

conception and enunciation,

which includes necessarily the discernment between

both in

therefore,

its

truth arid falsehood in the custody of the Deposit,

or, in other words, the supernatural gift of infallibility,
in the ordinary * state of the Church, resides first in
its head, next in the whole episcopate united with

him

so that the declarations

and condemnations of

the head of the Church apart from the episcopate are

and likewise those of the episcopate, being
infallible
;

This constitutes what

united with him.

the active infallibility of the Church.

that
too, arises the passive infallibility
;

is

called

From
is,

security which sustains the whole Church

this,

the Divine

in its faith

* It

is impossible to treat in this place of the extraordinary

condition of the Church, such as occurred in what is called the
*

great Western schism.

words of Bellarmin
definire nova dogmata

enough for the present to quote the

Etsi Concilium sine Papa non potest

It is
*
:

fidei, potest tamen judicare tempore schismatis, quis sit verus Papa, et providere Ecclesiai de vero pastorc,
quando is nullus aut dubius est et hoc est, quod recte fecit Con
:

cilium Constantiense.

De

Condi. Auct.

lib.

ii.

c. 19, sect.

22.

24
so that it is impossible for the

whole Church to err

in believing, because the pastors of the Church, with

their head, cannot err in teaching. But it is manifest
that,

according

to

this

doctrine,

the

fountain

of

teaching is the Divine Head in heaven,

through the organ of the visible head of the Church

infallible

pn
S.

earth.

In a word, then, this Centenary was the Feast of

Peter s Chair, elevated to the highest rite and cele

brated by the whole Church.

truth, idea, power,

The one dominant

and divine institution which

it

set

before our eyes and hearts is the Cathedra Petri.

Let us recal to our minds what the studies of earlier

days have made familiar, and our daily labours have

verified.

The Chair
place where

of Peter

is

of Peter

is

the power of Peter, and the

has been divinely fixed.

The power
in the key of knowledge and the key of
it

committed by a divine act to him as Vicar

of Christ and head of the Church on earth.
The

jurisdiction,

Divine warrant of this power is recorded in three

declarations of our Divine Master
Tibi dabo claves
7

Pasce oves meas

Ego

rogavi pro

te.

The delivery

of the keys of knowledge and jurisdiction gave the

plenitude of power to teach and to rule; the delivery
of the flock determined the object of that power; the
prayer of the Divine Head of the Church sustains the

know

that the world, and every

heresy and schism that has rebelled against the Vicar
of Christ, has denied, and does daily deny, this affirfaith

of Peter.

25

mation of the sense and

effect of these three declara

But I know that the

tory acts of Divine power.
Church has always so believed, held, and taught and
:

The
nothing can make us swerve.
foundation thus laid in Peter s person abides to this

from

its tradition

which was infused into him, not by

flesh and blood, but by the Father in heaven/ was
sustained by the prayer of the Son of God, arid is

The

day.

faith

transmitted and impersonated in his successors. The

faith of Peter is, by a Divine assistance, perpetual in
the Church

indefectible

and

and

is

therefore,

infallible.

by its
The

intrinsic stability,

Chair

of Peter,

then, signifies the place of the power and of the

doctrine of that faith; which is the foundation for
not fail. *
From
that it
which Christ

might

prayed

this it follows

that the Church, or See, or Cathedra,

or Episcopate, or Pontificate of Peter in Eome, which

things are taken for one and the same, to which the

Roman
power
its

Pontiffs succeed with the full authority and

of Peter, to bind, to loose, and to teach, derives

supreme power,

as the Council of Florence decreed,

not by concessions of Emperors or of Councils, but

immediately from God. f

From this

descends the special prerogative

that

is,

Roman Pontiffs
of the Roman Church

special prerogative of the

of the particular Church of

* L.

Rome, with

its

Brancatus de Lauraea. De Virtute Fidei Disp. v. Art. vii.,

Ed. Rom. 1673. Typis S. C. dc Prop. Fid.
This portion of the treatise may be found also in Roccaberti,

de Decretis Eccles.
Bibl.

Max.

Pontif. torn. xv. p. 48.

f Ibid., or Roccaberti, ut

supr<i.

26
clergy and people, of which the Roman Pontiff is
All particular Churches, except this, may
Bishop.
err
the particular Church of Rome cannot ; for
;

which cause
of

its

it

has inherited a host of

dignity and

It has

stability.

titles

expressive

been known as The

c

Head of the Episcopate, The Mother of all Churches/

The Mistress or Teacher and Ruler of all Churches,
The Primacy over all the Church, The Primacy
The Head of Religion, The
over all the World,
Guardian of the Faith, The Guardian of Tradition. *
The Roman Church has been regarded as the true
4

seat of the apostolic tradition

the form of truth

judgments

the

in faith

the doctrine of

Roman

Rome

as

See as the pattern for

the judgments of Rome as equiva

In a word, the Chair of

lent to decrees of Councils.

Peter has been held to be the test of orthodoxy, the

confirmer of Councils, the supreme tribunal of faith,
the destroyer of heresies, the end of controversies, an
authority which
to

no

is

subject to no appeal, to no reversal,

no superior upon earth. f

the sense of all this, but that the indefec-

revision, to

What

is

and

of the Pontiff, by a singular

of which he is pastor ?
the
Church
privilege, pervades
Therefore it is that, from the earliest history, we find
tibility

the

infallibility

Roman Church

exercising this supreme office of

* L. Brancatus de
Laurasa,
Roccaberti, torn. xv. p. 24.

De

Decretis

Eccles. Art.

iii.,

or

f Schrader, De Unitate Romana, pp. 223, 225-6, 273, 279.

De irreformabili Rom. Ponlif. Judicio, torn. ii. pp. 300, 310,

Orsi,

324.

27

The Roman

teaching and ruling.

Pontiffs,

from the

beginning, have issued decrees, sentences, judgments,

condemnations, on faith, on morals, on universal dis

without Councils, general or particular, or with

the assistance of bishops chosen by themselves, or with
cipline,

their

own

clergy and theologians.

And

such acts of

the Roman. Church have always been received as

objects of faith, and laws of Divine authority.

need hardly stay to quote S. Irenasus, who lays

down that all Churches must needs be in agreement
with the Roman Church;* or Tertullian, that it had
I

the singular happiness of receiving the whole doc

trine of the Apostles, together with their blood ;f
or S. Cyprian, that the faith of the Romans was com

mended by

Paul, and

S.

that error in faith could

never find access to them

Damasus, With you

c

alone

have come

J or S.

is

Jerome

to

Pope

preserved incorrupt the

Re
or S. Augustin,
cause
the
the
Apostolic See)
(from

inheritance of the Fathers

scripts

quote only Theodoret, who sums

up the sense of the Western Church while he bears
That most holy See has the
witness for the Eastern
is

I will

finished.

||

primacy and leadership of the Churches in all the

world by many titles, and by this above all, that it
has continued free from taint of heresy;
*

Iren.

f Tertull.

Contra

De

nor has

Ilaer., lib. iv. 38.

Prcescr.

c.

xxxvi.

Opp. p. 86. Ed. Baluz.

t Epist,
xv.
Opp. torn. i. P. I, p. 38.
Epist.
Iv.

||

S.

Aug. Opp. Serm. cxxxi.

s.

Ed. Ven. 1766.

10, torn. v. 64o.

28

any one of perverse opinions ever

sat

in

has preserved the Apostolic grace inviolate.

therefore,

lasius,

only

expressed

is

first,

the

but
S.

it

Ge-

what the whole

Church believed, when he declared that

Peter the Apostle

it,

Roman

the See of

Church, not

having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. J*

It must here be observed that the prerogative of
Peter
the

is

Roman Church

the cause, the fidelity of the

effect.

These are the principles declared by the Sovereign

Pontiff in his Allocution of June 26, in which he

announced his intention to convoke,

at

some future

time not yet determined, a General Council. In that

allocution he dwelt upon the strength which the

He said
But if the
bishops derive from Rome.
of
the
faithful
be
considered, what,
general good
:

venerable brethren, can be more timely and whole

some for Catholic nations, in order to increase their

obedience towards us and the Apostolic See, than that

they should see how highly the sanctity and the
rights of Catholic unity are prized by their pastors,
and should behold them, for that cause, traversing
great distances of sea and land, deterred by no diffi
culties

from hastening to the Roman

See, that they

reverence in the person of our humility to

the successor of Peter and the Yicar of Christ on

may pay
earth ?
*

For by

Ad Renat.

this authority of

Presbyt. ep. cxvi.

Tom.ii. 217.
f Ibid. torn.

ii.

p.

217.

example, far better

Schradcr,

De

Unitate Romana.

29
they will perceive what
reverence, obedience, and submission they ought to
bear towards us, to whom, in the person of Peter,
than by

subtil

Lord

Christ our
sheep,"

doctrine,

u
said,

Feed

My

lambs

feed

My

and in those words entrusted and committed

to us the

supreme care and power over the universal

Church.
4

Moreover, you also, Venerable Brethren, in the

exercise of your sacred ministry, will reap a signal
fruit from this reverence towards the Apostolic See
;

which you are bound by closer

bonds of relationship, faith, and love to the corner

for in the

measure

in

stone of this mystical building, in that measure, as

the history of the Church in all times teaches, you
will

be more and more clothed with that fortitude and

strength which are needed by the amplitude of your

ministry against the attacks of the enemy and the

For what else did Christ our

adversity of events.
Lord intend us to understand when he set Peter as
head

to

defend the stability of his brethren, saying,

have prayed for thee, that thy

tended, as S.

Leo implies, that

faith fail

"the

not?"

Lord took a

He

"

in

special

care of Peter, and prayed expressly for Peter s faith,

as if the state of the others would be more certain if

the

mind of

therefore,

help

of

were unconquered. In Peter,

the fortitude of all was guarded, and the
their chief

Divine grace

was

so

ordained that the

which was given by Christ to Peter, by

Peter should be bestowed on the rest of the Apostles."

stability

Wherefore,

we

are always assured,

it

cannot be but

30
that a larger measure of that fortitude which, by a
special gift of the Lord, was bestowed on Peter,

should be always given to you as often as you are

present with the person of Peter, who lives in his
and touch only the soil of this City,
successors
;

toil and the triumphal blood of the sacred

Prince of the Apostles has watered.
Nay, venerable
we
never
that out of the
have
doubted
but
brethren,

which the

very tomb where the ashes of blessed Peter rest for

the perpetual veneration of the world, a secret power
and healing virtue goes forth to inspire the pastors

Lord

with daring strength, great cou

rage, and nobleness of mind; and this, by renew
ing their power, makes the bold audacity of the
of the

enemy, which

flock

is

no match

and power

for the virtue

of Catholic unity, to sink and

fall

in a conflict so

un

equal.

To

this the bishops

While, looking up

unanimously answered
to the heavenly Jerusalem, that

rejoices in the glory of

and

set forth the

take part

her

Saints,

we

recognise

wonderful works of the Lord,

more fervently

as contemplating,

new

we

in the present celebration,

in the solemnity

which

this

day
round
the
unshaken
firmness
of
the
again,
brings
Rock whereon our Lord and Saviour built His
Church, solid and perpetual. For we perceive it to
be an effect of the power of God, that the Chair of
Peter, the organ of truth, the centre of unity, the

foundation and bulwark of the Church

should have stood firm and

unmoved

for

freedom,

now eighteen

31

hundred years complete, amid so many adverse cir

cumstances, and such constant efforts of its enemies

while kingdoms and empires rose and fell in

should so have stood, as a secure beacon to
turn,
direct men s course through the tempestuous sea of
that,

it

and show, by its

harbour of salvation.

life,

Led by

the safe anchorage and

and these

feelings,

Most Holy

when five years ago, stand

around your throne, we rendered our due tes

Father,

ing

this faith

light,

we spoke

before,

timony to the sublime office you bear, and gave

public expression to our prayers for you, for your
civil princedom, and the cause of right and of religion.

Led by this faith we then professed, both in words

and writing, that nothing was nearer to us, nor
dearer, than to believe and teach those things which
you believe and teach;
which you reject; than

than to reject those errors

to walk in the ways of the

Lord with one mind, under your guidance to follow
you, to labour with you, and with you to contend
in the Lord s cause, at every risk and with whatever
result.
All these things, which we then declared, we
now renew and confirm with the deepest filial piety
and we desire to testify it to the whole world grate
;

also,

and with

fullest assent, all

remembering
you have done from that time onward for the good
of the faithful and the glory of the Church.
fully

u
cannot but
For, as Peter said long since,
speak the things we have seen and heard." You have

We

also held

it

to be a sacred

and solemn duty

you ure

32
giving manifest proof that you have never held it to
be otherwise. For never has your voice been silent.

You

have accounted

to belong to your supreme

office to proclaim eternal verities ; to smite with the
it

sword of your Apostolic utterance the errors of the

time, which threaten to overthrow the natural and
supernatural order of things, and the very founda
tions of ecclesiastical and civil power; to dispel the

darkness which perverse and novel teachings have

shed over men s souls and to declare, persuade to,
;

and approve

all

that

is

needful and wholesome to the

individual, to the Christian family, and to civil society

so that at length all may attain to know what it is
:

that every Catholic should hold, retain, and profess.

For that exceeding great care we render to your

Holiness the deepest thanks, and with endless grati

and, believing that Peter has spoken by the

tude

mouth

of

Pius,

therefore,

whatsoever

you

have

spoken, confirmed, and pronounced for the safe cus

tody of the deposit, we likewise speak, confirm, and

pronounce; and with one voice and one mind we

reject everything which, as being opposed to Divine
faith, the salvation of souls, and the good of human

you have judged fit to reprove and reject.

For that is firmly and deeply established in our con
sciousness, which the Fathers at Florence defined in
society,

on union, that the Roman Pontiif is

the Vicar of Christ, head of the whole Church, and
father and teacher of all Christians; and that to

their

decree

"

him, in the person of blessed Peter, has been com-

33

by our Lord Jesus Christ full power to feed,

to rule, and to govern the universal Church."
But there are other things beside which excite our
We admire and
love and gratitude towards you.
rnitted

rejoice over the heroic

courage with which you have

and your
pernicious stratagems
efforts to keep the Lord s flock in the way of salva
tion, to guard it against the seductions of error, and

opposed

this

world

against the force of the powerful and the

admire that zeal
subtlety of the falsely wise.
which knows no weariness with which, embracing in

defend

it

We

your apostolic care the peoples of the East and West,

you have never ceased to provide for the good of the

We

admire the noble spectacle of

the good Shepherd which you afford to the race of
universal Church.

mankind, that is plunging deeper into evil day by

day one which strikes the minds of the very enemies
;

of the truth, and arrests even unwilling eyes

intrinsic excellence

by

its

and

dignity.
these words the bishops did not confirm the
acts of the Pontiff as if they needed confirmation,

By

nor accept his declarations of truth arid condemna

if
they needed their acceptance.
did
not
intend
or imply that the supreme
They
Pontifical acts since 1862, in the form of Allocutions,

tions

of error as

Briefs, Encyclicals,

and the Syllabus, were of imper

and only inchoate authority until their acceptance

should confirm them.
Nothing was further from the

fect

They recog
thoughts of the pastors of the Church.
nised the voice of Peter in the voice of Pius, and the
c

34
infallible certainty of all his declarations

and condem

supreme and singular pre

of
the
Universal Church, given by
of
Doctor
rogative
our Lord Jesus Christ to Peter, and through Peter
to his successors.
They renewed, before the tomb

nations, in virtue of the

of the Apostle, the adhesion they had already given,

one by one, in the midst of their flocks, to the succes
sive utterances of

the Sovereign Pontiff, as these,

from time to time, had reached them. The Encyclical

Quanta Cur a, and the Syllabus or compendium of
eighty condemnations in previous encyclicals and
allocutions

them

all

these had been at once received

as a part of the

by
supreme teaching of the

Church, through the person of its head, which, by the

special assistance of the Holy Ghost, is preserved from

They did not add

all error.

was already

infallible.*

certainty to that which

This act of adhesion was

a recognition of the supreme and plenary office of

the successor of S. Peter, which, as the Council of

Florence denned, he has received in and through the

person of Peter not by canons, nor by councils, nor
;

by

ecclesiastical institution, as

some blindly

say,

with

the decree refuting them before their eyes, but from

the direct grant and
gift of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before as yet a canon

was made, or

a council assem

bled.
I

have lately seen

critic,

that the truths

* Gerdil.
viii., ix.

Per

Op.

la

it
affirmed by a Protestant
and principles which have been

BolLa Auctorem

inedit., torn. v. p.

Fidei.

256-259.

Scz. 2. Art,

Napoli, 1855.

vii.,

35
here

declared

as

is

is

modern

are

that

Ultramontanism,
novel opinion, and that its rise
to be ascribed to the vulgar ambition of ruling
it

called, is a

as a despot

over willing slaves, to bureaucratic

despotism with a well-drilled episcopal police/ to the
c

Tarquinian policy of cutting down all the taller poppywatchful jealousy and incessant petty
heads, to
c

persecution on the part of the Curia.

are told that the first epoch of Ultramontanism

We

commenced with

the Council of Constance, and closed

with the Council of Trent

that, unfortunately, the

counsels of Pole and Contarini were not followed, and

that but for their failure

have conquered for

the Teutonic element would

itself its

natural place and recog

nition in the development of the Catholic Church.

The

Catholic Church,

we

are told,

became

the Latin

Church, which lost the Teutonic element by confirming

its

we

The great error,

despotic grasp upon the Latin.
are taught, was committed by a General Council.

The Council of Constance

horse

or,

as

election of the

we

put the cart before the

should say, it determined the

then, instead of ruling him

submitted to him as the Vicar of

Pope and
;

and teaching him, it

The main principle of Ultramontanism,
Christ.
therefore, was distinctly recognised and put in act

by the Council of Constance. Does any one

inn nine

that in this the Council of Constance differs from the

Councils of Chalcedon or of Trent, or that its acts

embody any other principles than those of tin- nniversul tradition of Christianity

c2

namely, the supreme

36
authority of the successor of S. Peter in ruling and
teaching the whole Church on earth?

As

to

said.

may be

would seem that some suppose the Catholic

It

Church

the Teutonic element/ a few words

be a system, like the Austrian or the

to

British empire, in
their part, balanced

which

by

nationalities are to play

Judaic notion began to rise

unity began

to

This

constitutional checks.

decline.

when
The

the idea of Catholic

assimilation

of

all

national distinctions to a higher type

the extinction,
that is, of nationalities in Christ Jesus
eliminated

Jew and

Greek, Teuton arid Latin, from the sphere

of faith. It was the rise of

modern

nationalities

which

caused the great Western schism, for the termination of

which the Council of Constance was assembled. The

schism was healed, though the Council of Basle for a

The national spirit continued still
it.

while re-opened

and in a part of Germany and England grew

to a head, which in the sixteenth century issued in
to work,

the Protestant schism.

But

stance, the greater part of

for the Council of

Europe might have been

After the Council of Trent, a part of

involved.

Germany, and England and Scotland,

the Catholic unity.

not thereby lost to

Germany

is

from

And the Anglowhich Teuton, German, and Celt are

race, in

mixed

together,

At

fell finally

But the Teutonic element was

More than half of
the Church.

Catholic to this day.

Saxon
world.

Con

spreading over a large part of the

this moment, the
English-speaking episco
is

pate of Great Britain and

its

possessions, with the

37

United States of America,

is

more numerous than the

hierarchy of any other race or language. There are not

less than a hundred and sixty or
seventy Teutonic
c

)ishops in this

Latin Church.

It is a

mystery of God

providence that races and nations once in the Catholic

But it was not Ultramonunity should fall from it.

tanism which separated the Lutherans of the West, any

more than the Nestorians of the East. It was not the
of the Pope, ex cathedrd, which drove
Protestants into schism.
It was the denial of the in

infallibility

fallibility

We

are

Church which made them heretics.

often and confidently told that Ultramon-

of the

tanisrn can

make

little

way with

thinking men.

The

last resource is to appeal to the

credulity or the igno

rance of those

who

are afraid to think

and here

lies

the true explanation of that perplexing blunder, the

Encyclical of 1864.
gives me the occa
sion for which I have been waiting.
In the touchin^
o
o

The perplexing blunder of 1864

recital of the last

days of our illustrious Cardinal, we

Hearing that some of the French

bishops had ordered the Encyclical to be read
to the people, he said
I am
very glad the French
read these words.

bishops are standing out so bravely for the liberties

of the Church.
That will console the Holy Father
He added that he had hoped to say
very much.

The French bishops have spoken,

something on it.
but as yet I have said nothing. *
(

Cardinal

Wiseman

Last Illness, pp. 24, 25 (Burns).

38
I

have

upon me

duty devolves as an heirloom

has been my intention to treat of

felt that this

;

and

it

the Encyclical and Syllabus fully and explicitly. But

the urgency of other duties has delayed it till now
and I have been compelled to content myself with
;

publishing those two Pontifical acts in our fifth

Diocesan Synod, as a part of the supreme and infal
lible teaching of the Church, both in the declarations

and

in the condemnations contained in them.

And now that half the Episcopate

of the Church has

from the moment the voice

spoken, proclaiming that,

of Peter reached them, all the declarations and con

demnations of his successor were to them the rule of

teaching, I know not what I have to add.
Nevertheless, I may hope at a future day to treat of

their

some of the propositions of the Syllabus which are

either most assailed, or nearest in their bearing upon
have no hesitation in saying that the Encyclical
and Syllabus of 1864 are among the greatest acts of

us.

The Encyclicals which preceded them

had condemned many of the chief anti- Christian and
anti-social errors of the
They had prepared for
day.
the unanimous declaration of the
Episcopate in 1862,
on the subject of the temporal power, to which after

this Pontificate.

wards the whole number of the absent bishops ad

hered.

Deny

it

who may,

that act

stemmed the

tide

of public opinion in
Europe. It extinguished within
the unity of the Church the few who murmured
against the temporal power, or spoke laxly or
The unanimity of Catholics
erroneously about it.

39

upon those without, and a change of tone is per

Next came the Encyclical
ceptible since that date.
told

and Syllabus, which summed up

in

one act the de-

many years, giving them a new pro

mulgation and a sensible accession of power over the
of so

d;i rations

minds, not only of the faithful, but even of opponents,

by the concentrated force and weight of their applica
tion.

This, again, prepared for the declaration of the

bishops at this Centenary of S. Peter s Day.

Every
bishop in the world had the Encyclical and Syllabus
in his hands.
Upon that summary of the acts of this

hundred bishops proclaim their

adhesion to every declaration and every condemnation
therein contained, and to every other act of doctrinal
whole Pontificate

five

It is
authority since their last assembly in Rome.
the Encyclical and Syllabus which gives such force
and import to the words of the episcopate the other
It is the basis of their Salutation, as they style
day.
It will be also the basis and the guide
the address.
of the General Council, prescribing and directing its

deliberations

plexing

and

to those

decrees.

who

throughout the world

That

should be

it

is

not wonderful.

per

Church

refuse to learn of the

Light

is

perplexing to eyes that are only half open, or, from

The greatest blunder in
disease, are again half shut.
the world

eyes

is

Catholicism

the next greatest is

Catholic Christianity.

Christianity. Ultramontanism is
I will make but one more remark
errors, on which already
intrinsic worth demands.

on these popular

have said more than their

We are told

In one

40
Catholic country the struggle between the rival sys
for two centuries after the Refor

tems was continued

mation

and the great name of Bossuet

illustrious for his eloquence

is

not more

than for his bold vindica

tion of the national as opposed to the ultramontane

There is a truth in this pas
theory of Catholicism.
7

Gallicanism

sage.

nationalism

is

which the

that

Gospel casts out; that which grew up again in me

It is the Christian Judaism
dieval Christendom.

which strove
factions

to elect its

own High Priest

the national

which rent the Sacred College the nationalism

up two or three uncanonical Popes, and
;

which
two or three national obediences the
set

worldliness,

spirit

of egotism,

and avarice, which caused whole nations of

to apostatise from the Divine will, from the

of
the Church, and to erect Lutheranism, Cal
unity
vinism, and Anglicanism on the schismatical basis of

Europe

national Churches.

Louis

and

XIV. and

The same

spirit in

France tempted

a handful of courtiers, ecclesiastical

civil, to the verge of schism,

from which they

were saved by the authority of the

Pontiff,

by the

Catholic fidelity of the majority of the French bishops,

and by the Catholic instincts of the French people.
The great name of Bossuet, as I will show, was
darkened by his contact with this error, and might

have incurred a censure which would have attached

to

for ever.

Much

we

respect the memory of

Bossuet, reverence for the Divine order of the Church
it

as

constrains us not to praise

is under a cloud.

name

him when

his illustrious

41

The boldness or the unconsciousness with which

sometimes put forward as an opinion
which Catholics are free to hold without blame, and
as a basis on which Churches are to unite under the
(iullicanism

is

shelter of Bossuet,

and

as a standard of Catholic

Ultramontane

moderation in rebuke of

makes

seasonable to

it

tell its

history.

excesses,

Gallicanism

no more than a transient and modern opinion

which arose in France, without warrant or antece

is

dents in the antient theological schools of the great

French Church: a royal theology, as suddenly deve
Articles
loped and as parenthetical as the Thirty-nine
affirmed only by a small number out of the nume

rous episcopate of France, indignantly rejected by

many of them; condemned in succession by three
declared by the Universities of Louvain
and Douai to be erroneous retracted by the Bishops
Pontiffs

of France;
countries,

condemned by Spain, Hungary, and other

and condemned over again in the bull

To

be added, that the

name of Bossuet escaped censure only out of indul
services to the Church
gence, by reason of his great

Auctorem

Fidei.

this

may

and that even the lawfulness of giving absolution to

those who defend the Gallican Articles, has been
gravely questioned.
To justify these assertions, I will briefly give the
con
proofs with the references, which may be easily
;

sulted.

In order to maintain against Innocent XI. the pre

tended claims of the Eegale in matters of ecclesiastical

42
benefice,

Louis XIY. commanded the bishops and

Thirty-four bishops out

clergy to assemble in 1682.

of a hierarchy of some hundred and twenty assembled.

majority of these not all, for it is known that De

Archbishop of Cambray, resisted passed the

four famous Gallican Articles, and published them on
Brias,

the 19th of March.*

*

They were immediately

Zaccaria Antifebronius Vindicatus,

Dissert

V.

c.

conv.

2.

Romse 1848.

The following account, given by Fenelon, respecting the part

taken by Bossuet in the Articles of 1682, is too interesting to be
omitted
:

Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, lately deceased, often narrated to

me, before witnesses worthy of confidence, the things which

passed in the Assembly of the Gallican Clergy in 1682.

narrative was as follows :

The

Choiseul, Bishop of Tournai, had been chosen to draw up

the Declaration of the Gallican Clergy on the authority of the

He wrote it, and it was read. At once Bossuet strongly

opposed him, because he declared that both the Apostolic See and
the Pope personally might fall into heresy.
Choiseul answered
Unless you say so, whether you will or 110, you necessarily affirm
the infallibility of Rome.
But you cannot
Bossuet replied
deny that the faith of Peter shall never fail in his See. That is
that is most evident from uni
clearly proved by the promises
If that be so, Choiseul said, absolute infalli
versal tradition.
bility is ascribed not indeed to the man who sits in the See, but
And so it must be admitted that every decree
to the See itself.
which emanates from the Apostolic See is altogether irreformable, and confirmed by infallible authority.
Pope.

Bossuet tried to answer the objection in this way The faith

is indeed indefectible
nevertheless its judgments are
not infallible. How do you prove, Choiseul asked, that the faith
*

of this See

I prove it, said Bossuet, from the

?
forasmuch as Christ expressly says,
I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." This is the faith of
Peter, which shall never fail in his See

of this See

is

indefectible

promises of Christ

"

43
lci

uned by the University of Louvain.

They were

by the theologians of Liege. The professors

of Douai at once petitioned the King that they might
assailed

While Choiseul endeavoured to refute these arguments, Bosurged him sharply. He said, with a peremptory voice,
Answer: can the Apostolic See become heretical or not ? What
*

suet

ever you say will be contrary to yourself. If you say that the
Apostolic See can become heretical, and, in defending its heresy,
schismatical, then by your doctrine it may come to pass, that the

head of the Church may be torn from the body, and the truncated
body become lifeless and therefore the centre of unity in faith
become the centre of corrupt belief and of heresy. But if you
say, this See cannot fail in the faith, of which it is the centre
and head, therefore the faith of this See is indefectible.
After much direct controversy of the same kind, Choiseul
added Under this milder name of indefectibility you are in
sinuating that very infallibility of the Ultramontanes which you
Show therefore
deny, and most dangerously delude yourself.
in
of
and
what
this
yours differs
precisely
clearly
indefectibility
from that Ultramontane infallibility.
The Bishop of Meaux
answered, that it was promised to the Apostolic See that it
should be for ever the foundation, centre, and head of the
Catholic Church, and that therefore it could never become
;

schismatical or heretical, like many Oriental Churches, which,

once enjoying Catholic communion, had at length lapsed into
schism and heresy.
It is proved by the promises (these are

Bossuet

words), that

to

the Apostolic

See this can never

happen.

When

this altercation between the two bishops ended, the

of
Tournai
withdrew from the office of drawing up the
Bishop
Declaration.
The Bishop of Meaux was substituted to fulfil this

duty, and immediately

exist at this day.

drew up the Four Propositions

as they

These are the particulars which witnesses worthy of confi

dence, and still living, have with me very often heard narrated
by the Bishop of Meaux.
Fenelon,

De Summi Pontificis

Auctoritate, c.
Vol.

GEuvres completes de Fenelon.

Paris, 1852.

7.
ii.

44
not be required to affirm the propositions
they
declared that they and all the faithful detested the
;

doctrine in respect to ecclesiastical power contained

in the declaration of the Gallican clergy they affirmed
;

these opinions, which are destructive of the absolute

primacy and infallibility of the Supreme Pontiff, to be

erroneous

and that they should believe themselves to

if
they were to dero

be numbered among schismatics

gate from the supreme authority of the Vicar instituted

by Jesus Christ, in defining what doctrine is sound and
is fake and evil.
We have consulted,
learned
the
most
theologians, both regular
they add,
and secular and we have not as yet been able to find

true,

and what
c

even one

would

solid

ground

to

form a conscience which

dictate the lawfulness of teaching these

propo
In Spain, the Inquisition issued a decree in
which each proposition was branded with a particular
sitions.

In Hungary, in the year 1686, the proposi

tions were condemned in the following words. After

censure.

Fenelon, in refuting Bossuet s opinion, says

*
The great use of the controversy between the Bishops of
Tournai and Meaux is as follows that out of their propositions
:

may be constructed an invincible argument for the Apostolic Sec.

The major is laid down by the Bishop of Tournai, the minor is
the conclusion is mine, and
defended by the Bishop of Meaux
;

is

....

The

indefectibility in faith of the Apostolic See,

said the Bishop of Tournai, is identical with the doctrine

inevitable.

which the moderate school of Transalpines labour to prove, under

But the indefectibility of
mild name of infallibility.
faith in this See, answered the Bishop of Meaux, can be denied

-the less

by no instructed

Catholic.

Therefore, I say, this gift promised by God, which Cisalpines

call indefectibility, and Transalpines call infallibility, can be

denied by no instructed Catholic.

Ibid.

c. 8.

45
describing the four propositions as absurd to Chri>tian ears, simply detestable, the plenary Council of

After invoking the name of God

with our venerable brethren the bishops, with the
4

Hungary proceeds

and professors of theology

abbots, provosts, chapters,

we condemn and proscribe

aforesaid, and we interdict and

:nd of the sacred canons,

the four propositions

prohibit all the faithful of the
retaining,

much more from

kingdom from reading,

teaching them, until the

infallible sentence of the Apostolic See, to

by a Divine and immutable

judge of such questions of

privilege,

faith, shall

which alone,

it

belongs to

have been pub

Add to this, that even the theological faculty

of Paris refused to accept the propositions.*

lished.

But we must proceed to higher condemnations.

The acts of the Gallican Assembly were no sooner
On April
published than they were condemned.
llth of the same year 1682 that is, three weeks
they appeared Innocent XI. addressed the
Brief Paternae Charitati to the bishops of France,
of which the two following passages will suffice
after

That part of your

own

letter in

which

it is

said that you,

them upon the

King, we could not read without horror of mind as if

yielding your

rights, conferred

were the masters, not the guardians, of the Churches

}(
committed to your care, and as if those Churches and
>u

their rights could be subjected to the

secular
liberty

yoke of the

who ought

for the
power by the bishops,
And
of those Churches to go into bondage.

* Zaccaria Antifcbronius
Vindicates, Dissert V.

c. v. o,

note.

46
4

Wherefore, by these present letters, by the

authority delivered to us by Almighty God, we con
again

demn,

and annul whatsoever was done

rescind,

in

your assemblies in the matter of the Regale, together

with all its consequences, and whatsoever hereafter
be attempted, and we declare the same to be for
ever null and void although, forasmuch as they are
in themselves manifestly null, they need no annul

may

ment or

declaration of this kind. *

To Innocent XI. succeeded Alexander

in 1688

condemned

VIII.,

who

as temerarious, scandalous,

ill-

sounding, proximate to heresy, erroneous, schismatic al,

and heretical, twenty-one propositions, of which one
was. as follows

the

Roman

c
:

The

assertion of the authority of

Pontiff over (Ecumenical Councils, and of

his infallibility in questions of faith, is futile,

and has

been often refuted. f

In 1690 he signed the Constitution Inter Multiplices,
but deferred its publication, in the hope that the
Court and clergy of France would retract the

Galli-

can propositions. But in January 1691, being on

his death-bed, he summoned twelve cardinals and two
protonotaries apostolic, and in their presence promul
gated the Constitution, in which, after reciting the
whole cause, the Pope proceeds as follows
who
4

We

have been constituted by the Lord to be the vindica

tors in this world of the rights of the Church, medi
tating on these things day and night in the bitterness
*
torn.

Romanus Pontifex tanquam Primas

ii.

pp. 223-227.

f Ibid. p. 239.

Nitri

Eccles.

et Comarornii, 1867.

Roskovany,

47
of our soul, have lifted

up our hands with

tears

and

and have besought Him with all our

heart that He would be with us in the power of His
sighs to the Lord,

grace, in order that

be able effectually to

committed to us: and moved by the thought

office

lest

we may

our duty in so arduous an act of the apostolic

fulfil

we,

who

are soon

to

render account of our

stewardship to the Supreme Judge, should be con

victed of negligence in the trust committed to us
following in the footsteps of Innocent, our pre
in certain letters
decessor of happy memory, who,
4

on the llth day of April 1682,

condemned, rescinded, and annulled whatsoever was
done in the aforesaid assemblies in the affair of the

in the

form of

brief,

Regale of our own motion we declare and decree

that all and every one of the things which were
done in the aforesaid assemblies of the Gallican
clergy in the year 1682, as well concerning the exten
sion of the Regale as also concerning the declaration
in respect to the ecclesiastical power, and the four pro
positions contained therein, together with all and each
of the mandates, arrests, &c., are by the force of law
null, invalid,

and

void,

and destitute of

all force

and

&c.
and now, and hereafter*
Dated on the 4th day of August 1690, and published

effect

from the

as above in

first,

January 1691. At the same time, and from

his death-bed, the Pontiff addressed to

Louis XIV. a

pathetic letter of paternal authority, in which he says

*
torn.

Romanus Pontifex tanquam Primas

ii.

p.

237.

Nitriae et

Comaromii, 1867.

Ecclcs.

Roskovany,

48

While we are standing upon the awful confines of

this mortal life, and meditating on the account we must
4

give of the supreme administration of the Church of

God which has been committed to us, to the strict

it

Who

knocking at the door, we have deemed

to be altogether our duty to declare null and void

Judge

is

consequences, past and future,

which some years ago were done and declared in thy
kingdom against the rights of churches, persons, and
all things,

with

all their

foundations in the same kingdom, and also against the

authority of the Roman Pontiff, the Apostolic See,

and the Universal Church, as will manifestly appear

from the brief promulgated on the subject. *

To Alexander VIIL succeeded Innocent

XII., in

whose time the contest with the King of France

was terminated. In the letter of Louis XIV. to the
Pontiff, on his elevation, the King retracted the acts
of 1682 in these words:
And, inasmuch as I
desire to testify (my filial respect) by the most
power, f most gladly make
known to your Holiness that i have given the
necessary commands that the things contained in my
effectual proofs in

my

22nd day of March 1682, concerning

the declaration of the Gallican clergy (to which past
circumstances drove me), shall not be observed. f
edict of the

It was also required that the bishops of France who

had participated in those acts should retract the same.
*

Roskovany

| Ibid.

p.

ut sitpra, torn.

240.

Regale Sacerdotium.

ii.

The French
Appendix,

p.

239.

text

is

given by Sfondratus,

49
This they did in a letter to Innocent XII., in which
We declare that we vehemently, and be
they say
4

that can be expressed, lament from our hearts

the acts which were done in the aforesaid assemblies,

yond

all

which have so profoundly displeased your Holiness

and your predecessors. And therefore, whatsoever
things can be held as decreed by those assemblies
respecting the ecclesiastical power and the authority

of the Pontiffs,

we hold

as not decreed,

and declare

that they ought so to be esteemed.

Lastly, they con
clude as follows
Meanwhile, to your Holiness,
:

as to the successor of blessed Peter, Prince of the

Apostles, to the Vicar of Christ our Lord,

Head of the whole Church militant, that

and

to the

same true

and sincere obedience which we have already pro

*
mised, we again promise, vow, and swear.

same might be confirmed by the

and the briefs of Clement

Further, the

allocution of Innocent XII.,

But
XI. of June 15 and August 31, in 1706.
enough has been said. I will add only the three
following

facts

First,

that in

the

Constitution

Auctorem Fidei, Pius VI. condemns the Synod of

Pistoia for incorporating the four Gallican Articles
in its decrees, expressly because they

had been already

condemned by

and declares that

the
4

Pontifical authority ;
insertion of those Articles in

the

Synod was

temerarious, scandalous, and greatly injurious to the

Apostolic See. f
*

Roskovany ut supra, torn. ii.

Multo fortius exigit a nobis

p. 24:3.

pastoralis sollicitudo reccntcm

50
Secondly, it is certain that the illustrious Bishop
of Meaux has only escaped an explicit censure for
his part in the four Propositions of 1682, through
the benign and paternal forbearance of the Holy
See.
Benedict XIV., in a letter to the Grand In

on the subject of the works of

No doubt a work
Henry N orris, adds
be known to you, printed and published not

quisitor in Spain,

Cardinal
will

years ago, which, though it bears no author s

name, all men well know to be by Bossuet, Bishop
of Meaux, which he had written at the command

many

of Louis XIV.,
script in certain

King of France, but left in manu

libraries.
The whole work is taken

up with

asserting the Propositions affirmed

Gallican

clergy in the

by the

It is
Assembly of 1682.
other
work
any
equally op
which is received everywhere

difficult, indeed, to find

posed to the doctrine,

out -of France, concerning the

Supreme

Pontiff,

when

defining

infallibility

ex

of the

cathedra,

his

superiority over GEcumenical Councils, his indirect

the high interests of religion and the Church

over
the supreme power of temporal princes.
require,
In the time of Clement XII. of
happy memory, our

power,

if

immediate predecessor, there was serious consideration

of proscribing the work and at
length it was decided
to refrain from
not
proscribing it,
only on account of
;

horura factam in synodo tot vitiis affectam

adoptionem, velut
tcmerariam, scandalosam, ac prassertim, post edita prsedecessorum
nostrorum decreta, huic Apostolicae Sedi
summopere injuriosam,
rcprobare ac damnare.

Const. Pii VI. Auctorem Fidei,

s.

Ixxxv.

51

memory of an author who had deserved well

so many points respecting religion, but on account
the just fear of new dissensions.
the

in

of

so far from
Thirdly, it is to be remembered that,
Gallicanism being an opinion open and recognised,
which theologians and Catholics may hold and teach
us freely as

who

they

has been a question whether

defend the four Articles after the re

any

other,

it

sacra
peated Pontifical condemnations are capable of
mental absolution.
N., a confessor in France, asks

whether he can and ought to absolve those ecclesias

tics who refuse to submit themselves to the condem
nation which the Holy See promulgated, of the four
The
celebrated propositions of the Gallican clergy.

After diligently weighing the

in
question proposed, the S. Penitentiaria decided
in
of
the
Gallican Assembly
answer ; The declaration

reply was as follows

the year 1682 was indeed

See, and the acts of the

condemned by the Holy

Assembly were rescinded,

and declared

and void; but no

to be null

theological censure

was

note of

affixed to the doctrine con

wherefore nothing hinders

that sacramental absolution be given to the priests
tained in that declaration

who
still

good faith, and being so persuaded in mind,

adhere to that doctrine, so they be otherwise
in

Rome, Sept. 27, 1825. f

worthy of absolution.
From this, two things are evident. First, that if a
* Bullarium Ben.
f Scavini

Milan.

1865.

XIV.

Thcol.

ed,

Moral.

Mechlin,
Univ.,

xiii.

torn.

Suppl. p. 105.
iv. pp. 297-8,

ed.

52
note of theological censure had been attached to
those propositions, no one could hold them without

And

secondly, that good faith is required to

clear a person of fault in holding opinions which
sin.

have been condemned by the Holy See, although no

such note of censure be attached.
the history of the origin and immediate
condemnation of the Gallican opinions. They had

Such

is

traditions, no roots in the theology of

the great Church of France.
Cardinal Aguirre has
abundantly shown that the Saints, doctors, episcopate,

no antecedent

and schools of France taught one uniform doctrine

with the Church of

other countries, as to the

supremacy and infallibility of the Chair and successor
of Peter.
The Gallicanism of 1682 was a feeble
all

imitation of the preamble of the 24th of Henry VIII.,

by which the schism of England was accomplished.

The four

were imposed by Royal decree upon

universities and schools, and continued to infect the
Articles

teaching of France
tury,

as

But the

down

to the

end of the

last

cen

morbid humours run long in the blood.

terrible scourge

finally expelled this

of the

and many

great Revolution
other diseases engen

dered by the royal and secular corruption of the old

French monarchy. The Acts of 1682 were succeeded

by the Organic Articles and the hierarchy and clergy

of France have learned by a terrible and glorious con
flict to rest upon the
only Rock of ecclesiastical unity
and truth. From time to time, here and there, the
;

Gallican spirit

may have shown

itself,

but in mitigated

53

nnd more temperate forms. The revolution of 1830

again passed over the Church in France. Its rejection

by the State threw it finally upon the Holy See and

though royal and imperial influences have at times
striven to warp the minds of a few distinguished
;

prelates, the hierarchy of

France has borne a fore

most and a noble testimony to the supremacy, infal

libility, and sovereignty of the Chair and successor
of St. Peter.

The Church

in

France of to-day

harmony with the theology of

perfect

councils
* Peter

and doctors,* of

S.

Bernard,

in

ancient

its

S.

is

Anselm,

de Marca, Archbishop of Paris, speaking of the

publicly maintained the infallibility of the

Jesuits,

who had

Roman

Pontiff, says

This is the opinion which alone is taught

and all other provinces of Christendom so that
the other, which is called the opinion of the Parisian School, is to
The
be referred to that class of opinions which is tolerated.
:

in Spain, Italy,

authority of pronouncing an infallible sentence in causes of faith

is ascribed to the Supreme Pontiff by the consent of all universi
ties,

excepting only the ancient Sorbonne, that is, in the time when
to sow the seeds of the contrary opinion. De Marca

Gerson began

adds, The majority of Doctors, not only in Theology but even

of Laws, adhere to the common opinion as resting upon founda
tions most difficult to disturb, and deride the opinion of the old
*

Sorbonne.

Gonzalez

De

Infall.

Roman.

Aguirre, Defensio Cath. S. Petri, disp.

is

abundantly proved by Soardi,

Pontiff, disp. xvii.

vii.

1, 2, 3.

De Suprema Rom.

2.

The same

Pont. Auct.,

Prsef. viii., ix.

Neque quemquam alium e Theologis Parisiensibus alicuius

nominis allegatum invenio pro eadem opinione, saltern ex iis qui
scripserunt usque ad initium huius sreculi, quin et Theophilus
ipse loco citato, puncto 1 1 initio, testatur, demptis iis paucis,
nimirum, Gersone, Petro Alliacensi, et Jacobo Alinaino, caeteros
pene omnes docere, definitiones Pontificurn
esse fide divina certas.

Disp.

vii.

9.

Aguirre,

in iis

quasstionibus

Catlicd. S. Petri. Tract.

D<>f.

1,

54

Thomas, and

S.

S.

Bonaventure,

who owed

their

nurture to her schools, and especially of the ancient

University of Paris, where Gallicanism was unknown
till

the

first

seeds were

sown by Gerson,

The stream of Catholic

century.

in the fifteenth

tradition

is

too

deep and strong in that great people to be turned

by so slight an obstruction. Its course was

aside

troubled for a while; but Gallicanism is now car

ried away by the return of the ancient and lineal

The

belief.
little

prelates of France are at this time as

likely to return

to

the four propositions of

Nullus enim eousque, nisi forte heterodoxus aut schismaticus,

invenitur, qui auctoritatem infallibilem negaverit Romano Pontifici, quoties ex cathedra sedis Apostolicas definit aliquid, tamquam

credendum ab omnibus fidelibus circa fidem aut mores, ut diserte

Ruardus Tapper Orat. 3. Theologica Columna 8 pag.

ostendit

mihi 339, ubi testatur opinionem contrariam fuisse noviter introductam a quibusdam Parisiensium, contra doctrinam veterum
omnium scriptorum, qui Romani Pontificis iudicium in qusestionibus fidei esse prorsus infallibile concorditer ex Scripturis tradunt.
Itaque allegatione pra3dictorum, sive Patrum Galliae, sive Conciliorum, sive Theologorum Parisiensium, et quorumlibet aliorum
antiquiorum Concilio Constantiensi supersedeo, ne actum agam.
Ibid.

13,

ad

fin.

Cette idee nouvelle. qui represente un ordre de choses diametralement contraire a ce que le mot exprime, puisque, en realite,
sous le

nom pompeux

de libertes de

glise gallicane se cachait

tyrannique de cette meme Eglise par le

pouvoir civil, est eclose en France, dans le seizieme siecle. Le
veritable noyau de ces pretendues libertes, c etaient ces memes

oppression la plus

tendances schismatiques que nous avons deja signalees, formulees

en maximes legislatives, auxquelles on avait ajoute quelques
particularites reelies ou imaginaires de la discipline ecclesiastique
de France.
Phillips, Du Droit Eccl. torn. iii. p. 194.

55
Bossuet, as the Royal Astronomers are to the Ptole
maic system. The world has moved onward, and the

Church has released

patrons.

The

itself

voice which

from the servitude of royal

went forth from the whole

French episcopate when Pius IX. called upon them

to contend with him for the rights and liberties of
the Chair of Peter, and again when he published to
the world the Encyclical and Syllabus of 1864, is

proof of the profound adherence of the bishops in

France to the supreme prerogatives of the Vicar of
Christ,

which the world

And now,

lest

it

has here been said

and duty,

I will

is

calls

Ultramontanism.

should be thought that what

remote from our present needs

add the reasons which prompted

me

to

dwell upon these topics.

The one is, that a full and
perfect belief of the authority of the faith is essential
to the mission of the Church, especially in England;
the other is, that the convoking of a General Council

makes this subject

timely, for reasons I will endeavour

to give hereafter.
It is certain that the action of Catholic truth

upon

England has been weakened by the Gallican opinions.

Although it is both true and self-evident that Gallicans
maintain the

infallibility

of the Church; nevertheless

the inconsistency of their theories, their incompati

bility with the whole action and attitude of the

and the divisions they have apparently

introduced among Catholics, have hindered the full

Holy

See,

effect

of

the

Catholic

opinion of this country.

theology upon the public

False as it is, nevertheless

56

What is
know where
c

the retort,

do not

two centuries
in

which

to evade the force

both

Ultramontanes

of the

and

argument

Gallicans

are

year ago, we had a notable proof of

Bossuet s position was claimed as the justifica

agreed.
this.

the use of infallibility if you

has sufficed for
it resides?

tion for rejecting the unity

and

infallibility of the

So long as these relics of the

theology of a few French courtiers are suffered to
pass without censure, we shall be exposed to this
Universal Church.

irrelevant but popular retort.

that Gallicanism has

existence

in

Now I am well

no place among

any of our colleges;

us.

it

is

It

aware
has no

not to be

found in our clergy, secular or regular. It has no

The faithful in England are united
part in our laity.

Holy See with all their hearts and minds.

There is between it and them no national or worldly

to the

warp or

interest to

to

sway them.

The

highest,

purest, and truest conception of the office of the

Church, and of its head, as the Divinely-appointed

channel of the

and as the guide of men in the way

either explicitly or implicitly the faith

governs the Catholic Church in England. The

of salvation,

which

faith,

is

Reformation has robbed

who ought

it

of the multitude of souls

to be its children

but

it

has, at least, de

from the personal, local, national, and secular

traditions which infect and weaken the tone and spirit

livered

it

of some

Catholic countries.

England and Ireland

are debtors, above all people, to bear their

testimony
to the highest and purest Catholic truth.
In proper-

we do

the English people will listen to us.

have no sympathy in accommodations or com

tion as

They

so,

Downright

promises.

truth,

stated, like the ring of true metal,

dence.

we

If

believe the

Holy

and

broadly
wins their confi

boldly

Spirit of

God

to

guide and to speak through the Church, by whom

shall we hear His voice if not by the Head of the

Church, in

whom

The intimate

the plenitude of authority resides?

relation of this question with the

deepest and most vital parts of religion may be seen

from the fact that it belongs to the subject of

Divine
is

the

The infallibility of
ordinary medium through which
Faith.

object, that

is,

known

us.

to

the

Church

the material

the doctrine, of Divine faith becomes

It

is,

therefore,

of

the

highest

is
necessity that we should clearly understand what
that medium, or order, which God has ordained for

the promulgation and perpetuity of His revelation.

The dotes, or endowments, of the Church and the

prerogatives of its head, as the teacher of the

Church, enter therefore directly into the subject of
Faith.

many

They

are

not mere

ecclesiastical,

say, constitutional or external questions.

They
God

involve the certainty upon which we know what

has revealed ; and therefore, if in one aspect they

be included in the treatise

intrinsically to the treatise

De Ecclesia, they
De Fide Divina.

the violation of this Divine

the flood of error

economy

may

belong
It

economy which

upon our country.

tion of this Divine

as

nor,

was

let

in

It is the restora

in the intellect

and the

58
conscience of men that will restore
it

not, then, be

imagined that

from our pastoral work

it

to the truth.

this subject is

or that

we can

Let

remote

declare the

ought, unless we clearly

the
Divine procedure in
and firmly comprehend
faith of
Jesus
revealing and perpetuating the

truth, or guide souls as

we

Christ.

Thus much I have thought it well to say,

because it would seem that the authoritative con
Gallicanism, though known to stu
dents, and publicly notorious in days nearer to
the event, has appeared to be at times forgotten.
It has been thought to be a probable and time-

demnation of

honoured opinion, deriving itself from a high anti

The episcopal
quity, and protected by great names.
of English Protestantism has made it very
acceptable in this country: and it has, indeed, no
spirit

little

affinity

to

it.

The opinion which

limits the

prerogative of infallibility to S. Peter, and denies it

to his successors, is, as Orsi* well points out, akin to
that

which admits the primacy of

denies

it

to his successors.

S.

Peter, and

The consequence of

the

anarchy in the place

The consequence of the former opin
to introduce doubt in the place of certainty.

latter opinion is to introduce

of order.

ion

is

The Divine order has united the supremacy of truth

and of jurisdiction in the same person; and from the
tradition of Fathers and Councils, it is evident that
*

De Rom.

Pontif. Auctoritate, torn.

ii.

337.

59
the whole Church has believed the successor and the

See of Peter to be not only supreme in power, but

infallible in faith.

It is

upon

this basis that the decrees

and declara

tions of the Pontiffs teaching ex cathedrd bind the

universal Church, not only to exterior submission but

Sfondratus expresses this
also to interior assent.

truth as follows

The Pontiff does some things as man, some as

as pope that is, as head
prince, some as doctor, some
and it is only to these
of
Church
the
foundation
and
c

(last-named) actions that we attribute the gift of

The others we leave to his human con
infallibility.
As, then, not every action of the pope is
of the pope enjoys the
papal, so not every action
dition.

papal privilege.
to act as Pontiff, and to speak ex
not within the competency of any
*
(other) doctor or bishop.
Gregory de Valeritia teaches that, As often as the
4

This, then,

cathedrd, which

is

is

Roman

Pontiff uses in defining questions of faith the

authority with which he is invested, the judgment
*

Quid sit Pontificem e Cathedra doc ere.

Pontifex aliqua facit ut homo, aliqua ut Princeps, aliqua ut
Doctor, aliqua ut Papa, hoc est, ut caput et fundamentum
Ecclesiae et his solis actionibus privilegium infallibilitatis adscri:

sicut ergo non

alias humana) condition! relinquimus
bimus
omnis actio Papae est Papalis, ita non omnis actio Papa? Papali
:

privilegio gaudet.
*

Hoc

ergo

est,

pontificem agere, et e Cathedra loqui, quod nulli

Sfondrati Regale Sacer-

doctorum aut episcoporum convenit.

dotium,

lib. iii. sec. 1.

60

which he decrees to be the judgment of

to be received

by

all

as a doctrine of faith.

the faithful,

And

he

is

faith

ought

by divine precept,
to be believed to

use that authority, so often as, in controversies of

faith, he determines an opinion in such a way as to
*
Gonzalez
oblige the whole Church to receive it.
i

says

Precisely the same

is

to be said of the

Roman

whenever he speaks to the whole Church

Pontiff,

from the Chair of Peter, and expounds to it, as supreme

doctor, what it must believe as Catholic doctrine,

what
it

is

must avoid

it

as heretical falsity ;

embrace as

to

sound, what

it is

to

what teaching
beware of as

noxious; and whenever, in his office of universal

pastor, he points out to the -sheep committed to him

by Christ the pastures of virtues on the one hand,

that they may be fed by them to everlasting life, and
the poisonous growth of vices on the other, lest by

them they should bring upon themselves

Under this view, then, we are
everlasting death.
to lay down and prove in the present treatise, by
various arguments, as a thing most certain, that
the Roman Pontiff, when he addresses the universal

tasting

Church from the Chair of Peter,

*

as

the

common

Quotiescumque Romanus Pontifex in fidei quaestionibus dequa est praeditus auctoritate utitur, ab omnibus

finiendis, ilia

fidelibus

tanquam doctrina

sententia,

quam

ille

fidei recipi

divino praecepto debet ea

fidei.
Toties autem

decernit esse sententiam

credendum est, quoties in controversia

alterutram sententiam determinat, ut ad earn recipiendam
Greg, de Val. disp. v. q. 1.
obligare velit universalem Ecclesiam.

eum

ipsa auctoritate uti

fidei, sic

De

Objectis Fidei, p.

vii. q. 6.

61
teacher and supreme judge of questions appertaining

and morals, can never

faith

to

For

err.

it
appears evident, either that there
judge in an assembly, or that the

is

office

him who presides over the whole;

to

to

us

no supreme
belongs

so that, in

not less certain, to our minds, that the

Pontiff speaking ex cathedrd to the whole Church

fact,

c; in

it

is

not err, than that the Pontiff presides over the

whole Church/*
Suarez is equally explicit
Nevertheless, it is a
Catholic truth, that the Pontiff defining ex cathedrd
:

is

the rule of faith, which cannot err,

when he autho

propounds anything to the whole Church,

such is the teaching
as to be believed of divine faith

ritatively

Idem prorsus de Romano

Pontifice

dicendum

est,

quoties e

Cathedra Petri totam Ecclesiam alloquitur, eique ecu supremus

Doctor exponit, quid tanquam Catholicum dogma credere debeat,
quam doctrinam
quid tanquam hrcreticum figmentum vitare
iioxiam
et quoties, pro
cavere
ceu
ceu
sanam,
quam
amplecti
universalis Pastoris officio, commissis a Christo sibi ovibus salubria liinc demonstrat pascua virtutum, ut ad immortalem iis
vitain alantur
venenifera inde vitiorum, ne iis degustandis sempi:

ternam sibi mortem consciscant.

Juxta hunc itaque sensum probandum statuendumque nobis
in hac Tractatione omni argumentorurn genere est, tanquam
omnino certum, Romanum Pontificem, dum e Cathedra Petri
universam Ecclesiam, ceu communis Magister, et supremus quojstionum ad mores atque fidem spectautium Judex alloquitur,
Evidens namque nobis apparet, vel
errare neutiquam posse.
nullum in aliquo coetu supremum Judicem esse, vel hoc munus ad
eum, qui toti prrcest costui, pertinere ut sane non certum minus
nobis sit, Pontificem e Cathedra toti Ecclesiae loquentem erraiv
non posse, ac certum sit, Pontificem toti Ecclesia) prreesse.
Gonzalez de Infallibilitate Rom. Puntif. Disp. i. sect. 1.
;

62
of

all

Catholic doctors at this day, and

it

is,

I think,

a thing certain by faith.

But the said Rogerus ventured to answer, both as
4

to this definition (that of Boniface VIII. in Extrav.

Unam Sanctam," De Major," etc.) and as to other
"

"

not certain de fide that

the Pontiff defining without a General Council cannot
err.
But this answer is not only rash in the ex
decrees, that

pontifical

treme, but

is

it

also erroneous:

for

although formerly

some Catholic doctors may have doubted or erred in

without pertinacity, yet at this day there is so
consistent an agreement in the Church, and so con

this

current a sense of Catholic writers as to this truth,

that it is in no wise lawful to call it in question. *
The answer is certain
So also Sylvius teaches
:

de fide, that the judgment of the Roman Pontiff

So
is infallible in
determining matters of faith.
*

Nihilorainua veritas Catholica

ex Cathedra esse regulam

est,

Pontificem definientem

quse errare non potest, quando

authentic^
universse
Ecclesise, tanquam de fide
aliquid
proponit

divina credendum

ita

doctores, et censeo, esse

Fide,

fidei,

decent hoc

rem de

tempore

fide certain.

oranes Catholic!

Suarez, Disp.

v.

de

sect. 8, n. 4.

At vero

tarn

de hac definitione (Bonifacii VIII. in Extravag.

"Unam Sanctam,"

cum ausus

"De

Major:"

&c.)quam

dealiis decretis

Pon

dictus Rogerus respondere, non esse de fide

definientem sine Concilio General! non posse
Pontificem
certum,
tiff

Sed

errare.

erronea

est

est responsio, non solum nimis temeraria, sed etiam

licet olim fortasse aliqui Doctores Catholic! sine

nam

pertinacia in hoc dubitaverint, vel erraverint, jam vero tarn est

constans Ecclesiae consensus, et Catholicorum scriptorum concors
de hac veritate sententia, ut earn in dubium revocare, nullo modo
liceat.

Suarez,

De

Fide, disp. xx.

s. 3.

num.

22.

63
that

when

he defines

ex

Pontiff he proposes to the

believed of faith, he can in

or

cathedra,

Church anything to be
err, whether he

Duval, of the Sorbonne, says

the

proposition,

as

no case

defines with a General Council or without

that

when

No

it.

one can deny

Pontiff can

u the Pontiff as

decree contrary to the

opens a way to dis

occasion to doubt of many
faith,"

and gives
things which have been already received by the whole
a thing not
world, and determined by Pontiffs
without some appearance of temerity.
obedience,

Supreme Pontiff

It is absolutely certain, that the

cannot err in decreeing ex cathedrd either on faith or

morals; and that immediately on his canonical elec
tion he is endowed by Christ with the privilege of
f
in like

infallibility.

Macedo

manner

affirms

In

my

opinion,

*
in

Responsiofidecertaest, infallibile Roman! Pontifieis judicium

rebus fidei determinandis esse. Ita ut quando e Cathedrd

quando utPontifex proponit Ecclesire quidpiam fide

eredendum, nullo casu possit errare, sive cum General! Concilio

definit, sive

defmiat, sive sine

illo.

Sylvius,

De

Fidei Controv.

lib. iv. quaest.

2, art. 8.

Nemo negare potest, quin base propositio, quod Pontifex ut

f
Pontifex contra fidem possit decernere, viam faciat ad inobedientiam, occasionemque prsebeat dubitandi de multis, quas jam toto
orbe recepta sunt, et a Pontifice judicata quod non vacat specie
:

Duvall. ap. Suar. p. 590.

Absolute certum est, summum Pontificem neque in fide neque
in moribus ex Cathedra decernendis errare posse, statimque a sua,

aliqua temeritatis.

Canonica electione
I)u\allius,

De

ap. Gonzalez.

infallibilitatis privilegio

Infallibilitate

a Cliristo donari.

Rom. Pont, pars

ii.

quaest.

1,

p.

7ol,

64

whoever believes the authority of the pope defining

ex cathedra to be absolutely infallible, and does not

what he

believe in

defines,

without doubt errs in

and, should he obstinately persist in his error,

would be a heretic. And I confidently assert that

faith,

deny the Roman Pontiff to have

succeeded to Peter in authority of faith and teaching,

who

those

either

or at least lay down that the supreme pastor of the

Church can err in judgment on faith, bring into the

Church what

is

pestilent

Toletus affirms

and pernicious. *

The Roman

Pontiff, in his

judg
and morals, that is, while he judicially
determines what is to be believed, or in morals what

ment on
is to

faith

be done, cannot

err.

This conclusion

not one

is

to be held (merely) as an opinion, but the opposite is

a manifest error in faith, and Cano rightly says he
does not doubt that, if it were proposed to a Council,
it

would be condemned as heresy. f

Gonzalez sums up the doctrine of theologians
*

as

Censco, qui absolute infallibilem esse Papas ex Cathedra deauctoritatem, ac defiuitis non credat, eum baud dubie

finieutis

errare in fide
fore.

Et

et si in errore obstinatus perseveret, hoereticum

fideuter

pestem eos

assero,

Ecclesia?.,

trina>que

Ecclesiae pastorem errare in fidei judicio posse.

Romany
f

ac

aut negant Romanum Pontificem Petro in

auctoritate succedere, aut certe adstruunt,

afferre, qui

quaast. v. art.

perniciem
fidei

doc-

summum

Macedo, Tessera

1.

Romanus Pontifex

in judicio fidei

etmorum,

id est,

dum

de-

termiuat judicialiter credenda, aut per mores facienda, non potest

Non est ista conclusio opinative tenenda, sed opposita
errare.
et dicit Cano beiie, se non dubitare,
Concilio proponeretur, quod damnaretur ut hacresis.
Toletus,
in Sec. Secund. S. Thorn, quasst. 1, art. 10, contr, 8, concl. 15.

est error manifestus in fide

si

65
Therefore the infallibility of the Ronum
Pontiff, although it is not expressly defined by the
Church, is yet proximately definable; because it is a
follows:

theological truth, altogether certain, contained in the

scriptures, and confirmed by the perpetual tradition

of the Church, and the

and

common

consent of the fathers

doctors: and, as Bellarrnin said, the opposite

doc

appears altogether erroneous, and proximate

to heresy, so that it might well be declared heretical

trine

"

by the judgment of the

And though

Church."

it

be

not de fide, as to the obligation of believing it, im

posed on all by the Church, yet it is de fide as to its
object

and

also as

obligation with regard to

to its

who

are certain, on grounds which form their

conviction, that this truth is revealed and this cer

those

tainty almost all Catholic doctors have, except some

few in France. But in a thing of so much weight, all
are

bound

to

examine the grounds on which

rests the

proof that the Roman Pontiff defining ex cathedrd

cannot err: for whosoever denies to the Roman

him by
examined
whether from not having diligently

Pontiff the privilege of infallibility granted to

Christ,

the controversy, or because

he

some human motive, and so

judgment, would not be held
inasmuch
ignorance
*

error
vincible. *
as

his

Itaque Lnfallibilitaa

definita ab Ecclcsifi, est

is

errs in

forming his

culpable, and his

Pontificis, licet

tamen proximo

away by

guiltless before (.lod;

would be

Romam

carried

non

sit

definilulis, qnisi

<

cxpresse
>t

\vrit as

66

be said that this has not been denned and pro

posed by the Church as de fide, it may be answered
first, that many truths of Divine revelation have not
If

it

been denned.

All that

not

de fide has been defined.

all

that

is

is

defined

is

indeed defide, but

The

revela

tion of
Christianity extends far beyond the definitions
which, in condemnation of error, the Church has

made

progressively from age to age. The infallibility

of the successor of Peter, speaking ex cathedra, as

universal teacher, was not contradicted till the pre

ludes of the so-called Keformation began to work.

And

wheresoever the contradiction has gained a

hold, a decline

of faith has followed.

The events

of the last century in France issued naturally from

theologica, omnino certa, contenta in Scripturis, et
Ecclesias traditione et communi consensu Patrum ac

firmata;

et,

perpetua

Doctorum

ut ajebat Bellarminus, opposita doctrina videtur om

et hceresi
proxima, ut meritb possit judicio Ecclesice

nino erronea,

Et licet non sit de fide, quoad obligationem

credendi intiraatam omnibus ab Ecclesia, est tamen de tide quoad
objectuin, et quoad obligationem respectu eorum qui certi sunt

hceretica declarari.

hanc veritatem esse revelatam, ob argumenta quibus convincuntur hanc autem certitudinem habent omnes fere Doctores CathoOmnes autem in re
lici, exceptis paucis nonnullis ex Gallia.
tanti moment! tenentur fundaments expendere, quibus probatur
Romanum Pontificem definientem e Cathedra non posse errare ;
:

nam

quis negaret Romano Pontifici privilegium infallibilitatis

Christo concessum, vel quia controversiam hanc diligenter

si

ipsi a

non examinavit

vel quia aliqua passione

humana abreptus

erravit in judicio ferendo, is apud Deum excusationem non haberet ; quia ejus error esset culpabilis, et ejus ignorantia vincibilis.
Gonzalez, ut supra, disp. xvii. sect ii. 11.

See also Raynaudi, Corona Aurea, Romanus Pontifex docens

ex Cathedra errare non potest.
App. torn. x. p. 146.

67

The incoherence of ad

the Declaration of 1682.

Supremacy and denying its infallible

action encouraged and provoked the spirit of scep
ticism and mockery in the bad, and of doubt and
a

mitting

hesitation in the good,

which prepared

for the

En

Gallicancyclopedia and the Voltairian unbelief.

ism was a political aberration, and France has dearly

With

it.

expiated

our eyes, it is our

towards the Divine order

this before

duty towards the faith,

of the Church, towards the

and

towards

flocks

our country

for

committed to

we

which

us,

labour

and pray, to testify to the whole revelation of truth,

and to the whole Divine economy ordained for its
perpetuity and its preservation in purity and integ
It is not then needless, or gratuitous, still
rity.

polemical and hostile, to declare in the

fullest and most explicit way the truths which are

less is

it

embodied

in this great Centenary.

summed up
that faith

in the

words of

S.

Leo

They may be
The solidity of

which was commended in the Prince of the

perpetual and as that which Peter be

lieved in Christ abides for ever, so does that for ever
abide which Christ instituted in Peter
The

Apostles

is

order of truth,

therefore,

Peter, persevering

in

is

abiding,

the firmness

and Blessed

which he had

received as of a Rock, has not forsaken the helm of

the Church/*
Or in the words of S. Peter Chrysoc

logus,

Blessed Peter,

who

lives

* S. Leon.
Opp. Serm. ii. in Die
pp. 51-52, Ed. Lugd. 1700.
K 2

and presides

Assumptions

in his

suze, torn.

i.

68

own See, holds out to all who

Or in those of one who, with

seek

it

the true faith. *

a profusion of learning
and irresistible evidence, has destroyed for ever the
Acts of 1682: This tradition of the Fathers does

not only derive from Peter to his successor a gene

ral primacy, but also a firmness which never fails

propounding the dogmas of faith from Peter s

Chair; nay, it exhibits Peter himself, that is, the

in

immoveable Rock of Faith, the pillar and foundation,

it
as still living and teaching in his Chair and See
;

regards the Roman Pontiffs as one person with Peter]

and it describes them with the same honours, and
invests

them with the same

I will

now go on

titles,

as Peter himself, f

which sug

to the second reason

gested what has hitherto been said.

Subordinate in importance to the

Primacy and

Chair of Peter, but far beyond that of the celebration

of the Centenary, is the other subject announced by
the

Holy Father

in

the

of

Allocution

June 26

namely, the intention to convene a General Council.

The words which

fell

from

be long re

his lips will

membered, and the intense response of heart and

mind with which they were heard.

The Holy Father spoke as follows

Nothing is
venerable
than
that we
more desired by us,
brethren,
c

should gather from this your union with the Apostolic

See the fruit which we hold to be the most salutary
* S. Petri
Chrys. Ep. ad Eutychen apud S. Leon.
torn. i. pp. 241-2, Ed, Lugd. 1700.
f

Orsi de

Rom.

Pontif. Auctor. torn.

ii.

338.

M. Opp.

69

and auspicious. We have, indeed, long pondered in

our mind, as was known to many of our venerable
brethren, as occasion needed, a purpose which, so soon
as the opportunity we desire shall come, we trust to
effect, namely, that we may hold a Sacred
(Ecumenical and General Council of the bishops of
the whole world, in which, after united counsels and

be able to

labours together, the necessary and healing remedies,

by God s help, may be applied to the many evils which
the Church
hope,
truth

it

will

may

is

suffering.

come

From

this, as

we

greatly

to pass that the light of Catholic

diffuse its saving illumination in the dark

by which the minds of men are enveloped, so that

they may see and press onwards, by the grace of God,

ness

in the true path of salvation

this, also, it will

come

and of

justice.

From

to pass that the Church, like

a conquering army set in array, may repel the hostile

assaults of adversaries, break their power, and
triumphing over them, propagate and spread more

widely the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth.

We have here, in his own words, the reasons of this
greatest act of Pontifical government over the Church
;

namely, the union of counsels and labours to find and

apply remedies to the evils of our time to manifest
;

more luminously

to those

who

are in darkness the

light of truth; to consolidate and concentrate

more
and more closely the force and power of the Church,
for the twofold work of
breaking the power of its ad
versaries,

and of spreading

of Jesus Christ
upon earth.

far

and wide the kingdom

70
Hitherto, in

what

have

we have been con

said,

templating the perpetual supremacy of Peter, both in

truth and jurisdiction, throughout the Church diffused
in all the world.

Now, we have

to contemplate a higher

and more sovereign exercise of his prerogatives

Church congregated in CounciL

in the

Peter alone to con

It belongs to the successors of

voke, to direct, to prorogue, to translate, to confirm,

and to dissolve the (Ecumenical Councils of the Church.

The highest prerogatives of the Pontificate are partly

dormant while the Church is diffused, but are fully
More
exercised when the Church is congregated.
than this; the prerogative of Peter as the confirmer
of his brethren is never so explicitly manifest as in
the direction and confirmation of Councils.

Council of the
reflected

more

Church, from

and vividly the supremacy

visibly

and. infallibility of the

Every

Nice to Trent, has

Chair of Peter.

The Council

exceptional and explicit

act, recognises and declares the same Divine order.
Supreme while as yet the See of Peter was vacant,

of

Constance,

with

an

or was claimed by competitors of doubtful election,

submitted at once when the person of the
it
It would be too
Apostle was visible upon his Chair.
in
draw
out
full
the
historical
to
proofs of the
long
fact,

that in

no part of

his action

upon the Church

has the successor of Peter more supremely exercised

his singular prerogatives than in the series of the

(Ecumenical Councils.
tion I

may

For such

as

doubt

this asser

give reference to proofs, which will be

71

found more than enough. The three following works

Let any candid man examine Turrecrewill suffice.
c

inata de Conciliis,

Orsi de

Romani

Pontificis Aucto-

De Decretis Ecclesiae.
to sum up briefly a few

Brancatus de LauraBa

ritate,

All that can

now be done

of the chief heads,

and

is

to

mark the

outline of the

subject.

Although General Councils, apart from the

have the assistance of the Holy
not thereby necessarily infallible

head in the

their

by

Pontiff,

yet they are

but when directed

Spirit,
:

definitions they

make, or when

confirmed by him, they cannot err.*

The decrees of General Councils, made apart from
their head, or not confirmed by their head, even

though they be
c

do not impose the obligation

upon the Church. f

true, yet

of belief or obedience

not truly general, nor does it repre

Universal Church, if it be apart from its

Council

sent the

is

head, or act without him, or without subordination

for then it would be a headless body.
to him
:

Therefore,

it

is

by the

influx

of

the head

into

the body that the Council acts, and by the assist

ance of the Holy Ghost it acts infallibly, so as to
bind all the faithful.
Hence, S. Leo the Great says

of the Decree of the Council of Chalcedon against

u What
things the Lord had defined be
Eutyches
:

fore

by our ministry, He confirmed by the

* Brancatus de
Lauraea,

s.82.
Ibid.

s.

83.

De

irreversible

Decretis Eccl., Disp. v. Art.

ii.,

72
assent

that

whole brotherhood

the

of

He might show

that

it

(the

episcopate)

(i.e.

dogma) truly pro

ceeded from Himself, that what had been first con

firmed by the first See of all, the judgment of the

whole Christian world received; that in this also the

members should be in accordance with the head."
Therefore, in the judgment of S. Leo,

the head of the Church, that

Council,

is,

decides infallibly,
and the confirming

it

by the influx of

of the Pope, into the

so as to oblige

(the
the
judgment of
faithful) ;
Councils is proof that they have not erred, but have
*
This
spoken by the dictate of the Holy Ghost.
of

uninterrupted practice (of asking confirmation) signi

fies that the whole Church well knows that from the

head the influx (of infallible truth) descends into the

members. And thus it is, that if the decrees of faith

made

in Councils are infallible, so as to oblige the

faithful to

belief,

they should

know

that

it

comes

principally from

the head, infallibly attesting that

the Councils have been directed by the Holy Spirit. f
In proof and exemplification of this influx of the
infallible direction of the

head

in

General Councils,

Brancatus de Laurasa gives the following

The Council of Nice was presided over by the
Koman legates, and confirmed by S. Sylvester. J
:

The Council

of Constantinople

* Brancatus de
Laurasa,
105.
f Ibid. Art.

ii.

| Muzzarelli,

s.

De

was guided

Decretis Eccl., Disp.

103.

De Auctor. Rom.

Pontif. torn,

i,

p. 91.

v.

in its

Art.

ii.

73

condemnation

of

Macedonian

the

the

heresy by

decree of Pope Damasus, who had already condemned

The Council was in part con
it in a Synod at Rome.
firmed, so far as the condemnation of the Macedonian

heresy and the declaration of the Nicene faith

Pope Damasus rejected its canons.

but

The Council of Ephesus was directed by the letters

of Pope Coelestine to condemn Nestorius, whom he
had already condemned in a Council at Rome.
The Council of Chalcedon was directed by S. Leo
to condemn Eutyches, whom he had already con
demned. The Fathers of the Council would define
nothing until they had heard the Tome, or dogmatic
letter of the Pontiff.
They then answered in words

which

since then have

become a sacred

a theological principle:

tradition

and

Peter has spoken by Leo.

The Second Council of Constantinople would make

no decree respecting the Three Chapters
Vigilius had condemned them.

till

Pope

The Third Council

of Constantinople, by direction
of Pope Agatho, who in a Council at Rome had
already condemned the Monothelite heresy, again con

demned

Pope Agatho wrote to the Council, ex

horting them to liberate the Church from error, and
to declare the true faith, which was founded upon
it.

the firm rock, that

is,

of this Church of blessed Peter,

Prince of the Apostles, which by his favour and pro

tection remains pure from all error/
To this the
Fathers

answered,

as

the suggestions directed

at

Chalcedon,
Receiving
the most holy and

... by

74
blessed Agatho,

Rome

Pope of the ancient

and

made by

the Council, subject to

him, and following closely the things contained in it,
we so judge, profess, and believe, &c. Domitius,

another suggestion

Bishop of Prusa, declared that the suggestions of

our Father Agatho were to be received as dictated by
the

Holy Ghost, by the mouth of the holy and

blessed Prince of the Apostles, Peter. * Finally, the

emperor, writing to a synod of Western bishops,
declares that

all

the Fathers of the Council were of

one faith both in mind and in speech, and venerated

the letter of Agatho as the voice of the Divine Peter
himself. f

Such
cils,

is

the evidence of the

before

what

is

first six

General Coun

called the division of the East

not necessary, and it is not now

possible, to descend lower in the series; but all ac

and West.

It is

knowledge that in proportion

dence of the prerogatives of

we advance, the evi

the Roman Pontiffs is

as

more explicitly and undeniably found. J

* Orsi

De Rom.

Pontif. Auct. torn.

i.

P.

i.

It is to be here

p.

410, 412.

t Ibid. p. 413.

The three following Councils may be given as examples.

Ipsa quoque Sancta Romana Ecclesia Summum Principatum
super universam Ecclesiam obtinet, quern se ab ipso Domino in
Beato Petro, cujus Romanus Pontifex est successor, cum potesJ

tatis

plenitudine recepisse recognoscit ; sic, si quse

subortae fuerint quoestiones, suo debent judicio definiri.

Lugd. (Ecum.

de

Fide

Ccncil.

II.

Definimus, Romanum Pontificem in universum Orbem habere

Primatum, et successorem esse Petri, totiusque Ecclesiae Caput,
et ipsi in Beato
et Christianorum Patrem ac Doctorem existere
:

observed, that the ruling idea present to the Councils

was the See of Peter and the Faith of Peter: that
the Councils did not claim to themselves infallibility,
Where two or three
in virtue either of the promise
c

arc gathered together, there

am

I in the

midst of

The
them, nor Behold, I am with you all days/
I have
Divine promise always before them was,
c

prayed for thee, that thy

faith fail not.

It

was the

presence and faith of Peter, both of them indefectible,

by Divine assistance, in the person of his successor, to
which they turned as the source of direction in their
deliberations
decrees.

and the

It is to

seal

of confirmation to their

be observed,

Councils of Constantinople

I.,

also, that before

the

Ephesus, Chalcedon,

and Constantinople III. met, the Roman Pontiffs had

Their
already condemned the heresies in question.
subsequent condemnations added publicity, notoriety,
promulgation, not certainty or validity, to the pre
vious

condemnations of the Pontiffs.

But those

previous Pontifical acts gave infallible direction to

their decrees, and made them of obligation to all the

Churches.

The whole
was summed

doctrine and practice here expressed

up in the Council of Trent. It recog

nised more amply than any other Council of the

Petro regendi Ecclesiam a D. N. Jesu Christo plenam potestatem
trad it am esse, quemadmodum etiam in gestis CEcumenicornm
Conciliorum, et in Sacris Canonibus continetur.

Condi. Flor.

Sess. ult.
*

Dubia Fidei

tinet.

declarare, ad

Condi. Vienn.

XV.

Sedem duntaxat Apostolicam

Ge?ieralc,

sub Clem. V.

pcr-

76

Church, even than those over which the Sovereign

Pontiffs in person had presided, the supreme legis
lative and executive authority of the Vicar of Jesus

was directed in

It

Christ.

all

its

sessions

by

guidance. It was closed and confirmed by him.

execution of its decrees rested in his hands.

his

The
The

reigning Pontiff, Pius IV., by three supreme Pontifi

cal acts, provided

scriptions

First, that all

and customs

ecclesiastical pre

contrariant

should be null and void.

to

Secondly, that

decrees

its

no prescrip

custom thenceforward should ever acquire

force against the Council of Trent.
Thirdly, that no
tion or

one,
its

under pain of excommunication, should interpret

decrees;

and

reserving

all

interpretation to himself

his successors.*

The supreme authority of the successor of Peter

over the Church can hardly be more visibly proved
than by the fact that of the Councils claiming to be

approved as such, eight are

General, eighteen are

condemned and annulled,

and partly annulled
of the

Roman

With

and

six are
this

by

partly approved
the sole authority

Pontiff, f

these principles before us,

we

able to appreciate the facts of this time,

shall

be better

and

to dispose

of certain popular misunderstandings, which have been

laid down with great confidence, and with claims to

We are told that the holding of

superior knowledge.
a General Council was not the spontaneous intention
* Sermons

011

Ecclesiastical Subjects, p. 157.

f Bellarmin, de Conciliis,

lib.

i.

c. vi. vii.

77
of the Pope, but

was forced upon him

willing to convene

that

is

so

that

are fatal to

reaction

it,

Rome

he

is

and that

if

he

the only person in Rome

and that Councils

hates Councils,

that the future General Council

Rome;
against

is

excessive

pretensions,

and

is

will

impose limits on them; that it will confirm the past

acts of Popes on Gallican principles, and review or

modify the Encyclical and Syllabus of 1864.

For the first three hundred years no General
Council ever met: for the

last

three hundred

no

In the eighteen
only eighteen General

General Council has been convened.

centuries

of

the

Councils have been

Church
held.

It

is

clear, therefore, as

Bellarmin teaches, that though General Councils are

useful,

and sometimes necessary

for particular times,

they are not necessary to the office of the Church.

The Church is not infallible in virtue of General
Councils, but General Councils are infallible in virtue
of the infallibility of the Church. The whole Church,

both the Ecclesia Docens and the Ecclesia Discern,

diffused
times.

throughout the world,

\ he
Church discharges

is

its

infallible

at

all

office as witness,

The
judge, and teacher always, and in all places.
See of Peter and the episcopate diffused throughout
the world are so assisted by the perpetual presence of
the Spirit of truth that they can never err as witness,
judge, or teacher. In the three hundred years before

the Council of Nice, the infallible voice of the Church

sufficed
faith

for the

promulgation and diffusion of the

between Council and Council

in the intervals

78
the Church was perpetually infallible in
tions of truth,

and

in

its

its

declara

condemnations of error.

In the three hundred years since the Council of

Trent, the Church has taught with the same infal

The line of Pontiffs, from Pius IV.

who confirmed the Council of Trent, to Pius IX.
who defined the Immaculate Conception, have
libility.

taught with the same supreme and infallible voice.

Witness, as a few out of many, the condem
nations

of

Molinos; the Bull

the condemnation of the Synod of

Baius,

Unigenitus-y

Jansenius,

more

recently, of Lamennais, Hermes,

and
of the errors enumerated in the
Frohschammer,
To the declaration of these truths v and to
Syllabus.

Pistoia and,

condemnation of these

the

errors,

no act of the

Church in Council is required. They are already full

and perfect by the plenitude of the Pontifical au
thority. Peter has

spoken by Innocent, by Alexander,

and
by Clement,
by Pius. If, at any time, in an
(Ecumenical Council, any dogma be defined which has

been already defined by the Pope, or by other

General Councils, the bishops act as judges, but are
already

bound

to

judge in conformity to what

is

al

But if the defining of anything not

is in question,
defined
they are the judges in such
yet
sense that their judgments have no force to bind the
ready defined.

conscience until the assent and confirmation of the

Supreme Pontiff has been given.

It

was thus that

the fathers at Chalcedon declared that Peter spoke by

Leo and the Fathers of Constantinople recognised his
;

79

Pope Agatlio. In this they ac

knowledged that which Leo and Agatho had already
promulgated, by their prerogative of supreme and uni
voice in the letter of

versal teachers, to be the Catholic Faith.

original sin; which,

till

fallible declarations

of S.

Canon

was thus

Trent defined the doctrine of

also that the Fathers of

declared the

It

had rested upon the in

Innocent I. It was thus they

then,

of the sacred books, which

then had rested upon the authority of

S.

till

Gelasius;

and also condemned the errors of the so-called Re

formers, already condemned by Leo the Tenth.
The future General Council, then, whensoever

it

be

convened, will not turn back upon any of the acts of

the Church or of its head which already, in virtue of
;

the Divine assistance, are, as

and

infallible.

Its office

it is called,

will

irreforrnable

be of another kind,

bearing upon the present and the future relations of

the Church to the world.
If

it

be asked, then, what need is there of a General

it
may be answered at once that the state of

Council?

the whole Christian society of the world is such that

no other remedy is proportioned to its need.

For three hundred

been working; a

years, perpetual changes have

series of revolutions has

swept awuy

the old usages of the Christian world; an accumu

lation of errors and of evils, intellectual and moral,

has gathered in ever}7 country.

Bellarmin enumerates six causes for which General
Councils are usefully convened. The last is exactly
in point
The sixth cause is the general reformation
c

80
of abuses arid vices which creep into the Church for
although the Pontiff can of himself make laws for
;

the whole Church, nevertheless these things are far

more acceptably carried through when the Supreme

Pontiff makes such laws with the assent of a General

Council. *

Even in the natural order, the benefits are obvious.

More is seen by many eyes and the conflict of many
opinions, when men are scattered, is allayed by their
;

coming together in counsel. Councils have a special

above all, when
efficacy against heresies and schisms
;

the

authority

of the

Pontiff

is

the

point

chiefly

Greek and the Protestant separa

The decisions of such Councils, if they do

denied, as in the
tions.

not satisfy the authors of heresy and of schism,

nevertheless confirm both truth and unity, and set a

mark upon

their opposites

and ensure their

which wither their growth

fall.

Every General Council has been convened to meet

some special heresy or evil of the day. The first six
were convened to condemn

condemn the

heresies, the seventh to

Iconoclasts, the eighth for the cause of

Photius, the ninth for the recovery of the Holy Land,

the tenth against the claims of anti-popes, the eleventh
against the Waldenses, the twelfth against heresies

and

for the

Holy Land, the thirteenth against the

usurpation of the Emperor Frederick II., the four

teenth against the errors of the Greeks, the fifteenth
against various heresies, the sixteenth for the reunion
* Bellarm. de
Conciliis,

lib.

i.

c. ix.

81
of the East, the seventeenth for the healing of schisms
and for questions of public law, the eighteenth against

the great Lutheran heresy, and for the correction of

moral

evils.

The mediaeval Councils had

with heresies as with mixed
power and abuse

to deal not so

matters

of

much

secular

and that because, from the time of

Gregory the Great, a Christian world, with all its

complex relations to the unity of the faith and the
S.

Church, had been growing and ripening to maturity.

The contest for investitures and immunities belongs to
a later period of the

work and warfare of the Church.

Every age, therefore, has its needs and dangers and

these constitute the reasons for new laws, and, if so
;

judged expedient,

What, then, are the

for a Council.

causes requiring a General Council at this time ?

The first and most obvious cause for the convening
of a General Council

is

the internal state of the

Church

Of

the last General Council, the greater part

had relation to the discipline and administration of the

itself.

Church

in the states

and kingdoms of the Catholic

Of the twenty-five
headed De Reformatione
world.

evils,

ment

Sessions of Trent,
that

is,

many are

for the correction of

usurpations, and abuses, and for the readjust

of the practices and institutions of the various

Catholic countries to the immutable laws and prin

In the discipline of
ciples of the Catholic Church.

the Church there are, therefore, two elements: one

which is fixed and changeless, namely, the Divine
law, both moral

and

positive, of

which the Church

is

82
the witness and the guardian; the other is variable
and accidental, depending upon the conditions of

and of nations. Of the former, the Holy Sacra

ments, and all that attaches to their administration
in form and matter, may be taken as example of the
society

laws of benefice and patronage, the forms

It is obvious that in
of tribunals and of procedure.

latter, the

hundred years have

rendered necessary an extensive revision of the Ca
tholic discipline. Benefices, patronage, and tribunals
this latter kind, the last three

The

have been swept away in almost every country.

Church has

to reorganise itself

upon

its

changeless

principles, but in contact with new conditions of

society.

Another cause requiring the deliberation of the

Church, is the change of its relations, both those of
the~

Holy

See,

and of the several churches of

munion, to the civil powers of every* country.

the

Council of Trent,

the

com

its

Since

revolutions in

France,
Austria, and Italy have separated the civil powers
from the unity of the Church.
The nations re

main Catholic

but many public laws are at

variance with the laws of the Church.
The old
as before,

forms of usage and of arrangement need revision,

in

order

to

bring

into

peaceful

co-operation

the

two supreme authorities on which the welfare of

If the governments of the world
society reposes.
know their own highest interests, they will recognise
the necessity of entering into loyal and honourable
relations of confidence

and co-operation with a power

83

which pervades, sometimes a large proportion, some

times the whole population, subject to their civil rule.
The Church pervades at least one-fourth, if not a
third, of the population of

Great Britain and

its

colo

nies about a fifth of the United States nearly a half

of the Prussian monarchy; and almost the entire
;

population of other great kingdoms

of religion

and

is

that

which most deeply

fidelity of nations.

and the influence

affects the loyalty

It is of the highest

moment

to the civil powers of the world to readjust their rela

tions with the Catholic Church; for so long -as the

public laws are at variance with its divine rights and

liberties, internal peace and fidelity are hardly to be
secured.
Poland and Ireland are proofs beyond
question.

Again, the Church has at all times endeavoured to

sustain the Christian society of nations from the

downward tendency which is always carrying it to

wards the mere natural order. Human society is the
creation of God in the order of nature. But Christian
society is the creation of God in the order of grace.
Political

in

its

natural

rests

upon
and
moral
the
law
known
the
light of
humanity
by
nature.
Christendom rests upon the Incarnation
and was created by the faith, sacraments, unity, and
society,

state,

authority of the Church. The confederation or family

of nations is natural society elevated to the order of
grace,

and governed by laws which flow from both

natural and supernatural fountains.

The union of
these two laws and jurisdictions, and the supreme
r 2

84
direction of the supernatural over the natural law, con
stitutes the Christian order of the world, as expressed

in the old formulas of the concord of the

Church and

the empire, or of the Church and the civil powers.

Such is and always will be the Christian and Catholic
If it cease to live in the kingdoms of
jurisprudence.
the world, their public laws and actions, it will always
remain indelible in the theology and principles of the

The theory of the

Catholic Church.

separation of

Church and
and of free

State, and the independence of the two,

Churches in free states, if enunciated as an

absolute truth,

is

an error at variance with the mission

of the Church to mankind.

If it be affirmed only as
a statement of the tendency of the world, and of the
events before our eyes, it is an undoubted fact.
The

powers everywhere for these three hundred

years have striven, first, to establish a superiority
of the civil over the spiritual, as in France and
civil

Austria,

and

failing this, to separate

themselves and

to claim an independence of all spiritual

authority.
The effect of this is to reduce the Christian society

of the world to

the natural

order

to divest the

State of all religious character ; to make it external

to the faith, and to the Church ; or, in a word, to

desecrate that which the providence of God through

the action of His Church had consecrated.
I will

not stop here

point out the application of all

this to the temporal power of the Sovereign Pontiff
nor to show how large and luminous an interpretation
to

it

affords of the inflexibility with

which he has

for

85

twenty years refused

all

cession and compromise of

Holy See is the

this Christian order, of which the

It is inevitable that a General

source and o
guardian.
Council, in which the relations of the Church in

lands to the civil powers throughout the world

all

must be calmly revised by men of the maturest

wisdom and calmest temper, under the heaviest
private

and public responsibility, cannot

fail

to dis

perse the clouds of empty declamation which have

obscured the truth.

Men

are coming to perceive

that the Christian society of the world is menaced
and that its preservation depends upon a firm and
;

maintenance of the great laws and principles

of Christianity, as the providence of God has ordained

fearless

them.

So much of the causes internal to the Church.

But there

are to be found other reasons of great

interest to every one who is animated by a love of

and of the truth and honour of our Divine

Lord, in the state of Christian nations separated from
souls

It is impossible to
the unity of the Catholic Church.
look at the East without a profound sorrow for the

Churches

desolate

of

Persia,

Armenia,

Egypt, Asia Minor, and of Greece.

of saints

and doctors hang

spiritual children

heresy.
still

The

now

Palestine,

The memories

a light over their

in the darkness of schism and
like

old sanctuaries, desecrated

and forsaken,
The
There was a

stand, awaiting the day of their reconciliation.

Mahometan power
time when all the

is

wasting away.

Christian powers of Europe could

86
not expel it from the Holy Land.
Now, it could not
maintain itself a,n hour, if the jealousies of Christians
did not secure

its

dominion over the Christian in

The time of
cannot be far off.
But

heritance.

its fall,

or of

its

migration,

now, there might

no
to
return
of
be
bar
the
the East to the unity of
Jesus Christ.

It is

as

it

is

but just to acknowledge that the

Porte has manifested of late to

its

Christian subjects a

What the Council of

singular toleration and equity.
Florence failed to do, another Council, by the help of
the Spirit of God, may accomplish.
There is a bond
between the East and the Holy See which has never
been broken the love and worship of the Imma
;

Mother of God and by this bond, Pius IX.

has drawn more closely than any other Pontiff the
culate

Churches of the East to the See of Peter.

nition of the

nised

The

defi

Immaculate Conception has been recog

more than their constant

Orientals to be no

by
and universal

belief.

The

indiction of the

Council,

in whatsoever year it be, will be fixed for the 8th

of December, a day of augury and power.
The

patriarchs and bishops of the East who surrounded

Pius IX. the other day, brought to my mind the firstfruits of the nations who came up to Bethlehem.

There were some who had travelled forty days one

who had travelled longer still before he could
reach an ordinary road. When I saw them surround
the Vicar of our Lord and kiss his feet, almost by

prayed God that the day might be hastened

when the sun shall arise upon Asia restored to the

force, I

unity of the only fold.

87

And, lastly, there are thoughts nearer home, and

more intimate to our hearts. The great separation
of the

West cannot continue

Council

call

for ever.

If the General

on the East to return to the peace of Jesus

Christ, the West will not be forgotten.

voice which calls will not call in vain.

movement

of the Spirit of

God

And
There

the
is

in the hearts of those

who, in Germany and England, for the last three

hundred years have been separated from the centre of
Christendom.
tentions,

Men

weary of uncertainties, con

disappointments.
They are beginning to be
are

convinced in intellect of the wrongs which have been

done in ages past to the unity of the faith and to the
authority of the Church they are disturbed in con
science at the evident incoherence of the state they
;

have inherited with the great laws of. Divine revela

There is a desire to heal the wounds of the

tion.

past,

to

be

reconciled

with the

Christendom, to receive once more

the

great family of
the benediction of

pastor of the Christian Church, to worship

again in the midst of the world-wide sanctuaries and
solemnities of the Word made flesh. All these things
first

be mingled with emotion and imagination, with

unreality and a superficial piety. But even so they are

may

in the main, in their

origin,

and

in their end, right

and

good. If, however, this be true of some, very certainly

of a large number we may believe with joy and

and aspirations are

heartfelt and real, and spring from the inspirations of
A General Council has been the desire and
grace.

thankfulness

that

their

desires

88

dream

of multitudes of the highest

and noblest minds,

out of the Catholic Church, in England in these last

I hardly dare to speak with
three hundred years.
precision of truth, lest I should seem to be
severe and unkindly.
But the suppression of truth
is not
charity and silence in such times as these is

the

The General Council which

suppression.
hereafter, if

Koman

Pontiff

believe, as

and

God

an

and

article

infallibility of

Its first act will

will be held

so permit, will be convened

by the

be composed of those who

of Divine faith, the visible unity
will

the Catholic and

be to reaffirm, in

Koman

all

Church.

its

amplitude,
the Holy Catholic Faith as defined and declared by
the sacred canons of the Council of Trent.

The Council of Trent was a Council of recapitula

tion.
It was the heir of all the definitions of the
The heresies of old assailed here and there
Church.
a doctrine of the faith

but God had permitted

now

a heresy to assail, in a whole line of errors, not only

the whole line of the faith, but also the Divine
authority

of the

Trent, therefore,

Church

itself.

summed up

The Council of

in its decrees

what other

Councils had declared.

All their voices spoke by its

one voice, as, on the day of Pentecost, all the Apostles
The Councils of Africa again pro
spoke by Peter.

mulgated their decrees of original

sin; the Council

Orange, of preventing grace; the Council of

Yienne, of the infusion of spiritual habits in regenera
of

tion

the Council of Toledo, of the Procession of the

Holy Ghost; the Council

of Lateran, of the mystery

89
of transubstantiation ; the Council of Florence, which

was

the

itself

summary

spoke hi all their

of the Councils of the East,

names

all

these received their ex

pression in the decrees of Trent.

sion of faith promulgated by Pius
.

The

profes

IV. recapitu
lates the doctrine of the whole Church, East and

West, in one, and presents it to the world in ample

array, bright and resplendent, over against the prolific
restless with a perverse
errors of these later days
and fronts its advance, reaching
intellectual activity

from wing to wing.

We

gladly recognise whatever zeal for doctrinal

truth is to be found among Protestants of every
denomination; among Anglicans, for many Catholic
truths,

and

for approximations to Catholic doctrine

among Protestant Dissenters, for those primary and

personal truths relating to our Divine Lord and His
redemption, and to the soul and its union with Him.
All these truths, in the main, and apart from im
perfections of conception and statement, are Christian
portions of our inheritance of faith, and
The
deposit committed to the Church.

and Catholic
of

the

Information, which shattered so much of the order

But the
of Christian truth, preserved all these.
tendencies called into activity by the Ixeformation have

been continually destroying the belief of these truths

in every Protestant country.

mains in
*

Nevertheless, there re

Germany, England, and Scotland a strong

Sermons on Ecclesiastical Subjects, pp. 153-4.

90
traditional belief in

many

great Christian verities;

which, though undermined and menaced, are still

held and revered piously by multitudes.
Such per
sons are becoming daily sensible that so far, at least,
a common belief unites them to us and that we op
;

which threatens them, a firm and

All such minds cannot fail to see

pose to the infidelity

unyielding front.
in a General Council a powerful witness in support
of Christianity. They will know that we are strengthen
ing and confirming the truths which they retain. They
will feel to have a share in what is passing, and a

sympathy

in our acts.

a multitude of minds

It is certain, also, that

who

are wavering

upon
and doubt

seeking for a foundation on which to rest, and an

authority to which to listen, the voice of a General
ful,

The condition of
in marked con
three hundred years ago.
Pro

Council will have great power.

Germany, England, and Scotland
trast to their state

is

testantism has varied, changed, put off

type,

and

its original
a
unfolded itself into
multitude of irrecon

been always in flux, and is

now evidently in rapid dissolution. In such a moment
the immutability of the faith manifests itself; and the
cilable

forms.

It has

intellectual

and moral action of the Church in Council

cannot

to penetrate both the intellects

and the

The Council of Trent fixed the epoch

which Protestantism never spread. The next

wills of
after

fail

men.

General Council will probably date the period of

dissolution.

Church

its

It is certain that the influence of the

so assembled to deliberate

and to

legislate for

91
the needs and perturbations of the Christian world will

convince and to persuade,

If the proclaiming of an
to mitigate and to subdue.
amnesty dissolves the organisation of political sedition

have a powerful

effect to

by appealing to the hearts of men, how much more

must the call of the Church of Jesus Christ to peace
and charity attract the elements of faith and piety
which are scattered among the divisions of Christen
a heavenly invitation to men of good
Call it
will/ and by some it will be surely heard.
superstition or dreaming, as men may, I am confident

dom ?

that

It

the

is

Church deliberating

the

of

spectacle

in

Council on the wounds and miseries of the Christian

world, will sink into their hearts.

will

go
and a manifold influence will spread from
which will powerfully affect the intellect, the con

out of
it

A virtue

it,

science, the will, the

whole spiritual nature.

The sun

and the shower ripen the fruits of the earth, whether

we will or no. The seed of the kingdom springs even

among

the tares, while

men

Church upon the world

to exclude or to control.

he cannot cover the sun.

sleep.

The

action of the

beyond the power of man

is

He may shut his eyes, but

He may turn his back to

the light, but he cannot darken the earth. Moreover,

there is another power which will work with us.
4

Spiritus

Domini

replevit

orbem terrarum.

The

And
Spirit of God is working internally in all men.
when the Church speaks to their ear, the Spirit moves
their hearts to answer.

There

will be lights in the

reason, promptings in the conscience, aspirations in

92
the heart,

movements

in the will,

which flow from

the Spirit of Truth and Grace upon all to whom the

presence and the voice of the Church in Council
reaches; and of these,

some

will refuse,

It is a time of visitation, in which,

obey.

intervention,

God

calls to

the nations.

vidential renewal of the declaration,

all

men

to be saved,

the truth

and

to

come

God

many
by a

will

special

It is a

pro

will have

to the

* and of the
invitation,

knowledge of
The Spirit and

the Bride say, come: and he that heareth, let him

And he that thirsteth, let him come and
say, come.
;

him take the water of life freely. f

do not pretend, Reverend and dear Brethren, to

he that
I

know

will, let

the motives which have determined the

Holy

Father to convene a General Council, further than his

Allocution has expressed them
but those I have
;

touched on are some which we

We may

conceive.

for thankfulness

may ourselves easily

many other reasons

also anticipate

and hope

as to the consequences of

such an event.
(1.)

And,

first,

it

is

evident that the conscious

unity, universality, and power of the Church must

be indefinitely elicited and strengthened by meeting

As

has been already said, no Pontificate

for three hundred years has so brought the Church

in Council.

together as that of Pius IX.

Three times the bishops

have met, have become known to the Sovereign Pontiff

and to each other, and have been united in solemn
*

Tim.

ii.

4.

Apoc.

xxii. 17.

93
public acts, and in the unanimous declaration of great
consciousness of absolute
Catholic principles.

unanimity and mutual support pervades the episco

pate of all nations at this time more intensely than,

The Church
perhaps, at any period in past history.
and spoken three times in these last
lias acted
and the unity of mind and spirit which, by the
Divine faith, pervades it, has been extended
of
grace
even to matters which, though not of faith, are in
years

contact with faith.

It

that there never was a

was

may be affirmed,
moment when the

so compact, so prepared for action,

united to
scious,
its acts.

and

its

head.

Of

this

it

is

therefore,

episcopate

and so closely

thoroughly con

this consciousness gives a vast force to all

Firm and

inflexible as the Sovereign Pontiff

has ever been, he has not hesitated to declare that the

unanimous support of the bishops has added to him a

greater courage and strength. The bishops of Italy, in
these last ten years, have exhibited a fortitude and a
in the midst of every kind of danger, which
fidelity,

luminous example to the world.

and sympathy of their colleagues from
sets a

earth cannot

fail

to sustain them.

The presence
all

parts of the

The great Churches

of France and Spain, and the younger Churches of

England and America, still more the Missionary

Churches in the ends of the earth, all both give and

receive an impulse of conscious power from their con
tact

with each other and with Rome.

It is

impos

should not react powerfully upon the

whole Church throughout the world. All who have
sible that this

94

been assembled at the centre of authority will carry

back with them a consciousness of power which will

and this
spread through the whole Catholic unity
consciousness of unity is strength. It is the one thing
which the world cannot give, nor imitate. God alone
;

is its

Author

and

it

makes His Church

fearless

and

invincible.

(2.)

And

this

must

powerfully vindicate the

its spiritual action.
Since

Church in all
the year 1862, and especially since the Allocution of
September 1865, men have come more clearly to under
liberty of the

stand that the question of the temporal power is not one

of a few provinces and towns, much less of a royal title
or of a royal revenue. It is the condition by which Divine

Providence has secured the liberty of the person and

of the office of the Vicar of Christ, and of his supreme

and independent direction of all

which
as the

fall

powers in matters
within the Divine law.
In proportion

Church

is

conscious of

civil

its

unity,

it

will

make

on the public opinion of every country.

So long as the Church is kept apart by the jealousies
of governments and nations, it remains unconscious
itself felt

of the vast strength which arises from the unity of

co-operation. Despots hate popes, and love patriarchs ;
for popes are

sovereigns, and inflexible; patriarchs

may become courtiers, and dependents. In this is

seen the difference between the highest power which
is
only of ecclesiastical creation, and the Vicar of Jesus
Christ.

The Non possumus

of S. Peter

is

absolute.

Frederick the Great of Prussia, with the keen in-

95
stinct of

an

infidel,

recommended

the erection of na

tional churches as the true solvent of Catholic unity;

and of patriarchates as a guarantee of subserviency

to the royal will, and a barrier to exclude the Pon
tifical

Civil governments,

supremacy.

so long as

their Catholic subjects can be dealt with in detail,

When they have to

are strong, and often oppressive.
deal with the Church throughout the world, the
minority becomes a majority,
matters spiritual, become free.

and

subjects,

in

all

We

are approaching
a time when civil governments must deal with the
Church as a whole, and with its head as supreme ;

and a General Council, which makes itself felt in every

civilised nation, will powerfully awaken civil rulers to
the consciousness that the Church

mere

is

not a school of

but a spiritual kingdom,

having its own legislature, tribunals, and executive.
(3.) A further effect will be to hasten the extinction
opinion, nor a

religion,

of the spirit of nationalism which for many centuries

has troubled the Church. The Church has already had
three periods first, when it was made up of indivi
:

duals, or at most of households, before as yet an entire

nation was converted to the faith; secondly, when
the nations were gathered into the Catholic fold, and

the laws of unity and authority kept in check the

ambition, jealousy, and encroachments of princes and

when

the rise of modern nations began

to develop the seeds of insubordination and schism ;
lastly, we have now entered a period in which hardly

rulers

thirdly,

a Catholic nation exists.

The kingdoms of Europe

96

have either separated altogether, like Prussia and

England, from the fold or, like France and Belgium,
having lost their internal unity of faith, they have se
:

parated their public laws from the unity of the Church.

this moment there is hardly a

It is evident that at

government on earth which acknowledges the Catholic

Church to be its guide. Governments, the public
law of States, and international law, have all departed,

some more and some

less,

from the laws

of the

Nations, as political societies, are no longer

But the masses of the people in many

Church.
Catholic.

and a large proportion

in others, remain
and
Catholic.
Gallicanism, Josephism,
firmly
vividly
were
of
devices
Anglicanism,
government, and diseases

countries,

of the ruling classes.

The people never shared them,
never understood them; would have rejected them if
they had; and do reject them as soon as they corne to

between a State religion and

of Christendom, between a royal supremacy

see that the choice lies

the faith

and the authority of the Vicar of

Christ.

To

this

clearer understanding a General Council will contri

The supreme spiritual independence of the

Church, convened by its head, without dependence on

bute.

any civil power, freely legislating for the whole Catholic

unity,

must appeal to every pure

The withdrawal

instinct of Christians.

of Christian nations, or of their

public laws, from the unity of the faith, has pro

duced in past times prolonged conflicts between the

supreme
pass over

all

and

In England, to
powers.
other countries, the penal laws in matters

spiritual

civil

97
of religion, by which not only Catholics but Protestant
Nonconformists were persecuted, is a page of our
history over which we are happy to be able now to
draw a veil. So long as the civil power exacted

conformity and obedience in matters spiritual, the

conscience of Catholics placed them in an unnatural
state of passive opposition to

supreme authority. It
is the dictate of our conscience, founded upon the
words of our Lord and of His Apostles, upon the
precepts of the Fathers, and the decrees of Councils,*
that

we should render

true and faithful obedience in

An oath of
matters to our lawful prince.
pure civil obedience Catholics are bound by their
religion to make, from their hearts, to the person of
all civil

their sovereign.f Happily, all the elements of religious

and

ecclesiastical

matter, which used to be

mixed

up with these civil oaths, have gradually been

purged away. The laws of England, with the ex
ception only of a few lingering stains of the old anti* Concil. Toletan.

iv.

c.

75

Sacrilegium quippc est si vionon solum in

letur agentibus Regum suorum promissa fides, quia

cos fit pacti Iran sgressio, sed et in Deura, in cujus

nomine

polli-

cetur ipsa promissio.

So also the tenth Council of Toledo, and
the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle.
Suarez, Responsio ad Regis

Anglia3 Librum,

lib.

vi. c. 1.

Cum enim uniuscuj usque

Regis subditi, teste Paulo, ei parere,

omnibus qua? ad potestatem Regiam
spectant, illi obedire teneantur, ut in libro 3. ostensum est, per se
manifestum est, juramen turn de hac obedientia, et fidelitate servaiula (quod juramentum fidelitatis appellamus) per se, et ex
ac subinde et posse a Rego ad suam
objecto suo honestum esse
f

et fidelitatem servare,

et in

majorem securitatem ac stabilitatem

et exhiberi et servari debere.

postulari, et tune a subditis

Suarez, ibid.

lib. vi.

Prooom.

98
Catholic animosity, have
therefore equal and just

become purely civil, and

to all: and within that

sphere of civil life and civil obedience it

that collision or conflict should arise.
spiritual action of the

is

impossible

The purely

Church in a General Council

will tend to dispel the panic fears and traditional

suspicions in respect to the authority of popes, and to

confirm the relations of freedom and of co-operation

which have arisen between the Catholic Church and

the

powers, both in Catholic and Protestant

civil

countries.
(4.) Further: a General Council,

external status

which enfeeble

taints
its

its

direct,

invade

its

It is

spiritual power.

unite

must add greatly

the genius of the Church

action,

it.

its spiritual office, it

all civil

contact with

it.

power, and to keep itself pure from

This is a condition favourable to

It has

sufficient proof.

and

spiritual

Rome,
The day seems

a sad

powers are united in one person in

may be separated everywhere else.

to be past for the

civil state of

their public law, to

modern

conform

Over such mixed

disposition to

is

been well said that the

assume

it

Church

They have
and have broken up

to their religious divi

states the

control.

to unite itself

nations.

shattered their unity of religion,

sions.

Ireland

civil

that they

with the

to

But if civil governments

knows how to hold itself

the Church, but adverse to society.

and

to

action to that of the civil power; to uphold,

and consecrate

aloof from
all

by purifying the
of the Church from local and national

Church has

They are

little

too alien from

99
its

mind and

State,

This separation of Church and

essence.

abnormal, and replete with moral and

is

an established

dangers,
the modern world.

from

The Church can

at least

this advantage, that if the State will

it

invite

it

spiritual

fact in the larger part of

to save the people, its

own

draw

no longer

spiritual action is

and pure.
(5.) Another change which demands an adjust
ment of the laws of the Church is to be found in the
left free

which the

have perpetrated.
The Church has a divine right to hold property.
This right it has originally from its Divine Founder,

spoliations

last centuries

not from any human law.

It is therefore lawful, good,
and expedient that it should hold and transmit endow

ments which are the patrimony of the poor, and the

means of spiritual good to the millions of Christendom.

The

sixteenth century began to spoil, and the revolu

tions of the last fifty years have swept those endow

ments away in one half of Europe.

busy

to rob the

spoliation of the
sin

Church

Church

and a sacrilege

how

power.

The

always, and everywhere, a

nevertheless, the Church knows
is

is

risen in France

wrong

spoiler is again

draw power and strength even from spoliation.

no doubt that it will rise in Italy, as it has

to

There

The

in Italy of its birthright.

and

in Ireland, over all robbery

and

and rule the hearts of men with a renewed

The destruction of

benefices has at least re

leased us from patronage, secular interference, lay

abuses, with all the moral parasites which infected the
old order of nations.

General Council will

G 2

know

100

how

to deal with Regales,

Sicilian monarchies,

and

Organic Articles.
(6.) Lastly.

Why should it seem

to

be the vision of

a dreamer to hope that from these things may arise a

new order, and a new Christian world? Christendom
is

S.

now than it was when

He died mourning over

not more sick and shattered

Gregory went to his

rest.

apparent dissolution and yet all the glories of the

Christendom of a thousand years arose out of the ruins

its

over which he sorrowed

and

rising

falling,

The world is always changing,

swaying to and

fro like the currents

of the great deep.

Kingdoms, empires, confedera
tions of Christian States, have formed, dissolved, and

The Church alone stands

passed by together.
fast

and changeless.

It has withstood,

and

stead
it

has

made new relations with, a Byzantine, a Frankish, a

German Empire, with Christian Europe, in its gra
dual

rise, its

bility.

and

We

conflict.

new

many

vicissitudes, its perpetual insta

are but in a

A new

new

crisis of

the old

European order, with

new

work
fron

new

powers, new dynasties, may

spring up around the See of Peter and the Pontiffs,
calm and changeless in their supremacy, will enter

tiers,

centres,

new

relations with a

new

world, upon old laws

which are changeless as the succession of seasons and
are not shaken nor alarmed by revolu
of tides.

into

We
We protest

them we may be crushed

by them; but we rise again. The Sovereign Pontiff,
in the last proposition of the Syllabus, condemned the
pert audacity of those who call upon the Pope to
tions.

against

101
reconcile himself with

modern

progress.

It

is

for

modern progress to reconcile itself with the Pope.

The Christian world was founded upon the unity of
the unity of Christian matrimony, the unity of
communion, the unity of one supreme authority in the
Church of God. The world seems to be putting off its
faith,

Christian unity, and returning to the divisions and

The Church cannot
dissensions of the natural order.
yield a jot or a tittle of its divine laws of unity and
truth. The world may renew its ten persecutions ; but

They have

the Pontiffs will be inflexible to the end.

counselled, warned,
If rulers

latures.

people
flocks

not hear

will

their

voice, the

would seem, may be the

The pastors know their flocks, and their

will.

future.

And

and entreated Princes and Legis

this, it

know them. Through

these, the

Vicar of Jesus

Christ has spoken from the beginning, to the nations

and people of the world and the nations know his

voice.
The Governments of the world may be
Febronian or Voltairian the spirit of Pombal and of
;

Kaunitz

may

survive

in

bureaus and portfolios;

but the instincts of the masses are Christian, and

the tendency of political society
people.

Of

this

everywhere to the
we have no fear. The Church is
is

nowhere more vigorous than where

it

is

in

closest

sympathy with the people; as in Ireland and Poland.

in

America, Australia, and in England.

Such, then, Reverend and dear Brethren, seems

to be, in

outline at least, the moral import of this

eighteenth Centenary of S. Peter

martyrdom.

It

102
has had great results already it will have greater still.
are at a period of singular moment. The nineteenth
;

We

is

century

more than half

series of revolutions

which

opened with a
years have been

It

spent.

for fifty

But there
shaking, not Europe only, but the world.
a turn in the tide of events.
The moral and intel

is

lectual

power of the Catholic Church has been

steadily
in
the
of
Its
rising
public opinion
every country.
action was never more wide-spread nor more kindly
:

witness

expanding influences in the United States,

and in the colonies of the British Empire. At home it
its

perhaps, less kindly viewed, less kindly dealt with.

The tradition of the Tudor spirit, which survives the

is,

Tudor

statutes,

swept away though they be because

too unjust to be put

now obsolete, and obsolete because

in execution; the historical

prejudice, suspicion, fear,

and hatred against the Catholic Church,

we English

are born, as into the

this still survives

fall

of

into

which

Adam;

all

up a religious bitterness
which has been the disease and humiliation of our
to keep

Nevertheless, a clearer sky is opening.

These things are almost relegated now from the
sphere of legislation and from public opinion to the

country.

haunts of moles and bats, to anti- Catholic factions,

to sections of religious parties, or to knots of indi
viduals

who have dropped behind

the spiritual and

intellectual changes of our times.

But

cannot here do more than touch these things

To do more would need a treatise.
in passing.

What

has been said

is

enough to mark the importance

103

and the power of the events before us.

They appeal
to our faith, and demand of us to act with courage
and with confidence

in

which His Church

is

believed that at this

in

Home.

It

God and

in the great laws

by

year ago, few

governed.
time the Holy Father would be

was when the protection of earthly

power was about to leave him that he summoned this

When Jerusalem was surrounded
great gathering.

by the Assyrians, Jeremias bought land in Anathoth.

In the face of all danger, and in defiance of all menace,
he gave this witness of his immoveable confidence in
the promise and power of God. And now, in the pre
sence of a hostile world and

all its

perturbations, the

Pope proclaims a General Council. Let us not be un

worthy of this example. The highest conception and
enunciation of Catholic truths and principles, without
compromise or transaction of any kind, and a calm
confidence that

God

will accomplish His

own work

in

His own time and way, by His own instruments and

What these next years may
power, is our duty.

The Holy Father has

bring forth, none can say.
declared that the General Council shall be opened on
a day marked in his Pontificate and in the history of
the Church for ever
the Feast of the Immaculate

Conception but he has not fixed the year. We can

not tell what winds and waves may sweep over

Europe and
may be on

Italy.
fire

At any time

from east

to

the whole continent

west with a terrible

war of nations, embittered sevenfold by the working

its wanton
of anti-Christian revolutions.
Italy, for

104
infidelity to the

exuberant mercies of God in nature

and in

grace,

may be

delivered over to

may

receive its heaviest scourge.

its

for a time of the presence

On

Christian nations.

mind of the

own will, and be

which makes

all

It

these

it

deprived
the first of

contingencies the

Calmly and surely he

will bide his time, in supernatural confidence that no
power of man can bind him when the hour of libera
tion comes.
Peter was bound with chains in Jeru
Pontiff meditates.

salem, and again in

Rome, and men have

striven for

Per
eighteen hundred years to bind his successors.
secutors in Rome, emperors in Constantinople, heretics
in high places, Lombard kings, Counts of the Marches,

Norman
Infidel

Roman

French monarchs,
republics, Imperial conquerors, Gallican assem
dukes,

factions,

diplomacy without faith, all in

succession have thought to bind the hands of Peter,
and in him to bind the Church of God. It is an old
blies, secret societies,

tale.

When men

least look for it;

when

all

seems

surest for their policy, on a sudden, without warning,

and as by the touch of unseen might, the fetters
fall

off

Church

from the sacred hands.

goes forth free

And

in Peter the

and sovereign.

Miris modis repente liber, ferrea,

Christo jubente, vincla Petrus exuit.
Ovilis ille Pastor, et Rector gregis,
Vitas recludit pascua et fontes sacros,
Ovesque servat creditas, arcet lupos.

Peter reigns

still,

Chief Shepherd of the one

opening the pastures of

life

fold,

and the sacred fountains,

105

The
the sheep, keeping off the wolves.
the
he
sees
when
will
meet
General Council
time, and
u larding
i

it
4

will

do

its

work.

Yerbum Dei non

Ubi Spiritus Domini

est alligatum.

ibi libertas.

Already the preparations for this event are making

under the eye of the Holy Father. You will pray
daily that the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost
rest abundantly upon him, and upon all who

around him.

When

the

may
are

Indiction of the Council

reaches me, I will call upon you to unite in a special

invocation of the Holy Ghost, the Author of unity
and the Spirit of Truth and Charity, and to offer the

Most Holy

Sacrifice for the intentions of the

Sove

reign Pontiff.
I

remain, Rev. and dear Brethren,

Your

affectionate Servant in Christ,

* HENRY EDWARD,
ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER.

8,

18G7.

APPENDIX
OF

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF THE CENTENABY,

1.

ALLOCUTION OF HIS HOLINESS, JUNE

2.

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS, JUNE

3.

ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE BISHOPS JULY

4.

REPLY OF HIS HOLINESS.

26.

29.

1,

I.

PII DIVINA PRO VIALLOCUTIO IIABITA IN

PUBLICO DIE XXVI. JUNII

SANCTISSIMI DOMINI NOSTRI

DENTIA PAPAE
CONSISTORIO
MDCCCLXVII.

IX.

VENERABILES FRATRES,
Singular! quidem inter maximas Nostras

acerbitates gaudio et

consolatione afficimur, cum iterum gratissimo conspectu ac frequeutia vestra perfrui, vosque coram alloqui in hoc amplissimo
conventu possimus, Venerabiles Fratres. Vos enim ex omnibus

terrarum regionibus desiderii Nostri significatione et vestrse

pietatis instinctu in hanc Urbem adducti, Vos eximia religiono
in sollicitudinis Nostrai

partem vocati nihil potius

calamitosis hisce temporibus omnem in re Catholica
tuenda animarumque salute curanda vestram opera Nobis ferre,
praestantes,

habetis,

quam

multiplices mcerores Nostros lenire, ac ampliorain dies vestraj fidei

voluntatis et obsequii, erga hanc Petri Cathedram experimenta
Hoc vestro adspectu recreamur vehementer, hoc novo
praebere.
pietatis

et amoris vestri

argumento ac testimonio de

illis

libenter

recordamur, quo3 usque ad hanc diem concordibus animis, non uno

studiorum geuere, non intermissis curis, non deterriti adversis

Qua3 porro rerum suavissimarum memoria ulto

semperque mausura, illud emcit, ut gratus
Nostrae caritatis sensus, multo nunc quam alias ardentior atque
vividior, erga universum vestrum ordiuem perspicua testificatioue
certatim edidjstis.

Nobis

in

animo

infixa,

et luculentioribus signis, palam publiceque gestiat erumpere.

Sed si ha3C leviter raptimque perstricta superiorum temporum

recordatio

Nos adeo

percellit atque solatur,

Vos

ipsos,

Venerabiles

Fratres, facile intellecturos arbitramur qua loetitia exultet, qua

caritate flagret hodie cor Nostrum, dum iterum observantia et fre-

quentia vestra perfruimur, qui ex remotioribus etiam Catholicis

provinciis Nostro desiderio perspecto,

una omues

pietate et arnore

110
acti

ad Nos convenistis.

dius esse potest

quam

Nihil enim Nobis optatius, nihil jucun-

vestro in coctu versari, vestrasque

Nobiscum

conjunctionis fructum capere, in iis potissimum solemnibus peragendis in quibus omnia, quae versantur ante oculos, de Catholicas
Ecclesiae unitate, de iramobili unitatis fundamento, de prasclaro

De ilia
ejus tuendas servandaeque studio, ac gloria loquuntur.
unitate loquuntur, qua, veluti quadam vena,

scilicet admirabili

Divini Spiritus charismata et dona in mysticum Christi corpus

manant, ac in singulis ejus membris tanta ilia fidei et caritatis

exempla excitant, qua3 universum hominum genus in admirationem

Agitur enim, Venerabiles Fratres, hoc tempore ut
impellunt.
Sanctorum honores decernantur tot inclitis Ecclesiae Heroibus,
quorum plerique gloriosum martyrii certamen certantes, alii pro
tuendo Apostolicae Cathedrae, in qua veritatis et unitatis est cen
trum, Principatu,
alii

alii

pro integritate ac unitate

fidei

vindicanda,

hominibus schismate
pretiosam mortem libenter oppetierunt, adeo ut mirum

pro restituendis

avulsis,

Catholicaa

Ecclesiaa

consilium satis eluceat, quae turn maxime

adserendae
Catholicae
unitatis, et triumphos Adsertorum
exempla
proposuit, cum Catholica fides et Apostolicae Sedis auctoritas
divinae

Providentiae

infestioribus inimicorum artibus conflictaretur.

memoriam

Agitur prasterea

solemn! ritu recolamus, quo die

Beatissimus Petrus et Coapostolus ejus Paulus ante annos mille

ut

diei auspicatissimi

octingentos illustri martyrio in hac urbe perfuncti, immobilem

Catholicae unitatis arcem suo sanguine consecrarunt. Quid igitur,

Venerabiles Fratres, Nobis optabilius et tantorum

triumphis congruentius esse poterat,

quam

ut in

Martyrum
eorum honoribus

pulcherrima Catholicae unitatis exempla ac spectacula, majorequa

Quid asquius erat, quam

possent significatione et luce fulgerent ?
ut haec ipsa de Apostolorum Principum triumphis gratulatio quae
ad totius Catholici nominis religionem pertinet, vestro etiam adventu studioque celebraretur ? Quid dignius demum, quam ut tot
tantorumque rerum splendor pietatis laetitiaeque vestrae accessione fieret illustrior ?
At non solum apta rebus et grata Nobis, Venerabiles Fratres,
haec pietas, et concors cum Apostolica Sede conjunctio, sed prasterea tanti momenti est, ut maximi ex ea ac salutares admodum
fructus sive ad comprimendam impiorum audaciam, sive ad communem fidelium et vestram singulorum utilitatem, omnino debeant
existere.

Ex

hac nimirum lieligionis oppugnatores intelligant

Ill
qua vita polleat Catholica Ecclesia, qnam
non desinunt discent quam incpto stultoque convicio cam veluti exhaustam viribus et suis defunctam
tcmporibus incusarint discent demum quam male suis triumnccesse

cst, quam vigeat,

infensis animis insectari

phis plaudant, ac suis consiliis et conatibus fidant, satis perspicientes tantam virium compagem convelli non posse, quam Jesu
Christi spiritus et divina virtus in Apostolicae confessionis petra
coagmentavit. Profecto si unquam alias hoc maxime tempore,
Venerabiles Fratres, omnibus pateat necesse est, ibi solum animos
jirctissima inter se conjunctione contineri posse, ubi unus idemque
spiritus omnibus dominatur; at Deo relicto, Ecclesiaj auctori-

Dei

tate contempta, homines felicitatis ejus quam per scelera quoerunt

expertes, in turbulentissimis tempestatibus misere, dissidiisque
jactari.

Sed

si

fidelium

communis spectetur

utilitas,

quidnam, Venera

biles Fratres, opportunius ac salutarius ad incrementum obsequii

erga Nos et Apostolicam Cathedram Catholicis gentibus esse
potest,

quam

si

videant quantiaPastoribus suis Catholicoe unitatis

fiat, eamque ob causam cernant eos magna ter-

jura et sanctitas

rarum spatia marisque transmittere, nee ullis deterreri incommodis, quominus ad Romanam Cathedram advolent, ut in
Nostrai humilitatis persona Petri Successorem et Christi in terris
Vicarium revereantur ? Hac nempe auctoritate exempli longe
melius quam subtiliori qualibet doctrina agnoscant, qua venera-

Nos uti debeant Quibus in

persona Petri a Christo Domino dictum est Pasce agnos meos,
pasce oves meas, iisque verbis suprema sollicitudo ac potestas in
universam Ecclesiam credita est atque commissa.
tione, obedientia et obsequio erga

Quin etiam Vos ipsi, Venerabiles Fratres,

ministerio obeundo, ex hac erga Apostolicam
insignem fructum laturi

estis.

tudinis fidei amorisque vincula

Vos in sacro vestro

Sedem observantia

Quo enim majora vos necessicum angulari petra mystici aedificii

uti omnium Ecclesise temporum

devinxerint, eo magis etiam,

docet, earn fortitudinem induemini

memoria

ac robur, quod ab

amplitudine ministerii vestri contra hostiles impetus, et adversitates rerum postulatur.

Quid enim aliud Christus Domintis

cum Petrum tucndac fratrum firmitati prrcficiens,

Ego, inquit, rogavi pro te, ut non deficiat fides tua, et tu
*
Nimirum, ut
aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos ?

intelligi voluit

* Luc. xxii, 32.

112
S.

Leo M.
fide

pro

innuit,

Petri a Domino suscipitur et

supplicatur, tamquam aliorum status
mens Principis victa non fuerit. In Petro

specialis cura

Petri proprie

certior sit futurus, si

omnium fortitudo munitur, et divinas gratiae ita ordinatur
auxilium, ut firmitas qua3 per Christum Petro tribuitur, per Petrum apostolis caeteris conferatur. * Quapropter Nos semper
persuasum habuimus fieri non posse ut ejus fortitudinis qua pras-

ergo

cipuo Domini munere cumulatus est Petrus, non aliqua semper in

vobis fieret accessio, quoties prope ipsam Petri personam qui suis
vivit praesentes consisteretis, ac tantunimodo
solum attingeretis hujus Urbis, quam sacri Apostolorum Principis
sudores et triumphalis sanguis irrigavit.
Irnmo etiam, Venerabiles Fratres, nunquam Nos dubitavimus quin ex ipso sepulcro
ubi beatissimi Petri cineres ad religionem Orbis sempiternam
quiescunt, quaedam arcana vis et salutaris virtus existat, quae
Pastoribus Dominici gregis fortes ausus, ingentes spiritus, magnanimos sensus inspiret, qua3que instaurato eorum robore efficit,
ut impudens hostium audacia, Catholics unitatis virtuti et potestati impar, impari etiam certamine residat et corruat.
in successoribus

Nam

quid Nos tandem dissimulemus, Venerabiles Fratres

Jamdiu

in acie contra callidos et infestos hostes pro justitias et

Tani diuturna tarn ingens dimiReligionis defensione versamur.

catio geritur, ut omnium quotquot in sacra militia censentur

simul conjunctae vires, non justo maj ores numero ad resistendum
Nos quidem Ecclesiae causam libertatem et jura
esse videantur.

pro supremi muneris Nostri ratione propugnantes, usque ad hanc

diem Dei Omnipotentis ope ab exitialibus periculis incolumes
sed tamen rapirnur et jactamur adhuc adversis ventis et
fuimus
;

non quidem timentes naufragium quod Christ! Domini

auxilium
timere non sinit, sed intimo sane dolore affecti
praesens
ob tot novarum doctrinarum inonstra, tot impie in Ecclesiam ipsam

fluctibus,

Apostolicam Sedem commissa, quae quidem jam alias damnata

ac reprobata, ^ palam nunc iterum pro sacri Nostri muneris

et

officio

reprobamus

et

condemnamus.

temporis ratioue, et in ea

In"

hac tamen praesentis

quam capimus ex conspectu

vestro

commemorare praetermittimus tot sollicitudines,

curas, angores qui cor Nostrum gravi ac diuturno vulnere excruHasc potius omnia apud altaria afferemus quae
ciant ac torquent.
laititia,

ultro

Nostris assidue oneravimus precibus, respersimus lacrimis

* Ser.

iii.

in anniv. Ass. euse.

f Alloc. Consist. 29 Oct. 1866.

haec

113
onuiia Clemcntissimo misericordiarum Patri instauratis obsecrationibus aperiemus iterum ac revelabimus, in Eo omnino fidentes
qui Ecclesise sune incolumitatem ct gloriam tueri novit et potcst,

quique judicium faciens omnibus injuriam patientibus de causa

Nostra et adversantium Nobis, nou fallente die, justo judicio
judicabit.

Interim vero vos,

Venerabiles

sapientia recte iutelligitis

Fratres,

pro spectata vestra

intersit ad occur-

quam vehementer

rendum impiorum consiliis et tot detrimenta Ecclesia? sarcienda,

ut qua) vestrura omnium cum Nobis et Apostolica hac Sede concordia tantopere enitet, altius in dies defixis radicibus roboretur.
Quin immo, hie CatholicSB conjunctionis amor, qui ubi semel

in-

ad aliorum etiam utilitatem late dimanat, hie profee to vos conquiescere non sinet, nisi pariter in eadem Catholiea
concordia ac indivulsa fidei, spei caritatisque consensione ecclehaesit animis,

siasticos

omnes

viros

quorum Duces

estis,

et universes fideles

vobis concreditos una opera praestare connitamini.

Nullum sane

spectaculum angelorum atque hominum oculis pulchrius esse

poterit, quam si in hac peregrinatione nostra, qua ab exilio ad patriam pergimus, rcmula imago referatur et ordo peregrinationis

qua duodecim

illius,

Israeliticce tribus

ad

felices

promissionis

Ingrediebantur enim
omnes, singular suia discrelna auctoribus, distinctas nominibus,
diremptSQ locis, parebantque suis quo3que familia patribus, bellatorum manus ducibus, hominum multitude principibus sed ta-

oras conjunctis itineribus contendebant.

men unus erat tot ex gentibus populus, qui Eidem Deo et ad

camdem supplicabat aram, unus qui iisdem legibus, eidem Sacerdoti Maximo Aaron
eidem Dei Legato obtemperabat Mosi, unus
i,

qui pari jure in bellorum laboribus et victoriarum fructibus utebatur, uuus

demum qui pariter sub teutoriis agens, et admirabili

eamdem concordibus votis adspirabat ad metam.

vescens cibo,

Ilujusinodi vos conjunction! perpetuo retinendie

tot

jam pignoribus

vcstrae

fidei

omnino ac exploratum habemus.

operam daturos,
concordiasque acceptis, certum
Spondet

id

Nobis spectata

vestra

integritas, ac prasstans virtus, quae semper ubique sui

similis, et omni periculo major effulsit : spondet illud ingens
st

hominum sahitem curanad divinam ainj)lilicaiulani gloriam raj)it

urgct
id dcinuiii ac certissime
spondet sublimis ilia oratio, quam

uclium et ardor qui vos ad aiternam

ct

at<[iie

Christus ipse ante extremes eruciatus suos ad Tatrein obtulit,

II

114
Ilium precatus, { ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me et ego
in Te, ut et ipsi in Nobis unum sint ;* cui precationi fieri
nunquam potest, ut Divinus non adnuat Pater.

Nobis autem, Venerabiles Fratres, nihil optabilius est quam ut

quern maxime salutarem ac faustum Ecclesiae universee fore ducimus, ex hac eadem vestra cum Apostolica Sede
conjunctione capiamus. Jamdiu enim animo agitavimus, quod
pluribus etiam Venerabilium Fratrum Nostrorum pro rerum
adjunctis innotuit. ac illud etiam, ubi primum optata Nobis op-

eum fructum

portunitas aderit, efficere aliquaudo posse confidirnus,

nempe

ut

sacrum O3cumenicum et generate omnium Episcoporum Catholici

Orbis habeamus Concilium, quo collatis consiliis conjunctisque
studiis necessaria ac salutaria remedia, tot praesertim malis quibus

Deo adjuvante adhibeantur. Ex hoc profecto

maxim am spem habemus eveniet, ut Catholicag veritatis lux

Ecclesia premitur,
uti

errorum tenebris, quibus mortalium mentes obvolvuntur amotis,

suum lumen difFundat, quo illi veram salutis et justitias
Ex hoc
semitam, adspirante Dei gratia, agnoscant et instent.
item eveniet, ut Ecclesia veluti invicta castrorum acies ordinata
hostiles inimicorum conatus retundat, impetus frangat, ac de ipsis
triumphans Jesu Christ! Regnum in terris longe lateque propa-

salutare

get ac proferat.
Nunc vero ut vota Nostra impleantur, utque Nostrse vestraeque curse uberes justitiae fructus Christianis afFerant populis,

Deum

omnis justitiae et bonitatis fontem erigamus oculos, in

omnis
plenitude pr&sidii, et gratias ubertas sperantibus colquo
locata est.
Cum autem advocatum apud Patrem habeamus
Jesum Christum Filium Ejus, Pontificem magnum qui penetravit
ad

semper vivens interpellat pro nobis, quique in admirSacramento nobiscum est omnibus diebus usque
ad consummationem sasculi, hunc Redemptorem amantissimum,
Coelos, qui

abili Eucharistise

Venerabiles Fratres, ponamus ut signaculum super cor nostrum,

ut signaculum super brachium nostrum, atque ad altare illud, ubi
ipse Auctor gratia? thronurn misericord ia3 constituit, ubi omnes
qui laborant et onerati sunt, reficiendi cupidus expectat, nostras
Eum itaque sine
assidue preces omni cum fiducia deferamus.
intermissione humiliterque obsecremus, ut Ecclesiam suam a

omni discrimine eruat, eique Io3tam pacis

vicem, victoriamque de hostibus donet, ut Nobis ac Vobis novas
tantis calamitatibus et

* S. Joan. xvii. 21

115
usque vires ad sui Nominis gloriam provehemlam addat, ut illo
igne quern venit mittere in terras hominum animos infiammet, ac

omnes potent! sua virtute ad salutaria consilia convertat.

Vestrrc autem pietatis erit, Venerabiles Fratres, illud omni opo
curare ut credit! vobis fideles in cognitione Domini Nostri Jesu

errantes

Christi in dies crescant,

Eumque

in

Sacramento Augusto

pra3-

sentem, constant! fide venerentur, redament ac frequenter invisant,

nihilque erit vestro studio curaque dignius, quam ut, vigilantibus
:td

Kjus arum ignibus, vigilet etiam in cordibus fidelium gratus

pietatis sensus, vigilet indeficiens namma caritatis.

Quo vero facilius Deus ad obsecrationes nostras

aurem suam

propitius inclinet, semper et enixe

petamus suffragia, primurn

quidem Deiparre Virginis Marian Immaculate, quo nullum apud
Deum potentius patrocinium deinde Sanctorum Apostolorum
Petri et Pauli, quorum Natalitia acturi sumus, nee non omnium
Coslitum Sanctorum qui cum Christo regnantes in Coclis munera
;

divina: largitatis liominibus sua deprecatione conciliant.

Denique Vobis, Venerabiles Fratres, ac aliis omnibus Veneragentium Episcopis, item fidelibus
omnibus Vestrrc atque illorum cura3 concreditis, quorum pietatis
et amoris eximia semper testimonia accepimus et continenter in
dies experimur. singulis universis Apostolicam Nostram Benedictionem cum omni felicitatis voto conjunctam, ex intimo corde
bilibus Fratribus Catholicarum

amantissime impcrtimus.

11

-1

116

II.

Sanctissimi

Domini Nostri

PAPJE IX., Homilia,

inter

Missarum

Pir,

Divina Providentia

liabita in Basilica

stolorum Petri

Junii

xxix.

die

Solemnia,

MDCCCLXVII., in sceculari festo

Vaticana

Sanctorum Apo-

Pauli, atque canonizatione unius

et

et viginti Martyrum, et Confessorum Pauli a Cruce,

Leonardi a Portu Mauritio, ac Virginum Maria?
Francisco? a vulneribus D. N. J. C. et Germance
Cousin.
Romce, MDCCCLXVII.

Optatissimus, Venerabiles Fratres, ac Dilecti

quo Nobis singular! Dei beneficio datum

Beatissimi Petri Apostolorum Principis,

Filii, illuxit dies,

est ssecularia

solemn ia,
Pauli

et Coapostoli ejus

triumphis sacra concelebrare, ac pluribus divinas nostrae religionis

heroibus Sanctorum cultum et honores decernere. Itaque exsul-

temus

in

Domino,

recurrat dies

et spiritual! jucunditate Icetemur, cum gloriosus

universi Catholic! orbis, et hujus pnesertim

summa

nostrae urbis veneratione et gaudio colendus.

Hoc enim

solemni

die Petrus et Paulus Kcclesise luminaria, Martyres summi, legis

Doctores, amici Sponsi, oculi Sponse, Pastores gregis, mundi

custodes ad cielestia regna

sunt

felici

martyrio conscenderunt.*

Isti

tibi

viri, per quos

Evangelium Christi, Roma, resplenduit,
et quae eras magistra erroris, facta es discipula veritatis ; Isti
sunt, qui te regnis coelestibus inserendam multo melius, multoque

felicius

condiderunt,

quam

tuorum fundamentalocata

illi,

sunt.

quorum

mcenium
adhanc gloriam

studio prima

Isti sunt, qui te

provexerunt, ut gens sancta, populus electus, civitas sacerdotalis,

et regia per sacram Beati Petri Sedem caput orbis effecta latius
* S. Petrus

Dam. Serm. 27 de

SS. Apost. Pctr. et Paul.

117
praesideres religionc divina, quam dominationc tcrrcna.* Hi sunt
conjunct! Viri habenlc.3 splcndidas vcstcs, Viri miscricordirc, Jie
nostri vcri patres, verique pastores, qui DOS per Evangelium
genucTimt. Quis autcin Petro gloriosior ? qui divino illustratus
hmiine primus oniniuin ngnovit, omnibusque patcfccit altissimum
Maje^tatis aetorna; arcanum, et confitcndo Christum Dominum vivi

Dei ossc Filium, validissima invictaquc nobis crcdcndi fundamenta

Ipse firmissima est petra, supra quam aeterni Patris
constituit.f
Filius Ecclesiam suain tanta soliditate fundavit, ut advcrsus earn
Ipsi a Christo Domino
portrc inferi praevalere nunquam possint.
traditas sunt claves rcgni caelorum, etsuprema commissa potestas,

cura pascendi agnos et oves, confirmandi Fratres, ac universam

regendi Ecclesiam, et cujus fides nunquam defectura, neque in
suis successoribus, qui in hac Romana Catliedra sunt cullocati.
et

Quis beatior Paulo? qui a Domino electus, ut portaret nomen

suum coram

gentibus, et regibus, et filiis Israel, J pro suarum

remuneratione virtutum tertium raptus ad coelum co3lestia secreta
cognovit, ut Ecclesiarum futurus Doctor inter Angelos disceret,

quod inter homines

sacramentum novae

pra3(licaret.

legis

uno

Hi

beatissimi Petrus et Paulus

spiritu procdicantes

omnia

difficultates, labores, po3iias, cruciatusque constanter pro

Domino

religionem in Gentes invexerunt, et

philosophiam vicerunt, Idololatriam e solio deturbarunt,

perpessi, Christi

Paganam

nomen

pericula,

et

ac sanctissimis suis gestis, scriptisque evangelicae veritatis lucem

longe lateque diffuderunt, cum in omnem terram exiverit sonus

eorum, et in fines orbis terras verba eorum, ac sub unius passione

doctrinam suam pio sanguine et morte fortissima consecrarint.

diei

tie, Venerabiles Fratres, ac Dilecti Filii, eorumdem Apostolorum gloriam solemni ritu, et maxima Io3titia concelebrantes, et
sacros eorum cineres, ad quos feliciter stamus, omni veneratione
prosequentes, clarissima illorum gesta sermonibus praidicemus,
I

ta<|

atque

primis eorum virtutes omni studio imitemur.

vero summo quoque gaudio pel-fund imur, quandoquidem

in

Jam

Dciis Nobis tribuit hoc felicissimo die Sanctorum cultum, et

honores decernere invictis Christi Martyribus Josaphat Kuncevicio Polocensi Ruthenorum Anlistiti, Petro Arbuesio, Nicolao
* S.

Leo

Serni. 82, al. 80, in Natali

Maximus Homil. 68

S.

Act. Apost.
S.

Maximus

ix. 15.

ibidem.

in Natali

Apostolorum IVtri ct Pauli.

Apostolorum IVtri et Pauli.

118
ejusque duodeviginti sociis, et binis gloriosissimis Confessoribus Paulo a Cruce, Leonardo a Portu Mauritio, ac duabus
clarissimis Virginibus Marine Franciscae a vulneribus Domini

Picliio,

Nostri Jesu Christi, et Gennanae Cousin.

cadem nostra circumdati

infirmitate,

Qui omnes etiamsi

et peregrin!

hie in terris,

inultisque tribulationibus, ac periculis subjecti, tamen inconcussa

in Deum fide ac firmissima spe, et summa caritate incensi, ac pari
in

proximum

dilectione insignes, mortificationem Christi in corpore

circumferentes, et conformes facti imaginis Filii Dei, asperrima

quseque pro Christi amore perpessi de carne, mundo, ac saevissimo
Dasmone splendide triumpharunt, ac sanctitatis splendore, miris-

que prodigiis Catholicam illustrarunt Ecclesiam, et clarissima

imitanda virtutum omnium reliquerunt exempla. Nunc
vero facti amici Dei in coelesti Jerusalem induti stolis albis exsulnobis

tant in gloria, et inebriantur ab ubertate domus Dei, propterea

quod Dorninus laetificat eos in gaudio cum vultu suo, et torrente
voluptatis

potat

eos,

ac fulgentes sicut sol

coronati possident

regnant cum Christo in a3ternum, Eumque pro nobis

exorant, cum de propria immortalitate securi, sint adhuc de nostra

palmam,

et

salute solliciti.

Humiles
totius

igitur,

Yenerabiles

consolationis

Fratres, ac

Dilecti

Filii,

Deo

gratias, quod inter tantas, quibus

Ecclesias,
civilisque societatis calamitates, et pericula,
affligimur,
per hos clarissimos Martyres, Confessores, et Virgines nova ac

agamus

valida Ecclesias suae sanctae prsesidia, et illustria fidelibus populis

sit dignatus.
Summo autem studio

virtutum documenta dare

insignia

horum Sanctorum

fidei, spei,

caritatisque in

vestigia sectemur, et iccirco ejusdem

spiritu magis in dies inflammati

Deum

terrestria despiciamus, et coelestia unice spectemus, atque alacriori

usque pede per semitas Domini ambulemus, et abnegantes sa3cularia desideria sobrie, juste, ac pie vivamus, et omnes unanimes,
compatientes, fraternitatis amatores, misericordes, modesti, hu-

miles * per bona opera certain nostram vocationem, et electionem

facere studeamus.

Sedjamliceat Nobis cum omni humilitate, et fiducia, levare

oculos Nostros ad Te, Domine Deus Noster, qui dives in misericordia omnipotentiam Tuam parcendo maxime, et miserando
manifesto^ Intuere propitius et respice Ecclesiam Tuam sanctam
tot

undiquejactatam

procellis, et

humanam

* S. Petr.
Epist.

1.

societatem tot agitatam

c. 3, v. 8.

119
turbinibus, ac per morita Apostolorum Tuorum Fetri et Pauli, ct
istorum Martyrum, Confessorum et Virginum avcrte iram Tuani
a nobis, et multiplica super nos miserieordiam tuarn, et fac
suis hostibus triumphans
oranipotciiti Tua virtutc, ut Ecclesia de

ubique tcrrarum
et

omnes

mag is in dies prospere, feliciterque propagetur,

cunctis
depulsis erroribus, cunctisque vitiis proflipopuli,

occurrant in unitatem fidei, et agnitionis Filii Tui Domini

Nostri Jesu Christ!, ac divina Tua dextera urbem hanc ab omni
bus inimicorum iusidiis, conatibusque tuerc, ac defende.

gatis,

120

III.

BEATISSIME PATER,
Apostolica Tua vox iterum auribus nostris insonuit, nuncians
novum a3ternse veritatis triumplmm, sanctorum coslitum gloria
refulgentem, antiquum Urbis osterna3, Beatorum Apostolorum
Petri

et

Pauli sanguine

consecrata3

decus,

quorum

martyrii

rediens, totum hodie Orbem Christianum

lastitia afficit et fidelium mentes ad salutarem maximarum rerum

memoria

srccularis

cogitationem extollit.

Jucundissima apostolici oris ad festa talia nos peramanter inviverba percipere minime potuimus, quin continuo subiret
animum solemnium illorum memoria, qua3 ante annos quinque
Tuo lateri adstantes in urbe peregimus, et grati recordaremur,
qua tune nos benignitate et humanitate habueris, qua nos paterna
caritate fueris in ilia faustissima gratulatione complexus.
Hasc
suavis recordatio, hsec amantissimi Patris non tarn jubentis quam
optantis vox illam animis nostris ad Romanum iter capessendum
tantis

alacritatem adjecit, quam Tibi, Beatissime Pater, satis luculentcr

amplissima hasc Antistitum frequentia, qui tertium ad Te confluxerunt, et

communis omnium

pietas ac fidelis observantia declarant.

Tarn ingenti Antistitum numero, cui vix simile quid in pra3teritarum oetatum memoria reperitur, par solummodo est Tua in nos
charitas ac benevolentia, par unice obsequii amorisque in Te
nostri magnitude. Hisce autem causis vehementius hodie excitamur, ut eximias virtu tes Tuas, Sedem Apostolicam novo illustrantes lumine, novo etiam prosequamur honore, et augustissimum

Tuum animum graves inter, quibus premeris at non concuteris,

nsrumnas, iterate amoris et admirationis testimonio coram solemur.
Sed dum votis obsecuti sumus Tuis, alium etiam optatissimum
nobis spectavimus fructum, ut scilicet cor nostrum tot Ecclesias
malis sauciatum paterni Tui vultus recrearemus adspectu, frater-

nam

concordiam magis magisque roboraremus, ac comTibi nobisque solatii et gaudii matcricm qurcreremus.

inter nos

muncm

121

Tu maximam

Ilanc vcro Irctandi causam

nova sanctorum nomina

tot

fastis Ecclesirc

nobis

pr.Tstn.M,

dum

inscribcns homines

potcnter edoccs, quanta sit quamque incxliaussta matris Ecclesia?

Ilanc triumpliantium gloriosus marlyrum sanguis
exornat hanc inviolate confessionis Candida induit virginitas,
foecunditas.
;

hujus floribus nee rosas uec lilia desunt. Tu, co3lestia virtutum
praemia mortalibus ostendens, oculos a rerum inanium conspectu
ad jucundam cocli gloriam erigere doces. Tu, dum homines

mirandis ingenii sui industriasque operibus exsultant, triumphalc

sanctorum Dei vexillum ottollcns illos admones, ut, super ipsam

gaudiorum humanorum pompam ac speomnis sapientiae et pulchritudinis fontcm

quibus dictum fuit Subjicite terrain et domina-

rerum adspectabilium
ciem, oculos ad

convertant, ne ii,
?iii)ii
obliviscantur

Deum tuum

et

Deum

unquam supremi

adorabis

illius

pvajcepti,

Dominum

ct illi soli servies.

Ast qui suspicientcs coelestem Jerusalem, novorum sanctorum

Domini humili corde agnoscimus et
gloria gestientem, mirabilia
ad
base celebranda incendimur, dum
etiam
profitemur, magis

immotam contemplamur petras illius

quam Dominus ac Redemptor noster Ecclesiie

hodierna sa3culari solemnitate

firmitatem, super

molem perpetuitatemque constituit. Divina enim virtutc

factum cernimus, ut Petri Cathedra, organum veritatis, unitatis

suae

centrum, fundamentum et propugnaculum libertatis Ecclesirc, tot

inter rerum adversitates et non intermissa hostium molimina

octodecim jam elapsis plane sa3culis, stet firma incolumisque

dum rcgna et imperia surgunt ruuntque vicissim, stet veluti secura
pharus in procelloso vita3 aequoro mortalium iter dirigen?,
;

tutamque stationem
Ilac fide,

Pater!

cum

et

portum

salutis sua luce

hisce sensibus ducti

ante quinquennium

commonstrans.
loquebamur olim, Beatissime

Tuo throno

adstantes sublimi

Tuo

ministerio debitum testimonium dedimus, votaque pro Te,

pro civili Tuo principatu, pro justitia3 ac religionis causa palam
Ilac fide ducti verbis scriptoque eo tempore
nuncupavimus.
profess! sumus, nihil nobis potius et antiquius esse, quam ut qua?
Tu Ipse credis ac doces, nos quoque credamus et doceamus, quos

Te duce unanimes incedamus

nos item rejiciamus.
Domini, Te sequamur, Tibi adlaboremus ac Tecum pro
Domino in omne discrimen fortunamque parati dcccrtemus.

rejicis errores,

in viis

ho2C, quye tune declaravimus, nunc denuo piissimo cordis

sensu confirmamus, idque universe orbi testatum esse volumus ;

Cuncta

122
grato siraul recolentes animo, plenoque laudantes assensu, qure
a Te in salutem fidelium et Ecclesise gloriam ab eo quoque tempore
gesta fuerunt.

non possumus quce vidimus et

pariter sanctum et solemne habuisti, ac
nunquam non habere luculenter demonstras. Non enim unquam

Quod enim Petrus

audivi?nus non loqui,

Tu

Tu

Tuum.

obticuit os

olim dixerat,

aeteriias veritates

aununciare,

Tu

saeculi

supernaturalemque rerum ordinem atque ipsa

ecclesiasticse civilisque potestatis fundamenta subvertere minierrores, naturalem

Tu caliginem novarum
doctrinarum pravitate mentibus offusam dispellere, Tu quce necessaria ac salutaria sunt turn singulis hominibus, turn Christianas

tantes, apostolici eloquii gladio coufigere,

commendare
es
Tui
minister!!
arbitratus
ut
tandem
cuncti
supremi
assequantur quid hominem Catholicum tenere, servare ac profiteri oporteat.
Pro qua eximia cura maximas Sanctitati Tua3 gratias agimus,
habituri sumus sempiternas
Petrumque per os Pii locutum fuisse
ad
custodiendum
credentes, qua3
depositum aTe dicta, confirmata,

familise, turn civili societati, intrepide effari, suadere,

;

prolata sunt, nos quoque dicimus, confirruamus, annuntiamus,

unoque ore atque animo rejicimus omnia, quae divinse fidei, saluti

animarum, ipsi societatis humanse bono adversa, Tu ipse reprobanda ac rejicienda judicasti. Firmum enim menti nostras esi,
alteque defixum, quod Patres Florentini in decreto unionis unaniChristi
Romanum Pontificem
mes definiverunt
Vicaritim.,
*

totiusque Ecclesice caput

Doctorem

existere, et ipsi

ct

omnium Chrislianorum Pairem

et

in beato Petro pascendi,

gubernandi Universalem Ecclesiam a Domino

regendi ac
Nostro Jesu Christo

plenum potestatem traditam esss?

Sed alia prseterea sunt, qua3 nostram in Te caritatem, gratosque
animi sensus provocant. Magna enim cum jucunditate admira-

mur heroicam

illam virtu tern, qua perniciosis saeculi machinationibus obsistendo, dominicum gregem in via salutis servare,
contra seductiones erroris munire, contra vim potentiumetfalsorum

sapientum astutiam tueri adnisus es. Admiramur studium illud

quo emolumenta universse Ecclesiam, apostolica
providentia (Mentis et Occidentis populos complexus, promo v ere

fatigari nescium,

nunquam
hominum

destitisti.

in

Admiramur magnificum

pejus quotidie

ruenti

illud,

Pastori boni

quod generi
spectaculum

exhibes, ipsorum etiam veritatis inimicorum animos percellens,

oculosque ad se vel invitos ipsa rerum prcestantia et dignitate

convertens.

123
IVrgeigitur Pastorum Pastoris vicaria potcstate fungens, divini
paries Deo coufisus tueri ; perge vitic aeternae
subsidiis pascerc Tibi creditas oves ; perge sanare contritiones
Israel, et agnos Christ! qucerere qui perierant. Faxit Deus Omni-

Tui muneris

ut, qui amoris Tui et omcii sui immemores voci Tuaj

adhuc resistunt, meliora secuti consilia ad Te tandem redeuntes,
Tuarum pastoralium
luctum Tuum in gaudiuni convertant.
curarum fructus, divina benignitate adspirante, incrementum

potens,

capiant in dies ; felix animarum conversio, quam Deus Te admiuistro quotidie operatur, magis magisque amplificetur ; Tuque
virtutum Tuarum vi et glorioso laborum successu animabus

Christo lucrifactis, prolatisque regni ejus fiuibus, cum Domino et

Magistro vere exclamare possis, Omne, quod dat mi/it Pater, ad

me

veniet

Ilasc

immo, Bcatissime Pater,

salutaris ac felicioris aevi indicia

ille, quern cunctarum nationum fideles

ud qurcvis pro Te exantlanda parati commonstrant, dum vires coret animi atque adeo vitam ipsam pro Ecclesia3 juribus et
Apostolicce Sedis gloria adserenda impendere ac dicare gestiunt.

conspiciuntur.

Testis

amor

]>oris

Testis prona ilia Catholicarum mentium reverentia, quse te supremum Pastorein cupide intuetur, qua? Apostolica3 Cathedra

oracula Ixtanter excipit, iisque firmissirno adsensu et obsequio

Testis ilia filialis animi indoles, qua populus
adhrcrere gloriatur.
Christianus vestigia fidelium sequens, qui olim ad pedes Apostolorum facultates suas sponte deferebant, rerurn Tuarum augustiis
hucusque occurrit, et continenter eas sublevare nou desinit. Ila^c
iilialis argumenta pietatis intimo pectore comrnoti ceniimus, nunquam non operam daturi, ut sacer hie ignis in cordibus fidelium
accensus foveatur et vigeat, utque turn nostro turn cleri totius
cxemplo animati omues pneclaram illam voluntatem ac liberalitatem provehant, Tibique ad rcternam eorum salutem plenius procuraiulam temporalia adjumenta suppeditent.
Qui autem fidelium omnium erga Te pietate tantopere afficimur,
Beatissime Pater, peculiaris gaudii fructum capimus ex ilia fide,
ex illo amore et obsequio, quo digni actcrnas Urbis cives Te PaFelicem
trem, Te Principom indulgentissimum complectuntur.
l)0pulum ac vera sapientem
qui novit qua) sibi amplitude et
gloria ex Petri Sede in Urbe constitute proveuiat, qui intelligit
non alios terminos divine erga se beniguitati definitos fore, quam
quos ipse sibi in sua erga Christ! Vicarium observantia et in
Plineipem Sacratissimum amore constituerit. IJa^c concupisce,
!

124
haec sequere, Romana gens; sit htcc constans, sit immota pietas;
sit
hrcc Romana Urbs, quam Christianus Orbis crctcrarum

principem suamque lubens agnoscit, ca3teris exemplo praelucens,

donisque florens, virtutibus opibusque beata.
Id, Beatissime Pater, Tui Pontificatus splendor eflfecit, quo

sit coelestibus gratiis

non Urbs solum Tua, sed uni versus orbis illustratur, cuj usque
adrairatio ita nos movet, ut ex illo exemplum pro sacro nostro
ministerio

petendum

esse existimemus.

At non minus Tua vox

quam virtutum Tuarum

saaviter illabens pectoris ima pervadit,

pontificalium imago animos nostros

percellit.

Summo
ore

Te

igitur gaudio repletus est animus noster, dum e sacrato

intelleximus, tot inter praBsentis temporis discrimina eo
esse consilio, ut maximum, prout aiebat inclitus Tims prajde-

Tuo

cessor Paulus III, in maximis rei Christiance periculis remedium,

Concilium O3cumenicum convoces.

Annuat Deus huic Tuo

proposito, cuj us ipse Tibi

mentem

in-

habeantque tandem asvi nostri homines, qui infirmi in

fide, semper disceutes et nunquam ad veritatis agnitionem pervenientes omni vento doctrinrc circumferuntur, in sacrosancta hac
Synodo novam, prsesentissimamqueoccasionem accedendi ad sancspiravit

tam Ecclesiam, columnam ac firmamentum veritatis, cognoscendi

salutiferam fidem, perniciosos rejiciendi errores ac fiat, Deo pror
;

pitio, et conciliatrice

Deipara Immaculata, haic Synodus graride

opus unitatis, sanctificationis et pacis, unde novus in Ecclesiam
splendor redundet, novus rcgni Dei triumphus consequatur.
Et hoc ipso Tuae providentire opere denuo exhibeantur mundo
immensa beneficia, per Pontificatum Romanum humanas societati
asserta. Pateat cunctis, Ecclesiam, eo quod super solidissima Petra
fundetur, taritum valere, ut errores depellat, mores corrigat, barbariem compescat, civilisque humanitatis mater dicatur et sit.
Pateat mundo, quod divina3 auctoritatis et debita3 eidem obedientiag

manifestissimo specimine, in divina Pontificatus institutionc

omnia stabilita et sacrata sint, quce societatum fundamenta

dato, ea

ac diuturnitatem solident.

Quod

ubi perspexerint principes et populi,

augustissimum

Tuum

jus,

omnis

auctoritatis,

non permittent, ut

omnium jurium

cer-

tissima sanctio, impune conculcetur ; irno ipsi curabunt, ut Tua

Tibi constet et potestatis libertas et libertatis potestas ; adsint
subsidia ad sublime Tuum, illisque ipsis summe proficuum minis-

125
noc patientur, ut vox Tua agregisanctic
addictis
Ecclesiaj
bus
prohibcatur, ne pabulo ccteriuirum
vcritatum privati miserc contabc-scant, laxatisve apud eos obedien-

terium cflicacitcr exerccndum

tiiu

ct reverentiae

culis, ilia

quoque

erga divinum in
auctoritas,

Te

residcns magisterium vinet legum conditores

qua reges regnant

labejusta decernunt, in certissimum status civilis detrimenturu

i

actetur.

Ha3c cst spes nostr.% quam corde fovemus.

cum nostrarum

est,

semperque

erit,

Hoc continuum

pre-

argumcntum.

Macte ergo animo, Beatissime Pater, perge navim Ecclesiic

inter medias proccllas secura, ut suevisti, manu ad portum addu]\Iater divinae gratiae, quam Tu pulclierrimo honoris titulo
ccre.
salutasti, intercessionis sua3 auxilio tutabitur

Tibi in stellam maris,

quam

semitam tuam. Erit

invicta. uti soles, fiducia suspiciens,

non frustra diriges cursum ad Ilium, qui per earn ad nos venire
Faventes habebis coelestes Sanctorum chores, quorum
voluit.
beatam gloriam magno studio continuisque apostolicis conatibus
exquisitam mundoexsultanti turn diebus istis, turn antehac annunAssistent Tibi Principes Apostolorum Petrus et Paulus,
precibus potentibus sollicitudinem Tuam secundantes. In puppi,
quam Tu nunc occupas, Petrus olim sedebat ; ipse apud Dominum

ciasti.

intercedet, ut quoe navis ipsius sufFrngiis adjuta octodecim soeculis

nltum vitaa humanoc mare feliciter percurrit, Te duce, opimis immortalium animarum spoliis onusta, co3lestem portum pleuis subeat
velis.
Quod ut fiat, nos curarum, precum et laborum Tuorum
fideles devotosque socios habebis, qui divinam clementiam nunc

quoque deprecamur, ut Tibi omni benedictione coeleste cumulate

serventur augeanturque vires; ut novis in dies animarum lucris
sit vitti Tua, sit longrcva in terris, sit olim in coelisbeata
Marius Cardinalis Mattei, Episc. Ostien. et Veliternen., et
S. Collcgii Decanus.

dives

Constantinus Card. Patrizi, Episc. Portuen. et S. Ruiiiuu.

Aloisius Card.

Amat, Episc.

Praenestin.

Ludovicus Card.

Alticri, Episc. Albanen.

Nicolaus Cardin. Clarelli Paracciani, Episc. Tusculan.

Philippus Card. De Angelis, Archicp. Firman.

Engelbertus Card. Sterchx, Archiep. Meclinien.
Aloisius Card. Vannicelli Casoni, Archiep. Ferrarien.
Cosmas Cardin. Corsi, Archiep. Pisan.

Dominicus Card. Carafu de Traetto, Archiep. licncvcntan.

126
Xistus Card. Riario Sforza, Archiep. Neapolitan.

Jacobus Maria Cardin. Mathieu, Archiep. Bisuntin.

Franciscus Augustus Cardin. Donnet, Archiep. Burdigalen.
Carolus Aloisius Cardin. Moricliini, Episc. ^Esinus.

Joachim Cardin. Pecci, Episc. Perusin.

Antonius Benedictus Cardin. Antonucci, Episc. Anconitan.
Henricus Cardin. Orfei, Archiep. Ravennaten.

administra

et

tor Dioecesis Ctesanen.

Joseph. Maria Cardin. Milesi, Abbas Trium Fontium.

Michael Cardin. Garcia Cuesta, Archiep. Compostellan.

Joseph Aloisius Cardin. Trevisanato, Patr. Venetiarum.

Ludovicus Card. De La Lastra-y-Cuesta, Archiep. Hispalcn.
Philippus Maria Cardin. Guidi, Archiep. Bononien.
Henricus Maria Cardin. de Bonnechose, Archiep. Rothomagen.
Paulus Cardin. Cullen, Archiep. Dublinen.
Rogerius Aloisius Antici Mattei, Patriarcha Constantinop.
Paulus Ballerini, Patriarcha Alexandrin.
Paulus Petrus Mashad, Patriarcha Antiochen. Maronitar.
Gregorius Joseff, Patr. Antiochen. Gnec. rit. Melchitar.
Joseph Valerga, Patr. Hyerosolimitan.
Thomas Iglesias y Barcones, Patriarcha Indiar. Occiden.
Antonius Hassun, Primas Constantinop. Arm. rit.
Joannes Simor, Primas Regni Hungariae, Archiep. Strigon.
Aloisius Maria Cardelli, Archiep. Acriden.
Laurentius Triocho, Archiep. Babilonen.
Meletius, Archiep. Dramaten. Grrec. rit.
Petrus Apelian, Archiep. Marascen. Arm.

rit.

Ignatius Kalybgian, Archiep. Amasien. Armen. rit.

Petrus Riccardus Kenrick, Archiep. S. Ludovici.

Petrus Cilento, Archiep. Rossanen.

Alexander Asinari de Sanmarzano, Archiep. Ephesin.
Alexander Angeloni, Archiep. Urbinaten.

Georgius Kurmuz, Archiep. Siunien. Arm.

rit.

Aloisius Clementi, Archiep. Epis. Ariminen.

Felicissimus Salvini, Archiep. Camerinen.

Eduardus Hurmuz, Archiep. Siracen. Armen.

Raphael d Ambrosio, Archiep. Dyrechien.

rit.

Julius Arrigoni, Archiep. Lucanus.

Joseph. De Bianchi Dottula, Archiep. Tranen.
Barolen,

Nazaren.

et

127
Eustacliius Gonclla, Archicp. Epis. Viterbien. ct Tuscanicn.
Joseph Rotundo, Archiep. Tarentin.

Gregorius De Luca, Archiep. Compsanus, Administrator

Cam pan en.
Joannes Hagian, Archiep. Ccsarien. Armen. rit.
Joannes Baptista Purcell, Archiep. Cincinnaten.
Renatus Franciscus Regnier, Archiep. Cameracen.
i

Maximilianus De Tarnoczv, Archiep. Salisburgen.

Benjaminus, Archiep. Neaupolit.
Elias Mellus, Archiep. Acren. et Zhibaren. Caldteor.
Fridericus de Furstenberg, Archiep. Olomucen.

Paulus Brunoni, Archiep. Taronen.

Joseph Matar, Archiep. Maronita Aleppeusis.
Pliilippus Cammarota, Archiep. Cajetan.
Franciscus Xaverius Apuzzo, Archiep. Surrentin.
Cajetanus Rossini, Archiep. Epis. Melphiten. Jovenacen.et
Terlitien.

Petrus Villanova Caslellacci, Archiep. Petr.

Vincentius Tizzani, Archiep. Nisiben.
Vincentius Spaccapietra, Archiepiscopus Smirncnsis.

Marianus Ricciardi, Archiep. Reginen.

Carolus Pooten, Archiep. Antibaren. et Scodren.
Franciscus Emilius Cugini. Archiep. Mutinen.

Jacobus Bosagi, Archiep. Cccsarien. Armen.

Raphael Ferrigno, Archiep. Brundusin.

rit.

Sulvator Nobili Vitellesclii, Archiep. Episc.

Auximan.

et Ciu-

gulan.

Alexander Franchi, Archiep. Thessalonicen.

LVtrus Bostani, Archiep. Tyren. et Sidonien. Maronit.
Patritius Leahy, Archiep. Casselien.

Josephus Hippolytus Guibert, Archiep. Turonen.

Marinus Marini, Archiep. Epis. Urbevetan.
Georgius Claudius Chalandon, Archiep. Aqucn.
Gregorius Szymonowicz, Archiep. Leopolicn. Armen.
Joachim Limberti, Archiep. Florentin.
Antonius Salomone, Archiep. Salernitan.

rit.

Pliilippus Gallo, Archiep. Patrassen.

Petrus Giannelli, Archiep. Sardien.

Joseph S. Alemanny, Archiep. S. Francisci de California.
I*

raneiscus Pedicini, Archiep. Baren.

128
Ernauuel Garcia Gil, Archiep. Caesaraugustan.
Arsenius Avak-Vartan-Angiarakian, Archiep. Tarsen. Armen.
rit.

Julianus Florianus Desprez, Archiep. Tolosan.

Ignatius Akkani, Archiep. Hauranan. Graec. rit. Melchitar.
Franciscus Xaverius Wierachleyski, Archiep. Leopolitan. rit.
Lat,
Spiridion Maddalena, Archiep. Corcyren.

Gregorius Balitian, Archiep. Aleppen. Armen. rit.

Joannes Maria Odin, Archiep. Novas Aurelias.
Joannes Martinus Spalding, Archiep. Baltimoren.

Leo Korkoruni, Archiep. Melitenen. Arm. rit.

de
Carolus
la
Tour
d Auvergne-Lauraguais,

Archiep.

Bithuricen.

Joannes Hagg, Archiep. Helipolitan. Maron.

Miecislaus Ledochowski, Archiep. Gnesnen. et Posnanien.
Walter Steins, Archiep. Epis. Bosrensis, Vicarius Apos. Calcut.
Primus Calvus Lopez, Archiep. S. Jacobi de Cuba.
Benvenutus Monzon y Martin, Archiep. Granatcn.

Joseph Berardi, Archiep. Nicen.

Petrus Alexander Doimo Maupas, Archiep. Jadren.
Athanasius Raphael Ciarchi, Archiep. Babiloneu. Syror.
Georgius Darboy, Archiep. Parisieu.
Antonius de Lavastida, Archiep. Mexican.
Clemens Munguia, Archiep. Mecoacan.
Paulus Hatem, Archiep. Aleppen. Grose, rit. Melchitar.
Petrus Matah, Archiep. Jarizensis in Syria.
Ludovicus Anna Dubreuil, Archiep. Avenionen.

Joannes Ignatius Moreno, Archiep. Vallisolitan.

Martialis Guillelmus De Cosquer, Archiep. Portus Principis.
Laurentius Pergeretti, Archiep. Naxiensis.
Ludovicus Gonin, Archiep. Portus Hispanise.
Melchior Nasarian, Archiep. Marden. Armen. rit.
Darius Bucciarelli, Archiep. Scopien.

Franciscus Fleix-y-Solans, Archiep. Tarraconen.

Ludovicus Haynald, Archiep. Colocen. et Bsesien.

Basilius Michael Gasparian, Archiep. Cypren. Armen. rit.
Joannes Paulus Franciscus Maria Lyonnet, Archiep. Aibien.
Henricus Eduardus Manning, Archiep. Westmonasterien.

Joseph Sembratowicz, Archiep. Nazianz. Grrec.

rit.

129
Paulus Melchers, Archiep. Colonien.
Kranciscus Xaverius de Merodc, Archiep. Melitenen.
Antonius Rossi Vaccari, Archiep. Colossen.
Aloisius Ciurcia, Archiep. Irenopolitan.
Alexander Riccardi. Archiep. Taurinen.

Joseph Benedictus Dusmet, Archiep. Catanien.

Joseph Cardoni, Archiep. Edessen.
Joannes Baptista Landriot, Archiep. Rhemen.
Carolus

Martialis

Alleraand

Lavigerie,

Archiep.

Julia

Caesarien.
Aloisius Puecher Passavalli, Archiep. Iconien.

Aloisius Nazarri di Calabiana, Archiep. Mediolanensis.

Joannes Petrus Losanna, Episc. Bugellen.

Ignatius Giustiniani, Episc. Chien.
Raphael Sanctes Casanelli, Episc. Adiacen.

Guillelmus Aretini Sillani, Episc. jam. Terracinen.

Modestus Contratto, Episc. Aquen.

Theodosius Kojumgi, Episc. Sidonien. Melchitar.
Joseph Maria Severa. Episc. Interamnen.
Fridericus Gabriel de Marguerye, Episc. Augustodunen.
Meletius Findi, Episc. Heliopolitan. Gra3c. rit. Melchitar.
Franciscus Victor Rivel, Episc. Divianen.
Julianus Meirieu, Episc. Dinien.

Ludovicus Besi, Episc. Canopen.

Antonius Ranza, Episc. Placentin.
Dionisius Gauthier, Episc. Emausen.

Georgius Antonius Stahl, Episc. Herbipolen.

Roess, Episc. Argentinen.

Andreas

Carolus Gigli, Episc. Tiburtin.

Franciscus Maria Vibert, Episc. Maurianen.

Joannes Fennelly, Episc. Castorien.

Strplianus Ludovicus Charbonneaux, Episc. Jassen.
Petrus Paulus Lefevre, Episc. Zctlhan Adminis. Deroiten.
Joannes Ililarius Boset, Episc. Emeriten.
Fivdericus Manfredini, Episc. Patavin.
Nicolaus Grispigni, Episc. Fulginaten.
Guillelmus Augebault, Episc. Andegaven.

Joseph Armandus Gignoux, Episc. Bellovaceu.

Joannes Baptista Berteaud, Episc. Tutelen.
Eleonorus Aronne, Episc. Montisalti.
I

130
Cajetanus Carli, Episc. Almiren.

Joannes Franciscus Wheland, Episc. Aureliopolitauus.

Joannes Thomas Ghilardi, Episc. Montis Regalis.
Paulus Georgius Dupont des Loges, Episc. Meten.
Petrus Severini, Episc. Sappaten.
Petrus eToseph De Preux, Episc. Sedunen.
Joannes Donney, Episc. Montisalbani.
Carolus Fridericus Roussalet, Episc. Sagien.

Jacobus Bailies, Episc. jam Lucionen.

Joannes Williams, Episc. Bostonien.
Cajetanus Carletti, Episc. Reatin.

Joannes Brady, Episc. Perten.

Felix Cantimorri, Episc. Parmen.
Petrus Paulus Trucchi, Episc. Forolivien.
Stephanus Marilley, Episc. Lausanen. et Geneven.
Guillelmus Massaja, Episc. Cassien.
Guillelmus Bernardus Ullathorne, Episc. Birminghamien.
Alexius Canoz, Episc. Tamassen.
Henricus Rossi, Episc. Casertan.

Joannes Baptista

Pellei, Episc. Aquaependen.

Franciscus Mazzuoli, Episc. S. Severini.
Flavianus Abel Hugonin, Episc. Bajocen.
Philippus Mincione, Episc. Mileten.

Amadeus Rappe, Episc. Clevelanden.

Joannes Corti, Episc. Mantuanus.
Aloisius Ricci, Episc. Signin.

Jacobus Alipius Goold, Episc. Melbourneri.

Eusenius Bruno Guiques, Episc. Outovien.
Guillelmus De Cany, Episc. Cargianen.
Paulus Dodmassei, Episc. Alexien.
Camillus Bisleti, Episc. Cornetan. et Centumcellar.
Thomas Mullock, Episc. S. Joannis Terras Novae.

Maria Julianus, Episc. Diniensis.

Franciscus Gandolfi, Fpisc. Antipatren.

Joannes Antonius Balma, Episc. Ptolemaid.

Aloisius Kobes, Episc. Methonen.
Laurentius Guillelmus Renaldi, Episc. Pinerolien.

Joannes Maria Foulchier, Episc. Mimaten.

Rudesindus, Episc. Portus Victorias in Australia.
S. Angeli in Vado et Urban ien.

Antonius Boscarini, Episc.

131
Januarius Acciardi, Episc. Anglonon. et Tursien.
Anlonius De Stefano, Episc. Benden.
Guillelmus Keane, Episc. Cloynensis.
Antonius Felix Philibertus Dupanloup, Episc. Aurclianen.
Ludovicus Franciscus Pie, Episc. Pictavien.
Livius Parlatore, Episc. S. Marci.
Ignatius Maria Silletti, Episc. Melphien et Rapollen.
Petrus Simon Dreux Breze, Epis. Moulinen.

Joannes Ranolder, Episc. Vesprimien.

Franciscus Petagua, Episc. Castri Maris.
d Urix y da Labairii,
Cirillus

Petrus

Episc.

Bosnien. et

Sirmien.

Raphael Bachettoni, Episc. Compsan.

Georgius Strossmayer, Episc. Pampilouen.
Georgius De Luca, Episc. Nursin.
Alexander Tache, Episc. S. Bonifacii.
Joannes Mac-Gill, Episc. Richraondien.

et Tudelen.

Hieronymus Verzeri, Episc. Brixien.

Petrus Lacarriere, Episc. jam Bassre Terras.
Ludovicus Theophilus Pallu du Pare, P^pisc. Blesen,
Philippus Fratelliui, Episc. Forosemprouien.
Aloisius Margarita, Episc. Oritan.

Joseph Arachial, Episc. Ancyran. Armeu. rit.

Thomas Grant, Episc. Southwarcen.
Vincentius Bisceglia, Episc. Termular.
Mathias Augustinus Mengacci, Episc. Civitatis
Hortan. et Gallesin.

Joannes Petrus Mabile, Episc. Versalien.

Cajetanus Brinciotti, Episc. Balneoregieu.
Colinus Mac Kinnon, Episc. Arichaten.

Bernardus Pinol, Episc. de Nicaragua.

Ludovicus Eugenius Regnault, Episc. Carnuteii,
Joannes Jacobus Guerrin, Episc. Lingonen.
Aloisius Sordo, Episc. Thelesin. seu Cerreten.
Bartholomseus
Avanzo, Episc. Calven. et Theanen.

Joannes Joseph Longobardi, Episc. Andrien.

Joannes Petrus Bravard, Episc. Constantien.
Theodorus de Montpellier, Episc. Leodien.
Antonius La Scala, Episc. S. Severi.
Jesualdus Vitali, Episc. Ferentin.
i

Castellan.

132
Carolus Maria Dubuis, Episc. Galvestoiiieu.
Jacobus Stepisclmegg, Episc. Lavantin.
Aloisius Filippi, Episc. Aquilan.

Jacobus Ginoulhial, Episc. Gratianopolitan.

Joseph Chaixal-y-Estrade, Episc. Urgellen.
Franciscus Joseph Rudiger, Episc. Lincien.
Joannes Loughlin, Episc. Brooklynien,
Thaddeus Amat, Episc. Monteregen.
Jacobus Roosevel Bayley, Episc. Nevarceii.
Ludovicus Goesbriand, Episc. Burlingtonen.

Emigdius Forchini, Episc.

Civitatis Plebis.

Vincentius Materozzi, Episc. Ruben, et Bituntin.

Petrus Aloisius Speranza, Episc. Bergomen.

Thomas Michael

Salzano, Episc. Tanen.

Felix Romano, Episc. Isclan.

Aloisius Landi Vittori, Episc. Assisien.

Vincentius Zubranich, Episc. Ragusin.

Benedictus Riccabona, Episc. Tridentin.

Ludovicus Forwerk, Episc. Leontopolitan.

Franciscus Antonius Maiorsini, Episcop. Lacedonien.
Thomas Michael Salzano. Episc. Tanen.
Innocentius Sannibale, Episc. Eugubin.
Nicolaus Renatus Sergent, Episc. Corosopiten.

Joannes Rosati, Episc. Tudertin.

Dominicus Zelo, Episc. Aversan.
Caietanus Rodilossi, Episc. Alatrin.
Franciscus Gallo. Episc. Abellinen.

Petrus Rota, Episc. Guastallen.

Joannes Joseph Vitezich, Episc. Veglien.
Franciscus Gianpaolo, Episc. Larinen.
Franciscus Roullet de La Bouillerie, Episc. Carcassonen.
Franciscus Paulus, Episcop. S. Agatae Gothorum.

Alexius Joseph Wicart, Episc. Vail is Vidonis.

Guillelmus Vaughan, Episc. Plymouth.
Nico^aus Pace, Episcop. Amerin.

Joannes Benini, Episc. Piscien.

Joseph Del Prete, Episc. Thyateren.
Joseph Formisano, Episc. Nolan.
Claudius Henricus Plantier, Episc. Nemausen.
Ludovicus Augustus Delalle, Episc. Ruthenen.

133
Vincentius Morctti, Episc. Imolen.

Antonius Joseph Jordany, Episc. Forojulien. et Toloncn.

Joannes Reiiier, Episcop. Feltr. et Bellunensis.
Patritius Moran, Episc. Dardanen.
Laurentius Gillooly, Episcop. Elphinensis.
Guillelmus Emmanuel, Episcop. Moguntinus.
Joannes Furrell, Episc. Hamiltonen.
Elias Ant. Alberani, Episc. Ascul. in Piceno.
Joannes Ghiureghian, Episc. Trapezuntin. Arm.

Adriauus Languillat, Episc. Sergiopolitan.

Sti phanus Semeria, Episc. Olympen.
Jacobus Bernardi, Episc. Massan.

Thomas

Passero, Episc. Trojan.

Claudius Jacobus Boudinet, Episc. Ambianen.
Corradus Martin, Episc. Paterbonen.

Joseph Emanuel Arroyo, Episc. De Guayana.

Joseph Romero, Episc. Dibonen.
Vincentius Cina, Episc. Adramiten.
Enricus, Episc. Casertanus.

Dalmatius Di Andrea, Episc. Boven.

Vincentius Casser, Episc. Brixinen.
Philippus Vespasiani, Episc. Fanen.

Clemens Fares, Episc. Porphyrien.

Franciscus Mariuelli, Episc. Porphyrien.
Henricus Juncker, Episc. Altonen.
Joannes Mac-Evilly, Episc. Galvien.
Guillelmus Clifford, Episc. Cliftonien.

Petrus Gerault

De

Langalerie, Episc. Bellicen.

Petrus Maria Ferre, Episc. Casalen.

Ludovicus Delcusy, Episc. Vivarien.
Petrus Buffetti, Episc. Brictinorien.

Joseph Stephanus Godelle, Episc. Thermopylen.

Jacobus Fridericus Wood, Episc. Philadelphieu.
Joannes Baptista Scandella, Episc. Autinoen.

Joseph Targioni, Episc. Volaterran.

Aloisius Maria Paoletti, Episc. Montis Politiani.
Joseph De Los Rios, Episc. Lucen.
Michael O Hea, Episc. Rossanen.
Patritius Lynch, Episc. Carolopolitan.

Joseph Maria Papardo, Episc. Sinopen.

rit.

134
Vitalis Justinus Grandin, Episc. Satalen.
Guillelmus Henricus Elder, Epis. Natchezensis.

Clemens Pagliari, Episc. Anagnin.

Fortunatus Maurizi, Episc. Verulan.

Petrus Sola, Episc. Nicien.

Ferdinandus Blanco, Episc. Abulen.
Paulus Benignus Carrion, Epis. De Porto Rico.
Jacobus Jeancard, Episc. Ceramen.
Carolus Joannes Fillion, Episc. Cenomanen.
Joannes Sebastianus Devoucoux, Episc. Ebroicen.
Ignatius Senestrey, Episc. Ratisbonen.

Riccardus Roskell, Episc. Nottinghamen.

Paschalis Vuicic, Episc. Antiphellen.

Ludovicus Ideo, Episc. Liparen.

Michael Paya y Rico, Episc. Conchen.
Jacobus Etheridge, Episc. Toronen.
Petrus Cubero y Lopez de Padilla, Episc. Oriolen.
Dominicus Fanelli, Episc. Dianen.

Joachim Lluch, Epis. Canarien.

et S. Christophori in

Ignatius Papardo, Episc. Miden.

Joannes Antonius Augustus, Episc. Apamien.
Petrus Tilkian, Episc. Brussen. Arm. rit.
Antonius Maria Valenziani, Episc. Fabrianen.
Hyacinthus Luzi, Episc. Narnien.

Thomas Grace,

Laguna.

et Mathelicen.

Episc. S. Pauli de Minesota.

Antonius Halagi, Episc. Artuinen. Arm. rit.

Joseph Teta, Episc. Oppiden.
Joannes Baptista Siciliani, Episc. Caputaquen. et Vallen.
Franciscus Xaverius D Ambrosio, Episc. Muran.
Michael Milella, Episc. Aprutin.
Rodesindus Salvado, Episc. Victorien.

Simon

Spilotros, Episc. Tricaricen.

Felix Petrus Fruchaud, Episc. Limovicen.

Aloisius Maria Epivent, Episc. Aturen.
Joseph Lopez-Crespo, Episc. Santanderien.

Vincentius Arbelaes, Episc. Maximopolitanus.

Joannes Quinlan, Episc. Mobilien.
Petrus Joseph Tordoy n, Episc. Tiberiopolitan.
t

Joannes Monetti, Episc. Cervien.

Alexander Paulus Spoglia, Episc. Comaclen.

135
Aloisius Mariotti, Episc. Feretran.

Valerius Laspro, Episc. Gallipolitan.

Aloisius Lembo, Episc. Cotrouen.

Jacobus Rogers, Episc. Chatamen.

Patritius Dorrian, Epise. Danen. et Connoren.

Andreas Ignatius Schaepman, Episc. Esbonen.

Alexander Bonnaz, Episc. Csanadiensis.
Sebastiauus Bias Larangeira, Episc. S. Petri Flum. Granden.
Michael Domenec, Episc. Pittsburgen.
Aloisius Antonius Dos Santos, Episc. Fortalexien.
Antonius de Macedo Gosta, Episc. Belem de Para.
Walterus Steins, Episc. Nilopolitan.
Claudius Maria Magnin, Episc. Annecien.
Julius Ravinet, Episc. Trecen.
Antonius de Trinitate de Vasconcellos Pereira de Mcllo, Episc.

Lamacen.
Jacobus Donnelly, Episc. Clogherien.
Gerardus Petrus Wilmer, Episc. Herlemen.
Georgius Buttler, Epis. Limericen.
Carolus Theodorus Colet, Episc. Lu 900011.
Eustachius Zanoli, Episc. Eleutheropolitun.
Fridericus Maria Zinelli, Episc. Tarvisiu.

De Canossa, Episc. Veronen.

Robertus Cornthwaite, Episc. Beveiiacen.
Benedictus Vilamitiaua, Episc. Derthusen.
Petrus Maria Lagiiera y Menezo, Episc. Oxamen.

Aloisius

Callistus Castrillo

y Ornedo, Episc. Legionen.

Horton Rosecrans, Episc. Pompejopolitan.
Victor Felix Bernardon, Episc. Vapincen.
Augustinus David, Episc. Briocen.
Ludovicus Nogret, Episc. S. Claudii.
Antonius Boutonnet, Episc. Guadalupen,
Pantaleo Monserrat y Navarro, Episc. Barcinonen.
Silvester

Joseph Fessler, Episc. S. Hippolyti.

Marianus Puigllat-y-Amigo, Episc. Illerden.
Constantinus Bonet, Episc. Gerunden.
Joannes de Frao9a Castro e Moura, Episc. Portugallien.
Joannes Gray, Episc. Hypsopolitun.
BenUurdinua Trioofe.tti, Episc. Terrncincn. Privcrnen. et Setin.
Franciscus Gainza, Episc.

De

Caceres.

136
Antonius Alves Martins, Episc. Visen.
Joseph Papp-Szilagyi de Illesfalva, Episc. Magno Varadinen.
Grace.

Rum.

Gioannichius, Episc. Palmiren. Greco-Cath.

Joannes Petrus, Episc. Costantien.

Joannes Jacovacci, Episc. Erythreusis.

Joannes Baptista Greith, Episc. S. Galli.
Nicolaus Conaty, Episc. Kilmoren.
Nicolaus Adames, Episc. Halicarnassen.
Fidelis Abbati, Episc. Sanctorinen.
Joannes Baptista Gazailhan, Episc. jam Veneten.

Antonius Monastyrski, Episc. Premislieu.

Joannes Zaffron, Episc. Sebenicen.

Joseph Nicolaus Dabert, Episc. Petrocoricen.

Petrus Marcus Le Breton, Episc. Anicien.
Joannes Claudius Lachat, Episcopus Basileen.
Joseph Pluym, Episc. Nicopolitan.
Felix Maria Arriete, Episc. Gatitan.

et Septen.
Franciscus Andreoli, Episc. Callien et Pergulan.
Paulus Micaleff, Episcopus Civitatis Castelli.

Antonius Maria Pettinari, Episc. Nucerin.

Joannes Petrus Dours, Episcopus Suessionen.
Gregorius Lopez, Episc. Placentin. Compostelleu.
Josepli Aloisius Montagut, Episc. Ovoten.

Joachim Hernandez y Herrero, Episc. Segobricen.

Paulus Beriscia, Episc. Pulaten.
Joannes Strain, Episc. Abilen.
Edmundus Franciscus Guierry, Episc. Danaben.

Hyacinthus Vera, Episc. Megaren.

Gaspar Mermillod, Episc. Hebronen.
Angelus Kraljevic, Episc. Metellopolitan.
Agapitus Dumani, Episc. Ptolemaiden. Grsec.

Thomas Nulty, Episcopus

rit.

Melchitar.

Midensis.

Joseph Salandari, Episc. Marcopolitan.

Franciscus Nicolaus Gueullette, Episc. Valentinen.
Guillelmus Renatus Meignan, Episc. Catalaunen.

Stephanus Ramadie, Episc. Elnen.

Raimundus Garcia y Anton, Episc. Tuden.

Hyacinthus Maria Martinez, Episc. S.
Havana.

Christophori

de

137
Ilcnricus Franciscus Bracq, Epis. Gandaven.
Nicolaus Power, Episc. Sareptan.
Laurentius Bonaventura Shiel, Epis. Adelaidopolitan.

Aloisius Riccio, Episc. Cajacien.

Ferdinandus Ramirez y Vazquez, Episc. Pacen.

Victor Augustus Dechamps, Episc. Namurcen.
Joannes Joseph Conroy, Episc. Albaneu. in America.

Joannes Marango, Episc. Thinen et Miconen.

Raphael Popow, Episc. Bulgaror.
Nicolaus Frangipani, Episc. Concordien.
Joseph Romeo, Episc. Dibouen.

electus.

Joannes Lozano, Episc. Paleutin.

Antonius Jorda y Soler, Episc. Vicen.

Agabius Biscia, Episc. Cariopolitan.

Stephanus Melchisedechian, Episc. Erzerumien. Armen.

rit.

Carolus Philippus Place, Episc. Marsilien.

Joannes Baptista Lequette, Episc. Atrebaten.

Petrus Alfredus Grimardias, Episc. Cadurcen.

Joannes Maria Be eel, Episc. Veneten.
Georgius Dubocowich, Episc. Pharen.

Jacobus Lynch, Episc. Arcadiopolitan.

Joseph De la Cuesta y Maroto, Episc. Aurien.
Jacobus Chadwick, Episc. Hagulstadens. et Novo Castrens.
Angelus Di Pietro, Episc. Nyssen.

Joseph Aggarbati, Episc. Senogallien.

Joseph Bovieri, Episc. Montis Falisci.
Julius Lenti, Episc. Sutrin, et Nepesin.
Thomas Gallucci, Episc. Recineten. et Lauretan.

Joannes Baptista Cerruti, Episc. Savonen. et Naulen.

Salvator Angelus Bernards, Episc. Galtelleii. Noreii.
Pliilippus Manetti, Episc. Tripolitan.

Conceptus Focaccetti, Episc. Lystren.

Auselmus

Fauli, Episc. Grossetan.

Joseph Rosati, Episc. Lunen.-Sarzanen.

Josephus Giusti, Episc. Aretinus.
Carolus Macchi, Episc. Regien.
Joannes Zalka, Episc. Jaurinensis.
Cajetanus Franceschini, Episc. Maceratcn. et Tolentin.
Antonius Fania, Episc. Marsicen. et Potentieu.

Andreas Formica, Episc. Cuneen.

138
Carolus Savio, Episc. Asten.
Laurentius Gastaldi, Episc. Salutiar.

Eugenius
Antonius

Alba Pampejen.
Alexandrin. Pederaontan.

Galletti, Episc.
Colli, Episc.

Augustinus Hacquard, Episc. Verdunen.

Joseph Alphredus Faulon, Episc. Nanceyen. et Tullen.
Henricus Bindi, Episc. Pistorien.
Antonius Grech Delicata Testaferrata, Episc. Calydonien.
electus.

Franciscus Zunnui, Episc. Exellen. et Terralben.

Petrus Georgius Di Natale, Episc. Amiden. Chaldaeor.

Leo, Episc. Rupellensis et Santonensis.

Franciscus Gros, Episc. Tarantasiensis.
Joannes Chrysostomus Kruesz, Arcliiabbas O. S. B.
Guillelmus de Cesere, Abbas Montis Virginis.

S. Martini,

139

IV.

VENERABILES FRATRES
Perjucunda quidem, licet a fide et devotione vestra prorsus
expectanda, Nobis fuerat nobilis ilia concordia, qua, sejuncti ac
dissiti,

eadem

tenere,

eadem asserere

profitebamiui,

quae

Nos

docueramus, et eosdem, quos damnaveramus, errores in religiose

Verum multo
civilisque societatis exitium invectos execrari.
fuit
ha3C
discere
ex
ore
Nobis
et
nunc rursum
vestro,
jucundius
ipsa
a congregatis vobis explicatius et solemnius accipere dum iis
amoris et obsequii officiis Nos cumulatis, quae mentes affectusque
;

vestros luculentius verbis ipsis aperiant.

Cur nam enim tarn prono animo obsecundastis desiderio Nostro,

omnique incommodo posthabito, ad Nos e toto terrarum orbe convolastis?

quam

Scilicet

explorata vobis

erat

firmitas Petrae, supra

vivifica ejus virtus; nee

rei testimonium accedat
utrique
praeclarum

aedificata fuit Ecclesia, perspecta

vos fugiebat, quam

a Christianorum heroum Canonizatione.

Duplex igitur hoc

festum celebraturi confluxistis, non modo ut sacris hisce solemniis
splendorem adderetis, sed ut, universam veluti fidelium familiam
non minus, quam diserta professione
nunc, quae duodevigiuti ab hinc saeculis, vigere
fidem, idem caritatis vinculum omnes nectere, eamdem virtutem
exeri ab hac Cathedra veritatis.
referentes, praesentia vestra

testaremini,

eamdem

commendare pastoralem sollicitudinem Nostram,

quidquid pro viribus agimus ad effundendam veritatis lucem,
ad disjiciendas error um tenebras, ad perniciem depellendam ab
Placuit vobis

et

animabus Christi sanguine redemptis nempe ut e conjunctis propriorum magistrorum sententiis ac vocibus, confirmentur Christiano3 gentes in obscquio et amore erga hanc sanctam Sedem, in
;

eamque acrius mentis oculos intendant. Corrogatis undique subsidiis hue convenistis civilem Nostrum sustentaturi
Principatum
tanta oppuguatum perfidia
ideo sane ut splendidissimo hoc facto,
:

140
et per collata Catholic! orbis suffragia necessitatem ejus
regimen assereretis.

ad liberum

Ecclesiae

Dilectum vero populum Romanum, indubiaque

ejus obsequii in

quenda duxistis

et clarissima

Nos
;

et dilectionis indicia meritis laudibus prosequo et alacriores ipsi adjiceretis animos, et eum

vindicaretis a conflatis in ipsum calumniis, et fo3dam

Romanum
Et dum

illis

sacri-

notam

inureretis, qui, felicitatis populi obtentu,

Pontificeni e solio deturbare conantur.

legaa proditionis

arctioribus mutuaa caritatis nexibus per hunc convenstuduistis omnes orbis Ecclesias, hoc etiam pras-

tum obstringere

stitistis, ut uberiore evangelico spiritu repleti ad Beatissimi Petri

Principis Apostolorum et Pauli doctoris gentium cineres fortiores
inde discederetis ad perrumpendas hostium phalanges, ad tuenda

religionis jura,

ad unitatis studium creditis plebibus

efficacius

ingerendum.

Quod

sane votum apertius etiam se prodit in eo

communi Con-

oecumenici desiderio, quod omnes non modo perutile sed et

necessarium arbitramini. Superbia enim humana, veterem ausum
instauratura, jamdiu per commentitium progressum civitatem et
cilii

turrim extruere

nititur,

cujus culmen pertingat ad ccelum, unde

demum Deus

At Is descendisse videtur inipse detrahi possit.

specturus opus, et aedificantum linguas ita confusurus, ut non
audiat unusquisque vocem proximi sui : id enim- animo objiciant
Ecclesise vexationes, miseranda civilis consortii conditio, perturbatio rerum omnium, in qua versamur.

Cui sane gravissirnaa calamitati sola certe objici potest divina

Ecclesiae virtus, quas tune maxime se prodit, cum Episcopi a
Summo Pontifice convocati, eo prasside, conveniunt in nomine

Domini de

Ecclesiaa rebus acturi.

Et gaudemus omnino, praeverhac in re propositum jamdiu a Nobis conceptum commendandi sacrum hunc ccetum ejus patrocinio, cujus pedi a rerum
tisse vos

exordio serpentis caput subjectum

fuit,

quaaque deinde universas

communi desiderio
jam mine nunciamus, futurum quandocumque Concilium sub
ha3reses sola interemit.

Satisfacturi propterea

auspiciis Deiparae Virginis ab

et eo aperiendum die,

dum,

collati

memoria

omni labe iinmunis

quo insignis hujus

esse constituenprivilegii

ipsi

recolitur.

Faxit Deus, faxit Immaculata Virgo, ut amplissimos e saluberrimo isto consilio fructus percipere valeamus. Interim vero Ipsa
validissimo suifragio suo pra3sentibus necessariam adjunctis

opem

141
Nobis imploret.
divitias

in

Dcusque ejus prccibus cxoratus misericordirc suic

Nos universamque Ecclcsiam cffundat. Nos certe

amantissimi gratissimique animi scnsu non extingucndo compulsi,

cnixe vobis adprecamur a Deo quidquid spiritual! emolumento
vcstro, quidquid

plebium vobis commissarum provectui, quidquid

religionis et justitire tutelse, quidquid civilis societatis tranquillitati

bene vertere

possit.

Et quoniam

rum
aliquot e vobis a peculiaribus populorum
neccssitatibus coactos, citius a nobis discessuroscsse comperimus ;
su<

iis, si temporis angusthe singulos nobis complecti non sinant, in

prrcsentiarum omnia ominamur secunda, et effuso cordis affectu
bene precamur. Universis vero supernorum omnium bonorum

copiosiquediviniauxiliiauspicem,simulque praicipujiebenevolentia;
Nostra3 et grati animi testem, Benedictionem Apostolicam ex imo
pectore depromptam peramanter impertimus.

LONDON
1

KINTKD BY

POTTI SWOODT. AND CO.

NEW-STHEKT SQUARB

THE (ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

AND THE

INFALLIBILITY

ROMAN PONTIFF:

OF THE

A PASTORAL LETTER TO THE CLERGY

fee,

BY

HENRY EDWARD

AECHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND

1869.

CO.

LONDON
SPOTTISWOODE AND

PRINTED BY

CO.,

NEW-STREET SQUARE

AND PARLIAMENT STREET

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Effect of the Council already felt in

England and

CHAPTER
On

the

I.

in France, p. 5.

II.

Roman

opportuneness of defining the Infallibility of the

Pontiff, p. 25.

Reasons against the definition, 28 ; Answers to reasons against

the definition, 33
Reasons for the definition, 38.
;

CHAPTER
Tradition of the Infallibility of the
Statement of the doctrine, 58.
1.

III.

Roman

Pontiff, p. 58.

Tradition from the Council of Constance to the Council of

Chalcedon, 70.
Gerson, 70

University of Paris, 72
Bradwardine, Archbishop of Can
Clement VI., 74 S. Thomas, 74 ; S. Bonaventure,
terbury, 73
75 Council of Lyons, 75 S. Thomas of Canterbury, 77 S. AnAnselm of Havelburgh, 78; Synod of
selm, 77; S. Bernard, 78
Council of Rome, 81
Quedlinburgh, 80
Eighth General Coun
Alcuin and Caroline Books, 81
cil, 81
Bishops of Africa, 83 ;
;

Bishops of France, 71

Stephen, Bishop of Paris, 73

SLxth^General Council, 84 Formula of Hormisdas, 85

and Council of Chalcedon, 87.
;

S.

Leo,

Tradition from the Council of Constance to 1682, 93.

Condemnation of Peter de Osma, 99
Opinions of Gerson, 96
Faculty of Louvain, 99
Clergy of France, 101.
2.

3.

First formal enunciation of Gallicanism, 107.

Assembly of 1682, 107; Nomination by the King, 109; Re

sistance of the Sorbonne and other Faculties to the Four Articles
110.

CHAPTER
Two

effects

IV.

of the Council certain, p. 124.

and
Effect on the evidence and proposition of the Faith, 124
on the relations of the Civil Governments to the Church, 127.
;

POSTSCRIPT.
Religieuse,

Monseigneur Maretj
p. 139.

Du

Concile General

et

de la Paix

CHAPTER

I.

REVEREND AND DEAR BRETHREN,

In publishing, on the 27th of

last

May, the

Apostolic Letters which direct us to invoke, in every

Mass, the light of the Holy Ghost for the guidance of
the coming (Ecumenical Council. I refrained from

But as the time now

adding any words of my own.
draws near when it will be my duty to leave you for
a season, it seems fitting, and you may perhaps
expect, that I should

thoughts awakened by

freely

you the
and the intentions

express

this event,

to

which we ought to pray.

It has been said again and again, by those who
desire what they say to be true, that the indiction of

for

a General Council in ages past stirred the whole

world, but in these days is received with complete
indifference.

coma,

be

so,

then the need of a General

is

it is

together.
is

it

proved, and the reason for convoking it

If the Christian world be in a state of
evident.

Council
is

If

ignored?

excited so

time that the physicians should consult

is it the fact that the coming Council

But

What event in
much attention?

Christian world has

it

the last two years has

In what country of the

been passed over in silence?

What Government
There

have

has not occupied itself about it?

been

diplomatic circulars,

sand journals in

in

interpellations

hundreds of

legislatures,,

articles in a

thou

countries of Europe, speeches in

convocations, books, pamphlets, and letters in news
all

papers from the invited and the uninvited, an uni

versal stir and excitement, not indeed within the

unity of the Catholic Church, where all is calm in

the strength of quiet and of confidence, but outside T
in the political

of the case

is,

and

The diagnosis
The patient
hardly correct.

religious world.

therefore,

not insensible, but highly sensitive lethargic at

times, perhaps, and unconscious of the extent of his
is

maladies, but fully alive to

what

him and impending over him

that the

true, indeed,

passing around
in the future.
It is
is

indiction of the

Council of

of
example,
upon
Christian Europe while as yet it was visibly united
Trent, for

to

the

the conscience

fell

Holy

See.

The

errors

of the

so-called

Reformation were already in activity, and the minds

Most
of men were deeply moved by many passions.
of the Civil Powers of Europe were then Catholic, and
had therefore a large participation in the Council.

Now

Half of Germany, Norway,

Sweden, Denmark, England and Scotland, have ceased
to be Catholic.
The Civil Powers in countries of
all

is

changed.

which the people remain wholly or almost altogether

It is not to be ex
Catholic, are so no longer.
pected that they will be moved by hope or by fear,
by good or by ill will towards the Council in which

they have foregone their share. Nevertheless, even

among them, both in public and in private, the

coming Council already exerts an influence which is

ever increasing in strength and in significance.
So true is this, that the question, who have or
have not been invited, or

who have

or have not a

right to sit in the Council, has been raised by many

who are not of the unity of the Catholic Church.

We

should have thought that this question would

The convocation of Parliament is
solve itself.

addressed only to its members, and its members are

those only who are subjects of the Crown and are

The indiction
duly invested with the right to sit.
of the Council is addressed to the Bishops of the
Catholic Unity,
the Church, and

who are subject to the authority of

members of its world- wide empire.

the Bull of Indiction

all Bishops are, not in

to
but
attend.
It is not an invitation,
vited,
obliged
but a citation.
They can be released from the obli

By

gation to appear only by the Supreme Authority

which imposes it.
It has been erroneously imagined

two Apostolic Letters addressed, the first,

to the Schismatical Bishops of the East, and the
second, to all Protestants and others not Catholic,
were issued to give an (Ecumenical character to the
Council. But this is a transparent error. The Coun
that the

by containing either numerically or morally the

Pastors of the whole Flock throughout the world,
subject to the Apostolic See, is thereby, ipso facto,

cil,

(Ecumenical.

These two

letters,

addressed in paternal charity to those

therefore,

were

who once

were,

and now unhappily are no longer, of the Catholic

Their presence is not needed to make the
Unity.
Council (Ecumenical.

They

are exhorted to avail

themselves of the

moment

of reconciliation

and of

peace offered by the assembling of the Council ; and

on one and the same condition, namely, a

all alike

recognition and submission to the Divine Authority

of the Catholic and Roman Church, by which the

Council will assemble, deliberate, and make decrees.

They who have the Episcopal character validly im
pressed by undoubted consecration would, upon
submission to the Divine Authority of the Church, be
admitted to sit with the Episcopate of the Catholic

world.

The

ciliation,

and then

invitation therefore

is,

first,

to recon

to verification of their episcopal

The Bishops

of the Churches in the East,

from
the Catholic Church, are
separation
without doubt, for the most part, validly consecrated.
character.

now

in

the renunciation of schism and any

doctrinal error, at once be restored to their rank as

They might, upon

There are others in the West claiming

Bishops.
the episcopal character, and claiming likewise to
be Catholic, as the Jansenists of the Low Coun
others again nearer home.
If they
tries, and
believe their episcopal character to be unjustly

doubted or denied, the way is open for examination

It is not for me to say what the
and redress.

Supreme Authority may or may not see fit to do.

But this, at least, I may venture to say, for
this the Supreme
Authority has already done.
It has invited all those
its

who

are

now

separate from

unity to avail themselves of this occasion.

Let

them bring before the coming Council any cause in

which they have been wronged; any claims which
have not yet been heard, any alleged rights of which

Three hundred years of

they have been deprived.

not to go
contention, misery, and declining faith
deeper into the dark memories of the past may well

turn the hearts of

men

once more to the Church in

which their forefathers believed and died.

by

glorified

divisions,

nor

is

God is not

our Divine Master hon

oured by contradictions among those who teach in His

name. Let us hope, pray, and labour for unity in

There are many signs of the times which

betoken a happier day.
Not to go further back than
the truth.

come over England a

the last forty years, there has

change which

distinguished French
writer has said that in the midst of the old England

be

felt.

passing away, a new England is arising.

England of penal laws, and slavery, and unequal

which

The

may

is

cipated

gone; the England of to-day has eman

men from religious penalties, abolished

slavery,

and given equal laws to the people of these

legislation is

realms.

maladies

This

new England

of to-day, with

all its

and they are indeed grievous and menacing,

is, never

inherited from the sins of our forefathers

and generous. There is a

benevolence growing up where once was ill-will; and
a reaction has set in towards those who have been
theless, just, fair, merciful,

wronged and

falsely accused.

Of this, evidence

is

on

every side, in private and in public life and this will

have results hereafter which the most sanguine now
do not venture to express.
There may, perhaps, be
;

found here and there some half-educated minds, or

some interested and violent persons, who keep up the
against the Catholic religion. But the English
people do not now believe you and me to be idolaters.

old

rail

10

Twenty years ago many did

But

so.

the light of

has destroyed this

day, and their own good sense,
superstition.
They know us to believe in many

but

mysteries of the supernatural order;

they"

pro

fess to believe in supernatural mysteries themselves.

They cannot

call

us superstitious or credulous, with

out accepting the name themselves. They are coming

also to see that the supernatural order needs a more
solid

and

stable foundation than they can find in the

midst of their

contradictions ; they see that at

last they are compelled in argument to rest upon the
But for
witness and testimony of Christendom.

whom

many

does Christendom bear

its

The day is
Christianity and

witness ?

If
past for appeals to antiquity.
the Christian Scriptures are to be maintained in con

troversy against sceptical criticism, the unbroken,

world-wide witness of the Catholic Church must be

dependence has
worked like a benign influence upon the minds of
those who believe Christianity to be a divine revela

invoked.

tion,

This

consciousness

of

and the books of Scripture to be

inspired.

And

I joyfully bear witness that a pious belief in these

two divine truths pervades the English people. In

saying this I do not forget the materialism, ignorance,

Never
indifference, practical atheism of millions.
theless the Christian tradition of England,

grievously mutilated and robbed of

thority, still survives.

its

though

divine au

There are in the Anglican

communion, and among Nonconformists, millions who

and His redemp
tion, with a heartfelt and loving faith; and their

believe in Jesus Christ, His person

faith

bears

noble

fruits.

Many

of

their

errors

11

come from a jealousy for these very truths. It

was a master-stroke of the enemy of truth to make
them reject the words and the will of Jesus Christ

As
out of jealousy for His Person and His work.
they who killed His disciples believed they were
doing a service to God, so they rejected the unity
and authority of His Church and sacraments or
dained by Him, and doctrines which came from His
lips, in the belief that they were thereby honouring
His Person and His truth.
Evil

One has been

at last

But

this illusion of the

found out.

Fair and

truthful minds acknowledge at this day that every

truth for which they profess to be jealous is menaced,

and

in a multitude of

minds altogether lost. But

Church these

they cannot deny

very truths are not lost or menaced, but universally
taught and believed in all fulness and precision. The
that in the Catholic

mission and work of the Catholic Church in England

is like that of S. Paul in Corinth.
In the midst of

a highly civilised,

and

philosophical,

Jesus Christ and

intellectual,

contentious

Him

luxurious,

crucified/

refined,

he

preached
asked
for
Some

race,

signs and others for wisdom ; some were incredulous,

others were critical; they sought after learning, elo

quence, logic

he preached, affirmed, and re-affirmed

by a con

again, as one having authority, sustained

sciousness of a mission

and a message both

alike

divine.
Men chafed against both the matter and
the manner, and against the manner even more than
the matter of his teaching. It was perpetual affirma

They would not see that his divine authority

was a part of his message, and that the divine cer-

tion.

12

what he taught was the foundation of that

authority that their faith might not stand on the
wisdom of man, but on the power of God/ * If the
tainty of

Jesus Christ
people of England indeed believe in
soon
see
the
and Him crucified/ we shall
unity of faith
arising out of our endless confusions for to believe
:

in

Him we must know who He

is,

that

is,

that

He

God, consubstantial, co-eternal, co-equal with the

Father and the Holy Ghost, therefore we must

is

know

Holy Trinity, One God in three persons;

and His Manhood, therefore His Incarnation, two
perfect natures in One Divine Person, and thereby
also the dignity of His blessed Mother as Mother
the

of God.

We

must believe

also

what He has done

for us, that is, the redemption by His most pre

cious blood; what He has taught us, or the whole
undiminished truth which He has revealed; and

what
tions

He

has

commanded

us,

or

all

and obligations of His moral and

the institu
positive law.

All these four assemblages of truth are contained in

the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
i

No

one can be said to know

Him who

does not

know

who He is, what He has done, what He has taught,

what He has commanded; but no one can know
these things who does not know the doctrine of the
Holy

Trinity, the Incarnation, the whole doctrine of

the whole order of the Church, its unity and

authority, the institution of the Holy Sacraments,

faith,

the grace they convey and the obligations

But this is to know the Catholic Faith
they impose.
and the Catholic Church; and as men become once

with

all

Cor.

ii.

5.

13

more calm and candid, as the storms and passions of

three hundred years subside, they will see that in
their haste and illusions they have wounded Him
whom they professed to honour, and have destroyed
His work whom they have desired to serve.
For the
ing in the

last thirty

years there has been an awaken

as, for three hundred

mind of England, such

been before.

years, has never

There

is

a sense of loss

and of

privation, an honest acknowledgment of the

done by the so-called reformers
a desire to
restore what has been broken down
a painful con
evil

and uncertainty;
a conviction that these things are contrary to the
will and commandment of our Divine Master
an
sciousness of division, contention,

aspiration after unity, a

after the return of the

hunger for truth, a longingDivine Presence which once

dwelt in the old churches of England.

there

is

Besides

cannot be cribbed up within four seas

the

this,

a consciousness that the Church of Christ

world,

and

that

the

insular

that

it fills

Christianity

of

England, even if it were perfectly united in itself,

could not live long when disunited from the Christian
world.

The spread of the

and the
has still more

British Empire,

spread of Anglicanism to the colonies,

powerfully awakened this aspiration for a higher

Wheresoever the insular religion of England
unity.
goes,

it

finds a

contains islands
in its

Church and a Faith before it, which

and continents, and the whole world,

unbroken unity.

The

colonies of Great Britain

are acting powerfully, both in politics and religion,

on the mother country.
They both give and receive
an influence which will deeply modify and assimilate

14
the whole British Empire to a type, not of the past,
but of the future. The mother country has impressed
its outlines

upon the

colonies ; the colonies are

but surely transforming the mother country

silently

into their

own

prevail.

Another image and likeness

upon

now

both.

likeness.

The great

But neither

will ultimately
is

principles, axioms,

returning

and maxims

of our English law, derived from Catholic times and

from the Catholic Church, lie imperishable at the
foundation of our political order.
They have been
carried throughout our colonies, and have reproduced
in all our dependencies a political and social life

homogeneous to our own. This unity of first prin

ciples would seem to promise for the British Empire a
future of solidity and endurance, if only the insular
narrowness of England be wisely effaced. The Tudor
legislation in religion, which for three hundred
years has afflicted England and persecuted Ireland,
has never been able to establish itself in our colonies.

There, the Catholic Church has been

than

it is

even

now

abolition of the

in England and in
Tudor statutes is as

rising of the sun to-morrow.

done.

In England

it

always freer
Ireland.

The

certain as the

In Ireland

it is

will not long tarry.

already

A larger

and more living spirit of justice and charity is burst

ing the bands which human violence imposed upon
the liberty of divine faith.

In this our colonies led

country must inevitably

have seemed to be paradoxical and pro

the way, and the mother

follow.

We

voking when we say that S. Thomas of Canterbury is

regaining his hold on the hearts of Englishmen.

But

it is

emphatically true.

He

died for the liberties

15
of the Church

and the

liberties of the

how

Church,

soever they may be embodied in some particular

cause in debate, resolve themselves ultimately and
necessarily into these
faith the one, that no

two

principles,

or axioms of

human authority whatsoever of

kings, princes, legislatures, or human laws may come
between the soul and God the other, that this perfect
:

derived from God, and

witness, guide and guardian, the Divine

liberty of the soul in faith

has for

its

is

The English people have

Authority of His Church.
of
Even the
these truths.
long professed the former
established religion, the whole history of which is at
variance with this principle, perpetually asserts it.

One

half of the English people have vindicated

it

by

suffering under penal laws, unto bonds and death.,

It is this profound conviction which has helped to

abolish the State

Church

in Ireland.

The accumulated

action of the colonies, of Ireland, and of half the

lation of Great Britain, will inevitably,

abolish the state religion in England.

Empire then, both

life,

will

itself
\\

have burst

in its political
its

bands, and

popu

and before

and

The
its

long,
British

religious

will reconstitute

upon a wider base than the area of our four seas

what unity then, will be commensu

hat faith, and

an empire, it is not difficult to foresee

K\xn the Russian despotism is powerless to maintain

rate to such

the unity of the Greek Church.

Half the Russian
dissents
from
If
the
established
population
religion.
liberty of faith

were granted, no church would long

is the fountain,
guide and guar

stand but that which

To manifest

this to the

Head of the Church seems

so to order

dian, of the liberty of faith.

world, the Divine

16
its

destinies that the

two chief fields of

power and

its

expansion should be the British Empire and the United

States.
In these two vast spheres of intense intel
lectual activity

and vehement energy of

will,

an epis

copate of a hundred and seventy Bishops rules over

missionary churches the most united, vigorous, and
prolific to

be found in the whole world.

know how

others

may have

do not

regarded the assembly of

the Anglican Bishops of England and America two

years ago.
Something may indeed have invited the
criticism

But

to

as

me

much

it

of their

own

flocks as of others.

was a subject of hope.

was an ex

It

evidence of the desire for unity which is work

ing in various ways on every side.
They, no doubt,
desired to confine that union within their own
plicit

but they felt that the insular narrowness of

England is not enough. They invited America and
the colonies to bear a part.
This alone proved a

system

wider desire and a higher aspiration, which such an

assembly can never satisfy. It gave a great impulse
to those who have been praying for reunion.
They

do not fear to declare that America and Australia

enough without Catholic Europe; and that

even Constantinople is not enough without Rome.

are not

These ideas have been scattered broadcast and where

;

they have lighted they have infused desires and

prayers in myriads of hearts up and down in England

and throughout the Anglican system, which nothing

can extinguish, nothing can stay.
They will work
on in silence with a potency which is not of man only,
preparing for a time when those who are separate from
the only unity of Divine foundation will be irresist
ibly absorbed

by

its

supernatural power and grace.

17
It is certain, then, that in

a General

in diet ion of

England the

Council has come at a time

minds of men

are specially prepared for

it.

when the
Even if

they had been silent, their silence would not have

been the silence of indifference. But there has been

no silence. Both in public and in private, by word

and by writing, an interest serious and respectful has
been shown.

But

in this country the

Council

upon

is

interest felt

about the

in its bearing
chiefly, if not altogether,

In France, besides

religion.

this,

chief interest arises from

its

The debate

Le*gislatif in

perhaps the

bearing upon

politics.

July of last
Corps
not
of Catho
the
minds,
year shows how profoundly
the
lics
only, but of mere politicians, are moved by
in the

what the Council may decree. In a

moment of haste and precipitation, some French
writers and politicians have interpreted the condem

anticipations of

nations in the Syllabus as a condemnation of the

This is enough to rouse a great
principles of 1789.
turmoil.
is
But
it well to take for granted, and to

make us who

are at a distance believe, that

principles of 1789 are such as the theology

the

and the

We

morality of the Christian Church must condemn?

would desire to believe, if we can, that those principles,

they bear the marks of a period of excitement

rather than of calm and measured thought, arc never

even

if

some way reconcilable with the great laws

of political morality which lie at the foundations of
human society, and are consecrated by the sanction

theless in

of the Christian world.

that there

is

should be sorry to believe

anything indelibly impressed on the
I

18
order of the great French people which is
at variance with the intellectual and moral system
political

of the Catholic Church.

In touching on this point, so dear to that illustrious

nation, as hereafter in touching once more on another
subject, relating to the history of 1682, I shall refrain

from using language of my own,

lest unconsciously I should do, what a French writer
has lately, unreasonably I think, and without cause
as far as possible

imputed to

me

that

in

is,

any way wound ever so

the dignity of France.

cases use the words of devoted

lightly

shall

in

both

and distinguished

sons of that great people.

The Prince de Broglie, in
treating of the variance between the Church and

modern
those

society,

who

which

is

so sedulously preached

desire to exclude the

by
Church from the

says that the Catholic Church has

relations with civil society these eighteen

political order,

stood in

hundred years in all lands

from Constantine to
Charlemagne, from Charlemagne to Charles Y., from
:

Charles V.

to Louis

XIV., from Louis XIV. to

Why, then, should there be one only date,

1789, when this spirit of adaptation in Christianity
has failed, and one only society which is bound to
1789.

divorce Christianity on account of incompatibility of

temper ? ... In reflecting on this singular fact,

which is the great problem of our times, I can only
find one cause to assign, namely, the abstract and
philosophical character which society in France, by
the organ of its legislators since 1789, has always
affected to

constituted.

give to the

France,

principles

on which

it

is

he adds, 4s the only nation

19

which has undertaken the generous but adventurous

not for one nation in particular, but
task to labour
"

for all the

human
c

times."

race

not for one time, but for

The only thing

I shall

all

permit myself to

that

it is this philosophical character, impressed

our laws, which has passed also into our
manners and our language, that brings with it a

say

is,

on

all

complication, until now without example in the

relations of a State, and of a society, with the Chris
tian religion,

and even with any

religion whatsoever.

To

recognise the principles of 1789 with the cha

racter of universal obligation which they affect, is to
add an appendix to the Catechism, and ten or twelve
c

articles to the Creed.

making

The French Revolution

in

metaphysician, and almost

has entered upon the territory of the

itself philosopher,

theologian,

Church which it opposes to the

Church, and a new Catholicism which it desires to

spiritual.

It

is

substitute for, or associate with, the old.

concordat

not enough many a Council would be necessary to

Such is, to iny mind,
complete such an operation.
the true point of difference between society in France
is

and the Church.

predecessors,

to

It does not limit itself, as all its

demanding of the

faithful

and of

pastors to pay the taxes, observe the laws,

lend their aid to the regular action of public func
tions it exacts of them on points of doctrine, such as

their

the origin of sovereignty, the liberty of thought, the

natural equality of man, a veritable profession of

accompanied by an amende honorable for all

adhesion, in other places and at other times, to doc

faith,

trines contrary to itself.

B 2

It is

not very surprising

20
that a great institution, which has charge of souls in
all the world, should hesitate to commit itself to a

symbol of ideas so wanting in precision as to lend

years to the Constitution of 91, the
Charter of 1830, and to the Plebiscite of 1862.

itself in fifty

He

then points out the ambiguity and uncertainty

of a document which may be interpreted in four or
five

Is it indeed the

ways.

same principle which

adapts itself to two interpretations so contrary to

each other? In the matter of religious liberty, how

many commentaries have we

not had?

There

is

the

which recognises no
other worships than those of which the State pays
There is
the heads, and fixes the legal status.
administrative

interpretation,

the liberal interpretation, which is

ful to the rights of individuals.

much more
.

respect
is the

There

revolutionary interpretation, which gives free course

to all aberrations of thought. ...
So many schools
sheltering under the common name of
liberty of thought, of which the doctors and disciples,
intolerant enough for each other, pretend alike to

are there,

all

exclusive orthodoxy.

Imagine face to face our social elements, still in

effervescence and in struggle, and that old power, rest
ing on the immovable base of
which has seen crumbling at

dogma
its

clearly defined,

feet the ruins of a

hundred peoples and the dust of twenty ages/ He

between that antique
imagines a dialogue
spiritual power and the impatient sons of modern

then

France.

them. To

What do you

ask of

me?

it

seems to say to

peace with your governments? But

I have already signed with them more than one conlive in

21

cordiit,

and

it is

not

that desire to break them.

Not

to preach insurrection against your laws? I foment

Do you wish me to recognise
revolution nowhere.

crown of

those laws as the

and that

social progress,

should propose them as such to the imitation of the

whole world, and to the admiration of future genera
tions? That is what you will never obtain from me.

me

of charity, of necessity, of equity, of

accomplished facts to be accepted, of acquired rights
I hear you and understand you.
to be respected

Speak to

But do not
absolute

talk to

me

either of the ideal or of the

for the ideal for

me

will never be

any other

am awaiting, and, in my eyes, the

This lays
the Truth, which I represent.
If the
the finger on the substance of the debate.
its
society of France is willing to be taken like all
than the future I

absolute

is

predecessors, as a mixture of good and evil, imper

fect as all human things, the peace with the Church

made, if it be not made already. But if its

demand be that it should be held sacred, and all but

will be

canonised, I doubt if

it

will obtain that favour.

All

the advocates in the world, able or ardent, impas

sioned or powerful, statesmen and sectaries, will waste

upon

it

their pains

and

their eloquence.

These thoughtful and pointed words are enough to

assure anyone how groundless and needless are the
fears of politicians in France lest the (Ecumenical

Council should decree anything inconsistent with the

And surely no French
true bases of civil society.
politician will
* Itevue des

admit that the principles of 1789 are

Deux Mondes,

fevricr

18G9

Socictf, pp. 51G, 553, par Albert do Broglie.

Le Christianisme

et la

22
out of square with those bases of political right. We
have, however, a proof which has now attained the

Some ten
dignity of a very touching historical fact.
years ago a young French priest, Professor of Eccle
History in the seminary of Langres, Leon
Godard, published a short treatise on The Principles
of 89 in Relation to Catholic Doctrine.
His object
siastical

remove the supposed contrariety

between the principles of 89 and the principles of
the Christian Church a wise and charitable purpose
if possible, to

was,

to

which we are

voked, by

daily invited, I may even say pro

the alternate tones of perplexity and of
all

In
challenge which come up from friends and foes.
and
so
so
the
a matter
difficult,
prejudged by
passions
of men, it is no wonder that a good young priest
should so have written as to lay himself open to cen
With the true spirit of a Catholic
sures not unjust.

went at once to the Holy See and

The
submitted himself and his work to correction.
book was subjected, by the highest authority, to
examination and an edition, corrected and enlarged,

and a

Christian, he

was printed
of the

in Paris in 1862, with the authorisation

Roman

censors,

and a truly paternal and con

from the Bishop of Langres. In that

quoted the words of the President of

soling letter
letter are

the

Roman

addressed to

the

Bishop.
This work, tried by a severe
scrutiny by certain Roman theologians, was found by
theologians,

They run as follows

them

to teach nothing in

dogmas of Catholic faith

it

may be

published.

M. Leon Godard

at

Rome

any way opposed to the

wherefore they judged that

remember that I once saw
while his book was under

23

upon him the marks of

sickness and of anxiety.
Knowing how much he had
suffered from the censures which had fallen upon

He had

examination.

visibly

could not but express the sympathy every

Catholic feels towards those who set so noble an ex

him,

ample of sincerity and submission. Not long after,

the tidings came that Leon Godard was gone to a
world where there is no more any cloud upon the

any mistrusts among the servants of God.

In the conclusion of his work, M. Leon Godard

truth, nor

Such

our profession of faith in regard to

We believe that they do not
the principles of 89.
writes

is

contradict any decision of the Catholic, Apostolic,

and Roman Church, to the judgment of which we sub

and we are convinced that they

are in harmony, in respect to opinion, with the judg
ment of the most accredited doctors of the Church

mit without reserve

and of the

schools.

If,

betrayed our thoughts,

it

then, our

will be seen that there is

common between our

We
liberalism. ...

nothing in

of false

principle of

pen has not

doctrines and those

w^ill

maintain

the

89 inscribed in the constitution of our

the explanations which we have

given, and which no one has a right to exclude,
because, as we have said, the epoch of 89 is one of a

country

but with

all

the one good the other evil; the one

liberal in the legitimate sense of the word, the other

double

face,

The tactics of our adversaries are to

revolutionary.
draw us to a complete rejection of 89, in order at
once to accuse us of a desire to set up again the ancien
regime, with all

existing laws.

its

abuses, and to

These

tactics

we

overthrow our

will baflle, find

we

24
will not

abandon an inch

01

ground which we have a

and a right to hold. *

The work of M.
Godard will go a long way
to relieve the fears and to rectify the misconceptions
benefit in defending

L<k>n

of certain politicians and political writers in France.

It will show that neither the Council nor the Sylla
bus, interpreted, not

Holy

See,

by any

individual, but

need cause the fears

use a familiar

by the

would venture to
word, and say the scare which in some

quarters appear

now

to exist.

* Les
Principes dc 89, et la Doctrine Catholique, par
Godard. Lccoflre, Paris, 18G3.

Abbe Leon

25

CHAPTER

II.

ON THE OPPORTUNENESS OF DEFINING THE

PONTIFICAL INFALLIBILITY.

HITHERTO our subjects have been obvious, and our

way easy and clear. But now we approach to matters
over

which

it

not possible,

is

either to

pass in

on the declaration of any final

mean, the subjects with which the

silence or to venture

I
judgment.
You are
(Ecumenical Council will occupy itself.
already well aware that the preparatory congregations

are seven in

number, and that the matters distributed

them comprehend faith, philosophy, discipline, the

relations of the Church with civil society, education,

to

and the

We

like.

have heard on

all sides

that the Council will

define this and that doctrine as of faith

we

then, again,
men will

are assured that the moderation of wise

We learn, chiefly in
prevent any such definitions.
of the unity of the
out
deed from those who are
Church, but upon alleged communications from the
most learned and most distinguished, as well as the
wisest and most moderate, of the bishops and theolo
in the Catholic Church, that this will be, and
gians
that will not be,

entertained

by the (Ecumenical

Council.
It

can hardly be necessary, reverend and dear

26
say to you that all these confident
None but those
assurances are pleasant illusions.
to

brethren,

who

are admitted to the

Council

know what

is

work of preparing

in preparation,

for the

and they are

all

bound by the Pontifical Secret. From them, nothing

can be known; from others, nothing can be learned.
Nemo dare potest quod non
As S. Augustine said
:

We may

habet.

therefore dismiss all those confi

dential communications.

they who believe, as we do, that

an (Ecumenical Council deliberates and decrees by

But beyond

this,

an assistance over which human partisanship,

political

calculation, private interests, controversial rivalries,

and human errors have no power to prevail, will have

no anxiety
sitions

to

contrary

as to the result,

and no eager predispo

If the Council should decide

express.
to their previous judgment, they would

rejoice to be corrected

should refrain

by its unerring guidance if it

from pronouncing on matters on which
;

they previously believed a decision to be opportune

or even necessary, they would with their whole heart
submit their judgment, and believe that such a deci
sion

would be not only not necessary, but not even

opportune.

In this sense

of

perfect

submission,

springing from faith in the perpetual and infallible

assistance of the Holy Spirit, all Catholics will await
the final result of the

first

Council of the Vatican.

All this hot anxiety as to its decrees belongs to

minds used to the contentions of convocations which

may

err, or to the

debates of Parliaments in which

parties rule the day.

But

to those

who

believe with

uiidoubting faith that the acts of the coming Council,

27

whatsoever they be, will be not only infallibly true,

but wise and opportune, and that the result, whatso
ever

it be,

will lay

down a

rule of faith in matters of

and a rule of thought and judgment in matters

of prudence, there can be no anxiety, or impulsive
desire for this or for that result.
They will remain

belief,

mind and

ready with
promptness arid with joy to accept whatsoever decrees
in a calm equilibrium of

will,

come

forth as the wisest and the best.

*
believeth, let him not hasten.

He

that

of mind, and with this submission

now take up the chief topic of the

With this temper

of will, I

may

you two years ago on

Pastoral Letter addressed to

the Centenary of S. Peter; but, in doing so, I shall

endeavour to lay it before you with the arguments

adduced,

1dm

inde,

on either

side.

We

have been

often told of late that one subject to be defined by

the Council will be the infallibility of the Pope.

They who

tell

us this are chiefly those who, being out

of the unity of the Church, believe this doctrine to be

and they rely upon statements made, as they

allege, by Catholics few and rare in number, who do

false

not believe the doctrine to be true, or by Catholics

who, believing the doctrine to be true, nevertheless
are of opinion that to define

With
to do.

those

With

who

it

would not be opportune.

are without,

the handful of

we have nothing now

Catholics who do not

believe the infallibility of the Vicar of Jesus Christ

speaking ex cathedrd, we will not now occupy our

But the opinion of those who believe the

doctrine to be true, but its definition to be inoppor-

selves.

* Isuius xxviii. 1G.

28
tune, deserves a full and considerate examination.

We

will endeavour so to weigh it, in preparation of

heart to accept whatsoever may be decided by the
supreme authority of the Church.

me

repeat that we are now about

to weigh the reasons, not for or against the truth of
that the Vicar of Jesus Christ,
the proposition

Once

for

all,

let

speaking ex cathedrd in matters of faith and morals,

cannot err ; but assuming, for the time, that this
proposition is certainly true, whether it be opportune,
that is, timely, prudent, and expedient, that it should

be defined.

REASONS AGAINST THE DEFINITION.

I.

1.

It

may be said that no necessity or urgent

now be found for the promulgation of such

reason can

a definition, inasmuch as the whole Episcopate and the

whole priesthood of the Catholic Church, a few only

excepted, together with the whole body of the faith

ful, have always received, and have even in these
times received with veneration, docility and joy, the
decisions which have been published by
and
Pontiffs,
recently by Pius the .Ninth.
2. That for the determination of all controversies,

doctrinal

and for the solution of

all

doubts, the decree of the

Council of Florence respecting the supreme authority

Roman

Pontiff as universal doctor, together

with the profession of faith enjoined by Pius IV. in

of the

conformity with the mind of the Council of Trent,

is

sufficient.
3.

That

in order to decide

and

to determine this

89
it would not be enough
question fully and precisely,
to declare simply the Pope to be infallible; but it

same time, to declare, and

that by a dogmatic decree, the form and the mode in
which the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff is to be
manifested which would be a difficult question, and
at the

would be necessary,

would involve the authority of the Holy See in

new and grave

many

complications.

That the making of such a definition would be

Suppose the
exposed to this intrinsic difficulty.
what course should
bishops not to be unanimous,
4.

Suppose, again, that they were

unanimous in declaring the infallibility of the Roman

then

be taken

Pontiff to be a doctrine revealed by Jesus Christ,

always and in

all

and

churches traditionally taught and

would they not, in the very

the dogma, seem to profess that there

believed,

act of
is

denning
no authority

in denning the faith inherent in the Episcopate ?

5. That such a definition would be of doubtful
utility,

and would rather hinder the hope of re-uniting

the Eastern Churches to the Holy See, for the genius

of the Greek and Oriental mind is such as to recoil

from every new word. It is well known what serious

and endless controversies the single phrase Filioque
c

For which reason, in the profession

has stirred up.
of faith enjoined by Gregory XIII. for the Greeks,
and by Urban VIII. and Benedict XIV. for the other
Orientals, the very words of the Florentine Decree,
without any change or addition, were retained.
6. That such a definition would retard also the
return which

we

so

much desire

of Protestants to the

unity of the Church; inasmuch as the

new dogma

30

would excite and increase

in large

numbers a prejudice

against the Catholic Church, and especially against

the Roman Pontiff, and thereby render it more difficult
for

them

to understand

and to embrace the

faith,

by

raising a suspicion that the doctrine of the Pope

infallibility is a novelty unknown in earlier ages.

That

7.

this question,

concerning which

means

certain that there is

might

possibly raise divergencies

who now

are of one

mind

any

it is

by no

necessity to define

it,

among the bishops,

and heart in reverence and

obedience to the Holy See ; a result which would be

most disastrous.
That

8.

Pope

not impossible that the defining of the

infallibility might cause doubts, or, what is
it is

worse, dissensions

among

Catholics

who

are otherwise

sound, and perfectly and willingly submissive, from

conviction, to the authority of the Church; and that,

because certain historical facts and documents are not

as yet sufficiently explained; so that in
tries the

minds of men are not

many coun

sufficiently

prepared

for such a definition.

That such a new decree would be no remedy

for the perversity and contumacy of the few persons
9.

who

reject the decisions of the

Supreme

Pontiff,

and

appeal from them to a General Council, as the only

judge of controversies; forasmuch as their aberrations

come not from

The
of will.

error of intellect, but from perversity

infallible authority of Almighty God

men from

rejecting the truth He has

following their own errors.
They have

does not hinder

taught, and
Moses and the prophets, let them hear them ; if they
hear not them, neither will they believe the defini-

31
tions of the

There

Church.

is

a difference, also, be

tween a definition of the infallibility of the Pope and

In the latter
that of any other Christian doctrine.
case, the authority of the

Church may be

In the former

overcome any doubt.

it

authority, the principle and fountain of

in faith,

which

is

Would

in question.

it

sufficient to
is this

very

all

certainty
not, there

be more prudent to spare the weakness of those

who are not yet able to bear this definition, which,

fore,

though many think

to be

to be

nobody thinks
Would not the example of Our

necessary?

it

useful,

Lord and the Apostles commend

to us this

mode

of proceeding ?
10.

That

it

may be

feared

the true sense of such a decree,

to ignore

Lord

by a perversion of
some may be induced

lest,

and to despise the authority given by our

condemnation of rash

to bishops, especially in the

and pernicious opinions in philosophy and theology.

11. That it may also be feared lest bishops, whom
for some years the Apostolic
authority has been
calling into activity,

in order that they should not

straightway send to Rome all doubts about books and

matters of which it is their office to judge, might,
by such a definition, be rendered more backward in
exercising their episcopal office of judges of doctrine.
12. That it would soon
probably follow from such

a definition, by reason of the nature of man, that

not only matter of doctrine on which the supreme
decision of the

Church

is

desired, but also

other kinds of business would be sent to

to be judged, decided,

thing would crowd

and solved

many

Rome, there

so that every

in to the centre of unity.

And

32
the erudition, experience, justice, pru
dence, and authority of the Koman Congregations,

great as

is

such a course would not be for the prosperity of the

Universal Church for the Church, as the Holy Ghost
;

a body, but the health of a body depends

teaches,
on the force and motion of all and each of the mem
is

bers.

If all

were one member, where were the

body? (1 Cor. xii. 19.) Nobody doubts that the chief

member of the body is the head, and that in it, as in
its

and yet no
the head alone,

centre and seat, the vital force resides

one will say that the soul resides in

which

is

members

rather diffused as its form throughout the

of the whole body.

These, then, are reasons for judging that a dogmatic

decision on the infallibility of the Pope would not be

opportune.

Let that

suffice

which has been already

and has been believed by all namely, that

the Church, whether congregated in Council, or dis
declared,

persed throughout the world, but in the Successor of

Peter always one, is always infallible, and that the
Supreme Pontiff, according to the words of the
Council of Florence,

Church and of

is

the teacher of the whole

all Christians.

terious gift of infallibility,

But

as to the

which by God

is

mys

bestowed

upon the Episcopate united to the Pope, and at the

same time is bestowed in a special manner on the
Supreme Pontiff, and by which gift the Church,
whether in an (Ecumenical Council or by the Pope
without a Council, guards and explains the truths of
revelation,

rations

it is

unless

not expedient to
a

proved

make

necessity

necessity at present does not exist.

further decla

demand, which

33

II.

ANSWERS TO THE REASONS AGAINST THE DEFINITION.

On

That

1.

are,

the other hand

if

it is

urged

the Episcopate, priesthood,

with so few exceptions, unanimous

and people,
in receiving

with submission and assent the Pontifical Acts, there

would not only be no risk in promulgating such a

but they would rejoice to see the formal

decree,

reason of that Catholic submission justified by an

authoritative definition; or, if the number of those

who

refuse submission be

more numerous, a necessity

is
proved for the declaration of the truth.
That the Decree of the Council of Florence

thereby
2.

ought to be

sufficient;

and would

be, if

it

were not

misinterpreted by those who deny the infallibility of

The
the Supreme .Pontiff, speaking ex cathedra.
existence of this misinterpretation
by Anglicans shows that the decree
3.

That the doctrine of the

Pope, held, as
is

it is

alleged,

by

all

by Gallicans and
is

not

sufficient.

infallibility

already subject to the questions as to the

mode

of

become

its

exercise.

less clear

of

the

but a small number,

These questions

form and
will

not

by being defined; and by being

made more

clear, the complications which now arise

from want of a clear declaration will be avoided.

Erroneous or doubtful opinions give rise to compli

cations; but truth excludes doubt and obscurity in
proportion as
4.

the

That

making

it is

precisely defined.

the bishops were not unanimous as to

of a definition, no doubt the prudence of

if

34

know what course to take. The

Trent made no definition of the Immacu

the Council would

Council of

went to the very verge, but no

further. If the bishops were unanimous in declaring
the prerogatives of the Head of the Church, they
It

late Conception.

would not thereby abdicate or divest themselves of

any privileges or endowments divinely conferred
upon the Episcopate. The divine endowments of
the Church are not at war with each other.
The
Apostles did not cease to be infallible because their
Head was so. The infallibility of the Church does

not diminish the infallibility of Councils.

The en
dowments of the body are the prerogatives of the
head, and both have their proper sphere and their
full and legitimate exercise.
No bishop alone is
infallible,

without

its

nor

the

is

whole

Of what,

Head.

Episcopate infallible
then, could they divest

themselves by declaring their Head to be infallible?

5. That the hope of reunion with the East is alone

found in the explicit recognition of the divine

Reunion on anything
prerogatives of the Church.
to be

short of this, on any base, obscure, ambiguous, or

The rent
equivocal, would not endure for a day.

would be made worse. The Decree of the Council of

Florence, which is alleged to be sufficient, was not
sufficient for the

Greeks.

They accepted

it,

but as

soon as they were again at Constantinople they threw

Reunion is not to be gained or to be
to the winds.

it

sought by reducing its conditions, like a bargain, to

the minimum but by an explicit and precise accept
;

ance of the truth.

Gregory XIII., Urban VIII.

Benedict XIV., kept strictly to the Florentine Decree,

35
because no other existed then.

No

other exists at

day; and the question is, whether the events of

the last three centuries do not demand a more precise
this

declaration of the supreme authority.

6. That the return of Protestants to the

Church is
more retarded now by the apparent contradiction
among Catholics on the subject of infallibility, than
could be by the definition of the infallibility of
the Pope.
They now reject the infallibility of the
Church altogether, because they believe that we are
it

divided,

and therefore in doubt about

it.

What we

seem to doubt, they are encouraged to deny. We

seem to be in doubt because we are divided, not
about the

infallibility of the

infallibility of its

Head.

Church, but about the

They

believe this answer to

be a subterfuge.
So long as the infallibility of the
is
not
Pope
authoritatively declared, they cover them

under the shelter of those Catholics who deny

And to our shame, they borrow their belief that

selves
it.

a novelty, not to be found in earlier

The Gallicans put weapons
ages, from ourselves.
into their hands, which they use against all infalli

the opinion

bility

is

whatsoever.

That no divergence among the bishops is to

be feared, the unanimity alleged above may assure
7.

us.

But

if it

were to

exist,

in

what would

it

be

of greater moment than in respect to the doctrine

of the Immaculate Conception at the Council of

The prudence of the Council, both natural

and supernatural, would know how to deal with such
Trent?

a contingency and if divergence in anything should

arise, no diminution of filial and cordial obedience
;

c 2

36

Holy See could follow

to the
all

in those things

where

are unanimous.

the pastors of the Church be unanimous,

no fear of dissensions or doubts among the

That

8.

there

is

if

Rather, the dissensions and doubts, if any

exist, arise from the allegation that the pastors

faithful.

now

are not

unanimous

It is of the highest

of Jesus Christ.

expose and

as to the infallibility of the Vicar

moment

to

extinguish this false allegation, so boldly

made by heretics and schismatics of

and invidiously
every name. For this reason alone the sooner the unani

mity of the pastors of the Church can be manifested

the better, both for truth and for the salvation of souls.

The same reason holds

difficulties.

as to the supposed historical

They have been examined and exposed

over and over again; but they will be perpetually

repeated, and with increased confidence, so long as the
infallibility of

the

Roman

Pontiff shall seem to be

Where

the Church has spoken, the

faithful are not open to seduction. While the Church
is silent, the spirits of error are clamorous and plaus

left

undefined.

ible.

definition

would

silence all voices

but the

voice of the Church.

That such a decree would

who, out
of heretical perversity, oppose the Faith, or out of
9.

satisfy those

ignorance and insubordination excommunicate them

selves by appealing from the Supreme Pontiff to a

But if there
General Council, is not to be expected.
be a hope for them, it would be in rendering clear be

yond
Faith

all possibility
j

and

of question the divine certainty of

connected with the divine

this is closely

authority of the

Head of the Church.

The example

37

Lord

of our

who were
revealed,

in sparing the infirmities of the

is

no warrant

because

truth

weak,

as yet unable to bear mysteries not yet

men

keeping back any revealed

will not believe the revelation
for

This would tacitly assume that the

of the Vicar of Jesus Christ is not

already made.
infallibility

revealed

Lord

truth.

example

is

If

it

be a revealed truth, our

not in point

less that of the

still

Apostles, who
kept back nothing, and declared to
the faithful all the counsel of God. *
10. That the perverse interpretation or abuse of a
decree must always be only partial, and can never
be either widespread or permanent in the Church, and

can therefore afford no reason against

its

being made,

the proper reasons exist for making it; and that

the definition of the infallibility of the Koman Pon
tiff can in 110
way lessen the authority of bishops as

if

judges of doctrine in their

contrary

own

flocks,

give great support to all

but on the

their legitimate

appear how bishops should be more

authoritative because their Head is less so.
acts.

11.

It does not

That, for the same reason,

it

does not appear

probable that bishops would be less active as pastors

and judges in their own churches because the doc
trine

which they already unanimously believe had

received

its

formal definition.

If the belief of

its

now produce these consequences, it

appear why the definition of that truth

truth does riot

does not yet

should do so.
12.

That,

lastly,

no centralisation of the ordinary

administration of the Universal Church could

* Acts xx.
20, 27.

le^itio

38

mately follow or be in any way promoted by a defini

tion of the infallibility of the Vicar of Jesus Christ,
speaking ex cathedrd, in matters of faith and morals.
Such a definition belongs to a higher order, with

which the ordinary pastoral office of bishops can

Questions of
rarely have any immediate contact.

and morals, on which the Church has not

faith

judged, very rarely arise in any diocese.

The infallibility here in question has no relation to the
multifarious administration of dioceses.
Such a defi
already

we speak

of would either have no appre

influence on the ordinary administration of

nition as
ciable

bishops

or if any, only in the

way of giving

certainty

and solidity to the judicial acts and pastoral juris

diction of the Episcopate throughout the world.
For these reasons, it appears to some that

objections

to such

a definition

weight to dissuade the Council

III.

have no

from making

the

sufficient
it.

REASONS FOR THE DEFINITION.

Such then, reverend and dear brethren, is a brief

statement of the arguments for and against, as to the
question whether such a definition be opportune.

Thus

far

we have weighed only the objections and

Those who believe that such a definition

the answers.

would be not only opportune, but

is

urgently re

quired by the circumstances of these times, give their

reasons as follows
:

a definition would be opportune

because the doctrine is true for if true, can it be
1.

They think such

said with

prudence that to declare

it

is

not oppor-

39
not this question already closed by the
fact that God has thought it opportune to reveal

tune?

Is

be permitted to us to think that what He

has thought it opportune to reveal, it is not oppor

it?

Can

it

tune for us to declare?

in

revealing the

compassion was

Faith,

It

true

indeed that,

in His

wisdom and

is

God

and gradual, mea

slow, deliberate,

suring His light to the infirmities of the human intel

fuller
ligence, and preparing the minds of men for a

and His kingdom.

But this divine procedure, binding as it may be on us
in dealing with heathen nations who have never heard
manifestation, both of His presence

His name,

no way binding, nay, is not even per

dealing with those who have been baptized

is

missible, in

in

into the full revelation of faith.

From them

nothing

With them no economy can be

now no disciplina arcani among
His mystical Body. They are illumi

may be kept back.

admitted. There is
the

members

nated to

of

know

the Truth as

it is

in Jesus

in all its

that which you hear in the ear, preach ye

fulness
*
upon the housetops.
By opportune, then, in the mind of the objector,
l

must be meant something

politic or diplomatic,

some

calculations of local expediency in respect to nations

and governments.

This sense of

opportunity

is

proper to legislatures and cabinets in deliberating on

public utilities and opinions; but in the Church of

God, and in the truth of revelation, it is always

opportune to declare what God has willed that man

Xay, more than opportune if the infal

of the Vicar of Jesus Christ be a doctrine of

should know.
libility

* S.

Matthew

x. -11.

40
Jesus Christ, necessity lieth upon us, and woe unto
us if we preach not the gospel. * It may, however, be
said that many revealed truths are not denned
and
c

does not follow that any doctrine ought to be

denned, only because it is true.

th.it it

*2.

This
it

defining

indeed certain, but a further reason for

is
This revealed truth has
easy to find.

is

There are two reasons for which the

been denied.

Church from the beginning has defined the doctrines

of faith the one, to make them clear, definite, and
precise; the other, to reaffirm, and to defend them,
:

when they have been

libility

of the visible

been denied,
define it now.

it

called in question.

Head

If the infal

of the Church had never

might not have been necessary to

The true doctrine of justification was

never defined till it was denied. The nature of inspir
ation has never yet been defined, but the denial which

now widespread may one day demand it.

manner the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff

is

denied.

Its definition therefore

In like
has been

becomes necessary.

We

affirm that it was never formally denied before

the period of the Council of Constance, and that this
modern denial of the truth renders its definition

necessary.
is

far

We

are told

by

objectors that the denial

more ancient and widespread that only makes

all the more necessary.
They who, to
:

the definition

make

the doctrine appear doubtful, or to prove it to

be false, represent the denial of it to be ancient and

widespread, in that proportion increase the necessity

Such a denial
of declaring it by a dogmatic decree.
as

emanated from the

*

so-called
l

Assembly of the French

Cor. ix. 16.

41
clergy in 1682 would
definition
3.

the

show

suffice to

amply

would be opportune.

And further:
Roman Pontiff

the denial of the infallibility of

has already generated extensive

We are asked,

doubt as to the truth of the doctrine.

if

that the

how

the doctrine be revealed,

that

is it

you allow

you are not doubtful about it,

why not put an end to doubt by declaring it to be

it

to

be denied

If

not only Protestants believe

the doctrine of the Pope s infallibility to be an open

true?

It is certain that

question

among

Catholics,

tempted to believe

it

but some Catholics are

to be theologically doubtful,

and

therefore not revealed irreconcilable with history; a

modern exaggeration arising from the adulation of
In France, to
courtiers and the ambition of popes.
;

deny it has become a test of political independence.

In England, some Catholics are stunned and fright
ened by the pretentious assumption of patristic learn
ing and historical criticism of anonymous writers,
until they doubt, or shrink in false shame from be
died. The con
lieving a truth for which their fathers
tact of the Catholics of England with the Catholics of
I

Yniice,

good and

theless introduced

beneficial as

among

it

has been, never

us both books and habits

This
of thought which were of the Gallican school.
has spread among us an opinion that the infallibility
of the Pope,

and

if

possibly true,

this doubt,

it,

nevertheless doubtful

dormant and harmless

pious and simple minds,

test about

is

and

if

who

tested

as

it

may be in

are never put to the

would

instinctively

go

riirht in spite of intellectual perplexities, is in restless

mid active minds full of danger, above all in a Pro-

42
testant country,

and in the midst of

controversial warfare.
to

The admission

any revealed doctrine

is

fatal

to

all

manner of

of a doubt as
faith in

that

doctrine.
4.

It

would appear, not only

to be opportune that

should be placed beyond the reach of

doubt by a dogmatic decree, but that such a decree
would be specially opportune at this time, because
this doctrine

the formal and

systematic denial of the truth in

question has arisen since the last General Council.
It may at first sight appear that this statement is
at variance with the

that

the

Pontiff

common

assertion of theologians,

denial of the infallibility of the

had its rise in the circumstances

Council of Constance.

noted in

this subject.

Koman
of the

Two distinct periods must be

From the Council of Con

stance to the Council of Trent this denial was con

fined to the opinions of a handful of men, and to the
So little was it
disputation of the schools in France.

elsewhere, that when the Church met in the

Council of Florence, it made, without hesitation, its

known

celebrated decree on the prerogatives of the Koman

Pontiff as the Universal Pastor and Doctor of the

Church.

Nevertheless the erroneous opinion lingered

on from the time of Gerson, Peter d Ailly, and

Almain, in what De Marca calls the Old Sorbonne,
to distinguish it from the Sorbonne of his own day.
c

It is certain, then, that before the Council of

Trent
had
not
assumed
the
opinion
systematic and
elaborate form given to it by the Assembly of 1682,
this

and by those who have defended the Four Articles.

This modern and dogmatic form of the denial of the

43

Pope

was completed

ex cathedrd,

s infallibility,

seventeenth century, that

in the

since the last General

is,

Council.
5.

Now,

Council meet and

the next General

if

notice of this denial, one

separate without taking any
of two inferences may perhaps be drawn. It may be
said that Galiicanism has obtained its

tolerated opinions

or, at least,

that

it

place

among

may

be held

It does not readily appear what

with impunity.
It would be hardly
could be said in answer to this.
enough to say that it was not thought opportune to

meet so grave a denial of a doctrine universally taught

into execution
everywhere out of France, nor to carry
the acts of Alexander VIII., Innocent XL, and Pius

VI.,

who have

authoritatively censured

it.

Qui

tacet, consentire videtur.

6.

It

cannot be said that the denial of the

bility of the

and

Roman

it

obscure, unobtrusive,

importunate, and
It exists, not indeed in power, as once it

organised.
did in France; but

mid

is

It is patent, notorious,

latent.

in the soil

Pontiff

infalli

and

hostile

it

alive.

minds

in

exists

Its roots are yet

still.

It exists in a

England and

handful of active
in

Germany, and

has been taken up by Protestants in both countries

weapon of controversy or of contumely against

the Catholic Church, and especially the Holy See.

as a

To

find or to invent a division

only hope.

To foment

attack.

is

their

the least divergence into a

conflict is their chief policy.

that Galiicanism affords

among us

them

Catholics are visibly

There can be no doubt

most advantageous
united on all doctrines

their

of faith, even on the Immaculate Conception; but on

44
the infallibility of the Pope, Gallicaiiism has caused a
divergence, which Protestants think or pretend to be

The combined action of

Gallicanism within the Church and of Protestants

a contradiction in faith.

without

it,

has given to this erroneous opinion a

notoriety in the last two centuries, and especially in

France and England, which takes it out of the cate

gory of imperfect and innocuous errors which may

be left to evaporate or to be absorbed.
It has in
scribed itself in the history of the Church, and will
live on until, by the Church, it is finally condemned.

Prudence would require the condemnation of

any notorious error which may hereafter produce ill
effects; but the denial of infallibility in the Head of
7.

the Church has already produced

less, so long as

error,

no condemnation

ill

is

effects;

neverthe

stamped upon the

always pass for a tolerated opinion.

taken for acquittal.
The faithful will

will

it

Impunity

is

wrong to do that which they

see done every day, and even by ecclesiastics, without
note of censure. They do not know that three popes
have condemned the denial of their infallibility; and
if they did they would justly say,
But as we are not
bound to believe the infallibility of the Pope, there
never believe that

it is

fore his

condemning the denial of

If he be infallible,

proves nothing.
told so if he be not
;

infallible,

where

his

infallibility

why
is

we not
harm of

are

the

The effect of this upon the doctrinal

saying so ?
of
Church is gravely injurious. When
the
authority
affirmed that Scripture and tradition, and theo
logical reason, and the acts of Councils, and the
it is

declarations of Pontiffs, all attest the infallibility of

45
the Vicar of Jesus Christ, speaking ex cathedrd, and
that three Pontiffs have prohibited the denial of it,

and that the whole consensus of theologians, with the

and that a transient and
exception of a handful,
national school, all alike declare the same, we are met
at once

by the question,

to

it?

deny

What may

not be wrong.
transgression.
answer to this

Where

This
is

Why,

then,

is it

permitted
be done with impunity can
there

is

no law, there

no

but the

not be logical;

may

is

not obvious.

And further, the prolonged existence of this error

8.

disunion in mind
keeps up a theological and practical
and feeling among the faithful. Let the truth be de

whichever way it go. Truth generates union

and peace; doubt generates secret antipathies, conten
We live in an age and country
tions, and mistrusts.
clared,

where Catholics are compelled to hear, and, if not to

read, at least to know, what the public opinion and
can say against
public press of an anti- Catholic people
the Faith and the Church.
I>:i-rors

arc Ultramontanes

They hear

that their

that they are exaggerated

and extreme one-sided and partisan, ignorant, super

in reason
ficial, and untruthful in history, untrusty
All this they hear, perhaps, with offence and
ing.
;

pain

but

it

leaves

and misgivings
Perhaps, after
If there

its

arise.
all,

Secret doubts

blight behind.

there

were none, could

They say
is
it

some

to

themselves

truth in all this.

have been so often and

Where there is smoke, there is

A small number of Catholics, also for what
lire.
motives God knows have added to this scandal,

so confidently said?

partly

by writings bearing

their names, partly

by

46

anonymous writing in Protestant papers and reviews.

All this would expire like smoke when the hearth is
cold, if there

truth.

were an authoritative declaration of the

Till then,

they who, in the face of every

kind of malevolent imputation and impertinent criti

cism, defend that which the Theological Schools of
the whole Church, under the direct sanction of the

Holy

Catholic

and

have both taught

See,

country,

pretentious

and teach in every

must

patiently bear the petulant

criticism of anti- Catholic minds,

unhappily, by some who bear at least the

Catholic name.
They will not, indeed, be unwilling
to bear it for the truth s sake, nor do they care for
any contempt for their own but they have a con
aided,

tinual sorrow for the scandal of the weak, the hin

drance of truth, the perversion of minds, the aliena

tion of hearts, the party spirit, the mistrust among
brethren, and, worst of all, the mistrust of flocks in
their pastors,

and

which are caused by these animosities

infidelities.

9. Of these scandals, a direct effect is that the

action of truth, both within and without the Church,

at least in this country,

is

enfeebled.

All

who have

experience in the state of minds out of the Church,

and in their painful approaches towards it, and all

whose duty

has been to hear and to read the objec

tions of those who enter not in themselves and hinder
those

who

it

are entering, will

doubts about

infallibility

know

that the alleged

and the supposed extrava

gances of Ultramontanes return in every case with

the constancy and monotony of the tide. The effect of
this is to confuse, perplex,

and indispose the

will.

47
dubious authority, like a dubious law, imposes no obli
No one will submit to he knows not what.
gation.

The

contentions of Gallicanism and Ultramontanism

obscure the authority of the Church, and make it

seem to be doubtful. Utterly false and unreasonable
as this

is, it

has

its

effect in alarming, confusing the

incapable of discernment, and

the will indisposed to submission.

mind, and rendering

On

our

own

have

tations

people within, thank God, such

less

his experience

by
done

it

temp

power but every priest will know

what misery and mischief has been
;

to timid or scrupulous, or, again, to rash

and

must never be forgotten that

a grace of the Holy
faith, like humility and purity, is
It is to be matured and strengthened by
Spirit.
truth and by obedience it may be endangered and
contentious minds.

It

extinguished by

falsehood

and disobedience.

But

the shadow of falsehood and the prelude of

If there be any truth of the faith in which
unbelief.

doubt

is

ambiguity

is

perilous,

it

is

the Divine and infallible

authority on which all faith reposes. The infallibility

of the Vicar of Jesus Christ is the infallibility of the

Head, and

the chief condition through

which its own infallibility is manifested to the world.
To convert this, which is the principle of Divine

Church

in its

is

certainty, into a doubtful question,

and one of the

endowments of the Mystical Body, into a

is a
subject of domestic strife and fraternal alienation,
and
souls.
master-stroke of the Enemy of Truth

highest

some times alleged that if the infallibility of

the Pope, speaking ex cathedrd, were denned, it would
Not so rather, like
meet with widespread refusal.
10.

It is

48
the Immaculate Conception, it would be met by uni
versal acceptance.
The same prophets in sackcloth

prophesied unbelief, contention and schism, before the

Immaculate Conception was denned. We were then
told that there

was not a trace of

the Fathers were

against it
that to define
;

in antiquity ; that
that Schoolmen and
it

would separate the

Church of to-day from the Church of the past, re
move faith from the broad tradition of the Christian
Saints denied

it

it

world to the airy basis of the Pope s authority, draw

narrower the conditions of communion by adding a

new

test,

answer

is

and

before

men s

eyes.

The

Latin Church.

fatally divide the

Nevertheless,

we have

volumes of matter, undigested and misunderstood,

from Fathers and Schoolmen, published and republished,

without a trace of consciousness that a com

plete exposure of all this incoherence has again

to the infallibility of the

no trace of
of
it;

it

in antiquity

and

now the prophecy as

Roman Pontiff. There is
the Fathers knew nothing

The same

again been made.

is

the Schoolmen are against it the Saints ignore

;
the Councils exclude the notion of it; the tra

it

hundred years refutes it

the
adulation and ambition, the ignorance and the ser
dition

vility

of thirteen

of the

Roman

Curia have invented a novelty

the independent, learned, and noble-minded

of all countries have, with irresistible logic and sur

which

all

passing erudition, in vain resisted.

this novelty is all that is

Roman Church

We

now wanting

are told that

to

narrow the

Latin dimensions; that its

definition will at once exclude all the independent,
learned,

to

its

and noble minds lingering and suffering

49
its oppressive unity
that, as true friends of
Latin Church, they urge us, with all cordial
solicitude, to refrain from declaring the Roman Pon

within

the

tiff

to be infallible

the

hension,

that our true policy

concession

of

points

to

is

compre
which their

patristic learning forbids submission, the explaining

of the Council of Trent to admit the Thirtynine Articles according to Sancta Clara; that if,

away

unhappily, under the blind pressure of the ignorant

and the courtly adulation of the ambitious, and, above

all, the subtle management of the Jesuits, this crown
ing aberration be added to the Roman theology, the
Latin Church will finally stand convicted by Scrip

Schoolmen, Councils, His

ture, Antiquity, Fathers,

torical Science,

and

all

noble, and masculine

that

in its

thereby delivered over to

downfall.

enough

To

to say,

these

is

independent, learned,

own communion, and be

its own infatuation and

self-complacent advisers

Ubi Petrus

ibi Ecclesia.

it

is

There

is

not to be found a theological truth, not as yet imposed

as of faith, for which such a cumulus of proof exists of
every kind and of every age, and under every one
of the loci theologlci^ as for the infallibility of the
Roman Pontiff. The evidence of the belief of the
universal

Church

in the

immaculate sinlessness and

pre-eminent sanctification of the

as

Mother of God, vast

does not approach, either in extent or in

explicitness, to the evidence for the infallibility, that
it

is,

the stability of faith in the Successor of Peter.

There is no truth which already so pervades the

is,

mind

of the whole Church,

by unbroken tradition
from the beginning; nor any which would meet with
D

50
a more universal and unanimous acceptance on
definition

Even

and promulgation.

its

in France, the

only country in which, for a time, and under the

pressure of political causes, the doctrine has been
opposed, the opposition exists no longer as a theology
or a school.
Za doctrine franqaise, as its friends
4

truly but unwarily call

it, lingers as a national tra

dition ; surviving rather as a reminiscence than as a
conviction.

11.

The

definition of the

Immaculate Conception

up and completed the analogy of the new

and
of the Second Adam and the Second Eve.
creation,
It has also rendered
precise and complete the doctrines
has

filled

of original sin and of grace.

In like manner the
treatise of Divine Faith has one
part as yet undeter
which
would be completed by the completion
mined,
of the doctrine of
infallibility.
faith has for its formal

and

for its
ordinary

The

virtue of divine

motive the veracity of God,

means of knowing the revelations

But if the

of God, the proposition of the Church.

proponent be fallible, the certainty on which the

revelation comes to us cannot be divine. The Church,

by the divine
lible, and the

assistance of the

to our faith

divine.

be

is

Holy Ghost,

is infal

certainty of the truths proposed by it

But if the Head of the Church

the certainty of truths because

proposed by
for instance, the Immaculate
Conception

fallible,

him

as,

cannot be divine, and is therefore fallible; but if fal

lible, it cannot exclude doubt, and for that reason can
not generate faith.
Where faith
doubt cannot be
is,

and where doubt

is,

faith ceases to be.

The

treatise

51
of

Divine Faith

is

therefore incomplete so long as

the infallibility of the proponent be not fully defined.

treatise de
12. The same is true as to the

The

Ecdesia.

infallibility

Church dispersed

of the

or congregated is matter of necessary faith.

Councils in
infallibility of the eighteen General

the Church has been congregated

also of neces

But the Church, during the

sary faith.

centuries, has

Are

alone.

is

The
which

last eighteen

done a multitude of acts by

these acts infallible or not

its

Head

For in

by Innocent
and more
L, and of the Canon by Pope Gelasius
Pius IX.
recently, of the Immaculate Conception by
stance, the declaration of original sin

What

does the treatise de Ecdesia teach as to the

Church and his prerogatives? Are his

declarations and condemnations in matters of faith

Head

of the

and morals

fallible or infallible ?

The question has

been formally raised, and

moment. Until it be solved, the treatise de Ecde
is

of the greatest practical

sia is so far incomplete.

13.

The

practical importance of this question will

be manifest at once by remembering that for three

hundred years the Pontiffs have elaborately and

condemned a long series of propositions in

The Theses Damnatse
theology and philosophy.
are very numerous.
Now, are these fallible or in
expressly

fallible?
faith,

Do

resting

they

require

of

us

the

assent

of

upon the Divine authority from which

they emanate; or are they venerable utterances, to

be respected indeed always, with assent if we agree

with them, with silence

if

D 2

we do not?

Has the

52

Church, then, for three hundred years, been mistaking

doubtful utterances for certainties; and that in
matters of faith and morality, involving the absolu

They who deny

tion of souls from sin?

libility

of the

Pontiffs have

here

the infal

a hard task to

reconcile their theory with fidelity to conscience

to truth.

and

14. But to pass from the region of theology to

that of politics.
The definition of the infallibility of
the Pontiffs, speaking ex cathedrd, is needed to exclude

from the minds of Catholics the exaggerated spirit of

national independence and pride which has, in these
last centuries,

so

profoundly

afflicted

the

Church.

If there be anything which a Catholic Englishman

ought to know, it is the subtile, stealthy influence

by which the national spirit invades and assimilates

the Church to itself; and the bitter fruits of heresy
and schism which that assimilation legitimately bears.
The history of England, from S. Thomas of Canter

bury to Henry VIII., is a series of steady encroach

ments of the civil power upon the liberty of the
Church, in
cipline,

all its operations,

in its possessions, dis

elections, tribunals, appeals,

and

jurisdictions.

The whole English Church became charged and satu

rated by the secular spirit; its whole mind was
clouded, and its whole will was bribed, till under

Henry

VIII., by a few acts of intimidation,

ance was quelled; and

it

fell,

its resist

whole and altogether,

under the power of the Crown. The schism once com

plete, the work of heresy was inevitable, and was pur
sued at leisure. Such might have been also the history
The
of France from Charles VII. to Louis XIV.

S3

French monarchy confirmed

The

of France.

its

hold on the Church

process of subjugating the eccle

parliaments and tribunals of

siastical liberties to the

the country was steadily pursued ; but the Church of

a great nation, or rather of an aggregate of nations,
in close contact

and

affinity

with the Holy See, with

and even the present influences of

the midst of it, could not fall under a

the memories

A.vignon in

royal master, as the Church of an island, far off and

detached from Rome, fell under the violence of a

The great Church of France was led,

royal tyrant.
indeed, to the verge of danger through its national
traditions, but it has never passed the line.
English
French
the Anglican schism.
nationalism checked itself at the Gallican Articles.
nationalism became

The Anglican Reformation has no

Catholic Church it is external to it,
;

and schism.

Gallicanism

is

within

perils

for

the

in

its

open heresy
unity, and is

It is a very seductive
neither schism nor heresy.
form of national Catholicism, which, without breaking

unity, or positively violating faith, soothes the pride

which

to

all

great

nations

arc

tempted,

and en

courages the civil power to patronise the local Church

by a tutelage fatal to its liberty. It is therefore
is more
dangerous to Catho
than Anglicanism.
The latter is a plague of
which we are not susceptible; the former is a disease

certain that Gallicanism

lics

which may easily be taken. Gallicanism is also the

form of Regalism yet lingering in the Church.
The Imperialism of Constantinople and of Germany

last

is

gone.

possible;

Time has rendered

it

obsolete, because

im

the ecclesiastical prerogatives of medieval

54

Europe have likewise expired, with the religious

But the
unity which alone rendered them just.
unity of the French nation renders it yet possible
that influences and claims inconsistent with the
liberty of the

Church may

still exist.

Anything that

fosters this idea of National Churches, independent,

except in a few vital relations, of the Holy See,

An
powerfully excites a spirit which is not filial.
Episcopate which depends as little as it can upon
the Pope, rears a laity which depends as little as
possible upon the Episcopate. I am not saying that

such

is

France
if I

the spirit of the noble and Catholic people of

at this day but I should not be going too far
;

were to give

and tendencies generated by it. So

the Articles of 1682 remain as a standard of

and of the
long as

this as a description of Gallicanism,

spirit

and tendency

be kept
When these Articles are buried, one of the
alive.
worst germs of Eegalism will be extinct.
orthodoxy,

this

spirit

will

In speaking of France, I think it a duty to guard

against a misunderstanding which appears
contrary,

must believe, to all reason and justice to have

arisen from some words addressed by me to you,
reverend and dear brethren, two years ago, in a
I

Pastoral on the eighteenth Centenary of S. Peter s

Martyrdom.* In speaking of the supremacy of S.
*

Two

pamphlets have appeared in Paris, the one by the Abbe

Chanoine Honoraire, the other by the Abbe d Upalgaz, de
In both, and almost in the same words, I
Universite d Alcala.

St. Pol,
1

am

censured for saying that Gallicanism produced the great French

No proposition so shallow was uttered by me. What

Revolution.

I [really did say, and here repeat,

of the Tudors corrupted the Church

is,

in

as the despotism
England, and produced

that,

55
Peter

See,

it

was inevitable that

I should

speak on

the subject of Gallicanism ; but I endeavoured so to

do it as to avoid wounding, by the lightest word, the

profound Catholic instincts of our brethren in France.

M;my of its most eminent sons, both ecclesiastics and
laity,

me

have so spoken to

of what I then said as to

me that my words gave them no cause to

me wanting in heartfelt veneration and affec

assure

think

tion for the

Church

in France, glorious

in all its

history for martyrs, confessors, and saints ; fruitful

in all deeds of fidelity to the Holy See, and of
I should not only grieve,

charity to all mankind.

but I should hold myself guilty of a high crime

against

spoken

mine

and justice if I had so

and now, if any word of
seem to be wanting in veneration and

humility, charity,
and I desire here

shall

admiration for the Church and people

of France,

hereby to disclaim all fault, except for the want of

skill in dealing with a delicate but inevitable subject.

make

what

this declaration

am

about to add.

now by way

of preface to
In the Pastoral of 1867 I

your mind the history of Gallicanism,

The boldness or the
words were these

was

recalling to

and

my

unconsciousness with which Gallicanism

is

sometimes

put forward as an opinion which Catholics are free to

hold without blame, and as a basis on which Churches
arc to unite

under the shelter of Bossuet, and as a

which have destroyed

French monarchs paralysed
the liberty of the Church, and produced both Gallicanism and the
revolutionary reaction which has effaced Gallicanism in France.
It is a little daring, and
hardly respectful, to tell us that the mar
tyred clergy of 1799 died for Gallicanism.
both Anglicanism

it

and the

so also the despotism

revolutions

of certain

56
standard of Catholic moderation in rebuke of ultra

montane

makes it seasonable to tell its

history. Gallicanism is no more than a transient and
modern opinion which arose in France, without war
excesses,

rant or antecedents in the ancient Theological Schools

of the French Church a royal theology, as suddenly
;

developed and

as parenthetical as the Thirty-nine

by a small number out of the

numerous Episcopate of France, indignantly rejected
by many of them condemned in succession by three
Articles, affirmed only

declared by the Universities of Louvain

and Douai to be erroneous retracted by the bishops

Pontiffs

condemned by Spain, Hungary, and

other countries, and condemned over again in the
Auctorem Fidei." * Whether I am justified
bull
of

France

"

in using these words, the next chapter will show.

Now, in the following chapter I will give the out*
line of the history of the doctrine of the infallibility

of the

Roman

dence

will,

Pontiff;

and

I hope, appear

in doing so sufficient evi

by the way

to justify the

assertions of the above quotation.

What
1.

appear may be thus stated

That Gallicanism has no warrant in the doctrinal
will

practice or tradition of the Church, either in France

or at large, in the thousand years preceding the

Council of Constance.
2.

That the

first

traces of Gallicanism are to be

found about the time of that Council.

That

after the Council of

Constance they were

rapidly and almost altogether effaced from the theo
3.

logy of the Church in France, until their revival

1682.
*

The Centenary

of S. Peter,

etc., p.

41.

in.

57

That the Articles of 1682 were conceived by

Jansenists, and carried through by political and
4.

oppressive means contrary to the sense of the Church

in France.
5.

That the Theological Faculties of the Sorbonne,

resisted and refused to

and of France generally, nobly

teach them.

am

the more anxious to render this testimony to

the Church in France, and to the Sorbonne, because
I

never fully knew,

in this year

till

read the evidence published

by M. G6rin, how nobly that

illustrious

Church contended against the Articles of 1682.

58

CHAPTER

III.

TRADITION OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF

THE ROMAN PONTIFF.

THUS

far

we have enumerated,

briefly,

the reasons

and against defining the infallibility

of the Pontiff, speaking ex cathedrd.
In order, then,
adduced

for

any ambiguity or un
and extension of the doc

to preclude as far as possible

certainty as to the limits

trine of the infallibility of the Pontiff, speaking ex

cathedra, intended by me in this Pastoral, and

by

those

known

to me,

who

believe this to be a truth

of revelation, I will once for

all

state the various

opinions which have been put forward in opposition

and in its defence. No better analysis can be found

than that of

Bellarmine,

simply transcribe.

After

which

saying

that

will

therefore

the

Pontiff

considered in four ways

1, As a private
person; 2, As a private Doctor; 3, As Pontiff alone
with his counsellors; 4, As Pontiff with a General

may be

Council, Bellarmine says:

1.
Both Catholics and heretics agree in two things ;
as Pontiff and with his
first, that the Pontiff, even
counsellors,

err

in controversies

chiefly

as

a General Council,

to particular

facts,

may

which

depend on the information and testimonies of

secondly, that the Pontiff, as a private doctor,

err even in questions of faith and morals; and

men;

may

or even with

59
that from ignorance, as at times happens to other
doctors.

Next, all Catholics agree in two other things,

not indeed with heretics, but among themselves.
2.

First, that the Pontiff,

with a General Council, cannot

err in framing decrees of faith, or general precepts of

Secondly, that the Pontiff alone, or with his

private Council, whether he may err or not, in

morals.

own

deciding anything in a dubious matter is, nevertheless,

to be obediently listened to by all the faithful.
4

These points so disposed

of,

only four opinions

remain.
4

The

even as Pontiff,
although he define a doctrine with a General Council,
.
may be a heretic himself, and teach heresy.
first

is,

that

the

Pontiff,

This

the

is

opinion of

all

heretics,

especially

of

Luther and Calvin.

4

The

second, that the Pontiff, even as Pontiff,

may

be a heretic, and may teach heresy if he define with

out a General Council.
This is the opinion of Nilus

and the
4

The

later Greeks, of Gerson,

third,

heretical,

alone

Almain, and others.

that the Pontiff cannot in
any way be

or publicly teach
heresy, even though he
which is the opinion of

frame a definition

Pighius in book

chap. 3, of the

iv.,

"

Ecclesiastical

Hierarchy."
4

The fourth, which

lies between these extremes,

is,
the Pontiff, whether
personally he can be a
heretic or no, cannot, in
any event, define anything
heretical to be believed
This
by the whole Church.

that

"

is

the most

as S.

common

Thomas

says.

opinion of nearly

all Catholics,"

60
4

Of

these four opinions, the

iirst is heretical

second not proprie heretical, for

we

in the

tolerated

see

still

the

that

it

to

be

it

Church; yet
appears
and
to
heresy.
proximate
altogether erroneous,
It is to be borne in mind that Bellarmine wrote

is

this before the

Four

Articles of 1682 had been framed

or censured.

The third opinion is

The fourth opinion

probable, but not certain.

is

most

certain,

and

to be

asserted. *

Bellarmine in later years reviewed his

versies, and wrote of this point as follows

Contro

This opinion
of Catholics

more rightly the common judgment

opinion implies uncertainty, and we

is

for

hold this judgment to be certain.

said that the opinion of those
bility of

judgment

who

And

again,

teach that infalli

resides not in the Pope, but in

General Council, is not plainly heretical, but

and proximate to heresy. We do not,
indeed, venture to pronounce that opinion plainly

the

erroneous

heretical, because they

who

follow

it

have, neither

they nor their books, been condemned by the Church.

Nevertheless, it seems to us so manifestly erroneous,
deservedly be declared by the judgment
of the Church to be heretical.

that

it

may

In the Pastoral of 1867, I gave a number of quota

tions by which the strange misconceptions or misin
terpretations of objectors are Sufficiently precluded.
The words ex cathedra exclude all acts of the Pontiff
as a private person or as a private Doctor,

and con

fine the character of infallibility to those acts

* Bellarm. Controv. de

Summo

Pontif. lib. iv. cap. 2.

which

Gl
are promulgated from the Chair of supreme authority
as Universal Doctor of the Church in faith and morals.

AVe have been lately told, by those who desire to

hinder the definition of this doctrine by secular oppo

than by theological reason, that there

some twenty opinions as to the conditions re

sition rather

are

quired to authenticate an utterance of the Pontiff ex

cathedrd.
I will therefore venture to affirm that no
other conditions are required than this: That the
doctrinal acts be published by the Pontiff, as Univer
Teacher, with the intention of requiring the assent
of the Church.*
sal

This, then,

we

pages,
cathedrd.
It will
differs
it

the opinion which, in the following

by the terms ex

is

shall exclusively intend

be observed that the fourth Gallican Article

from

all

the above-cited opinions, inasmuch as

judgments of the Roman Pontiff in

asserts that the

matters of faith are not irreformable, unless the assent

of the Church that is, either congregated or dispersed,
either previously or
subsequently

adhere to

shall

them.

The

Gallicans maintained the

infallibility of the
See of Peter, but not the infallibility of his Successor.

The

tradition of the Church, while

refuses to

it

This cannot be better expressed than in the words of F. Franzelin,

Professor of Dogmatic
Sive ConTheology in the Roman College
:

cilio sive Pontifici infallibilitatis

charisma competit, quando et qua-

tenus, ut dii-hritus constitutes magister Ecclesia?, intendit defmitiva

sententiii docere Ecclesiain universam auctoritatc
postulante consenswn
in veritatcm
propositam.
4

Locutio ex cathedra

anthentica doctrina?.

mum

niliil

est

Quid cnim

aliud

quam

descripta propositio

cathedra apostolica nisi supreauthenticniu magiateriuin pro univcrsa Ecclesia ?

est

62
separate the See from the Successor of Peter, affirms
the identity, and therefore the infallibility, of both.

In order to narrow the question, I may add that

no one now contends for the necessity of General

The framers of the Four

Councils.

Articles of 1682

were too intelligent to contend that the assent of the

Church congregated in Council is necessary to an

They contended
But
only for the consent of the Church dispersed.
it will be difficult for them to show that such an
infallible declaration of the Pontiff.

opinion is to be found in the tradition of the Church.

It is the inversion of the immemorial belief and prac

Church.

tice of the

It will

not be

difficult to

show,
even in the narrow limits of a Pastoral, that the tra
dition of the Church is not to test the teaching of the
Pontiffs

by the assent of the Church, but

to take the

doctrine of the Pontiffs as the test of the doctrine

The Head spoke for the whole Body,

and the utterances of the Head were the evidence of
what the Body believed and taught. It can hardly
be necessary to add that, in order to constitute an
of the Church.

article of faith,

two conditions are necessary, the one

intrinsic, the other extrinsic

doctrine to
revelation

be defined

the former, that the

be contained in the divine

the latter, that

it

be proposed to us by

the Church as revealed.

If there be anything for

which the whole tradition

of the Church bears witness,

faith of the See

it

is

to the stability in

and of the Successor of Peter.

If there be anything not yet denned which is

nevertheless proposed, as of divine certainty, by the
constant tradition of the Church, both dispersed and

63
congregated, it is that the Roman Church and Pontiff
are by divine ordinance an infallible authority in in
terpreting the faith and expounding the law of God.
It is obviously impossible now to do more than trace

the outline of the subject but this I will endeavour

to do, and to point out that this doctrine in question
;

has already passed through the historical periods

which mark its progress towards a final definition.

For example,

us

look at the history of the

This truth
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

was

let

first

fully but implicitly contained in the universal

belief of the Church,

solute sinlessness

Mother of God.
of

both east and west, as to the ab

and pre-eminent

sanctification of the

This constituted the

belief.

The

first

period
doctrine was thus com

unanalysed
memorated, year by year, in the Festival of the Ayiar4

the

of the

Blessed Virgin.
The second period was one of analysis, forced upon the
Church by the Pelagian heresy, and arising also from

//,oV,

or

Sanctificatio

the legitimate and inevitable intellectual action of the

faithful upon the matter of faith.
The Festival of the
Sanctification

became the

of

the

Blessed

Virgin

legitimately

Immaculate Nativity. The

third period was the period of definition, in which the
two opinions of the Immaculate Nativity and the
Immaculate Conception contended together, till the
festival of the

one was continually so weakened as to lose all proba

bility, the other was so confirmed as to become certain,

The Immaculate Conception was then, at last, defined

and proposed as a doctrine of revelation and an article
of faith.

The doctrine

of the

infallibility

of the Church,

04

though not as yet defined, is everywhere declared in

It has likewise its
the whole history of Christianity.
distinct periods, steadily

advancing to a definition.

But it will be seen that the infallibility of the visible

Head of the Church is intrinsically necessary to the
The same periods of
infallibility of the Church.
simple belief, of analysis, and of definition may be
traced.
The first, in which the belief of the infalli
bility of the Church and of the Pontiff pervaded
all the world, both east and west.
This belief was
not only professed but reduced to practice in the
public action of the Church; and in every public
and authoritative instance on record the infalli
bility of the

Church

declared to rest upon the

stability in faith of the Koman Church, or of the
See of Peter, or of the Apostolic See, or of the
is

Successor of the Apostle, or of the Voice of Peter,

still teaching
by his Successor in his See. The praxis
of the

Church

that

is, its

immemorial, universal, and

invariable procedure in the declaration of faith and

the condemnation of error implies and demands

always as

Roman

its

See,

motive the

and in almost

stability

all

in

faith of the

cases explicitly declares

This period extends from the beginning to the

time immediately preceding the Council of Constance.
it.

The second period

is,

as before, one of contention

and

which Occam, John of Paris, Marsilius of

Padua, Nicholas de Clemangiis, Gerson, Peter d Ailly,
and others of less note, began to distinguish and to
analysis, in

deny what had

till

plicitly believed.

then been always implicitly or ex

What they began in France was

afterwards fostered by the jealousy of parliaments,

jurists,

and Jansenists.

no more

than a

doctrine, rude

The

declaration of 1682

and inchoate at

first,

duced to system and expression.

mind

is

mere modern refinement of the same

afterwards re

It is to

that the Articles of 1682,

be borne in

they deny the in

if

affirm the fallibility of

fallibility of the Pope, do not
The distinction inter
the Roman Church and See.
c

et

sedem,

by

carefully guarded even

Instinct told them that to deny the

in ed sedentemj

Galileans.

is

Roman

See was to deny the infal

and to depart from the whole
libility of the Church,
praxis of the Church for the first sixteen centuries.
The third period may be said to begin from
infallibility

of the

1682, in which the denial of the infallibility of the

Roman Pontiff was first enunciated in a formula. It

opened the period of definition. The contests between

those who maintained the Immaculate Nativity and
those

who maintained

to a closer
tsvo things

and more

the Immaculate Conception led

scientific analysis,

have resulted

first,

from which

the elimination of

the doctrine of the Immaculate Nativity as inadequate

and erroneous; and secondly, the definition of the

Immaculate Conception.

So, also,

tween those who maintain the

the contests be

infallibility of

the

Church, but reject the infallibility of the Roman Pon

tiff, have already resulted in an analysis of the whole
subject of the divine certainty of faith, and the divine
order by which the faith is preserved and propounded
in the world;

due time
to say

and from

this will likewise follow in

whether now or hereafter,

two consequences

first,

it is

not for us

the elimination of the

doctrine of 1682 as inadequate and erroneous; and

66
secondly, a definition of the Infallibility of the Church,
embodied in its immemorial and universal praxis,

the stability of the faith of Peter, both

in his See and in his Successor, is the primary and
of which

And

necessary condition.

Immaculate Conception a
tions

rendered

less

doctrine,

opposing

series of Pontifical prohibi

probable and less tenable the

till the
former prevailed and

was solemnly defined,

Church and its Head.
First.

as in the history of the

so with the infallibility of the

that the Church of

in Peter
condemned
was

In 1479 the proposition

the City of

Rome may

err,

Osma by

the Archbishop of Toledo as heretical

and this condemnation was confirmed in a bull by

de

Sixtus IV.*
Secondly. The Articles of 1682 have been cen
sured by Innocent XI., Alexander VIII., Inno
cent XII., and Pius VI., in the condemnation of the

Synod of

The proposition

that the authority of the

Pontiff over (Ecumenical Councils, and of his

Lastly.

Roman

Pistoia.
4

of faith, is futile,
infallibility in questions
often refuted,

was condemned

in

and has been

1688 by Alexander

VIII.

We

will first take so

much

evidence as the narrow

limits of this Letter will allow, of the statement that,

from the beginning of Christianity down to the times

immediately preceding the Council of Constance

fourteen hundred years the doctrine of
is, for
the stability of the faith of Peter in his See and in
that

Aguirre, Defensio Cathedra) S. Petri, tract, i. disp. xv. 45

&c., torn. i. 630. Neitria. 1869.
;

and Roskovany, Romanus Pontifex,

67
his Successor

was

in possession,

by the immemorial

and universal tradition of the Church.

From

this it

follows that they who deny it are innovators; that

they who affirm the infallibility of the Pontiff, speak

ing ex cathedrd, to be a novelty recently introduced,

are, in the form of their argument, fighting in rank
with those who affirm the doctrine of Transubstantiation to be an innovation of the Council of Lateran,

and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity an innovation

of the Council of Nicaea.
I will,

evidence

however, invert the usual order in which the

is adduced.
We will begin, not with the

early centuries, but with the later.

nents

tell

Even our oppo

us that Ultramontanism, since the Council

of Constance, has
possessed itself of Christendom.
It is undeniable, then, that for the last four hundred

years

it

has pervaded the theology and practice of the

Church.

We will therefore trace up the stream towards the

fountain. We shall be able
thereby to see, before the
Council of Constance, what doctrine was in
possession ;
whether any change is afterwards traceable.
We
shall

thereby be able to appreciate the claims of Gallicanism to antiquity,

authority, and truth.
In order to put beyond
question that, for the last
four hundred and
fifty years, the belief of the infalli
bility of the

Roman

See and Pontiff has been

pletely in the ascendent,

mind
1.

it

may

be well to

com

call to

certain facts.
First, it

is

admitted that the doctrine of the

infallibility of the Roman Pontiff has been taught by

the Roman Pontiffs, the Roman
theologians, the
2

68
Theological Schools of all countries, excepting France,
from the Council of Constance,* in 1418, to this day

that

is

to say, for four centuries

and a half

it

has been

the religious orders, and eminently

of the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and of the Society

the doctrine of

all

Theological Schools, excepting the one

before named; and even of almost all universities.
Is it credible that all these representatives of the
of Jesus; of

all

learning and science of the Church should have erred,

and all erred alike, in elaborating a novelty unknown
to the Church till then?

During
o these four centuries and a half three
(Ecumenical Councils, of Florence, Lateran, and Trent,
2.

much as a whisper of doubt

of the Roman Pontiff was heard

have been held, and not so

as to the infallibility
in them.

During these same

3.

centuries, three (Ecumenical

Councils have touched upon the authority of the

Roman Pontiff, and they did so in these words.

The Council
define,

that

of Florence

the

Roman

in

1439 decreed:

Pontiff

is

We

Successor

of

Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and true Yicar

of Christ, and the Head of the whole Church, and the

Father and Doctor of

all Christians

and

to

him

in

Blessed Peter was delivered, by our Lord Jesus Christ,

*

The Council

of Constance had not the question of infallibility

In affirming that a Council was superior to the Pope, in his
quae pertinent ad fidem, it did not declare the Pope to be fallible. And
even those words were resisted, not only by Cardinal Zarabella, but by

before

it.

the Cardinals and Ambassadors of France.

Moreover, they were the

act of only a part of one Obedience, in the midst of disorder

irregularity which would suffice to annul them, even
had not carefully excluded them from his confirmation.

if

and

Martin Y.

(JD

the plenary

power of feeding,

the Universal Church.

ruling,

and governing

The Council of Lateran,

heretical the proposition

1520, condemned as
the Roman Pontiff, the
in

Successor of Peter, is not the Yicar of Christ consti

tuted by Christ Himself in Blessed Peter over all the

Churches of the whole world. f

The Council of Trent in four places describes the
Koman Church as Ecclesiarum omnium Mater et
c

But the word Magistra

Magistra. J
authority of teacher and guide.

signifies the

The Council

Lastly.

of Constance itself gives an

Pontifical authority of the most

evidence of the
decisive kind.

In the

Poles, because the

last session of the Council,

Pope would not condemn a

the

certain

Martin
book, appealed to a future General Council.
V., therefore, in a public Consistory on March 10,

condemned

1418,

against

words

this
c

It

all

such appeals.

Gerson wrote

in these
condemnation, which
is lawful to no one to
appeal from the

runs

Supreme Judge, namely, the Apostolic

Roman

See, or the

Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ

or to reverse his

judgment

on earth,

in causes of faith, which,

as causce majores, are to be referred to

him and

the

It cannot be unlawful to appeal from

Apostolic Sec.
a fallible to an infallible Judge. But a General Coun
The Pope, therefore, is not fallible.
cil is infallible.
||

This proves two things

*

Labbe, Concil.

xviii. p.

f Ibid. xix. p. 1052.

J Concil. Trid. Scss. vii.
Scss. xxii. 8
||

the one, what was the claim of

52G.

De

Bapt. 3

Scss. xxv. cent.,

Gersonii Opp. torn.

ii.

p.

Ed. Yen. 1732.

DC

303.

Sess. xiv.

delect,

DC Ex.

ciborum, &c.

Ed. Antverp. 1706,

Unct. 3

70
the Pontiff in the Council of Constance
little

that Council was swayed

by the

the other,

how

errors of Gerson.

TRADITION FROM THE COUNCIL OP CONSTANCE TO

I.

THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON.

But we

no one denies the

are told that

rise of this

opinion from the time of the Council of Constance.

and we will
This, then, is one point of departure
;

proceed to

examine what was the

faith of the

Church

before that date, ascending towards the source.

1. The first and least suspicious witness will

be

He says, adulation concedes [to

Gerson himself.
the Pope] that he is above law, and that it is no way
4

possible that appeal be made from him, nor that he

be called into judgment; nor that obedience be

He

withdrawn from him, except in case of heresy.

alone can

make

articles of faith

he alone can deal

with questions of faith, and the causce majores] he

alone, as has just been done, makes definitions, rules,
laws,

and canons; otherwise

all

that

is

defined, de

by others is null and void.

Nor can anything ordained by him be in any way
whatsoever cancelled or annulled except by him alone ;
creed, framed, or ordained

but he

is

bound by no

whomsoever.
tion

If I

am

constitution

not deceived, before the celebra

of the holy Council of Constance

this tradition

had

minds of many
any one who should have dogmatically
opposite would have been noted and con

pedants rather than

so possessed the
lettered

made by any

men, that

taught the

demned for heretical pravity. * But how should

* Gersonii
Opp. torn.

ii.

p. 247.

Ed. Ant. 1706.

this

be

71
if

the communis

were

sensus fidelium

not united

What bishop would have

against the dogmatiser?

allowed or have passed such a sentence against him,
unless the whole Episcopate had been united in the

contrary principles and instincts?

as Gersoii calls it, could have had

even existence as a tradition,

110

This tradition/
authority, nor

had not been the

if it

immemorial and widespread belief of men. Adula

tion may make schools and cliques
it cannot make
a tradition.
The tradition was fatal to the novel
;

opinions of Gersoii and his master; and he solaced

himself, like all innovators, in aspersing his brethren.

any one can produce evidence to show that in

Gerson was wrong, and that evidence is to be
if

Now,
this

found before

his time of the denial of the infallibility

of the See and Successor of Peter, let

and

it

will be fairly

examined.

the Vicar of Jesus Christ

those

who deny it to
now take

will

is

it

be produced,*

The

infallibility of

in possession.

It is for

dislodge it if they can.

other evidence
and as
:

far as

possible from the public acts of Synods or of Epis

The few individual witnesses I shall quote
copates.

whose names have an exceptional weight.

When,
King of France was endea-

will be those
2.

in 1314, the

Cracov. 1669, sums up

in vain to bring to
were
question
gether a number of theologians, since all may be adduced who

Theoph. Raynatid,

the

in

these

torn.

xx. p. 389,

words

It

of Constance.
For this truth [the in
of
the
Roman
fallibility
Pontiff] was never called into controversy
among Catholics before the time of the Councils of Bale and Con
stance.
But all who went before unaninnni.tly taught that the defi

lived before the Council

nitions of Pontiffs, even without a General Council,

and that every judgment of faith belonged

Holy

made matter

of

ultimately to the

faith,

See.

See also the whole of section

xi.

72

compel Clement V. to declare his prede

cessor Boniface VIII. to be heretical, the French

voti ring to

It is
bishops, in an address to the Pope, speak thus
no question of the heresy of a Pope, as Pope, but as
:

a private person. For as Pope he could not be heretical,

but only as a private person: for never was any Pope
a heretic as Pope. *
3.

The University of

Paris, in

1387, addressed

Clement VII., whom they recognised as Pope at Avi

gnon, and by the mouth of the same Peter d Ailly who

We

afterwards so strangely deviated from truth:

unanimously protest, that whatsoever hitherto has been
4

done in

this

matter by them [the University], and

whatsoever in the same, either now or at any other time,

we may do or say in their behalf, we humbly submit
altogether to the correction and judgment of the Apos
tolic See and of the Supreme Pontiff who sits in it,

This is the Faith, most

saying with blessed Jerome,
blessed Father, which we have learned in the Catholic
"

Church

in which, if

we have laid down anything less

than we ought, we ask to be cor

wisely or cautiously
rected by thee, who holdest the Faith and the See of

For we are not ignorant, but most firmly hold

no way doubt, that the Holy Apostolic See is
that Chair of Peter upon which, as the same Jerome
witnesses, the Church is founded. ... Of which See,
Peter."

and

in

in the person of Peter the Apostle sitting in

Peter, I have prayed for thee, that
said,

it,

was

"

thy

fail

not."

It is

faith

to this, then, that the determination

of Faith, and the approbation of Catholic Truth, and

*

Theolog. Wirceburg.

torn.

i.

p.

373.

Paris, 1852.

73

oHidrmnation

tin-

of

heretical

above

impiety,

all,

belongs.

The Bishop and Theologians of Paris had cen

sured certain opinions of S. Thomas in 1277.
When
S. Thomas was canonised, in 1324, Stephen, Bishop
4.

of Paris, withdrew the censure, in union with the

I

Van and Chapter and

and Bache

sixty-three Masters

Theology in so doing he calls the Holy

Roman Church the Mother of all the faithful and
in

lors

Teacher of faith and truth, founded on the most firm

confession of Peter, Vicar of Christ; to which, as to

the universal Kule of Catholic Truth, belongs the

approbation of doctrines, the solution of doubts, the

determination of what

is

to be held,

and the con

futation of errors. f

In these two passages

we have

the testimony of
the Bishop, Chapter, Theologians, and University of
Paris in the century before the Council of Constance.

What was

5.

Paris was

at that time taught in

taught in England.

Thomas Bradwardine, Arch

who died in 1349, in the pre
De Causa Dei, says
I know

bishop of Canterbury,
face

to his

book

I will do
I will commit myself to that ship
which can never perish, the ship of Peter. For in it
our only Plead and Master Christ in safety sat and

what

us mystically that in the boat of

Peter, the Church of Rome, the authority and teach
ing (magi&tcrium) of all Christian doctrine should

taught

to teach

To

the judgment, therefore, of so authentic

and so great a teacher I submit, and subject fully and

abide.

* Inter Gersonii
Opp. torn. i. p. 702. Antvcrp. 1706.
f
Argentre, Coll. Judic. torn i. p. 1, p. 222. Ed. Paris, 1728.

74
altogether myself and
after. *
6.

Clement VI.,

Patriarch, says
believe, that the
:

arise

my

writings,

now and

here

Armenian
and dost still

in 1351, writing to the

If thou hast believed,

Roman

when doubts

Pontiff alone,

concerning the Catholic Faith, can by an au

which we must inviolably

and that whatsoever
adhere, make an end of them
thentic determination, to

by the authority of the Keys delivered to him by

and
Christ, determines as true, is true and Catholic
what he determines to be false and heretical is so to
he,

be regarded. f

Armenians

Clement here plainly requires the

to believe

Roman

the infallibility of the

Pontiff as a truth of revelation.

would be endless to quote from S. Thomas,

Therefore the Lord
but these few words will suffice
7.

It

said to Peter,

whom He made Supreme

Pontiff,

u I

have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not,
and thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy breth

And

ren."

of this the reason

whole Church must be One

that the faith of the

is,
.

which cannot

so be

kept unless questions of faith be determined by him

who presides over the whole Church so that his
;

sentence be held firmly by the whole Church. J And

And while in other parts there is either no
again
:

mingled with many errors, the Church

of Peter both is fresh in faith and pure from error

faith, or it is

and no wonder, because the Lord

prayed

for thee, Peter, that

thy

"

said,

faith

* Bradwardini de Causa
Ed. Lond.
Dei, Praef.
torn. xxv. ad annum 1351, p. 529.
f Baronius,
J

Summa,

sec.

Opuscula vi.

fail

have

not."

1618."

Ed. Luc. 1750.

Ed. Ven. 1593.
In Symbol. Apost. Opp. torn. xvii. p. 70. Ed. Ven.

2 da qusest.

i.

art. 10.

75

Now we

may, without hesitation, take S. Thomas as

the witness of what was taught both by the Dominican
Order and by the schools of the Church in the century
before the Council of Constance.

Bonaventure, in like manner, will represent

the Franciscan Order
Peter, named from the Eock,
S.

8.

was by the Lord placed as the foundation of the

Rabanus says that
Thou art Peter,
Church:
"

&c."

all

the faithful throughout the world

may understand

that whosoever separate themselves in any way from

of his faith or of his communion can
the

unity

neither be absolved from the bonds of sin, nor can

Therefore
enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven.
the Lord gave to Peter extraordinary powers over all
the Apostles in the words,
art converted, confirm thy
c

says

If,

"

And

thou,
*
brethren."

when thou
Again, he

in the time of the figurative priest,

it

was

sin to oppose the sentence of the Pontiff, much more

in the time of the revealed truth and grace, when it
is

known

that the plenitude of

Yicar of Christ,

is it sin,

power

is

given to the

no way to be tolerated in

Faith or morals, to dogmatise contrary to his defini

by approving what he reproves, building up

again what he destroys, and defending what he
tion,

condemns. f
9. The Council of Lyons in 1274 drew up a form
of profession to be made per modum juramenti by

The Holy Roman

the Greeks in the following words
Church has supreme and full primacy and principality
:

* S. Bonav.

p.

In Expos. Reg. Fratrum Minorum, cap. i.

Romae, 1596.
In Apol. Pauperum, respon. i. cap. i. p. 413.
f Ibid.
332.

torn. vii.

76
over the Universal Church, which it truly and humbly
acknowledges itself to have received from the Lord

Himself in Blessed Peter, the Prince and Head of the

And as before
Apostles, with plenitude of power.
all others it is bound to defend the truth, so also if
concerning the faith, they ought
And to the same
by its judgment to be defined.
all Churches are subject, and to it the
prelates of the

any questions

arise

same render obedience and reverence.

But

to this

[Church] the plenitude of power so belongs that it

admits the other Churches to a participation of its
care.

By mouth and

we

confess

that

Eoman Church truly

teaches
and
faithfully
preaches.
which
is
inscribed
Sacrament-urn
formula,

which the
holds,

heart

Sacred and Holy

and

The
Gr decorum, runs

as follows

1, N., recognise the unity of faith which I have

subscribed ... as the True, Holy, Catholic Faith;
I accept it and confess it with heart and mouth
and
;

promise that I will inviolably preserve the same as

the Holy Eoman Church holds, faithfully teaches and
I

preaches

and in the same

I will

nor at any time will I depart from

deviate or differ from
If

it.

any one, with these

always persevere ;
it, nor in any way

*
facts

and testimonies before

him, can continue to affirm that the Articles of 1682

have any foundation in the two centuries before the

Council of Constance, or that the doctrine

tiously and

novelty, he

invidiously styled
is

been offered,
*

now

Ultramontane

cap
a

is

bound to bring, what as yet has not

some evidence of his assertion.

Labbe, Concil.

torn. xiv. p.

512, 513.

Ed. Ven. 1731,

77

For the twelfth century we have two wit

10.

one a confessor, the other i

S. Thomas of Canter
martyr, and both our own
bury, and S. Anselm.
both

nesses,

Saints;

Thomas

S.
c

writes

to

the

The fountain of Paradise

many

streams, that

Who

doubts that the

all

is

Bishop of Hereford
one, but divided into
:

may water the whole earth.

Church of Rome is the head of

it

the Churches, and the fountain of Catholic truth?

Who

is

ignorant that the keys of the kingdom of hea

to Peter ? Does not the structure

ven were entrusted

of the whole

of Peter ?

Church
.

rise

from the

Whosoever he be

faith

and doctrine

that waters or plants,

gives increase to none, save to him who has

planted in the faith of Peter, and rests in his doctrine.

God

Again he says of the Apostolic See

but

c
:

infidels, or heretics, or schismatics

From

this

none

withdrew their

faith and obedience.

11. S. Anselin, in dedicating his
c

book on the Holy

Forasmuch as the pro

Trinity to the Pope, writes

vidence of God has chosen your Holiness, to commit
to your custody the life and faith of Christians, and
:

the government of His Church, to no other can refer

ence be more rightly made, if so be anything contrary

the

Catholic faith arise in the Church, that it

be
corrected
may
by his authority; nor to any other
can anything which may be written against such
to

errors be

dence

it

more

may

submitted, that by his pru

Let those
be examined. f Again
safely

* S. Thomse
Epist. Ixxiv. ad SuiFraganeos,
Robertum Heref. p. 277. Ed. Oxon. 1844.
t

S.

Anselmi de Fide Trin.

Dedic. p. 41.

p.

wh<

>

1G7; Ep. cxxiv. ad

Ed. Bon, Paris, 1721.

78
despise the Christian decrees of the Vicar of Peter,
and in him the decrees of Peter and of Christ, seek

kingdom of heaven; for cer

not enter in by those, the keys of

for other gates of the

tainly they shall

which the Apostle Peter bears. *

If Saints and Martyrs do not represent the mind
of the Church, where shall we seek it ?
Bernard writes to Pope Innocent:
It is
right to refer to your Apostleship whatsoever danger
and scandal may arise in the kingdom of God
12.

S.

For I judge it
especially those which touch the faith.
to be fitting that the injuries of the faith should there
be repaired, where the faith cannot
truth

is

this in

the prerogative of that See.

For to what
I have prayed for thee,
it ever said,

other was
Peter,

For

fail.

that

"

thy faith

fail

Therefore, what
Successor u and thou,

not?"

required of Peter s
when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren." f
13. In the same century, that is in the year 1149,
follows

is

Anselm, Bishop of Havelburgh,

Emperor Lothaire

was sent by the

to Constantinople.

He

there held

disputations with Nechites, Archbishop of

Nicomedia, on the errors of the Greeks.
By the

public

desire of

Eugenius

he afterwards put these dis

It will be borne in mind that

III.,

putations in writing.

Anselm was German by

and therefore a repre

sentative of a country remote from Koman influences.
He was endeavouring also to win the Greeks from
their errors, of which one was the denial of the prebirth,

* Ibid.
Lib. iii. 65, p. 391.
Epist. ad Humbertum.
S.
ad
P.
Innoc.
Bernard,
cxci.
torn. iv. p. 433.
f
Ep.
1742.

Ed. Paris,

79
both in jurisdiction
Anselm had every inducement to

rogatives of the See of Peter,

and

in

faith.

reduce to the narrowest limit the doctrines necessary

As the representative of the
reconciliation.

to

Catholic Church, to the separated East he spoke as

The holy Roman Church, chosen before
follows
4

by the Lord, has been endowed and blessed

a special privilege; and by a certain
him
with
by
prerogative stands pre-eminent, and by a divine right
all

others

has an excellence before

all

Churches.

For while

other Churches at divers times have been possessed

by various heretics, and have wavered in the Catholic

and consolidated upon

the Rock, has always remained unshaken, and never,
by any false and sophistical arguments of heretics,
has been drawn away from the simplicity of the faith
faith,

that [Church], founded

held by Simon Barjona; because it has always been

defended by the shield of divine wisdom, through
the grace of the Lord, against deceitful controversies.
For it has never been shaken by any terror of

emperors, or mighty ones of this world, because

by the strength of the Lord, and the shield of a
strong patience, it has always been secure against

Wherefore the Lord, [knowing] that

other Churches would be greatly harassed by the
all assaults.

and that the Roman Church,

which He had founded upon the Rock, would never
inroads

of heresy,

be weakened in the

said to Peter,

faith,

"

have

prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not; and
thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren."

He had

Thou who hast received

openly said
this grace, that while those are shipwrecked in faith,

As

if

"

80

thou abidest always in faith immovable and con

confirm and correct those that waver; and as

stant,

the provider, and doctor, and father, and master,

have care and solicitude for all." * He rightly, there
fore, received the privilege of

received from

serving the
1

being set over

all,

who

God

the privilege, before all, of pre

integrity of faith.
Again he said:

do you not rather receive the statutes of the

Church, which by God, and from God,

Why

Holy Roman

and in the next place

God, has obtained the

primacy of authority in the Universal Church, which
is
spread throughout the whole world? For so we
after

it was declared
concerning it in the first
Council of NicaBa by three hundred and eighteen

read that

Fathers.

For

but

it

must be known, and no Catholic

can be ignorant of it, that the Holy Roman Church
was preferred before others by no decrees of Synods,
it

obtained the primacy by the voice of

our Lord and Saviour in the Gospel, where He said
that

to Blessed Peter,
7

Rock,"

&c.f

"

Now

Thou

art Peter,

and upon

this

language which, at the

this is

present day, would be called Ultramontane ; but

Anselm so addresses the Greeks in a perfect con
sciousness that he spoke the

Church.
seen,
is

to

And what

mind

of the

Catholic

he spoke, he wrote, as we have

by the command of Eugenius III. Not a trace

be found that these words of Anselm were not

a true expression of the immemorial and universal

tradition of the Church in his day.
14.
*

The Synod of Quedlinburgh,

D Acliery,
Ibid.

Spicilegium, torn,

i,

194.

in Saxony,in 1085,
Ed. Paris, 1723.

81

condemned what was

called the Henrician heresy:

namely, that not only temporal but spiritual things

In the Acts of
are subject to emperors and kings.
the Synod

we

read

When

were seated accord

all

Holy Fathers
concerning the Primacy of the Apostolic See were
produced namely, that it is allowed to none to
ing to their order, the decrees of the

revise its judgment,

what

and to

sit

in

judgment upon

has judged; which, by the public profession

of the whole Synod, was approved and confirmed. *
it

15. In the ninth century, that

in

Rome

spise the

decreed as follows

4
:

is

in 863, a Council

If anyone shall de

dogmas, commandments, interdicts, sanc

or decrees, in respect to Catholic faith, eccle

siastical discipline, correction of the faithful, the

tions

amendment of sinners, or the prevention of impending

or future evils, wholesomely promulgated by him who
presides in the Apostolic See, let him be anathema. f
16. This canon was recognised in the eighth Gene
ral Council, held at Constantinople in

869

so that

the final and irreformable authority of the Roman

Pontiff was recognised and declared under pain of
deposition for clergy, and of excommunication for
the laity until penitent. J
17. In the eighth century Alcuin writes to the
faithful in

Lyons

Let no Catholic dare to contend

And lest he be
against the authority of the Church.
found to be a schismatic and not a Catholic, let him
follow the approved authority of the Holy Roman
*

torn. xii. pp. G79, 680.

Ed. Ven. 1730.
Ed. Ven. 1730.
f Labbe, Concil. torn. x. p. 238.
j Labbe, Concil. ibid. p. 633.

Labbe, Concil.

82
Church. *

In the Caroline books

Charlemagne or Alcuin we read of the

as Peter was set over all the

be by

Eoman Church that,

Apostles, so Eome
l

For

whether they

this

Church

is

is

set

set

over

all

the rest by no
primacy by the au~

over

all

lecrees of Synods, but holds its

thority of the
Peter,"

&c.

Lord Himself, who

.

Whence it is
men in all

the Churches.

Thou

"

said,

art

to be understood that

parts of the world,

holy and learned
of
the
teaching and science, not
light
shining with
only have not departed from the Holy Roman Church,

but

also, in

time of need, have implored help from

for the corroboration of the faith

which, as

it,

we have

already said and proved by examples, all members of

the Catholic Church ought, as a rule, to do so as to
seek from it [the Roman Church], next after Christ,
;

help to defend the faith: which [Church], not having

spot or wrinkle, both sets its foot upon the monstrous
heads of heresy, and confirms the minds of the faith
ful in the faith. f

important for those

believe that Charlemagne imposed on the Roman

This testimony, by the way,

who

Pontiff the insertion of the

is

Filioque

in the Creed.

reached the eighth century of the

We
Church, before the separation of the Greeks, and
while as. yet they acknowledged the supreme autho

have

now

both in jurisdiction and of faith, of the See of

The Greeks acknowledge the second Council
Peter.

rity,

of Nica3a as infallible, and in that

*
f

M. Opp. in

Paris, 1851,

letters

c. col. 293. Paris, 1857.

Patrologia, Migne, torn, xcviii. col. 1020, 21.

Alcuin, Opp. in Patrologia, Migne, torn.

Carol.

Synod the

83
of Hadrian to Tarasius, Bishop of Constantinople,
were read and approved. In those letters Hadrian

Whose (Peter s)

says,

See shines forth in primacy

Church, and is Head of all the

over the whole

Wherefore the same Blessed Peter

Churches of God.

the Apostle, governing the Church by the command

of the Lord, left nothing uncared for, but held every

where, and holds, supreme authority (exparr^s TTOLV~

TOTS xai xpaTsi T^V dp^v).
Hadrian then requires
J

Tarasius to adhere to our

Apostolic See, which

is

the

Head of all Churches of God, and in profound sincerity

of mind and heart to guard the sacred and orthodox
form [of faith]. The whole Synod cried out in
The Holy Synod so believes, so is
acclamation,
c

*
convinced, so defines.
18. The African Bishops,

in

646,

addressed a

Synodical letter to Pope Theodore, which letter was

read and approved in the Lateran Council of 649,

under Martin
there

is

No

one can doubt/ they say, that

in the Apostolic See for all Christians a
I.

fountain, great

and

unfailing,

abundant in

its

from which the streams go forth copiously

to which
gate the whole Christian world
;

also in

waters,
to irri

[See],

honour of Blessed Peter, the decrees of the

Fathers gave special veneration in searching out the

things of God, which ought by all means to be care
fully

examined

Apostolic
it is,

Head

as well to

and, above all, and justly by the

of Bishops, whose care from of old

condemn

evils as to

things which are to be praised.

discipline it is ordained
*

Labbe, Concil.

commend

the

For by the ancient

that whatsoever be done,

torn. viii. p.

F 2

771, 5.

Ed. Vcn. 1729.

even in provinces remote and afar off, shall neither

be treated of nor accepted, unless it be first brought
to the

knowledge of your august

See,

that a

so

just sentence may be confirmed by its authority,

that the other Churches may thence receive

and

and

that

original preaching as

from

native source,

its

the

of saving faith may remain in uncorrupt

*
purity throughout the various regions of the world.
This declaration of the African Synod, being read
the mysteries

and approved in the

fore confirmed

by

first

its

Council of Lateran,

is

there

authority.

two years ago, I gave the

evidence of the Sixth General Council, held at Con
stantinople in 680, in which the letter of Agatho
19. In the Pastoral of

was received

as the voice of Peter.

In this

letter,

addressed to the Emperor, after reciting the dogma

of faith, Agatho thus speaks of the Roman See :
*

Relying upon the protection [of Peter], this, his

Apostolic Church, has never deviated from the way

of truth in any

[Peter

way

s] authority, as

of error whatsoever; and his

that of the Prince of

all

the

Apostles, the whole Catholic Church of Christ and all

the universal Synods always and faithfully have in all

For this is the rule

things embraced and followed.
of the True Faith, which, both in prosperity and ad
Church of Christ, the Spiritual
versity, this Apostolic
.

Mother of your peaceful empire, holds and defends as

vital which Church, by the grace of Almighty God,
will never be convicted of erring from the path of
:

nor has it ever yielded or been

apostolic tradition,
depraved by heretical novelties; but as it received in
*

Labbe, Concil.

torn. vii. p.

131.

Ed. Yen. 1729.

35
the beginning of the Faith from its Founders, the
chief of the Apostles of Christ, it abides untainted to

promise of our Lord

the end, according to the divine

and Saviour Himself, which

uttered to the Prince of His
behold,

Satan hath desired

have prayed for

when thou art

It

was

thee, that

in the

Holy

disciples

to sift

G-ospels

Peter, Peter,

you as wheat: but

And

thy faith fail not.

converted, confirm thy brethren.

On

thou,

answered in accla

to this that the Fathers

c

Peter hath spoken.

this evidence two things are to be observed

mation

He

First, that

Agatho

declaration of the untainted

orthodoxy of the Apostolic See until his day refutes

the attempt of those who would fasten heresy on

Pope Honorius,

his predecessor.

Next, that the

Fathers

so

little

distinguished

sedem et in ea sedentem, that they identify

Agatho and the See as one and the same. They
address him w$ TrpwToQpova) O-QI rfj$ oixou/jtsv^ sxxArr
4

inter

To

Tr v (rrspsav Trerpav ICTTCOT/.

thee, there

aiag,

STT]

fore,

as the first See of the Universal Church,

leave

what

20. It

is

to be done,

we

&c.f

perhaps be said that the language of

may

Anselm of Havelburgh, quoted above, gives no proof

I will therefore
of the mind of the Eastern Church.
add one more testimony, at a period when as yet
*

Labbe, Concil.

f Ibid. p. 1110.

torn. vii. pp.

So

S.

659, 662.

Jerome:

Ego

Ed. Ven. 1720.

Beatitudini

tuse,

id est

Cathedrae, consocior, Opp. torn. iv. P. 2, p. 19; and S. Prosper,

*
Sacrosancta
inter Opp. S. Aug. torn. x. App. p. 176, Paris, 1690
Petri Sedes per universum orbem Papce Zosimi sic ore loquitur.
:

S.

Peter

Romana

Damian

writes to the

estis Ecclesia.

Opp.

Pope
torn.

*
:

iii.

Vos Apostolica

p.

221.

Sedes,

Vos

86
the Greeks had not accomplished the schism which
This last evidence is contained
endures to this day.

which Pope Hormisdas, in

in the Profession of Faith

the year 517, required the Oriental Bishops to sign;

and they did sign it.
have, therefore, in an

We

authentic and public act, the response and accept

ance, of the East, of the doctrinal authority of the
It runs as follows
The Rule of
Apostolic See.
4

The

Faith.

first act

of salvation

the rule of faith, and in no

decrees of the Fathers.

way

is

to keep rightly

to deviate

And inasmuch

from the

as the

words

of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be passed over, who

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
said,
"

build

my

Church,"

&c.

These words are con

firmed by their effects, for in the Apostolic See

religion has been always preserved without spot.

Then follows a condemnation of heretics and of all in

Wherefore we receive and
communion with them.
c

approve all the letters of Pope Leo, and

wrote concerning the Christian religion.
as

all

that he

Therefore,

we have

See,

and

said, following in all things the Apostolic

professing all its decrees, I hope to be

worthy to be in that one communion with you which

the Apostolic See enjoins, in which is the perfect
and true

solidity

of Christian religion
promising
who are separated from
:

also that the names of those

communion of the Catholic Church, that is, those

who are not united in mind to the Apostolic See,
the

shall not be recited in the

profession, I

Holy Mysteries.

have subscribed with

my own

This,

my

hand, and

presented to thee, Hormisdas, Holy and Venerable

Pope of the City of Rome. XV. Kal. April. Agapito

87
*
viro clarissimo Consule.

This Profession of Faith

was signed, it is said, by 2,500 bishops, f

Another version of this formula is given by John,
Bishop of Constantinople, in a letter to Pope Hormisdas.
It runs almost in the same terms, but in two
After the words
passages it is even more explicit.
These sayings
of our Lord to Peter, it continues
are confirmed by the effects, because in the Apostolic
c

See religion
it concludes

is
:

always kept inviolate; and afterwards

But if in anything I should be tempted

profession, I declare, by my own

I myself should be partaker with
that
condemnation,

to doubt in

those

whom

my

I have

condemned. J

From

the third Council of Constantinople in

the seventh century, which is received by the Greek
21.

Church, we will pass to the Council of Chalcedon,

one of the four first General Councils received,
at

least in profession, by Anglicans, in the fifth.

This brings us to the period of undivided unity, and

therefore, as they admit, of infallibility.

Now

it is

certain that S. Leo, in the

most

explicit

language, claimed for the See and for the Successor of

Peter an indefectible stability in faith. Two years ago
I quoted his testimony, which
to prove this assertion.
I will

abundantly sufficient
now add only two short

is

Labbo, Concil. torn. v. p. 583. Ed. Ven. 1728.

this on the
authority of Rusticus, who wrote about
A.D. 546.
He says that the faith was confirmed per libellos sacerdotum forsan duorum millium et
quingentorum, impcrantc Justino,
post schisma Petri Alexandrini et Acacii Constantinopolitani. Rustic!
S. R. E. Diac. Card. Contra
Acephalos. Disp. Galland. Bibl. Max.
t

We have

torn. xii.
p. 75.

{ Labbe, Concil. torn. v. p. 622.

Ed. Ven, 1728.

passages.
Preaching on the anniversary of his elec
tion to the Pontificate, he says
Not only the Apos
but
also
the
tolic,
Episcopal dignity of Blessed Peter
:

enters into our solemnity,

and he never ceases to

preside over his See, and he has always an unfailing

For that solidity
fellowship with the Eternal Priest.

which,

when he was made

from Christ the Rock, transmits

The

Again:

mended
i

itself to his heirs.

solidity of that faith,

which

is

therefore,

is

....

it is

him whose power

lives

decided by us

supreme in

his See

com

in the Prince of the Apostles, is perpetual.

If anything,

of

he received

the Rock,

rightly done, or rightly

by the work and merits

and whose authority is

For [the faith of Peter]

divinely guarded by such a solidity that neither

has heretical pravity ever been able to violate, nor
is

heathen perfidy to overcome it. J

It was with this consciousness of his commission

and prerogatives that

S.

Leo

sent

Letter to the Council of Chalcedon.

his

Dogmatic

He peremptorily

forbad, in his letter to the Emperor, that the doctrine

of faith should be discussed as

To

if it

were doubtful.

the Fathers of the Council he wrote

Now

am

and in the declaration of the

present by my vicars,
Catholic Faith I am not absent

so that

you cannot

be ignorant what we believe by the ancient tradition,

you cannot doubt what is our desire; wherefore,

most dear brethren,

against the
*

Opp.

S.

divinely

Leon.

In Anniv. Assump. Serm. v.

1753.
f Ibid. Serm.

iii.

2.

Serm.

iii.

3.

Ibid.

the audacity of disputing

inspired Faith be altogether

let

4.

Ed. Ballerini,

89
unbelief of those that err be
rejected, let the vain
Let it not be allowed to any to defend
silenced.
that which

it is

not allowed to believe.

By the

letters

which we addressed
Bishop Flavian, of blessed
memory, it has been most fully and clearly declared
to

the pious and sincere confession concerning

the mystery of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus
*
Christ.

what

is

After the Dogmatic Letter of Leo to Flavian had

been read, the bishops exclaimed, This is the Faith of
the Fathers, this

we

believe

all

So

the Faith of the Apostles.

the orthodox so believe.

who do

to those

is

not so believe:

Anathema

Peter has spoken

by Leo. f

Leo the Fathers of the Council

he has preserved for them the Faith, being

In their letter to
declare that

S.

set as the interpreter of the voice of Blessed Peter

(Troon

T%

jasvos);

what

is

sppyvsvs xaS/o-rawhence we also, using you as our leader in

good and profitable, have manifested to the
TOU juaxap/ou EUrpou

<a>v%

children of the Church the inheritance of truth.

Of themselves they say

the head over the

as

Finally, they pray

him

that he presided over

7

members
to

(co$

honour by

them

x$ a ^ jusXcov).

his sentence their

xa) TOLI$ a-aig t^i}$ojf rr^v xp/o-/v).J

(rfyujtfon

judgment
But this judgment, which related

to the precedence of

Constantinople next after Rome, S. Leo cancelled and

annulled.
S. Leo writes
The Legates protested.
*

Opp. S. Leon. Epist. cxciii. p. 1069. Ed. Ball. 1753.

Concil. torn. iv. p. 1235.
Labbe,
f
} Epist. S. Synod. Chalc. ad Leon. P. inter Opp. pp. 1088, 1090.
Ep. Marciani Imp. ad Leon. Papam, ibid. p. 1114.

90
to the

Empress Pulcheria

The agreement of the

Holy Canons

bishops, contrary to the rules of the

made at Nica3a, the piety of your faith uniting with

us, we declare void, and, by the authority of Blessed
Peter the Apostle, by a general decree we altogether
cancel. *

who

Peter Chrysologus writes to Eutyches,

had asked his judgment on his doctrine: In all
S.

things I exhort you, honourable brother, that you

obediently attend to the things which have been
written by the blessed Pope of the City of Kome,

because Blessed Peter,

and

who

in

his

own See

lives

presides, offers the truth to those that seek

it.

We therefore, for the

love of peace and of faith, cannot

hear causes of faith without the consent of the Bishop

of the City of Kome. f

And here we may stay our course.
reached the period of undivided unity,

We
when

have

all

the

world looked to the See of Peter as the source of

supreme authority in jurisdiction and in faith. The

two keys of jurisdiction and of knowledge, intrin
sically

of
4

inseparable,

Leo.

Feed

my

faith

thy

are

here visible in the hands

The two great prerogatives of Peter,

sheep, and 1 have prayed for thee that
4

fail

not,

are as

explicitly recognised in

the Council of Chalcedon as by us at this day.

I
forbear to quote the testimony of individual Fathers.

Augustine and S. Optatus would give it in abun

dance. But I have endeavoured to exhibit the tradition
S.

of the Church in
tice.

Ad

I think

it

its

public and authoritative prac

all the

undeniable that throughout

Pulcher. ibid. p. 1158, sec. 3.

f Ep. Petri Chrys. adEutychen, inter Opp.

S. Leonis, ibid, p. 779.

91

we have been reviewing

ages

there

was a constant,

universal, and unvarying tradition of the stability

of the faith in the See and the Successor of Peter

and

this world- wide fact will give

tation and value of the

us the true interpre

words of

Ad

S. Irenams,

hanc enim Ecclesiam, propter potiorem principalitatem,

necesse

est

omnem

convcnire

ecclesiam

in

qua

semper ab his qui sunt undique, conservata est ab

*
Apostolis traditio.
If

any one

shall

not prove the

answer that these evidences do

infallibility

of the Pope, speaking ex

cathedra, they will lose their labour.

I adduce them to prove the immemorial

and uni

Church in having recourse to

the Apostolic See as the last and certain witness and
That they
judge of the divine tradition of faith.
prove this no one will, I think, deny. Even those
who imagine that Honorius was a heretic have
versal practice of the

never ventured to incur the condemnation of Peter

de Osma, who
City of

affirmed

Rome may

that

err.

the

Church of the

Even the

Gallicans

of

1682 professed to believe the See to be infallible,

while they affirmed that he who sat in it was fallible.
Thus far, then, we have the line of testimonies run
ning up from the Council of Constance to the

fifth

century ; that is, to the period of the four first

General Councils, when as yet the East and AVest
were united to the See and to the Successor of
Peter.

The thought that

cessor of Peter could

in

those

fail

thousand years.

* S. Ircn. Adv.

either the See or the

in faith is not to be

With

Ilccr., lib. iii. 2. sec.

all

Suc

found

the events of

21, note 27.

Ed. Ven. 1734.

92

Honorius fresh* before them, the Fathers of the third

Council of Constantinople responded to Agatho s
declaration of the inviolate orthodoxy of the See and

The East and the West

alike united in this. In the Formula of Hormisdas
we have even more than this. The Eoman Pon
the Successor of Peter.

imposed subscription on the Oriental bishops

of a profession of which the inviolate orthodoxy
tiff

of the See and of the Successor of Peter

explicit basis

subscribed.

is

the

and the Oriental bishops obeyed and

It

will

be observed,

that

they
did this in faith of the promise made to Peter.
Through those thousand years two texts are per
too,

On this rock I will build my

petually present
Church ; for the stability of the See.
I have
for the
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ;
i

stability of

the Successor

of Peter.

It

is

to be

observed, also, that the evidences adduced are not,

with a few exceptions, the words of individual

bishops or doctors, however illustrious.

They are
the decrees or declarations of Synods, of whole

Episcopates in Rome, Africa, France, Saxony.

They
are the acts of General Councils, and, therefore,
On this
public documents of the Universal Church.
evidence

it

may

be affirmed, without hesitation, that

for the first fourteen

hundred years

that

is, till

the

* I cannot refrain from

adding, that we have positive historical
have his two letters,
proof that Honorius did not err in faith.

We

which are perfectly orthodox.

In whatsoever sense the words of

may be understood, they cannot be understood to accuse

Honorius of heresy, with the proof of his orthodoxy before us
under his own hand. Gonzalez, De Infall. Rom. Pontif., disp. xv.
the Council

sect. vi.

1.

93
preludes of the great "Western schism, and of the
Council of Constance the praxis Ecclesice is definite
and undeniable, and that Gerson was right in saying
that any one who had ventured to deny the infalli
Successor of Peter
bility of the See and of the

would have been condemned

But

if for

of the

heresy, in

for heresy.

what

light did the consent

and the tradition of the Church,

faithful,

regard the truth denied

The

correlative of heresy

is faith.

This, then,

what may be regarded

is

as the first

period of simple, traditional faith, immemorial and

universal, in the stability of the faith of Peter in his

which, when analysed,

of the Vicar of Jesus Christ.*

See and in his Successor

the infallibility

II.

is

TRADITION FROM THE COUNCIL OF

CONSTANCE TO 1682.

We

must here

close the first period of this sub-

* It is with no little
surprise, shared I believe by those who
have read the evidence from the fifteenth to the fifth century given
in this chapter, that I read in the book Janus, which has caused
For thirteen
no little stir in Germany, the following words
centuries an incomprehensible silence on this fundamental article
*

(Papal Infallibility) reigned throughout the whole Church and her

None of the antient confessions of faith, no Catechism,

literature.

none of the Patristic writings composed

for the instruction of the

any hint that

The Pope and
judge whether an

people, contain a syllable about the Pope, still less

all certainty of faith and of doctrine depends on him.

by Janus, p. C4. The reader will

incomprehensible silence reigned on the perpetual stability or indefectibility of the Faith in the See and Successor of Peter, and whether

the Council,

there be any difference between this and the infallibility of the

tiff.
But these confident assertions may mislead thousands.

Pon

94

which ends with the Council of Constance, and

enter upon the second, which reaches from that Council

ject,

Assembly of 1682. In this period, of about two

hundred and forty years, the authority of the Roman
Pontiff was far more explicitly manifested, by reason
to the

the

of

efforts

made

to

diminish

its

amplitude.

The Councils of Constance and Bale may be said

to have demanded the decree of the Council of
This explicit declaration precludes the dis
tinction between the
See and him that sits in it/

Florence.

The Council

affirms that the plenitude of all

was given by our Lord not only to Peter,

in Beato Petro, to

decree

is

tradition

his

power

but, ipsi

Successor in Peter.

This

summing up and declaration of the divine

we have hitherto been tracing upwards,

century by century, towards

its

source.

The second

period maybe called the period of contention, in which

the authority of the Roman Pontiff has been subjected
to a controversial analysis.
this inevitable.

The

Many

revival of the

things rendered

Roman

jurispru
the princes and civil powers of Europe
with the principles and maxims of ancient Ca3sarism.*

dence

filled

supreme and absolute power over

persons and causes, ecclesiastical and civil. In the

They aimed
all

at

met their only obstacle ; the only anta

not break or bend. The pride of
could
gonist they
nationality is easily roused, and they roused it as
Pontiffs they

an

ally against the

power of

faith

and the authority

Rome.

of

A
itself

more dangerous auxiliary soon ranged

on the same side.

still

<

Bottalla,

The Supreme Authority

of the Pope/ p. 157 et seq.

95

The

and rivalry of nationalities within the

unity of the Catholic Church, which first generated
controversies as to the supreme and final authority
rise

Roman

of the

Pontiff, soon led to divisions in the

Conclave, and to doubtful

elections.

At

the time

Church was dis

Obediences and three doubtful

of the Council of Constance the

by three

tracted

Popes.

The

Council, from its opening to

session, contained only

its

fourteenth

one of the three Obediences.

The second Obedience then came

in.

It

was not

until the thirty-fifth session that the three Obedi

ences united, and a Pontiff of certain and canonical
election presided over it, as S. Leo over the Council
of Chalcedon, or S. Agatho over the third Council of

Constantinople.

But

it

was

in the fourth

and

fifth sessions,

while as

yet only one Obedience was present, that the decrees

which represent the novelties of Gerson were pro
null from the beginning, from
the nullity of the assembly, the irregularity of the
voting, as well as the heterodoxy of the matter.

claimed.

They were

They were protested

against as soon as read, and

not only because opposition was vain, but

because their passing was, ipso facto, void of effect,
let to pass,

But

So long as a
Gallican remains, the Gallican version of the Council
of Constance will be reiterated.
It will be remem
into this

it

is

needless to enter.

how Gerson complained of the condemnation,

by Martin V., of those who appealed from the Pope
bered

to a General Council.

This one Pontifical Act, pub-

96
lished in the Council
fifth sessions

itself,

ruined the fourth and

from their base.

In order to appreciate correctly the real nature of

those sessions, we may recall to mind what were the
theological opinions taught at that time
in Paris.

We

shall readily

see, first,

of

by Gerson,

how

little

the authority of his name ; and next, how

analogous was the course of erroneous opinions in
France with that of the opinions which issued in

weight

is

Anglicanism in this country.

The following

propositions are a sample of

to be found in his writings

4

The

decision of the

Pope

are of faith, does not as

*
believe.

The

decision of the

much

alone, in matters

which

such bind (any one)

Pope binds the

to

faithful not

to dogmatise to the contrary, unless they see that

manifest error against faith, and great scandal to the
faith,

would

arise

from their

oppose themselves.

...

silence if they should not

If persecution of their

opinions, and punishment should ensue against them,

let them know that they are blessed who suifer per

secution for justice sake. f

4

A simple

person, without authority, might be so

excellently learned in Holy Scripture that more
confidence is to be had in his assertion, in a doc

than in the declaration of the Pope ; for

the Gospel is to be trusted rather than the Pope. J

trinal case,

* Gersonii
Opp. Ed. Dupin, Ant. 1706
Consid. 2, p. 9.
t Ibid.
j Ibid. Con. 5, p. 11.

torn.

i.

De Exam.

Doctr.

07
4

Bishops

power

in the primitive

as the Pope.

Church were of the same

"

ridiculous to say that a mortal man may

claim to have power of binding and loosing sin,
in heaven and on earth, while he is a son of per
4

It is

&c. f

dition,
4

The Roman Church, the head of which

be

to

the

heresy,
4

and

It

and

fail

and be

deceived,

to exist. J

in

and

schism

and

....

appears that if the Pope

the King or
incorrigible,

....

Romans

has to

believed

err,

may

Pope

and be

deceive

is

be wicked

Emperor of the
apply the remedy by con

voking a Council.
4

Bishops (oppressed by Popes) may reasonably

carry their complaints, not only to the Pope and a
General Council, which is the most fitting tribunal,

but to orthodox Princes.

4

Here

traction

is

||

a foundation for the possible case of sub

or suspension

rightly elected.

of obedience

to

any Pope

^]"

These are the

first

principles

schism, which has always

writers as Gerson, Peter d

of the

justified

Ailly,

itself

Anglican
by such

Nicholas de Cle-

mangiis, and by their later followers, Dupin,

Espen, and Febronius.

Van

In quoting the opinions of Gerson, which every

Catholic must lament and reject, it would be unjust
*

Tom.

ii,

De modis

uniendi, p. 174.

t Ibid. p. 168.
Ibid. p. 178.
||

Tom.

f Tom.

ii.

vi.

} Ibid. p. 1CS.

De Statu Eccl. p. 503.

De Auforib. Pnprc, p.

218,

98
not to bear in mind the circumstances of the times,

which forced upon him and others questions alto

Confidence in the supreme office of
gether new.
the See and Successor of Peter, in matter of faith,

had been rudely shaken by the disputed election

of two and of three claimants to that supreme
power. Though it was not logical, it was only too
natural that the doubts should spread from the elec
tion to the office, and that the contending Obediences

should endeavour not only to

opponents, but to protect, as

prevail

over their

they thought,

the

authority of the Church and the integrity of the

Faith from dangers inseparable from the co-existence
of two and three claimants to the supreme office of.

Judge

in doctrinal causes.

good and a prudent

In deny
motive, can be supposed for this error.
ing the infallibility of the Pontiff*, and in affirming
the infallibility of Councils, Gerson no doubt thought
provide a broader and surer
faith of Christendom.
So much it
to

suppose.

basis
is

for

the

but justice to

Nevertheless, his opinions are erroneous,

even to the verge of heresy, and have scattered the

seeds of a wide growth of heretical errors from that

day to

this.

It is

no wonder that Protestants have

claimed Gerson as a forerunner and an authority.

Villiers, a Protestant writer, in his book called
Influence of the Eeformation of Luther/ says that
Gerson and Richer were the leaders of the religious
c

revolution in France.*

In the

last analysis, the great

Western schism

is

no more than the rivalry and contention of Na*

Bouix,

De Papa

et

de Concil. (Ecum.

torn.

i.

493,

Paris, 1869.

99

What

tionalitics.

individuals have never been able

against the unity and authority of the

And no
Church, nations have endeavoured to do.
more luminous evidence can be found of the divine
to

effect

stability

of the Church, both in

its

unity and

its

able not
authority, than that it should have been
only to heal the great Western schism, but for four

hundred years
as

it is

to preserve both unity and authority

and that, too, in the period of the

at this day,

most vigorous and vehement development of modern

nationalities.

But

to return to the thread of our subject.

It is

certain that the opinions of Gerson soon lost their

hold, even in the Sorbonne.

The Council of Florence

eighteen years afterwards, that is in 1439, effaced the

traces of the fourth and fifth sessions of the Council
of Constance

does not

by

its

well-known decree, which,

explicitly

affirm the

infallibility

of

if it

the

of the Successor of Peter, implicitly and

That well-known decree is no
logically contains it.
more than the final expression of the immemorial

See and

and universal practice and

faith of tlie

Church by

the infallible authority of a General Council.

Forty years later, that is in 1479, the condemna
tion of Peter de

Osma by

Sixtus IY. affirms the

contrary of his error to be of faith, namely, that the

Church of the City of Rome cannot err/
In 1544 the Faculty of Louvain published two-andc

The

thirty Articles against the errors of Luther.

twenty-first runs thus

4

It is to

be held by firm faith that there

true and Catholic Church on earth,

Q 2

and that

is

one

visible,

100

which was founded by the Apostles and endures to

our time, retaining and holding whatsoever the Chair
of Peter hath delivered, does deliver, or shall here
after deliver, in faith

and religion upon which [Chair,

;

the Church] is so built by Christ the Bridegroom, that

in those things which are of faith it cannot err/

The 25th

Article runs:

Those things are to be held by a firm

are declared not only

by express

faith

which

Scripture, but also

which we have received to be believed by the tradi

tion of the Catholic Church, and which have been
defined in matters of faith and morals by the Chair
of Peter, and by General Councils legitimately con
*
gregated.
The great Western schism, and the erroneous

opinions in the Council of Constance, had their legiti

mate development in the Protestant Reformation:

and

by separating part of Germany and Eng

this,

land from the Church, cleansed its unity of an infec

tion which threatened not unity alone, but the foun
dations

of

We

faith.

are

often

told,

with

much

pretension of wise and benevolent counsel, not to

draw too tight the conditions of communion, or to
define too precisely the doctrines of faith.
No doubt
this advice was given at Constance, Florence, and

Trent.

But the Catholic Church knows no

policy

but truth; and its unity is extended, not by compre

hension of error, but by the expulsion of all that is
at variance

with the health and

shall see hereafter

how

ftoskovdny,

this plea

De Rom.

life

of faith.

We

was put forward

Pontif. torn.

ii.

35.

in

101
1682, as

it is

at this

moment, on the eve of the

first

Council of the Vatican.

In 1579 the clergy of France, assembled at Melun,

decreed as follows
:

Bishops and their vicars, to

whom

this

is

charge

committed, shall take care that in all synods, diocesan

and every one, both clerics and

embrace, and with open profession pro

and provincial,
laymen, shall

all

which the Holy Roman Church, the

and
teacher, pillar,
ground of the truth, professes and
cherishes.
For with this Church, by reason of its

nounce that

faith

[principality] primacy,

it is

necessary that

all

Churches

*
agree.

In 1625 a document was drawn up by the Assembly

under the title of Address of the Assembly- General
c

of the Clergy of France to the Archbishops and

It was never published,
Bishops of the Kingdom.
for

some reason not

clearly

known.

It is given in the

Proces-Verbaux/ printed by order of the Assembly

in 1762-5.
In the 157th article it runs as follows:

The bishops are exhorted to honour the Holy Apos

tolic See, and the Church of Rome, the Mother of
4

the Churches, founded in the infallible promise of

God, in the blood of the Apostles and Martyrs.
.

They
visible

earth,
in a

our Holy Father the Pope,

Church universal, Vicar of God on
Bishop of Bishops and Patriarch of Patriarchs,
will

respect also

Head

of the

word, the Successor of

S.

Peter

with

whom

the

Apostolate and the Episcopate have had their begin

ning, and on whom Jesus Christ has founded the
*

Roskovany,

ibid. torn.

ii.

p.

105.

102
Church, in entrusting to him the keys of heaven,
together with infallibility of the faith, which we have
seen endure miraculously immovable in his successors

unto

this day.

We now

come

to a period in

which the Church in

France, with the Court and Government, gave its

testimony to the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff,

by a

series of public

From

which admit of no reply.

1681 the Jansenistic contro

acts

the year 1651 to

versy was at its height.

In 1651, eighty-five bishops of France wrote to
Innocent X., praying that the five propositions of
Jansenius might be judged by the Apostolic See.
It is the solemn custom of the Church
They say
4

to refer the greater causes to the

custom the never-failing

his right that

faith of

we should

Holy

See,

which

Peter demands in

perpetually observe.

In

obedience, therefore, to this most just law, we have

determined to write to your Holiness on a subject of
At the
the greatest gravity in matter of religion.

end of the

they add

Your

Holiness has lately

known how much the authority of the Apostolic See
avails in the condemnation of the error in respect to
letter

the double head of the Church

"

straightway the

tempest was calmed, and at the voice and command

of Christ the winds and the sea obeyed." f
After the condemnation of Jansenius by Innocent
X. on June 9, 1653, the bishops of France again
wrote, on July
c

this is

15

In which

worthy of observation, that

*

Eoskovany,

t Ibid. torn.

ibid. torn.

ii.

p.

180.

ii.

p.

affair,
as,

175.

they

said,

on the relation

103
of the bishops of Africa, Innocent the First condemned
of old the Pelagian heresy, so, on the consultation of

the bishops of France, Innocent the Tenth proscribed

by his authority a heresy directly opposite to the

For the Catholic Church of that ancient

Pelagian.
time, sustained only by the communion and authority
of the See of Peter, which shines forth in the decretal
letter of

Innocent to the Africans, followed by another

from Zosimus to the bishops of all the world,

subscribed without delay the condemnation of the

letter

For it clearly saw, not only from

Pelagian heresy.
the promise of Christ our Lord made to Peter, but
from the acts of the earlier Pontiffs, and from the
anathemas launched just before by Damasus against

also

Apollinaris and Macedonius, while as yet they were

not condemned by any synod, that judgments for

the confirmation of the rule of faith

when consulted by

made by the
rest upon a

bishops,
divine and supreme authority throughout the world;
to which all Christians are in duty bound to render

Pontiffs,

the obedience of the mind.

It

is

here to be observed that the condemnation

of Pelagianism by Innocent I. without any General

and
.Council has always been received as infallible
;

that the French bishops here declare the

obedience of the mind, that is, interior assent, and
not only obsequious silence, to be required of all

next,
1

Christians.

On September

165G, the bishops wrote to

Alexander VII. almost in the same words. They
call the letter of

2,

Zosimus
* Ibid.

a peremptory decree, and

p.

190.

104
Finita est
quote S. Augustine s well-known words
causa rescriptis Apostolicis, &c. *
In the year 1660 the bishops wrote again, if pos
:

In thee,
stronger language.
They declare
as in the Successor of Peter, is firmly seated the
c

sible, in

strength of us all. f
Lastly, in the encyclical letter of the assembly of
the clergy, on October 2, 1665, they declare:
The
c

which the General Assembly of the

clergy of France wrote to all the bishops of the king
dom on the 15th of July 1653 shows that the submis
circular letter

sion

which we have been used to render to the Holy

is an inheritance of the bishops of France,

Father

who, in a synod held under Charlemagne and Pepin,

made a solemn declaration of their will to preserve
their unity with the

to S. Peter

They

and

add, that

Roman

Church, and to be subject

end of their life. J

his Successors to the

all

the Churches of France were in a

perfect will to follow all that the Pontiff should order

in matter of faith

and add

This is the solid point

of our glory, which renders our faith invincible, and
our authority infallible, so long as we hold the one
;

and the other inseparably united to the centre of

religion,

Peter,

We

by binding ourselves

to

the

See of

S.

&c.

have here six solemn acts of the French

bishops and assemblies, recognising in the most ex

of the faith of the See and
plicit terms the stability
*

D Argentre,

Collectio Judiciorum, torn.

iii.

p. 2, p.

280.

Paris,

1736.
f Zaccaria,

Anti-Febronius Vindicatus,

diss. v.

Rome, 1843.
J

D Argentre,

Coll. Jud., torn.

iii.

p. 2, p, 312,

cap. 2, p. 242.

105
of the Successor of
truth,

the

that

Peter.

memory

Sorbonne was by
Church of France.

It

may be

said with

of Gerson and of the old

simply effaced from the

The condemnation of Jansenius

this time

upon the peremptory and

The bishops of
irreformable decree of Innocent X.
France, on March 28, 1654, wrote to the Pontiff on
rested,

and

rests to this day,

the subject of the Jansenist evasion as to the question of

fact respecting the propositions. They declared that the
c

Janscnists were endeavouring to take away a part of

the ancient deposit of faith, the custody of which was

entrusted to the See of Peter

by

Christ,

by dishonestly

drawing aside the majesty of the Apostolic Decree, to

the determination of fictitious controversies. *
It is
the bishops here recognised the supreme
and plenary authority of the Pontiff in all its ampli

clear that

morals, and dogmatic facts.

This was at that time the doctrine of France.

tude of

faith,

In

a meeting of the

Faubourg

St.

leading Jansenists, held in the

Jacques, on the publication of the Bull of

Innocent X., Pascal suggested that he had heard it

said that the Pope is not infallible.
Arnauld imme
diately answered, that if they should pursue that line
of defence they would give good reason to their
i

oppo

nents

to treat

them as

heretics.

f
This part of the subject, then, may be summed up
in a quotation from Peter de Marca.
The Jesuits, in
their College in Paris,

had maintained in 1661 a

thesis

affirming the infallibility of the Pope in faith, morals,

and dogmatic facts. The Jansenists endeavoured to
* Ibid.
p. 825.
f Bouix,

De

Papa, &c.,

p.

OG4.

106

up the government

stir

to censure

Peter de

it.

Marca, just then translated from the Archbishopric of

Toulouse to Paris, declared that the opinion which
affirms the infallibility of the

Roman Pontiff,

speaking

the general and received opinion, ap

the Church of Rome and by the schools

ex cathedra,

is

proved by
of Christendom.
one which

is

He

adds:

This opinion

is

the only

taught and embraced in Italy, Spain, and

and that the

the other provinces of Christendom
is called the opinion of the Doctors of
which
opinion
c

placed in the rank of those which are only

*
This was before 1682 and the Pontifical
tolerated.
Paris

is

condemnation of the Four Articles.

Again, he says :
the
door
to a great
open
Finally,
schism to endeavour to overturn these theses, so long
4

would be

it

to

as they are understood in accordance

mon

with the com

opinion because not only such an opposition tends

;

to ruin openly the constitutions published

against

Jansenius, but even to dispute publicly and with au

thority against the

Judges,

when

power of the Popes

as infallible

speaking ex cathedra, in matter of faith,

conceded to them by the consent of all the

In the
Universities, except the ancient Sorbonne.

which

is

same document he goes on to use the words quoted

The great majority of the
in the Pastoral of 1867
:

doctors

[in France], not only in theology, but also

in law, follow the

common

opinion,

which has founda

been already said,

opinion of the Old Sorbonne. f

tions very hard to destroy, as has

and
*

they laugh at the

Zaccaria, Anti-Febronius Vindicatus,

Notes.
j-

Ibid, note 5.

dissert, v. cap.

2,

s.

5,

107

hope that I have sufficiently justified the state

ment made in 18(17, that the Gallican opinions have
I

no warrant in the ancient traditions of the

illustrious

Church of France.

III.

We

FIRST FORMAL ENUNCIATION OF GALLICANISM.

must now enter upon a

pleasing part of
our subject, the revival of the opinions of the Old
Sorbonne, and their fabrication into the Articles of
less

1682.

would be out of place to

contest which arose from the
It

recite the details of the

thesis in the College of

The Jansenists attacked the infallibility

of the Pope, because they were condemned by two
Pontifical constitutions.
They had influence enough

the Jesuits.

with the Government to persuade the ministers of

Louis XIV. that the doctrine of the infallibility of the

Pope was dangerous to the Ilegale, and even to the

Crown of France. The Government and the Parlia
ment prohibited the theses. The Sorbonne resisted
the dictation of

Government

liament insisted on

its

The Par
and commanded the

in theology.

obedience,

Faculty to register its decrees respecting the infalli

Out of this arose a conflict which
bility of the Pope.
required seventeen decrees of Parliament to reduce the
Sorbonne to obedience. Finally, the expedient of the

Assembly of 1682 was decided on as a means of

giving a doctrinal and authoritative character to the

The history
theology of the Court and Parliament.
of this policy of Colbert and his colleagues shall be

108
given from the work of M. Ge*rin, Judge of the Civil
Tribunal of the Seine, who has in this year published
a number of documents hitherto unknown, and con
clusive in proof, in behalf of the

Sorbonne and against

the Government.

The French writer already named has

censured

me

publicly

for saying, in the Pastoral addressed to

you two years

Four Articles of 1682

and that in the assembly

ago, that the

are a

Royal Theology
which
they were passed, the Archbishop of Camby
I think it due to you, reverend
brai opposed them.
;

brethren, as well as to myself, both to repeat these

statements and to prove them.

This writer, signing himself the Abbe St. Pol,

thought to overturn my statement by quoting a pas
sage from the Arret du Parlement, in which it is
that

said

the

Articles

(unanimement).

Who

were passed unanimously

ever doubted that the Par

But with
The Abbe
the
of
Cambrai
St. Pol admits that
Archbishop
The Archbishop resisted
resisted until convinced.

liament would say so, and did say so?

what truth it was said, we shall now see.

until

he obtained an assurance that the Articles

should not be imposed by authority on the Theolo

which assurance was, never
gical Schools of France
;

theless,

immediately

violated

by an order of the

King.*

We
*

have

it,

also,

upon the evidence of the Pro-

Gerin, Recherches historiques

stir

Assemblee du Clerge de

But I need say no

France de 1682, p. 201. Paris, Lecoffre, 1869.
more on the fidelity of the Archbishop of Cambrai. His courageous
successor, in a noble address to his clergy on the 10th of September
last,

has abundantly proved the truth of my statement in 1867.

100

De

larky, one of the chief managers

of this whole transaction, that the majority of that

ctireur-General

Assembly would with all their heart have changed

their mind the day after if they had been allowed to
do so. * This evidence is beyond all refutation and
It

all suspicion.

occurs in a private letter to Colbert,

hitherto unpublished, and henceforward never to be

But I shall have occasion to return upon
forgotten.
this

document

later.

Germ s volume

In M.

incontestable proofs of that

date are to be found in the letters, memorials, and pri

vate documents of Colbert, the Archbishop De Harlay,

beyond all con

troversy (1) that the Assembly of 1G82 was neither
Synod nor Council of the Church of France, nor even a
and the Procureur-General, to

establish

representative assembly of the French clergy but an

assembly of Archbishops, Bishops, and others nomi
;

nated by the King, or elected under every kind of

pressure and influence of the Court, in the midst of
strong and public protests by such men as the Car
dinal Archbishop of

Aix and the Vicar-General of

As

Toulouse.
will suffice.
*

a sample out of many, the following

Colbert wrote to the Bishop of Avran-

King has judged that you will be

able to serve him more usefully than any other ....
in the assembly formed of the clergy.
His Majesty
commands me to write to you, to say that he has
ches

made
Kancd

Sir,

the

choice of
i
:

Bossuet writes to

you/ &c.

The assembly

is

going to be held.

De

It is

Fleury writes: The

King willed that the Bishop of Meaux should be of

willed that I should be of

it.

* Ibid.
p. 389,

110
it.

In the same terms Colbert wrote to the Arch

In the same way the elections

bishop of Rouen.
were forced at Toulouse, Narbonne, and Aix, indeed
Cette
in every place ; so that Daniel de Cosnac says
:

maniere de deputation ne nie paraissait pas trop

To

glorieuse.

of

any idea

give

the

complete

nullity of these pretended elections, it would be

necessary to transcribe the third chapter of M.

Gerin

work.

But (2) another

fact of

much

greater importance
both to the unity of theological truth, and of the

Church in France, is this that the Faculty

of Theology at the Sorbonne, together with the other
Theological Faculties in Paris, not only steadfastly

illustrious

and courageously resisted the Four Articles, but it

may be truly said that they never received them. The

shadow of acceptance which was wrung from a cer

tain number by acts of intimidation and violence on
the part of the King, the Court, and the Parliament,
is
abundant proof that the Four Articles were

never accepted by the Theological Faculty of the

Sorbonne.*
The importance of this is great and
manifold.

It

completes the rejection of the Four

Articles

by every great Theological School. It clears

the great name of the Sorbonne of a shadow which
and lastly,
I had hitherto feared must rest upon it
it clears the Church in France from participation in
an event which must always grieve those who revere
;

and love

its

noble Catholic traditions.

* This was notorious

La Sorbonne defend
Et

le clerge 1 edit

du

la foi,
roi.

Chansons du temps.

Ill
I will

endeavour, as briefly as I can, to give the

substance of M.

Ge>in

evidence.

The Edict of March 20th ordered that the Four

Articles should be registered in all the Universities
and Faculties of Theology, and taught by their
professors.

Faculties of Theology in Paris were composed

The houses were those of the
753 doctors.

The
of

Sorbonne, Navarre, the Cholets,

religious orders,

St. Sulpice,

several

and others.

Fleury tells us that the regulars, to a

man, maintained the infallibility of the Pontiff that
the congregations of secular priests were of the same

Of

these,

opinion.

\Ve have before us a secret report, drawn up for

Colbert by some doctors, partisans of the Court, in

which they arrange in two classes, Pour Rome and

Centre Rome, the theologians of the Faculties in Paris.
Of the Sorbonne they say: Except six or seven,
the

whole house of the Sorbonne

contrary

to

the

declaration.

educated in opinions

is

The

professors, except

the syndic, are so greatly opposed to it, that even

those who are paid by the King are not willing to
teach any one of the propositions which were pre
sented to his Majesty in 1665; although, in the Col
leges of the Sorbonne and Navarre, there are chairs

founded to teach controversy.

the College of the Sorbonne

They are

all

The number

living in

very considerable.
united in Ultramontane opinions
is

c,rr</>t

All the professors, even the royal, except

the syndic of the Faculty, are of the same maxims.* *

four or

five.

Gerin, p. 343.

112

Of

House of Navarre, every

the

professor, except

one, was Antigallican.

the Missions Etrangeres, and St. Nicho

That those who have given an
Chardonnet.

St. Sulpice,

las

du

opinion in this matter (of the Four Articles) are of

the opinion of the Sorbonne.
And of St. Sulpice it
was said that it was the seminary of the whole clergy
of the kingdom, and that there were many houses
which looked upon it as the parent house.* Of St.
Sulpice, in 1665 it was declared that the whole body

was extreme

The
were

for the authority of the Pope.

Carmelites,

all

Augustinians,
Ultramontane.

Such were the men

to register

and

whom

Franciscans

Louis XIV. commanded

Four

to teach the

and

Articles.

The first President de Novion, the ProcureurGeneral de Harlay, and six councillors, were charged
to carry this declaration of the Edict to the Sor
bonne

the 1st of

011

Three hundred

1682.

May

The dean by seniority, Be

doctors were present.
When the registration
enfeebled
with
was
tille,
age.
of the Edict was demanded, the Faculty desired
time and deliberation.

But

Betille answered,

and

tias

Gra-

Facultas pollicetur

agimus amplissimas,
on which the deputation withdrew, and
obsequium
The three hundred remained,
Betille with them.
;

expecting their return, and demanding a delibera

tion; but the absence of the dean rendered it in
formal.

They then

the Procureur- General

the Edict.

separated.

Some days

demanded the

The Faculty answered

p.

345.

registration of

that they could

give no answer before the 1st of June.

* Ibid.

after,

113

wrote to
king, therefore, on the 10th of May,
that he heard that "quelques
the Syndic, saying,

The

docteurs,"

Edict

certain doctors, were disposed to discuss the

and added

It is

my

will that if

any one

betakes himself to do
to

this, you stop him, by declaring

him the order which you have received from me

in this present letter. *

Some advised

a second deputation of the Parlia

Colbert writes to the Procureur De

But

ment.

Harlay that he was afraid of two things: the one,

the other,
to let so much authority be seen
of
c

letting it

become known

to the

Court of

Rome

that the

opinions of the Faculty on the subject of the Declaration

of the Clergy are not in conformity with the contents of
1

that Declaration. ^

The

1st of

June passed without any new order

The

the registration of the Edict.

become much more

vivid.

for

opposition had

Colbert wrote

to

De

the king had received a

Harlay, telling him that
letter, saying, that "all was lost;" that the king was

thinking of expelling
Blanger,
affair;

MM.

who appeared

but that

it

Masure, Desperier, and

have a chief part in the

would be

principle, of avoiding as

ance of any

to

at variance

with his

much

as possible the appear

opposition on the part of the Faculty, or

the using of authority on the part of his Majesty. J

De Harlay, in answer, addressed to Colbert a

document, dated June 2, under the title of Projet

dc reglement pour la tenue des Assemblies de
Sorbonne. After giving his opinion that it was wiser
* Ibid.

p.

351.

f Ibid. p. 35:?.

% Ibid. p. 354.

114
not to send the Parliament a second time to the
Faculty, and not to exhibit a great manifestation of
authority, he insists that public opinion must be

managed, and an appearance of liberty must be left

He then goes on in the following
to the Sorbonne.
:

not altogether without pretext to think it

strange that the Faculty should complain of the form
c

lt

is

of the king s Edict, and of the new submission, and

of the Chancellor of the Church of Paris, and finally
of the obligation to teach a doctrine, when declared

by an assembly of the
would change with

clergy, of

all their

whom

the greater

heart to-morrow,

part

if they

But, after all, no one was

wanting in respect to the Edict of the King, &c.*
On the 16th of June, at six in the morning, an

were allowed

to

do

so.

usher brought an order of the Parliament, forbidding

the Faculty to assemble, or to deliberate, and com
manding a certain number to appear in the Parlia

ment, at the bar of the ushers, at seven o clock. When

they arrived, the First President addressed them,

them a

unworthy of confidence and of the

marks of esteem with which they had been honoured.
The Edict, the Declaration of the Clergy, was then
registered by command.
On that same day De Harlay wrote to the Chan
cellor Le Tellier the following letter, which will for
calling

cabal,

ever destroy the illusion that the Four Articles were

the free and voluntary expression of the opinion of
the Church of France in the seventeenth
century.
It

runs as follows

* Ibid.

p. 355.

115

MY

IQth June, 1682.

LORD,

After avoiding, as far as depended upon my care, to

employ with ostentation the authority which it pleased the
king to give us

to

hope I

dience, in the

bring the Faculty of Theology to obe

had that the doctors, who are in very

great number, very learned and well intentioned, would

prevail over the contrary party ; nevertheless, the way in
which their deliberations yesterday began, and the assurance

we

party would prevail to-day by

voices (as you have without doubt been in

received that the

about fifteen

evil

made me change my opinion, I therefore

thought no more of anything but executing the order of
the king, which M. de Seignelay brought us yesterday.
formed), having

You

will see,

made
in

by the Arret of which I send you a

my Lord,

copy, as well as

by

to the doctors

the address which

who came

which we proceeded

with equal pain that I

the

first

President

manner

much

regret on my part, and

to
have a hand in these
obliged

with

am

M.

to the Parliament, the

affairs, we applied remedies almost as disastrous as the evil,

and because we are still exposed to many disagreeable conse

quences.*

He

then details the reforms necessary to

Sorbonne

make

the

serviceable to the king/ which consists

simply in expelling the Ultramontanes, of

whom eight

were commanded to depart that same day, or the day

following; and further, in stopping the salaries of
those

who

could not produce a certificate of having

taught the Four Articles.

dated llth August 1685. f

We

find a

The

memorandum,

professors of the

Sorbonne went to the Royal treasury to demand

Three were
payment, according to custom.

their

paid.

For the three

others, they

were told

that, as

they had not satisfied the order of the king, which

*

Gerin, p. 359.

f Ibid. p. 375.

Hi

116
obliged them to teach the Propositions of the Clergy,
they would not be paid until they had given satis
faction. *
7

So resolute, unanimous, and constant was the Sorbonne in its opposition to the Four Articles, that the
Advocate-General Talon, on June 22, 1685, wrote to
i

the Secretary of State, that

how important

than any one

which the cabals and

Majesty knew better

his
it is

to stop the progress

evil doctrines of the College

of
Sorbonne were making in the Faculty of Theology/
He adds that there was only one Professor, qui enthe

seigne nos maximes. f

College of the Sorbonne

The

is

evil

doctrine of the

that which

Pol, Chanoine Honoraire, calls at this

M.

Abbe

St.

day Tultra-

Catholicisme en Angleterre.

now add only two more quotations.

1760 the Abbe Chauvelin, Counsellor

I will

In

oi the

Parliament of Paris, deadly enemy of the Jesuits

and of the bishops who defended them, reporter of

the Proces against the Society of Jesus, published,
* Ibid.
p. 376.
f How deeply the national spirit had pervaded the minds and
language of men at that time, appears from the constant use of such
les opinions franchises,
nos
phrases as, la doctrine franchise,
maximes. We find also Massillon writing, comme eveque fran9ais.
l

The words grate strangely on the ears of those to whom the Church
of God is more than nation, country, and kindred. I cannot refrain
from quoting the noble and delicate words of the Archbishop of
Cambrai to his clergy in synod on September 10th last
There
:

is

no nation that

may

claim the privilege of having, in the bosom of

the Catholic Church, its theology apart, and its peculiar doctrines,
which a kind of prescription gives it the right to preserve for ever.
Understood in this way, these national doctrines would be evidently
incompatible with Catholic unity and they would bring on in time,
and by the force of events, the divisions which consummate under
;

our eyes the

final

ruin of Protestantism.

117
without name, the famous work, La Tradition des
Faits.
In it we read a summary of all I have en

deavoured to

detail.

When

the attempt was made to oblige all eccle

siastics to profess the (maximes de France) opinions
1

of France, what

were there not to be

difficulties

was necessary to wrest an assent

others opposed obstacles which
all the
authority of Parliament had great difficulty
in overcoming.
There was need of all the zeal, and
all the lights of certain prelates, and certain doctors
encountered!

It

from many of them

attached to the true opinions, to reclaim the great

number of Ultramontanes who were found among

There may be counted seven

the clergy of France.
teen orders which Parliament was obliged to make,
Faculty of Theology to register the
regulations of 1665, and the doctors to conform to
The learned prelates who drew up the cele
them.
to force

the

brated Declaration of 1682 met with no less contra

diction

in

it

getting

never ceased

to

adopted.

rise against

it,

until

The

ecclesiastics

the

Parliament

them.
When
authority
employed
the Parliament endeavoured to enforce the registration
to

its

of the Edict of 1682

constrain

by the

Faculties, the pretexts

and the subterfuges to avoid it multiplied without

The University and the Faculty of Law sub
end.
mitted without any difficulty. But it was necessary
to

come

to

the

exercise
to

of

authority,

obedience.

to

bring

the

Faculty of Tlieology
seem rather to be reading the history of the
Anglican Reformation than of the glorious Church

We

of France.
*

Gerin, p. 389.

118

One more quotation

shall

be the

In the Session

last,

of the Assembly on the 24th November, 1682, the

Promotor Cheron, after saying that Louis XIV. sur

passed

David

in

Solomon in wisdom,
Alexander in courage, all

gentleness,

Coiistantine in religion,

kings on earth in power, applied

to him this Byzantine text; which I do not translate,

the CaBsars and

all

but leave as I find

in acie plus

it.

In exercitu plus

miles, in regno plus

quam

rator, in disciplina civili plus

sistorio

quam

plus
*

judex,

quam

in

quam rex,
quam impe-

praetor, in con-

Ecclesia plus

quam

sacerdos.

You

will

remember

that in the former Pastoral I

only said that Gallicanism was a Royal Theology,

and no part of the Catholic tradition of the glorious
Church of France. I here give the first proof of my
and shall be ready, if need be, to add
assertion
;

more

hereafter.

In the Pastoral on the Centenary I recited the

prompt and repeated censures of the acts of

the Assembly by Innocent XL, April 11, 1682;
Alexander VIII. in 1688 and in 1691; the retrac
tation, by the French Bishops and by the King, of
the Acts of 1682; and finally, the condemnation of
the insertion of the Four Articles in the Synod of

by Pius VI., in the Bull Auctorem Fidei.

To this, much might be added but as one Pontifical
c

Pistoia

condemnation

now

is

enough

dealing, I forbear to

Such, then,
question.

for those

whom we

are

the present state and aspect of this

have traced it, first, through its first

is

We

with

add more.

* Ibid.
p. 301.

119
period of constant, immemorial, universal, and public
practice, down to the Council of Constance ; secondly,

through the period of conflict, and therefore of ana

of Constance to the Assembly
lysis, from the Council
of 1082

thirdly,

from 1682,

in the Pontifical

Acts by

which the opinion adverse to the infallibility of the

Successor of Peter, speaking ex cathedra, has been,
if not condemned, at least so discouraged that the
opposite opinion may be affirmed to be at least cer
tain, if not de fide, though not imposed as of universal

In this stage of the question an (Ecu

The question, therefore, is
menical Council meets.
obligation.

not whether the doctrine be true, which cannot be

doubted or definable, which is not open to doubt
:

but whether such a definition be opportune, that

timely and prudent.
Those who maintain that the time

is ripe,

is,

and that

such a definition would be opportune, justify their

opinion on the following reasons
1. Because the doctrine of the infallibility of the
Vicar of Jesus Christ, speaking ex cathedra, in mat
:

ter of faith

and morals,

is

true.

2.

Because this truth has been denied.

3.

Because

this

denial

has generated extensive

doubt as to the truth of this doctrine, which lies at

the root of the immemorial and universal practice of
the

Church,

and

therefore

at

the foundation

of

Christianity in the world.

4.

the

Because
time

revived,

this denial, if it arose informally

of the

Council of

Constance,

about

has been

and has grown into a formal and public

error since the closing of the last General Council.

120
5.
it

the next General Council shall pass

the error will henceforward appear to be
if

Because,

over,

impunity and the Ponti

of Innocent XL, Alexander VIII.,

tolerated, or at least left in

censures

fical

Innocent XII. Pius VI. will appear to be of doubtful

,

effect.

Because this denial of the traditional belief of

6.

the Church

is

not a private, literary, and scholastic

opinion, but a patent, active, and organised opposition

to the prerogatives of the Holy See.

Because this erroneous opinion has gravely en

7.

feebled the doctrinal authority of the Church in the

mind of a certain number of the faithful; and if

passed over in impunity, this

ill

effect will

be

still

further encouraged.

Because this erroneous

8.

opinion has at times

caused and kept open a theological and practical divi

sion among pastors and people, and has
given occasion
to

domestic

criticisms,

mistrusts,

animosities,

and

alienations.

Because these divisions tend to paralyse the

9.

action of truth

upon the minds of the

faithful

ad

and consequently, by giving a false appearance

of division and doubt among Catholics,
upon the

intra

minds of Protestants and others ad

extra.

10.

Because, as the absence of a definition gives

occasion for these separations and
of
oppositions

opinion among pastors and people, so, if defined, the

doctrine would become a basis and a bond of
unity

among

the faithful.

11. Because, if defined in an (Ecumenical

Council,

the doctrine

would be

at once received

throughout

121
the world, both by those who believe the infallibility
of the Pontiff and by those who believe the infalli

Church; and with the same universal joy

and unanimity as the definition of the Immaculate

bility of the

Conception.

Because the definition of the ordinary means

whereby the faith is proposed to the world is re
12.

quired to complete the Treatise de Fide Divina.

13. Because the same definition is required to
complete the Treatise de Ecclesia deque dotibus
4

ejus.

14. Because

Acts during the

is

it

last

needed to place the Pontifical

three hundred years, both in de

claring the truth, as in the dogma of the Immaculate

Conception, and in condemning errors, as in the

long series of propositions condemned in Baius, Jansenius,

and

more, to

others,

beyond

make manifest

cavil or question

and,

that the active infallibility

of the Church, between Council and Council,

dormant, suspended, or intermittent

and

the heretical supposition that infallible

left

to the

still

is

not

to exclude

decrees are

exposition and interpretation of a fallible

judge.
15.

Because the

full

and

final declaration of the

divine authority of the Head of the Church is needed

to exclude from the minds of pastors and faithful the

which have generated Gallicanism,

Imperialism, Regalism, and Nationalism, the peren
nial sources of error, contention, and schism.

political influences

For these and

many more reasons, which it is

detail, many believe that a defini

for

impossible now to
tion or declaration which would terminate this long

122

and pernicious question would be opportune, and that

it
might for ever be set at rest by the condemnation
of the propositions following
1. That the decrees of the
:

Eoman

Pontiffs

in

matter of faith and morals do not oblige the con

science unless they be made in a General Council,
or before they obtain, at least, the tacit consent of
the Church.
2.

That the

Koman

Pontiff,

when he speaks

in

matter of faith and morals, as the Universal Doctor

and Teacher of the Church, may err.

They have
fraternal

also a desire,

and grateful

which springs from their

affection

for

Church of France, the Mother of

whom

the illustrious

Germanus, from
England derived the Episcopate, and the Guar

dian of the

Holy

See, glorious for a long history of

splendid deeds of faith:

France should, in

S.

it

that the Bishops of

Council of the Vatican,

is,

this first

stand forth to lead the voices of the Episcopate in

asking that the infallibility of the Vicar of Jesus
Christ

may be

declared

by a decree of the universal

Church.

S.

There was a day in which the great family of

Dominic rejoiced the whole Catholic world, when,

at the feet of

the words

Gregory XVI.,

it

laid its petition that

conceived without original sin should be

The suffrage of that illus
inserted in the Litanies.
trious

Order closed up the

circle of unity

among

the

faithful.

The

suffrage of the illustrious

for the closing of a divergence,

among

Church of France

now become

historical,

the pastors and faithful of that great Catholic

123
%,

people,

would give joy

to the whole world.

They

may claim the glory of this act as a prerogative, for

a reason like that which has moved brave legions to
claim the peril and the glory of leading the last and
crowning act of some great warfare at its glorious
close.

124

CHAPTER

IV.

TWO EFFECTS OF THE COUNCIL CERTAIN.

WHETHER

the

first

Council of the Vatican will define

that the Vicar of Jesus Christ, speaking ex cathedra,

in matter of faith and morals, is infallible or no, is, and,
till

the event, must remain a secret with

whatsoever the decision of the Council

shall

assuredly

and we

know

that

its

embrace

decision

God

may
is

be,

but

we

infallibly

not only with obedi

right,
ence, but with the interior assent of mind and will.

There

shall

it

however, two things which the Council

will certainly accomplish.
First, it will bring out

more

are,

visibly than ever the only alternative proposed

human

to the

and next,

namely, rationalism or

intellect,

show

faith

powers of the
Christian world the inevitable future they are now
it

will

to the civil

preparing for themselves.

As to the former, it will be

more than ever

manifest that the basis upon which God has willed

that His revelation should rest in the world is, in
the

natural

the testimony of the Catholic

considered
Church, which,
only as a human and
historical witness, affords the highest and most certain
evidence for the fact and for the contents of the
order,
if

Christian revelation.
of this

human and

They who deny the

sufficiency

historical evidence ruin the basis

125
they who, under the pretensions of
historical criticism, deny the witness of the Catholic
of Christianity;

Church

to be

the

maximum

of evidence, even in a

historical sense, likewise ruin the foundation of

moral

If
Christianity altogether.
evidence of the Catholic Church

certainty in respect to

the
for

historical

stability of

the

the

in the

faith

See and the

Successor of Peter be not sufficient to prove, as a

Church has so held

fact of history, that the Christian

altogether a poor and slender

for the events and actions of the past.

and taught, history

foundation

The pretentious

is

historical criticism of these

days has

prevailed, and will prevail, to undermine the peace and

But the
the confidence, and even the faith of some.

City seated on a hill is still there, high and out of

reach.
It cannot be hid, and is its own evidence,
Its
anterior to its history and independent of it.

The

to be learned of itself.

is

history

Catholic

Church

historical witness of its

authority;
ness,

it is

human

not only a

fail

evidence,

it

human and

origin, constitution,

also a supernatural

which can neither

order of

is

own

nor
is

err.

and

and divine wit

In the natural

a sufficient motive to

convince a prudent man that Christianity is a divine

revelation.
This motive of credibility is sufficient for
the act of faith in the Church as a divine witness.

In

the supernatural order, the Church is thereby known

to be divine in its foundation, constitution, and endow

ments.

The same evidence which proves

Christ

ianity to be a divine revelation proves the Catholic

Church

to be a part of the faith of Christianity,

to be likewise the incorporation

and

and channel of truth

126

and grace to the world. The same evidence which

proves the Catholic Church to be divinely founded,
proves

it

also to be infallible

and the same evidence

which proves the Church to be infallible proves the

I have
infallibility of the See and Successor of Peter.
already said that the evidence for the infallibility
of the See and Successor of Peter exceeds in explicitness and extent the evidence for the infallibility
its Head and
But this cumulus of evidence proves that
the Church and its Head are the visible and audible
witness, sustained and guided by a divine assistance

of the Church, without reference to

centre.

in declaring the revelation of Jesus Christ to the

It is not, therefore, by criticism on past
world.
history, but by acts of faith in the living voice of the

Church

at this hour,

It is not

by the

fallible

on the dubious,

or,

we can know the faith.

criticism of the human mind

that

even the authentic

so be,

if

writings of uninspired men, but by faith in the

divine order of the Christian world, that God wills us
to learn the doctrines of revelation.

Unless historical

criticism lead us into the presence of a Divine Witness,

and deliver us over to His teaching, our highest cer

tainties are but human.
No historical certainty can
be called Science, except only by courtesy. Even
Theology, which may be resolved into principles of
absolute certainty by way of faith, is not properly a
science.* It is time that the pretensions of historical
science,

and

scientific historians,

proper sphere and limits.

*

Greg.
1592.

De

Valent, torn,

i.

And

disp.

i,

be reduced to their

this the Council will

q, 1,

p. 3, pag.

22.

Ingold.

127

by contention or anathema, but by the words,

it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.
The other certain result of the Council will be, to
make more than ever manifest to the civil powers of
do, not
4

the Christian world the inevitable future they are

now preparing for themselves.

A member of

the Corps Legislatif in France, two

announced
that, in the Bull of Indiction of
years ago,

the Council, the Holy Father, by omitting to invite

the civil governments to take part in it, had pro

claimed the separation of Church and State.

moment s thought will be enough to explain

no

civil

government was invited

to attend.

why
What

government, at this day, professes to be Catholic ?

How should any government which does not even
claim to be Catholic be invited?

What

country in

Europe, at this day, recognises the unity and authority

of the Catholic Church as a part of its public laws?

What

country has not, by royal edicts, or legislative

enactments, or revolutionary changes, abolished the

legal status of the Catholic Church within its terri
tory?

On what

plea, then, could

they be invited?

As

governments or nations, they have, by their own act,

withdrawn themselves from the unity of the Church.

As moral or legal persons, they are Catholic no longer.

The faithful, indeed, among their subjects will be
represented in the Council by their pastors ; and their
pastors are not only invited, but obliged to be pre
sent.
If any separation has taken place, it is because
the civil powers have separated themselves from the
Church. They have created the fact, the Holy See

has only recognised

it.

The gravity of the

fact is not

128
It is strange that, with the immuta
c
of
the
Church, and the
progress/ as it is
bility
vaunted, of society before their eyes, men should

to be denied.

charge upon the Church the responsibility of breaking

The Church at one and
its relations with society.

accused of immobility and of change.

not the Church which has departed from unity,

the same time

It is

is

science, liberty

but society which has departed from

Christianity and from

faith.

It is said

c
:

If Christian

unity be destroyed, if science have separated from

faith, if liberty choose to reign without religion, a
terrible share of the responsibility for these evils rests

upon the men who have represented in the Christian

world unity, faith, and religion. Does this mean, upon
the Episcopate, Councils, and Pontiffs ?
Who, if not
these, have represented in the Christian world unity,
*

and

Have

they, then, misrepresented

these things to the world? If so, who shall represent
them? and where, then, is the Divine office of the
faith,

Church ?
ing up

religion

The

been for generations lift

warn the governments of
of breaking the bonds which

Pontiffs have

their voice in vain to

Christendom of the

peril

unite civil society to the faith and to the Church.

They have maintained

inflexibly,

and

at great suffer

ing and danger, their own temporal dominion, not

only for the spiritual independence of the Church,
but for the consecration of civil society. But the

governments of the Christian world would not listen

and now a General Council meets, and the place where,
as at the Lateran, at Florence, and at Trent,
they would
;

have

sat,

is

everywhere

empty.
is

The tendency of

to depart further

civil society

and further from the

129
Progress in these days means to advance
from the old Christian order

Church.

the line of departure

along
of the world.

The

civil society

of Christendom

offspring of the Christian family,

is

the

and the foundation

the sacrament of matrimony.

From this spring domestic and public morals. Most
governments of Europe have ceased to recognise in

of the Christian family

is

marriage anything beyond the civil contract, and, by

legalising divorce, have broken up the perpetuity of
even that natural contract. With this will surely perish

settlement in
the morality of society and of homes.
the foundations may be slow in sinking, but it brings
all down at last.
The civil and political society of

Europe is steadily returning to the mere natural order.

The next step in de- Christianising the political life of
nations

to establish

is

national education

without

systematically aimed at where

This may, before
soever the Revolution has its way.
Christianity.

This

long, be attempted

is

among ourselves. It is already in

The Church must then form

operation elsewhere.
its

own

schools;

and the

and soon

its

civil

power

will first refuse

permission, that parents should

educate their offspring except in State universities

its

aid,

and State

schools.

The period and

policy of Julian
for the Church; but

All this bodes ill

returning.
worse for the State. The depression of the moral
order of right and truth is the elevation of the mate
is

rial

order of coercion and of force.

The

of the world do not choose this course

advance in

it.

There

is

civil

powers

they only
behind them a power invis
;

which urges them onward in their estrangements

from the Church and that unseen power is at work
ible,

130
It is one, universal, invisible,

everywhere.

but not

holy; the true natural and implacable enenay of the

The anti-Christian
One, Visible, Universal Church.
societies are

one in aim and operation, even

if

they be

And

not one in conscious alliance.

the governments
of the world, some consciously, others unconsciously^
disbelieving the existence of such societies, and there

fore all the

more surely under

towards

being impelled
monarchies and law

their influence, are

over

precipice

and the

civil

order

which
of the

Christian society of men will go together.

It is the
policy of the secret societies to engage governmentsin quarrels with Rome. The breach is made, and the

Eevolution enters.

The

Catholic society of

Europe

has been weakened, and wounded, it may be, unto

death. The Catholic Church now stands alone, as in
the beginning,
4

Et nunc,

in

its

divine

isolation

reges, intelligite; erudimini,

and power.
qui judicatis

an abyss before you, into which

and
and
laws
thrones
rights and liberties may sink

terrain.

There

is

together. You have to choose between the Revolution

and the Church of God. As you choose, so will your

The General Council gives to the world one

more witness for the truths, laws, and sanctities

lot be.

which include

pure, noble, just, venerable

It will be an evil day for any State in
all

that

is

upon earth.
Europe if it engage in conflict with the Church of
God. No weapon formed against it ever yet has
The governments of Europe have
prospered.
been for the last year agitated and uncertain; the
attitude of France is wise and deliberate, worthy
of a great people

with the traditions of Catholic

131
history at
is

powers

its

back.

The

attitude of other great

also hitherto dignified

and

serious, pro
Lesser
poten
portionate to great responsibilities.
tates and their counsellors may circulate notes and

resolve questions, and furnish matter for newspapers;

but they are not the men to move mountains.

Whilst I was writing these lines a document has

appeared purporting to be the answers of the Theo
Faculty of Munich to the questions of the
Bavarian Government.*

logical

The questions and the answers are so evidently

concerted, if not written by the same hand, and the
animus of the document so evidently hostile to the
Holy See, and so visibly intended to create embar
rassments for the supreme authority of the Church,
both in respect to its past acts and also in respect to
the future action of the (Ecumenical Council, that I
But in speaking of it I am
cannot pass it over.

compelled, for the first time, to break silence on a

danger which has for some years been growing in its

must add, in its attitude of

The answers of the University of Munich

proportions, and, I fear I

menace.

are visibly intended to excite fear and alarm in the

civil powers of Europe, and thereby to obstruct the
action of the Oecumenical Council if
it

to be opportune to define the

Pope.

The answers

should judge
Infallibility of the
it

are also intended to create an

impression that the theological proofs of the doctrine

are inadequate, and its definition beset with uncer
tainty

and obscurity.

spondence

is

In a word, the whole corre

a transparent effort to obstruct the free*

Times, Sept. 20, 18G9.

i

132

dom

of the (Ecumenical Council on the subject of the

if that doctrine be
infallibility of the Pontiff; or,

denned, to instigate the civil governments to assume

And this
a hostile attitude towards the Holy See.

comes in the name of

tell

liberty,

and from those who

us that the Council will not be free

without further words,

of dismissing the Bavarian Government from our
But I must declare, with much regret,
thoughts.
I shall take the liberty,

that this

Munich document appears

to

me

to

be

seditious.

Facts like these give a certain warrant to the asser

tions

and prophecies of

They prove

politicians

that in the Catholic

and Protestants.

Church there

is

school at variance with the doctrinal teaching of the

Holy See in matters which are not of faith. But

they do not reveal

how

small that school

is.

Its

would seem to be at Munich; it has, both in

France and in England, a small number of adherents.
centre

are active, they correspond, and, for the most

It would be difficult to
part, write anonymously.

They

describe
to

its

tenets, for

be agreed in

libility

none of

all points.

of the Pope,

its

followers seem

Some hold

the infal

and some defend the

Tem

poral Power.
Nothing appears to be common to all,
except an animus of opposition to the acts of the

Holy See

in matters outside the faith.

In this country, about a year ago, an attempt was

made to render impossible, as it was confidently but
vainly thought, the definition of the infallibility of the
Pontiff by reviving the monotonous
controversy about

Pope Honorius.

Later

we were

told of I

know not

133

what combination of exalted personages in France for

the same end.
It is certain that these symptoms are
not sporadic and disconnected, but in mutual under
The antistanding and with a common purpose.
Catholic press has eagerly encouraged this school of
If a Catholic can be found out of tune
thought.

with authority by half a note, he

for unequalled learning

is

at once extolled

and irrefragable

anti-Catholic journals are at his service,

his opposition to the

common

it

is

not formidable.

upon those who are not

and he vents

opinions of the Church

by writing against them anonymously.

is,

The

logic.

It has effect

Catholic.

Sad

as this

almost alone

Upon

Catholics

is hardly appreciable; on the Theological

Schools of the Church it will have little influence;

its effect

upon the (Ecumenical Council

I can hardly persuade

it

can have none.

myself to believe that the

University of Munich does not know that the rela

between the Pope, even supposed to be infal

tions

lible,

cisely

and the

powers have been long since pre

defined in the same acts which defined the
civil

between the Church, known to be

and the civil authority.
Twelve Synods or

relations

infallible,,

Councils,,

two of them (Ecumenical, have long ago laid down

If
these relations of the spiritual and civil powers.*

Pope were declared to be infallible to-morrow, it

would in no way affect those relations.
We may be sure, reverend and dear brethren, that
the

this intellectual disaffection, of which, in these last days,

we have had
will

in France a

new and mournful example,

have no influence upon either the (Ecumenical

* Bellarm.
Opuscula.

Adv. Barclaium,

p.

845, cd. Col. 1617.

134

Powers of Europe.
with
speculations of theological
They will not meddle
Council, or the policy of the Great

or historical

They know too well

critics.

that they

cannot do in the nineteenth century what was done

in the sixteenth and the seventeenth.

The attempt

upon the General

Council, if it have any effect upon those who are
subject to certain Governments, would have no effect
to put a pressure

but to rouse a just indignation in the Episcopate of

the Church throughout the world.
They hold their
jurisdiction

and they recog

of Judges of Doctrine

from a higher fountain

nise no superior in their office

save only the Vicar of Jesus Christ. This preliminary

meddling has already awakened a sense of profound

and an

responsibility

inflexible resolution to allow

no pressure, or influence, or menace, or intrigue to

much
Divine Head
cast so

as a

shadow across

their fidelity to the

of the Church and to His Vicar

upon

earth.

Moreover, we live in days when the Eegium Placitum and Exequaturs and Arrets of Parliament in
4

spiritual things are simply dead.

It

may have been

possible to hinder the promulgation of the Council

Trent

impossible to hinder the promul

The very
gation of the Council of the Vatican.
liberty of which men are proud will publish it.
of

it

Ten thousand
every act of

is

presses in all lands will promulgate

the Church and of the Pontiff, in

Once published, these

acts enter the domain of faith and conscience, and
no human legislation, no civil authority, can efface
the face of

them.

all

civil

powers.

The two hundred

millions of Catholics will

135

know the decrees

know them is to

obey.

enforcement, and

civil

and

of the Vatican Council;

it

to

The Council will ask no

The
will need no civil aid.

Great Powers of Europe have long declared that

the conscience of men is free from civil constraint.
will

They

not stultify their

own

declarations

attempting to restrain the acts of the Vatican

cil.

The guardians and defenders

of the principles

of 1789 ought to rise as one man against

should so violate the base of the political
in France.

take

is

What

of lesser

May He

in

attitude lesser

by
Coun

all

who

society

Governments may

moment.

whose hands are the

destinies of king

doms and of nations guide the rulers of Christendom

by a spirit of wisdom and justice at this crisis of their
This Council will assuredly be in ruinam et
If Christian nations
in resurrectionem multorum.
c

trial.

be desolated, then will come the alternatives of

Christian

socialism,

or

world purified in the

,

of stability

the

fire

Catholic

anti-

order of the

and reunited to the centre

and justice, from which

it is

now

departing.

Those who desire such a future are busy in scattering

fears, mistrusts, and falsehoods as to the acts of the
Council, and even of the intentions of the Sovereign

These ignoble tactics have been rebuked with

a calm and dignified severity by the bishops of Ger

Pontiff.

many, whose words I had rather use than my own

Never will the (Ecumenical Council declare a new
:

doctrine which

is

not contained in the Scriptures, or

the Apostolic traditions. When the Church makes a

decree in matter of faith, it does not proclaim a new

dogma;

it

only sets in a clearer light an ancient and

136
primordial truth, and defends it against new errors.
In a word, the (Ecumenical Council will declare no
c

new principle, nor any other than

that

which is already

and conscience

graven on your hearts by your

or than those which have been held sacred for ages
by Christian peoples, on which repose, and have
faith

ever reposed, the welfare of States, the authority of

magistrates, the liberty of nations, and which are at
the same time the foundations of true science and
true civilisation. *

one thing against which it is our duty to

I mean a fearful and timid anxiety
as to the results of the Council and as to the future of

There

is

be on our guard
the Church. It

is

the illusion of some minds to imagine

Church was strong once, but

that the

that the days of

it is

its

in decline.

supremacy are

The

reverse

is

over,

is

weak now;

and that now

the fact.

There was

never a time since the Apostles descended from the

guest-chamber to

traverse

the

world,

when

the

Church was so manifest, and its

divine jurisdiction so widespread. There was never a
moment when the unity of the Church both within
and without, that is the unity of the faithful with

universality of the

their pastors, and of the pastors with their

Head,

the unanimity of pastors and flocks in faith and

From the
in charity, was so solid and invincible.

mystery of the Holy Trinity to the dogma of the Im

maculate Conception, there is not a doctrine of faith

on which Catholics
Peter

faith has

on Peter

faith.

in all the

not

world

differ

by a shade.

failed, and the Church rests

may be upon the eve of

We

* Address of the
Bishops at Fulda, Sept.

6,

1869.

137
a great conflict, but the conflict
of a greater manifestation of the

on

The

earth.

eyes

men

of

is

the forerunner
of

God

looking

one

Kingdom
are

They are
way, as they that look for the morning.
hungering after rest, certainty, and truth. They
have sought it up and down, and have not found it.
The broken cisterns will hold no water; and the dim
tradition of a fountain far off
to

and yet

world but ever open to

the

at hand, closed

who

all

will,

is

upon their memory. The nations of the

world have been deceived, and turned
But the unrest,
against the Mother that bare them.
and the unsatisfied craving of the heart and of the
rising again

Christian

is

reason,

Church.

drawing them once more toward the only

All countries, above all our own, are con

scious, in their political, religious,

and

intellectual

life,

of desires they cannot satisfy, and needs they can

As he that is hungry dreameth and
not meet.
eateth,

but when he

as he that is thirsty

he

is

awake

is

empty and
dreameth and drinketh, and after
is

awake

his soul

is

yet faint with thirst and his soul

is

empty; so shall be the multitude of all the nations

that have fought against Mount Sion. *
It is the
conflict

with the Church of

God

that has wasted

and

withered the spiritual and intellectual life of Europe.

England, with all its faults, is very dear to us. It has

God; and the face of our land is yet

beautiful with the memories of our Saints and Mar
The Council has moved it with strange and
tyrs.
kindly aspirations.
England hopes for some clearing
still

a zeal for

in the dark sky which for the last three

* Isaias xxix. 8.

hundred years

138
has lowered upon

it

for

some

some change which

unity of
faith.

light

upon the horizon

it once more the
;

will open to
Christendom and the rest of immutable

You

and pray that this visita

of God, now sensibly breathing

will labour

tion of the Spirit

over England, and over all the Christian world, may

open the hearts of men, and prepare them for His

through this Council, is calling them

home to the Mother of us all, the only fountain of
grace and truth.
voice, which,

I remain, reverend

Your

and dear Brethren,

affectionate Servant in Christ,

* HENRY EDWARD,
Archbishop of Westminster.

ROSAHY SUNDAY,

1869.

139

POSTSCRIPT.

WHEN

the foregoing Pastoral was already printed,

Du
I received from Paris Mgr. Maret s volumes,
4

I am
Concile General et de la Paix Religieuse.
in
time
to
weigh certain
sorry that I did not see them

points raised in
here written.

them before publishing what

have

The Bishop

has, however, re-stated so clearly the

he
maintains, in the preface to his work,
opinion
that I am at no loss to compare it precisely with

the doctrine maintained in this Pastoral.

In making that comparison, I trust I shall use

no word at variance with the fraternal charity and
respect due from me to Mgr. Maret, both in person

and

as a brother.

He
in his
itself,

own opinion, which shall be stated

own words,* As truth cannot be contrary to

says of his

this

doctrine

is

easily reconcilable

with

the

doctrines which are the most moderate of the School

which bears the name

of

Ultramontane.

What

Divine right, what certain right of the Sovereign

Pontificate is there, which is not enunciated and

defended in our book?

itself is

true

nature.

We

Du

Pontifical infallibility
its

acknowledge and prove that the

Pope, by his right to

*

The

not therein denied, but brought back to

consult

or

Coacile General et de la Paix Ixeligieuse.

to

convoke the

PreTace, xxvi.

vii.

140
episcopal body, by the possibility in which he is of
acting always in concert with it, possesses in virtue
of the Divine order the assured means to give infal
libility to his

From
1.

dogmatic judgments/

this I

gather

That the Pontiff possesses a means of giving

infallibility to his
2.

That

this

judgments.

means

is

the right of consulting the

episcopal body.

From
1.
is

not
2.

this it

would seem

to follow

That, apart from the episcopal body, the Pontiff

infallible.

That consultation with the episcopal body

a necessary condition

of giving infallibility to

is

his

judgments.
3. That the Pontiff gives infallibility to his judg
ments by receiving it from the episcopal body, or
by his union with it.
If I understand this statement,

denies the infal

the Pontiff altogether for it affirms it only

the Pontiff has given to his judgment what he

libility of

when

it

has received from the episcopal body, or what

cannot have without it.

In

this process the

words of our Lord seem

It is his brethren

inverted.

who

he

to be

confirm him, not

he who confirms his brethren.

The endowment
body

of infallibility residing in the

flows to the Head when in consultation with

the Episcopate.

It is influxus corporis in Caput, not

Capitis in corpus.
The doctrine I have maintained in these pages
as follows
:

is

141

That the endowment of

1.

stability or infallibility

was given to Peter, and from him, according

our Lord s words, confirma fratres tuos, was de

in Faith
to

rived to his brethren.

That

this endowment, which is again and again

the
Fathers and Councils the
by
Privilegium
or
the
Sedis
Petri,
Petri, was given
Prrcrogativa
2.

called

in

him
3.

to his Successors.

That the Successor of Peter

still

confirms his

by the possession and exercise of a divine

right and endowment, not only of consulting them
or of convoking them, but of witnessing, teaching,
brethren

and judging by a
preserves

special

divine

him, as Universal

assistance

Teacher in

which

faith

and

morals, from error.

The

office

of Peter was not to be confirmed by, but

the same is the office of his

to confirm, his brethren

Successor, even when apart from convocation or

consultation with the Episcopate as a body, whether

congregated or dispersed.
In the testimonies I have quoted it is evident
that, in virtue of a divine assistance, the dogmatic
judgments of the Pontiff ex cathedra do not receive

from the episcopal body, but give to the Universal

Church, an
I

infallible declaration of truth.

must ask you

to review

the evidence I have

given, in all of which the promise of our Lord,

have prayed for thee, &c., is either expressed or

understood; and Peter s privilege of stability in faith
is

ascribed to his Successor as the inheritance of his

See.

Mgr. Maret proceeds

to ask,

Do we contend against

142
the authority of judgments ex cathedra when we
affirm, with the great masters in theology, that there
are certainly judgments of that kind only when the

Pope employs the most certain means which God

gives him to avoid error; that is to say, the concur
rence of the bishops ?
If I understand these words, they

mean

That no judgments are certainly ex cathedra

except when the Pontiff acts with the concurrence
1.

of the bishops.
2. That the Pontiff

which

is

is

bound

to

employ the means

the most certain to avoid error

namely, the

concurrence of the bishops.

The doctrine maintained by me, under the guidance
of every great

master

of theology of all Schools,

Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit, so far as I know,

excepting only theologians of the Gallican school,*

is, that judgments ex cathedra are, in their essence,

judgments of the Pontiff, apart from the episcopal

This con
body, whether congregated or dispersed.
currence of the episcopal body may or may not be
united to the act of the Pontiff, which is perfect

and complete in itself. It is to the Cathedra Petri,

apart from the Episcopate, that the faithful and
pastors of all the world throughout Christian history
have had recourse.

For

instance, the

condemnation

of Pelagianism by Innocent the First, and of Jansenius

*

Of

1867.
zalez,

this I think sufficient proof was given in the Pastoral of

I may refer to Aguirre, Defensio Cathedra? Petri ; Gon

But

De

Infallib.

Rom.

Pontificis

Schrader,

De

Unitate Eomana;

Theoph. Raynaud, AVTOQ efya who expressly prove this point by

ample quotations. The words of Peter de Marca, p. 106 supra, are
;

alone enough.

143

by Innocent the Tenth, were appeals to the Cathedra

Petri, and judgments ex cathedra, to which the con
sultation of the African or of the French bishops
respectively contributed no influx of infallibility.
And those two judgments were regarded as infallible,

from the moment of their promulgation, by the whole

Church.
If there be

no

certain

judgments ex cathedra apart

from the episcopal body, what are the judgments
of Alexander VIII., Innocent XL, and Pius VI. ?

What

are the condemnations in the

The

Theses

Dam-

body was not united with the

Pontiff in their publication. When did it become so?
Till this concurrence was verified, these Pontifical

nata3?

episcopal

Acts, according to Mgr. Maret s opinion, were not ex

cathedra, and therefore were not certainly infallible.
How long were they in this tentative state of sus

pended or conditional infallibility? Who has ever

discerned and declared the epoch and the crisis after
which they became judgments ex cathedral

Silence

not enough. Even strong terms of adhesion are

not enough.
The bishops of France received the
is

condemnation of Jansenius by Innocent X. as infal

lible in 1653, but in 1682 published the Four Articles.
All

an

rightly understand it, seems to present

inverted theory, at variance with the tradition,
this, if I

praxis, faith, and theology of the Church.

But further, if the Pontiffs are bound to emp^s,
the most certain means to avoid error nn*eans

the concurrence of the episcopal body

either convoke a General Council or

tluramonits

adversis

numerically the Episcopate throughout*) find a

mode

144
this
is it

an obligation of the divine order? If so, where

to be read?
In Scripture it cannot be looked
In tradition

for.

we have

not to be found.

it is

the direct reverse.

We

In history

find the Pontiffs

witnessing, teaching, deciding by the authority of

We find the Episcopate appealing to their
Peter.
find the faith of Peter,
judgments as final.

We

taken

not

only by the

to be believed

is

by

all

but also

by the
and the text of what

faithful,

bishops, as the rule of faith,

the world.

If the concurrence of the Episcopate with its Head

be the most certain means of avoiding error, because
is the full, ultimate, and, so to speak, exhaustive
act of infallible judgment, nevertheless the privilege
of stability in faith divinely granted to the See and

it

Successor of Peter

and that

is

a certain means of avoiding

though extensive it be not

adequate to the certainty of the whole Church, which
included always the See and Successor of Peter,
error

certainty,

nevertheless intrinsically and by divine ordination

certain, to the exclusion of the possibility of error.

is

bound to take the most

certain means, when a means divinely certain also
And why is he bound to take a means
exists?
which demands an (Ecumenical Council or a world

Why,

then,

is

the Pontiff

wide and protracted interrogation, with all the delays

and uncertainties of correspondence, when, by the

means in the Apostolic See

For instance, was Innocent X.

vine order, a certain

iSfJjvays at
zalez, i*

eopi.

ample

hand?

consult the whole episcopal body before he

J anseni us ? or Alexander VIII., when he

ix T

quota^.

alone enough.

Peccatum Philosophicum

or Sixtus

145
IV.,

when he condemned

as heretical the proposition

the Church of the City of Rome may err ?

It would seern to me that if
any such obligation
if
or
declarations
ex
cathedrd
are only certain
exists,
that

when

the episcopal body has been consulted, then the

action of the Pontiffs, from Innocent I. to Pius IX.,

has been out of course

and

their doctrinal

judgments

except when

the Episcopate concurred

always,
in them ; and for that reason almost
always uncertain,
because, except in a few cases, we cannot be certain,
fallible

by

explicit proof,

whether the episcopal body has

concurred in those judgments or no.

I know of no Ultramontane
opinion with which this

The Ultramontane opinion

theory can be reconciled.
is
that
the
Pontiff
simply this,
speaking ex cathedra,
in faith or morals, is infallible.
In this there are no
shades or moderations.

It is

simply aye or no.

But

the opinion we have been examining affirms the Pontiff

to be infallible, only when the episcopal body concurs
in his

But

the episcopal body have

not pronounced or even examined the subject-matter,
as, for instance, in the question of the Peccatum Philo-

judgments.

if

sophicum, or in the Jansenistic propositions, or in

the questions De Auxiliis
I would ask, arc then the
c

judgments of the Pontiff either not ex cathedra, or if

ex cathedrd, are they not infallible ?
But if they are
not infallible they may be erroneous, and if the Pontiff
in such judgments
may err once, he might err always,
and therefore cannot ever be infallible. I see no means
of reconciling this opinion with that of any Ultramontanes, however moderate. They are front ibus advcrsis

pugnantia.

With

all

my heart,

desire to find a

mode

146
not a via media, which is the essential
method of falsehood, but any intellectual analysis
of conciliation

and precise mental conception which might satisfy

the mind of Mgr. Maret as to the infallibility of the
See and of the Successor of Peter.

cannot but

add in passing that much confusion seems to me to

arise from this whole notion of moderate opinions
l

The Pontifical judgments

ex cathedra

must be

either

be immoderate or exagge
rated to affirm them to be infallible, how is it not
fallible

or infallible.

If

it

equally immoderate or exaggerated to deny their

Either way the affirmation and the
infallibility?
denial are equally absolute, trenchant, and peremp
tory. I see just as much, and just as little, moderation
Either both are moderate
in the one as in the other.

And

yet those who affirm the Pontifical

infallibility are held up as warnings, and they who
deny it as examples the latter as patterns of mode
or neither.

But
ration, the former as exaggerated and extreme.
Aye and no are equally
they are both in extremes.
exclusive,

and admit of no degrees.

Is it not the truth that

moderation

is

a quality, not

of the intellect but of the moral nature?

admits of no degrees.
excludes doubt and all
rate,

Certainty

Doubt may; but certainty

To be mode
its gradations.

cautious, forbearing, self-mistrusting,

and con

siderate of opponents in all doubtful matters, is a

virtue ; but in matters that are certain, to fail in saying

To treat
that they are so, is to betray the truth.
in
is not
mathematics
uncertainties
certainties as
intellectual,

in

revelation

is

unbelief.

The

only

moderation possible in matters of theological certainty

147
is

to speak the truth in charity, ahyQsvsiv

EV aya.7rr

to

precision of truths which are certain, or

to suffer them to be treated as dubious, or to veil them

diminish

tlic

to modify them to meet the preju

or the traditions of public opinion, is

by economies, or
dices of

men

not moderation,

immoderate

fear,

but an infidelity to truth, and an

or an immoderate respect for some

human

authority.
Mgr. Maret further declares:

We

do not combat

the Pontifical authority, except so far as it is identified

with the system of the pure, indivisible, and absolute

monarchy of the Roman Pontiff, and so far as his

absolute monarchy and his personal infallibility are

made one

exclusive whole.

Once more

am

Bishop of Sura.

afraid of doing injustice to the

If I understand the doctrine which

I suppose I

must now

rather

as all

call,

Catholic,

it

is

Ultramontane, but would

the schools of Christendom do,

this

call

that the

supreme and ultimate

power, both in jurisdiction and in

jurisdictionis
first

and

and the

faith,

clavis scientice,

for ever to Peter,

and

or the clavis

was committed

in him, as the Council

of Florence says, to his Successors.

The Episcopate
succeeding to the Apostolate received, servatd proportione, a participation of the pastoral care

the endowments of the Church.

to

the

Apostles, the

What

and of

Peter was

Pontiffs are to the

bishops.

What

I am
they have in part, he has in plenitude.
unable to see that the primacy and infallibility of
Peter in any way lessened or detracted from the

authority and endowments of the Apostles; nor does

it appear how the
authority and endowment of his

148
Successor shall lessen or detract from those of the
Episcopate.
cause their

Bishops are not less authoritative be

Head is more so. Bishops are not less

judges of doctrine in an (Ecumenical Council because

their Head, in the intervals between Council and
Council,

is,

guided and sustained

not err in interpreting the faith and

by Divine

so that he shall

assistance,

expounding the law of God. It is in behalf of the

whole Church, pastors and people, that the Spirit of
preserves from error the Head, on whom all so
depend, that an error in his guidance would mislead

God

the whole flock, or break the Divine unity of the

Church, or undermine the witness and the magisterium
of the universal Church.

Bishops are not elevated

by the depression of their chief. The least bishop in

the world feels himself elevated and strengthened by
the belief that the words
Ego rogavi pro te were
spoken to his Chief and Head, and that, in union with
him, and through him, he is confirmed in the infal
lible faith of Peter.

know

of no monarchy pure

and absolute beyond this.

To sum up the comparison of these two opinions.
The opinion of Mgr. Maret would seem to place the
infallibility of the Church in the whole body as its
proper residence, and by result in its Head.

The doctrine here maintained is that infallibility

was communicated by the Divine Head of the Church
to Peter as His visible representative and Vicar upon
earth, and through him to his Successors and to the

Church

for ever.

In virtue of this order the Church

lible,

both

believing.

actively

in

is

always

infal

teaching and passively in

149
In

its

active infallibility

whether dispersed, as

it

secured from error,

always, throughout the

it is

is

world, or congregated, as it rarely is, in Council.

Only eighteen times in eighteen hundred years has it

met

turies its

but through

those eighteen cen

active infallibility has been, not intermittent

in Council;

but continuous, both in

and in

Episcopate with its Head,

Head as Universal Pastor and Teacher,

its

both of pastors and

The

flock.

stability, indefectibility,

same Divine
If this be

then

its

of Peter are three

faith

all

I fear I

or infallibility of the

modes of expressing the

fact.

monarchy pure, indivisible, and absolute,

must come under the author s censure,

cannot admit

though

terms.

If Mgr.

its

justice or understand its

Maret does not intend to condemn

this,

mind has
suffered some illusion, perhaps arising from a want of
precision in some who are opponents, and from a want

then, I think, I will even hope that his learned

of chastened language in those

who

are about him.

most sincerely and ardently share in

his desire to

see all divergences corrected in the enunciation of

truth, pure, clear,

of

life.

and lucid

as the river of the

have consciously no thought in

my

water
heart

but to promote this unity of mind and will and in

what I have written, if there be a word to wound
;

save where truth compels

desire to blot it out.
Stability signifies the

it,

hereby record

my

immovable firmness of the

Faith in standing against all assaults of power and

force: indefectibility, the imperishable vitality and
light of faith, which can never fail
infallibility,
:

150
the unerring discernment of truth in detecting and
destroying falsehood in the midst of the intellectual
aberrations

of the

Christian

endowments are various

in

These three

world.
their

but

operations,

nature and their source.

identical in their

It

is

the perpetual Divine assistance, derived from the

perpetual presence of the Spirit of Truth in the

Church, which sustains the Faith of the See and

of the Successor of Peter, stable, indefectible, and
infallible

that

and the same

I

is,

in one word,

Yesterday and to-day

for ever/

do not know how other minds

may

be affected

history of Christianity, in which, as I have

very briefly shown, the eyes of men and of nations
in all lands were always turned to the See and the

by the

Successor of Peter as the centre and source of this

stable, indefectible,

manifests

dence of

the

and

infallible faith.

Privilegium

light.

Two

Petri

hundred and

To me

with

the

fifty-seven

this

evi

Pon

have witnessed, taught, and

judged in causes of faith. Against three only do the
tiffs

in

unbroken

line

modern adversaries of the

Pontifical infallibility bring

Two hundred and fifty-four

charge of heterodoxy.
stand unchallenged in their immutable stability of
faith.
Of those three, two, Liberius and Vigilius, are
not charged with heresy.

Whatever be the

fault of

Honorius, supineness or hesitation, heterodox he was

not; heretical he could not be, for his own letters

remain to prove the orthodoxy of his teaching. But

these three are all that the most relentless adversaries
of the

Privilegium Petri

duce.

To

my

have ever been able to ad

mind, these threads of mist upon the

151

world-wide splendour of two hundred and fifty-seven

Successors of Peter, in no way affect the confidence
with which we say of them in S. Leo s words
:

Soliditas

enim

ilia,

quam

de Petra Christo etiam

se transfudit
ipse Petra factus accepit, in suos quoque
*
ha3redes
and of his See in the words of prophecy
:

Thronus ejus

sicut sol in

lima perfecta in aeternurn

* Bellarm.

Do Summo

Assumpt. Serm.
f

Psalm

v. cap. 4.

Ixxxviii.

conspectu meo

et

sicut

et testis in ccelo fidelis.

Pontif. lib. iv. cc.

viii.

to xiv.

In die

THE

VATICAN

COUNCIL

KI

AND CO., JTEW-STUKBT SQUAKB

AND PA1JLIAMBNT bTKlilJT

OrrtS .VOODB

THE

VATICAN

AND

ITS

COUNCIL

DEFINITIONS:

PASTORAL LETTER

TO

THE

CLERGY

BY

HENRY EDWARD

ARCHBISHOP

OF

WESTMINSTER.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND

1870.

CO.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Tfie

World and

I.

the Council.

The alleged indifference to

External history of the Council, 2
the Council, 13; Internal history, 24; Protest of the Cardinal
Definitions
Definition by acclamation, 3G
Presidents, 33
;

binding on

all

the faithful, 39.

CHAPTER
The Two

II.

Constitutions.

Analysis of the Constitution

De Fide

Catholica,

for the definition of the Infallibility of the

43

Preparation

Roman

Pontiif,

51

Analysis of the First Constitution on the Church of Christ, 54

Six points of the definition of Infallibility, 57.
I.

Meaning of the phrase loqui ex cathedra, 58.

Five points
Faith and morals the object of Infallibility, 59
1. The perpetuity and universality
of the Charter of the Church
2. The
of the mission of the Church as a Teacher of mankind.
II.

the Church.
deposit of the Divine Faith and Law entrusted to
3. The Church the sole interpreter of the Faith and of the Law.

The Church the sole Divine Judge over the reason and will of
5. The Perpetual Presence of our Lord with the Church,
..
The doctrinal authority of the Church not confined to

4.

man.
.")

Truths of
Truths of Science, 67
67
Minor censures, 73.
Dogmatic Facts, 68, 69

matters of revelation,
History, 68;

VI

CONTENTS.
III.

The

efficient

cause of Infallibility, 79

Witness of

St.

Ambrose, A.D. 397, 79 Witness of St. John Chrysostom, A.D.

407, 80 Witness of St. Augustine, A.D. 430, 80 Witness of St.
Cyril, A.D. 444, 80; Witness of St. Leo, A.D. 460, 81; Witness
of St. Gelasius, A.D. 496, 81
Witness of Pelagius II., A.D.
590, 81; Witness of St. Gregory the Great, A.D. 604, 82;
Witness of Stephanus Dorensis, A.D. 649, 82
Witness of St.
;

Vitalian, A.D. 669, 83.

IV. The Acts to which the divine assistance

V. The extension of the

is

attached, 86.

Infallible authority to the limits of the

doctrinal office of the Church, 90.

VI. The dogmatic value of Pontificial acts ex

cathedrd, 91.

CHAPTER
The Terminology of

the

III.

Doctrine of
Infallibility.

Personal, 94, 112; Independent, 97,113; Separate, 98,

Absolute, 102, 113.

CHAPTER
Scientific

13

IV.

History and the Catholic Rule of Faith.

Evidence of history, and the

Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff,
114; Cumulus of evidence for the Infallibility of the Roman
Pontiff undiminished by historical
doubts, 116; Difficulties of

human

history, 119; The German Bishops at Fulda, 120;

Heretical assumptions of scientific
history, 126
History im
properly called a science, 131 ; Definition of science, 131
Theology only improprie a science, 133; Modern Gnosticism,
;

135.

CHAPTER

V.

Result of the Definition.

Bishops witnesses of the objective faith of the Church, 139
Tradition of England, 140
Sir Thomas More, 141
Cardinal
Cardinal Pole, 142
Fisher, 142
Harding, 143
Campian, 144
Nicholas Sanders, 145; Kellison, 145;
Southwell, 147; Alban
Butler, 148; Charles Plowden, 149;
;

Bishop Hay, 151; Bishop

Milner, 151

Predicted disasters from the Definition, 152.

CONTENTS.

APPENDIX
I.

The Latin Postulatum

Infallibility,

II.

III.

Letter of

II.

of the Bishops for the Definition of

1G3; English Translation of the same, 167.

tin-

E. Cardinal Antonelli to Count

Daru, 173.

Protest of the Cardinal

Presidents, 181.

IV. Constitutio

De Fide

Translation of the same,

Catholica, 182
Dogmatica Prima de Ecclesia Christi, 204;
;

192

Constitutio

Translation of the same, 211.

V. Rules laid down

by Theologians
VI.

The Case of Honorius; Note

for Doctrinal
Definitions, 220.

of the
Archbishop of Baltimore*

on the question of
Honorius, 223.
VII. Letter of the

German Bishops on

the Council, 225.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL

AND

ITS DEFINITIONS.

CHAPTER

I.

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

REVEREND AND DEAR BRETHREN,

From
close of the

the opening of the Council until the

Fourth Public Session, when leave was

given to the Bishops to return for a time to their

I

flocks,

thought

it

was not indeed easy

my

duty to keep

silent.

It

to refrain from contradicting

and falsehoods by which the

But it seemed for many
Council has been assailed.

the manifold

reasons

to

errors

be a

higher duty,

to

wait

until

the

which we were engaged should be accom

That time is now happily come and the
plished.
obligation which would have hitherto forbidden the

work

in

utterance of

much

that I might have desired to say

has been by supreme authority removed.

To you therefore, Reverend and dear Brethren, 1
at once proceed to make known in mere outline the
chief events of this first period of the Council of the

Vatican.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

shall confine

following heads

what

have to say to the three

First, to a narrative of certain facts

external to the Council, but affecting the estimate of

its character and acts; secondly, to an appreciation
of the internal spirit and action of the Council; and
thirdly, to a brief statement of the two dogmatic
Constitutions published in its third and fourth

Sessions.
First, as to the external history of the Council.

As

no narrative, or official account of its pro

The whole world, Cath
ceedings, has been possible.
yet,

and Protestant, has been therefore compelled to

olic

depend chiefly upon newspapers. And as these power

fully preoccupy and prejudice the minds of men, I
duty, during the eight months in
which I was a close and constant witness of the
it

thought

my

procedure and acts of the Council, to keep pace with

the histories and representations
in

Italy,

made by

the press

Germany, France, and England.

This,

by the watchful care of others in England and in

Rome, I was enabled to do. In answer to an in
quiry from this country as to what was to be be
lieved respecting the Council, I considered it my

Read carefully the correspondence

duty to reply
from Rome published in England, believe the reverse,
I am sorry
and you will not be far from the truth.
:

to be compelled to say that this

of our

own

journals.

is,

above

all,

true

Whether the amusing blun

and persistent misrepresentations were to be

charged to the account of ill will, or of want of com
ders

mon

knowledge,

things

it

was

however were

often not easy to say.

Two
The journals of
obvious.

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

Catholic countries, perverse and hostile as they might

be, rarely if ever

made themselves

ridiculous.

They

wrote with great bitterness and animosity but with

a point which showed that they understood what
:

they were perverting; and that they had obtained

their knowledge from sources which could only have

been opened to them by violation of duty. Their

narratives of events which were passing under my

own

day by day, were so near the truth, and yet

from it, so literally accurate, but so abso

eyes,

so far

lutely false, that for the first time I learned to

under

stand Paolo Sarpi s History of the Council of Trent

and foresaw how perhaps, from among nominal
Catholics, another Paolo Sarpi will arise to write the
:

History of the Council of the Vatican. But none of

this applies to our own country.
I am the less dis

posed to charge these misrepresentations, in the case

of English correspondents, to the account of ill will,

though they abundantly showed the inborn animosity

of an an ti- Catholic tradition, because neither corres
pondents nor journalists ever willingly expose them
I therefore put it down to
selves to be laughed at.
the obvious reason that when English Protestants un
dertake to write of an (Ecumenical Council of the
Catholic Church, nothing less than a miracle could

preserve them from making themselves ridiculous.

This, I am sorry to know, for the fair name of our
country, has been the effect produced by

English

newspapers upon foreign countries. Latterly, how

ever, they seemed to have learned prudence, and to
have relied no longer on correspondents who, hardly

knowing the name, nature,

use, or purpose of anything

B 2

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

about which they had to write, were at the mercy
of such informants as English travellers meet at a

Then appeared paragraphs

without date or place, duly translated, as we discov
ered by comparing them, from Italian and German
table-d hote in

Rome.

They were less amusing, but they were

even more misleading. By way of preface, I will
give the estimate of two distinguished Bishops, who
are beyond suspicion, as to the truthfulness of one
newspapers.

notorious journal.
Of all the foreign sources from which the English
newspapers drew their inspiration, the chief, perhaps,

was the

Augsburg

Gazette.

titles to special consideration.

of Janus

first

appeared in

it

This paper has many

The infamous matter

under the form of

had in

During the Council,

it

English contributor.

Its letters

Rome

articles.

at least

one

on the Council have

been translated into English and published by a Pro

testant bookseller, in a volume by Quirinus.
I

from giving my own estimate of the book,

have first given the judgment of a distin

refrain

until I

guished Bishop of Germany, one of the minority

opposed to the definition, whose cause the AugsburgGazette professed to serve.

Bishop

Yon

Ketteler, of Mayence, publicly pro

c

tested against the systematic dishonesty of the cor

It is a pure
respondent of the "Augsburg Gazette."
invention, he adds, that the Bishops named in that
:

journal declared that Dollinger represented, as to the

substance of the question (of infallibility), the opinions
And this, he
of a majority of the German Bishops.
c

said,

is

not an isolated error, but part of a system

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

which consists in the daring attempt

to publish false

news, with the object of deceiving the German public,

according to a plan concerted beforehand. ... It
c

be necessary one day to expose in all their

nakedness and abject mendacity the articles of the
will

Augsburg Gazette." They will present a formid

able and lasting testimony to the extent of injustice
"

who

semblance of supe
*
rior education, have been guilty against the Church.
of which party men,

affect the

Again, at a later date, the Bishop of Mayence

found it necessary to address to his Diocese another
of the Augs
public protest against the inventions
;

burg Gazette.
4

The

"

"Augsburg Gazette,

he says,

my name without appending

would have been easy for us

hardly ever pronounces

to

it

a falsehood.

to prove that every

It

Roman

letter of the

"

Augsburg

contains gross perversions and untruths.

Whoever is conversant with the state of things here,
and reads these letters, cannot doubt an instant that

Gazette

"

these errors are voluntary, and are part of a concerted

If time fails
system designed to deceive the public.

me

to correct publicly this uninterrupted series of

falsehoods, it is impossible for me to keep silence

when an attempt is made, with so much

misrepresent my own convictions. f

perfidy, to

The Vatican, March 4, 1870, p. 145.

The Archbishop of
The
Vatican, June 17, 1870, p. 319.
f
in which the
Cologne has condemned a pretended Catholic journal
of the Infallibility is attacked, and the proceedings of tho
Council misrepresented and vilified. The sentence of the Archbishop
on this matter derives the greater weight from the fact of his having,
as he states, formed part of the minority in the memorable vote of

dogma

July 13.

The Archbishop

"

says

The

clergy of this Diocese are

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

Again, Bishop Hefele, commenting on the Roman

It
correspondents of the Augsburg Gazette says
i

is

evident that there are people, not Bishops, but

aware that a weekly paper, the Rheinischer Merkur, constantly

attacks, in an odious manner, and with ignoble weapons, the Holy
Church, in the person of its lawful chiefs the Pope and the Bishops,
and in its highest representative the (Ecumenical Council so that
men s minds are disturbed, and the hearts of the faithful alienated
from the Church. It also openly advocates the abolition, by the
secular authority, of the Church s liberty and independence.
I
;

therefore hold

it to be
pastoral office,
duty, in discharge of
to expose the anti- Catholic character of the said paper; not because
I regard it as of any greater importance than those other more noisy

my

my

organs of the press which are the exponents of hatred against

but simply because the paper above-named pretends to be
It is on that account that, as Catholic Bishop of this city,
Catholic.

religion,

I feel called

name

upon

to

denounce the falsehood of the assumption of the

by a journal which is labouring to overthrow the

unity of the Church by separating Catholics from that rock on which
she is founded.
This declaration is also due from me to those my
Eight Reverend Brethren in the Episcopate who belonged with me
of Catholic

to the minority in the Council.

The journal in question assumes
to be the exponent of the sentiments of that minority, but it never

was in any way, directly or indirectly, recognised by it or any of its

members it has been, on the contrary, repeatedly blamed and
denounced. Wherefore I exhort all the Rev. Clergy of the Arch
diocese to be mindful of their duty as sons of the Catholic Church
and not countenance in any way whatsoever, either by taking it in
or reading it, the journal above-named, which outrages our holy
Mother, rejects her authority, and desires to see her enslaved. I
also exhort you on all fitting occasions to warn your flocks of the
dangerous and anti- Catholic character of that journal, so that they
may be dissuaded from buying or reading it, and may escape being
deluded by its errors. I had resolved to order an instruction to be
given from the pulpit upon the more recent decisions of the Council,
and especially upon the infallible teaching of the Pope, and to
explain therein the true sense of the Dogma and thus to remove the
prejudices that have been raised against it, as if it were a novel
doctrine or one in contradiction to the end of the Church s con
and to meet generally the objections
stitution, or to sound reason
;

raised against the validity of the Council s

decision."

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

luiving relations with the Council,
*
strained by duty and conscience.

who

We

are not re

had reason to

names of these people, both German

and English, were well known to us.

believe that the

Now
the

the testimony of the Bishop of Mayence, as to

of these correspondents respecting

falsehoods

Rome and Germany,

can confirm by my testimony

as to their treatment of matters relating to Rome and
I

do not think there

a mention of

England.

own name

without, as the Bishop of

is

my

Mayence says,
The whole tissue of the
Even the truths it narrates

the appendage of a falsehood.

correspondence
are falsified

is false.

and through

this discoloured

medium

the English people, by the help of Quirinus and the

Saturday Review, gaze and are misled.
4

To

relieve this graver aspect of the subject, I will

add a few

livelier exploits

On January

of our English correspond

an English journal announced

and
that the Bishops were unable to speak Latin
ents.

14,

that Cardinal Altieri

laid

(who

down

his life for his

flock in the cholera three years ago), in

whose rooms

What is
was beside himself.
the Bishops met,
there, the correspondent of another paper asked, in
seven hundred old
tall
4

men

dressed in white, and wearing

The Oriental Bishops, he says,

paper caps?
refused to wear white mitres

reasonably, because
Bishop of Thun at

The
they never wear them.
tacked the Bishop of Sura with a violence which
There is no Bishop of
threatened personal collision.
4

Thun.

The same paper, July

7, says,

was posi

tively shocked, yesterday, at finding that the

*

The

Vatican, March

1,

1870,

p.

l.V

Roman

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

Catholic Hierarchy of my own country is a sham at

least, so far as regards its territorial and independent
;

pretensions.

Every one of them, including the

is in
charge of a Vicar Apostolic, Cardi
nal Maddalena, titular Archbishop of Corfu, within
whose diocese, it would appear, our island is situated.

Archbishop,

This has more foundation in fact than the other state

ments, for until the Archbishop of Corfu could find
a carriage, we used daily to go together to the Council.

At a
leading journal, in May last, announced
recent sitting of the Council, Cardinal Schwarzenberg
made a speech which created even a greater uproar
c

than the former one of Bishop Strossmayer.

In this
speech he defended Protestants with such vigour
that
the presiding Legate, Cardinal De Angelis,
c

interrupted the speaker, and a

the two Cardinals ensued.

warm

dispute between
strove

The President

repeatedly, but in vain, to silence the Cardinal with

and at length the Bishops drowned his protest

his bell:

in a storm of hisses, in the midst of

dinal

which the Car

was carried from the tribune, half

excitement, to his

fainting with

The Cardinal was indeed

seat.

but no such tragedy was ever acted.

The Papal authorities, says another journal, have
housed the Bishops with discriminating hospitality.
called to order,
4

Those who could not be absolutely trusted have

been lodged with safe companions, in the propor
tion of one
c

The

flock

Jesuits

weak brother

to

have had the

and have done

it

well.

half-a-dozen

manipulation

The

strong.
of the

distribution of

Bishops was made by the Government, and

months before the Council opened, with as much

the

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

manipulation as the

theological

of a train

filling

Paddington, Again, we hear on May 17,

Cardinal Bilio, the Prefect of the Depu

from
that

Dogma, and author

of the Syllabus, has

When the Holy
opposition.

tation for

passed over to the

Father heard of this defection

and told the Cardinal

fuintness,

The

the benefit of his health.

fessed

To

....

he was seized with

c

to go on a tour for
Times at last con

find out the truth of

what

going on
c

difficult

is

is

beyond conception.
day, even every hour, brings up its

story,

Every

....

which, in nine cases out of ten, will prove an in

Therefore nine-tenths of these his
genious hcax.
are

tories
4

To

labelled

pick one

way

The

hoaxes.

Times

adds

amidst these snares, without

becoming the victims of delusions, is what no man

can feel quite sure of.
warning of which I hope
the readers of newspapers will fully avail themselves.

The

Standard, wiser than its fellows, said in Feb

It is a thousand pities that English corre
ruary
spondents should childishly swallow cock-and-bull
c

of what never did

stories

and never could have

occurred in the Council, and thus damage their own

reputation for accuracy, as well as inferentially that
of their colleagues/

Another journal damaged something more than its

reputation for accuracy, when, after having announced
that the

Roman

Clergy, that

is,

the Parish Priests of

but eight, declined to petition in

favour of the definition, it was again and again called

Rome, had,

upon

all

to publish the

unanimously

fact that

the

Roman

Clergy
form

petitioned for the definition, in a

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

10

so explicit that the Clergy of England and Scotland

afterwards adopted it as their own and presented it
to the

The newspaper

Holy Father.

in question

was

never pleased to insert the correction.

But these are flowers plucked at random.
I will

now endeavour

to give shortly a

more con

nected outline of the Vatican Council, as drawn by

the newspapers of the last eight or nine months and
;

as their representations will be one day read up as

contemporaneous records for a future history, I wish to

leave in the Archives of the Diocese a contemporane

ous record of their utter worthlessness, and, for the

most

part, of their utter falsehood.

As

the highest point attracts the storm, so the

chief violence fell upon the head of the Vicar of

Jesus

Christ.

On

Pos
say nothing.
and the world
Pius the Ninth
this

I shall

know
already knows him now
terity will

too well to remember, except

with sorrow and disgust, the language of his enemies.
4

If they

have called the master of the house Beelze

No
bub, how much more them of his household ?
one has this privilege above the Vicar of the Master;
and it is a great joy and distinct source of strength
and confidence to
sign, which never

all

of the household to share this

fails

to

mark

side against the world.

The Council was composed, at

those

first,

who

are on His

of 767 Fathers.

We

were told that their very faces were such as to

compel an enlightened correspondent, at the first
of
sight of them, to lament that the spiritual welfare
the world should be committed to such men.

Then, by a wonderful disposition of things, for the

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

11

good, no doubt, of the human race, and above all of

the Church itself, the Council was divided into

a majority and a minority: and, by an even more

beneficent and admirable provision, it was so ordered
that

the theology, philosophy, science, culture, in

tellectual

power, logical acumen, eloquence, candour,

nobleness of mind, independence of spirit, courage,
and elevation of character in the Council, were all to be

found in the minority.

The majority was naturally
a Dead Sea of superstition, narrowness, shallowness,
ignorance, prejudice ; without theology, philosophy,
old Catholic
science, or eloquence ; gathered from
bigoted, tyrannical, deaf to reason; with
a herd of
Curial and Italian Prelates, and mere
Vicars Apostolic.

countries;

The Cardinal Presidents were men of imperious

and overbearing character, who by violent ringing of
and intemperate interruptions cut short the
calm and inexorable logic of the minority.
But the conduct of the majority was still more

bells

By

violent outcries,

menacing gestures,
and clamorous manifestations round the tribune, they
overbearing.

drowned the

thrilling eloquence of the minority,

and

compelled unanswerable orators to descend.

Not satisfied with this, the majority, under the pre

method of conducting the discussions

was imperfect, obtained from the supreme authority a
new regulation, by which all liberty of discussion was
text that the

from the noble few who were struggling

redeem the Council and the Church from bondage.

finally taken

to

From
was

that date the non-oecumenicity of the Council

no longer doubtful. Indeed, Janus had told

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

12
the world in

many

met, that
Nevertheless, the

tongues, long before

the Council would not be

free.

it

minority persevered with heroic courage, logic which

nothing could resist, and eloquence which electrified
the most insensible, until a tyrannous majority, deaf

and incapable of argument, cut discussion

and so
short by an arbitrary exercise of power
silenced the only voices nobly lifted up for science,
candour, and common sense.
This done, the definition of new dogmas became

to reason

and the antagonism between the ultraromanisrn of a party and the progress of modern

inevitable,

society,

between independence and

servility,

became

complete.

Such is the history of the Council written ab extra

in the last nine months.

I believe that every epithet

have given may be verified in the mass of extracts

now before me.
I

leading English journal, ten days after the Defini

tion of the Infallibility of the

Roman Pontiff, with great

simplicity observed, It is curious to compare the very

general and deep interest taken by all intelligent ob

servers in the early deliberations of the Council with

the equally marked indifference to the culmination

of

Every rumour that came from Rome

months
or seven
ago was canvassed with great

its

six

labours.

eagerness, even

by men who cared

little for

ordinary
while
the
proclamation of
theological disputations:
the astonishing dogma of papal infallibility has pro

duced in any but

ecclesiastical circles little

beyond a

amount of perfunctory criticism/

The main cause of this contrast is, of

certain

course,

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

The writer proceeds

not far to seek.

cause,

and

13

to assign the
in so doing passes at once, with a gravity

befitting the occasion, to a disquisition

liam Hamilton

on Sir Wil

theory of perception, and on

the

gigantic gooseberry.
Such is the earnestness and the sincerity with which
English journals, even of high repute, have treated

the subject of the (Ecumenical Council.

Let me, also, assign the cause why the un-Catholic

and anti-Catholic world took so clamorous an

hit crust

opening of the Council, and in the end affected

I know of no
so ill-sustained a tone of indifference.
in the

public event in our day the explanation of which

more transparent and

self-evident.

is

It is this.

When the

Council assembled, it was both hoped arid

believed that the Roman Curia and the Ultramon
l

tane party would be checked and brought under by

the decisions of the Bishops.
controversy had been
waged against what was termed Ultramontanism, or

Ultra-Catholicism,

or

many, France, and England.

When

I last

used the following words, which

because I can find none more exact.

you

Ger

addressed

now

repeat,

They have

the very letter.

Facts like these give a certain warrant to the as

been
c

in

Ultra-Romanism,

fulfilled to

sertions

and prophecies of

politicians

and Protestants.

They prove that in the Catholic Church there is a

school at variance with the doctrinal teaching of the
Holy See

in matters

which arc not of

do not reveal how small that school

faith.
is.

But thuy
Its centre

in

Frniuv

and in England, a small number of adherents.

They

would seem

to be at

Munich;

it

has,

both

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

14

are active, they correspond, and, for tLe most part,

It would be difficult to describe
write anonymously.
its tenets, for none of its followers seem to be agreed

Some hold

in all points.

the infallibility of the Pope,

and some defend the Temporal Power.

common

appears to be

to

all,

opposition to the acts of the

Nothing
an
animus
of
except

Holy See

in matters out

side the faith.

In this country, about a year ago, an attempt was

made to render impossible, as it was confidently but
c

vainly thought, the definition of the infallibility of the

Pontiff, by reviving the monotonous controversy

about Pope Honorius. Later we were told of I know

not what combination of exalted personages in France
for the

same end.

are not sporadic

It is certain that these

and disconnected, but

in

symptoms

mutual un

The antiderstanding, and with a common purpose.

has
this
school of
Catholic press
eagerly encouraged
If a Catholic can be found out of tune with

thought.
authority

by

half a note, he

is

at once extolled for

The
authority and irrefragable logic.
anti-Catholic journals are at his service, and he vents
his opposition to the common opinions of the Church
unequalled

by writing against them anonymously.

is,

it

is

not formidable.

upon those who

effect is

It has effect

are not Catholic.

Sad as

this

almost alone

Upon Catholics

its

hardly appreciable on the theological Schools

it will have little influence; upon the
;

of the Church,

(Ecumenical Council

Many

publications

* Pastoral on

133.

it

can have none. *

had appeared

The (Ecumenical

in French,

Council, 1869,

Eng-

&c. pp.

132,

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

15

and German, from which it became evident that

a common purpose and plan of co-operation had been
lish,

formed.

Certain notorious letters published in France,

and the infamous book Janus, translated into Eng
i

lish,

French, and Italian, proclaimed open war upon

the Council within the unity of the Catholic Church.

This alone was enough to set the whole anti-Catholic

The
with curiosity, hope, and delight.
learning, the science of the intellectual freemen of
world on
the

fire

Roman Church were

already under arms to re

duce the pretensions of Rome.

A belief had also spread itself that the Council

would explain away the doctrines of Trent, or give

them some new or laxer meaning, or throw open some
questions supposed to be closed, or come to a compro
mise or transaction with other religious systems; or at

would accommodate the dogmatic stiffness

traditions to modern thought and modern theo

least that it

of

its

strange that any one should have forgotten

that every General Council, from Nicrea to Trent, which

logy. It

is

made new definitions,

and that every new definition is a new dogma, and
closes what was before open, and ties up more
has touched on the

faith,

has

strictly the doctrines of faith.

This

belief,

however,

excited an expectation, mixed with hopes, that

Rome

by becoming comprehensive might become approach

able, or by becoming inconsistent might become
powerless over the reason and the will of men.
But the interest excited by this preliminary skir
mishing external to the Council, was nothing com
pared to the exultation with which the anti-Catholic
opinion and anti-Catholic press of Protestant countries,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

16

and the an ti- Roman opinion and press even of Cath

olic countries, beheld, as

they believed, the formation

of an organised international opposition

of more
than a hundred Bishops within the Council itself.
The day was come at last. What the world could
i

not do against

Rome from

without,

its

own Bishops

were going to do against Rome, and in the world s

I shall hereafter show how
service, from within.
the world

little

by

knew

the Bishops

adulation, and damaged by

its

whom
its

it

wronged

They

praise.

were the favourites of the world, because they were

believed to be fighting the Pope.
In a moment, all
the world rose up to meet them.
Governments,
newspapers, schismatical, heretical, in
fidel, Jewish, revolutionary, as with one unerring
instinct, united in extolling and setting forth the
politicians,

virtue, learning, science, eloquence, nobleness,

of this

international opposition.
Homeric, certain epithets

truly
linked to certain names.

All

With an

heroism
iteration

were perpetually
who were against Rome

were written up all who were for Rome were written

down. The public eye and ear of all countries were
;

filled,

and taught

and

to associate all that is noble

great with

the international opposition

all that is
neither noble nor great, not to say more, with others.

The

was thus wrought up to the highest

a
and
confident
expectation was raised, and
pitch;
spread abroad, that the Council would be unable to

make

interest

a definition,

and that

Rome would

be defeated.

more vivid motive

of interest to the anti-Catholic world than this.
For
this cause Rome was full of correspondents,
our
I can hardly conceive a keener or

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

own,

our

and

special,

17

our occasional.

Private

persons forsook great interests and duties, to reside

in Rome for the support of the international
opposi

tion.

league of newspapers, fed from a

common

centre, diffused hope and confidence in all countries,

that the science and enlightenment of the
minority

would save the Catholic Church from the immoder

ate pretensions of Rome, and the
superstitious ignor
ance of the universal Episcopate.
Day after day, the
newspapers teemed with the achievements and ora
tions of the opposition.

had found

its

own

and loved

it

as

The World believed

in the heart

its

that

it

of the Episcopate,

own.

There was nothing it

In truth,
expect, and predict.

might not hope for,

it is no wonder that a
very intense interest should
be excited in minds hostile to Rome by such a spec
world then believed

tacle as the outer

And

such,

we may

safely affirm,

itself to see.

were the chief mo-

tives of its feverish excitement, at the

opening and

during the early period of the Council.

But how shall we account for the indifference with

which the World

affects to treat its close?

By two very obvious reasons. First, because it

became gradually certain that the World had not
found

its

own in the

on which

it

Council ; and that the opposition

counted were riot the servants of the
c

World, but Bishops of the Catholic Church, who,

while using all freedom which the Church
abundantly
gave them, would in heart, mind, and
iiiithful

to

its

divine

secondly, because

authority

and

became equally

will,

voice.

remain

And

certain, indeed
was self-evident, that no opposition, from without or
it

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

18

from within, could move the Council a hair s breadth

out of the course in which it was calmly and irre

moving to its appointed work.

The hopes and confidence of the miscellaneous

sistibly

nominal Catholics, Protestants, rational

and unbelievers, received its first sharp check

alliance of
ists,

when some
sired of the
bility of the

five

hundred Fathers of the Council de

Holy See that the doctrine of the

Roman

Infalli

Pontiff should be defined.*

This

event manifested a mind and a will so united and so

decisive, as to reduce the proportions of the
sition,
Still it

both numerically and morally, to very

was confidently hoped that some event,

oppo
little.

in the

chapter of accidents, might yet hinder the definition

that either the minority might become more power
ful

by

increase, or the majority less solid

by

division.

This expectation again was rudely shaken by the

unanimous vote of the third public Session. The
first

De

Constitution

Fide had been so vehemently

was imagined, so utterly defeated,

that if ever voted at all it would be voted only by a
small majority, or at least it would be resisted by
an imposing minority. It was therefore no small
664
surprise that the whole Council, consisting then of
assailed, and, as

it

Fathers, should have affirmed it with an unanimous

vote. I well remember that when the Placets of the
4

opposition leaders

sounded through the Council

Hall, certain high diplomatic personages looked signifi

This majestic unanimity, after
cantly at each other.

the alleged internal contentions of the Council, was as

The World began
perplexing as it was undeniable.
to fear that, after
*

all,

the

international

Sec Appendix,

p. 103.

opposition

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

would neither serve

19

purposes nor do its work.

sensible change of tone was then perceived. The cor
respondents wrote of everything but of this unanimity.
its

The newspapers became almost

articles

silent.

From

almost ceased.

The leading

that time

they ex

changed the tone cf confidence and triumph for a

tone of irritation and of no little bitterness.
Nevertheless,

were acted upon to

new hope arose. Governments

make representations, and all but

menace the Holy Father.* For a time, confidence

It was thought impossible that the
revived.
joint
to

note of so

many

many Powers, and

the joint influence of so

of their effect.
It did

diplomatists, could fail

who invoked

not seem to occur to those

the inter

ference of the Civil Powers that they were thereby en

deavouring to deprive the Council of its liberty which,
:

in those

who were

complaining, in all languages, that

the Council was not free, involved a self-contradiction

on which
to

need not comment.

remember that those who

Neither did they seem

invoke the secular power

against the spiritual authority of the Church, whether

to defeat a sentence already given, or to prevent the
delivery of such a sentence, are ipso facto excommuni
cate,

and that

their case

reserved to the Pope.f This,

is

* See
Appendix, p. 173.
f Appellantes sen recurrentes

ad curiam swcularem ab ordinttexcommunicationem incurrunt

tionibus alicujus judicis ecclesiastici

Papa? reservation ex cap. 1C Bulla? In Cocna Domini, sive illi

judices ecclesiastici sint ordinarii sive delegati, ut patet in eadem
Bulla: et multi dieunt hoc procedere, etiamsi sic appellautes ct
recurrentes nulla decreta pocnalia aut inliibitiones contra eosdnn
ecclesiasticos obtineant
alii
taincn contrarium
tenant.

judices

Vide

interpretes super dicta Bulla cap.

p:irlic. disp. 1, q.

17,

punch

1
,

num.

2<S,

l)
,

ct

IV.n;irin;u/e Ccnsur. in

.-iiiciorrs
<jui-

pro utrmjue pnrte

20

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

which applies

to

any ordinary

judge in

ecclesiastical

matters of law, surely applies in an eminent degree to

an (Ecumenical Council in matters of faith. Be this

may, for a time the interest of the World was re

awakened by the hope that Rome would be in some

as

it

way

baffled after

all.

But this hope also was doomed to disappointment.

The distribution by the Cardinal Presidents of the
Additamentum, or additional chapter on the doctrine
the introduction of the Schema de

of Infallibility;

Romano

Pontifice

before

the Schema

de Ecclesia

the closing of the general discussion by a vote of

the Council all alike showed that the Council knew
;

its

own mind, and was

resolved to do

its

It

duty.

became unmistakably clear how few were in oppo

sition; and equally certain that, when the defini
tion should be completed, all opposition would cease.

The

interest in the Council, manifested

by the

anti-

The correspond
Catholic World, at once collapsed.
ents became silent, or only found reasons why no
body cared any longer

period of
and then the corre

for the Council.

supercilious disdain followed;

spondents of the English journals, one

by one,

The game was played out and the

Church was

Rome.

of an intestine conflict in the

allegat.

Et continet

decernunt

contra

etiam judices seculares,

qui

last

left

hope

over.

ea

occasione

judices ecclesiasticos, et cos qui ilia

et continet dantes consilium, patrocinium, et

dictos

decreta cxequuntur
favorem in eisdem, ut patet ex eadem Bulla.
In hac materia vide plures pocrias infra verb. Curia,
;

c. 8, et

verb.

Jurisdictio^ et procedit etiam in tacitn, seu anticipata appellatione

ad

procurandum impediri futures ordinationes judicii ecclesiastici, ut

Giraldus de Pcenis Eccl.
Bonac. num. 23, juxta probabiliorem.
pars

ii.

c. iii.

vol. v. p. 9G.

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

21

more disappointing end to the high hopes and excited

anticipations with which the adversaries of the Cath
olic

Church cheered on the opposition

at the

open

ing of the year, cannot be conceived.

They little
men
whom
were
knew the
they
mortifying and dis

honouring

by

their

applause.

They

forgot

that

Bishops are not deputies, and that an (Ecumenical

And when, of the
Council is not a Parliament.

who on

the thirteenth of July voted Non

placet, two only repeated their Non placet on the
eighteenth, proving thereby that what two could do
eighty might have done, the World was silent, and

eighty-eight

has steadfastly excluded the

mano

Pontifice

De Ro

Constitution

from the columns of

its

newspapers.

the simple and self-evident reason of this

It is the
pretended loss of interest in the Council.
affected indifference of those who, having staked their

Here

is

reputation

on the

issue

of a

contest,

have been

thoroughly and hopelessly disappointed.

Before I conclude this part of the subject,

I will

give one passage as a supreme example of what I

have been describing. I take it from the chief

newspaper

in

England.

It is

from an

article evi

dently written by a cultivated and practised hand.

It appeared when the definition was seen to be
certain

and near.

beforehand.

The

was intended

It

to ruin its effects

writer could not narrate what had

was before the event nor what

would really take place, because nothing was known
but what he thought would excite contempt, that he
Nevertheless, he
pleased to say would take place.
and already so
spoke as if the events were certain,
taken place, because

it

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

22

ordered ; which truth forbade

and he taxed

his in

make

the whole account in the highest de

gree odious or ridiculous which revealed his motive.

genuity to

The reader

will bear in

mind

that not one particle of

the following elaborate description is true, or had

even a shadow of truth. But nobody would perceive
the fine verbal distinctions on which the writer

would defend himself from a charge of deliberate

falsehood.

On June

8,

we

read as follows

The British public have some reason to regret

that the pressure of subjects nearer home, and more
4

directly concerning this country, has put their in

terest in the (Ecumenical Council somewhat in
abey

ance.

great event

is

at

There can no

hand.

longer be any doubt that at the approaching Feast

of St. Peter and St. Paul, the 29th instant, the
priceless blessing of Papal Infallibility will be vouch
safed to the world.
The day is the Feast of St.

Peter in our Calendar, and it is usually called St.

Peter s Day at Rome, the Apostle to the Gentiles

The day
having been associated only to disappear.
is on this occasion to be observed as a
clay of days,
and the era of a new revelation.

Fireworks,

illu

minations, transparencies, triumphal arches, and all

that taste and money can do to demonstrate and
delight, are already in hand, and,

the marriage feast

is

whoever the guests,

in preparation.

An

extra

Home is to excel
ordinary effort is to be made.
in
herself
her mimic meteors, her artistic transfigura
her
new heavens and new earths, her angelic
tions,
radiance, her divine

glories,

and infernal horrors.

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

23

If the Council has been chary of its utterances and

coy in its appearances, that will be made up by

explosions and spectacles of a more intelligible cha

can promise that it will be worth many
racter.

We

The Cammiles of excursion trains to go and see.

pagna will be deserted, that all the Pope s temporal
costumes.
lieges may be there in their picturesque

They and

strangers will there see

with their own eyes the Pope of Rome, the actual
successor of St. Peter, invested with absolute autho
the astonished

rity over all souls, hearts,

him welcoming the

the

"

They

Non-Placets

"

and minds.

faithful

"

Placets,"

to the flames of a

They will see

and consigning

Tartarean abyss.

will sec hideous forms, snakes, dragons, hydras,

centipedes, toads,

and nondescript monsters under

the feet, or the lance, or the thunderbolt of conquer

Rome ; and they will not fail to recognise in

ing

them the Church of England, the Protestant com

It will be
munities, and the German philosophers.
a grand day, and great things will be done on that
29th of June.

We

will not believe it possible that

a single mishap will disturb the sacred programme

that the lightnings may miss their aim, or the

Powers of Darkness

prevail.

We

cannot doubt

go off well, for the simple reason that all is

ready and forecasted, down to the very Dogma.
Artists of surpassing skill and taste are working
all will

hard on the upholstery of the Divine manifestation,

not knowing whether to think it a blasphemy or a

good joke.

It is their

poverty and not their will

that consents to the task.

tions expiring, the

Roman

As we

see the illumina

candles lost in

smoke,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

24

and the exhibitors taking the old properties back to

the vast magazines of Rome, we cannot help thinking
of the poor fathers put off with glare and noise in

Think of poor
place of conviction or peace of mind.
MacHale exhausting in vain his logic, his learning,
and

his powerful style,

flock

on the

and taking back to

Atlantic

shore

his poor

story of
Chinese lanterns, fiery bouquets, showers of gold,
and transparencies more striking even than the illus
trations of our prophetic almanacks.

When

it

is

strange

borne in mind that the definition of

the Infallibility of the Head of the Christian Church

is a
subject of deep religious faith to the most culti

vated nations of the world, and that a fifth part of

the population of our three kingdoms was profoundly
interested in the subject, I shall not refrain from
saying that this article from the leading newspaper
of England has as little decency as truth.
I will

now endeavour

briefly to sketch the outline

of the Council as viewed from within.

As

was

enabled to attend, with the exception of about three

or four days, every Session of the Council, eightynine in number, from the opening to the close, I can

give testimony, not upon hearsay, but as a personal

witness of what I narrate.

Cardinal Pallavicini, after relating the contests and

jealousies of the Orators of Catholic States assembled
in the Council of Trent, goes

on

to say that to con

voke a General Council, except when absolutely de

I well
manded by necessity, is to tempt God.*
* Hist. Cone. Trid.
1G70.

lib. xvi.

c.

10, torn.

ii.

p.

800.

Antwerp,

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

25

time of the centenary of St. Peter s

Martyrdom, when the Holy Father first announced
his intention to convene the General Council, one of

remember,

at the

the oldest and most experienced of foreign diploma

tists expressed to me his great alarm.
He predicted
exactly what came to pass in the beginning of the

His diplomatic foresight fully appreciated

Council.
the political dangers.
They were certainly obvious
and grave; for no one perhaps, at that time, could an

and firmness of the Council,

hopes, and has effectually dispelled

ticipate the majestic unity

which exceeded

all

all fears.

For three hundred

years, the

Church dispersed

throughout the world has been in contact with the

corrupt civilisation of old Catholic countries, and with
anti-Catholic

the

The

schism.

civilisation

intellectual

of countries

traditions

of

in

open

nearly

all

nations have been departing steadily from the unity of

In most countries,
the Faith and of the Church.
public opinion has become formally hostile to the
The minds of Catholics have been
Catholic religion.

much
It

affected

was

to

Bishops of
political

by the atmosphere in which they live.

and to be expected that the

be feared
all

the world, differing so widely in race,

institutions,

and

intellectual habits,

might

have imported into the Council elements of divergence,

if not of irreconcilable division.
Some had indeed

met

before, at the Canonizations of

for the

most part the Bishops met

The Pastors of some

1862 or 1867

but

for the first time.

thirty nations were there, bring

ing together every variety of mental and social culture
and experience: but in the midst of this variety there

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

26

On this, three
reigned a perfect identity of faith.
centuries of separation and divergence in all things of
the natural order, had produced no effect.
Nothing
but the Church of God alone could have lived on

immutable through three hundred years of perpetual

and under the most potent influences of the
changes,
D
i

J-

Nothing has ever more luminously exhibited

the supernatural endowments of the Church than the
world.

Council of the Vatican.

In these three centuries

it

had passed through revolutions which have dissolved

But the Episcopate of the

empires, laws, opinions.
Catholic Church met again last December in Rome,
as

it

met

At once

in Trent, Lyons, or Nicrca.

it

work; and began as if by instinct, or

by the prompt facility of an imperishable experience,
to define doctrines of faith and to decree laws of dis
proceeded to

cipline.

its

Such unity of mind and

conditions of

human

infirmity;

it

one power and guidance alone,

assistance of the

Spirit

will is

above the

can be traced to
the

of Truth,

supernatural

Whom

by

Church of God is perpetually sustained

and unity of faith.
To those who were within the Council,

the

in the light

this became,
was no di
It
almost
evident
to
sense.
day by day,
minution from this, that a certain number were found

of opinion that it was inopportune to define

This was a
the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff.

who were

question of prudence, policy, expedience not of doc

It was thus that the Church was
trine or of truth.
;

united twenty years ago in the belief of the Immacu

late Conception, while some were still to be found who

doubted the prudence of defining

it.

Setting aside

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

this

27

one question of opportuneness, there was not in the

Council of the Vatican a difference of any gravity,

and certainly no difference whatsoever on any doctrine
of faith.

have never been able to hear of

Bishops

who denied

Almost

all

five

the doctrine of Papal Infallibility.

previous Councils were distracted by di

not by heresy.
Here no heresy existed.
question of opportunity was altogether subor

visions, if

The

dinate and free.

It

may

truly be affirmed that never

was there a greater unanimity than in the Vatican

Council.
Of this the world had a first evidence in
unanimous vote by which the first Constitution
on Faith was affirmed on the 24th of April.
the

should hardly have spoken of the outward con

duct of the Council, if I tad not seen, with surprise
I

and indignation, statements purporting to be descrip

tions of scenes of violence and disorder in the course
of

its

discussions.

Having from

my

earliest

brance been a witness of public assemblies of

remem

all

kinds,

and especially of those among ourselves, which for

gravity and dignity are supposed to exceed all others,
I

am able and bound

to say that I have never seen such

calmness, self-respect, mutual forbearance, courtesy

and self-control, as in the eighty-nine sessions of the

Vatican Council.

In a period of nine months, the

Cardinal President was compelled to recall the speak

ers to order perhaps twelve or fourteen times.
In

any other assembly they would have been inexorably

recalled to the question sevenfold often er and sooner.

Nothing could exceed the consideration and respect

with which this duty was discharged.
Occasionally

murmurs

of dissent were audible

now and then

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

28

comment may have been made

In a very few

aloud.

and those happily of an exceptional kind,

expressions of strong disapproval and of exhausted

instances,

But the descriptions of

violence, outcries, menace, denunciation, and even of
personal collisions, with which certain newspapers
patience at length escaped.

deceived the world, I can affirm to be calumnious

falsehoods, fabricated to bring the Council into odium

and contempt.

That such has been the aim and in

tent of certain journals and their correspondents

undeniable.
They at first endeavoured to write

down
cule

it

but an (Ecumenical Council cannot be written

down.

is

Next, they endeavoured to treat it with ridi

but an (Ecumenical Council cannot be made

The good sense of the world forbids it.

may be made odious and hateful and thereby

ridiculous.

But

it

the minds of

men may be

not only turned from

it,

but even turned against it. For this in every way

the anti-Catholic world has laboured and no better
;

plan could be found than to describe its sessions as

scenes of indecent clamour and personal violence,
unworthy even in laymen, criminal in Bishops of the

Church.

have read descriptions of scenes of which

was a personal witness, so absolutely contrary to

fact and truth, that I cannot acquit the anonym
The animus was
ous writer on the plea of error.
and
has
been
will be to poison
manifest, and its effect
I

a multitude of minds which the truth will never reach.

has been loudly declared, that a tyrannical
majority deprived the minority of liberty of dis
It

cussion.

Now

it

sincere, for

is

hard to believe

many

reasons.

this

allegation to be

THE WORLD AND THE COUNCIL.

29

there was only one rule for both majority

and minority. If either were deprived of liberty,
First,

both were

both were, it might be unwise, it could

not be unjust; but if both were not, then neither.
;

if

The majority spontaneously and freely imposed upon

itself the same conditions it accepted for all.
But secondly, the mode of conducting the discus
sions afforded the amplest liberty of debate.

The

matter was distributed in print to

subject

every Bishop, and a period of eight or ten days was

given for any observations they might desire to

make

in writing.

These observations were carefully examined by

the deputation of twenty-four; and when found to be
pertinent were admitted, either to modify or to reform
the original Schema.

The

text so

amended was then proposed

for the

general discussion, on which every Bishop in the

Council had a free right to speak, and the discussions
lasted so long as
his

any Bishop was pleased to inscribe

name.

The only
sisted in the

limit

upon

this

freedom of discussion con

power of the Presidents, on the

petition

of ten Bishops, to interrogate the Council whether

The Presi
it desired the discussion to be prolonged.

dents had no power to close the

Council alone could put an end to

discussion.

The

This right

it.

essential to every deliberative assembly;

is

which has a

two-fold liberty, the one, to listen as long as it shall

see fit; the other, to refuse to listen when it shall

judge that a subject has been

To deny

this liberty to the

sufficiently discussed.

Council

is

to claim for

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

30

individuals the liberty to force the Council to listen

as long as they are pleased either to waste its time or

judgment. In political assemblies, the

house puts an end to debates by a peremptory and
The assem
inexorable cry of question or divide.
to obstruct its

Church are of another temper. But they

are not deprived of the same essential rights; and by

blies of the

a free vote they may decide either to listen, or not to

listen, as the judgment of the Council shall see fit-

To deny

this is to

deny the

liberty of the Council;

and under the pretext of liberty to claim a tyranny

few over the will of the many.*
Obvious as is this liberty and right of the

for the

Council to close
there exists

fit,

it

did

to

what the

so.

nounced

its

when

it

shall see

only one example on record

in

which

With exemplary patience it listened

House of Commons would have pro
be interminable discussions and inter

to

On

minable speeches.
the

discussions

Schema De

the

Romano

general
Pontijice

discussion

some

of

eighty

* I cannot
Those who
help here marking a historical parallel.
had been invoking the anti-Catholic public opinion, and even the
civil

governments of all countries,

to control the

Holy See and the

Council, complained of oppression and the violation of their liberty.

When Napoleon held Pius VII. prisoner at Fontainebleau, and by

every form of threat and influence had deprived him of liberty, the
following warning was given by Colonel Lagorse to Cardinal Pacca,
That the Emperor was displeased
then in attendance on the Pope
with the Cardinals, for having,ever since their arrival at Fontainebleau,
continually restricted the Pope from a condition of free agency;
:

that provided they were desirous of remaining at Fontainebleau, they

must abstain from all manner of interference in matters of busi
ness.

themselves to

Failing in the above conditions, they would expose

the hazard of losing their liberty.
Memoirs of

Cardinal Parcn,

vol.

ii.

p.

102.

WORLD AND THE COUNCIL

TIi:<

Of

Bishops had spoken.

what the newspapers

ol

were of

these, nearly half

called the Opposition

but the

proportion of the Opposition to the Council was not

more than one sixth. They had therefore been heard

But further, there still remained the

discussion on the Prooernium and the four

as three to six.
special

chapters; that

is

to say, five distinct discussions

still

remained, in which every Bishop of the six or seven

hundred in the Council would, therefore, have a right

Most reasonably, then, the

speak five times.
Council closed the general discussion, leaving to the
Bishops still their undiminished right, if they saw fit,

to

still

to speak five times.

No

who de

one but those

sired the discussion never to end, that

w ho
r

is,

desired

to render the definition impossible

time, could complain of this

liberty

by speaking against
most just exercise of its

on the part of the Council.

can conscien

tiously declare, that long before the general discussion

was

arguments were exhausted.

The special discussion of details also had been to
such an extent anticipated, that nothing new was
closed, all general

heard for days. The repetition became hard to bear.

Then, and not till then, the President, at the petition
not of ten, but of a hundred and fifty Bishops at least,
interrogated the Council whether it desired to prolong
or to close the general discussion.
By an over

whelming majority
closed,

still,

it

was

closed.

When

this

was

as I have said, five distinct discussions

commenced; and were continued so long as any one

was to be found desirous to speak. Finally, for the
fifth

their

or last discussion, a hundred and twenty inscribed

names

to

speak.

Fifty at least were heard,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

32

burden became too heavy to

bear; and, by mutual consent, an useless and endless
discussion, from sheer exhaustion, ceased.
until

on both

So much

sides the

for the material liberty of the Council.

Of

the moral liberty it will be enough to say, that

the short-hand writers have laid up in its Archives a

record of discourses which will show that the liberty

of thought and speech was perfectly unchecked.
If

they were published to the world, the accusation

would not be of undue repression. The wonder would
be, not that the Opposition failed of its object, but that

the Council so long held its peace.

Certain Bishops
of the freest country in the world said truly
The
is
not greater than the liberty
liberty of our Congress
:

of the Council.

more than

six

When

it is

borne in mind that out of

hundred Bishops, one hundred,

at the

utmost, were in opposition to their brethren, it seems

hardly sincere to talk of the want of liberty. There

was but one liberty of which this sixth part of the

Council was deprived, a liberty they certainly would
be the

last to desire,

namely, that of destroying the

The Council bore long with

liberty of the other five.
this truthless accusation of politicians, newspapers, and
anonymous writers; and never till the last day, when
the work in hand was finally complete, except only
the voting of the public session, took cognisance of

mendacious pretence. On the 16th of July, after

the last votes had been given, and the first Con
stitution De Ecdesia Christi had been finally ap

this

proved, then for the

first

to this attempt

its

libels

upon

time

it

turned

Two

authority.

on the Council had appeared

its

attention

calumnious

the one entitled,

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

Ce qui
ure

In

se

du

Council

passe au Concile, the other,

La

33
derniere

Concile: in both, the liberty of the Vatican

was denied, with a view to denying its

The General Congregation by an im

authority.

mense majority adopted the following protest, and

condemned these two slanderous pamphlets, thereby
placing on record a spontaneous declaration of the
absolute freedom of the Council.
c

MOST REVEREND FATHERS,

From the time that the Holy Vatican Synod

opened by the help of God, a most bitter warfare

instantly broke out against it; and in order to
diminish
and,

if it

writers

venerable authority with the faithful,

could be, to destroy it altogether, many

its

with each other in attacking

vied

it

by

contumelious detraction, and by the foulest calum

nies; and that, not only among the heterodox and

open enemies of the Cross of Christ, but also among

those

who

themselves

give

Catholic Church

and what

is

out as

most

sons of

the

to be deplored,

among even its sacred ministers.

The infamous falsehoods which have been heaped
4

together in this matter in public newspapers of every

tongue, and in pamphlets without the author s name,

published in all places and stealthily distributed, all

men well know so that we have no need to recount
;

them one by

But among anonymous pam

phlets of this kind there are two especially, written in
French, and entitled, Ce qui se passe au Concile,
and La (1,-nt/nr lu-iu-c c/u Coiict lc, which for the arts
of

one.

calumny and the

license of detraction bear

away

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

34

palm from all others. For in these not only

is the dignity and full liberty of the Council assailed
with the basest falsehoods, and the rights of the Holy
the

See overthrown, but even the august person of our

Holy Father is attacked with the gravest insults.
Wherefore we, being mindful of our office, lest our
silence if longer maintained, should be

perversely

by men of evil will, are compelled to

lift
up our voice, and before you all, Most Reverend
Fathers, to protest and to declare all such things as
have been uttered in the aforesaid newspapers and
interpreted

pamphlets to be altogether false and calumnious,

whether in contempt of our Holy Father and of
the Apostolic See, or the dishonour of this Holy
Synod, and on the score of its asserted want of
legitimate liberty.
From the Hall of the Council, the

16th day of

July, 1870.
4

CARDINAL DE ANGELIS, President.

ANTONINUS, CARDINAL DE Luc A.
ANDREAS, CARDINAL BIZZARI.
ALOYS lus, CARDINAL BILIO.
*
HANNIBAL, CARDINAL CAPALTI.

PHILIP,
4

We

have thus carried down our narrative to the

eve of the Definition, and with one or two general

remarks I will conclude this part of the subject.

strange accusation has been brought against the

Council of the Vatican, or, to speak more truly, against

Head of the Church, who summoned it; namely,

that its one object was to define the Infallibility of
the

* See
Appendix, p. 181.

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

35

the Pope.
With the knowledge I have, in common
with a large part of the Episcopate, I am able to
give,
to this a direct denial.

But

this denial is

as if the admission of the charge

would be

not given
in

any way

inconsistent with the wisdom,

dignity, or duty of the
Council.
It is simply untrue in fact.
Even

though

it

were

true, I

should have no hesitation in under

taking to show that the Council,

bled chiefly to define the

if it

had been assem

Infallibility of the

Roman

Pontiff, would have been acting in strict analogy

with the practice of the Church in the eighteen

(Ecumenical Councils already held.

Each several Council was convened to extinguish
the chief heresy, or to correct the chief evil, of the
time.
And I do not hesitate to affirm that the

denial of the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff was

the chief intellectual or doctrinal error as to faith,

not to

call it

more than proximate

to heresy, of our

times.
It was so,becauseitstruck at the
certainty of the pon

of the last three hundred years and weak

ened the effect of pontifical acts at this day over the

tifical acts

intellect

and conscience of the

faithful.

It kept alive a

dangerous controversy on the subject of Infallibility

altogether, and exposed even the Infallibility of the
not easy to solve.
As an
apparently open or disputable point, close to the very
root of faith, it exposed even the faith itself to the

Church

itself to difficulties

reach of doubts.

Next, practically,

The

sure.

and

divisions

was mischievous beyond mea

and contentions of Gallicanism
it

U Itramontanism

have been a scandal and a

D 2

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

36

shame

to us.

Protestants and unbelievers have been

kept from the truth by our intestine controversies,

especially

upon a point

so high

and

so

intimately

connected with the whole doctrinal authority of the

Church.
Again, morally, the division and contention on this
point, supposed to be open, has generated more alien

and animosity between Pastors and

people, and what is worse, between Pastor and Pastor,
ation, bitterness,

Our internal contests

than any other in our day.
proclaimed by Protestant newspapers, and, worse
than

all,

by Catholic

also,

have been a reproach to us

before the whole world.

was high time to put an end to this and if the

Council had been convened for no other purpose, this
cause would have been abundantly sufficient if it
It

had defined the

Infallibility at its outset, it

would

not have been an hour too soon; and perhaps it would

have averted many a scandal we now deplore. But

with submission, for the times and

seasons of a Council are put in a power above our

this last I say

reach.

In the midst of
there were,

all

now and

rise to hearty,

and

these, one was what

these graver events and cares,

some things which gave

hope harmless, amusement. Of
then,

be called the panic fear lest

the definition of the Infallibility of the Pope should

may

suddenly be carried by acclamation and the amusing

self-gratulatioii of those who imagined that with great
;

dexterity and address they had defeated this intention.

The acclamation, like the rising of a conspiracy, was
to have taken place first on one day, then, being

THE WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

frustrated, on another.

37

The Feast of the Epiphany was

named, then the Feast of St. Joseph, then the Feast

But by the masterly tactics of

of the Annunciation.

certain leaders, this conspiracy could never

plish itself.

the

plot.

accom

announced the discovery of

The minds of men from that time, it
Janus

first

seems, were haunted with

lived in

They

it.

per
tell
alarm.
never
were
us,
safe, they
petual
They
from a surprise which would create an article of
faith before

spect,

whom

they could protest.

I refrain,

out of re

from naming the distinguished prelates of

our anonymous teachers speak so freely, when

they affirm that at the

was

first

general congregation

to be carried

by acclamation,
Papal Infallibility
but that the scheme was foiled by the tact and
firmness of such an one: and that a similar at
c

tempt was projected

for

later

day (March 19),

when

the prompt action of four American prelates

*
again frustrated the design.
Xow the truth is, that nobody, so far as my know

ledge reaches, and I believe I may speak with cer

tainty, ever for a moment dreamed of this definition

by acclamation. All whom I have ever heard speak

of these rumours were unfeignedly amused at them.
The last men in the Council who would have desired
or consented to an acclamation were those to

whom

was imputed and that for a reason as clear as day.

They had no desire for acclamations, because accla
mations define nothing.
They had already had

it

enough of acclamations in the Council of Chalcedon,

which cried unanimously, Peter hath spoken by
7!<-rfi-ir,

An-.

J,

1S70.

38

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

Leo

and in the Council of Constantinople which,

acclaimed, Peter hath spoken by Agatho; and in
;

the address

of the

centenary of

hundred Bishops at the

1867, in which they

five

Peter

St.

in

Peter had spoken by

unanimously declared that
Pius
for they well knew that many, even of those
4

who

joined most loudly in that acclamation, denied

that these words ascribe infallibility to the Successor
of Peter.

Experience therefore proved, even if

theology long ago had not, that an acclamation is
not a definition; and that an acclamation leaves the
matter as

it

found

it,

as disputable

after as

it

was

Nothing short of a definition would satisfy

either reason or conscience and nothing but this was
before.

ever for a

moment thought

of.

a slight outline of the internal history

of this protracted contest.
It passed through nine

Such, then,

is

distinct phases

who

and

it

must be confessed

that they

desired to avert the definition held their suc

cessive positions with

The

no

little

tenacity.

came from the World without, in

support of a handful of professors and writers, who
first

attack

the second position

truth but to deny that it was capable

denied the truth of the doctrine

was

to

admit

its

of being defined

the third, to admit that

it

was de

finable, but to deny the opportuneness of defining

it

the fourth, to resist the introduction of the doctrine

for discussion
the fifth, to render discussion im
:

possible

by delay

the sixth, to protract the discussion

a conclusion should become physically impossible

before the summer heats drove the Council to dis
till

perse

the seventh,

when

the discussion closed, to

WOULD AND THE COUNCIL.

lIIK

defer the definition to the future

39

the eighth, after

the definition was made, to hinder its promulgation

the ninth
I will not say the last, for who can tell
:

what may still come? to affirm that the definition,

though solemnly made, confirmed, and published by the
Head of the Church in the (Ecumenical Council, and
promulgated urli

et

orbi according to the traditional

usage of the Church, does not bind the conscience of

the faithful
scribed

This

now

the Council

till

is

concluded, and sub

by the Bishops.
only remnant of the controversy
I can hardly believe that any one,

last is the

surviving.

after the letter of Cardinal Antonelli to the

at Brussels, can persist in this error.
it

may

Nevertheless

be well to add one or two words, which you

will anticipate,
1.

Nunzio

and well know how to

use.

definition of faith declares that a doctrine

by God.
Are the faithful,

was

revealed

Divine revelation

then, dispensed

till

the Council

is

from believing
concluded, and

the Bishops have subscribed it?

I hope, for the sake of the Catholic religion in the
face of the English people, that we shall hear no more

of an assertion so uncatholic and so dangerous.

2. But perhaps it may mean that the Council

is

not yet confirmed, because not yet concluded.

The Council may not yet be confirmed because
but the Definition is both con
not yet concluded
;

cluded and confirmed.

The Council

as completely confirmed, in its acts

The future
hitherto taken, as it ever will or can be.
is

confirmation will not add anything to that which

is

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

40

confirmed already.

confirm future

It will

acts,

not

those which are already perfect.

But perhaps some may have an idea that the

question is not yet closed, and that the Council
3.

may

hereafter

been told that

undo what
Its decrees

We

has done.

it

may have

have

to be corrected,

and that two years elapsed before the (Ecumenical

pretensions of the Latrocinium of Ephesus were
formally superseded.

Some have

called

it

Ludibrium

Yaticanum.

Let those who so speak, or think,

speak without thinking, look to their
past acts of the Council are infallible.
acts will retouch them.

formable.

This

Infallibility does

is

the

for

many

The

faith.

No

future

meaning of

not return upon

so

its

irre-

own

And they who suspend their assent to its

on the plea that the Council is not concluded, are
danger of falling from the faith. They who reject

steps.

acts
in

the Definitions of the Vatican Council are already in

heresy.

41

CHAPTER

II.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

HAVING

so far spoken on the less pleasing

and

less

vital part of this subject, I gladly turn to the authori

tative acts of the Council.

The

subject matter of its deliberations was divided

into four parts, and for each part a Deputation of

twenty-four Fathers was elected by the Council. The

four divisions were, on Faith, Discipline, Religious
Orders, and on Rites, including the Missions of the

Church.
Hitherto, the subjects of Faith and Discipline alone
have come before the Council; and of these two

been treated, as being the basis of

nature the most important.

chiefly the first has

all,

and in

its

In what I have to add,

the

I shall confine

two Dogmatic Constitutions, De

myself to
Fide and De

Ecclesia Christi*

The

Faith cannot be adequately

written without writing both the history of heresy and
history of the

history of definitions
aberrations from the truth,

the

for heresies are

and

partial

definitions are recti

But the Faith

extensive with the whole Revelation of Truth

fications of those partial errors.

See Appendix,

p.

182, etc.

is
;

co

and

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

42

though every revealed truth

nevertheless,
tion arises

or denied.

all

is

definite

and

The need

are not defined.

precise,

of defini

when any revealed truth has been obscured

The general history of the Church will

therefore give the general history of the Faith; but

the history of Councils will give chiefly, if not only,

the history of those parts of revelation which have

been assailed by heresy and protected by definition.

The Divine Tradition of the Church contains
truths

of

the

which without

supernatural order

revelation could not have been

as the Incarnation of

known

to

man, such

God and

the mystery of the

Holy Trinity, and truths of the natural order which
are known also by reason, such as the existence of

God.

The circumference

of this Divine Tradition

is

wider than the range of definitions. The Church

guards, teaches, and transmits the whole divine tra
far

dition of natural

and supernatural

truth, but defines

only those parts of the deposit which have been

obscured or denied.

The eighteen (Ecumenical Councils

of the Church

have therefore defined such

Faith as were contested.
has,

specific doctrines of the

The Council of the Vatican

for this reason, treated of

two primary truths

greatly contested but never hitherto defined namely,

the Supernatural order and the Church.
It is this
:

which will

fix the character of the

Vatican Council,

and will mark

in history the progress of error in the

Christian world at this day.
The series of heresy has followed the order of the

It began by
Baptismal Creed.
assailing the nature
and unity of God the Creator; then of the Redeemer;

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

43

then the doctrine of the Incarnation, of the Godhead

and the Manhood of the Son of God then of the Holy
;

Trinity, and of the personality and Godhead of the

Holy Ghost. To these succeeded controversies on sin,
grace, and the Holy Sacraments finally the heresies
;

of the so-called Reformation, which spread over what

remained unassailed in the Catholic Theology, espe
cially the Divine authority and the institution of the

Church

The Councils before Trent have com

itself.

pletely guarded all doctrines of faith hitherto contes

precise definition, excepting only the two
primary and preliminary truths anterior to all doc
ted,

by

trine,

namely, the revelation of the supernatural order

and the Divine authority and institution of the Church.

To affirm and to define these seems to be, as I said,
the mission and character of the Vatican Council, and
indicates the state of the Christian world because in
;

the last three hundred years the rapid development of

the rationalistic principle of Protestantism has swr ept

away

all

tianities.

intermediate systems and fragmentary Chris

The question is reduced to a simple choice

of faith and unbelief, or, of the natural or the

super
natural order.

This then

is

Constitution,

the starting-point of the

De

first

dogmatic

Fide Cathollca.

In the Prooemium, the Council declares that none

fail to know how the heresies condemned at Trent

can

have been subdivided into a multitude of contending

sects, whereby Faith in Christ has been overthrown in

many; and the Sacred

Scriptures,

which

at first

were

avowedly held to be the source and rule of faith, are

now reputed as fables. The cause of this it declares

44

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

to be, the rejection of the Divine authority of the

Church, and the license of private judgment.

Then sprang

goes on to say, and was widely

spread throughout the world, the doctrine of ration
alism or naturalism, which opposing itself altogether
4

up,

it

to Christianity as a supernatural institution, studiously

labours to exclude Christ, our only Lord and Saviour,

from the minds of men and from the

and morality
of nations, and to set up the dominion of what they
call pure reason and nature.
After forsaking and re
life

jecting the Christian religion, and denying the true

God and His Christ, the minds of many have lapsed
at length into the depth of pantheism, materialism,

and

denying the rational nature of man,

law of justice and of right, they are striving

atheism, so that,

and

all

together to destroy the

very foundations of

human

society.
c

While

impiety spreads on every side, it miser

ably comes to pass, that many even of the sons of the
Catholic Church have wandered from the way of
this

and while truth in them has wasted away, the

Catholic instinct has become feeble.
For, led astray

piety,

by many and strange

doctrines, they have recklessly

confused together nature and grace, human science,

faith, so as to deprave the genuine sense

and divine

dogmas which the Holy Church our Mother holds

and teaches and have brought into danger the integ
rity and purity of the Faith/
Such is the estimate of the condition of the Chris
of

world in the judgment of the Vatican Council

and from this point of sight we may appreciate its
tian

decrees.

Till-:

Its

firs.t

In this

is

45

TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

of all things.*
chapter is of God the Creator
decreed the personality, spirituality, and

creation of corporeal
liberty of God, the

and of

spiri

tual beings, and the existence of body and soul in

be thought so primary and
man. These truths

may

undeniable as to need

no

To some

definition.

it

may

be hardly credible that, at this day, there should exist

men who deny the existence of God, or His person
ality,

or His nature distinct from the world, or the

existence of spiritual beings, or the creation of the

creation.
world, or the liberty of the Divine will in

not only in
obscure and incoherent minds, but in intellects of
and cultivation, and in philosophies of elaborate

But such

errors have existed

and do

exist,

power

sub til ty, by which the faith of

mined.

The second Chapter

is

has been under

many

on Revelation.

the existence of two orders of truth

nature, in

which the existence of God

It affirms

the order of

as the

beginning

known by

the
and end of creatures may
and the order which is
things whicli He has made;
above created nature, that is, God and His action by

be certainly

The communication
truth and grace upon mankind.
of supernatural truth to man is revelation and that
revelation is contained in the Word of God written
;

and unwritten, or

committed

in the divine tradition

These truths, elementary and cer

errors
tain as they seem, have been and are denied by

to the Church.

of a contradictory kind.

God can be known by

*

The

No. IV.

By some

it

is

the light of reason

denied that
;

by others

the Appendix,
text of the Constitutions will be found in

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

46

affirmed not only that God may be known by

the light of reason, but that no revelation is neces

it

is

sary for man once more, others deny that man can
be elevated to a supernatural knowledge and perfec
tion
again, others affirm that he can attain to all
;

of and from himself.

truth and goodness

errors also are widespread

literature
their

of

These

and in the multifarious

which Catholics incautiously admit into

homes and minds, have made havoc of the

many.
The third Chapter

said, that

in

against some

is

on Faith.

It

may

chapter every word

this

is

faith

be truly
directed

intellectual aberration of this century.

dependence of the created intel

ligence upon the uncreated, and that this dependence
It

is

affirms the

by the

free obedience of faith

that inasmuch as

God

reveals to

or, in

man

other words,
truths of the

supernatural order, man is bound to believe that

revelation by reason of the authority or veracity of
r
God, w ho can neither deceive nor be deceived. The
infallibility of

God

is

the motive of faith.

And

this

be not formed in us by perceiving

the intrinsic credibility of what we believe, but by
faith,

though

it

the veracity of God, nevertheless is a rational or

intellectual act, the highest and most normal in its
nature.

For no

act

of the reason can be

more

in

harmony with its nature than to believe the Word of

God. To assure mankind that it is God who speaks,
has given to man signs and evidences of His
revelation, which exclude reasonable doubt. The act

God

of faith therefore

is

the highest reason.

not a blind
It is also

act,

but an exercise of

an act not of necessity

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

47

but of perfect freedom, and therefore in itself an

act of normal obedience to God, and meritorious in
And this act of faith, in which both the
its nature.
intellect

and the

exercise,

is

will

have their

and normal

full

nevertheless an act not of the natural

order, but of the supernatural,

and springs from the

preventing grace of the Holy Spirit,

the intelligence and moves the will.

Who

illuminates

Faith

is

there -

and a moral duty which may be

required of us by the commandment of God.
But inasmuch as the grace of faith is given to man
fore a gift of God,

that he

may

believe the revelation of God,

it

is

co

Whatsoever

extensive with that whole revelation.

has revealed, man, when he knows it, is bound

But God has made provision that man
should know His revelation, because He has com

God

to believe.

mitted

it

to His

Church

as the guardian

and teacher

Whatsoever, therefore, the Church

of truth.

poses to our belief as the

Word

pro
of God, written or

unwritten, whether by its ordinary and universal

teaching, or by its solemn judgment and definition,
we are bound to believe by divine and Catholic faith.

To
visible

this end,

God

has instituted in the world His

Church, one, universal, indefectible, immut

the living witness of the

ever multiplying
the
and
sufficient
evidence of its own
Incarnation,

able,

mission to the world.

The maximum of

extrinsic

evidence for the

revelation of Christianity is the

witness of the Church, considered even as an histori

and that extrinsic evidence

not only
sufficient to convince a rational nature that Chris

cal proof

tianity is

a Divine

revelation,

but

to

is

convict

of

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

48

unreasonable unbelief any intelligence which shall

But the visible Church is not
reject its testimony.

merely a human witness.

It

was instituted and

is

guided perpetually by God Himself, and is there

fore a divine witness, ordained by God as the infallible

motive of
lation to

credibility,

and the channel of His reve

mankind.

need hardly point out what errors are excluded

The whole world outside the
by
I

these definitions.

Catholic Church

is

full

of doctrines

diametrically

It is affirmed that the

contrary to these truths.
reason of man is so independent of God, that He

the obligation of faith;

faith and science are so identified that

cannot justly lay upon

again, that

it

they have the same motives, and that there is neither

need nor place in our convictions for the authority of
again, that extrinsic evidence is of no weight,
because men ought to believe only on their own in

God;

ternal experience or private inspiration again, that

all miracles are myths, and all supernatural evid
;

ences useless, because intrinsically incredible once

more, that we can only believe that of which we have
;

and that

scientific proof,

into

doubt the

often as

we

will,

the
analysis, in

it

articles of

and

to

is

lawful for us to call

our faith when and as

submit them to a

meanwhile suspending our

we shall have completed the scientific

The fourth and last Chapter is on
faith to reason.

scientific

faith until

demonstration.
the relation of

In this three things are declared

that there are two orders of knowledge secondly,

that they differ as to their object; thirdly, that they

first,

differ as to their

methods of procedure.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

40

The order
of natural

order

of nature contains the subject-matter

The
religion and of natural science.

of faith

velation

contains

which without

truths

we might have known, though not

re

cer

nor easily; and also truths which, without

Such then are
revelation, we could not have known.
tainly

the two objects of reason and of faith.

The two
methods of procedure likewise differ, inasmuch as
in the order of nature the instrument of
in the supernatural order,

knowledge is
faith, and

it is

discovery
the intellectual processes which spring from faith.
From these principles it is clear that science and
;

faith can

never be in real contradiction.

All seem

ing opposition can only be either from error as to the

doctrine of the Church, or error in the assumptions
of science.
Every assertion, therefore, contrary to

the truth of an illuminated faith,

is

false.

Church, which, together with the Apostolic

For the
office of

teaching, received also the command to guard the

deposit of faith, is divinely invested with the right
and duty of proscribing science falsely so-called, lest

any man be deceived by philosophy and vain deceit.

For the doctrine of Faith which God has revealed,

was not proposed

to the

minds of men

to be

brought

to perfection like an invention of philosophy, but was

delivered to the Spouse of Christ as a divine deposit
to

be faithfully guarded, and

to

be infallibly de

clared.

The importance

of this

first

Constitution on Catho

Faith cannot be over-estimated, and, from

breadth, may not as yet be fully perceived.

lic

It is the broadest

its

great

and boldest affirmation of the

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

50

supernatural and spiritual order ever yet made in

the face of the world which is now, more than ever,
;

sunk in sense and heavy with materialism. It de

clares that a whole order of being and power, of
truth and agency, exists, and is in full play upon

More than

the world of sense.

that this super

present in the world,
this,

natural and spiritual order is

and is incorporated in a visible and palpable form,
That God
over which the world has no authority.

and His operations are sensible visible to the eye,

and audible to the ear. That they appeal to the
reason of man
and that men are irrational, and
;

therefore act both imprudently and immorally, if they

do not listen to, and believe in the Word of God. It
affirms also,
visible
faith,

a doctrine

as

Church
and that

is
it

of revelation, that the

the great motive of credibility to

is
the irrefragable testimony of its
4

own

It moreover asserts that the

divine legation.
Church has a divine commission to guard the deposit of
revelation, and a divine right to proscribe errors of
i

philosophy and vain deceit, that is, all intellectual

aberrations at variance with the deposit of revelation.
Finally, it affirms that the Church has a divine office
to declare infallibly the deposit of truth.

am

not aware that in any previous (Ecumenical

Council the doctrine of the Church, and of its divine
I

and infallible authority, has been

so explicitly defined.

And

yet the Council of the Vatican was not at that

time engaged upon the Schema De Ecdesia, which
still

remains to be treated hereafter.

It

was not how

ever without a providential guidance that the first

Constitution on Catholic Faith was so shaped, espe-

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

chilly in its closing chapter.

great significance that at

Monitum,

which

in

Neither

51

is it

without a

conclusion was appended

the Roman Pontiff by his
its

supreme authority, enjoins all the faithful, Pastors

and people, to drive away all errors
to the

contrary
purity of the faith; arid moreover warns Christians
that it is not enough to
reject positive heresies, but
that

all

errors

which more or

less approach to
heresy
erroneous opinions which
are proscribed and
prohibited by the Constitutions
and decrees of the Holy See.

must be avoided

and

all

When

these words were written,

that they were a
preparation,

it

was not foreseen

unconsciously made, for

the definition of the

Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff.
If the first Constitution had been
designedly framed
as an introduction,

it

opportunely worded.
revelation

it

could hardly have been more

It begins with God and His

closes with the witness

and

office

of

the Visible Church, and with the supreme

authority
of its Head.
The next truth demanded by the in
trinsic relations of doctrine

was the divine endow

ment of infallibility. And when

treated, this doctrine

expectation, and to all likelihood,

presented first to the Council, and by the Council
to the world, in the person and office of the Head of
the Church.

was, contrary to

all

In all theological treatises,

excepting indeed one
or two of great
authority, it had been usual to treat
of the Body of the Church before
treating of its
Head. The reason of this would appear to be, that
in the exposition of doctrine the
logical order

more obvious; and

was the

to the faithful, in the first forma-

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

52

tion of the Church, the

body of the Church was known

We

might have expected that the

Council would have followed the same method. It is,

before

its

Head.

more remarkable that the Council

inverted that order, and defined the prerogative of the
therefore, all the

Head before it treated of the Constitution and en

dowments of the Body. And this, which was brought
about by the pressure of special events, is not without
The Schools of the Church have fol
significance.

lowed the

logical order

but the Church in Council,

began to treat of its own

constitution and authority, changed the method, and,
like the Divine Architect of the Church, began in the
historical order, with the foundation and Head of the

when

for the first time it

Our Divine Lord first chose Cephas, and

invested him with the primacy over the Apostles.
Upon this Rock all were built, and from him the
Church.

whole unity and authority of the Church took its

To Peter alone first was given the plenitude
rise.
of jurisdiction and of infallible authority. Afterwards,
the gift of the Holy Ghost was shared with him by all

the Apostles.
all

began. For

From him and through

which cause a clear

him, therefore,

and precise concep

primacy and privilege

necessary to a
Unless
clear and precise conception of the Church.
the
of the
doctrine
first
it be
distinctly apprehended,
tion of his

Church

is

will be always proportionally obscure.

The

doctrine of the Church does not determine the doctrine

of the Primacy, but the doctrine of the Primacy does

In
precisely determine the doctrine of the Church.
beoinnincy
o therefore with the Head, the Council has
o

followed our Lord

example, both in teaching and in

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

fact;

and

in this will be

53

found one of the causes of

the singular and luminous precision with which the

Council of the Vatican has, in one brief Constitution,

excluded the traditional errors on the Primacy and

Infallibility of the

Roman

Pontiff.

The reasons which prevailed to bring about this

change of method were not only those which demon
strated generally the opportuneness of denning the
doctrine, but those also which showed specially the

necessity of bringing on the question while as yet the

It was
Council was in the fulness of its numbers.

obvious that the length of time consumed in the dis

cussion, reformation, and voting of the schemata was
such, that unless the Constitution

De Romano Pon-

on immediately after Easter, it

tlfice were brought
could not be finished before the setting in of summer

Once dis
should compel the Bishops to disperse.
never
again re
persed, it was obvious they could
assemble in so large a number.
Many who, with
great earnestness, desired to share the blessing and
the grace of extinguishing the most dangerous error

two centuries has disturbed and divided

the faithful, would have been compelled to go back
which

for

to their distant sees

It

and missions, never to return.

was obviously of the

first

moment

that such a

question should be discussed and decided, not, as we

should have been told, in holes and corners, or by a

handful of Bishops, or by a faction, or by a clique,

but by the largest possible assembly of the Catholic
All other questions, on which little
Episcopate.
divergence of opinion existed, might well be left to a
But a doctrine which
smaller number of Bishops.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

54

had divided both Pastors and people,

the defining of which was contested by a numerous
and organised opposition, needed to be treated and

for centuries

by the most extensive

affirmed

deliberation of the

Add to this, the

Bishops of the Catholic Church.
which
over
the
of the
continuance
hung
many perils
of which I need but give one example. The
outbreak of a war might have rendered the definition,

Council

And in fact, the Infallibility of the

impossible.
Roman Pontiff was denned on the eighteenth of July,
and war was

With

declared on the following day.

and many other contingencies fully

officially

these

who

before them, those

believed that the definition

was not only opportune but necessary

of the Church and of the Faith, urged
Events

discussion.

justified

their

for the unity

its

immediate

The

foresight.

debate was prolonged into the heats of July, when,

by mutual

consent,

the

opposing sides withdrew

from a further prolonging of the contest, and closed

If it had not been already protracted
the discussion.
of reasonable debate, for not less
than a hundred fathers in the general and special

beyond

all limits

had spoken,

discussions
fallibility,

it

chiefly if not alone, of in

could not so have ended.*

Both

sides

were convinced that the matter was exhausted.

We

will

now examine,

at least in outline, the first

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ and

I will then confine what I have to add to the defini
;

tion of Infallibility ; thereby completing a part of the

During the session of the council 420 speeches were delivered,

of which nearly one-fourth were on the Infallibility alone.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

subject which in the

55

two previous Pastorals

it

would

have been premature

The Prooemium of the Constitution declares that
to treat.

Church was ordained to

preserve the twofold unity of faith and of communion,
and that for this end one principle and foundation
the institution of the visible

was laid in Peter.

The first Chapter declares the Primacy of Peter
over the Apostles and that his primacy was conferred
on him immediately and directly by our Lord, and
;

consists not only in

honour but

The second Chapter

also in jurisdiction.

affirms this primacy of

honour

and jurisdiction to be perpetual in the Church ; and

that the Roman Pontiffs, as successors of Peter, in

whereby Peter always presides in

teaching and governing the Universal Church.

herit this primacy

his see,

The

third Chapter defines the nature of his jurisdic-

totam plemtudinem hujus supreme

of power to feed, rule, and
potestatis, the plenitude
It is therefore a
govern the Universal Church.
tion,

namely,

jurisdiction episcopal, ordinary,

and immediate over

the whole Church, over both pastors and people, that

over the whole Episcopate, collectively and singly,

and over every particular church and diocese. The

is,

which every
ordinary and immediate jurisdiction
several Bishop in the Church exercises in the flock
over which the Holy Ghost has placed him,

is

thereby

sustained and strengthened.

From

this

Divine

follow the one, that the

:

judge over

all

primacy

Roman

the Church, from

the second, that no power

three
Pontiff

whom

consequences
is

the supreme

lies

no appeal

under God may come

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

56

between the chief pastor of the Church and any, from

the highest to the humblest, member of the flock of
Christ on earth ; the third, that this supreme power or

primacy

not made up of parts, as the sovereignty

is

of constitutional states, but exists in

its

plenitude in

the successor of Peter.*

The fourth and

last

Chapter defines the

of the

doctrinal

Eoman

infallible

authority
of all Christians.
teacher
supreme

Pontiff as the

The Chapter opens by affirming

that to this supreme

jurisdiction

is

exercise

is

its

attached a proportionate grace, whereby

directed and sustained.

This truth has been traditionally held and taught

by the Holy See, by the praxis of the Church, and by
the (Ecumenical Councils, especially those in which
the East and the West met in union together, as for
instance the fourth of Constantinople, the second of

Lyons, and the Council of Florence.

It is then declared, that in virtue of the promise of
our Lord, I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
c

f a perpetual grace of
divinely attached to Peter and

not,

stability in

faith

was

to his successors in his

See.

The
* In

definition then affirms

that the

Roman Pon-

more exactly, and to exclude all

and ample and repeated discussion,
aut eum habere tantum potiores partes, non vero totam

order to

fix this

doctrine

possible equivocation, after full

the words

plenitudinem hujus supreme potestatis, were inserted in the Canon

appended to this Chapter. I notice this, because it has been most
untruly and most invidiously
lated after the discussion.

said, that these

They were

fully

words were interpo

and amply discussed,

and the proof of the fact exists in the short-hand report of the
up in the Archives of the Council.
f St. Luke xx ii. 31, 32.

speeches, laid

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

tiff,

when he speaks

clmrge of the

ex cathedra, that

office of

is,

57

when

Pastor and Doctor of

all

in dis-

Chris

by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he

defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be
held by the Universal Church, by the Divine assistance

tians,

promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed of that

infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed

Church should be endowed for denning doc

And that there
regarding faith and morals.

that His
trine,

fore such definitions of the

Roman

Pontiff are irre-

formable of themselves, and not from the consent of

the Church.
In this definition there are six points to be noted.

meaning of the well-known

phrase, loquens ex cathedra-, that is, speaking from the
1.

First, it defines the

Seat, or place, or

teacher of

all

with the authority of the supreme

Christians,

and binding the assent of the

Universal Church.
Secondly, the subject-matter of his infallible
teaching, namely, the doctrine of faith and morals.
2.

Thirdly, the efficient cause of infallibility, that

the divine assistance promised to Peter, and in Peter

3.
is,

to his successors.

Fourthly, the act to which this divine assistance

attached, namely, the defining of doctrines of faith
4.

is

and morals.
5.

Fifthly, the extension of this infallible authority

to the limits of the doctrinal office of the Church.

Lastly, the dogmatic value of the definitions ex

cathedra, namely, that they are in themselves irre6.

formable, because in themselves infallible, and not be

cause the Church, or any part or member of the

Church, should assent to them.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

58

These six points contain the whole definition of

will therefore

Infallibility.

and then answer

I.

take

them

in order,

certain objections.

First, the definition limits the infallibility of the

Pontiff to the acts which emanate from

him

ex ca

This phrase, which has been long and com

monly used by theologians, has now, for the first time,
thedra.

been adopted into the terminology of the Church;

and in adopting it the Vatican Council fixes its

The

Pontiff speaks ex cathedra when, and

only when, he speaks as the Pastor and Doctor of
all Christians.
By this, all acts of the Pontiff as

meaning.

a private person, or a private doctor, or as a local

Bishop, or as sovereign of a state, are excluded. In all
these acts the Pontiff may be subject to error.
In

one and one only capacity he is exempt from error

that is, when, as teacher of the whole Church, he teaches
;

the whole Church in things of faith and morals.

Our Lord

runt scriba) et
sit

Super cathedram Moysi sedePharisasi

the scribes and Pharisees

declared,

in the chair of Moses.

Moses
Moses

The

seat or

the authority and the

the cathedra Petri is in like

signifies
;

authority and doctrine of Peter.

cathedra

of

doctrine of

manner the

The former was

command and under pain of sin,

God
under the old law; the latter
upon
is binding
by Divine command and under pain of sin,
upon the people of God under the new.
binding by Divine

the people of

need not here draw out the traditional use of

the term cathedra Petri, which in St. Cyprian, St.

Optatus, and St. Augustine is employed as synony

mous with the successor of Peter, and is used to

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

59

Ex
express the centre and test of Catholic unity.
cathedra is therefore equivalent to ex cathedra
/V/v, and distinguishes those acts of the successor
of Peter which are done as supreme teacher of the

whole Church.

The value
excludes

of this phrase

all cavil

is
great, inasmuch as it
and equivocation as to the acts of

the Pontiff in any other capacity than that of Supreme

Doctor of all Christians, and in any other subject-

matter than the matters of faith and morals.

Secondly, the definition limits the range, or, to
speak exactly, the object of infallibility, to the doctrine
of faith and morals.
It excludes therefore all other
II.

.matter whatsoever.

in

The great commission or charter of the Church is,

the words of our Lord, Go ye therefore and teach
c

nations

all

teaching them to observe

all

things

have commanded you and behold, I

with you all days, even to the consummation of

whatsoever

am

the world. *

In these words are contained five points.

1. First, the
perpetuity and universality of the

mission of the Church as the teacher of mankind.

Secondly, the deposit of the Truth and of the
commandments, that is, of the Divine Faith and law
2.

entrusted to the Church.

Thirdly, the office of the Church, as the sole
interpreter of the Faith and of the Law.
3.

has the sole Divine jurisdiction

existing upon earth, in matters of salvation, over the
reason and the will of man.
4.

Fourthly, that

* St.

it

Matthew

xxviii. 19, 20.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

60

Fifthly, that in the discharge of this office our

5.

Lord

with His Church always, and to the consum

is

mation of the world.

The

doctrine of faith, and the doctrine of morals

are here explicitly described.

The
lible in this deposit of revelation.

Church

is

infal

And

in this deposit are truths and morals both of

and of the supernatural order; for the
natural
the
religious truths and morals of the natural order are

taken up into the revelation of the order of grace, and

form a part of the object of

The

infallibility.

and morals signifies the

phrase, then,
whole revelation of faith; the whole way of salvation
1.

through
that

all

tion of

faith; or the

faith

whole supernatural order, with

and salva

essential to the sanctification

is

man through

Jesus Christ.

Now, this formula is variously expressed by the

Church and by theologians; but it always means one
and the same thing.
The Second Council of Lyons says, if any ques
c

tions

arise concerning faith,

they are to be decided

by the Roman Pontiff.*

The Council of Trent uses the formula in things
of faith and morals, pertaining to the edification of
c

Christian doctrine. f

Bellarmine says,

in things

which pertain to

faith,

and again, The Roman Pontiff cannot err in faith

and further he says, Not only in decrees of faith the
c

Si qiicC subortos fuerint quasstiones de fide, suo (i.e. Rom. Pont.)

definiri.
Labbe, Condi, torn. xiv. p. 512. Venice,

debent judicio
1731.
f

In rebus fidei et

pertinentium.

morum ad

Labbe, Condi,

a^dificationem doctrinas Christianas

torn. xx. p. 23.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

Supreme Pontiff cannot

(J

but neither (can he err)

err,

in moral precepts which are enjoined on the whole

Church, and which are conversant with things neces
which are in them
sary to salvation, or with those

selves o
good or evil.

Gregory of Valentia says, Without any restric

tion it is to be said, that whatsoever the Pontiff
determines in controverted matters which have re
spect to piety, he determines infallibly when,
has been stated, he obliges the whole Church

as

and

Whatsoever the Pontiff

again,

troverted matter of religion,

asserts in

it is

it

any con

to be believed that

he asserts infallibly by his Pontifical authority, that

assistance. f
is, by Divine

Bannez proposes the

Roman

(the
faith?

Pontiff)

err

in

words

Can

c
:

of

matters

defining

Antoninus

S.

thesis in these

says,

head in the Church, to

*
In liis quae
errare in fide

admit one

It is necessary to

whom

belongs to clear up

it

Pontilex Romanus non

ad fid cm pertinent.
Non solum in decretis fidei errare non

potest

JH.U-M

Summus

Pontifex, sed neque in praeceptis morura, quae toti Eeclcsia

in iis
pnescribuntur, et qua? in rebus necessariis ad fmlulmt, vel
qua? per se

bona vel mala

Poatifice, lib. iv.

capp.

iii.

sunt, versantur.
v. pp.

Bellarmine,

795, 804.

Venice,

De

Eoi/mno

159!>.

dicendum est, quicquid Pontili-x in

rebus controversis ad pietatcm spectantibus deti-rminat, infullibilitcr
ilium determinare, quando, ut expositum est, universam Ecclt .-iam

Absque

obligat.

ulla restrictione

Greg, de

Valentia,

Opp.

torn.

iii.

i.

disp.

qu.

i.

Do

Objecto Fidei, punct. vii. s. 40, p. 312. Ingolstadt,

Qusccumque Pontifex in aliqua re de religione controversa Mex
asserit, certa fide credendum est ilium infallibiliter, utpotc
15D.">.

;ni<

toritate Pontificia,
p.

ex Divinu

assistcntia, asscrere.

Ibid.

s.

3D,

303.
J

Q.

i.e.

An

possit in rebus fidei definiendifl

2. q. 1. art. 10.

ernuc

In N//w. S. Th.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

62

doubts concerning whatsoever relates to faith, whether

*
speculative or practical.
Suarez says, It is a Catholic truth, that the

defining ex cathedra

tiff

not

err,

is

Pon

a rule of faith which can

whensoever he proposes authoritatively any

whole Church. f

thing to be believed of faith to the

And
c.

De

in his treatise

Religione, tract, ix. 1. 3,

n. 5, speaking of the Bull of Gregory XIII.,

4,

by which it is declared that

vows
a
constitute
true religious state, he says
simple
Ascendente Domino,

that the truth of this definition

so that

reason

it
is,

is

altogether infallible,

The

cannot be denied without error.

because the

sentence

of the Pontiff in

things which pertain to doctrine contains infallible

certainty by the institution and promise of Christ,
I have prayed for thee."
Afterwards he adds, The
c

"

providence of Christ our Lord over His Church

would be greatly diminished if He should permit His
Yicar, in deciding such questions ex cathedra, to
into error. J
*

fall

Oportet enim in Ecclesia ponere unum caput, ad quod pertinet

ilia quas sunt dubia circa quascumque ad fidem
pertinentia,

declarare

Summa

sive sint speculativa sive agibilia.

Tlieol.

p.

iii.

tit.

22,

c. 3.

Veritas Catholica est Pontificem defmientem ex cathedra esse

j"

fidei, quae errare non potest quando aliquid authentice proponit toti Ecclesiae, tanquam de fide credendum.
Suarez, DC,
1622.
Fide, disp. v. sec. 8, torn. xiii. p. 94.
Mentz,

regulam

Omnino infallibilem,

ita ut sine errore in fide negari non possit.

quia sententia Pontificis in Jus quce ad doctrinam pertinent,
infallibilem continet certitudinem ex Christi institution e et permis-

Ratio
sione

est,

"

Christi

Valde autem diminuta faisset

suam Ecclesiam si in decidendis
ex cathedra Vicarium suum labi permitteret.

Ego rogavi pro

Domini providentia

te."

talibus qurcstionibus
Id. De Relifjione Soc, Jcsu,

circa

lib. iii. c. 4, n. 5, torn. xvii.

p.

427.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

G3

Melchior Canus says, The Roman Pontiff succeeds

by Divine right to Peter both in firmness of fuith

and
1

in deciding controversies of religion

The Roman

cannot
S.

err.

and

again,
Pontiff in ending controversies of faith
;

Alphonsus

When

affirms,

the

universal Doctor, ex cathedra, that

Pope speaks

as

by the supreme

is,

authority to teach the Church, delivered to Peter,

in deciding controversies of faith and morals, lie is
altogether infallible. f

Hervaeus says, The authority of declaring doubtful

points in such matters belongs to the Pope, that is, in
4

things pertaining to the natural or divine law; and

That his declaration ought to
afterwards he adds,
c

be held as true, so that

to opine the contrary. J

it

is

not lawful to hold or

Gregory de Yalentia adds,

whole Church is bound to obey
to the

pertain

In him,

in those things

spiritual health of the soul,

concern faith or morals, there

whom

is

infallible authority
c

Again: Christ
the death of Peter, some one should

Romanus Pontifex Petro

nendis

religioiris controversiis

tifex in

Canus,
l

et

in

fidei firmitate et in cornpo-

Romanus Pon

divino jure succedit.

controversiis finiendis errare non potcst.

loc. Theol. lib. vi. c. 4 and 7.

fidei

De

which

whether they

for the judging questions of faith.

willed that after

the

Melchior

Quum Papa

loquitur tanquam Doctor universalis ex cathedra,

potestate suprema tradita Petro docendi Ecclesiam in
controversiis lidei et morum decernendis, est omnino infallibilis.
S.
t

nempe ex

torn.

Alphons. Lig. Opp.

J
est,

i.

lib.

i.

tract. 2, p.

135.

Mechlin, 1845.

Ad Pjpam

pertinet atictoritas declarandi dubia in talilms, hoc

in pertinentibus ad jus naturale vcl dirt /inni, &c.
De Pot.

Papcz,

ii.

col. 4.

Quod

declaratio sua de-beat

quod non liceat oppositnm tenere vel opinan." De

apud S. Anton. Koccab. Bill. Pont if. torn. v. p. GG.

ita

Imbed ut vera,
Potent. 1 \tpnli,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

61

be acknowledged by the Church in perpetual succession

in Peter s place on whom Christ Himself should con
:

fer supreme authority as He did on Peter, of ordaining

the matters which relate to faith, and to other things
And fur
pertaining to the salvation of the faithful.

ther he says, c that He (Christ) may confer on him

the authority, which Peter had, that is, that by a
certain law he

may

so ordain as to co-operate with

him by

a peculiar assistance, in rightly appointing

such things in doctrine and morals as pertain to the

good

estate

And
c

of the Church?

more

still

It is not to

explicitly in another place he says,

be denied, that what has been said of the

infallible certainty of the Pontifical definitions,

good,

first,

in those things

holds

which the Pontiff has pro

posed to the faithful, in deciding doctrinal controversies

and exterminating

God, and to be
forasmuch
as
the Church is
But,
by
and
bound
to
its
the
Divine Scrip
hear
Pastor,
always
believed

errors, as revealed of

faith.

ture declares absolutely the Church to be the pillar and

ground of the truth (1 Tim. iii.), and therefore it can

not ever err as a whole, it cannot be doubtful, that

the authority of the Pontiff is infallible in all other
things which regard piety, and the whole Church. Nor
do I think that this can be denied without error.

Gregory then applies

Saints, and concludes

this

the

to

canonisation

of

This certainty surely rests

of
the
same
God, by which we have
promises
upon
seen that it can never be that the whole Church
should err in matters of religion. *
:

Cui Ecclesia tola obtemperare tenetur, in iis rebus, qua? ad

spiritualem aiiimcc salutcm pertinent, sive ilia* fidem sive mores con-

TIIE

TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

Here we have the

single

word

65

faith put to stand

whole revealed order of salvation

for the

are contained under faith

and

for

which

this,

is

morals

the ulti

mate object of infallibility, is expressed in the following

and various formulas: 1. Concerning faith. 2. In
things of faith and morals.
to faith.

4.

Things

3.

Things which pertain

5. Pre

necessary to salvation.

cepts of morals binding the whole Church.

6.

Things

to

7.
8.
pertaining
piety.
Things of religion.
of
faith
arid
9.
Things
speculative
practical.
Things

pertaining to doctrine.

10. Controversies of religion.

11.

Things pertaining to the natural and Divine laws.

12.

Things pertaining to the spiritual health of

souls.

cernant, in eo auctoritas est infallibilis ad fidei quaestiones dijudicandas.

Gregory de Valentia, disp. 1. q. 1, De Objecto Fidei, p.
*

27, p. 238.

Ingoldstadt, 1595.
Voluit Christus ut Petro vita defuncto aliquis perpetua serie
successions in locum Petri ab Ecclesia reciperetur, cui Christus ipse
vii. q. 5. s.

auctoritatem

supremam

sicut Petro conferred, de fide et aliia rebus

ea constituendi quae ad salutem fidelinm pertineant.

Ut is [Christus] illi conferat auctoritatem
p. 275.
1

Ibid

s.

35,

quam Petrus
quadam assistentia

habuit, hoc est, ut certa lege statuat, peculiar!

cum eo concurrere ad ea in doctrina et moribus recto constituenda
quse

ad bonum

Ecclesice statum pertineant

Non estnegandum, quin quod dictum

est

Ibid.

de

s.

36, p. 279.

infallibili certitudine

definitionum Pontificis, imprimis locum habeat, in iis quae Pontifex

ad doctrinaj controversias finiendas erroresque exterminandos fidelium

tanquam a Deo revelata et credenda ex fide. Cseterum,

quoniam Pastorem suum semper audire tenetur Ecclesia, etEcclesiam
divina Scriptura absolute praedicat esse columnam et firmamontum
veritatis (1 Tim. iii.), ideoque nunquam errare tota
potest; dubiuui
esse non debet, quin in aliis quoque rebus omnibus
asserendis,
proposuit,

qua;

tnl

iiillibilis

spectent, et Ecclesiam totam concernent, inPontificis auctoritas.

Neque sane arbitror, hoc absque

pntntem
sit

errorc negari posse.

sionibus nititur ex

Qua; sane certitude iisdcm illis Dei promisquibus compertum hubc-mus nunquam esse
iuturum ut uni versa Ecclesia in rebus religionis fallatur.
Ibid. s.
10, p.

306.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

66
13.

And

good

to the salvation of the faithful.

estate of the Church.

troversies

14.

The deciding

15.

and the extermination

To

the

of con

of errors.

16.

Things which regard piety and the whole Church.

17. Matters of religion.

These might be greatly multiplied. They will,

however, suffice to show how wide and general is the
simple formula in faith and morals, which is the
traditionary expression of the object of the infallibility
of the Church.

They

are

clear that these phrases

It is

are

more or

less explicit,

all

equivalent.

but they contain the

same ultimate meaning, namely, that the Church

has an infallible guidance in treating of all matters
of

faith,

morals, piety, and the general good of the

Church.

The
vealed

object of infallibility, then,

of God, and all that

Word

is
is

the whole re
so in contact

with revealed truth, that without treating of it, the

Word of God could not be guarded, expounded, and
defended.
As, for instance, in declaring the Canon
and authenticity and true interpretation of Holy
Scripture, and the like.

Further, it is clear that the Church has an infallible

guidance, not only in all matters that are revealed,
but also iii all matters which are opposed to reve
lation.

For the Church could not discharge its office

it were able with

as the Teacher of all nations, unless

infallible certainty to proscribe doctrines at variance

with the word of God.

From

the direct object of

Word, of God ; the

this, again, it follows that

infallibility is

the Revelation, or

indirect object is whatsoever is necessary for its expo-

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

sition or defence,

Word

and whatsoever

of God, that

having a divine

is,

to faith

office to

is

67

contrariant to the

and morals. The Church

condemn

errors in faith

and

morals, has therefore an infallible assistance in dis

cerning and in proscribing false philosophies and false

science.*
Under this head comes the condemnation
of heretical

texts,

such

as

of Jansenius, and the like

Three Chapters,

the

proscribed in the Fifth Council,

and

the

Augustinus
both

also censures,

greater and less, those, for instance, of heresy and

of error, because of their contrariety to faith; those
also of temerity,

scandal,

and the

like,

because of

their contrariety to morals at least.

It is therefore evident that

2.

rity of the Church

is

the doctrinal autho

not confined to matters of revela

but extends also to positive truths which are not

revealed, whensoever the doctrinal authority of the
tion,

Church cannot be duly exercised in the promulga

tion, explanation, and defence of revelation without
judging and pronouncing on such matters and truths.
This will be clear from the following propositions
:

First, the doctrinal authority of the

infallible in all

Church

is

matters and truths which are neces

sary to the custody of the Depositum.

This extends to certain truths of natural science,
and to
as, for example, the existence of substance
;

truths of the natural reason, such as that the soul

* Porro
Ecclesia, qnae una

datum

accepit fidei

is

apostolico inunere doccndi, mancustodiendi, jus etiam et officium

cum

depositum

divinitus habet falsi nominis scientiam proscribendi, ne quis deciii.

Con8).
jiiatur per philosophiam, et inancm fallaciam (Coloss.
stltatio

Prlut

de Fide Catholica, cap.

Appendix, No. IV.

r2

iv.

De Fide

ct

Hutione.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

68

immaterial

and the

that

like.

It

it

the

is

form of the body

*
;

extends also to certain truths of the

supernatural order, which are not revealed; as, the

authenticity of certain texts or versions of the Holy
Scriptures.

The Council

of Trent

by a dogmatic decree

under anathema, that the Vulgate edition

Now

this is a definition or

believed on the

But

infallible

this truth or fact is

is

declared,

authentic.

dogmatic judgment, to be
authority of the Church.

not revealed.

of mere human his

(2.) Secondly, there are truths
which
tory, which therefore are not revealed, without
the deposit of the Faith cannot be taught or guarded in
For instance, that St. Peter was Bishop
its integrity.

of

Rome

that the Council of Trent

and the Council

of the Vatican are (Ecumenical, that is, legitimately

celebrated and confirmed; that Pius IX. is the
of Peter

successor

by

legitimate

election.

These

truths are not revealed. They have no place in Scrip

and except the first, they have no place in
ture
;

yet they are so necessary to the order of

that the whole would be undermined if they

tradition
faith,

But such infallible cer

tainty is impossible by means of human history and
human evidence alone. It is created only by the in

were not

infallibly certain.

authority of the Church.

not
(3.) Thirdly, there are truths of interpretation,
revealed, without which the deposit of the faith can

fallible

not be preserved.
The Council of Trent f declares that to the Church
it

belongs to judge of the

true

sense and

* Concil. Later. V. Bulla

Apostolid Iteyiminis.

inter-

f Sess. iv

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

pretation of

Now

Holy Scripture.

Holy Scripture

is

twofold

the sense of the

namely, the

literal

the sensus quis;

or, as it is called,

grammatical,

69

and
and

the theological and

doctrinal, or the sensus qualis.

The Church judges infallibly of both. It judges of
the question that such and such words or texts have

such and such

judges

literal

and grammatical meaning.

It

also of the conformity of such

meaning with
contradiction to the same.

the rule of faith, or of its

The former is a question of

That the

latter falls

the latter of dogma.

within the infallible judgment of
fact,

the Church has been denied

The former has been denied,

by none but heretics.

for a time, by some who

continued to be Catholics

for this

is,

in truth, the

question of dogmatic facts. But the Jansenists never

ventured to extend their denial to the text of Scrip

though the argument is one and the same. The

Church has the same assistance in judging of the
grammatical and of the theological sense of texts,
ture,

whether sacred or simply human

it

and has exercised

in all ages.

For instance: Pope Hormisdas* says, The vener

able wisdom of the Fathers providently defined
by
faithful ordinance

what doctrines

are Catholic

fixing

also certain parts of the ancient

books to be received

as of authority, the

so instructing

lest the reader,

assert not that

Holy Ghost

own

indulging his

opinion

which tends to the

them;
should

edification of the

Church, but what his own pleasure had conceived.

Pope Nicholas I. f writes, By their decree (i.e. that
4

* Hormisdae
Ep. LXX. Labbe, Condi, toin. v. p. 6G4.
f Nic. Ep. ad Univ. Episc. Gallia?, Labbe, Concil.toui. x. p. 282.

70

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

of the

Roman

Pontiffs) the writings of other authors

what the Apo

this day, and what

are approved or condemned, so that

See approves, is to be held at

has rejected, is to be esteemed of- no effect, &c.
Pope Gelasius, in a Council held at Rome, decreed
as follows
Also the writings of Cascilius Cyprianus.
stolic

it

Martyr, Bishop of Carthage, are in all things to be

received; also the writings of Blessed Gregory, Bishop
of Nazianzum.

also the writings

and

treatises of

orthodox Fathers, who in nothing have deviated

from the fellowship of the Holy Roman Church, nor
have been separated from its faith and preaching;
all

but have been partakers by the grace of God of its

communion unto the last day of their life, we decree
to be read. *

Turrecremata

says,

It is to

be believed that the

Roman

Pontiff is directed by the Holy Ghost in things

of faith, and consequently in these cannot err other
wise any one might as easily say that there was error
;

in the choice (or discernment) of the four Gospels,

and of the canonical epistles, and of the books of

other

doctors,

some,

approving

and

disapproving

which, however, we read, and as is evident,

was determined by the Roman Pontiffs Gregory and
others

Gelasius. f Again, he says, The sixth kind of Catho

lic truths are those which are asserted by doctors,
c

approved by the Universal Church for the defence of

This
the faith and the confutation of heretics.
.

is

evident
*

for since the Church,

Labbe, Condi,

f Turrecremata,

M.

Rocaberti, torn.

torn. v. p.

De

which

directed

by

387.

potestate Papali, lib.

xiii. p.

is

453.

ii.

cap. 112, in Bibl.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

the

71

certain doctors, receiving

necessarily follows that the

Holy Ghost, approves

their doctrine as true,

it

doctrine of such (writers), delivered by way of asser

tion, and never otherwise retracted, is true and ought
to be held

by

all

the faithful with firm belief, in so

received by the Universal Church; other

wise, the Universal Church would appear to have
far as

it is

erred in approving and accepting their doctrine as

*
true, which however was not true.

And

Stapleton

lays

down,

Bishops

when

they treat of the Scripture as doctors, have not this

certain and infallible authority of which we are speak
ing until their treatises, approved by sacred authoritv,
are commended by the Church as Catholic and cer
:

tainly orthodox interpretation,

which Gelasius

first

did/t&c.
I will give

one more example, as

it is

eminently in

point.

The Church has approved

works of

St.

in a special

manner the

Augustine as containing the true doc

and semi- Pelagian

trines of grace against the Pelagian

heresies.

In this particular, his works have been declared to

be orthodox by St. Innocent I., St. Zosimus, St.
Boniface

I., St.

and Boniface

Celestine, St. Hormisdas, St. Felix IV.,

II.

For that reason Clement

condemned the book of Launoy

tradition de
&c., as

called

XL justly
c

Veritable

Eglise sur la Predestination et la Grace/

and blasphemous, and in

Augustine, the shining light and chief

at least impious

jurious to St.
* Ibid.

lib. iv. p.

| Controv. Fidei,

ii. c.

ii.

382.

lib. x. c. ii. p.

355, ed. Paris, 1G20.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

72

doctor of the Catholic Church

as also to the Church

*
itself and to the
Apostolic See.
in
this
Now,
approbation the Church approved the
doctrine of St. Augustine, not only in the sensus
;

qualis but also in the sensus quis

that

is, it

approved

not only a possible theological sense which was or

thodox, but the very and grammatical sense of the
text.

was therefore a true doctrinal judgment

It

as to a dogmatic fact.
For, as Cardinal Gerdil argues, the doctrine of St.

Augustine was proposed by the Church as a rule of

faith against the Pelagian and semi- Pelagian errors.
c

When it

is

said that the doctrine of St.

Augustine in

the matter of grace was adopted by the Church, it

must not be understood in the sense as if St. Augus

had worked out a peculiar system for himself,

which the Church then adopted as its own
The great merit of St. Augustine is, that with mar

tine

learning he expounded and defended the

antient belief of the faithful. f
The Church infal
vellous

libly discerned the

orthodoxy of his writings, and

approving them, commended them as a rule of faith.

If the Church have this infallible discernment of
the meaning, grammatical and theological, of orthodox
texts, it has eodem intuitu the same discernment of

For the universal

practice of the
the
of
orthodox, and
commending
writings
of condemning those of heterodox authors, is a part

heterodox texts.

Church

in

of the doctrinal authority of the

* Brev.
vi. p.

<

Cum.

sicutj

28 Jan. 1704.

Church in the

D Argentre,

Collec. Jud. torn,

444.

t Saggio

$ Jstruz.

teol.

De

gratia/ ed.

Rom.

p. 189.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

custody and defence of the faith.
within the limits of its infallibility.

73

It falls therefore

The commendation of

the works of St. Augustine,

and the condemnation of the Thalia of Arius at Nica?a,

of the Anathematisms of Nestorius at Ephesus, and of

the Three Chapters of Ibas, Theodore, and Theodoret,
in the

Second Council of Constantinople,

all alike in

volved a judgment of dogmatic facts.

The subterfuge of the Jansenists as to the

literal

meaning of Augustinus came too late. The practice

of the Church and the decrees of Councils had already
4

its

pronounced
(4.)

condemnation.

What has

of heretical texts,

here been said of the condemnation

is

equally applicable to the censures

of the Church.

The condemnation of

propositions

is

only the con

demnation of a text by fragments.

The same discernment which ascertains the ortho

doxy of

certain propositions, detects the heterodoxy

of those which are contradictory.

And in both pro
cesses that discernment is infallible.
To define
doctrines of faith, and to

of heresy,

is

infallibility of the

propositions

is

condemn

the contradictions

almost one and the same

Church

in

act.

condemning

The

heretical

denied by no Catholic.

In like manner, the detection and condemnation of

propositions at variance with theological certainty is
a function of the same discernment by which theo
But the Church has an
logical certainty is known.
infallible

discernment of truths which are theologically

is, of conclusions resulting from two

of
which
one is revealed and the other
premisses
evident by the light of nature.

certain;

that

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

74

In these two kinds of censures, at

fore of faith that the

As

Church

least, it is

there

is infallible.

to the other censures, such as temerity, scandal,

offence to pious ears, and the like, it is evident that

they all relate to the moral character of propositions.
It is not credible that a proposition condemned by

the Church as rash should not be rash, and as scan

dalous should not be scandalous, or as offensive to pious

If the Church
ears should not be such, and the like.

be

infallible in faith

and morals,

it

is

not to be be

can err in passing these moral judgments

on the ethical character of propositions. In truth,

lieved that

it

Catholic theologians, without exception, so far

as I know, teach that the Church is infallible in all
all

such censures.*

They

differ

only in this

declare this truth to be of faith,

denial of

to be heresy

it

faith as to the

that some

and therefore the

others declare

it

to be of

condemnation of heretical propositions,

be only of theological certainty;

but in all others to

so that the denial of

To deny

the

it to

be not heresy, but error.

infallibility

of the

Church in the

censures less than for heresy, is held to be heretical

by De Panormo, Malderus, Coninck, Diana, Oviedo,

Matteucci,

Amici,

Murray

Pozzobonelli,

calls it objective heresy.

Viva,
Griffini,

Nannetti.

Herincx,

Ripalda, Ferraris, and Reinerding do not decide

whether it be heretical, erroneous, or proximate to
Cardenas and Turrianus hold it to be
error.

erroneous

De Lugo
*

Anfossi erroneous, or proximate to error.

in one place maintains that it is erroneous ;
;

Of course,

censure.

am

not speaking of writers whose works are under

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

75

deny the infallibility of the Church

condemnation of erroneous propositions, is

in another, that to
in the

heresy.* All, therefore, affirm the Church in passing

such censures to be infallible.

The

infallibility of the

Church

in all censures less

than heresy may be proved from the acts of the

Council of Constance.
In the eleventh article of the
Interrogatory proposed to the followers of Huss are
included condemnations of all kinds.
They were

asked whether they believed the articles of Wickliffe

and Huss to be not Catholic, but some of them
4

notoriously heretical, some erroneous, others temera

rious and seditious, others offensive to pious ears. f
*

De Panormo,

Scrutinium Doctrinarum, cap.

iii.

art. xiii.

num.

Rome, 1709; Diana, Opp. torn. ix. De infall. Rom.

resol. x. num. 8 sqq. p. 262, Venice, 1698; Amici, Cursus
Theologicus, torn. iv. De Fide, disp. vii. num. 55, p. 146, Douay,
1641
Matteucci, Opus Dogmatic. De Controv. Fidei, vii. cap. iii.
num. 33, p. 359, Venice, 1755 Viva, Theses Damnatce, quacst.
prodrom. num. xviii. p. 10, Padua, 1737; Murray, De Ecclesia,
7 sqq.
Pont,

p.

196,

torn.

iii.

fasc.

i.

Moral, dub.

et

iii.

disp.

thec.

i.

p.

226, Dublin, 1865; Hevincx,

ix.

sect. 7,

num. 98,
num. 59,

Canonic, torn.

vi.

Summ.

Theol. Schol.

186, Antwerp, 1663; Ripalda, torn,

Ferraris, Billiop. 16, Cologne, 1648
p.

sub. v. Prop,

Damn. num.

37, p. 565,

Rome,

1789; Reinerding, Tlieol. Fundamental, tract, i. num. 408, p. 237,

Minister, 1864 Cardenas, Crisis Theologica, dis. proocm. num. 140,
;

35, Cologne, 1690;

p.

disp. xxx. dub.

rem FideiJ lett.

Fidei, torn.

iii.

Turrianus, Select. Disput. Theol.

pars

i.

Lyons, 1634; Anfossi, Difesa delV Auctox. torn. ii. p. 141, Rome, 1816; De Lugo, De Virtutc
disp. xx. sect. 3, num. 109, p. 324, and num. 1133, p. 149,

117, p. 325, Venice, 1751.

For the summary and

for the references

to Pozzobonelli, Malderus, Coninck, Oviedo, Nannetti and Griffini,

I am indebted to an unpublished work of Fr. Granniello of the

congregation of Barnabites in Rome.

Utrum credat sententiam sacri
f
.

scilicet

quod

supradicti

45

Constantiensis

articuli

Joannis Huss triginta, non sunt Catholici

sed

Joannis

concilii,

Wicliff,

quidam ex

eis

et

sunt

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

76

Martin V., therefore, in the Bull

requires belief, that

is,

Inter

cunctos

interior assent, to all such con

demnations made by the Council of Constance, which

therein extended its infallible jurisdiction to all the

minor censures,
In

like

than that of heresy.

manner, again, in the Bull Auctorem Fidei,
less

the propositions condemned as heretical are very

few, but the propositions condemned as erroneous,
scandalous, offensive, schismatical, injurious, are very

numerous.

During the last three hundred years, the Pontiffs

have condemned a multitude of propositions of which
perhaps not twenty were censured with the note of
heresy.

Now
some

in every censure the

truth relating to faith or

Church proposes to us
morals and whether
;

the matter of such truths be revealed or not revealed,

it nevertheless so
pertains to faith and morals that

the deposit could not be guarded if the Church in

such judgments were liable to error.

The Apostle declares that the Church is the pillar

and ground of the Truth. * On what authority these
c

words can be
not know.

modern, who

restricted to revealed truths alone, I

do

know

of no commentator, ancient or
so restricts them.
On the other hand

Peter Damian, Sixtus V., Ferre, Cardinal de

Lugo, Gregory de Valentia, expressly extend these
St.

words

to all truths necessary to the custody of the

deposit.
notorie

haeretici,

piarum aurium
* 1 Tim. iii.

quidam

offensivi.

15.

erronei,

alii

temerarii

Labbe, Condi,

et

torn. xvi. p.

seditiosi,

194.

alii

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

77

abundantly confirmed by the

For the Church
following declarations of Pius IX.
by its Divine institution is bound with all diligence to
This

doctrine

is

guard whole and inviolate the deposit of Divine faith,

and constantly to watch with supreme zeal over the
salvation of souls, driving away therefore, and elimi
nating with

all

all

exactness,

things which are either

contrary to faith or can in

the salvation of souls.

any way bring into peril

Wherefore the Church, by

the power committed to it by its Divine Author, has

not only the right, but above all the duty, of not
tolerating but of proscribing and of condemning all
errors, if the integrity of the faith and the salvation

of

souls

who

should so require.

On

all

philosophers

desire to remain sons of the Church,

and on

philosophy, this duty lies, to assert nothing con

trary to the teaching of the Church, and to retract
all

such things when the Church shall so admonish.

all

The opinion which teaches contrary to this we pro

nounce and declare altogether erroneous, and in the
highest degree injurious to the faith of the Church,

and

*
to its authority.

From

all

that has been said,

it

is

evident that the

Church claims no jurisdiction over the processes of

philosophy or science, except as they bear upon re
nor does it claim to intervene in
vealed truths
;

philosophy or science as a judge or censor of the

The
principles proper to such philosophy or science.
only judgment it pronounces regards the conformity
or variance of such processes of the human intelli* Litterse Pii
IX.,
Frising. Dec. 18G2.

Gravi.ssimas inter,

ad Archiep. Mon.ic.

c-t

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

78

gence with the deposit of

revealed morality
infallible office,

that

faith,

is,

and the principles of

in order to the end of its

namely, the guardianship of Divine

revelation.
I will

not here attempt to enumerate the subjectfall within the limits of the infalli

matters which
bility of the

Church.

It belongs to the

determine the limits of its

it

own infallibility.

has not done so except by

practice of the
its infallible

Church alone to

its

Church we may

acts,

and from the

what matter

infer to

discernment extends.

Hitherto

It is

enough

for

the present to show two things

1. First, that the
infallibility of the Church ex
:

tends, as

we have

seen, directly to the

whole matter

of revealed truth, and indirectly to all truths which

though not revealed are in such contact with revela
tion that the deposit of faith

and morals cannot be

guarded, expounded, and defended without an

lible discernment of such unrevealed truths.

infal

Secondly, that this extension of the infallibility

of the Church is, by the unanimous teaching of all
theologians, at least theologically certain and, in the
2.

Judgment of the majority of theologians, certain

the certainty of faith.
Such

the

traditional

by

doctrine

respecting the
infallibility of the Church in faith and morals.
By
the definition of the Vatican Council, what is tra
is

ditionally believed

the faithful in respect to the

expressly declared of the Roman Pontiff.
definition of the extent of that infal

by

Church is
But the
libility, and of the

all

certainty on

which

it

rests,

in

matters not revealed, has not been treated as yet,

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

but

for the

left

is

79
c

second part of the

Schema De

Ecclesia.
III. Thirdly, the definition declares the efficient
cause of infallibility to be a Divine assistance pro
mised to Peter, and in Peter to his successors.

The

explicit promise is that of our Divine

not,

Lord

have prayed for thee that thy faith

and thou being once converted, confirm thy

to Peter,
fail

brethren. *

The

implicit promise

is in

the words

On

this

my Church, and the gates of Hell

not prevail against it/ f
I will build

The

rock
shall

traditional interpretation of these promises is

precise.

The words,

rogavi pro te, ut non deficiat fides

tua, et tu aliquando con versus confirma fratres tuos,
are interpreted, by both Fathers and Councils, of the

Ego

perpetual stability of Peter s faith in his see and his

successors and of this assertion I give the following
;

proofs.

on Faith,
said
Christ
to
I
have
Peter,
says,
prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not.
Was He not therefore able
St.

Ambrose, A.D. 397,

in his treatise

to confirm the faith of

him

to

whom by

His

own

He

authority
gave the kingdom? whom He pointed
out as the foundation of the Church, when He called

him the rock?

* St.
Luke, xxii. 32.
f St. Matth. xvi. 18.
J Habea in evangelic qtiia
deficiat fides tua.
Ergo cui

Pctro dixit, Rogavi pro te ut non

propria auctoritate regnuin dabat, liujus
fidem firmare non poterat; quern cum petram dixit linnjuiu-ntum
Ecclesiae indicavit?
St. Ambrose De Fide, lib. iv.
v. torn. iii.
cap.

p.

072, ed. Ben. Venice, 1751.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

80
St.

John Chrysostom,

A.D. 407, in his

on the Acts of the Apostles,

writes,

commentary

He

(i.e.

Peter)

takes the lead in the matter, as he was himself en

trusted with the care of

For Christ

all.

Thou, being converted, confirm thy

said to him,
brethren. *

Augustine, A.D. 430, in his commentary on the

words of Psalm cxviii. 43, And take not Thou the
St.

word of truth

utterly out of my mouth, says, There

fore the whole body of Christ speaks
that is, the
;

And the Lord

Holy Church.
Himself said to Peter, I have prayed for thee, that

universality of the

thy faith fail not, that is, that the word of truth be
not utterly taken out of thy mouth. f

commen

of Alexandria, A.D. 444, in his

St. Cyril

tary on St. Luke, says, The Lord, when He hinted at

the denial of His disciple and said, I have prayed for
c

thee, that

immediately utters a
word of consolation, thou being converted, confirm
thy brethren; that is, be the confirmer and teacher
of those
*
TTfJOQ

thy faith

who come

fail

Me by

to

Uputrog rov TrpayparoQ avdei

TOIITOV ELTCEV 6 XptOTOQ

yap

not,

faith. J
&re CLVTOQ iravraQ

Tel,

K.CU ffV

7TOTE

i7TL(rr

St. Joann. Chrys. Opp. torn. ix. p. 26, ed.

adeA^oug 0ov.
Ben. Paris, 1731.
t Totum itaque corpus Christ! loquitur, id est Ecclesiae sanctae
universitas.
Et ipse Dominus ad Petrum, Kogavi, inquit, pro te, ne

roue

deh ciat

fides tua

hoc

est

ne auferatur ex ore tuo verbum veritatis

St. Augustin. Enarratio

usque valde.
ed. Ben. Paris, 1681.

et TOi

trep

KvtuQ
aov

va

TYJV

TOV

prj

nirg

rot rfjg TrnjOa^Xrjaewc Aoyov,

TOVQ

a%e\(f>ovQ

aov

7r/rT7wg TTpoaiovTiav
torn. v. p.

adrjrov

KCL

tyrjfri,

Psalmos,

torn. iv. p.

&vtaiv aiviattyQC

1310,

iv ole

TTKJTLQ aov,

Kat

crv irore
tTTKTTpt \Jjac

<Trripi,oi

yevov aTijptypa KO.I SifiaaKaXog TWV Sia

St. Cyrill. Alex. Comment, in Luc. xxii.

rovrtcrri
spot.

in

916, ed. Migne, Paris, 1848.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

81

Leo the Great,

A.D. 4GO, in a discourse on the

of
his
election to the Pontificate, says, If
anniversary
anything in our time and by us is well administered
St.

and rightly ordained, it is to be ascribed

tion and to his government, to whom
u

Thou being

whom

to

converted, confirm thy

after

II is

to his opera

was

it

brethren,"

resurrection, in answer

threefold declaration of everlasting lovo, the

u
thrice

mystical meaning

Feed

said,

said,

my

to

and
his

Lord with

sheep."

St. Gelasius, A.D. 496, writes to

Honorius, Bishop
of Dalmatia,
are
we
Though
hardly able to draw
breath in the manifold difficulties of the times; yet
in the government of the Apostolic See we un
4

ceasingly have in hand the care of the whole fold of

the Lord, which was committed to blessed Peter by

the voice of our Saviour Himself,

converted, confirm thy

brethren,"

lovest thou

Me? Feed My

Pelagius
Bishops of

II.,

"

And

and

sheep."

thou being
"

Peter,

again,

manner writes to the

For you know how the Lord in

A.D. 590, in like

Istria,

the gospel declares Simon, Simon, behold Satan has

desired you that he might sift you as wheat, but I
:

*
fecit,

Tantam potentiam
ut

si

dedit ei quern totius Ecclesise principem

nostris temporibus recte per nos agitur
etiam
quid

recteque disponitur illius operibus illius sit gubernaculis deputandum,

cui dictum est, Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos
et cui post
resurrectionem suani Dominus ad trinum cuterni amorisprofessionem
;

mystica insinuatione ter

dixit,

Pasce oves meas.

St.

Leo, serm. iv.

cap. iv. torn. i. p. 19, ed. Ballerini, Venice, 1753.

f Licet inter varias temporum diflicultates vix respirare valcainus,

pro sedis tamcn apostolica3 moderamine totius ovilis dominici curani

sine cessatione tractantes, qua? beato Petro salvatoris ij sius nostri

voce delegata

est,

me

Et tu conversus confirma

St.
pasce oves meas.
Condi, torn. v. p. 208, Venice, 1728.

Petre, anias

fratres tuos

*ela.sius, epist. v.

et item,

iu

Labbe,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

82

have prayed the Father for thee, that thy faith fail
not, arid thou being converted, confirm thy brethren.
See, beloved, the truth cannot be falsified, nor can
the faith of Peter ever be shaken or changed. *
St. Gregory the Great, A.D. 604, in his celebrated

Emperor of the East, says, For it

is clear to all who know the
Gospel, that the care of
the whole Church was committed to the Apostle
St. Peter, prince of all the
For to him it
Apostles.
u
is said,
Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep." To
him it is said, Behold, Satan has desired to sift you
4

letter to Maurice,

"

as

wheat

faith fail

but

have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy

not, and thou being once converted, confirm

To him it is said,
thy brethren."
and upon this rock I will build My

Thou

art Peter,

church,"

f &c.

Stephen, Bishop of Dori, A.D. 649, at a Lateran

Council under Martin I. says, in a libellus supplex or
memorial read and recorded in the acts,
Peter the

Prince of the Apostles was first commanded to feed

the sheep of the Catholic Church, when the Lord
said,
Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep." And
"

Nostis enim in evangelic dominum proclamantem, Simon,

Simon, ecce Sa tanas expetivit vos, ut cribraret sicut triticum, ego
autem rogavi pro te Patrem, ut non deficiat fides tua, et tu conversus
confirma fratres tuos.
Considerate, carissimi, quia veritas mentiri
non potuit, nee fides Petri in sternum quassari poterit vel mutari.
| Cunctis

sancto

epist. v. in Labbe, Condi, torn. vi. p. 626.

enim Evangelium scientibus liquet, quod voce dominica

II.

Pelagius.

omnium apostolorum Petro

et

Ecclesia3 cura

commissa

est.

Ipsi

quippe

Principi

Apostolo

dicitur, Petre,

totius

amas me

pasce oves meas.

Ipsi dicitur, Ecce Satanas expetiit cribrare vos
sicut triticum
et ego pro te rogavi, Petre, ut non deficiat fides tua
et tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos.
Ipsi dicitur, Tu es
;

Petrus
torn.

ii.

et

super hanc petram, etc.

eel. Ben. Paris, 1705.

748,

St.

Gregor. Epist.

lib. v. ep.

xx.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

again, he chiefly

S3

and

especially, having a faith firm

and
all,
unchangeable in our Lord God, was
found worthy to convert and to confirm his fellows
and his spiritual brethren who were shaken. *

above

Pope

Yitalian, A.D.

St.

6G9, says, in a letter to

What things we com

Paul, Archbishop of Crete,
thee and thy Synod according to God and for

mand

the Lord, study at once to fulfil, lest

to bear ourselves not in
mercy but

we be compelled
according to the
is written
The

power of the sacred canons, for it

Lord said,
Peter, I have prayed for

"

thee, that

thy

and thou being once converted, con

firm thy brethren."
And again
Whatsoever thou,
shalt
bind
on earth, shall be bound in heaven,
Peter,
and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
faith fail not,

"

in

heaven."

The quotations given

in the Pastoral Letter of last

year, united with these, afford the following result.

The application of the promise Ego rogavi pro te, &c.
to the infallible faith of Peter and his successors, is

made by
Gelasius,
*

St.

Ambrose,

Pelagius

St.

Augustine,

St.

II.,

Gregory

St.

Leo,

the

St.

Great,

Princeps apostolorum Petrus pascere primus jussus est oves

Catholica? Ecclesia?,

cum Domiims

elicit,

oves meas; et iterum ipse przecipue ac

bus habens in Doininum

Deum

nostrum

convertere
s^piritales

Petre, ainas

<pccialiter

et

me

firmain prac

Pasi.-!

omni

immutabilem fidem,

aliquando et confirmare exagitatos consortes suos

ineruit fratres.
Labbe, Condi, torn. vii. p. 107.

et

Quae pra?cipimus tibi secundum Deum et propter Dominum

tuajque synodo, stude illico peragere, ne cogamur rion misericorditer
sed
secundum virtutem sacratissimorum canonum convci>ari.
j"

Scriptum namqm: c-st, Domiuus inquit, Petre, rogavi pro te ut

non deficeret iidt S tua et tu ali(juando convemis o nfirma Irativs
Et rursum, Quodcynque ligaveris, etc. St. Vitalian, i-pi.-t. i.
tuos.
;

in

Labbe, Condi,

torn. vii. p.

4GO.
G 2

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

84

Stephen Bishop of Dori in a Lateran Council, St.

Vitalian, the Bishops of the IV. (Ecumenical Council
A.D. 451, St.

Agatho in the VI.

Thomas Aquinas

A.D. 1153, St.

venture A.D. 1274: that

is,

A.D. 680, St.

Bernard

A.D. 1274, St.

Bona-

this interpretation is given

by three out of the four doctors of the Church, by six

It was
Pontiffs down to the seventh century.
It is exin two (Ecumenical Councils.
recognised
o
who may be
plicitly declared by the Angelic Doctor,

taken as the exponent of the Dominican school, and

by the Seraphic Doctor, who is likewise the witness of
the Franciscan

and by a multitude of

This

Saints.

catena, if continued to later times, might, as all

know,

be indefinitely prolonged.

The

On

interpretation

this rock,

&c.

is

by the Fathers

of the

words

fourfold, but all four interpre

no more than four aspects of one and the

same truth, and all are necessary to complete its full

tations are

meaning.

They

all implicitly

or explicitly contain

It would
perpetual stability of Peter s faith.
be out. of place to enter upon this here. It is enough

the

to refer to Ballerini

De m

et

ratione Primatus,

where

the subject is exhausted.

In these two promises a divine assistance is pledged
to Peter and to his successors, and that divine assist

ance

is

promised to secure the

bility of the

stability

and

indefecti-

Faith in the supreme Doctor and

Head

of the Church, for the general good of the Church

itself.

It is therefore a charisma, a grace of the

super
natural order, attached to the Primacy of Peter which
is

perpetual in his successors.

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

85

need hardly point out that between the charisma,

or gratia gratis data of infallibility and the idea of
I

impeccability there
so much as notice

is

no connection.

should not

some had not strangely

if

it,

obscured the subject by introducing this confusion.

I should have thought that the gift of prophecy in

Balaam and Caiaphas, to say nothing of the powers

of the priesthood, which are the same in good and
bad

alike,

would have been enough

to

make such

confusion impossible.
The preface to the Definition carefully lays down
that infallibility is not inspiration. The Divine assist

ance by which the Pontiffs are guarded from error,

when as Pontiffs they teach in matters of faith and
morals, contains no

new

revelation.

Inspiration con

tained not only assistance in writing but sometimes

The
the suggestion of truths not otherwise known.
Pontiffs are witnesses, teachers, and judges of the reve
Church; and in guarding,
and
defending that revelation, their wit
expounding,
ness, teaching, and judgment, is by Divine assistance
This assistance, like the reve
preserved from error.

lation already given to the

lation

which

it

guards,

They, therefore,

the Pontiff because he

still

is

of the supernatural order.

against the infallibility of

who argue
is

an individual person, and

profess to believe the

infallibility

of Bishops

in General Councils, and also of the Bishops dispersed

throughout the world, because they are many wit

nesses, betray the fact that they have not as yet
mastered the idea that

infallibility is

not of the order

of the order of grace. In the order

of nature, indeed, truth may be found rather with the

of nature, but

is

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

86

than with the individual, though in this the

history of mankind would give a host of contrary
But in the supernatural order, no such
examples.

many

argument can have

the ordination of

It

place.

God and

depends simply upon

certainly neither in the

New

Old Testament nor in the

have we examples

of infallibility depending upon number.

But in both
we have the example of infallibility attaching to per
sons as individuals

instance

as for

the

Prophets

of the old and the Apostles of the new law.

It is
no answer to say that the Apostles were united
in

one body.

that which all

They were each one

To
possessed together.

possessed
this

may

of

be

added the inspired writers, who were preserved

from error individually and personally, and not as a

also

collective body.

therefore,

is

The whole evidence of

in favour of the

The

gifts to individuals.

nor Catholic, nor of the

Scripture,

communication of Divine
not scriptural
supernatural order, but

objection

is

natural, and, in the last analysis, rationalistic.

IV. Fourthly, the Definition precisely determines

the acts of the Pontiff to which this Divine assistance
is

attached

l
;

namely,

in doctrina de fide vel moribus

definienda] to the defining of doctrine of faith

and

morals.

The

definition,

therefore,

carefully excludes all

as a private

ordinary and common acts of the Pontiff

person, and also all acts of the Pontiff

as a private

theologian, and again all his acts which are not in

matters of faith and morals; and further, all acts in

which he does not define a doctrine, that is, in which

he does not act as the supreme Doctor of the Church

Till-:

in

TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

doctrines

defining

to

be

held

87

by the whole

Church.

The

therefore

definition

only, the

includes,

and includes

solemn acts of the Pontiff as the supreme

Doctor of

Christians, defining doctrines of faith

all

and morals, to be held by the whole Church.

Now

word

the

doctrine here

signifies a revealed

truth, traditionally handed down by the teaching

authority, or magisterium infallibile, of the Church
;

including any truth which, though not revealed, is

yet so united with a revealed truth as to be insepa
rable from its full explanation, and defence.

And

the

word

definition here signifies the precise

judgment or sentence

which any such traditional

in

truth of faith or morals

be authoritatively for
mulated as, for instance, the consubstantiality of the
Son, the procession of the Holy Ghost by one only
Spiration from the Father and the Son, the Immacu

may

late Conception,

The word

and the

like.

has two senses, the one

forensic and narrow, the other wide and common;
and this in the present instance is more correct. The
forensic or

definition

narrow sense confines

logical act of defining

meaning

to the

differentia.

But

its

by genus and

this sense is proper to dialectics and disputations,

The wide
not to the acts of Councils and Pontiffs.

and common sense

is

that of an authoritative ter

mination of questions which have been in doubt and

debate, and therefore of the judgment or sentence
thence resulting.
says,

Si qurc

When

the second Council of

Lyons

suborta? fuerint fidei quacstiones suo

judicio debere definiri,

it

means

that the questions

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

88

of faith ought to be ended

Pontiff.
care.

It

this

judgment of the

Definire is finem importer e, or finaliter judiis therefore

equivalent to determinate, or

finaliter determinare,

which words are those of

Thomas when speaking

the

by

Roman

Pontiff.

St.

of the supreme authority of

in this sense that the

It is

Vatican Council uses the word definienda.

It signi
fies the final decision
by which any matter of faith

and morals

Now

put into a doctrinal form.

is

it is

to be observed that the definition does

not speak of either controversies, or questions of faith

and morals. It speaks of the doctrinal authority of
the Pontiff in general; and therefore both of what
may be called pacific definitions like that of the Im

maculate Conception, and of controversial definitions

like those of St. Innocent against the Pelagians, or St.

Leo against the Monophy sites.

term definitions, as we have

Moreover, under the

seen, are included all

In the Bull Auctorem Fidei

dogmatic judgments.
these terms are used as synonymous.
The tenth
proposition of the Synod of Pistoia

is

condemned

as

Detrahens firmitati definitionum, judiciorumve dogmaticorum Ecclesia3.

In the Italian version made

by order of the Pope

these words are translated,

detraente alia fermezza delle definizioni o giudizj

dommatici della Chiesa.
Now, dogmatic judgments

included

all

judgments

in matters of

dogma;

as for

instance, the inspiration and authenticity of sacred

books, the orthodoxy or heterodoxy of human and

uninspired books.

But intimately connected with dogma

judgments, as

we have

already seen,

is

in

these

the gram-

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

89

matical and literal sense of such texts.

The theo

logical sense of such texts cannot be

judged of with
out a discernment of their grammatical and literal
sense;

and both are included

judgment, that

is,

same dogmatic
both the dogmatic truth and the
in the

fact.

dogmatic

The example above given, in which the Pontiffs

approved and commended to the Church, as a rule of
faith against Pelagianism, the writings of St.

was a true

Augus

and
The condemnation of the Augustinus of
Jansenius, and of the five propositions extracted
from it, was also a doctrinal definition, or a dogmatic
tine,

definition of doctrine in faith

morals.

judgment.
In like manner

censures, whether for heresy or

with a note less than heresy, are doctrinal definitions
in faith

all

and morals, and are included in the words in

doctrina de fide vel moribus definienda.

In a word, the whole magisterium

or

doctrinal

authority of the Pontiff as the supreme Doctor of all

Christians, is included in this definition of his in
fallibility.

so far as

And

also all legislative or judicial acts,

they are inseparably connected with his

doctrinal authority; as, for instance, all judgments,

sentences, and decisions, which contain the motives of

such acts as derived from faith and morals.

this

will

come laws of

discipline,

Under

canonisation of

Saints, approbation of religious Orders, of devotions,

and the

like; all of

which

intrinsically contain the

truths and principles of faith, morals, and piety.

The Definition, then, limits the infallibility of the

Pontiff to his supreme acts ex cathedra in faith and

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

90
morals, but

extends his

infallibility

to all acts in

the fullest exercise of his supreme magisterium or

doctrinal authority.

V. Fifthly, the

definition declares

that

in

these

ea infallibilitate pollere, qua Divinus

Ecclesiam suam in definienda doctrina de

acts the Pontiif

Redemptor
fide et

moribus instructam esse voluit

that

that

is,

possessed of the infallibility with which our

Divine Saviour willed that His Church should be

he

is

endowed.
carefully noted that this definition
declares that the Roman Pontiif possesses by himself
the infallibility with which the Church in unison
It

to

is

with him

The

is

be

endowed.

definition does not decide the question

whether

the infallibility of the Church is derived from him or

through him. But it does decide that his infallibility

not derived from the Church, nor through the

The former question is left untouched.
Church.

is

Two

truths are affirmed

the one, that the supreme

and infallible doctrinal authority was given to Peter,

the other, that the promise of the Holy Spirit was
afterwards extended to the Apostles.
The promises
c

Ego rogavi pro

spoken

to

te,

and

Non

praevalebunt,

The promises

Peter alone.

and

He
am

were
shall

with
Behold, I
you all days, were spoken to Peter with all the
The infallibility of Peter was, therefore,
Apostles.
into

lead

you

not

dependent on

all

truth,

his

union with them in exer

but, their infallibility was evidently de

pendent on their union with him. In like manner,
cising it;

the whole Episcopate gathered in Council

is

riot

in-

THE TWO CONSTITUTIONS.

without

fallible

press,

its

by
and the

But the head

head.

Thus

himself.

infallible

91

infallibility

is

far the definition

always
is ex

of the Vicar of Christ

declared to be the privilegium Petri, a charisma

attached to the primacy, a Divine assistance given

is

as a prerogative of the
special fitness in the

Head

of the Church.

Head.

word

There

is,

therefore, a

pollere in respect to the

This Divine assistance

is

his

special prerogative depending on God alone; inde

pendent of the Church, which in dependence on him
is

endowed with the same

infallibility.

If the defi

nition does not decide that the Church derives

infallibility

from the Head,

Head does not

for it affirms

ic

its

does decide that the

derive his infallibility from the Church

this

Divine assistance to be derived

from the promise to Peter and in Peter to

his suc

cessors.

VI. Lastly, the definition fixes the dogmatic value

of these Pontifical acts ex cathedra, by declaring that
they are ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesice, irrcc

formabilia, that is, irreforrnable in and of themselves,

and not because the Church or any part or any mem

bers of the Church should assent to them.

These

words, with extreme precision, do two things.

First,

they ascribe to the

faith or

Pontifical acts

morals an intrinsic

ex cathedra, in

infallibility;

and secondly,

they exclude from them all influx of any other cause

It is ascribed alone to
of such intrinsic infallibility.
the Divine assistance given to the
for that end and effect.

Head

of the Church

need not add, that by these words many forms of

error are excluded: as, first, the theory that the joint
I

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

92

action of the Episcopate congregated in Council is

necessary to the infallibility of the Pontiff; secondly,

that the consent of the Episcopate dispersed is re

quired thirdly, that if not the express at least the
;

All these
Episcopate is needed.
of
Pontiff
till his acts
the
the
infallibility
deny
I know, indeed,
are confirmed by the Episcopate.
tacit assent of the

alike

has been said by some, that in so speaking they

do not deny the infallibility of the Pontiff, but

it

affirm

him

to be infallible

when he

is

united with the

Episcopate, from which they further affirm that he

can never be divided. But this, after all, resolves the
efficient cause of his infallibility into

union with the

Episcopate, and makes its exercise dependent upon

that union; which is to deny his infallibility as a

Church
The words Ex

privilege of the primacy, independent of the

which he

is

to teach

and to confirm.

non autem ex consensu EcdesiceJ preclude all

ambiguity by which for two hundred years the

sese,

promise of our Lord to Peter and his successors has

in some minds been obscured.

93

CHAPTER

III.

THE TERMINOLOGY OF THE DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

I

WILL now add a few words respecting the terms

which have been used, not only in the course of the

last months, but in the traditional theology of the
Schools, on the doctrine of Infallibility.
Certain well-known writers have rendered

able the formula of

and absolute
in

personal, separate, independent

not only been used

and pamphlets, but introduced

infallibility.

pastoral letters,

memor

It has

into high diplomatic correspondence.

The frequency and confidence with which this for

mula was repeated, as if taken from the writings of
the promoters of the Definition, made it not unnatural
to examine into the origin, history, and meaning of
the formula itself.
I therefore set myself to search
it

it

As
out; and I employed others to do the same.
had been ascribed to myself, our first examination

was turned to anything

might have written. After

repeated search, not only was the formula as a whole
nowhere to be discovered, but the words of which it
I

composed were, with the exception of the word in

I mention
dependent, equally nowhere to be found.

is

this, that I

may

what

add

clear

away the supposition

that in

have any motive of defending myself

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

94

or anything I may have written.

I speak of it now
simply for the truth s sake, and for charity, which is

always promoted by a clear statement of truth, and

never by the confused noise of controversy; and also
to justify some of the most eminent defenders of
Catholic doctrine, by showing that this terminology
is to be found in the
writings of many of our greatest
theologians.

may remind you, in

passing, that in the Definition

not a trace of this formula nor of

its

component words

to be found.

is

to the

word

personal. Cardinal Toletus,

The
speaking of the doctrine of infallibility, says,
first opinion is, that the privilege of the Pope, that of
First, as

not erring in

faith, is personal-,

and cannot be com

After quoting our Lord s

I have prayed for thee, &c. he adds, I con

municated to another.
c

words,
cede that this privilege

is

*
personal.

Ballerini says, that the jurisdiction of St. Peter,

by

reason of the primacy, was

singular and personal to

The same right he affirms to belong also

himself.
to the

Roman

Pontiffs, St. Peter s successors. f

This doctrine he explains diffusely.

This primacy of chief jurisdiction, not of mere

order,

Peter and the

St.

in.

cessors, is personal, that

*

Prima

est

est personale,

rogavi pro
tuos."

te,

Petre, et

Ad primum

Rome
*

alter!

Pontiffs his suc

attached to their person

quod privilegium Papce ut

nee ipse potest

communicari non
64.

is,

Roman

in fide errare

communicare, Luc.

non

xxii.

possit

"Ego

tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres

concede esse illud privilegium personale

potest.

Toletus, In

Summ. Enarr.

torn.

ii.

ob id

pp. 62,

1869.

Jurisdiotio et prrcrogativaB qiT03

eidem

sedi

ab antiquis asse-

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTHINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

95

and therefore a supreme personal right, which is

communicated to no other, is contained in the
primacy.
4

Hence, when there

question of the rights and the

jurisdiction proper to the primacy, and when these are
ascribed to the Roman See, or Cathedra, or Church of
St.

Peter; by the

is

name

Roman

of the

See or Cathedra,

or Church, to which this primacy of jurisdiction is

ascribed, the single person of the Roman Pontiff is to

whom

be understood, to

alone the same primacy

is

attached.

Hence again
the

Roman

it

follows, that whatsoever belongs to

See or Cathedra or Church, by reason of

the primacy, is so to be ascribed to the person of the

Roman Pontiffs that they need help or association of
*
none for the exercise of that
right.

From
1.

passage three conclusions flow

First, that the Primacy is a personal privilege in
this

Peter and his successors.

runtur ratione primatus

ejusdem Petri ac successorum singulares

Ballerini, de Vi et Ratione Primatus,

etpersonales judicandae sunt.

cap.

*
S.

iii.

sect. 5, p. 14.

Hie

Rome, 1849.
et

proecipua? jurisdictions

Petri et

Romanorurn Pontificum

PCU ipsorum personae alligatus

non meri ordinis primatus

ejus successorum personalis est,

ac proinde jus

quoddam projcipimm

ipaorum personale, id est, nulli alii commune, in eo primatu contineri debet.

Hinc cum de jure, sen jurisdictione propria primatus
agitur, ha3cque Romans S. Petri sedi, cathedra?, vel Ecclesia?

Romans? nomine, cui ea

una Romani Pontificis per
Hinc
sona intelligenda est, cui uni idem primatus est alligatus.
Romano?
sedi
ratione
primatus
quoque sequitur, quidquid juris

tribuitur

sedis

cathedrae

vel

Ecclesiae

jurisdictio primatus propria asseratur,

cathedra

vel Ecclesia? competit,

Komanorum

tribuendum ut nullius adjutorio vel

Vi
exercendum indigeant.
Ballerini, de

ita esse

cap.

iii.

propositio 3, p.

1<>.

Pontilicum personae
idem jus

societate ad
et

Ratione Primulas,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

96

Secondly, that this personal privilege attaches

to Peter and to the Roman Pontiffs alone.
2.

Thirdly, that in exercising this same primacy the

Eoman Pontiff needs the help and society of no other.
3.

Ballerini then adds

4

That what was personal

in Peter

by reason of the

to be declared personal in his successors

primacy, is
the Roman Pontiffs, on

whom

the same primacy of

Peter with the same jurisdiction has devolved, no one

can deny.
Therefore to Peter alone, and to the person alone
of his successors, the dignity and jurisdiction of the
Primacy is so attached, that it can be ascribed to no
other Bishop, even though of the Chief Sees; and
much less can it be ascribed to any number whatso
ever of Bishops congregated together; nor in that

primacy ought the Roman

one
Pontiff to depend on any
whomsoever; nor can
he; especially as the jurisdiction received from Christ

essential jurisdiction of the

was

by Christ un-eircumscribed by any con

and personal in Peter alone and his successors

instituted

dition,

like as

He

instituted the primacy of jurisdiction to

be personal, which without personal jurisdiction

is

*
unintelligible.
*
Quod atitem personale in Petro fuit ratione primatus, idem in
successoribus ejus Romanis Pontificibus, in quos idem primatus
Petri cum eadem jurisdictione transivit, personale esse dicendum,
*

inficiari potest

nemo.

Soli igitur Petro et soli

successorum ejus

dignitas et jurisdicpersonae ita alligata est propria primatus

tio ut nulli alii Episcopo praestantiorum licet sedium, et minus
inulto pluribus aliis Episcopis quantumvis in unum collectis, possit

neque in ea jurisdictione primatus essentiali Romanus

Pontlfex dependere ab alio quopiam debet aut potest, cum praasertim ipsam a Christo acceptam idem Christus nulla conditione
adscribi

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

From
1.

these statements

follows

it

what depends on no other

First, that

J7

is

altogether

independent.
Secondly, that what

2.

dition

is

circumscribed by no con

absolute.

Thirdly, that what

3.

is

is

by God committed

depends on God alone.

it will be said that

alone,

But perhaps

to infallibility, but to the

To
1.

this I

That

answer

if

to one

all this relates

power of jurisdiction

not

only.

the primacy be personal,

all its

prero

gatives are personal.

2. That the doctrinal
authority of the Pontiff is a
of
his
part
jurisdiction, and is therefore personal.
3.

That

is,

infallibility

as the Definition expressly

declares, a supernatural grace, or charisma, attached

to the

primacy in order to its proper exercise.

Infalli

a quality of the doctrinal jurisdiction of the

Pontiff in faith and morals.

bility is

And

such also

is

the doctrine of Ballerini,

down

who

lays

the following propositions

4
Unity with the Roman faith is absolutely necessary,
and therefore the prerogative of absolute infallibility
:

to be ascribed to

is

it,

and a coercive poAver

to

con

strain to unity of faith, in like

manner, absolute; as
and coercive power of the Catho
which is bound to adhere to the faith

also the infallibility

lic

of

Church

Rome,

itself,

is

absolute. *

circumscriptam, personalem solius Petri ac successorum csse intitituerit, uti primatum jurisdictionis instituit personulem, qui sine
personal! jurisdictione intelligi nequit.--Balleriui, de Vi et Jlatione

Primalus, cap.
*

iii.

sect. 4, p. 13.

Ballerini, de Vi et Rat. Priinatus

Unitas cum Roiuana fide abao-

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

98

But

Ballerini has declared that whatsoever

as

is

Roman

See, Cathedra, or Church is to

the
be ascribed to
person of the Eoman Pontiff only.
.Therefore this infallibility and coercive power are to

cribed to the

be ascribed to him, and are personal.

Here we have the infallibility personal, indepen
dent,

and absolute,

fully

and

explicitly taught

by two

chief theologians of great repute.

But hitherto we have not met the word separate,

though in truth the word sole, or alone, is equivalent.
I will therefore add certain quotations from the
great Dominican School.
Bzovius, the continuator of the Annals of Baronius,

To Peter alone, and

says,

after

him

to all the

Roman

Pontiffs legitimately succeeding, the privilege of in

is called, was conceded by the Prince
fallibility, as it
*
of Pastors, Christ who is God.

This privilege was

conceded to the successors of Peter alone without the

Dominicus Marchese writes

and again,

assistance of the College of Cardinals;

To

Roman

Pontiff alone, in the person of Peter, was

committed the care of the Universal Church, and

the

firmness, and certainty in defining matters of faith. f

lute necessaria est, ac proinde infallibilatis praerogativa absoluta illi
est tribuenda, et vis coactiva ad fidei unitatem pariter absoluta
:

sicuti absoluta est

Catholica?, qua?

item

Romanas

Pont. Prop. vii.

* Soli Petro et
post

infallibilitas et vis coactiva ipsius Ecclesite

fidei adha2rere oportet.

eum omnibus Romanis

Appendix De

infall.

Pontificibus legitime

sedentibus, infallibilitatis quod vocant privilegium, a Principe

pastorum Christo Deo concessum, ut in rebus fidei, morum doctrina, et universalis Ecclesia? administratione certissima nullaque
fallacia?

nota

inumbrata

edicant et sanciant.

apud Rocaberti, Biblioth.

I

decreta

veritatis

ipsius

radio

Bzovius de Pontifice Romano, cap. xiv.

Soli Petro secluso

Pontif. torn.

i.

scribant
p.

10G;

Rome, 1G98.

ab Apostolis ac proinde

soli

eius successor!

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

Gravina teaches as follows

c
:

To

99

the Pontiff, as one

(person) and alone, it was given to be the head;

and again, The Roman Pontiff for the time being is
*
one, therefore he alone has infallibility.

The

Vinccntius Ferre says,

Paris (doctors)

is

of no avail,

exposition of certain
affirm that Christ

who

only promised that the faith should not fail of the

Church founded upon Peter; and not that it should
not

the successors of Peter taken apart from

He adds that our Lord said,
(seorsum) the Church.
4

fail in

have prayed for thee, Peter; sufficiently showing

was not promised to the Church

from (seorsum) the head, but promised to
the head, that from him it should be derived to the
that the infallibility
as apart

Church. f
Marchese, before quoted, repeats the same words,

Summo
p.

Pontifici secluso

Cardinnlium Collegio hoc privilegium con-

Marchesc, de Cftpite

ccssit.

719; apud Kocaberti,

Soli

Romano

visibili Ecclesicr, disput.

dub.

iii.

2,

torn. ix.

Pontifici

in

persona Petri

commissa

cst

cura

Mar

totius Ecclcsice ct firmitas et certitude in definiendo res fidei.

ch esc, disput. v. dub. 1, sect. 2, p. 785

apud Rocaberti, torn. ix.
*
Uni et soli Pontifici datum cst esse caput.
Gravina, de su
premo Judice controv. Fidei, qiUTst. i. apud Rocaberti, torn. viii.
;

p. 302.

Nullus in terra reperitur alter, qui ca?teris sit in fide fmnior et

constantior sciatur esse quara unus Pontifex Komanus pro tempore
;

ergo ct ipse solus habct infallibilitatem.

Rocaberti, torn.

viii.

p.

Gravina, qusest.

ii.

apud

2 2.

Ncc

valet cxpositio aliquorum Parisicnsium aflirinnntium hie

Christum tantum promisisse fidem non dcfecturam Ecclesioe fundata;

RU[>cr

P,-tri

Petrum, non vero promisisse non defecturam in succcssoribus

si Di-suin ab Ecclesia
Christus diccns, ego autcm
pumptis.

rogavi pro te Pctrc,

missam
illo

Kcdt-sia- ut

derivetur ad

Ixocaberti, torn.

satis

deeignat hanc infallibilitatem non procapili, ut ex

seorsum a capitc, scd promissam

Ect-lcsiam.

xx.

p.

Ferre, J)e

388.

n 2

Fid

quo?st.

xii.

aj.ud

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

100

The

which (our Lord) promised,

not to the Church apart from (seorsum) the head,
c

infallibility

in faith

but to the head, that from him it should be derived

Billuart also says (Christ) makes
to the Church. *
a clear distinction of Peter from the rest of the
c

Apostles, and from the whole Church,

when He

says,

And

thou, &c. f
Peter Soto writes:

When

this

(Pasce oves meas,

&c.) was said to Peter in the presence of the rest of

the Apostles, it was said to Peter as one, and as apart

from (seorsum) the rest. J

And Marchese again, Therefore to Peter alone
set apart from the Apostles (secluso ab Apostolis), and
therefore to his successor alone, the Supreme Pontiff,

apart from the College of Cardinals,

set

Lord) conceded

He

(our

this privilege.

Lastly, F. Gatti, the learned professor of theology

of the Dominican Order at this day, writing of the
C

words,

fectibility
*

Satis

have prayed for thee, &c., says, indeis

promised to Peter apart from (seorsum)
designat

in

infallibilitatem

fide

quam

promisit,

non

seorsum a Capite sed Capiti ut ex illo derivetur ad EccleMarchese, de capite Visib. Eccles. disput. iii. dub. 2

Ecclesiae

siam.

apud Rocaberti, torn. ix. p. 719.

Facit enim apertam distinctionem Petri ab
f
tota Ecclesia

dicit, et

aliis apostolis et

tu aliquando conversua confirma fratres

Billuart, de Regulis Fidei, dissert, iv. art. 5, sect. 2, torn. iv.

tuos.

Venice, 1787.
vero hoc Petro coram

p. 78.

cum

*Dum

inquam, Petro

et

casteris

a cseteris seorsum.

apostolis

dicitur,

Petrus Soto, Defensio

uni,

Ca

tholics Confessionis, cap. 82, apud Rocaberti, torn, xviii. p. 73.

Ergo soli Petro secluso ab Apostolis ac proinde soli ejus suc-

summo

cessori

legium
dub. 2

Pontifici,

concessit.
;

secluso Cardinalium collegio, hoc privide Capite visib. Eccles. disp. iii.

Marchese,

apud Rocaberti,

torn. ix. p.

715.

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

Church, or from the Apostles;

the

but

it

101

is

riot

promised to the Apostles, or to the

Church, apart
from (seorsum) the head, or with the head, and
afterwards he adds,
Therefore Peter, even apart
c

from (seorsum) the Church,

is infallible.

Muzzarelli, in his treatise on the primacy and in

fallibility of the Pontiff, uses the same terms again and

of which the following is an example. Speak

If I
ing as in the person of the Pontiff, he says,
from
a
to
Council
truth
be
separately
propose any

again

by the Universal Church, it is most certain

that I cannot err. f
In like manner Mauro Cappellari, afterwards Gre
believed

gory

XVL,

troversies

is

affirms that the

the Pontiff,

other Bishops

all

faith

supreme judge of con

distinct and separate from

and that

ought by them

his decree in things of

to be held without doubt. J

Clement VI., in the fourteenth century,

proposed to the Armenians certain interrogations, of
which the fourth is as follows
Lastly,

Hast thou believed, and dost thou still believe,

that the Roman Pontiff alone, can by an authentic
4

Indcfcctibilitas promittitur Petro seorsum ab Ecclcsia seu ab

Apostolis; non vero promittitur Apostolis seu Ecclesias sive seorsum a
Ergo Petrus etiam seorsum ab Ecclesia
capite, sive una cum capite.
*

Gatti, Institution** Apologetico-Polemiccc.

spectatus est infallibilis.
Monarchica Ecclesice, p. 124.
Bianchi
de
Constitutione
apud

Rome, 1870.

Ne

separatamente dal concilio vorro

da credersi su questo artiproporre
Muzzarelli, Primato ed Infdlcolo, non potr6 certamente errare.
libilita del Papa, in II Buon Uso delta Logica, torn. i. p. 183.

viene chc so anch

io

alia chiesa universale la veriti

Florence, 1821.
t II Trionfo della Santa Sede, Cap. v. Sect. 10,
1832.

p.

124.

Venezin,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

102

we must

determination to which

inviolably adhere,

put an end to doubts which arise concerning the

Catholic faith and that whatsoever he, by the author
;

ity of the keys delivered to him

to be true, is true and Catholic

mines to be

false

and

heretical

by Christ, determines
and what he deter

is

to be so esteemed ? *

In the above passages we have infallibility personal,

absolute, independent, without the Apostles, without
the

of

College

Cardinals,

alone,

apart

from the

Church, separate from Councils and from Bishops.

I am not aware of
any modern writer who has

used language so explicit and

We

will

these terms

now

fearless.

ascertain the scholastic

meaning of

and we

shall see that they are in precise

accordance with the definition of the Council.

You

need not be reminded, Keverend and dear

Brethren, of the terminology of Canonists in treating

the subject of privileges.

privilege

is

a right, or faculty bestowed

upon

persons, places, or things.

Privileges therefore are of three kinds, personal,
real,

and mixed.f

personal privilege
person as such.

is

that which attaches to the

real privilege attaches either to a place, or to a

thing, or to an office.
*

Si credidisti et adhuc credis solum Komanum Pontificem,

dubiis emergentibus circa fidem catholicam posse per determinationern authenticam cui sit inviolabiliter adhaerendum, finem im*

ponere

vium

et esse
sibi

verum

et

Catholicum quidquid ipse auctoritate cla-

traditarum a Christo determinat esse

determinat esse falsum et hsereticum

torn.

xxv. ad ann. 1351,

p.

529.

sit

verum

censendum.

Lucca, 1750.

f Rciffenstuel. Tit. de Privileg. lib. v. 34, 12.

et

quod

Baronius,

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

A
it

mixed

103

be both personal arid real

also attach to a community or body of persons,

may

may

privilege

as to an University, or a College, or a Chapter.

The primacy, including jurisdiction and

infallibility,

a privilege attaching to the person of Peter and of

his successors.
It is therefore a personal privilege
is

in the Pontiffs.

Toletus says, because it cannot

be communicated to others.
It is not a real privi
It is personal, as

lege attached to the See, or Cathedra, or

Home, and therefore

of the

Roman

to the person

Pontiff,

and

Church of

but to the person

therefore, to the See.

not a mixed privilege, attaching to the Pontiff,

only in union with a community or body, such as
the Episcopate, congregated or dispersed but attach
It is

ing to his person, because inherent in the primacy,

which he alone personally bears.

The use of the word personal is therefore precise

and correct, according to the scholastic terminology
;

not, indeed,

theologians.

according to

the sense

of newspaper

Theology, like chancery law, has

its

technical language; and the common sense of Eng

lishmen would keep them from using it in any other

meaning.
In this sense

it is

that the Dominican theologian

There are two things ... in

says,
Peter: one personal, and another public; as Pastor

De Fiume

things therefore be
not pass
long to the person of Peter alone, and do
as the saying, Get thce behind me
to his successors

and Head of the Church.

Some

Some, again, are spukm

of him as a public person, and by reason of his oilice
Satan

and the

like.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

104

supreme Head and Pastor of the Universal Church,

*
as, Feed My sheep, &c.
as

Therefore, infallibility is the privilege of Peter not

as a private person, but as a public person holding

the primacy over the Universal Church.

In the Pastoral addressed to you so long ago as
the year 1867, this was pointed out in the unmistak

does some things as a

The Pontiff/
man, some things as

some

as Pope, that

words of Cardinal Sfondratus.

able

he says,

a prince,

as

doctor,

some

head and foundation of the Church

and

as

is,

only to

it is

these (last-named) actions that we attribute the gift

of infallibility.
The others we leave to his human

As then not every

condition.

action of the

papal, so not every action of the

Pope

is

Pope enjoys the

papal privilege. f
The value therefore of this traditional language of
the schools is evident.

When
personal,

the infallibility of the Pontiff

it is

from which

is

said to be

to exclude all doubt as to the source

infallibility is

derived

and

to declare

Duo namque sunt in Petro. Unum personale et aliud publicum, ut Pastor et caput Ecclesise.
Qtisedam ergo tantummodo
ut quod
personag Petri conveniunt, ad successores non transeunt
;

dicatur

Vade

post me, Satana, et similia.

de eo quatenus est persona publica,

et

Qusedam vero dicuntur

ratione

officii

Supremi

Capitis et Pastoris Ecclesiaa universalis; ut Pasce oves meas, &c.

Ignatius de Fiume, Scliola veritatis orthodoxce, apud Bianchi, de

Constitutions

Monarchica

Ecclesice, p. 88.

Rome, 1870.

Pontifex aliqua facit ut homo, aliqua ut Princeps, aliqua ut

Doctor, aliqua ut Papa, hoc est ut caput et fundamentum Ecclesice
f

et his solis actionibus

privilegium

infallibilitatis

adscribimus

alias

humanse conditioni relinquimus sicut ergo non omnis actio Papae

est papalis, ita non omnis actio Papae papali
privilegio gaudet.
:

Sfondrati, Regale Sacerdotium,

lib. iii. sec. 1.

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

105

mirtnm inherent in
the Episcopate, or communicated by it to the head
that

is

it

not a privilegium

of the Church; but a special assistance of the Spirit

of Truth attaching to the primacy, and therefore
the

to

person

his successors

who

bears the primacy, Peter arid

conferred on them by Christ Himself

for the confirmation of the

Church

in faith.

2. Next, as to the term separate.

The sense in
which theologians have used this term is obvious.

They universally and precisely apply it to express the

same idea as the word personal namely, that in the
;

possession arid exercise of this privilege of infallibility

the successor of Peter depends on no one but God.

The meaning of decapitation, decollation, and cutting

of a headless body, and a bodiless head, I have

hardly been able to persuade myself, has ever, by
serious men, at least in serious moods, been imputed
off,

to

such words as separatim, seorsum, or

seclusis

Episcopis.

reason for this doubt

My

includes

sense

at

is,

that such a monstrous

least six heresies

hardly think that any Catholic would

this, or,

less to

knowing

it,

would impute

and
fail

could

to

know

to Catholics, still

it

Bishops of the Church.

The words seorsum,

&c.,

may have two

meanings,
one obviously false, the other as obviously true.
The former sense would be disunion of the head

from the body of the Episcopate and the faithful, or

separation from Catholic communion the latter, an in
;

dependent action in the exercise of his supreme

And first of the former

office.

1.

It is defide, or

matter of

faith, that

the head of

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

10G

the Church, as such, can never be separated, either

from the Ecclesia docens, or the Ecclesia discern that
;

from the Episcopate or from the faithful.

To suppose this, would be to deny the perpetual
indwelling office of the Holy Ghost in the Church,

is,

either

by which the mystical body

head

is

knit

together; the
the head, the

Body, the Body to

members to each other; and to dissolve Jesus, * that
is, to destroy the perfect symmetry and organisation
to

the

which the Apostle describes

and St. Augustine speaks of

body of Christ
one man, head and

as the
as

body, Christ and the Church a perfect man. f

this unity all the properties

On

and endowments of the

Church depend
indefectibility, unity, infallibility.
As the Church can never be separated from its in
;

Head, so never from its

Secondly, it is matter of

visible
2.

visible head.
faith that the Ecclesia

the Episcopate, to which

together with
Peter, and as it were, in one person with him, the
assistance of the Holy Ghost was promised, can
docens

or

never be -dissolved

but

it

would be dissolved

if it

Such separation
separated from its head.
would destroy the infallibility of the Church itself.

were

The

Ecclesia docens

would cease

to exist; but this

is

impossible, and without heresy cannot be supposed.

3. Thirdly, it is also matter of faith that not only

no separation of communion, but even no disunion of

doctrine and faith between the Head and the Body,
* St. John

iv. 3,
Omnis spiritus qui solvit Jesum, &c.
Unus homo caput et corpus, unus homo Christus et Ecclesia
f
S. Augustin. In Psalm xviii. torn. iv. p. 85, 86, ed.
vir perfectus.

Ben.

Paris, 1681.

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

that

between the Ecclesia docens and

is,

can ever exist.

Both are

infallible

107

///>

the one

ac

tively, in teaching, the other passively, in believing;

and both are therefore inseparably, because neces

Even though a num
sarily, united in one faith.
away, as in the Arian and
Xestoriaii heresies, yet the Episcopate could never
fall
away. It would always remain united, by the
and the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost, to its head
ber of bishops should

fall

reason of this inseparable union is precisely the infalli

Because its head can never err,
bility of its head.
it,

as a body, can never err.

How many

soever, as in

and fall away from the truth, the

would
remain, and therefore never be dis
Episcopate
united from its head in teaching or believing.
Even

dividuals, should err

a minority of the Bishops united to the head, would

be the Episcopate of the Universal Church.
They,
therefore,

and they

a separation,
error.

who

only, teach the possibility of such

assert that the Pontiff

But they who deny

may

fall

his infallibility

into

do ex

pressly assert the possibility of such a separation.

And yet it is they who have imputed to the defenders
of the Pontifical infallibility, that separation

which

Ultramontane

principles is impossible ; but, on

of
those who lay the charge, such a
the principles
separation is not only possible, but even of probable

on

occurrence.

So far, we have spoken of the idea of separation

from communion, or disunion in faith and doctrine.
But further, the separate or independent exercise of
the supreme Pontifical authority in no
separation or disunion of any kind.

way imports

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

108
1.

It is de jide that the plenitude of jurisdiction

was given

to Peter

and

his successors

exercise over the whole

and that

its

body, pastors and people,

imports no separation or disunion from the Body.

How then should the exercise of infallibility, which
is

attached to that jurisdiction, import separation?

2. Again, it is de fide that this supreme juris

diction

and

was given

infallibility

to maintain

How

perpetuate the unity of the Church.

exercise produce separation, which
ordained to prevent ?

its

It is therefore de fide

that

its

it is

then can
divinely

exercise excludes

separation, and binds the whole Church, both

and Head,
and faith.
3.

closer

in

Lastly,

it is

mised to Peter
necessary for
infallible

office

in terms.
this,

its

The

that he

is

and

Body

bonds of communion, doctrine

de fide that in the assistance pro

and his successors, all the means

due exercise are contained.

fallibly exercised

is

An

a contradiction

infallibility of the head consists in

guided both as to the means and

It is therefore contrary to faith to say,

that the independent exercise of this office, divinely
assisted, can import separation or disunion of any

as to the end.

kind.

It is a part of the

of the

means of

will not err.

would err as

by

its

promise, that in the selection

exercise, the successor of Peter

If he erred as to the means, either he

would be preserved only

In escaping from the super

to the end, or he

a series of miracles.

The
natural, the objectors fall into the miraculous.
Catholic doctrine of infallibility invokes no such in
terventions.

It affirms

that a Divine assistance, pro-

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

100

portionate to the burden of the primacy, is attached

to it as a condition of its ordinary exercise, in bonum

The freedom

Ecclesicc.

as well as the prudence of

the Pontiffs, in selecting the means of exercising their

office of universal Doctor, is carefully expressed in

the fourth chapter of this Constitution.

The Roman
Pontiffs, as the state of times and events induced

them, sometimes by convoking (Ecumenical Councils,

or by ascertaining the mind of the Church dispersed
throughout the world, sometimes by local Synods,

sometimes by employing other helps which Divine

providence supplied, have denned, as truths to be
held, such things as they

by God

assistance

knew

to

be in harmony with the Scriptures and Apostolical

traditions. *
It

may be

well here to add two passages which

complete this subject.

Melchior Canus says
firmness

of

faith

to

4
:

Inasmuch

the

as

Church,

God promised

He

cannot be

it,
wanting
upon the Church
prayers and other helps whereby that firmness is pre
served.
Xor can it be doubted that what happens in

to

so as not to bestow

natural things,
namely, that he

the

who

same occurs

in

supernatural ;
end
the
gives
gives the means to

the end.
4

God should promise an abundant

If

harvest next

year, what could be more foolish than to doubt

whether men would sow seeds in the earth ? So
will I

never admit that either Pontiff or Council

have omitted any necessary diligence in deciding

questions of

faith.

It

might happen to any private

* Constit.
Dogmat. Prima, de Eccl. Christi, cap.

iv.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

110

man, that he should not use diligent attention in

seeking truth, and yet to do so should entirely give
himself to the work, and, though his error be inBut even
culpable, nevertheless fall into error.
inculpable error

we have proved

is

in

from the Church of God, as

Which fact is an
a former book.
far

abundant argument that neither Pontiff nor Council

has

omitted, in deliberation, any necessary thing.

Let us therefore grant that to the Judges consti
tuted by God in the Church, none of those things"
can be wanting which are necessary for a right and
4

true judgment. *

Cerboni, a theologian of the Dominican order, says

When once anything of faith has been defined by
:

the Supreme Pontiff,

whether he has used

it

all

not permitted to doubt

diligence before such de

is

finition.
*

Cum

Ecclesia? fidei firmitatem fueritf pollicitus,

deesse

non

potest quominus tribuat Ecclesias preces, casteraque prsesidia, quibus

ha3C firmitas conservator.
Nee vero dubitari potest, quod in rebus

ut qui
naturalibus contingit, idem in supernaturalibus usu venire
dat finem, det consequentia ad finem.
Quod si Dens in sequentem
;

annum frugum abuiidantiam polliceretur, ecquid stultius esse posset

quam dubitare, anne homines semina terras mandaturi sint 1 Ita
nunquam ego admittam ant Pontificem aut concilium diligentiam
aliquam necessarian! quaestionibus fidei decernendis omisisse. Id
quod private cuicunque alteri homini accidere potest, ut nee diligentem navet operam ad disquirendam -veritatem, et ut navaverit

adhuc tamen, quamvis

Error autera vel inculpatus ab Ecclesia Dei
Qua3
longissime abest, quemadmodum libro superiore constituimus.
res abunde magno argumento est ut nee Pontifex nee concilia ne-

integrumque

sese in ea re prtestiterit, errat

error sine ctilpa

cessarium

sit.

quicquarn in deliberando

ergo judicibus a
posse, qus3 ad

chior

Canus,
Venice, 3776.

Deo

pra?termiserint.
in Ecclesia constitutis nihi-1

Concedamus
eorum deesse

rectum vcrumque judicium sunt necessaria.

De

Locis Theologicis,

lib.

v.

cap.

5,

pp. 120,

Mel121.

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

1

cannot be

It

absolutely
necessary for the

said,

that

the

Ill

means

Supreme Pontiff in the investigation

of truth have been neglected by him, even though he
should be supposed to have defined anything ex ca
thedra, without first seeking the

judgment of

others.

The privilege of infallibility, when the Supreme

Pontiff defines anything ex cathedra, is to be ascribed
not to those whom he has previously consulted, but
c

to the
4

Roman

Pontiff himself.

Inasmuch

truth

the

as

and certainty of those

things which are defined ex cathedra depend on the

authority and infallibility of the Supreme Pontiff, it
"

"

not necessarily requisite, that he should first consult

these (counsellors) rather than others, this rather than
is

that body, concerning the matter which he

define ex cathedra. *

From

that has been said, three things are beyond

first, that the privilege of infallibility in the

all

question
head of the Church, neither by
;

about to

is

Semel ac a

Summo

Pontifice

its

possession nor

by

quidpiam ad fidem spcctans

definitum habeatur, dubitare non licet, utrum

ante hujusmodi defmitionem ille prsemiscrit.

omnem

diligentinm

Qua? ad investigandam veritatcm media in summo Fontifice requiruntur, ab eo neglecta fuisse, absolute dici non potest, etiamsi
aliorum non exquisita sententia quidpiam ex cathedra

definiis.se

pra:supponatur.

Privilegium infallibilitatis, dum a Summo Pontifice aliquid ex

cathedra definitur, non iis qui an tea consulti fuerint, sed ipsi Romano
Fontifici tribui debet.

Ex

eo

clcfmiuntur,

quod
a

et
certitudo eorum qua? ex cathedra
Pontificis auctoritatc et in&llibilitate
pen-

veritas

Summi

non necessario requiritur, ut Suinmus Pontiibx de eo quod

ex cathedra definiturus, hos vel illos potius quain alios hunc vcl
ilium coctum pra alio antea consulat.
Cerboni, De Jure ct Lajum
drant,

est

])ificiplina,

lib.

Eccles. p. 158.

23,

cap.

fi,

Rome, 1870.

apud Bianchi de constituttone mon.

112

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

can in any way import separation or dis

Such a sup
union between the head and the body.
its exercise,

position involves, as we have seen, heretical notions

The very reverse is true: that the
at every turn.
supreme privilege of infallibility in the head is the

means

divinely ordained
of the Universal

to sustain for ever the

unity
Church in communion, faith, and

doctrine.

And

further, that the independent exercise of this

privilege

from the

tinct

of the Episcopate, and as dis

Bishops, is the divinely ordained

by the head

means of the perpetual unity of the Episcopate in

communion and faith with its head and with its own
members.

And

lastly, that

though the consent of the Episco

pate or the Church be not required, as a condition, to

the intrinsic value of the infallible definitions of the

Roman

Pontiff, nevertheless, it cannot

without heresy

be said or conceived that the consent of the Episco

For if
pate and of the Church can ever be absent.
the Pontiff be divinely assisted, both the active and
the passive infallibility of the Church exclude such a

To deny such infallible as

supposition as heretical.
sistance now after the definition, is heresy. And even
before the definition, to deny it was proximate to
heresy, because it was a revealed truth, and a Divine
fact,

on which the unity of the Church has depended

from the beginning.

From what has been

said, the precise

the terms before us

be easily fixed.

as

it

The

may

personal, inasmuch
Pontiff, the successor of

privilege of infallibility

attaches to the

Roman

meaning of

is

TERMINOLOGY OF DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY.

113

Peter, as a public person, distinct from, but inseparably

united to, the Church; but it is not personal, in that
it is attached, not to the
private person, but to the

primacy, which he alone possesses.

2.

It is also independent,

inasmuch

as

it

does not

depend upon either the Ecdesia docens or the Ecclesia

but it is not independent, in that it depends
<//*<rns;

upon the Divine Head of the Church,

upon the institution of the primacy by Him, and

in all things

assistance of the

upon the
3.

It

is

absolute,

Holy Ghost.
inasmuch as it can be circum

scribed by no human or ecclesiastical law; it is not

absolute, in that it is circumscribed by the office of

guarding, expounding, and defending the deposit of

revelation.
4.

be

It is separate in

called,

taken to

be,

nor can so

without manifold heresy, unless the word be

mean distinct. In this sense, the Roman

from the Episcopate, and is a dis

subject of infallibility; and in the exercise of his

Pontiff
tinct

no sense, nor can

is

distinct

supreme doctrinal authority, or magisterium, he does

not depend for the infallibility of his definitions upon
the consent or consultation of the Episcopate, but only

on the Divine assistance of the Holy Ghost.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

114

CHAPTER
SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

IT
is

IY.

AND THE CATHOLIC RULE OF

FAITH.

here be well to answer an objection which

commonly supposed to lie against the doctrine of

may

the Pontifical Infallibility ; namely, that the evidence

of history is opposed to it.

The answer

is

twofold.

evidence of history distinctly

proves the infallibility of the Roman Pontiif.
I shall be told that this is to beg the question.
1.

First,

the

that

To which

I answer,

they also

who

affirm the con

trary beg the question.

Both sides appeal to history, and with equal con
fidence; sometimes with equal clamour, arid often

equally in vain.

By some
is

Janus,

people

The Pope and

the Council,

by

regarded as the most unanswerable work of

scientific history hitherto published.

By

others

it is

regarded as the shallowest and most

pretentious book of the day.

Between such contradictory judgments who

decide

any tribunal of appeal

there no ultimate judge?

Is there

of history? or is
a road where no one can err

or

is it

in.

is

to

matters

fe history
a wilderness in

which we must wander without guide or path? are

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

we

all

left

to

say, that there

sense, he

is

judgment alone?

115

If

any one

no judge but right reason or

common

private
is

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

only reproducing

in history

what Luther

applied to the Bible.

This theory
sible to those

such a theory

may be intellectually and morally pos

who are not Catholics. In Catholics

That there is an
simple heresy.
ultimate judge in such matters of history as affect
the truths of revelation, is a dogma of faith. But
into this

we

is

will enter hereafter.

For the present,

make only one other obser

I will

vation.

Let us suppose that the divinity of our Lord were

in controversy.
Let us suppose that two hundred

and

fifty-six passages

from the Fathers were adduced

to prove that Jesus Christ

dred and

is

fifty-six passages,

tributed into three classes

God.

we

These two hun

will say,

the

may

be dis

consisting of a
great number, in which the divinity of our Lord is
explicitly and unmistakably declared; the second, a

greater

number which

so

first

assume or imply

it

as to

be inexplicable upon any other hypothesis; the third,

also

numerous, capable of the same interpretation,

and incapable of the contrary interpretation, though

in themselves inexplicit.

We will suppose, next, one passage to exist in some

one of the Fathers, the aspect of which is adverse.
language is apparently contradictory to the hypo
Its terms are ex
thesis that Jesus Christ is God.
Its

plicit; and, if

taken at the

letter,

cannot be reconciled

with the doctrine of His divinity.

I need only remind you of St. Justin Martyr
i

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

116

argument that the Angel who appeared to Moses in

the bush could not be the Father, but the Son,
because the Father could not be manifested

narrow space on earth;

would

just and
case?

ask,

in a

or even of the words of

our Divine Lord Himself,

than I. f

Now

The Father

is

greater

what course would any man of

considerate

intelligence pursue in such a

Would he say, one broken link

One such passage adverse to the
outweighs two hundred and

destroys a chain?
divinity of Christ

fifty-six passages to the

contrary ?

Would
scientific

this

to

be

scientific

assume that

Or would it be
the one passage, however
history

apparently explicit and adverse, can bear only one

sense, and cannot in any other way be explained? If
so, scientific historians

are

bound

to the literal

prima

facie sense of the words of St. Justin Martyr, and of

our Lord above quoted.

Still, supposing the one passage to remain explicit
and adverse, and therefore an insoluble difficulty, I

would ask whether any but a Socinian, forofleVei

ooL/X?u o)j/, servilely bound, and pledged
by the perverseness of controversy, would reject the whole
cumulus of explicit and constructive evidence con
tained in two hundred and fifty-six passages, because
of one adverse passage of insoluble difficulty ? People
must be happily unconscious of the elements which

underlie the whole basis of their most confident beliefs

*

Dialog,
St.

cum Try ph.

John

xiv. 28.

sect. GO, p.

157.

Ed. Ben. Paris, 1742.

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY
if

they would so proceed.

enter now.

would be
ficial,
it

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

Enough

But

into this I will not

to say, that such a procedure

so far from scientific that

unintellectual,

science, or

is it

117

and absurd.

would be super
would ask, then, is
it

passion, to reject the

cumulus of

evi

dence which surrounds the

infallibility of two hundred

and fifty- six pontiffs, because of the case of Honorius,
even if supposed to be an insoluble difficulty? Real

science

would teach us that

in

the

most certain

systems there are residual phenomena which long

remain as insoluble difficulties, without in the least
diminishing the certainty of the system
But, further, the case of Honorius

itself.
is

not an in

soluble difficulty.
In the judgment of a cloud of the greatest theo
logians of all countries, schools, and languages, since

the controversy was opened two hundred years ago, the

case of Honorius has been completely solved.
Nay

more,

it

has been used with abundant evidence, drawn

from the very same acts and documents,

to

prove the

direct contrary hypothesis, namely, the infallibility of

the

Roman
It

enter.

pontiffs.
is

enough

But

into this again I shall not

for

my

present argument to

affirm that inasmuch as the case of Honorius has been

for centuries disputed,

much

as

it

Again, inas
has been interpreted with equal confidence
it is

disputable.

and against the infallibility of the Roman pontiff

and I may add that they who have cleared Honorius

for

an overwhelming majority
with
their
compared
opponents, and let if be said for
s sake, and with more than moderation, that
argument
o
of personal heresy, are

the probability of their interpretations at least equals

THE VA _^IN COUNCIL.

118

that of the opponents

for all these reasons I may,
with safety, affirm that, if the case of Honorius be

not solved,

it

certainly not insoluble;

is

and that

the long, profuse, and confident controversy of

whom

assume to be

I will

sincere, reasonable,

men
and

learned on both sides, proves beyond question that

the case of Honorius is doubtful.

would

ask, then, is it scientific, or passionate to

the
cumulus
of evidence surrounding the line
reject
of two hundred and fifty-six pontiffs, because one
case may be found which is doubtful? doubtful, too,

it remembered,
only on the theory that history
a wilderness without guide or path; in no way
doubtful to those who, as a dogma of faith, believe

be
is

that the revelation of faith

and

is

independent of

it,

this

is

Him who

sufficient

which of

Honorius,

to its history

being divinely secured by the

presence and assistance of

And

was anterior

all

gave

it.

answer to the case of

controversies

useless, barren, and irrelevant.

I should hardly have thought,

is

the

most

at this time of day,

that any theologian or scholar would have brought

up again the cases of Vigilius, Liberius, John XXII.,

&c.

But

as these often-refuted

and senseless conten

have been renewed, I give in the note references

to the works and places in which they are abundantly
tions

answered.*

Such

is

the

first

part of the answer to the alleged

opposition of history.
2.

We

will

now

proceed to the second and more

complete reply.
*

Appendix,

p.

223.

SCIENTIFIC UISTORY

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

The true and conclusive answer to

consists,

119

this objection

not in detailed refutation of alleged

difficul

ties, but in a principle of faith

namely, that whenso
ever any doctrine is contained in the Divine tradition
of the Church, all difficulties from human history are
;

excluded, as Tertullian lays down, by prescription.

The only source of revealed truth is God, the only
Xo human
channel of His revelation is the Church.
history can declare

what

is

contained in that revela

The Church alone can determine

tion.

therefore

its

its limits,

and

contents.

When then the

Church, out of the proper fountains

of truth, the Word of God, written and unwritten,
declares any doctrine to be revealed, no difficulties of

human

history can prevail against

said

The pretentious

it.

have before

historical criticism of these

days has prevailed, and will prevail, to undermine the

peace and the confidence, and even the faith of some.

But the

city seated

out of reach.

evidence, anterior to

fore

by

its history,

be learned of

criticism

on past

we

On

know

and

high and

is

its

own

and independent of

Church

it.

It is not there

itself.

history, but

in the living voice of the

can

hill is still there,

cannot be hid,

It

Its history is to

on a

by

acts of faith

at this hour, that

the faith. *

makes the fol

The faith Avhich

these words of mine, Quirinus

lowing not very profound remark

removes mountains will be equally ready such is
to make away with the facts
clearly his meaning
:

of history.

found

Whether any German Bishop

to offer his
*

will be

countrymen these stones to digest,

Pastoral, &c., 18G9, p. 125-

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

120

time will show. *

1

Quirinus looked

for.

Time has shown, faster than

The German Bishops at Fulda,

in their pastoral letter

To maintain

on the Council, speak as follows

that either the one or the other of the

doctrines decided

by the General Council

is

not con

tained in the Holy Scripture, and in the tradition of

the Church those two sources of the Catholic faith
or that they are even in opposition to the same, is a
first step, irreconcilable with the
very first principles
of the Catholic Church, which leads to separation

Wherefore, we hereby declare

Vatican
Council is a legitimate
present
General Council and, moreover, that this Council, as

from her communion.

that

the

any other General Council, has propounded or

formed a new doctrine at variance with the ancient
little as

teaching, but has simply developed and thrown light

upon the old and faithfully-preserved truth contained
in the deposit of faith,

and

of the day has proposed

all

faithful

people;

in opposition to the errors

expressly to the belief of

and, lastly, that these decrees
it

have received a binding power on

all

the faithful

by

the fact of their final publication by the Supreme

Head of the Church in solemn form at the Public
Session. f

Let

us, then,

go on

to

examine the relation of

history to faith.

The
words
and

objection from history has been stated in these

There are grave difficulties, from the words

acts of the

Fathers of the

genuine documents of
* Letters from

history,

Church, from the

and from the doctrine

Rome, &c. by Quirinus, second

f Times, Sept. 22, 1870.

series, p.

348-9.

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY
of the Church

itself,

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

121

which must be altogether solved,

before the doctrine of the infallibility of the Roman

Pontiff can be proposed to the faithful as a doctrine

revealed by God.

Are we
acts

to understand from this that the

words and

of the Fathers, and the documents of

human

history, constitute the Rule of Faith, or that the Rule

of Faith depends upon them, and is either more or

with them?

less certain as it agrees or disagrees

in other words, that the rule of faith

history, not history

by

by the rule of

is

or,

to be tested

faith?

If this

who

so argue lay down as a theo

so,
logical principle that the doctrinal authority of the
Church, and therefore the certainty of dogma, depends,

be

then they

not altogether, at least in part, on human history.

From this it would follow that when critical or
if

scientific historians find, or

suppose themselves to find,

a difficulty in the writings of the Fathers or other

human histories, the doctrines proposed by the Church
as of Divine revelation

are to be called into doubt,

The gravitv
that
the
such,
principle on which
undoubtedly either a doctrine of faith or u

unless such difficulties can be solved.

of this objection
it

rests is

is

heresy.
In order to determine whether
other, let

place of

us examine

first

what

it

is

be the one or the

the authority and

human

To do

history.
so surely and shortly,

rules of Melchior Canus,

doctrine of

all

will transcribe the

which may be taken

as the

theological Schools.

The eleventh chapter of his work De Locis Theologicis, is entitled de Humance Historite Auctoritate/
l

ID

it

he lays

down

the following principles:

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

122
1.

be

Excepting the sacred authors, no historian can

certain, that is, sufficient to constitute a certain

As

faith in theological matter.

manifest to every one,

it

this is obvious

and

has no need to be proved by

our arguments.
2.

Historians of weight, and worthy of confidence,

some without doubt have been, both in Ecclesi

astical and in secular matters, furnish to a theologian,
as

a probable argument.
3.

the

If all approved historians of weight concur in

same narrative of an event, then from

their

authority a certain argument can be educed, so that

the dogmas of theology may be confirmed also by
reason.* *

Let us apply these rules to the case of Honorius,

and to the alleged historical difficulties.
Is this
one in which

approved historians of weight

In the
concur in the same narration of events?
all

case of Honorius,

it

is

well

known

that great dis

historical critics.

crepancy prevails among

tories themselves are of

doubtful

But the Rule of Faith

the

is

The

his

interpretation.

Divine tradition of

revelation proposed to us by the magisterium, or

doctrinal authority, of the Church.
Against this, no

such historical

difficulties

can prevail.

Into this

They are excluded, as I have

a
said, by
prescription which has its origin in the
The revelation of
Divine institution of the Church.
they cannot enter.

the faith, and the institution of the Church, were

both perfect and complete, not only before human
histories existed, but

even before the inspired Scrip-

* Melchior
Canus, Loci theol.

lib. xi. c. 4.

SCIENTIFIC IIISTOKV

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

The Church

tures were written.

Divine

itself is the

witness, teacher, and judge, of the revelation entrusted

to it
There exists no other. There is no tribunal

which appeal from the Church can lie. There is

no co-ordinate witness, teacher, or judge, who can
to

revise, or criticize, or test, the teaching of the

It is sole

and alone

in the world.

And

to

it

Church.

may

be

applied the words of St. Paul, as St. John Clirysostom has applied them: The spiritual man judgeth
all things and he himself is
The
judged by no one.
Ecclesia docens, or the pastors cf the Church, with
their head, are a witness divinely sustained and

guided to guard and to declare the faith.

They
were antecedent to history, and are independent
The sources from which they draw their
of it.
testimony of the faith are not in human histories,
but in Apostolical tradition, in Scripture, in Creeds,
public worship and law of
Councils: and in the interpretation

in the Liturgy, in the

the Church,

of

all

in

these things by the supreme authority of the

Church

itself.
"

The Church has indeed a

its

its

acts

history.

annals, like the empire of

l)iit its

Its course

have been recorded by human hands.

history

is

no more than

Rome
its

It

and
has

or of Britain.

footprints in time,

which record indeed, but cause nothing and civate

nothing.

The
treated

tradition of the
;

historically

but between history and the tradition of the

Church there
scientific

Church may be

is

a clear distinction.

historians,

if

as a principle that history

understand
is

tradition,

The
it,

school of

lays

down

and tradition

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

124

that they are one and the same thing under

This seems to be the Trp&rov \J/=D5o of
names.
:

history

two

their system; it is a tacit elimination of the super

natural, and of the Divine authority of the Church.

The

tradition of the

Church

human

not

is

in its

The
perpetuity, in its immutability.
is
But
Divine.
matter of that tradition
history, ex
origin, in its

cepting so far as it is contained in the tradition of

the Church, is not Divine but human, and human
in its mutability, uncertainty,

matter of

it is

human.

and corruption.

Under

the

name

come two elements altogether Divine

which

handed down

is

as the

mode

Word

The

tradition

namely, that

of

God

written

it down,
and unwritten, and the
which is the magisterium or teaching authority of
But against neither the one nor the
the Church.

of handing

other of these things can human histories, written by

men not inspired by the Spirit of God, not seldom
inspired by any other than the Spirit of God, prevail;
because against the Church the gates of hell cannot

The

prevail.
It

also

is

visible

Church

itself is

the Divine depository,

Divine tradition.

and the Divine

guardian of Faith. But this Divine tradition contains

both the Ecclesia docens and the Ecclesia discens
i

both

infallible, the latter passively, the

sively

and

actively,

by the perpetual

assistance of the

It contains also the

Spirit of Truth.

former pas

Creed of the

Universal Church, the decrees of Pontiffs, the defi

nitions of Councils, the common and constant doctrine
of the Church delivered by its living voice in all the
world, of which our Divine Lord said, He that heareth
*
you, heareth Me.
* See
Appendix, p. 187.

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

Now
human
For

!:>.">

of what weight or authority

matters of faith ?

be

if this

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

so,

history in

is

instance, the Vatican Council affirms that the

doctrine of the immutable stability of Peter and of his

successors in the faith, and therefore the infallibility

Roman

Pontiff in matters of faith and morals,

in virtue of a Divine assistance promised to St. Peter,

of the

and in Peter to his successors,

What

has

is

a revealed truth.

human

Human

history
of revelation.

history to say to this declaration ?

neither the source nor the channel

is

may, however, mean a scientific

handling of the Divine tradition and the authoritative
documents of the Church. But before these things
Scientific history

can be thus scientifically handled, they must be first

taken out of the hands of the Church by the hands of
the scientific

saying:

critics.

You

And

this

are the Catholic

simply amounts to

Church indeed, and

possess these documents and histories of your own

But either you do not know the meaning of
past.
or you will not
declare the real meaning of them, because you are
are the men honesty and science is
not honest.

them, because you are not

We

with

scientific,

us, if it will

not die with us.

Hand

over your

the forgeries
documents, the forged and the true
we will find out; the true we will interpret; and by
;

we will prove that you have erred and led the

world into error and therefore that your claim to
science

be a Divine tradition, and to have a Divine authority,

The case of Honorius alone is
is an imposture.

You

say that Pope Leo and Pope Agatho

interpreted the Councils of Constantinople so as to

enough.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

126

show, that whatever faults of infirmity were in Honorius, a doctrinal heretic he was not. We, by scientific

treatment of history, have proved that your con

temporaneous Popes were wrong; and we are scien

in declaring that Honorius was a
tifically right
not in a large, but in a strict sense, not only
ex cathedra:"
as a private person, but as a pope

heretic,

"

and therefore that the

infallibility of the

Pope

is

fable.

But why should the school of scientific history pre

vail over the immemorial tradition of the Church,
even in a matter of fact ?

And how

can

it

prevail over the definition of the

Vatican Council, except by claiming to be

infallible,

or denying the infallibility of the Catholic Church?

And here lies the true issue. My purpose has

one point, namely, that under

an assumption
which is purely heretical. It has already destroyed
the faith of some and will that of more. Our duty is

been to bring out

this

this pretext of scientific history lurks

and to put the faithful on their guard

it,
I
believe to be the last and most subtile
what
against
form of Protestantism. This school of error has
to expose

up in Germany by contact with Pro

and
testantism,
partly in England by the agency of
those who, being born in Protestantism, have entered
partly sprung

the Catholic Church, but have never been liberated

from certain erroneous habits of thought.

The

form of Protestantism was to appeal from

the Divine authority of the Church to the text of
first

Scripture

that

is,

from the interpretation of the Holy

Scriptures traditionally declared

by the Church,

to the

SCIENTIFIC niSTOKY

AND THE RULE OF FAITH.

This
interpretation of private judgment.
Lutheran or Calvinistic Protestantism.

is

127

the pure

The next was, to appeal from the Divine authority

of the Church to the faith of the undivided Church
before the separation of the East and West. Such was
the Anglican Protestantism of Jewell and others.
The third was, to appeal from the Divine authority

of the Church to the consent of the Fathers, to the

canons of Councils, and the

modern form
speak with
I

in

all

respect and

like.

Such

is

the

more

of Anglicanism; of which I wish to

charity, for the sake of so many whom

love.

Thus far, we have to deal with those who are not

communion with the Holy See.
But there has been growing up, both in Germany

and in England, a school, if I may so call it, not

numerous nor likely to have succession, which places
constant antagonism to the authority of the
Church, and, to justify its attitude of antagonism,
The Pope and the
scientific history.
appeals to

itself in

Council,
fruits.

by Janus, and the attacks on Honorius, are its

These were all avowedly written to prevent

the definition of the infallibility of the Ilonian Pontiff.

It was an attempt to bar the advance of the magisc

terium Ecclesia?

Now,

by

scientific history.

before the definition of the Vatican Council,

the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff was a doctrine

revealed by God, delivered by the universal and

constant tradition of the Church, recognised in (Ecu

menical Councils, pre-supposed in the acts of the
Pontiffs in

by every

all

by all the Saints, defended

Order, and by ever} theological

ages, taught

religious

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

128

school except one, and in that one disputed only by

a minority in number, and during one period of its
history believed, at least implicitly, by all the faithful,
;

and therefore attested by the passive infallibility of

the Church in all ages and lands, with the partial and
transient limitations already expressed.
The doctrine was therefore already objectively de
fide, and also subjectively binding in conscience upon
all

who knew it to be revealed.

The definition has added nothing

certainty, for this is derived

It has

added only the extrinsic certainty of uni

versal promulgation

obligation

to its intrinsic

from Divine revelation.

upon

all

by the Ecclesia docens, imposing

the faithful.

Hitherto, therefore, the authors of Janus, and the

who

appealed to scientific history, appealed

indeed from the doctrinal authority of the Church in
like,

a matter of revelation

God knows

but they

may

be, so far as

good faith, protected by the plea

that the doctrine had not yet been promulgated by a
their

definition.

Nevertheless, the process of their opposition was

It was an appeal from the
essentially heretical.
traditional doctrine of the Catholic Church, delivered

common and

constant teaching, to history in

themselves.
terpreted by
It does not at all diminish the gravity of this act
to say that the appeal was not to mere human

by

its

history, nor to history written by enemies, but to

the acts of Councils, and to the documents of Eccle
siastical tradition.

This makes the

opposition

more

form.il

for

it

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

amounts

to

AND THE RULE OF FAITH. 129

an assumption that

scientific

knows the mind of the Church, and

to

interpret

its

acts,

decrees,

is

history
better able

condemnations, and

documents, either by superiority of scientific criti

cism, or by superiority of moral honesty, than the

Church

itself.

But surely the Church best knows its own history,

and the true sense of its own acts and documents.

The Crown of England would make short work of

those

who should

scientifically interpret the

unwritten

law, or the acts of Parliament, contrary to its judg

ments.

Do modern
is

as

new

suppose that the case of Honorius

to the Church as it is to them, or that the
critics

Church has not a traditional knowledge of the value

and bearing of the case upon the doctrines of faith ?
This, again, in non-Catholics would imply 110 more
than the ordinary want of knowledge as to the Divine
In Catholics it
nature and office of the Church.

would imply, if not heresy, at least a heretical animus.

If the Church has prohibited, under pain of excom
munication, any appeal from the Holy See to a future
General Council, certainly under the same censure it
would condemn an appeal from the Council of the
of Constantinople

Vatican to the Councils

inter

preted by scientific history.

It is of faith that the

contents and the limits

Church alone can declare the

of revelation, and can alone

determine the extent of

its

own

infallibility.

And

alone can judge of the true sense and interpre

tation of Holy Scripture, it alone can judge of tin-

as

it

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

130

true sense and interpretation of the acts of

Pontiffs and Councils.

its

own

Under the same head, therefore, and under the same

censure, come all appeals from the Divine authority of
the Church at this hour, under whatsoever pretext
or to whatsoever tribunal; whether to Councils in

the future or the past, or to Scripture or the Fathers,

or to unauthentic interpretations of the acts of Coun
cils,

or to documents of

This being;
O

grave

so,7

difficulties

it

human

history.

cannot be said that there exist

from the words and acts of the

Fathers, from the genuine documents of history, and

from the Catholic doctrine itself, which if not solved,

would render

impossible to propose to the faithful,

as a doctrine, the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff;
because it was contained, before definition, in the
it

universal and constant teaching of the Church as a

Who is the competent judge to
truth of revelation.

declare whether such difficulties really exist? or, if

they exist, what is the value of them whether they
;

Surely, it
light, relevant or irrelevant?
belongs to the Church to judge of these things.
They are so inseparably in contact with dogma, that

be grave or

the deposit of faith cannot be guarded or expounded

without j udging of them and pronouncing on them.

And

passing strange if the Church should be

incompetent to judge of these things, and the scien
tific

it

is

historians alone competent; that

should be

fallible in

historians infallible.
in history?

dogmatic

What

is

facts,

this

is,

if

the Church

and the

scientific

but Lutheranism

In those that are without, this

is

con-

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

AND

Till:

KULE OF FAITH. 131

in Catholics, it would be, not only incon

but a heresy.
The Council of the Vatican has with great precision
condemned this error in these words: Catholics can
sistcrit:

sistent

have no just cause of calling into doubt the

faith

they

have received from the teaching authority (magisterium) of the- Church, and of suspending their assent,
until they shall

have completed a

scientific

demon

stration of the truth of their faith. *

Again, the Council lays down, in respect to sciences

properly so called, a principle which a fortiori
applies to

so called,

historical science, with signal impropriety

by declaring

that every assertion contrary

to the truth of enlightened faith

is false

Where

fore all faithful Christians are not only forbidden to

defend as legitimate conclusions of science all such

opinions as are known to be contrary to the doctrine
of faith, especially if they have been condemned by
the Church, but are altogether bound to hold them
to be errors,
*
of truth.

which put on the

fallacious appearance

have said that the treatment of history can only

be called science with signal impropriety; and for
I

the following reasons:

According to both philosophers and theologians,

science

is

the habit of the mind conversant with ne

cessary truth
stration,

that

is,

truth which admits of

demon

and of the certainty which excludes the

true.
possibility of its contradictory being
According to the scholastic philosophy, science

defined as follows:
* Constitutio

Do Fide

Catholieu.

-2

Appendix.

101.
]>.

i-

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

132

Viewed

subjectively, it is

the certain and evident

knowledge of the ultimate reasons or principles of

truth attained

by

reasoning.

system of known
truths belonging to the same order as a whole, and
depending only upon one principle.

Viewed

This

is

objectively,

it

is

the

In

founded on the definitions of Aristotle.

the sixth book of the Ethics, chapter iii. he says

From this it is evident what science is to speak accu

rately,

and not to follow mere similitudes

we

for

all

understand that what we know cannot be otherwise

than

we know

For whatsoever may or may not

it.

be, as a practical question, is not

known

to be, or not

to be.

Such
4

also

is

the definition of St. Thomas.

Whatsoever truths are truly known

knowledge

(ut certa scientia) are

into their first principles,

as

He
by

known by

says
certain

resolution

which of themselves are im

mediately present to the intellect ... So that it is

impossible that the same thing should be the object
both of faith and of science, that is, because of the

He nevertheless
obscurity of the principles of faith.
But Vasquez shows from
calls theology a science.
Cajetan that this

non

relatively,

to be understood not simply but

is

simpliciter, sed

secundum

The

quid.

Thomists generally hold theology to be a science but

;

imperfect in

its

kind.

Gregory of Valentia sums up the opinions of the

That theology is
Schools, and concludes as follows
:

not science

and

He

others,

adds

c
:

taught by Durandus, Ockam, Gabriel,

whose opinions I hold to be the truest.
is

Though

it

be not a proper science,

it is

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY
habit absolutely

more

AND THE RULE OF FAITH. 133

perfect than any science;

Yet, nevertheless, by the best of

again
be called a science, because absolutely
:

more

perfect than
*

rightvS, it
it

is

ami

may

a habit

any science described by philoso

phers.

Theology then may be

First, because

science.

called,

it is

though improprie, a

a science,

if

not as to

its

method, process, de
And secondly, because

principles, at least as to its form,

velopment, and transmission.

though

its

principles are not evident, they are, in all the

higher regions of it, infallibly certain; and because

many of them are the necessary, eternal, and incor
ruptible truths, which according to Aristotle, generate
science.

If then theology,

properly so called,

which in certainty
is

is

next to science

to be called science only impro-

notwithstanding the infallible certainty and im

mutable nature of its ultimate principles, how can

prie,

by uninspired human authors,

transmitted by documents open to corruption, change,
and mutilation, without custody or security, except
the casual tradition of human testimony and human

human

history, written

criticism,

open to perversion by infirmity and passion

how can such subject-matter yield

of every kind,
which excludes contradiction,
principles of certainty
and ultimate truths immediate

to the intellect and

evident in themselves?
If

be meant an increased pre

evidence and in testing document s,

historical science

by

cision in

examining
and in comparing narratives together, we \\\\\ gladly
use the word by courtesy; but if more than this be
*

Temporal Mission of

the

Holy Ghost,

].

107-

12

THE VATICAN COUNCIL,

134

meant, if a claim be set up for history, which is not

admitted even for theology, then in the name of truth,

both Divine and human,

And

yet for

many

let the

pretence be exposed.

years these pretensions have been

Many

steadily advancing.

people have been partly

The con
deceived, and partly intimidated by them.
fident and compassionate tone in which certain writers

who

from them, has won the

reward which often follows upon any signal au
But when Catholics once understand that
dacity.
have treated

all

differ

us elevates the certainty of history

above the certainty of faith, and appeals from the tra
this school

among

Church

ditional doctrine of the

to its

science, their instincts will recoil

cilable

There

is

historical

it

as irrecon

something happily inimitable

words with which Janus opens

in the con

with

ceit of the

from

own

faith.

The immediate

object of this

work

is

Jus preface

to investi

gate by the light of history those questions which we

are credibly informed are to be decided at the (Ecu

menical Council already announced.

And as we
have endeavoured to fulfil this task by direct reference
it is not,
perhaps, too much to
that
our
will
labours
attract attention in scien
hope

to

original authorities,

tific

circles;

and serve

as a contribution to ecclesi

astical history.

Janus goes on to

say,

something more than

the

But

hibition of historical events

perceive that

it

this

work aims

also at

mere calm and aimless ex

the reader will readily

has a far wider scope, and deals with

ecclesiastical politics;

and in one word, that

it

is

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

AND THE RULE OF FAITH. 135

an appeal to the thinkers

among believing Christians, &c.*
We have here an unconscious confession. Janus
pleading for very

life,

an appeal from the light of faith to the

of
light
history, that is. from the supernatural to the
natural order; a process, as I have said again and

is

strictly

again, consistent in Protestants

and Rationalists

in

Catholics, simply heretical.

The

direct reference to original authorities

is,

of

Who

else but he
course, a prerogative of Janus.
ever could, or would, or did, refer to the original

authorities ?

Again,

it

work addressed

is

to scientific circles.

Lord Bacon describes a school of philosophers who,

when they come abroad, lift their hand in the attitude
of benediction, with the look of those who pity men.
Is science in the Catholic Church confined to circles ?
c

an esoteric perfection which belongs to the

favoured and to the few who assemble in chambers and
Is

it

Our Lord has warned us

secret places?

science of
this

God has

science

is

a wider expanse of light. In truth,

modern Gnosticism,

the Church, contemptuous of

faith,

superior

to

and profoundly

It appeals to the thinkers

egotistical.

Christians

that the

that

is,

to the

among believing
intellectual few among the

herd of mere believers.

is
escapes: the aim of the book
It deals with ea
not merely calm and aimless.
an
was
astical politics- that is, it
organised, combined,

But finally the truth

and deliberate attempt

*

The Pope

London, 18G9.

and

the

to hinder the Vatican Cnum-il

Council,

by Janus.

Preface,

p.

xiii.

136
in

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

liberty of action, and in the same breath, before

the Council had assembled, to
deny its Gicumenicity on
the ground that it would not be free.
its

The book concludes

c

That

as follows

is

quite enough
soever course the Synod

never be predicated of

it,

means

it

this, that

what

may take, one quality can

namely, that is has been a

Theologians and canonists de

really free Council.

clare that without complete freedom, the decisions of

the Council are not binding, and the assembly

a pseudo-synod. *

This was written in

Germany during

the

is

only

summer

of last year.
The English translation was published
by a Protestant bookseller in London in the month
of November.

the same

bought the Italian translation in

month in Florence, on my way to the opening
I

French and Spanish bishops told me,

that they had translations in their own

of the Council.

on arriving,

And in Spain and Italy copies were sent

language.
to the bishops through the channels of those Govern
ments.

We

have here the

latest

example of passionless

science.

Of
first,

the literary merits of the book, I will only say

that for its accuracy a fair account has been

taken in a pamphlet entitled

Scientific

that

it

is

History from Janus;

few Specimens of
and for profoundness

simply shallow, compared with Jewell

Defence of the Apology, Barrow

On

the

Pope

s
s

Dormitans,
Crakenthorp s
Yigilius
Supremacy,
Bramhall s Schism Guarded, Thorndike s Epilogue,
4

* Ibid.

p.

425.

AND THE RULE OF FAITH,

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

Brown
the

Fasciculus Rerum,

The

to say nothing of

Mosheim

Centuriators, or even

Magdeburg

Gieseler

c.,

or

Histories.

and especially the Anglican

anticatholic writers are solid, learned, and ponderous,
old Protestant

compared with Janus. They have also the force of

Used against the Church from
sincerity.

visible

without, their arguments are consistent and weighty

used by professing Catholics within the unity of the
;

are

Church, they

in

powerless

controversy, and

and consequences.
I speak thus plainly, Reverend and dear Brethren,
because you are charged with the cure of souls; and
heretical in their effects

where reading, speaking, writing has

no rule or limit, those committed to your charge will

in this country,

be in daily temptation.
eyes

and

They cannot

their

close

they could, they cannot close their ears.

to read they cannot fail to hear.
the trial permitted for the purity and confirma

if

What they may refuse

It is

tion of their faith.

By your vigilant care they will
be what the Catholics of England, in the judgment

often expressed to

and

me in other countries, already

would we were

believe

that

not ashamed

is,

which others

firm, fearless, intelligent in faith, and

to

theless the trial

so in the degree in

are

is

confess

it

before

men.

Never

And, as I have
ruinam
et in rein

severe for many.

said before, the Council will be

surrectionem multorum.
selves to stand will fall;

Some who
and some, of

think them

whom we

per

place.
haps have no hope, will rise to
Therefore we must be faithful and fearless for the
fill

truth.

their

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

138

The book
one, to

watch against

conceit which

warn

Janus warns us of two

all

duties.

The

this Gnostic inflation of scientific

the animus of heresy; the other, to

Catholics that to deny the (Ecumenicity or
is

the freedom of the Council which the Vicar of Christ

has already confirmed in all its acts hitherto complete,

or the obligation imposed upon the faithful by those
acts,

is

Church
its

implicitly to deny the Infallibility of the

and that to doubt, or to propagate doubts, of

(Ecumenicity and freedom, or of the obligations

its acts, is at least

the

first step to

that denial.

of

RESULT OF

Till-:

DKFIXITION.

CHAPTER

I; ,:)

Y.

TRADITION OF ENGLAND, r; HEATER UNITY OF

FAITH RESULTING FROM THE DEFINITION.

CONCLUSION.

IN an (Ecumenical Council, Bishops are witnesses of

the Faith of their respective Churches. Not indeed as
if they were representatives or
delegates of their

advanced by some writers

who counted up the population of what they were
flocks; a theory strangely

pleased to call the greater cities, in order to give

weight to the testimony of their Bishops as against
In this they simply betrayed the fact
that of others.
that they were resting

upon the natural

order,

and

arguing, not on principles of faith, but of the political

world

Bishops are witnesses, primarily and

chiefly,

the subjective faith of their flocks, which

not of

may vary

or

be obscured, but of the objective faith of the Church

committed

to their trust,

when by

consecration they

doctors, and judges.

They were
by consecration admitted to the Ecdesia docens, and
the Divine Tradition of the Faith was entrusted to

became witnesses,

their custody.

But

this is

one and the same in the

humblest Vicar Apostolic, and in the Bishop of the

most populous and imperial city in Christendom.
In the course of the discussions, testimony was
given to the unbroken tradition of the doctrine of

Papal

Infallibility in Italy, Spain, Ireland,

and

many

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

140
other countries.

It will

not therefore be without

its

use and interest, if I add briefly a few evidences of

the unbroken tradition of England as to the infalli
bility

Roman

of the

Pontiff.

place in this Pastoral to do

would be out of

It

more than

you a
few passages but I would wish to stir up some one,
who has time for such research, to collect and publish
offer to

a complete catena of evidence from the writers before

and sin-ce the Reformation which will show that the
;

Gallicanism, or worse than Gallicanism, of Cisalpine

Clubs and Political Emancipationists was no more than

momentary aberration of a few minds under the

stress of penal laws.
They are abnormal instances in

the

the noble fidelity of the Catholics of England.

As to the Bishops and Doctors of the English Church
before the Reformation, I may first remind you of

the words of St. Anselm, St.

Thomas

of Canterbury,

and Bradwardine, three primates of England, given in

the Pastoral of last year.
To these may be added
St.

/Elred of Rivaulx,*

Thomas

Pullen, J

Roger

Bacon,

John of

Salisbury, f Robert

Robert Grostete,

of Evesham,
Scotus,

^[

**

and Waldensis.

Richard Ralph,

||

Holcot, JJ
In these writers

Bachon,ff
||||

the Primacy of the Pontiff, and the obligation, under

* Bibl.

Max. Patrum,

f Poly crates,
J In Sentent.
In Vita

lib. vi. c.

Sti.

b. viii.

24, p. 61.
sect, vi.

11

||

ft Proleg.

Summa
HI)

Opus.

c.

xiv.

vi. 9, 8.

in Lib. iv. Sentent.

in qnoestionibus

Doctrinn Fidei,

Ed. Lugd. 1677.

Ed. Giles.

c. iii.

Egwini,

Epp. 72 and 127.

** In Sent. iv. dist.

torn, xxiii. pp. 57, 58.

lib.

ii.

JJ In Lib.

Armenorum,

capp. 47, 48.

iv.

Sentent.

lib. vii. c. 5.

KESULT OF THE DEFINITION

Ill

pain of sin, to obey his judgments and doctrines, is

laid down with a perfect unconsciousness that
any
Catholic could dispute the Divine certainty of his
The Vatican definition has denned the
guidance.

reason of this implicit faith, by declaring that in the

primacy there is a charisma which preserves the

supreme doctrinal authority of the Pontiff from error

in faith or morals.

But

I leave to others to
I will

subject.

go on

complete this part of the

to the period of the

Reforma

tion.

The controversy against the authority of Rome

drew out more explicit statements from Sir Thomas
More and Cardinal Fisher.
More, writing against Luther, says, Judge, I pray
thee, reader, with what sincerity Father Tippler
treats this place of
is

enough

for

him

Jerome, when he (Jerome) says

if

the Pope of

Rome

it

approve his

openly declaring that it cannot be

doubted that he is sound in faith who agrees with

faith;

that

is,

that See; than which what could he

more splendidly

say? Yet Father Tippler Luther and others so dis

semble about this as to try to cloud the reader also

with darkness, and to lead away the minds of men

*
elsewhere, that they may not remember anything.
*

quam sincere pater

cum ille dicat, satis esse
Hieronymi
comprobaret papa Romanus nimirum apcrtc
Qu^so

lector judica

tractet

bitandum

esse ilium recte sentire de fide, qui

Potator hunc locum

sihi

si

siiam fulem

ugnificana,

cum

ilia

mm

du-

sede con-

istml
quo quid potuisset dicere magnifieentius
dissimulat pater Potator Luthcrus ut etiam tenebras lectori i-i-m-mr
offundere et animos hominum verbis alio, ne quid recordentur,

sentiat:

abducerc.

1566.

Morus, In

Liithrritm, lib.

ii.

cap. iv. p. *7.

a<ln>

L<

uvain,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

142

Cardinal Fisher also, writing against Luther, says:

4

One thing

Peter

first

know, that Augustine everywhere makes

and Prince of the Apostles, and Teacher
I

whom also he says the rest

are contained, as in the head of any family the mul
titude (of the family) are all contained. *
And

and Head of the

rest, in

Where else dost thou believe

he adds,
the faith to abide, save in the Church of Christ?
u
have prayed for thee
said Christ to Peter,
further

"

I,"

thy faith fail not." The faith of Peter, do

not doubt it, will always abide in the succession of
that

Peter, which

is

the Church.

Vatican definition,
bilitate

pollere,

suam instructam

This

j*

Rqmanum

is

precisely the

Pontificem ea

infalli-

qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam

esse voluit.

Cardinal Pole, after describing the conduct of Peter

The
in the Council at Jerusalem, goes on to say,
l

same

also the successors of Peter, following his faith,

have done in

other Councils

all

in

which

found

is

much more

signally than in Peter s lifetime, of what

kind are the efforts of Satan, who desires to sift the

Church of God, and how great is the efficacy of this

special remedy in repressing them; namely, that which
Christ declared

when he turned

to Peter, in these

*
et

Unum scio, quod Augustinus ubique Petrum facit Primum

Principem Apostolorum ac Magistrum et Caput cseterorum, in

quo

et ca3teros contineri dicit, sicut in capite cujusvis families re-

multitude).
Joannis Roffensis Confutatio
Lutheri, art. xxv. ad finem, in Rocaberti Biblioth. Pontif.
torn. xiv. p. 582.

liqua

cornprelienditur

Errorum
f

Ubi

credis alibi

manere fidem quam

in Ecclesia Christi

Ego,

inquit Christus ad Petrum, rogavi pro te ut non deficiat fides tua.

Petri fides ne dubita semper in successione Petri manebit, qua? est
Ecclesia.

Id. art. xxvii.

ad

fin.

in Rocaberto, torn. xiv. p. 587.

KESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

"

words,

thy

And

thou, being once converted, strengthen

For

brethren."

let all

remedies be found which

any time the Church has

at

of Satan,

143

who

tried against the malice

at all times assails

it

with

all

kinds of

temptations none certainly will be ever found to be

compared with this, which is wont to be used in
;

General Councils

namely, that all the Bishops of all

the Churches, as the brethren of Peter, be confirmed
;

his successors, professors of the

by

In like manner, Harding, Jewel

1

The Pope succeedeth Peter

same

faith.

antagonist, writes:

in authority

and power.

For whereas the sheep of Christ continue

world

end, he

to the

not wise that thinketh Christ to

is

have made a shepherd temporary or for a time over

His perpetual flock.
To Peter He gave that He ob
tained

by His prayer made

to the Father, that his

Again, to him He gave grace

thus to perform, the performance whereof at him He
required, to wit, that he confirmed and strengthened

faith should not fail.

his brethren, wherefore the grace of stedfastness of

and of confirming the wavering and doubtful

faith,
*

Idem etiam Petri successores, fidem ejus sccuti, fecere in

omnibus conciliis, in quibus rnulto illustrius quam vivo

reliquis

Petro compertum est, et cujusmodi asset Satanae conatus Ecclesiam

Dei ciibrare expetentis, et quanta ad eos reprimendos extiterit vis

quod Christus ad Petrum sermon em conEt tu aliquando conversus confirms

Ut enim omnia remedia quseruntur qua ullo tcmporc

liujus singularis remedii,

vertens verbis
fratres tuos.

illis

indicavit

oiuni
Ecclesia est experta contra Satanee malitiam nuuquam
uullum certe reperietur quod
tentationis genere earn aggredientis
cum hac comparari possit, quod in conciliis generalibus adhiliu>n

solitum, ut singuli singularum Ecclesiarum episcopi, tanquam IVtri

protirativs, eonfirmarentiir per ejus successores candem
li<l>-m

tentee.

Card. Polus,

De Summo

Punt/jicc,

Jliblioth. Pontif. torn, xviii. p. 14G.)

cap.

iv.

(RueeaUrti,

144

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

in faith, every

Pope obtaineth of the Holy Ghost

the benefit of the Church.

he

may

for

And

so the Pope, although

by personal error in his own private
as a man, and as a particular doctor in his

err

judgment

own

opinion, yet as he is Pope, the successor of Peter,

the Vicar of Christ in earth, the shepherd of the

Universal Church, in public judgment, in deliberation

and definitive sentence, he never erreth, nor never
erred.

For whensoever he ordaineth or determineth

anything by his high bishoply authority, intending

men

to bind Christian

he

to perform or believe the same,

always governed and holpen with the grace and

favour of the Holy Ghost.
This is to Catholic
is

doctors a very certainty, though to such doughty

it is but a matter of
nothing and a

clerks as ye are

very

trifling tale.

Campian, answering Whitaker, says, Nor, as you

slander us, do we depend on the voice of one man,
but rather on the Divine promise of Christ made to
Peter and his successors, for the stability of whose
faith

He prayed

for thee,

The

to the Father.

He

Peter,"

fruit

of which

"

have prayed

that thy faith fail not."

prayer, what follows plainly
"

said,

enough shows, belongs not to Peter alone, but to his

For since the Church was not
to become extinct with Peter, but to endure unto the
end of the world, the same stability in faith was even
more necessary to Peter s successors, the Roman
successors also.

Pontiffs, in proportion as they

* Confutation of a

Book

entitled

were weaker than

An Apology

England, by Thomas Harding, D.D.,

Queen. Antwerp, 1565.

p.

335

a.

he,

of the Church of

Dedicated to the

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

and were

145

to be assailed with mightier engines

by

and other impious men. As, there

Peter when converted, confirmed the Apostles

tyrants, heretics,
fore,

his brethren,

must confirm

the Pontiffs also

their

brethren the rest of the Bishops/ Afterwards, he

says, Under his guidance they cannot err from the
c

right path of the faith.

These evidences are

what was the

faith

more than enough to show

of the Church in England in the

sixteenth century, that is, in the controversies of the

Reformation.
They show what was the faith, for

which the Catholics of England

and suffered.

we may

In the seventeenth century,

Sanders as our first witness.
4

De

Clavi David

in words

we

declare

But we

at that

He

day stood,

take Nicholas

freely declare,

we prove by

cessor of Peter, the Bishop of

work
and what

writes in his

fact,

Rome,

that the suc

in

expounding

to the Bishops the faith of Christ, has never erred,

nor has ever either been the author of any heresy, or

has lent his authority to any heretic for the promul
gation of heresy. f
Kellison,

President of the

College

at

Douai in

For in two senses Peter

1605, writes as follows:
the
be
to
be
of the Church first, as
rocke
sayd
may
:

he

is

a particular man, and so

if

the Church had been

* Confutatio
Responsionis G. Whitakcri, p. 44. Parisiis 1582.
f At vero nos libere dicimus, et quod verbo dicirnus re ipp a,

comprobamus, Petri successorem Episcopum Romanum in exponenda Episcopis fide Christ! nun<|uam crrassc, nimquam aut ullius
haeresis auctorem fuisse, aut alii hccretico ad promulgandum
ha>

resim suam prsebuisse auctoritatem.

David,

lib. v. cap. iv.

Nicolas Sanderus, dt Clavi

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

146
built

condly,

as

Pastor,

who

must have

it

upon him,

fallen with

him

se

upon a publique person and supreme

to have successors, to

is

whom

constancie

promised, by which they shal uphold the

Church: and so the Church dyeth not with Peter,

in faith

is

And be
but keepeth her standing upon successors.
cause Peter and his successors, by their indeficient
faith,

in

which

supreme pastors they shal never

as

do uphold the Church, therefore the Fathers

alleaged sometimes say that the Church is builded on
erre,

Peter, sometimes on his faith, as

it is

the faith of the

supreme head which in effect is al one. For if Peter

upholde the Church by his indeficient faith which he
:

then Peter upholde th the Church, as he

hath assured faith, and his faith upholde th the Church,
not howsoever but as it is the faith of Peter, and the
teacheth,

supreme head, whose

faith especially

out of his chaire (that

not as a particular man only,

but as a publique Doctor and

is,

proposing his opinion

chiefe

defineth and

Pastor)

which he teacheth

Christians ought to beleeve,

commandeth what al
shal never faile; and

consequently the Church which relyeth on his defi

nition, though she may be shaken, yet shal never be

overthrowne. *

In a work published by

S. N,,

Doctor of Divinity,

The same is proved by all such texts

1G34, we read
as convince that the head or chief Bishop of the
4

Church cannot
u

Simon,

Simon,

defining matters of faith.

Satan hath desired you that he

err

might winnow you

*
first

Survey of the

book, chap.

vi. p.

in

as wheat, but I

New

Religion, set forth

71.

Do way,

1G05.

have prayed for

by Matthew

Kellison,

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

thce that

thy faith

prayed not for

fail."

Here Christ

the Church, but in particular for

all

Peter, as all the

not

may

147

words show: Simon

-for

thee

thy brethren: also, whereas our Saviour

faith
to speak in the plural number,
to have

He

Further,

"

prayeth for

thou sometimes

but

him

to

been

have prayed for

whom He

thee."
"

saith,

and

which cannot agree to the

whole Church
which
is
perverted,
many ways

converted,"

whole Church, except we

to have

began

Satan hath desired

He change th His manner

&c., forthwith

you,"

of speaking and saith,

"

thy

first

will say the

But now that which Christ prayed for is

expressly that his faith should not fail, and then
seeing this prayer for Peter was for the good of the
untrue.

desiring to winnow the faith

thereof followeth that she never wanteth one

Church, the Devil

ful,

it

whose

faith

may

still

not

fail,

by whom she may be con

firmed. *

Southwell, or Bacon, who wrote in 1638, affirms

That the Roman Pontiff, out of Council, is infallible

in his definitions.

what

is

He adds

already said, he

It is clearly

who

proved from

the foundation-stone

is

of the Church, actually and always infusing into it

firmness against the gates of hell and heresies he
:

who

is

Pastor not of this or that place, but of the

whole fold
salvation
err in

is

and therefore

bound

judgment

in all things necessary to

to feed, govern,

of faith.

and

direct,

cannot

But the Supreme

such a Rock and Pastor, as has been mani

festly proved; therefore he cannot err in j IK In incur
of faith.
This he proves, among other evidence, by
Pontiff

is

The Triple Cord,

L 2

p. 72.

1C.TI

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

148

the promise of our Lord

and adds,

also to the
*

have prayed for thee, &c.,

was said to Peter as pastor was said

What
Roman

Pontiffs, as has

been abundantly

proved.

Nor was

broken, though the depres

sion which followed the Revolution of 1688 reduced
this tradition

In the eighteenth century,

the Catholics to silence.

the following testimonies will suffice.

More might,
no doubt, with ease be found; but for our present
purpose no more are needed. First, of Alban Butler,

who

assuredly represents the English Catholics of his

It is evident from his
tunes, we read as follows
c

Epitome de sex prior ibus

conciliis cecumenicis in calce

de Incamatione, that he had the highest

veneration for the Holy See, and for him who sits in
tractatus

the chair of St. Peter; that he constantly held and

maintained the rights and singular prerogatives of
St.

Peter and his successors in calling, presiding over,

and confirming, general or oecumenical councils the

Pope s superiority over the whole church and over
;

of bishops, and over a general

council; the irreformability of his doctrinal decisions

the whole college

in

and moral*

point of faith

dispense

his

supreme power to

cause) in. the canons of

in short, the plenitude of his au

(when there

is

general councils
thor! tv over the whole Church without exception or
;

limitation.

Bernard,

JV////7

1. ii.

force to this
*

t
p

de Consid.
is,

S.
distmguitur nihiL
f What gives additional

c.vcipitur idn

that

c. 8.

Alban Butler not only held but

Eegulu viva, sen Analysis Fidei, p. 41. Antwerp ur, 1638.

Alban Butler,
of the Life and Writings of the

An Account

10.

London, 17 JO.

"Rev.

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION

149

in his theological treatises: and

receive this testimony from the pen of Charles
Butler, who of all men is least to be suspected of

taught these doctrines

that

we

ultramontanism,
1790, when a certain number of
Catholics, weary of penal laws, fascinated by Parlia
ment, and perhaps intimidated by the Protestant:,

In the year

ndeiicy, began to explain away Catholic doctrines,

and to describe themselves by a nomenclature which

not here repeat, the .Rev. Charles Plowdcn

published a work, the very title of which is a witness
I

will

and an argument.
the
in

his

It is called

Modern Opinion of the

Considerations on

Fallibility of the

the Decision of Dogmatical Questions.

first

these words

chapter with

c
:

Holy See

He

opens
Before the

Declaration of the Gallican Clergy in 1682, it was

the general persuasion of Roman Catholics that the

solemn decisions of the Holy See on matters of

Since
dogmatical and moral import are infallible.
that epoch the contrary opinion is asserted in many
schools in France, it has been imported with other

now appears
to be the prevailing system, especially among those
members of our Catholic clergy and laity who have
French

rarities into this

studied

of

little

proves what

kingdom, and

either.

in these

He

it

then most

Pastorals has

solidly

been so often

exception of the modern

opinion of the local and tranncnt (iallican School,
the universal and traditionary faith of the Church in
asserted,

that,

with the

the infallibility of the Roman PontitVhas never been

Plowdcn then proceeds to censure the
obscured.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

150

oath which certain Catholics were at that time pro

He says
posing to themselves and others.
:

The

clause which regards Papal Infallibility is a

demonstration that the oath was not calculated to

accommodate the bulk of Roman

very respectable

number who

canonical decrees of the

Catholics, since the

believe the solemn

Pope on matters of

and

faith to

be irreformable can never conscientiously pronounce

it.
If the interpreters of the oath tell us that the
framers of

it

did not intend to exclude the belief of

dogmatical decisions, we must answer

them that the admission of such a tacit distinction
infallibility in

would justly lay us open

No

not believe.

to swearing to

and some

infallibility

what we do

infallibility will

always be contradictories. The Catholic public may

already know that I think the modern opinion of
papal

fallibility in decisions

and dangerous, and

it

of faith to be

appears to

me

ill

grounded

that the doctrine

of infallibility in these matters, though not decided,

might easily be proved to be that of the Catholic

Church and therefore

renounced.

true.

It

must not then be

The

addition of personal in the address

does not remove the difficulty.
For if the Supreme

Head

of the Church be infallible in his solemn

dog
matical decisions, this infallibility attaches to his

person.
it

It

subsists

was promised and given to

in

his

lawful successors.

belong in solidum to the particular

as

belong to the chair or see of

is

Rome

It

and

does not

Church of Rome

an aggregate of many individuals;

from the Pope.

and the sedens

St. Peter,

it

does not

as a thing distinct

The distinction between the sedes

a modern subterfuge of the Jan-

KESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

151

senists, unknown to antiquity, which always under

stood the person of the chief Bishop, whether in
words they attribute inerrancy directly to him or

If the Pope be then in

metaphorically to his see.
*
fallible, he is personally infallible.

only two more witnesses who bore

their testimony in the last century, but lived on into
the present, Bishop Hay, who died in 1811, and

now add

I will

Bishop Milner,

who

died in 1826.

Bishop Hay, in his

follows

On what grounds

Q. 27.

when he
Church,
A.

who

writes as

speaks to
is infallible

On

do these divines found

the Pope himself,

the faithful as head of the

believe that
all

in

what he teaches?

several very strong reasons, both from

scripture, tradition,

and reason.

then draws out these three fully and abun

dantly
4

Sincere Christian,

their opinion,

He

and

Q. 31.

this done,

he asks

But what proofs do the

their opinion

others bring for

that the head of the Church

is

not

infallible?

A.
prove

They bring not one text

it,

of Scripture to

&c.

Lastly, Bishop Milner in his book called,

siastical

Democracy

detected,
l

saying in the text,

after

Eccle

in

published

1793,
the

The controversy of

inerrancy is here entirely out of the question/

It is true I was educated
adds the following note

Pope

in the belief of this inerrancy; nor have

*

Observations on

Catholics,

the

Oatli

by Charles Plowden,

yet seen

proposed to the English

p. 43.

London, 1790.

Roman

152

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

But
change my opinion.
if the
layman, who never fails to ridicule the doctrine
in question, is willing
fairly to contest it, he knows
sufficient

argument

to

where

to

writer,

which insinuates the

meet with an antagonist ready to engage

with him. Against one assertion however of this
political

from the doctrine of Papal

danger resulting
hurl

Infallibility, I will

defiance at him; nothing being more easy to show,

than that no greater danger can result to the State

from admitting the inerrancy of the Pope than from

*
admitting that of the Church itself.
I

only hope

Catholics

of

we

shall

now

hear no more that the

England have not

believed,

or have

not been taught, this doctrine; nor that the

Catholics
of England refuse to believe the
opinions,

of this

Old

new
and the like. We have heard too much
and the honoured name of those who

through three hundred years of persecution have

kept the faith, has been too much dishonoured by im
puting to them that they are not faithful to the
The
Martyrs, Confessors, and Doctors of England.

Anselm and St. Thomas, of Thomas More

and Cardinal Eisher, of Hay and Milner, is the faith
of the Catholics of England.
Whoso departs from it

faith of St.

forfeits his share in the inheritance of fidelity

they

have handed down.

I will

now add

a few words on the disastrous con

sequences predicted from the Definition.

We were told that the Definition of the Infallibility
would alienate the fairest provinces of the Catholic

Church, divide the Church into parties, drive the

* Ecclesiastical

Democracy

detected, p. 98.

London, 1793.

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

scientific

153

and independent into separation, and

set

the reason of mankind against the superstitions of

Rome.
were told of learned professors, theolo

We

gical faculties, entire universities, multitudes of luitv,

hundreds of clergy, the flower of the episcopate, who

were prepared to protest as a body, and to secede.
There was to be a secession

in France, in

The

in Austria, in

Hungary.
would
never hear of
England

Germany,
Old Catholics of

this

new dogma, and

with difficulty could be made to hold their peace.

Day by day, these illusions have been sharply dis
pelled; but not a word of acknowledgment is to be

professor is suspended a divinis in Ger

a
or two of lay professors, led by a
score
many;
handful whose names are already notorious, and a

heard.

hundred or

so of

laymen who, before the Council met,

began to protest against its acts, convoke a congress,

which ends in a gathering of some twenty persons.
These, with the alleged opposition of one Bishop, whose
name out of respect I do not write, as the allegation
has never yet been confirmed by his own word or
act, these are hitherto the adverse consequences of
the Definition.

On

the other hand, the Bishops who, because they

opposed the Definition as inopportune, were calumni-

ously paraded as opposed to the doctrine of Infalli

to publish their submission to the
bility, at once began
acts of the Council.

Bishops

who were

The greater part of

the French

once in opposition, have explicitly

declared their adhesion.

The German

Bishops, nice ti ULT

again at Fulda, issued a Pastoral Letter, so valuable in

it in the
Appendix.* It
itself, that I have reprinted
* Sec
Appendix,

p.

*2

1~>.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

154

was signed by seventeen, including all the chief Bishops

Germany. The others, if silent, cannot be doubted.

of

The leading Bishops of Austria and Hungary, who

be taken as representing the Episcopates of
these countries, have in like manner declared them

may

The Clergy and

the faithful of these king

doms, with the rarest exceptions of an individual here
selves.

and

there, are, as they have always been, of one

mind

in accepting the definition with joy.

Ireland has
in
not
for
itself,
spoken
only
many dioceses, and by its

Bishops, but by the Triduum, or Thanksgiving of

three days, held in Dublin with great solemnity and
with a concourse, as I am informed by direct corre

Of Eng
spondence, such as was never seen before.
The Clergy of this diocese
land I need say little.
have twice spoken for themselves; and the Clergy of
England and Scotland have given unequivocal witness
As we hear so much and so often of
to their faith.
those
that

among us who

is,

are called

the old Catholics,

the sons of our martyrs and confessors; and

name is so lightly and officiously taken in

as their

vain by those

who

desire to find or to

make

divisions

you will not need, but will nevertheless be

know, that both by word and by letter I have
received from the chief and foremost among them,
express assurance that what the Council has defined

among

us,

glad, to

It is but their old faith in

they have always believed.
an explicit formula.
Among the disappointments to
which our adversaries, I regret so to call them, but

truth must be spoken, have

greater than
to

make

this.

doomed themselves, none is

They have laboured to believe and

others believe that the Catholic Church

is

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

155

internally divided; that the Council has revealed this

division; and that it is nowhere more patent than in
It

England.

It is

illusion.

know, useless to contradict this

not founded in reason, and cannot by
I

is,

Prejudice and passion are deaf

reason be corrected.

and

Time and

blind.

facts will dispel illusions,

and

expose falsehoods. And to this slow but inexorable

It is no evidence of
cure we must leave them.
division

duals should
will be in
is

us, if here

among

fall

away.

ruinam

et

and there a few

I said before, the

who

Council

in resurrectionem multorum.

a time of spiritual danger to many;

those

indivi

live perpetually

ft

especially to

among adversaries,

hearing
the
the
Coun
Church,
day long against
and the Holy Father, reading anti-Catholic ac

diatribes all
cil,

counts and comments upon Catholic doctrines, and

upon the words and acts of Catholic Bishops, and

always breathing, till they are unconscious of

an ti- Catholic atmosphere.

it,

an

In the last days shall

*
and in the last times some
come dangerous times,
Those days seem
shall depart from the faith. f
individuals
us
and
now to be upon
perhaps may
St.

Paul has foretold that

of leaves and sprays and boughs

You will know how to
does not divide the Tree.

fall.

But the

deal with

fall

them

in

and firmness,

charity, patience,

on the Apostolic precept, A man

you
that is a heretic, after the first and second ad

before

act

You will use

monition, avoid. J
of charity, but you will use also,
* 2 Tim.

iii.

1.

I Tit.

iii.

10.

all
if

the

patience

need be

Tim.

iv. 1.

so, its

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

156

In these days, laxity is mistaken for

charity, and indifference to truth for love of souls.
This is not the spirit of the Apostle, who in the

just severity.

excess of charity declared that he could desire to be

anathema from Christ for his brethren according to
the flesh, and yet for the love of souls could say,
c

would they were even cut

off,

because the purity of the faith

trouble you; *
vital to the sal

who
is

vation of souls, and the salvation of the flock

must be

preferred to the salvation of a few.

I will touch but one other topic, and then

make an

The same prophets who

end.

foretold disastrous con

sequences from the definition, are now foretelling the

downfall of the Temporal Power.
Day by day, we

hear and read contemptuous censures of the obstinacy

of Pius the Ninth, who has ruined himself by his Non
possunnis, and sealed his downfall by the definition
I do not hesitate to
of his own infallibility.
say, that
if

what

is

definition,
trials

now happening had been

which

is

not the

would be better than an

fact,

yet any external

internal conflict arising

from a contradiction of revealed truth.

bought too dear

caused by the

Gold may be

but truth cannot.

Perhaps we ought not to wonder that the Protestant

and anti-Catholic world should persist in declaring

Rome, by the

definition of the Infallibility, has

altered its relations to the world; or, as I have lately

that

disgusted all the civil governments of Europe.

not know, or are willingly ignorant, that the
do
They
c

read,

doctrine of the Infallibility was as much the doctrine

of the Church before as after the definition.
The
*

Gal. v. 12.

HESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

definition only declares

relations of

Rome

it

to

157

be revealed by God.

to the Civil

The

Powers are therefore

If the Civil Powers

precisely what they were before.
are disgusted, it is only because the (Ecumenical

duty in com
or because they can no

Council declined to swerve from

its

pliance to their dictation ;

longer affect to disbelieve that the Infallibility of the
Koman Pontiff is the true and traditional doctrine of

We

the Catholic Church.

we do not

because

are called superstitious,

believe in the

downfall of the

Temporal Power; and obstinate, because we will not

recognise the right of Italy to invade the Patrimony
of the Church.
Our superstition consists in this.
In the history of the Church the Temporal Power
is, over and over

has been suppressed, as the phrase

Napoleon suppressed it twice. The

Triumvirate suppressed it in 1848. There is nothing
new under the sun. The thing that has been, is

again.

The

first

We

do not believe in the

the thing that shall be.
nor in the
perpetuity of anything but the Church;
seeds of

Sacrilege carries the

robbery so unjust

anything but justice.

finality of

its

own

cannot endure.

dissolution.

When

or

how

A
it

shall

be chastised

we:

know not but

:

that.

Of

the day of reckoning is not less sure for

one thing there can be no doubt ; the nations

which have conspired

to dethrone the Vicar of Christ

be scourged.
They will, moreover,
The people
scourge one another and themselves.
that has the chief share in the sin, will have the

will, for that sin,

heaviest share in the punishment.

We

are tln ivf..^

no way moved. If it be God s will that His

Church should suffer persecution, it will be tlim-hy

in

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

158

but the persecutors will

one by one.
Rome has seen the map of Europe made over and
over again
but Rome remains changeless.
It will
o
o
see out the present dynasties of conquered and con

purified

fall

queror suffering, it may be, but indefectible.

I have already said, that the definition was made
:

on the eighteenth of July, and war on the nineteenth.

Since that date, a crowd of events have hurried to their

The French Empire has passed away.

The peace
occupied by the armies of Italy.

fulfilment.

Rome
of

is

Europe

is

broken

never again,

the scourges of
restored,
circuit among the nations.
till

it

may

be, to be

war have gone

their

period of storm has

set in, and the rising waters of a flood may be seen
If a time of trial for the Church is at
approaching.
hand, a time of ruin and desolation to all countries
in

Europe

will

but cannot die

come with
;

it.

The Church may

suffer,

the dynasties and civil societies of

Europe may not only suffer but be swept away.

The Head of the Church, be he where he may, in

Rome

or in exile, free or in bondage, will be all that

the Council of the Vatican has defined, supreme in
jurisdiction, infallible in faith.

Go where

he may,

the faithful throughout the world will see in him the

likeness of His Divine Master, both in authority and
in doctrine.
The Council has thus made provision
for the

Church

in its time of trial,

when, it may be,

not only (Ecumenical Councils cannot be held, but
even the ordinary administration of ecclesiastical

government and consultation may be hardly pos

sible.

Peter

bark

is

ready for the storm.

All that

is

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

159

Past ages were wild

already on board.
and perilous, but the future bids fair to exceed them
needful

is

in violence, as a hurricane exceeds an

ordinary storm.

The times of the Council of Trent were tempestuous:

but for these three hundred years the licence and the
violence of free thought, free speech, and a free press
which spares nothing human or divine, have been

accumulating

in

volume and

All this

intensity.

burst upon the Council of the Vatican.

And in the
midst of this, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, abandoned

by

all

alone,

powers of the once Christian world, stands

invincible, the supreme judge and

weak but

infallible teacher of

men.

The Church has

therefore

provision for faith and truth, unity and order.

floods may come, the rain descend, and the
winds blow and beat upon it, but it cannot fall,
its

The

founded upon Peter. But what security

has the Christian world? Without helm, chart, or

because

it is

light, it

has launched itself into the

tion.

There

is

not a monarchy that

is

falls

of revolu

not threatened.

Spain and France, monarchy is already over

thrown.
The hated Syllabus will have its justifica

In

The Syllabus which condemned Atheism and

revolution would have saved society. But men would
tion.

not.

They

are dissolving the temporal power of the

And why do they dissolve it? Be

Vicar of Christ.

governments are no longer Christian. The

temporal power had no sphere, and therefore no
cause

manifestation, before the world

matter will

it

have for

its

was

Christian.

temporal power, when

the world has ceased to be Christian?

the temporal

What

For what

is

power, but the condition of peaceful

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

160

independence and supreme direction over all Chris

tians, and all Christian societies, inherent in the
office

of Yicar of Christ, and head of the Christian

When

Church?
faith

so

the Civil powers became Christian,

and obedience restrained them from casting

much

as

shadow of human sovereignty over

the Vicar of the Son of God.

now

will

do

it

They who attempt

it

at their peril.

The Church of God cannot be bound, and its

The liberty of conscience and
liberty is in its head.
of faith, since the Church entered into peace, have
been secured in his independence.
For a thousand years his independence, which

is

sovereignty, has been secured by the providence of

God in the temporal power over Rome the narrow
:

sphere of his exemption from all civil subjection. But

men are nowadays wiser than God, and would unmake

and mend His works.

the temporal power as

They are therefore dissolving

He has fashioned it and in so
;

doing, they are striking out the keystone of the arch

which hangs over their own heads. This done, the

natural society of the world will still subsist, but

the Christian world will be no more.
One thing
is certain
let all the Civil powers of this world in
;

together, claim the Vicar of Jesus Christ

as their subject, a subject he will never be.
The
turn, or

all

Non possumus

not only immutable, but invincible.

The infallible head of an infallible Church cannot
is

depend on the sovereignty of man.

the Vatican

has

brought out this truth with the

The world may despise and fight

evidence of light.
against it, but the Church of
act

upon

this

The Council of

law of divine

God

faith.

will believe

and

RESULT OF THE DEFINITION.

The peoples of the world will hear him gladly but

the rulers see in him a
superior, and will not brook
;

They cannot subdue him, and they will not be

subject to his voice.
They are therefore in perpetual
conflict witli him.
But who ever fought again -r,

it.

him, and has prospered?

Kings have carried him

and
captive,
princes have betrayed him but, one by
have
one, they
passed away, and he still abides.
Their end has been so
tragically explicit that all
;

men may

its
meaning. And yet kings and
not
princes
learn, nor be wise.
They rush
Mirainst the rock, and
The
world
sees their
perish.

read

will

ruin, but will not see the reason.

The

faithful read in

all who
lay hands on the Vicar of Christ
the warning of the Psalmist, Nolite
tangere Christos
meos; and of our Lord Himself, Whosoever shall

the ruin of

fall
it

on

this stone, shall be broken,

shall fall,
I

it

will grind

him

but on whomsoever

to powder. *

remain, reverend and dear Brethren,

Your affectionate Servant in Christ,

^HENRY EDWARD,
Archbishop of Westminster.

Feast of S. Edward the Confessor.

* St. Matth. xxi. 44.

APPENDIX.
i.

POSTULATUM OF THE BISHOPS FOR THE

DEFINITION OF THE INFALLIBILITY.
SA.CBO CONCILIO

OECUMENICO VATICANO.

A Sacra Oecumcnica Synodo Vaticana infrascripti Patres liumillime instanterque flagitant, ut apertis,
omnemque dubitamii
locum excludentibus verbis sancire velit supremam,
ideoque
ab errore immunem esse Romani Pontificis auctoritatem,
in rebus fidei et morum ea statuit ac
praccipit, quae ab omnibus
<|iiiim

cliristifidelibus

credenda et tenenda, quaeve reiicienda et dam-

naiida sint.

RATIONES OB QUAS HAEC PROPOSITIO OPPORTUNA ET NECESSAKIA

CENSETUR.

Romani Pontificis, beati Petri Apostoli succcssoris, in univcrsam Christi Ecclesiam iurisdictionis, adeoque etiam supremi
magisterii primatus in sacris Scripturis aperte docetur.
Universalis et constans Ecclesiae traditio turn factis turn sanc
torum Patrura effatis, turn plurimorum Conciliorum, etiam occu-

menicorum,

ct

iudicia de fidei

agendi et loqucndi rationc docet, Romani Pontificis

morumque

Consentientibus (Irarris

admissa professio
controvcrsias

doch-ina irrcformabilia esse.

el

fidei est, in

debero

Laiinis, in Concilio II

qua dorlarutur:

Romani

Florentiiia itidem oecumenica

Ponliiicis

Synodo

Lugdut

Subortas dr

iudicio

definituin cst

fide

In
Koinanuni

detiniri.
:

Pontificem esse verum Christi Vicarium, totiusque Ki-clfsi:u>

(a put, et omnium cbristianorum patrem et doctorem
et i\^ in
beato Petro pascendi, regendi ac gubcrnandi
;

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

164

am

Domino nostro lesu Christo plenam potestatem traditam

Ipsa quoque sana ratio docet, neminem stare posse in fidei
communione cum Ecclesia catholica, qui eius capiti non consentiat,

si

esse.

quum

ne cogitatione quidem Ecclesiam a suo capite separare

liceat.

Attamen fnernnt atque adhncdum sunt, qui, catholicorum

nomine gloriantes, eoque etiam ad infirmorum in fide perniciem
abutentes, docere praesumant, earn sufficere submissionem erga

Romani

Pontificis auctoritatem, qua eius de fide moribusque

decreta obsequioso, ut aiunt, silentio, sine interno mentis assensu,
vel provisorie tantum, usquedum de Ecclesiae assensu vel dissensu
constiterit, suscipiantur.

Hacce porro perversa doctrina Romani

Pontificis auctoritatem

subverti, fidei unitatem dissipari, erroribus campum amplissimum

aperiri, tempusque late serpendi tribui, nemo non videt.

Quare Episcopi, catholicae veritatis custodes et vindices, his

potissimum temporibus connisi sunt, ut supremam Apostolicae
Sedis docendi auctoritatem synodalibus praesertim decretis et
communibus testimoniis tuerentur.*
*

1.

Concilium provinciale Coloniense, anno 1860 celebratum, cui, praeter

et Archiepiscopum Coloniensem, loannem de

eminontissimum Cardinalem

diserte docet
Ipse (Romanus
pater et doctor, cuius in fidei quaestionibus per se irreformabile est indicium.
2. Episcopi in Concilio provincial! Ultraiectensi anno 1865 congregati apertissime edicunt
(Romani Pontificis) indicium in iis, quae ad fidem moresque

Geissel,

quinque

Pontifex) est

subscripserunt

Episcopi,

omnium Christianorum

spectant, infallible esse, indubitanter retinemus.

3.

Concilium provinciale Colocense, anno 1860 celebratum, haec statuit:

Petrus erat
doctrinae fidei magister irrefragabilis, pro

Quemadmodum

quo ipse Dominus rogavit, ut non

eius in cathedrae

et

irrefragabili

deficeret fides eius

Romanae culmine

oraculo

custodiunt

successores
.

Unde

pari

modo

depositum

propositiones

Icgitimi

fidei

cleri

summo

gallicani

anno 1682 editas, quas iam piae memoriae Georgius Archiepiscopus Strigouna cum ceteris Hungariae Praesulibus eodem adhuc anno publice

niensis

proscripsit, itidem reiicimus, proscribimus, atque cunctis Provinciae huius

fidelibus interdicimus, ne eas legere vel tenere, multo minus docere auderent.
4. Concilium
plenarium Baltimorense, anno 1866 coactum, in decretis,
quibus 44 Archiepiscopi et Episcopi subscripserunt, inter alia haec docet
Viva et infallibilis auctoritas in ea tantum viget Ecclesia, quae a Christo
:

Domino supra Petrum, totius Ecclesiae caput, principem et pastorem, cuius

nunquam defecturam promisit, aedificata, suos legitimos semper habet

fidem

Pontifices, sine intermissione

collocatos, et
et vindices.

ab ipso Petro ducentes originem, in eius cathedra

eiusdem etiam doctrinae, dignitatis, honoris et potestatis haeredes

Et quoniam ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia, ac Petrus per Romanurn

Pontificem loquitur et semper in suis successoribus vivit et iudicium exercet,

ac praestat quaerentibus fidei veritatem ; idcirco divina eloquia eo plane sensu

A1TENDIX.

165

Quo evidentiua voro catholica veritas pracdicabatur, co vehementius, tarn libellis quam ephemeridibus, nuperrime impugnata
est, ut catliolicus populus contra sanam doctrinam cominovcretur,
ipsaque Vaticana Synodus ab ea proclamanda absterrerct ur.
Quare, si an tea de opportimitate istius doctrinao in hoc Oecuiiu

nico Concilio pronuntiandae a pluribus dubitari adhuc

potuit,
definire necessarium prorsus videtur.
Catholica cniin

nunc cam

doctrina iisdem plane argumentis denuo impetitur, quibus olim

homines, proprio iudicio condemnati, adversus earn utebantur

<|iiil)us,

quc

si

urgeantur, ipse

Romani

Pontificis primatus, Ecclesiae-

pessumdatur et quibus saepe deterrima convicia

Immo acorbissimi
Apostolicam Sedem adrniscentur.

inl ullibilitas

contra

catholicae

doctrinae impugna tores, licet catholicos se dicant,

erubescunt, Florentinam Synodum, supremam
Pontificis auctoritatem luculentissime profitentem, oecu-

non

blaterare

Romani

nienicam non

fuisse.

Si igitur Concilium Vaticanum, adeo provocatum, taceret et

catholicae doctrinae testimonium dare negligeret, tune catliolicus
qnac tenuit ac tenet kaec Romano, beatissimi Petri cathedra,
quae omnium Ecclesiarum mater e : magistra, fidem a Christo Domino traditam
integram iuviolatamque semper servavit, eamque fiddes edocuit, omnibus
oxtcndcii* sdlutix w, nit am et incorruptae veritatis doctrinam.

stint accipicnda,

Concilium primum provinciale Westmonasteriense, anno 1852 habitum,

Cum Dominus noster adhortetur dicens Attendite ad petram,
unde excisi estis attenditc ad Abraham, patrem vestrum aequum est, nos,
qui immediate ab Apostolica Sede fidem, sacerdotium, veramque religionem
5.

profitetur

accepimus, eidem plus ceteris amoris et observantiae vinculis adstringi. Funda minima iyitur verae ct orthodoxae fidei ponimus,
quod Dominus noster h*its
C/ ri.ifHs ponere voluit inconcussum, sci icct Pctri cathedram, totius orbis

magistram
cut, to

omnes
timur

matrem, S. Romanam Ecdcsiam. Quidquid ab ipsa semel dcfinitinn

ratum ct cerium fattmnu; ipsius traditiones, ritus, pios usus et

et

ipso

apostolicas constitutiones, disciplinam respicientes, toto corde amplecveneramur. Summo denique Pontifici obedientiam et reverentiam, ut

et

Christi

Vicario,

ex animo profitemur,

eique arctissime

in

catholiou

L-OIU-

munione adhaeremus.
6. Quingenti
prope Episcopi, ex toto terra rum orbe ad agenda solo/in ia
sacndaria Martyrii Sanctorum Petri et Pauli anno 1867 in hac alma Urbe
congregati, minime dubitarunt, Supremum Pontificem Pium IX hisce alloqui

verbis

Petrum per

depositum a Te

os Pii locutum fuisse credentes, quae ad custodiendum

confirmata. prolata sunt, nos quoque dioimus, confir-

dicta,

annunciamus, unoque ore atque animo reiicimus omnia, quae divinao

animarum, ipsi socit-tatis humanae bono adversa, Tu ipse reprobanda ac reiicienda iudicasti. Firmum onim menti nostrae est, alteque demainu.s,

fidei, saluti

fixum, quod Patres Florontini in decreto unionis definiorunt

Ilomanum
Pontificem Christi Vicarium, totius Ecclesiae naput pt, omnium Christianorum
:

Patrem

et

Doctorem

exsisteiv.

166

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

populus de vera doctrina reapse dubitare inciperet, neoteric!

autem gloriantes assererent, Concilium ob argurnenta ab ipsis
allata siluisse.
Quinimmo silentio hoc semper abuterentur, ut
iudiciis et decretis circa fidem et mores palam
Sedis
Apostolicae
obedientiam negarent, sub praetextu quod Romanus Pontifex in
eiusmodi iudiciis

falli

potuerit.

Publicum itaque rei cliristianae bonum postulare videtur, ut

Sacrosanctum Concilium Vaticanum, Florentinum decretum de
Romano Pontifice denuo profitens et uberius explicans, apertis,
omnemque dubitandi locum praecludentibus verbis sancire velit
supremam, ideoque ab errore immunem esse eiusdem Romani
Pontificis auctoritatem, quum in rebus fidei et morum ea statuit
ac praecipit, quae ab omnibus christifidelibus credenda et tenenda,
quaeve reiicienda et damnanda sint.

Non desunt quidem qui existiment, a catholica hac veritate

sancienda abstinendum esse, ne schismatici atque liaeretici longius
ab Ecclesia arceantur.
Sed in primis catholicus populus ius
habet, ut ab Oecumenica Synodo doceatur, quid in re tarn gravi,
et tarn improbe nuper impugnata, credendum sit, ne simplices et
incautos multorum animos perniciosus error tandem corrumpat.
Idcirco etiam Lugduneiises et Tridentini Patres rectam doctrinam
stabiliendam esse censuerunt, etsi scliismatici et liaeretici offenderentur.
Qui si sincera mente veritatem quaerant, non absterrebuntur sed allicientur, dum ipsis ostenditur, quo potissimum

fundamento catholicae Ecclesiae unitas et firmitas

qui autem, vera doctrina ab Oecumenico Concilio

nitatur.
definita,

Si

ab

Ecclesia deficerent, lii numero pauci et iamdudum in fide naufragi

sunt, praetextum solummodo quaerentes, quo externa etiam
actione ab Ecclesia se eximant, quam interne sensu iam deseruisse

palam ostendunt. Hi sunt, qui catholicum populum continuo

turbare non abhorruerunt, et a quorum insidiis Vaticana Synodus
fideles Ecclesiae filios tueri debebit.

Catholicus enimvero populus,

semper edoctus et assuetus, Apostolicis Romani Pontificis decretis

plenissimum mentis et oris obsequium exhibere, Vaticani Concilii
sententiam de eiusdem suprema et ab errore immuni auctoritate
lac to fidelique animo excipiet.

APPENDIX.

H>7

TRANSLATION OF THE POSTULATUM FOR

THE DEFINITION.
TO THE HOLY (ECUMENICAL VATICAN COUNCIL.
The undersigned Fathers humbly and earnestly beg the holy
(Ecumenical Council of the Vatican to define clearly, and in
words that cannot be mistaken, that the authority of the Roman
Pontiff is supreme, and, therefore, exempt from error, when in
matters of faith and morals he declares and defines what is to be
believed and held, and
the faithful.

what

to be rejected

and condemned, by

all

REASONS FOR WHICH THIS DEFINITION is THOUGHT OPPORTUNE

AND NECESSAI;V.

The Sacred Scriptures

tion of the

plainly teach the Primacy of jurisdic

Pontiff, the Successor of St. Peter, over the

Roman

whole Church of Christ, and, therefore,

also his

Primacy of su

preme teaching authority.

The universal and constant tradition of the Church, as seen
both in facts and in the teaching of the Fathers, as well as in

manner of acting and speaking adopted by many Councils,

some of which were (Ecumenical, teaches us that the judgments
of the Roman Pontiff in matters of faith and morals are irrethe

formable.

In the Second Council of Lyons, with the consent of both

Greeks and Latins, a profession of faith was agreed upon, which
When controversies in matters of faith arise, they
declares:
must be settled by the decision of the Roman Pontiff. Moreovt r,
in the

(Ecumenical Synod of Florence,

it

wtis defined that

the

true Vicar, tlie Head of the whole

Church, and Father and Teacher of all Christians; and that to
him, in blessed Peter, was given by Jesus Christ the plenitude of

Roman

Pontiff

is

Christ

Sound reason,
and govern the universal Church.
us that no one can remain in communion of aith
with the Catholic Church who is not of one mind with its lieu,!,
since the Church cannot be separated from its head even in
power

to rule

too, teaches

thought.

Yet some have been found, and aiv even now

who, boasting of the name of Catholic, and UMIILT
the ruin of those weak in faith, are Imld enough
sufficient

submission

is

fa

be

miml,

that nain.- to
t<>

leaeh,

yielded to the authority of the

tl.at

Roman

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

168
we

faitli and morals

termed, without yielding in
ternal assent, or, at most, with a provisional assent, until the
approval or disapproval of the Church has been made known.
Anyone can see that by this perverse doctrine the authority of

Pontiff, if

receive his decrees in matters of

with an obsequious

Roman

the

wide

field

Pontiff

silence, as it is

is

opened to

overturned,
errors,

all

unity of faith dissolved, a

and leisure afforded for spreading

them

far and wide.

Wherefore the Bishops, the guardians and protectors of Ca
tholic truth, have endeavoured, especially now-a-days, to defend
in their Synodal decrees, and by their united testimony, the

supreme authority of the Apostolic See.*

But the more clearly Catholic truth has been declared, the
more vehemently has it been attacked both in books and in
newspapers, for the purpose of exciting Catholics against sound
doctrine, and preventing the Council of the Vatican from defin
ing

it.

Though, then, in times past many might have doubted the

opportuneness of declaring this doctrine in the present CBcumenical Council, it would seem now to be absolutely necessary
to define it.
For Catholic doctrine is now once more assailed

by those same arguments which men, condemned by

their

own

conscience, used against it in old times

arguments which, if
carried to their ultimate consequences, would bring to the ground
;

the very Primacy of the Roman Pontiff and the infallibility of

the Church itself: and to which, also, is frequently added, the

most violent abuse of the Apostolic

See.

Nay, more

the most

bitter assailants of Catholic doctrine, though calling themselves

Catholics, are not ashamed to assert that the Synod of Florence,

which so clearly declares the supreme authority of the

Pontiff,

Roman

was not (Ecumenical.

If then the Council of the Vatican, being thus challenged, were

to be silent, and omit to give testimony to the Catholic doctrine on
this point, then Catholics would, in fact, begin to doubt the true
doctrine,

and the novelty-mongers would triumphantly

assert

that the Council had been silenced by the arguments brought

forward by them. They would, moreover, abuse this silence on

every occasion, and openly deny the obedience due to the judg
ments and decrees of the Apostolic See in matters of faith and
morals, under pretext that the judgment of the Roman Pontiff
is fallible on such points.
*

Many

specimens of this testimony are collected in the following Appendix

to the Postulatum.

A!

100

KNDIX.

Wherefore the public good of Christianity seems to require.

that the holy Council of the Vatican, professing once a^ain, and
explaining more fully, the Florentine decree, should define clearly

and in words that can admit of no doubt, that the authority of

the Roman Pontiff is supreme, and, therefore, exempt from error,
when in matters of faith and morals he decrees and ordains what
is to be believed and held
by all the faithful of Christ, and what
to be rejected and condemned by them.
There are, indeed, some who think that this Catholic truth
should not be defined, lest schismatics and heretics should be
But, above all other con
repelled yet further from the Church.
siderations, Catholics have a right to be taught by the (Ecu
menical Council what they are to believe in so weighty a matter,
and one which has been of late so iniquitously attacked lest
this pernicious error should in the end infect simple minds, and
the masses of people unawares. Hence it was that the Fathers
of Lyons and of Trent deemed themselves bound to establish
;

the doctrine of the truth, notwithstanding the offence that might

be taken by schismatics and heretics. For if these seek the
truth in sincerity, they will not be repelled, but, on the contrary,
us, when they see on what foundations the
and
unity
strength of the Catholic Church chiefly repose. But
should any leave the Church in consequence of the true doctrine
being defined by the (Ecumenical Council, these will be few in
number, and such as have already suffered shipwreck in the
faith such as are only seeking a pretext to abandon that Church
by an overt act, which they plainly show they have deserted
These are they who have never shrunk from
already in heart.
our
Catholic
and from the snares of such
disturbing
people

drawn towards

men

the Council of the Vatican ought to protect the faithful

For all true Catholics, taught and
children of the Church.
accustomed to render the fullest obedience both of thought and
to the Apostolic decrees of the Roman Pontiff, will receive
with joyful and devoted hearts the definition of the Council of
the Vatican concerning his supreme and infallible authority.

word

APPENDIX.
DECISIONS OF PROVINCIAL

SYNODS RECENTLY HELD, BHOwnra

COMMON OPINION OF BISHOPS

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY OF THE

coxci-: I:\IM;

mi:

ROMAN PONTIFF

Sri
IN

i;i:.Mi:

1111.

AM-

MATTERS OF

FAITH AND MORALS.

1.

in

The Provincial Council hold

addition to his Eminence

at

Cologne in 1860, to which,

Geissel, Archbishop of

Cardinal

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

170

He (the
Cologne, five Bishops subscribed, expressly declares
Pontiff) is the father and teacher of all Christians, whose
:

Roman

"

judgment in questions of faith is per se unalterable.

2. The Bishops assembled in the Provincial Council, held at
We unhesitatingly hold
Utrecht in 1865, most openly assert
that the judgment of the Roman Pontiff in matters which refer
:

and morals is infallible.

* in
3. The Provincial Council of Prague
1860, to which his
Eminence Cardinal Archbishop Frederic de Schwarzenberg and
On the
four other Bishops subscribed, under the heading,
to faith

Primacy of the Roman

Pontiff,

decreed as follows

We

re

that the Church

ject, moreover, the error of those who pretend
can exist anywhere without being joined in bonds of union with
the Church of Rome, in which the tradition which has been

handed down by the Apostles, has been preserved by those who

are in every part.
(S. Irenoeus Adv. Hcer. 1. 3, c. 3, n. 2.)
know that no one who is not joined to the Head, can be
considered as a member of the Body of the Church which Christ

We

founded on Peter and established on his authority. Let all then

prefer to confess with us and with the multitude of orthodox
believers spread over the whole world, the Headship of the
the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff; let
as
is
them,
fitting,*with us, reverence and honour with dutiful
affection our Most Holy Father Pius IX., by God s Providence

Roman Church and

Pope, the lawful Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, the

Vicar of Christ on earth, the Chief Teacher of Faith, and Pilot
of the Ship of Christ, to whom the most exact obedience and in
ternal assent is due from all who wish to belong to the fold of Christ.

We

declare and teach, That this authority of the Roman Pontiff

comes from Christ our Lord, and that consequently it is dependent
upon no power or favour of men, and remains unimpaired in all
times, even in the most bitter persecutions which the Church of
Rome has suffered, as was the case during the imprisonment and

martyrdom of blessed Peter.

4. The Provincial Council of Kalocza, held in 1860, declared
the irrefutable teacher of the doctrines
That as Peter was
of faith, for whom the Lord Himself prayed that his faith might
:

not
of

fail

Rome

on the Chair
supreme and
Wherefore we

so his legitimate successors seated aloft

preserve the deposit of faith with
.

irrefutable

powers of declaring the truth.

and forbid all the faithful of

also reject, proscribe,

this Province,

* This Council was not included in the

original draught from which the
Latin is taken.

APPENDIX.

171

and much more to teach, the propositions

the
Gallican
published by
Clergy in 1682, which have already
been censured this same year by the Archbishop of Gran, of
to read or maintain,

pious memory, and by the other Bishops of Hungary.

5. The Plenary Council of Baltimore, which met in 186G and

The
which 44 Archbishops and Bishops subscribed, says
in
infallible
flourishes
that
and
Church
alone
authority
living
which was built by Christ upon Peter, who is the Head, Leader,
and Pastor of the whole Church, whose faith Christ promised
which ever had legitimate Pontiffs, dating
should never fail
their origin in unbroken line from Peter himself, being seated
in his Chair, and being the inheritors and defenders of the like
And because, where Peter
doctrine, dignity, office, and power.
and
because
also
is
the
Peter speaks in the
there
Church,
is,
*

to

person of the

Roman

Pontiff, ever lives in his successors, passes

judgment and makes known the truths of faith to those who

seek them therefore are the Divine declarations to be received in
that sense in which they have been and are held by this Roman See
of blessed Peter, that mother and teacher of all Churches, which
has ever preserved whole and entire the teaching delivered by
n
Christ, and ichich has taught it to the fait Ifid, thawing to all
the paths of salvation and the doctrine of everlasting truth*
6. The first Provincial Council of Westminster, held in 1852,
When our Blessed Lord exhorts us, saying, Look to the
states
rock whence you are hewn look to Abraham your father, it is
fitting that we who have received our faith, our priesthood, and
the true religion, directly from the Apostolic See, should more
than others be attached to it by the bonds of love and fidelity.
Therefore do we maintain that foundation of truth ami
;

/<><

/YA</<

which Jesus Christ willed should be maintained

the See of Peter, the teacher and mother of the whole worW,
Roman Church. Whatever is once defined by it, for tlmf
?///>//?//,,

7/"///

/<

//</>//<

./

//

hi,
tht\

///

and certain; when we look at

its traditions, rites, pious customs, discipline, and all its Apostolic
Constitutions, we follow and cherish them with all the affection
reason alone we consider

to

be fixed

In fine, we of set purpose publicly declare our

obedience and respect for the Pope as Christ s Vicar, and we
remain united to him in the closest bonds of Catholic unity.
7. Nearly five hundred of the Bishops assembled in Rome to

of our hearts.

celebrate the Centenary of the Martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul,

had no hesitation in addressing Pius IX. in the

in the year 1867,

Believing that Peter has spoken by the mouth

following terms
of Pius, whatever has
said, confirmed, and decreed by You
:

l>ecn

172

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

we also repeat, confirm, and

and with one mind and heart we reject all that You have
judged it necessary to reprove and condemn as contrary to Divine
For
faith, to the salvation of souls, and to the good of society.
what the Fathers of Florence denned in their Decree of Union,
is
firmly and deeply impressed in our minds that the Roman
Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ, the Head of the whole Church,
the Father and Teacher of all Christians.
to preserve the deposit of faith,

profess,

173

II.

LETTER OF II. E. CARDINAL ANTONELL1 TO

THE NUNCIO AT PARIS.
Rome, March

19, 1870.

MY

LORD, The Marquis de Bamieville, ambassador of his

Majesty, read me, a few days ago, a despatch forwarded to him
under date February 20 last, from Count Daru, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, relative to the affairs of the Council.

In this communica

which the ambassador was kind enough to leave me a copy,

the aforesaid minister, referring to the resolution come to by the
French Government not to take part in the deliberations of the
General Council, desiring at the same time its liberty to bo
guaranteed fully and absolutely, states that such resolution was
based on the supposition that that venerable assembly would
occupy itself solely about the sacred interests of the Faith, and
would abstain from touching questions of a purely political order.
tion, of

But the publication (he says) by the Augsburg Gazette of the

canons appertaining to the draft of constitution on the Church
and on the Roman Pontiff, showing that there is question of
deciding whether the power of the Church and of her Head ex
tends to the whole aggregate of political rights the Government,
keeping firmly to the resolution of leaving, upon this point also,
;

entire liberty to the deliberations of the august assembly, intends

to exercise the right given it by the Concordat of making known
to the Council its opinion on questions of such nature.

Passing to the examination of the said canons, the mimVtcr

sums up their contents (on which he wishes to comment) in the.
two following propositions
the Infallibility of the
First,
Church extends not only to the Deposit of Faith, but to all that
is necessary for the preservation of such Deposit
and secondly,
the Church is a society divine and perfect; its power is eras
*

cised at once in foro intemo et cxterno is absolute in the legisla

tive, judicial, and coercive order, and is to be exercised by her
;

with
ever.

liberty and independence from any civil power what

two pripn>iiinns, he
Hence, as corollaries of

full

tlie>e

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

74

the extension of infallibility to all that is thought necessary for

the defence of revealed truths, and consequently to facts, whether
as
historical, philosophical, or scientific, external to revelation
also the absolute subordination to the supreme authority of the
:

Church of the constituent principles of civil society of the

and duties of Government of the political rights and
of all that
of citizens, whether electoral or municipal
relates to the judicial and legislative order, as well in respect of
;

rights
duties

persons as of things of the rules of public administration of

the rights and duties of corporations, and, in general, of all the
rights of the State, not excluding the rights of conquest, peace,
and war.
Next the minister passes on to note the profound impression
;

which the simple enunciation of such doctrines must produce in

the entire world and asks at the same time how it could be
possible for the bishops to consent to abdicate their episcopal
;

authority, concentrating

it

in the hands of one alone

and how

could have been imagined that princes would lower their

sovereignty before the supremacy of the Court of Rome.

it

concluding, from all that has been set forth, that

and not religious interests are being discussed in the
Council, Count Daru demands that the Governments be heard, or
Lastly,

political

at least admitted to bear testimony to the characters, disposi

and spirit (disposizioni di spirito) of the peoples they repre

tions,

sent and in particular that since France, by reason of the special

protection which for twenty years she has exercised over the
Pontifical State, has quite special duties to perform, he demands
;

that the Government of that nation be permitted to exercise its

decisions touching
right of receiving communication of projected

and of requesting the delay necessary for bringing its

observations before the Council, before any resolution be adopted
by the same.
This is an abstract of the dispatch communicated to me by the
politics,

Marquis de Banneville. I have thought proper to inform your

Lordship of it with the view, moreover, of communicating to
you some short considerations which I think necessary to put in
a clearer light the points touched upon by the minister, and to
him with respect to the points
reply to the deductions made by
;

submitted to the deliberations of the Council.

And first, I cannot dispense myself from manifesting to your
Lordship the satisfaction with which the Holy Father received
the declaration expressed at the beginning of Count Daru s de
and repeated in the sequel, of the fixed intention of the
spatch,

APPENDIX.

175

French Government

to respect, and cause to he respected, in anv

event, the full liberty of the Council, as well in the discussion of
the constitution referred to as of all others which shall hereafter

come
bly.

to be proposed to the examination of the venerable aThis declaration, which does great honour to the Govern

ment of a Catholic

nation, is considered

by the Holy See as the

natural consequence of that protection which, for more than

a protection
twenty years, France has exercised towards it
which has called forth several times public demonstrations of
;

Supreme Pontiff, who always, but

moment, cannot do less than recognise

gratitude on the part of the

especially at the present

and appreciate all its importance.

But, coming closer to the object of Count Daru s despatch, I
must say frankly that I am quite unable to understand (non mi
e dato di comprendere) how the declarations contained in tlu;
draft of Constitution on the Church, and the respective canons
published in the Augsburg Gazette by a breach of the Pontifi
cal secret

could have produced so grave and profound an im

pression on the mind of the French Cabinet, as to induce it to

change the line of conduct which it had properly traced out for
itself in

regard to the discussions of the Vatican Council.

The

subjects treated in that draft of constitution, and in the canons

appertaining to it, whatever modification they may undergo in

the sequel from the judgment and decision of the Episcopate, are
no more than the exposition of the maxims and fundamental
principles of the Church principles repeated over and over a^ain
in the Acts of former General Councils, proclaimed and developed
;

in

several

Pontifical

Constitutions,

published in

all

Catholic

and particularly in the celebrated dogmatic Bulls beginning

Auctorem Fidei, where all the aforesaid
Unigenitus, and
doctrines are generally confirmed and sanctioned
principles,
finally, which have constantly formed the basis of teaching in all
periods of the Church, and in all Catholic schools, and have luvu
defended by an innumerable host of ecclesiastical writers, whoso
works have served for text in public schools and colleges, as well
Government schools as others, without any contradiction on tlio
part of the civil authority, but rather, for the most part, with
the approbation and encouragement of the same.
Much less would it be possible for me to agree upon the
acter and extent given by the minister to the doctrines contained
in the aforesaid canons.
In virtue of them there is not attributed,
either to the Church or the Roman Pontiff, that direct and
states,
*

lute

power over the

\vlu>le

aggregate of political rights, of

\sliie!i

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

176

the despatch speaks

nor

is

the subordination of the

civil to

religious power to be understood in the sense set forth

but in another order of quite different bearing.

And in truth the Church has

the

by him,

never intended, nor now intends, to

and absolute power over the political rights of

any
the State. Having received from God the lofty mission of guiding
men, whether individually or as congregated in society, to a super
natural end, she has by that very fact the authority and the duty
to judge concerning the morality and justice of all acts, internal
and external, in relation to their conformity with the natural and
And as no action, whether it be ordained by a
divine law.
supreme power, or be freely elicited by an individual, can be
exempt from this character of morality and justice, so it happens
that the judgment of the Church, though falling directly on the
exercise

direct

morality of the acts, indirectly reaches over everything with

But this is not the same
is conjoined.

which that morality

thing as to interfere directly in political affairs, which, by the

order established by God and by the teaching of the Church

temporal power without dependence on

The subordination also of the civil to the

herself, appertains to the

any other authority.

religious power is

in the sense of the pre-eminence of the

sacerdotium over the imperium, because of the superiority of the
end of the one over that of the other.* Hence the authority of
the imperium depends on that of the sacerdotium, as human
And if temporal
things on divine, temporal on spiritual.
happiness, which is the end of the civil power, is subordinate to
eternal beatitude, which is the spiritual end of the sacerdotium,

which it has pleased

is
to the other.
the
one
subordinate
them,
power
Their powers (I say) are respectively subordinate in the same
way as the ends to which they are directed.

it

follows that in order to reach the end to

God

to direct

It results from these principles that, if the infallibility of the

Church extends also (not, however, in the sense indicated by the
French despatch) to all that is necessary to preserve intact the
Deposit of Faith, no harm is thereby done to science, history, or
The prerogative of infallibility is not an unknown fact
politics.
in the Catholic world the supreme magisterium of the Church
;

has dictated in every age rules of faith, without the internal

order of States being thereby affected (risentirsene), or princes

We

*
have no exact English equivalents for the abstract terms sacerdozio,
Sacerdozio means the priestly office, and impero civil authority
impero.
in the most general sense.
Note of Tit.]

APPENDIX.

77

being disquieted thereat

rather, wisely apprecitit ing tlie in
fluence which such rules have on the
good order of civil society,
these have been themselves, from time to
time, the vindicators
and defenders of the doctrines defined, and have
promoted, l.y
;

the concurrence of the

royal power, their
observance.

and respect fill

full

It follows,
moreover, that if the Church was instituted by its
Divine Founder as a true and
perfect society, distinct from the
civil power and
independent of it, with full authority in the

order, legislative, judicial, and coercive, no confusion

springs therefrom in the march of human society, and in the
exercise of the rights of the two
powers. The competence of the
one and the other is
clearly distinct and determined, according
triple

to the

end

does not,

to

in

which they are respectively

directed.

The Church

of her authority, intervene

directly MI id
in
the
constitutive
absolutely
principles of governments, in the
forms of civil regulations, in the political
rights of citizens, in
the duties of the State, and in the other
points indicated in the
minister s note,
But, whereas no civil society can subsist
virtue

without a supreme principle

regulating the morality of its acts
and laws, the Church has received from God this
lofty mission,
which tends to the happiness of the people, while she in no ^ axembarrasses, by the exercise of
prompt action of Governments.
principle of rendering to
is Caesar s,

God

this her ministry, the five and

She, in fact, by inculcating the

that which

is

God

s,

and

to

that which

imposes at the same time upon her

children the obligation of obeying the
authority of princes for
conscience sake.
But these should also recognize that if anvwhere a law is made opposed to the principles of eternal ji;
to obey would not be a
giving to Ctssar that which is Csesar s,
but a taking from God that which is God s.
I proceed now to
say a word on the profound impression which
the minister expects will be made
the
throughout the world
l>v

mere enunciation of the principles developed in the draft of con

stitution which forms the object of his
In truth
is
despatch.
it

not easy to persuade oneself how the doctrines contained in that

draft, and understood in the sense al.ove pointed out, can produce
the profound impression of which the minister speaks unless in
deed their spirit and character
wrested, or that he speaks of
those who, professing principles different from those prof
lv
the Catholic Church, cannot of course approve of such
principles
sav afresh
because
being inculcated and sanctioned afresh.
the doctrines contained in that document, as 1 have ahcadv
:

l<e

es>.-d

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

178

remarked, far from being new and unheard of, embrace no more
(non sono nel loro complesso) than the reproduction of the
Catholic teaching professed in every age and in every Church, as
will be solemnly proved by all the pastors of the Catholic name,
called by the head of the hierarchy to bear authentic witness, in
the midst of the Council, to the faith and traditions of the Church
It is to be hoped rather that the Catholic doctrine,
once more solemnly confirmed by the Fathers of the Vatican
Council, will be greeted by the faithful people as the rainbow of
peace and the dawn of a brighter future. The object of confirm
ing those doctrines is no other than to recall to modern society
the maxims of justice and virtue, and thus to restore to the world

Universal.

that peace and prosperity which can only be found in the perfect
keeping of the divine law. This is the firm hope of all honest

men, who received with joy the announcement of the Council

Church, who have as
sembled with alacrity in such numbers at the voice of the Chief
Pastor this is the prayer which the Vicar
Jesus Christ is
always sending up to God in the midst of the grievous troubles
which surround his Pontificate.
For the rest, I do not understand why the bishops should have
to renounce their episcopal authority in consequence of the defini
;

this is the conviction of the Fathers of the

x>f

tion of Pontifical Infallibility.

This prerogative is not only as
ancient as the Church herself, but has been, moreover, always
exercised in the Roman Church, without the divine authority and

the rights conferred by God on the pastors of the Church being

thereby altered in the least degree. Its definition therefore would

no way go to change the relations between the bishops and

The rights of the one and the prerogatives of the
and
other are well defined in the Church s divine constitution
the confirmation of the Roman Pontiff s supreme authority and
magisterium, far from being prejudicial to the rights of bishops,
will furnish a new support to their authority and magisterium,
since the strength and vigour of the members is just so much as
comes to them from the head.
By parity of reason the authority of the pastors of the Church
being strengthened anew by the solemn confirmation of Pontifi

in

their head.

that of princes, especially Catholic princes, will

cal Infallibility
The prosperity of the Church and the
less strengthened.

be no

peace of the State depend upon the close and intimate union of
the two supreme powers. Who does not see then that the au
thority of princes not only will not receive any blow from the
pontifical supremacy, but will instead find therein its strongest

APPENDIX.
support

As

sons of the Church, they

179
owe obedience,

respect,

and protection to the authority placed on earth

by God to guide
princes and peoples to the last end of eternal salvation nor can
they refuse to recognise that royal power has been granted them
for the defence also and
guardianship of Christian society. But
;

by the very fact of the principle of authority receiving new vigour

Church and in its head, the sovereign power must neces

in the

new impulse, since it has from God a common

and consequently common interests also. And so, if the
wickedness of the age, by separating the one from the other, has
placed both in troublesome and painful conditions, to the givat
sarily receive a

origin,

injury of human society, closer relations will unite both in indis

soluble bonds for the defence of the
grand interests of religion and
society, and will prepare for them the way to a brighter and more
prosperous future.
From what has been said up to this point it results clearly that
the Council has not been called to discuss
political interests, as

We

the despatch of Count Daru seems to indicate.

may con
clude, therefore, that the French Government, finding no longer
a sufficient reason for departing from the line of conduct it had
set itself to follow in respect of the Council, will not desire to in
on the request for communication of the Decrees which will

sist

be submitted to the examination and discussion of the venerable

assembly of bishops. On which point indeed it occurs to me to
observe that the right claimed for his purpose by the minister on
the ground of the Concordat in force between the Holy See and
In
France, cannot, in my opinion, find any support in that act.
the first place, no special mention of this particular point is found
in the articles of that convention.

Then, further, the relations

of Church and State on points belonging to both powers (punto
di mista competenza) having been regulated by the Concordat,
the decisions, which may be come to by the Vatican Council on

such matters will in no

way

alter the special stipulations

made

by the Holy See, as well with France as with other government.-,

as long as these place no obstacles in the way of the fall keeping
of the conditions agreed upon.
I may also add that if the Holy
See has not thought fit to invite Catholic princes to the Council,
it did on other occasions,
every one will easily understand that
this is chiefly to be attributed to the changed circumstances of
the times.
The altered state of the relations between the Church
and the Civil Governments has made more difficult their mutual
as

action in the regulation of things ivligious.

I desire however to hope that the Goveinment of his
N 2

MajV>ty

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

180

the Emperor, fully satisfied with the explanations given by me in

the name of the Holy See to the various points of Count Daru s
despatch, and recognising at the same time the difficulties in

which the Holy Father might find himself, will not insist further
on the demand of communication beforehand of the drafts of
constitutions to be examined by the Fathers of the Council.
Were such demand conceded, there would be question of things
tending to embarrass the free action of the Council. Moreover,
since the Church is keeping within the limits assigned to her by
her Divine Founder, no anxiety need remain to the Government
of his Majesty on account of the deliberations which may come to
be adopted by the Episcopal assembly. Finally the French
Government will thus give, by the very fact, a new proof of those
dispositions of goodwill which it has manifested in respect of the
full liberty of

which

it

the Conciliar deliberations, and of the confidence

it reposes in the wisdom and prudence of the

declares

Apostolic See.

Your Lordship will please read this despatch to Count Daru,

him a copy.
Meanwhile receive, &c. &c.,

as also leave

(Signed)

G. CARD. ANTONELLI.

A1TKNDIX.

181

III.

ACT OF CONDEMNATION BY THE COUNCIL OF

CERTAIN PAMPHLETS, &c.
REVERENDISSIMI PATRES,

Ex quo Sacrosancta Sy nodus Vaticana,

est, acerrimum statim contra earn

ad
venerandam, eius auctoritatem penes
atque
fidelem populum iinminuendam, ac si fieri posset,
penitus labefactandam, contumeliose de ilia detrahere, eamque putidissimis

opitulante Deo, congregata

bollum exarsit

calumniis oppetere plures scriptores certatim aggressi sunt non

inter heterodoxos et apertos Crucis Christ i inimicos, sed
etiam inter eos qui Catholicae Ecclesiae filios sese dictitant, et

modo

quod

maxim e dolendum
in

est inter ipsos eius sacros ministros.

cuiusque idiomatis ephemeridibus, quaeabsque auctoris nomine passim editis et furtive

distributis, congesta hac de re fueriiit probrosa mendacia, omnes

Quae

que in

publicis

libellis

apprime norunt, quin nobis necesse

Verum

inter

anonymos

sit ilia

singillatim edicere.

istiusmodi libellos duo praesertim extant,

Ce qui se passe au Concile et La

gallice conscript! sub titulis
ili i-tu ere
licure du Candle, qui ob suam calumniandi artem,
obtrectandique licentiam ceteris palmam praeripuisse videntur.
:

In his enim

nedum huius

Concilii dignitas ac

plena libertas

oppugnantur mendaciis, iuraque Apostolicae Sedis

evertuntur sed ipsa quoque SSmi Dili Nostri augusta persona
giMvibus lacessitur iiiiuriis. lam vero Nos officii nostri memores,
ne silentium nostrum, si diutius protraheretur, sinistre a
malevolis hominibus interpretari valeat, contra tot tantasquo
turpissimis

obtrectationes

vocem

extollere

cogimur, atque in conspectu

vestrum,
Patres, protestari ac declarare falsa omnino esse et calumniosa quaecumque in praedictis epliemeridibus et

omnium

Rmi

libellis efiutiuntur,

sive in

spretum et contumeliam SSmi Dili

Nostri et Apostolicae Sedis, sive in dedecus huius Sacrosanct ao

Synodi, et contra assertum defectum in ilia logitimao libcrtutis.
Datum ex Aula Concilii Vaticani, die 16 lulii 1870.
PIIILIPPUS Card.

ANTONINUS Card.

DE Av;n.i^
DE LUCA 7

ANDREAS Card. BIZZAIMM

Pra<

// xe*.

ALOYSIUS Card. BILIO Praese.

HANNIBAL Card. CAPALTI Pracses.
losEi-iirs

E^. S. Hi

j>]>"li/f.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

182

IV.

TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTIONS.

CONSTITUTIO DOGMATICA DE FIDE CATHOLICA.

PIUS EPISCOPUS, SEE V US SERVOEUM DEI, SACRO APPROBANTE
CONCILIO, AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM.

DEI

human! Redemptor Dominus Noster Jesus

Patrem coelestem^rediturus, cum Ecclesia sua in
militante, omnibus diebus usque ad consunimationem
futurum se esse promisit. Quare dilectas Sponsee preesto
Filius et generis

Christus, ad
terris
sseculi

esse, adsistere

docenti, operanti benedicere, periclitanti opem

unquam tempore desfcitit. Hsec vero salutaris ejus
providentia, cum ex aliis beneficiis innumeris continenter appaferre nullo

ruit,

turn

iis

raaiiifestissime

comperta est fructibus, qui orbi

nominatim e Tridentino,

christiano e Conciliis cecumenicis ac

iniquis licet temporibus celebrate, amplissimi provenerunt.

enim sanctissima

religionis

dogmata pressius

definita,

Hinc

uberiusque

exposita, errores damnati atque cohibiti hinc ecclesiastica disciplina restituta firmiusque sancita, promotum in Clero scientise
;

ad sacram militiam
mores et accuratiore
fidelium eruditione et frequentiore Sacramento rum usu instaurati.
Hinc preeterea arctior membrorum cum visibili capite communio,

et pietatis studium, parata adolescentibus

edacandis collegia, christiani denique populi

universoque corpori Christi mystico additus vigor

hinc religiosco

aliaque christianee pietatis instituta, Line

etiam assiduus et usque ad sanguinis effusionem constans

multiplicatae familiee,
ille

ardor in Christi regno late per orbem propagando.

Verumtamen heec aliaque insignia emolumenta, quee per

mam maxime

ulti-

cecumenicam Synodum divina dementia Ecclesiae

largita est, dum grato, quo par est, animo recolimus, acerbum
compescere haud possumus dolorem ob mala gravissima, inde
potissimum orta, quod ejusdem sacrosanctse Synodi apud per-

183
multos vcl anctoritas conlempta, vel sapient issima noglecta fuere
decreta.

Nemo enim

ignorat hcereses quas Trident

ini

Pahvs
|>r<>-rn{>-

serunt, duni, ivjtvtodivinoEcclesiaa magisterio, res

n.l

rrlij

-innrm

spcctantcs privati cujusvis judicio permitterentur, in sccias paulatim dissolutas esse multiplices, quibus inter se dissentientibus et
concertantibus, omnis tandem in Christum fides apud non paucos
la bi Tacta est.
Itaque ipsa sacra Biblia, quse antea Christian
doctrinoe unicus fous et judex asserebantur, jam non pro divinis

imo mythicis commentis accenseri cooperunt.

Turn nata est et late nimis per orbem vagata ilia rationalism!

haberi,

sea naturalism! doctrina, qua) religioni Christianas utpote super

natural! instituto per omnia adversans, summo studio molitur,
ut Christo, qui solus Deminus et Salvator noster est, a mentilms

humanis, a vita et moribus populorum excluso, mera) quod

vocant rationis vel naturae regnum stabiliatur. Relicta autem
projeetaque Christiana religione, negato vero Deo et Christo ejus,
prolapsa tandem est multorum mens in pantheisnii materialismi
atheismi barathrum, ut jam ipsam rationalem naturam, omnemque
justi rectique

normam

negantes, ima humanae societatis funda-

menta diruere connitantur.

Hac

porro impietate circumquaque grassante, infeliciter conut plures etiam e catholics Ecclesias filiis a via verse pietatis
aberrarent, iniisque, diminutis paullatim veritatibus, sensus catlio-

tigit,

licus attenuaretur.

naturam

Variis enim ac peregrinis doctriiiis abducti,

humanam et fidem divinam perpe-

et gratiam, scientiam

rani comrniscentes, genuinum sensum dogmatum, quern tenet ac

docet Sancta Mater Ecclesia, depravare, integritatemque et sinccritatem fidei in periculum adducere comperiuntur.

Quibus omnibus perspectis,

fieri

qui potest, ut non

commovean-

Dous vult
ad agnitionem veritatis venhv
quemadmodum Christus venit, ut salvum faceret, quod perierat,
et filios Dei, qui erant dispersi, congregaret in unum ita EccK sia,
a Deo populorum mater et magistra constituta, omnibus debitritur intima Ecclesia3 viscera

omnes homines

et

salvos

fieri,

Quemadmoduin

i-nim

cem se novit, ac lapsos erigere, labantes sustinerc, rcvt-rtmit s

amplecti, confirmare bonos et ad meliora provehere parata sompi-r
et intcnta est.
Quapropter nullo tempore a Dei vn-itatf. (ju;o
sanat omnia, tcstanda et pra^dicanda quiescere potest,

non ignorans

sibi dii-tuni

Spiritus incus, qui est in te, t-t vi-rba nua,

quas posui in ore tuo, non recedent de ore tuo ainodo et usque in
*
esse

sempiteruum.

* Isai.

lix. L l.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

184

Nos itaque, inhasrentes Prosdecessorum Nostrorum vestigiis, pro

supremo Nostro Apostolico munere veritatem catholicam docere
ac tueri, perversasquc doctrinas reprobare nunquam intermisimus.
ISTunc autem sedentibus Nobiscum et
judicantibus universi orbis
Episcopis, in hanc cecumenicam Synodum auctoritate Nostra in
Spiritu Sancto corigregatis, innixi Dei verbo scripto et tradito,

ab Ecclesia catholica sancte custoditum et genuine exposiaccepimus, ex hac Petri Cathedra in conspectu omnium
salutarem Christi doctrinam profiteri et declarare constituimus,
adversis erroribus potestate nobis a Deo tradita proscriptis atque
damnatis.

proufc

tum

CAPUT

I.

DE DEO RERUM OMNIUM CREATORE.

Sancta Catholica Apostolica

unum

tur,

esse

Deum verum

Romana

et

Ecclesia credit et confite-

vivum, Creatorem ac Dominura

cceli et terrae, omnipotentem, aeternum, immensum, incomprehensibilem, intellectu ac voluntate omnique perfectione infinitum qui
;

cum

sit

una

singularis, simplex

omnino

et

incommutabilis

sub-

pra3dicandus est re et essentia a mundo

distinctus, in se et ex se beatissimus, et super omnia, quse preeter
ipsum sunt et concipi possunt, ineffabiliter excelsus.
stantia

spiritualis,

Hie solus verus Deus bonitate sua et omnipotenti virtute non

ad augendam suam beatitudinem, nee ad acquirendam, sed ad
manifestandam perfectioiiem suam -per bona, quae creaturisimpertitur, liberrimo consilio simul ab initio temporis utramque de
nihilo condidit creaturam, spivitualem et
corporalem, angelicam
videlicet et mundanam, ac deinde humanam
quasi communem ex
spiritu et cor pore constitutam.*

Universa vero, quae condidit, Deus providentia sua tuetur atque

gubernat, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponens
omnia suaviter.f Omnia enim nuda et aperta sunt oculis
ea etiani, quao libera creaturarum action e futura sunt.

Concil. Lateran. IV. cap.

i.

Do

fide Cafholica.

t Cf. Hobr.

iv. 13.

f Sap.

viii.

1.

APPENDIX.

CAPUT

185

II.

DE REVELATIONS.

Eadem sancta Mater Ecclesia tenet et docet, Deum, rerum

omnium principium et finem, natural! humanse rationis luminu o
rebus creatis certo cognosci posse invisibilia enim ipsius, a
creatura mundi, per ea qua) facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur *
;

attamen placuisse ejus sapientiae et bonitati, alia, efique supernatu

ral! via se ipsum ac aeterna voluntatis suae decreta humano
generi
revelare, dicente Apostolo
Multifariam, multisque modis olim
:

Deus loquens patribus

in Prophetis

novissime, diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio. f

Huic divines revelationi tribuendum quidem est, ut ea, qua3 in
:

rebus divinis humana) rationi per se impervia non sunt, in praesenti

quoque generis humani conditione ab omnibus expedite, firma
titudine et nullo admixto errore cognosci possint.
Non liao
tamen de causa revelatio absolute necessaria dicenda est, sed quia
Deus ex infinita bonitate sua ordinavit hominem ad finem supernatnralem, ad participanda scilicet bona divina, quoe humanae
mentis intelligentiam omnino superant siquidem oculus non vidit,
c

nee auris audivit, nee in cor hominis ascendit, quaa piu-paruvit

Deus

iis,

qui diligunt ilium. J

Haec porro supernaturalis revelatio, secundum universal is

Ecclesiu) fidem, a sanctfi Trideiitina Synodo declaratam, continctur in libris scriptis et sine scripto traditionibus, quo3 ipsius
Christ! ore ab Apostolis acceptae, aut ab ipsis Apostolis Spirit u
Sancto dictante quasi per manus traditae, ad nos usque pervi-nc-

Qui quidem veteris

runt.

cum

et novi Testament! libri intcui-i

omnibus

suis partibus, prout in ejusdem Concilii decreto rcccnsentur, et in veteri vulgata liitina editions habontur, pro sacris et

canonicis suscipiendi sunt. Eos vero Ecclesia pro sacris et canonhabet, non ideo quod sola humana industria concinnat i. su;\

icis

deinde auctoritate sint approbati

revelationem sine errore contineunt

Sancto inspiranto conscript!

Deum

nee ideo diuntaxat,

qimd

sed propterea quod S]iritu

habent auctorem, atque at

tales ipsi Ecclesine traditi sunt.

Quoniam vero, quoo sancta Tridcntina Synodus dc intrrprcfatione divinoo Scripturae ad coercenda petulant ia inp nia salul i-iti-r
dccrevit,
*

Rom.

a quibusdam hominibus prave exponuntur, Nos, ulna

i.

20.

t HrlT.
Coneil. Triil.

.Soss.

i.

1, 2.

IV. de Can. Script.

Cor.

ii.

9.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

18G

decretum renovantes, hanc illius mentem esse declaranras, ut in

rebus fidei et morum, ad aedificationem doctrinae Christianas, pertinentium, is pro vero sensu sacrae Scripturse habendus sit, quern
tenuit ac tenet Sancta Mater Ecclesia, cujus est judicare de vero
sensu et interpretatione Scripturarum sanetarum atque ideo
neniini licere contra hunc sensum, aut etiam contra unanimem
consensum Patrum ipsam Scripturam sacram interpretari.
;

CAPUT

III.

DE FIDE.

Quum homo

Deo tanquara Creatore

et

Domino suo

totus de-

pendeat, et ratio creata increatas Veritati penitus subjecta sit,

plenum revelanti Deo intellectus et voluntatis obsequium fide

Hanc vero fidem, quse humanoe salutis

Ecclesia
catholica profitetur, virtutem esse superest,
naturalem, qua, Dei aspirante et adjuvante gratia, ab eo revelata
praestare

tenemur.

mitium

vera esse credimus, non propter intrinsecam rerum veritatem

naturali rationis lumine perspectam, sed propter auctoritatem

Dei revelantis, qui nee falli nee fallere potest. Est enim
testante Apostolo, sperandarum substantia rerum, argumen-

ipsius
fides,

tum non apparentium.*

Ut nihilominus fidei nostrae obsequium rationi consentaneum
esset, voluit Deus cum internis Spiritus Sancti auxiliis extern a
jungi revelationis suas argumeiita, facta scilicet divina, atque
imprimis miracula et prophetias, quo3 cum Dei omnipotentiam et
infinitam scientiam luculenter commonstrent, divinoa revelationis
signa sunt certissima et omnium intelligentiaa accommodata.
Quare turn Moyses et Prophetae, turn ipse maxime Christus
Dominus multa et manifestissima miracula et prophetias ediderunt,
4

Illi autem
profecti prasdicaverunt
et
sermonem confirmante, sequentibus
Domino
cooperante,
ubique,
Habemus firmiorem prophetisignis. f Et rursum scriptum est

et

de

Apostolis

legimus

cum sermonem,

cui bene facitis attendentes quasi lucernse lucenti

in caliginoso loco. J
Licet autem fidei assensus

nemo tamen

nequaquam

sit

motus animi

cascus

consentire potest, sicut

oportet ad salutem consequendam, absque illuminatione et inspi* Hebr.

evangelicae praadicationi

xi. 1.

t Marc.

xvi. 20.

2 Petr.

i.

19.

APPENDIX.

187

Sancti, qui dat omnibus suavitatcm in consenticredendo veritati.* Quare fides ipsa in se, etiamsi per
charitatem non operetur, donum Dei est, et actus ejus est opus ad
salutem pertinens, quo homo liberam pncstat ipsi Deo obedientiam gratise ejus, cui resistere posset, consentiendo et cooperando.
Porro fide divina et catholica ea oinnia credenda sunt, quo3 in
verbo Dei scripto vel tradito continentur, et ab Ecclesia sive

ratione Spiritus

endo

et

solemni judicio sive ordinario et universali magisterio

divinitus revelata credenda proponuntur.

tamquam

Quoniam vero sine fide impossibile est placere Deo, et ad

filiorum ejus consortium perveiiire ideo nemini unquam sine ilia
contigit justificatio, nee ullus, nisi in ea perseveraverit usque in
;

Ut autem officio veram fidem

finem, vitam eeternam assequetur.
amplectendi, in eaque constanter perseverandi satisfacere possemus, Deus per Filium suum unigenitum Ecclesiam

institnit,SHfl8qiie

institutions manifestis notis instruxit, ut ea tamquam custos et

magistra verbi revelati ab omnibus posset agnosci. Ad solam

enim catholicam Ecclesiam ea pertinent omnia, quae ad evidentem

multa et tarn mira divinitus
sunt disposita. Quin etiam Ecclesia per se ipsa, ob suam ncmpe
admirabilcm propagationem, eximiam sanctitatem et inexhaustam
in omnibus bonis fcecunditatem, ob catholicam unitatem, invict-

fidei Christianas credibilitatem tarn

amque

et perpetuumestmoti\ urn
testimonium irxefragabile.
ut ipsa veluti signum levatum in nationes,f et ad se

stabilitatem,

magnum quoddam

credibilitatis et divinae suas legationis

Quo

fit,

nondum crediderunt, et filios suos certiores faciat,

firmissimo niti fundamento fidem, quam profitentur. Cui quidcm
testimonio efficax subsidium accedit ex supermi virtute. Eteniia

invitet, qui

benignissimus Dominus et errantes gratia sua excitat atque

adjuvat, ut ad agnitionem veritatis venire possint et eos, quos
de tenebris transtulit in admirabile lumen suum, in hoc eodem
;

lumine ut perseverent, gratia sua confirmat, non deserens, nisi

descratur.
Quocirca miniine par est conditio eorum, qui per

donum catholicae veritati adha?serunt, atque corn in,

ducti
opinionibus Immanis, falsam religionem sectantur; illi
qui
enim, qui fidem sub Ecclesiaa magisterio susceperunt, iiulhun un

cceleste fidei

quam habere possunt justam causam mutandi, aut in duhium

eamdem revocandi. Quos cum ita sint, gratias u-vnh Deo

fidem

>

sanctorum in hnnim-,
tantam ne negligamus salutem, sed aspidentea in auctorem ti.K-i
et consummatorem Jesum, teneamus spei nostrao confessionfiu
Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in

partem

sortis

indeclinabilem.
*

Syn. Araus.

ii.

can.

7.

I-s;ii.

xi.

\~2.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

188

CAPUT

IV.

DE FIDE ET RATIONE.

Hoc quoque perpetuus

tenet, duplicem esse

Ecclesiae catholicae consensus tenuit et

ordinem cognitionis, non solum principio, sed

principio quidem, quia in altero

objecto etiam distinctum
naturali ratione, in altero fide divina cognoscimus
objecto
autem, quia praeter ea, ad quae naturalis ratio pertingere potest,
:

credenda nobis proponuntur mysteria in Deo abscondita, quae,

non possunt. Quocirca Apo-

nisi revelata diviriitus, innotescere

Deum

stolus, qui a gentibus

per ea, qute facta sunt, cognitum esse
testatur, disserens tanien de gratia et veritate, quae per Jesum
Christum facta est,* pronuntiat
Loquimur Dei sapientiam in
:

mysterio, quae abscondita est, quam prasdestinavit Deus ante

saecula in gloriam nostram, quam nemo principum hujus saeculi

nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum

Et ipse
ornnia scrutatur, etiam profunda Dei.f
enim
Spiritus

cognovit

Unigenitus confitetur Patri, quia abscondit haec a sapientibus, et

prudentibus, et revelavit ea parvulis.J

Ac

ratio

fide

quidem,

aliquam, Deo

quaerit,

illustrata,

daiite,

cum

sedulo, pie

et

sobrie

mysteriorum intelligentiam eamque

fructuosissimam assequitur, turn ex eorum, quae naturaliter cogno-

nexu inter se et cum

tamen
idonea
redditur ad ea
numquam

scit,

analogia, turn e mysteriorum ipsorum

fine

hominis ultimo

perspicienda instar veritatum,

constituunt.

creatum

sic

quae proprium ipsius objectum

Divina enim mysteria suapte natura intellectum
excedunt, ut etiam revelatione tradita et fide suscepta,

tamen

fidei velamine contecta et quadam quasi caligine

obvoluta maneant, quamdiu in hac mortali vita peregrinamur a
Domino per fidem enim ambulamus, et non per speciem.
Yerum etsi fides sit supra rationem, nulla tamen unquam inter
fidem et rationem vera dissensio esse potest ; cum idem Deus,

ipsius

qui mysteria revelat et fidem infundit, animo humano rationis

lumen indiderit Deus autem negare seipsum non possit, nee
verum vero unquam contradicere. Iiiaiiis autem hujus contra
diction! s species inde potissimum oritur, quod vel fidei dogmata
ad mentem Ecclesiae intellecta et exposita non fuerint, vel
Omnem
opinionum commenta pro rationis effatis habeantur.
assertionem veritati illaminatae fidei contrariam omnino
;

* Joan,

i.

17.

Cor.

ii.

7, 9.

Matth.

xi. 25.

2 Cor.

v. 7.

APPENDIX.
falsam esse definimus.*

Porro Ecclesia,

189
qiirp

ima cum apostolico

munere docendi, mandatum

jus etiam et officium

accepit, fidei depositum custodiendi,

divinitus liabet falsi nominis scicutiatn

proscribendi, ne quis decipiatur per philosophiam, et

Quapropter omnes

inanem

cliristiuni fidelcs

Imjusmodi opiniones, quee fidei doctrinte contrarioo esse cognoscuntur, maximo

si ab Ecclesia reprobatoo fuerint, non solum prohibentur
tanquam

fallaciam.f

legitimas scientiae conclusiones defendere, sed pro erroribus potius,

qui fallacem veritatis speciem praa se ferant, habero tenentur

omnino.

Neque solum fides et ratio inter se dissidere nunquam possunt,

opem quoque sibi mutuam ferunt, cum recta ratio fidei fundameiita demonstret, ejusque lumine illustrata rerum divinamm
sed

scientiam excolat
tueatur,

tantum

fides vero

rationem ab erroribus liberet ac

multiplici cognitione instruat.

Quapropter
abest, ut Ecclesia humanarum artium et discipliimrum

eamque

cultural obsistat, ut

hanc multis modis juvet atque promoveat.

Noneiiimcommodaab iis adhominumvitam dimanantia autignorat

aut despicit

Domino,

fatetur imo, eas,

quemadmodum

a Deo, scientiarum

profectee sunt, ita si rite pertractentur,

ad Deum, juvante

Nee sane ipsa vetat, ne hujusmodi disci

ejus gratia, perducere.
pline in suo qua3que ambitu propriis utantur principiis et propria
methodo sed justam hanc libertatem agnoscens, id sedulo cavet,
;

ne divinae doctrine repugnando errores in se suscipiant, aut fines

proprios trangressas, ea, quae sunt fidei, occupent et perturbent.
Neque enim fidei doctrina, quam Deus revelavit, velut philosophicum inventum proposita est humanis ingeniis perficienda, sed
tanquam divinum depositum Christ! Sponso3 tradita, field if or
custodiendo et infallibiliter declaranda. Hinc sacrorum quoque
is sensus perpetuo est retinendus, quern semel declarSancta Mater Ecclesia, nee unquam ab eo sensu, altioris
Crescat igitur et
intelligentise specie et nomine, recedendum.

dogmatum
avit

multum vehementerque proficiat, tarn singulorum, quam omnium,

tarn unius hominis, quam totius Ecclesice, eetatum ac sajculorum
gradibus, intelligentia, scientia, sapientia
genere,

in

eodem

scilicet

sed in suo dumtaxat

dogmate, eodem

sensu,

eadenique

sententia.J
* Concil. Lateran. V. Bulla
Apostolici rcgiinini*.
\ Vincent. Lirin. Common, n. 28.

Coloss.

ii.

8.

190

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

GANONES.
I.

De Deo rerum omnium

Creatore.

unum verum Deum visibilium et

Dominum negaverit anathema sit.

Si quis

1.

torum

et

Si quis praeter

2.

anathema

materiam

nihil esse affirmare

non erubuerit

sit.

Si quis dixerit,

3.

invisibilium Crea-

unam eamdemque

substantiam vel essentiam

anathema

esse Dei et

rerum omnium

sit.

4. Si quis dixerit, res finitas, turn corporeas turn spirituales,

aut saltern spirituales, e divina substantia emanasse
aut divinam essentiam sui manifestatione vel evolutione fieri
;

omnia

aut denique Deum esse ens universale seu indefinitum, quod

sesedeterminandoconstituat rerum universitatem in genera, species
et individua distinctam

Si quis

anathema

sit.

non

confiteatur, mundum, resque omnes, quoa in eo

continentur, et spirituales et materiales, secundum totam suam
substantiam a Deo ex nihilo esse productas
5.

Deum

non voluntate ab omni necessitate libera, sed

tarn necessario creasse, quam necessario amat seipsum
aut mundum ad Dei gloriam conditum esse negaverit anathema
aut

dixerit

sit.

II.

De
1.

Si quis

Dominum

dixerit,

Eevelatione.

Deum unum

nostrum, per

ea,

et

verum,

quse facta sunt,

Creatorem

naturali

et

rationis

humanae lumine certo cognosci non posse anathema sit.

2. Si quis dixerit, fieri non posse, aut non expedire, ut per
revelationem divinam homo de Deo, cultuque ei exhibendo
edoceatur anathema sit.
3. Si quis dixerit, hominem ad cognitionem et perfectionem,
quae naturalem superet, divinitus evehi non posse, sed ex seipso
ad omnis tandem veri et boni possessionem jugi profectu pertingere posse et debere anathema sit.
;

191

APPENDIX.
4. Si

quis sacroo Scripturro libroa intogros

cum omnibus

suis

partibus, prout illos sancta Tridentina Synodus rccensuit, pro

sacris et canonicis non susceperit, aut eos divinitus inspiratos ease

ncgaverit

anathema

sifc.

III.

De
1.

Immanam

Si quis dixerit, rationem

ut fides

ci

Deo imperari non

possit

ita indcpcndcntcm
anathema sit.

esse,

2. Si
quis dixerit, fidem divinam a naturali de Deo et rebus
moralibus scientia non distingui, ac propterea ad fidem divinam

non

requiri,

ut revelata veritas propter auctoritatem Dei re-

velantis credatur

anathema

sit.

quis dixerit, revelationem divinam externis signis

credibilem fieri non posse, ideoque sola interna cujusque exSi

3.

perientia aut inspiratione

debere

anathema

privata homines ad fidem

moveri

sit.

Si quis dixerit, miraeula nulla fieri posse, proindeque omnes

iis narrationes, etiam in sacra Scriptura contentas, inter

4.

de

fabulas vel

nunquam

mythos ablegandas

posse, nee

rite probari

iis

esse

aut miraeula certo cognosci

divinam religionis Christiana) originem

anathema sit.
assensum

fidei Christiana? non esse liberum,

rationis necessario produci
aut ad
sed argumentis human
solam fidem vivam, quee per charitatem operatur, gratiam Dei
necessariam esse anathema sit.
5.

Si quis dixerit,

parem esse conditionem fidelium atquo

unice
veram nondum pervenerunt, ita ut
ad
fidem
eorum, qui
catholiei justam causam habere possint, fidem, quam sub Ecclesico
6.

Si

quis

magisterio

dixerit,

jam

susceperunt, assensu suspense in

donee demonstrationem scientificam

sua) absolverint

anathema

dubium vocamli,

credibilitatis et veritatis fidei

sit.

IV.

De Fide

ct

Ratione.

1. Si quis dixerit, in revelatione divinfi nulla vrra et proprio

dicta mysteria contineri, sed universa fidei dogmata posse per
rationem rite excultam e nuturalibuu principiis iniclligi et demon-

strari

anathema

sit.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

192
2.

Si quis dixerit, disciplinas

humanas

ea

cum

libertate trac-

tandas esse, ut earum assertiones, etsi doctrinae revelatse adversentur, tanquam vera3 retineri, neque ab Ecclesia proscribi
possint anathema sit.
3. Si quis dixerit,
:

propositis,

tribuendus

anathema

aliquando
ab

sit alius

fieri

ut dogmatibus ab

posse,

secundum progressum
eo,

Ecclesia

sensus
quern intellexit et intelligit Ecclesia
scientire

sit.

Itaque supremi pastoralis Nostri

officii

debitum exequentes,

omnes Christi fideles, maxime vere eos, qui preesunt vel docendi
munere funguntur, per viscera Jesu Christi obtestamur, nee non
ejusdem Dei et Salvatoris nostri auctoritate jubemus, ut ad hos
errores a Sancta Ecclesia arcendos et eliminandos, atque
purissimee fidei lucem pandendam studium et operam conferant.

Quoniam vero

satis

non

eat,

ha3reticam pravitatem devitare,

quoque errores diligenter fugiantur, qui ad illam plus

minusve accedunt omnes officii monemus, servandi etiam
nisi

ii

Constitutiones et Decreta, quibus prava3 ejusmodi opiniones, qu89

isthic diserte

non enumerantur, ab hac Sancta Sede prescripts

et prohibits sunt.

Datum Roma3

in publica Sessione in Yaticana Basilica solem-

niter celebrata anno Tncarnationis

Dominion millesimo octingentesimo septuagesimo, die vigesima quarta Aprilis.

Pontificatus Nostri anno vigesimo quarto.
ltd

est.

JOSEPHUS,
Episcopus S. Hippolyti,
Secretarius Concilii Vaticani.

TRANSLATION.

DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE

CATHOLIC FAITH.
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, WITH
THE APPROVAL OF THE SACRED COUNCIL, FOR PER
PETUAL REMEMBRANCE.

PIUS, BISHOP,

CHRIST, the Son of God, and Redeemer of Man

before
kind,
returning to his heavenly Father, promised that He
would be with the Church Militant on earth all days, even to

OUR LORD JESUS

the consummation of the world.

Therefore,

He

has never ceased

APPENDIX.

193

to bo present with His beloved

Spouse, to assist her
ing, to bless her when at work, and to aid her when in

when

danger.

teach

And

His salutary providence, which has been constantly displayed

by other innumerable benefits, has been most manifestly proved
by ilie abundant good results which Christendom has derived
from (Ecumenical Councils, and particularly from that of Trent,
although it was held in evil times. For, as a consequence, the
sacred doctrines of the faith have been defined more closely, and
set forth more fully, errors have been condemned and restrained,
ecclesiastical discipline has been restored and more
firmly secured^
the love of learning and of piety has been promoted among the
clergy, colleges have been established to educate youth for the
sacred warfare, and the morals of the Christian world have been
renewed by the more accurate training of the faithful, and by tho
this

more frequent use of the sacraments. Moreover, there has re

sulted a closer communion of the members with the visible head,
an increase of vigour in the whole mystical body of Christ, the
multiplication of religious congregations and of other institutions
of Christian piety, and such ardour in extending the kingdom of
Christ throughout the world, as constantly endures, even to tho
sacrifice of life itself.

But while we recall with due thankfulness these and other

which the divine mercy has bestowed on the
Church, especially by the last (Ecumenical Council, we cannot
restrain our bitter sorrow for the grave evils, which are princi
signal benefits

pally due to the fact that the authority of that sacred Synod has
been contemned, or its wise decrees neglected, by many.

No one is ignorant that the heresies proscribed by the Fathers

of Trent, by which the divine magisterium of the Church was
rejected, and all matters regarding religion were surrendered to
the judgment of each individual, gradually became dissolved into
many sects, which disagreed and contended with one another,
Even the Holy
until at length not a few lost all faith in Christ.
Scriptures, which had previously been declared the sole source
and judge of Christian doctrine, began to be held no longer as
divine, but to be ranked among the fictions of mythology.
Then there arose, and too widely overspread the world, that
doctrine of rationalism, or naturalism, which opposes itself in

every

way

to the Christian religion as a supernatural institution,

and works with the utmost zeal in order that, after Christ, our
sole Lord and Saviour, has been excluded from the minds of men,
and from the life and moral acts of nations, the reign of what they
call

pure reason or nature

may

be established.

And

after for-

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

194

saking and rejecting the Christian religion, and denying the true
God and His Christ, the minds of many have sunk into the abyss
of Pantheism, Materialism, and Atheism, until, denying rational
nature itself and every sound rule of right, they labour to destroy

the deepest foundations of human society.

Unhappily, it has yet further come to pass that, while this im
piety prevailed 011 every side, many even of the children of the
Catholic Church have strayed from the path of true piety, and
by the gradual diminution of the truths they held, the Catholic
sense became weakened in them.
For, led away by various and
strange doctrines, utterly confusing nature and grace, human
science and divine faith, they are found to deprave the true
sense of the doctrines which our Holy Mother Church holds and
teaches, and endanger the integrity and the soundness of the faith.
Considering these things, how can the Church fail to be deeply
stirred ?
For, even as God wills all men to be saved, and to
arrive at the knowledge of the truth even as Christ came to
save what had perished, and to gather together the children of
God who had been dispersed, so the Church, constituted by God
the mother and teacher of nations, knows its own office as debtor
to all, and is ever ready and watchful to raise the fallen, to sup
port those who are falling, to embrace those who return, to con
firm the good and to carry them on to better things. Hence, it
can never forbear from witnessing to and proclaiming the truth of
God, which heals all things, knowing the words addressed to it
My Spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy
mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, from henceforth and
;

for ever

(Isaias lix. 21).

therefore, following the footsteps of our predecessors,
never ceased, as becomes our supreme Apostolic office, from,

We,
have

teaching and defending Catholic truth, and condemning doctrines

of error. And now, with the Bishops of the whole world assem
bled round us and judging with us, congregated by our authority,

and in the Holy Spirit, in this (Ecumenical Council, we, supported

by the Word of God written and handed down as we received it
from the Catholic Church, preserved with sacrcdncss and set
have determined to profess and declare
forth according to truth,
the salutary teaching of Christ from this Chair of Peter and in
sight of all, proscribing and condemning, by the power given to
us of God,

all errors

contrary thereto.

APPENDIX.

CHAPTER

195

I.

OF GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS.

The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church believes and conand living God, Creator and Lord of

fesses that there is one true

heaven and earth, Almighty, Eternal,

Immense, Incomprehensible,
Infinite in intelligence, in will, and in all
perfection, who, as bcii^
one, sole, absolutely simple and immutable spiritual substance,
to be declared as
really and essentially distinct from the world,
of supreme beatitude in and from
Himself, and ineffably exalted
above all things which exist, or are
Himself.
conceivable,
is

except
This one only true God, of His own
goodness and almighty
power, not for the increase or acquirement of His own happiness,
but to manifest His perfection by the
blessings which He bestows
on creatures, and with absolute freedom of
counsel, created out
of nothing, from the very first
beginning of time, both the spiri
tual

and the corporeal creature,

mundane and afterwards

the

to wit, the angelical and the

creature, as partaking, in a

human

sense, of both, consisting of spirit

and of body.
His
Providence all things which
by
He hath made, reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering
all things
(Wisdom viii. 1). For all things are bare
sweetly
and open to His eyes (Heb. iv. 13), even those which are
yet

God

protects and governs

*

to be

by the

free action of creatures.

CHAPTER

II.

OF REVELATION.

The same Holy Mother Church holds and teaches that God,
the beginning and end of all things, may be
certainly known by
the natural light of human reason, by means of created
things
for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
;

understood by the things that are made

but
that it pleased His wisdom and boun
(Romans 20),
reveal Himself, and the eternal decrees of His will, to mankind
by another and a supernatural way as the Apostle Bays, God,
having spoken on divers occasions, and many ways, in
clearly seen, being
i.

to the fathers

by the prophets; last of

spoken to us by His Son

(Hebrews
o 2

i.

all, in th

1, -).

hath

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

196
It is to

be ascribed to this divine revelation, that such truths

things divine as of themselves are not beyond human

reason, can, even in the present condition of mankind, be known
by every one with facility, with firm assurance, and with no

among

admixture of error. This, however, is not the reason why reve

lation is to be called absolutely necessary but because God of
His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural end,
;

be a sharer of divine blessings which utterly exceed the

human mind for eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things
God hath prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor. ii. 9).
viz., to

intelligence of the

.Further, this supernatural revelation, according to the univer

the Church, declared by the Sacred Synod of Trent,

sal belief of

contained in the written books and unwritten traditions which

have come down to us, having been received by the Apostles
from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the Apostles them
selves, by the dictation of the Holy Spirit, have been transmitted,
as it were, from hand to hand.*
And these books of the Old
and New Testament are to be received as sacred and canonical, in
their integrity, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the
decree of the said Council, and are contained in the ancient Latin
edition of the Vulgate.
These the Church holds to be sacred and
not
canonical,
because, having been carefully composed by mere
human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority,
nor merely because they contain revelation, with no admixture
of error, but because, having been written by the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost they have God for their author, and have been deli
vered as such to the Church herself.
And as the things which the Holy Synod of Trent decreed
for the good of souls concerning the interpretation of Divine
Scripture, in order to curb rebellious spirits, have been wrongly

is

explained by some, We, renewing the said decree, declare this to

be their sense, that, in matters of faith and morals, appertaining
to the building up of Christian doctrine, that is to be held as the
true sense of Holy Scripture which our Holy Mother Church hath
held and holds, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and
interpretation of the Holy Scripture and therefore that it is per
;

mitted to no one to interpret the Sacred Scripture contrary to

this sense, nor, likewise, contrary to the unanimous consent of
the Fathers.
* Canons and Decrees of the Council of
Trent, Session the Fourth.
concerning the Canonical Scriptures.

Decree

APPENDIX.

CHAPTER

11)7

III.

ON FAITH.

Man being wholly dependent upon God, as upon his Creator

and Lord, and created reason being absolutely subject to uncrc-;it
truth, we are bound to yield to God, by faith in His revelation,
the full obedience of our intelligence and will. And the Catholic
Church teaches that this faith, which is the beginning of man s
salvation, is a supernatural virtue, whereby, inspired and assisu-d
by the grace of God, we believe that the things which He has
<

revealed are true

not because of the intrinsic truth of the

things, viewed by the natural light of reason, but because of

can
the authority of God Himself who reveals them, and

Who

neither be deceived nor deceive.

For

faith, as the Apostle testi

for, the conviction of things

the substance of things hoped

fies, is
that appear not (Hebrews i. 11).
Nevertheless, in order that the obedience of our faith might be
in harmony with reason, God willed that to the interior help of

the Holy Spirit, there should be joined exterior proofs of His

to wit, divine facts, and especially miracles and pro
revelation
;

the omnipotence and

phecies, which, as they manifestly display
infinite knowledge of God, are most certain proofs of His divine

Wherefore,
revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all men.
both Moses and the Prophets, and most especially, Christ our
Lord Himself, showed forth many and most evident miracles and
prophecies

and of the Apostles we read

But they going

forth preached everywhere, the Lord working withal, and con

xvi. 20). And
firming the word with signs that followed (Mark
firm prophetical word,
more
have
the
it is written:
again,
do well to attend, as to a light shining in a dark
whereunto

We

you

place

(2 St. Peter

i.

19).

But though the assent of

faith is

man

by no means a blind action

can assent to the Gospel teaehinLr,

of the mind,
without the illumination and inspi
obtain
to
salvation,
necessary
ration of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all men sweetness in Bfr
still

no

i~<

Wherefore, Faith itself,

senting to and believing in the truth.*
work
not
it
does
when
even
by charity, is in itself a gift of

God, and the act of faith

is

a work appertaining to salvation, by

* Canons of the Second Council of Ornngo, confirmed by Pope Boniface II.,

vii. t?i-- Denzingcr s Enchiridion St/m

A.D. 529, against the Scmipelajrians, can.

lolorum, p. ^0.
Wiirzburg, 1851.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

198

which man yields voluntary obedience to God Himself, by assent

ing to and co-operating with His grace, which he is able to resist.
Further, all those things are to be believed with divine and
Catholic faith which are contained in the Word of God, written
or handed down, and which the Church, either by a solemn
judgment, or by her ordinary and universal magisterium, pro
poses for belief as having been divinely revealed.

And

without faith, it is impossible to please God, and to

the fellowship of His children, therefore without
faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will any one
obtain eternal life, unless he shall have persevered in faith unto
since,

attain

to

And, that we may be able to satisfy the obligation of

embracing the true faith and of constantly persevering in it, God
has instituted the Church through His only begotten Son, and
has bestowed on it manifest notes of that institution, that it may
be recognised by all men as the guardian and teacher of the
revealed Word for to the Catholic Church alone belong all those
many and admirable tokens which have been divinely established
the end.

for the evident credibility of the Christian Faith.

the Church by

itself,

with

its

marvellous extension,

Nay, more,
eminent

its

and its inexhaustible fruitfulness in every good thing,

Catholic unity and its invincible stability, is a great and
perpetual motive of credibility, and an irrefutable witness of
holiness,

with

its

own divine mission.

And thus, like a standard

its

set

up unto the nations

(Isaias xi. 12),

who do not

yet believe, and assures

its children that the faith which
they profess rests on the most
firm foundation.
And its testimony is efficaciously supported
it

both invites to

those

itself

by a power from on high. For our most merciful Lord gives His
grace to stir up and to aid those who are astray, that they may
come to a knowledge of the truth and to those whom He has
;

brought out of darkness into His own admirable light He gives

His grace to strengthen them to persevere in that light, desert
ing none who desert not Him. Therefore there is no parity
between the condition of those who have adhered to the Catholic
truth by the heavenly gift of faith, and of those who, led by human
opinions, follow a false religion for those who have received the
faith under the magisterium of the Church can never have any
;

just cause for changing or doubting that faith.

Therefore, giving
thanks to God the Father wrho has made us worthy to be
partakers of the lot of the Saints in light, let us not neglect
BO great salvation, but with our eyes fixed

and

on Jesus, the author

finisher of our Faith, let us hold fast the confession of our

hope without wavering.

(Hebr.

xii. 2,

and

x. 23.)

AITKNDIX.

CHAPTER

199

IV.

OF FAITH AND REASON.

The Catholic Church, with one consent has

also

ever hold

and does hold that there is a twofold order of

knowledge, distinct,
both in principle and also in object in principle, because our
knowledge in the one is by natural reason, and in the other by
divine faith; in object, because, besides those
things to which
;

natural reason can attain, there are

proposed to our belief mysteries
hidden in God, which, unless divinely revealed, cannot be known.

Wherefore the Apostle, who testifies that God is known by tho

gentiles through created things, still, when discoursing of the
grace and truth which come by Jesus Christ (John i. 17) says
:

We

speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is

hidden, which God ordained before the world unto our glory;
which none of the princes of this world knew
but to us
God hath revealed them by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
.

things, yea, the deep things of God (1 Cor. ii. 7-9). And the
only-begotten Son himself gives thanks to the Father, because
He has hid these things from tho wise and prudent, and ha.;
revealed them to little ones (Matt. xi. 25).
all

Reason, indeed, enlightened by faith, when it seeks earnestly,

and calmly, attains by a gift from God some, and that ;i

piously,

very fruitful, understanding of mysteries partly from the analogy

of those things which it naturally knows, partly from the relations
which the mysteries bear to one another and to the last end of
;

man
as

it

but reason never becomes capable of apprehending mysteries

does those truths which constitute its proper object.
For

the divine mysteries by their own nature so far transcend the

created intelligence that, even when delivered by revelation and

received by faith, they remain covered with the veil of faith

itself, and shrouded in a certain degree of darkness, so long a
are pilgrims in this mortal life, not yet with God;
for we walk
faith and not by sight (2 Cor. v. 7).
But although faith is above reason, there can never be any
real discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God

by

who

reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of

reason on the human mind, and God cannot deny Himself, nor
can truth ever contradict truth.
The false ajiju-arjincc of such a
is mainly due, either to the dogmas of faith not
the mind rf
having been understood and expounded according
the Church, or to the inventions of opinion Invinj, hci-n taken for

contradiction

t<

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

200

the verdicts of reason.

We

define, therefore, that every asser

tion contrary to a truth of enlightened faith is utterly false.*
Further, the Church, which, together with the Apostolic office of

teaching, has received a charge to guard the deposit of faith,

derives from God the right and the duty of proscribing false science,
lest

any should be deceived by philosophy and vain

Therefore

fallacy (Coloss.

Christians are not only forbidden to

defend, as legitimate conclusions of science, such opinions as are
known to be contrary to the doctrines of faith, especially if they

ii.

8).

all faithful

have been condemned by the Church, but are altogether bound

to account them as errors which put on the fallacious appearance
of truth.

And

not only can faith and reason never be opposed to one

another, but they are of mutual aid one to the other for right
reason demonstrates the foundations of faith, and, enlightened by
;

its light, cultivates

the science of things divine

while faith frees

and guards reason from errors, and furnishes it with manifold

knowledge. So far, therefore, is the Church from opposing the
cultivation of human arts and sciences, that it in many ways
For the Church neither ignores nor
helps and promotes it.
despises the benefits to human life which result from the arts
and sciences, but confesses that, as they came from God, the
Lord of all science, so, if they be rightly ;used, they lead to God by
the help of His grace. Nor does the Church forbid that each of
sphere should make use of its own principles
but, while recognising this just liberty, it
stands watchfully on guard, lest sciences, setting themselves
against the divine teaching, or transgressing their own limits,
should invade and disturb the domain of faith.

these sciences in

and

its

its

own method

For the doctrine of faith which God hath revealed has not
been proposed, like a philosophical invention, to be perfected by
human ingenuity, but has been delivered as a divine deposit to
the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared.

Hence

also,

that

meaning of the sacred dogmas

is

perpetually to

be retained which our Holy Mother the Church has once declared
nor is that meaning ever to be departed from, under the pretence
or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them. Let, then, the
intelligence, science, and wisdom of each and all, of individuals
;

and of the whole Church,

in all ages

and

all

times, increase

and

* From the Bull of

Pope Leo X., Apostolici rcgiminis, read in the VIII.
Session of the Fifth Lateran Council, A.D. 1513. See Labbe s Councils, vol.xix.
p. 842, Venice,

1732

AITENDIX.

201

abundance and vigour but simply in its own proper

is to say, in one and the same doctrine, one and
the same sense, one and the same judgment (Vincent, of Lerins,
flourish in

kind, that

Common,

n. 28).

CANONS.
I.

Of God,

the Creator of all things.

any one shall deny One true God, Creator and Lord of
and invisible let him be anathema.
visible
things
2. If any one shall not be ashamed to affirm that,
except matter,
nothing exists let him be anathema.
3. If any one shall say that the substance and essence of God
and of all things is one and the same let him be anathema.
4. If any one shall say that finite things, both corporeal and
spiritual, or at least spiritual, have emanated from the divine
1.

If

substance

or that the divine essence by the manifestation and

all things
or, lastly, that God is

evolution of itself becomes

universal or indefinite being, which by determining itself con

stitutes the universality of things, distinct according to genera,
let him be anathema.
species and individuals
;

If any one confess not that the world, and all things which arc
contained in it, both spiritual and material, have been, in their
5.

whole substance, produced by God out of nothing; or shall say

God created, not by His will, free from all necessity, but by
a necessity equal to the necessity whereby He loves Himself; or
shall deny that the world was made for the glory of God let him
be anathema.

that

II.

Of Revelation.
1. If any one shall say that the One true God, our Civat.
Lord, cannot be certainly known by the natural light of human
reason through created things let him be anathema.
:

2. If

any one

shall say that it is impossible or inexpedient

man

should be taught, by divine revelation, concerning

the worship to be paid to Him let him be anathema.
;

tl;:it

God ami

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

202

3. If any one shall say that man cannot be raised by divine

power to a higher than natural knowledge and perfection, but
can and ought, by a continuous progress, to arrive at length, of
himself, to the possession of all that is true and good let him be
;

anathema.
If any one shall not receive as sacred and canonical the Books
Holy Scripture, entire with all their parts, as the Holy Synod
of Trent has enumerated them, or shall deny that they have been
divinely inspired let him be anathema.
4.

of

III.

Of Faith.

human reason is so independent that

cannot be enjoined upon it by God let him be anathema.
2. If any one shall say that divine faith is not distinguished from
natural knowledge of God and of moral truths, and therefore that
it is not
requisite for divine faith that revealed truth be
1.

If any one shall say that

faith

believed because of the authority of God,

Who

reveals it; let

him be anathema.
any one shall say that divine revelation cannot be made
by outward signs, and therefore that men ought to be
moved to faith solely by the internal experience of each, or by
If

3.

credible

private inspiration let him be anathema.

4. If any one shall say that miracles are impossible, and there
fore that all the accounts regarding them, even those contained in
;

Holy Scripture, are to be dismissed as fabulous or mythical or that

miracles can never be known with certainty, and that the divine
;

origin of Christianity cannot be proved

by them

let

him be

anathema.
.

5.

If

a free

any one shall say that the assent of Christian faith is not
but inevitably produced by the arguments of human

act,

reason or that the grace of God is necessary for that living

faith only which worketh by charity let him be anathema.
6. If any one shall say that the condition of the faithful, and of
;

those

who have not yet attained to the only true faith, is on a par,
may have just cause for doubting, with suspended

so that Catholics

which they have already received under the

Church, until they shall have obtained a
magisterium
scientific demonstration of the credibility and truth of their faith
assent, the faith

of the

let

him be anathema.

APPENDIX.

203

IV.

Of Faith and

/,

no
that
doctrine,
s
and
so
but
all
the
called,
properly
mysteries, truly
of faith can be understood and demonstrated from natural princi
let him be anathema.
ples, by properly cultivated reason
1.

If

any one

shall say that in divine revelation there are

shall say that human sciences are to be so freely

that
their
assertions, although opposed to revealed doc
treated,
2.

If

any one

trine, are to

be held as true, and cannot be condemned by the

Church

him be anathema.

let

shall assert it to be possible that sometimes, ac

the
to
progress of science, a sense is to be given to doc
cording
trines propounded by the Church different from that which tho
3.

If

any one

Church has understood and understands

Therefore
entreat,

by

let

him be anathema.

We, fulfilling the duty of our supreme pastoral office,

the mercies of Jesus Christ, and, by the authority of

God and Saviour, We command, all the faithful of

and especially those who are set over others, or aro
charged with the office of instruction, that they earnestly and
Avard off, and eliminate, these
diligently apply themselves to
errors from Holy Church, and to spread the light of pure faith.
And since it is not sufficient to shun heretical pravity, unless
those errors also be diligently avoided which more or less nearly
of observing
approach it, We admonish all men of the further duty
those constitutions and decrees by which such erroneous opinions
as are not here specifically enumerated, have been proscribed and

the same our

Christ,

condemned by

this

Holy

See.

Given at Rome in public Session solemnly held in the Vatican

Basilica in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
in the twenty-fourth
seventy, on the twenty-fourth, day of April,
year of our Pontificate.
In conformity witU the original,

JOSEPH, Bishop of S. IV/v,/,

Secretary of

tl

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

204

TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTIONS.

CONSTITYTIO DOGMATICA PBIMA DE ECCLESIA
CHRISTI.

SEBVOEVM DEI SACEO

APPEOBANTE CONCILIO AD PEEPETVAM
EEI MEMOEIAM.

PIVS EPISCOPVS SEEVVS

PASTOE aeternnset episcopus animarumnostrarum,ut salutiferum

redemptionis opus perenne redderet, sanctam aedificare Ecclesiam
decrevit, in qua veluti in domo Dei viventis fideles omnes unius
fidei et charitatis

vinculo continerentur.

clarificaretur, rogavit

pro

eis,

qui credituri

nnum essent,
modum igitur

Quapropter, priusquam

Patrem non pro Apostolis tantum, sed et

erant per verbnm eonim in ipsum, ut omnes

sicut ipse Filius et Pater

unum

sunt.

Quemad-

Apostolos, quos sibi de mundo elegerat, misit sicut

ita in Ecclesia sua Pastores et Doctores
ipse missus erat a Patre
:

usque ad consummationem saeculi esse voluit. Ut vero episcopatus ipse unus et indivisus esset, et per coliaerentes sibi invioem
sacerdotes credentium multitude universa in fidei et communionis unitate conservaretur,

beatum Petrum

caeteris

Apostolis

praeponens in ipso instituit perpetuum utriusque unitatis principium ac visibile fundamentum, super cuius fortitudinem aeternum
exstrueretur templum, et Ecclesiae coelo inferenda sublimitas in
huius fidei firmitate consurgeret.* Et quoniam portae inferi ad
evertendam, si fieri posset, Ecclesiam contra eius fundamentum
divinitus positum maiori in dies odio undique insurgunt Nos ad
;

catholici gregis custodiam, incolumitatem, augmentum, necessarium esse iudicamus, sacro approbante Concilio, doctrinam de
institutione, perpetuitate, ac natura sacri Apostolici primatus, in
quo totius Ecclesiae vis ac soliditas consistit, cunctis fidelibus

credendam

et

tenendam, secundum antiquam atque constantem

universalis Ecclesiae fidem, proponere, atque contraries, dominico

gregi adeo perniciosos errores proscribere et condemnare.
* S. Leo

M. Scrm.

iv. (al. iii.)

cap. 2, in

diem Natalis

sui.

APPENDIX.

CAPUT

205

I.

DE APOSTOLICI PRIMATUS IN BEATO PETRO INSTITUTIONE.

Docemus

itaque et declaramus, iuxta Evangelii tcstimonia,

universam Dei Ecclesiam immediate

promissum atque collatum a
Unum enim Simonem, cui iam pridem

iurisdictionis in

primatum

et directe beato Petro Apostolo

Domino

Christo

Tu

fuisse.

Cephas,* postquam ille suam edidit

confessionem inquiens Tu es Christus, Filius Dei vivi, solemnibus his verbis allocutus est Dominus Beatus es Simon Bar-

dixerat

vocaberis

quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus,

in
coelis est: et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super
qui
hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non

lona

praevalebunt adversus earn

et tibi

dabo claves regni coelorum

quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in coelis

et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in coelis. f
Atque uni Simoni Petro contulit lesus post suam resurrectionem
summi pastoris et rectoris iurisdictionem in totum suum ovile,
Huic tarn
Pasce oves meas.
Pasce agnos meos
dicens
et

sacrarum Scripturarum doctrinae, ut ab Ecclesia

catholica semper intellecta est, aperte opponuntur pravae eorum

manifestae

Domino in sua Ecclesia

formam pervertentes negant, solum Petrum prae caeteris

sententiae, qui constitutam a Christo

regiminis

omnibus simul, vero proprimatu fuisse a Christo instructum aut

qui affirmant, eundem primatum non immediate, directeque ipsi
beato Petro, sed Ecclesiae, et per hanc illi ut ipsius Ecclesiae
ministro delatum fuisse.

Apostolis, sive seorsum singulis sive

prioque iurisdictionis

Si quis igitur dixerit, beatum Petrum Apostolum non esse a

Christo Domino constitutum Apostolorum omnium principem et
vel eundem honoris
totius Ecclesiae militantis visibile caput
;

tantum, non autem verae propriaeque iurisdictionis primatnm

eodem Domino nostro lesu Christo directe et immediate acal>

cepisse

anathema

* loan.

i.

42.

sit.

t Matth.

xvi. 16-19.

206

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

CAPUT

II.

DE PEEPETUITATE PBIMATUS BEATI PETRI IN KOMANIS PONTIFICIBUS.

Quod autem in beato Apostolo Petro princeps pastorum ct

pastor magnus ovium Dominus Christus lesus in perpetuam
salatem ac perenne bonum Ecclesiae instituit, id eodem auctore
in Ecclesiae, quae fundata super petram ad finem saeculoruin
usque firma stabit, iugiter durare necesse esfc. Null! sane dubium,
imo saeculis omnibus notum est, quod sanctus beatissimusque

Petrus, Apostolorum princeps et caput, fideique columna et

Ecclesiae catholicae fundament um, a Domino nostro lesu Christo,
Salvatore humani generis ac Redemptore, claves regni accepit
:

qui ad hoc usque tempus et semper in suis successoribus, episcopis sanctae Romanae Sedis, ab ipso fundatae, eiusque consecratae sanguine, vivet et praesidet et indicium exercet.*

Undo

quicumque in hac cathedra Petro succedit, is secundum Christi

ipsius institutionem primatum Petri in universam Ecclesiam
Manet ergo dispositio veritatis, et beatus Petrus in
obtinet.
accepta fortitudine petraea perseverans suscepta Ecclesiae
gubernacula non reliquit.f Hac de causa ad Romanam Ecclesiam
propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse semper fait oinnem
convenire Ecclesiam, hoc est, eos, qui sunt undique fi deles, ut
in ea Sede, e qua venerandae communionis iura in omnes

dimanant, tamquam

membra

in capite consociata, in

unam

cor-

poris compagem coalescerent.J

Si quis ergo dixerit, non esse ex ipsiiis Christi Domini institutione seu iure divino, ut beatus Petrus in primatu super universam

Ecclesiam habeat perpetuos successores

ficem non

anathema

esse

beati

Petri in

aut

Romanum

Ponti-

eodem primatu successorem

sit.

CAPUT
DE

VI

III.

ET RATIONS PRIMATUS ROMANI PONTIFIC1S.

Quapropter apertis innixi sacrarum litterarum testimoniis, et

iiihaerentes turn Praedecessorum Nostrorum, Romanorum Pontificum, tumConciliorumgeneralium disertis, perspicuisque decretis,
* Cf.
Ephesini Concilii Act. iii.
f S. Loo M. Serm. iii. (al. ii.) cap.
|

S. Iren.

Ambros.

Adv. Haer.

ep. xi.

1.

iii.

c.

3,

3.

et

Cone. Aquilei.

a.

381. inter epp. S.

A1TKNDIX.

207

innovamus oecumenici Concilii Florcntini (K-!init mncm, qua crcdcndum ab omnibus Christ! fidclibus est, sand am Apostoliram
Sedem, et Ronmnum Pontificem in universum orbcra tcnero
primatnm,

et

ipsum Pontificem

Romanum

successorem esse

In a(i

Potri Principis Apostolorum, et vemm Christi Vicarium, toti us

que Ecclesiae caput, etomnium Christianorum patrem ac doctorem
et ipsi in beato Petro pascendi, rcgendi ac gubernamli
existere
universalem Ecclesiam a Domino nostro lesu Christo plcnam
potestatem traditam esse quemadmodum etiam in gestis oecumenicorum Conciliorum et in sacris canonibus continetur.
;

Docemus proindc et dcclaramus, Ecclesiam Romanam

ponente Domino super omnes alias ordiiiariae potestatis obtiniTO
principatum, et lianc Romani Pontificis iurisdictionis potestak in,
quae vere episcopalis est, immediatam esse erga quam cuiuscumque ritus et dignitatis pastores atque fideles, tarn seorsum singuli
quam simul omnes, officio hierarcliicae subordinationis, veraequo
obedientiae obstringuntur, non solum in rebus, quae ad fidem et
mores, sed etiam in iis, quae ad disciplinam et regimen Ecclesiao
per totum orbein diffusao pertinent ita utcustodita cum Romano
Pontifice tarn communionis, quam eiusdcm fidei professionis
unitate, Ecclesia Christi sit unus grex sub uno summo pastore.
Haec est catholicae veritatis doctrina, a qua deviaro salva fide
:

nemo potest.
Tantum autem abest, ut haec Summi

atque salute

Pontificis potestas ofliciat

episcopalis iurisdictionis potestati,
qua Episcopi, qui positi a Spiritu Sancto in Apostolorum locum
successerunt, tamquam veri pastores assignatos sibi greges, sin
guli singulos, pascunt et regunt, ut eadem a supremo et univer

ordinariae ac immediatae

sal!

illi

Pastore asseratur, roboretur ac vindicetur, secundum illud

Magni: Meus honor

honor universalis KrclrTurn

solidus vigor.
ego vere honoratus sum, cum singulis quibusque honor debitus

sancti Gregorii
siae.

Meus honor

est

fratrum

est

meorum

non negatur.*
Porro ex suprema

ilia Romani Pontificis potestate gubcrnamli

universam Ecclesiam ius eidcm esseconsequitur,in huius sui muneris

cxercitio libere

communicandi cum pastoribus

et gregibus totius

Ecclesiae, ut iidem ab ipso in via salutis doceri ac regi

p-

Quarc damnamns ac reprobamus illorum sententias, qui hanc

supremi capitis cum pastoribus et gregibus oommunicationem
licite impediri posse dicunt, aut eandem reddunt sacculari pcii-stati

obnoxiam,
*

ita ut contciulant, (|iiae

Ep. ad. Eulog. Alcxandrin.

ab Apostolica Scdc vrl cius

1.

viii. r].

xxx.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

208

auctoritate ad regimen Ecclesiae constituuntur, vim ac valorem

non habere, nisi potestatis saecularis placito coufirmentur.
Et quoniam divino Apostolici primatus iure Romanus Pontifex
universae Ecclesiae praeest, docenms etiam et declaramus, eum
esse iudicem supremum fidelium,* etin omnibus causis ad examen

ecclesiasticum spectantibus ad ipsins posse indicium recurri ;f

Sedis vero Apostolicae, cuius auctoritate maior non est, indicium

a nemine fore retractandum, neque cuiquam de eius licere iudicare iudicio.f

Quare a recto veritatis tramite aberrant, qui
affirmant, licere ab iudiciis Romanorum Pontificum ad Oecumenicnm Concilium tamquam ad auctoritatem Romano Pontifice

superiorem appellare.
Si quis itaque dixerit,

Romanum

Pontificem liabere tantum-

modo officium inspectionis vel directionis, non autem plenam et

supremam potestatem iurisdictionis in universam Ecclesiam, non
solum in rebus, quae ad fidem et mores, sed etiam in iis, quae ad
disciplinam et regimen Ecclesiae per totum orbem diffusae per
tinent aut eum habere tantum potiores partes, non vero totam
plenitudinem huius supremae potestatis aut hanc eius potesta
tem non esse ordinariam et immediatam sive in omnes ac singulas
ana
ecclesias, sive in omnes et singulos pastores et fideles
;

thema

sit.

CAPUT

IV.

DE KOMANI PONTIFICIS INFALLTBILI MAGISTERIO.

Ipso autem Apostolico primatu, quern Romanus Pontifex tam
Petri principis Apostolorum successor in universam Eccle

quam

siam obtinet, supremam quoque magisterii potestatem comprehendi,

haec Sancta Sedes semper tenuit, perpetuus Ecclesiae usus comprobat, ipsaque oecumenica Concilia, ea imprimis, in quibus
Oriens cum Occidente in fidei charitatisque unionem conveniebat,
declaraverunt.
Patres enim Concilii Constantinopolitani quarti,

maiorum

inhaerentes, hanc solemnem ediderunt proPrima salus est, rectae fidei regulam custodire.
Et
quia non potest Domini nostri lesu Christi praetermitti sententia
dicentis Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam
meam, haec, quae dicta sunt, rerum probantur effectibus, quia in

fessionem

vestigiis

* Pii PP. VI.

Breve, Super soliditate. d. 28 Nov. 1786.
t Concil. Oecum. Lugdun. II.
} Ep. Nicolai 1. ad Michaelcm Imperatorem.

209

A1TKNDIX.

Sede Apostolica immaculata cst semper catholica reservata religio,

Ab huiiis ergo fide et doctrina

speramus, ut in una communione,

et sancta celebrata doctrina.

minimo

separari

oupientes,

quam Sedes Apostolica praedicat, esse mereamur, in qua est

Integra et vera Christianae religionis soliditas.*
Approbante
vero Lugdunensi Concilio secundo, Graeci professi sunt Sanetam
:

Romanam

Ecclesiam summum et plenum primatum et principatum super universam Ecclesiam catliolicam obtineiv, quern se ab
ipso Domino in beato Petro Apostolorum principe sive vertice,

Romanus

Pontifex est successor, cum potestatis plenitudine

recepisse veraciter et humiliter recognoscit; et sicut prae caeteris
cuius

tenetur

fidei

fuerint

quaestiones, suo

veritatem defend ere,

sic et, si quae de fide subortae

debent iudicio definiri.
Florentinum
denique Concilium definivit: Pontificem Romanum, verum Christi
Vicarium, totiusque Ecclesiae caput et omnium Christianorum
patrem ac doctorem existere et ipsi in beato Petro pascendi,
regendi ac gubernandi universalem Ecclesiam a Domino nostro
Jesu Christo plenam potestatem traditam esse.
;

Huic pastorali muneri ut satisfacerent, Praedecessores Nostri

indefessam semper operam dederunt, ut salutaris Christi doctrina
apud omnes terrae populus propagaretur, parique cura vigilarunt,
ut, ubi recepta esset, sincera et pura conservaretur.
Quocirca
nunc singuli, nunc in Synodis congress ili,
longam ecclesiarum consuetudinem et antiquae regular formam

totius orbis Antistites

sequentes, ea praesertim pericula, quae in negotiis fidei emergebant,

ad hanc Sedern Apostolicam retulerunt, ut ibi potissimum resarcirentur damna fidei, ubi fides non potest sentire defectum.f

Romani autem

Pontifices,

prout temporum et rerum conditio

suadebat, nunc convocatis oecumenicis Conciliis ant explorata

Ecclesiae per orbem dispersae sententia, nunc per Synodos particulares, nunc aliis, quae divina suppeditabat provident ia,
adhibitis auxiliis, ea tenenda definiverunt, quae sacris Scripturis
et apostolicis Traditionibus consentanea Deo adiutore cognoverant.

Neque enim Petri successoribus Spiritus Sanctus promissus est,

ut eo revelante novam doctrinam patefacerent, sed uteoassisU-nto
traditam per Apostolos revelationem seu fidei depositum sum-to
custodirent et fideliter exponerent.
Quorum quidem apostolicam
doctrinam omnes venerabiles Patres amplexi et sancti Doctores

orthodoxi venerati atquo secuti sunt

plenissime scientes, hanc

* Ex formula S. Hormisdac
Hadriano
Papac, prout
Oecumenici VIII., Constautiiiopolituui IV., proposita
al>

Bcripta est.

Cf. S.

Bern. Epist. cxc.

II.

Patribus

ot

ab

iisdom

sub-

210

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

sancfci Petri Sedem ab om.ni semper errore illibatam permanere,

secundum Domini Salvatoris nostri divinam pollicitationem discipuloriim suorum principi factam Ego rogavi pro te, ut noil
:

deficiat

fides

tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres

tua, et

tuos.

Hoc

et

igitur veritatis

fidei

numquam

charisma

deficientis

Petro eiusque in hac Cathedra successoribus divinitus collatum

est, ut excelso suo munere in omnium salutem fungerentur, ut
universus Christi grex per eos ab erroris venenosa esca aversus,
coelestis doctrinae

pabulo nutriretur, ut sublata schismatis occauna conservaretur, atque suo fiindamento

innixa firma adversus inferi portas consisteret.
Atvero cum hac ipsa aetate, qua salutifera Apostolici muneris
sione

Ecclesia tota

efficacia vel

maxime

auctoritati

obtrectant

quam

praerogativam,

non pauci inveniantur, qui illius

necessarium omnino esse censemus,
unigenitus Dei Filius cum summo pastorali

requiritur,
;

coniungere dignatus est, solemniter asserere.

Itaque Nos traditioni a fidei Christianae exordio perceptao
fideliter inhaerendo, ad Dei Salvatoris nostri gloriam, religionis
Catholicae exaltationem et Christianorum populorum salutem,
officio

sacro approbante Concilio, docemus et divinitus revelatum

esse definimus
id est,

Romanum

Pontificem,

cum omnium Christianorum

dogma

cum ex Cathedra loquitur,

Pastor is et Doctoris munere

ftmgens, pro suprema sua Apostolica auctoritate doctrinam de

fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia tenendam definit, per
assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda
doctrina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit
ideoque
eiusmodi Romani Pontificis defmitiones ex sese, non autem ex
;

consensu Ecclesiae irreformabiles esse.

Si quis autem huic Nostrae definitioni contradicere, quod Deus
avertat, praesumpserit anathema sit.
;

Datum Romae,
niter celebrata

in publica Sessione in Vaticana Basilica solem

anno Tncarnationis Dominicae millcsimo octin-

gentesimo septuagesimo, die decima octava lulii.

Pontificatus Nostri anno vigesimo quinto.
Ita

est.

JOSEPHUS, Episcopm S. Ippolyti,

Secret arms Concilii Vaticani.

211

APPENDIX.

TRANSLATION.

CHURCH

FIRST DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE

OF CHRIST.

PUBLISHED IN THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE HOLT (ECUMENICAL

COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN.

PIUS BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, WITH THE

APPROVAL OF THE SACRED COUNCIL, FOR AN EVERLAST
ING REMEMBRANCE.

THE Eternal Pastor and Bishop of our souls, in order to continue

work of His Redemption, determined

for all time the life-giving

to build

up the Holy Church, wherein,

House of tho

as in the

living God, all who believe might be united in the bond of ono
faith and one charity.
Wherefore, before He entered into His
glory, He prayed unto the Father, not for the Apostles only, but
for those also who through their preaching should come to believe

one.*

are

chosen to

He

Son and the Father

whom Ho had
Himself from the world, as He Himself had been

Him, that

in

all

might be one even as

As then He

sent

the

the

Apostles

sent by the Father: so He willed that there should pver be

the world.
pastors and teachers in His Church to tho end of
And in order that the Episcopate also might be one and un
divided, and that by means of a closely united priesthood the

multitude of the faithful might be kept secure in the oneness of

faith and communion, He set Blessed Peter over the rest of tho
principle of this two-fold
in
the
foundation,
strength of which the
should arise and the Church in the firmness

Apostles, and fixed in

unity,

and

him the abiding

its visible

everlasting temple
of that faith should

And

her majestic front to Heaven, f

of
hell with daily increase of hatred are
seeing that the gates
on
their
every side to upheave the foundation
strength
gathering

laid

by God

the Church

s
:

lift

own hand, and

We, therefore,

to
so, if that mi-lit be,

and increase of the Catholic

Sacred Council, do judge

it

overthrow

for the preservation, safr-krepmg,

flock,

with the approval of tho

to be necessary to propose to tho

St. John xvii. 21.

f From Sermon iv. chap.

ii.

of St.

Loo the Groat,

A.n.

H>,

?H>L

edition of Ballerini, Venice, 1753: read in the eighth lection on the

St.

Peter s Chair at Autioi-h. 1 Mmiary

LL

p2

L p

7
:

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

212

and acceptance of all the faithful, in accordance with the

ancient and constant faith of the universal Church, the doctrine
touching the institution, perpetuity, and nature of the sacred
belief

Apostolic Primacy, in which is found the strength and solidity

of the entire Church, and at the same time to proscribe and con
demn the contrary errors, so hurtful to the flock of Christ.

CHAPTER

I.

OP THE INSTITUTION OF THE APOSTOLIC PEIMACT IN BLESSED PETEE.

We therefore teach and declare that, according to the testimony

of the Gospel, the primacy of jurisdiction over the universal
Church of God was immediately and directly promised and given
to Blessed Peter the Apostle by Christ the Lord.
For it was to

Simon alone, to whom He had already said Thou shalt be

called Cephas,* that the Lord after the confession made by him,
saying Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, ad
:

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona,

because flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my
Father who is in Heaven. And I say to thee that thou art
dressed these solemn words

Peter

and upon

this

rock I will build

of hell shall not prevail against

keys of the kingdom of Heaven.

my Church,

and the gates

And I will give to thee the

And whatsoever thou shalt bind

it.

earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou

ehalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven,
And it was
upon Simon alone that Jesus after His resurrection bestowed the

upon

j"

the
jurisdiction of Chief Pastor and Ruler over all His fold
words Feed my lambs feed my sheep. J At open variance
with this clear doctrine of Holy Scripture as it has been ever
"in

understood by the Catholic Church are the perverse opinions of

those who, while they distort the form of government established
by Christ the Lord in His Church, deny tbat Peter in his single
person, preferably to all the other Apostles, whether taken sepa
rately or together, was endowed by Christ with a true and proper

primacy of jurisdiction or of those who assert that the same

primacy was not bestowed immediately and directly upon Blessed
Peter himself, but upon the Church, and through the Church on
;

Peter as her Minister.

* St. John

i.

42.

St.

Matthew

xvi. 16-19.

APPENDIX.

213

If anyone, therefore, shall say that Blessed Peter the

Apostle

was not appointed the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible
Head of the whole Church Militant or that the same directly
and immediately received from the same Our Lord Jesus Christ
a primacy of honour only, and not of true and proper jurisdic
tion
let him be anathema.
;

CHAPTER

II.

ON THE PERPETUITY OF THE PRIMACY OF BLESSED PETER IN THH

ROMAN PONTIFFS.
That which the Prince of Shepherds and great Shepherd of the
sheep, Jesus Christ our Lord, established in the person of the
Blessed Apostle Peter to secure the perpetual welfare and lasting
good of the Church, must, by the same institution, necessarily
remain unceasingly in the Church which, being founded upon
the Rock, will stand firm to the end of the world. For none
can doubt, and it is known to all ages, that the holy and Blessed
Peter, the Prince and Chief of the Apostles, the pillar of the
faith and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys
of the kingdom from Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and
Redeemer of mankind, and lives, presides, and judges, to this
day and always, in his successors the Bishops of the Holy See of
Rome, which was founded by him, and consecrated by his blood.*
Whence, whosoever succeeds to Peter in this See, does by tho
institution of Christ Himself obtain the Primacy of Peter over
the whole Church. The disposition made by Incarnate Truth
therefore remains, and Blessed Peter, abiding through the
strength of the Rock in the power that he received, has not
abandoned the direction of the Church. f Wherefore it has afc
that is to
all times been necessary that every particular Church
should
world
the
the
faithful
agree with the
throughout
say,
;

Roman Church, on

account of the greater authority of the

that all being associated in
the unity of that See whence the rights of communion spread to

princedom which

this has received

the Acts (session third) of the Third General Council of Ephesus,

See also
s Councils, vol. iii. p. 11/il, Vi-nu-o edition of 1728.
letter of St. Peter Chrysologus to Eutyelics, in life prefixed to his works, p. 13,

From

A.D. 431,

Labb^

Venice, 1750.

f From Sermon

iii.

chap.

iii.

of St.

Leo tho Great,

vol.

i.

p. 12.

214

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

might grow together as members of one Head in the compact

unity of the body.*
If, then, any should deny that it is by the institution of Christ
the Lord, or by divine right, that Blessed Peter should have a
all,

perpetual line of successors in the Primacy over the Universal

Church, or that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of Blessed
Peter in this primacy let him be anathema.
;

CHAPTER

III.

ON THE POWER AND NATURE OF THE PRIMACY OF THE ROMAN

PONTIFF.

Wherefore, resting on plain testimonies of the Sacred Writings,

to the plain and express decrees both of our prede
cessors, the Roman Pontiffs, and of the General Councils, We
renew the definition of the (Ecumenical Council of Florence, in

and adhering

which all the faithful of Christ must believe that the

Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possesses the primacy
over the whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor
of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and is true Vicar of
Christ, and Head of the whole Church, and Father and Teacher
of all Christians and that full power was given to him in Blessed
Peter to rule, feed, and govern the Universal Church by Jesus
Christ our Lord as is also contained in the acts of the General
virtue of

Councils and in the Sacred Canons.

Hence we teach and declare that by the appointment of our
Lord the Roman Church possesses a superiority of ordinary power
over

all

Roman

other Churches, and that this power of jurisdiction of the

which is truly episcopal, is immediate to which

and dignity, both pastors and faithful, both
individually and collectively, are bound, by their duty of hierar
chical subordination and true obedience, to submit, not only in
matters which belong to faith and morals, but also in those that
appertain to the discipline and government of the Church through
out the world, so that the Church of Christ may be one flock
under one supreme pastor through the preservation of unity both
of communion and of profession of the same faith with the
all,

Pontiff,

of whatever rite

* From

St.

Irenaeus against Heresies, book iii. cap. iii. p. 175, Benedictine

1734; and Acts of Synod of Aquileia, A.D. 38], Labbe s Coun
1185, Venice, 1728.

edition, Venice,
cils, vol.

ii.

p.

APPENDIX.

215

Roman Pontiff. This is the teaching of Catholic truth, from

which no one can deviate without loss of faith and of salvation.
But so far is this power of the Supreme Pontiff from
:m v
prejudice to the ordinary and immediate power of episcopal
jurisdiction, by which Bishops, who have been set by tinGhost to succeed and hold the place of the Apostles,* feed and
bein<r

!l<>Iv

own flock, as true Pastors, that this their

episcopal authority is real 1} asserted, strengthened, and protected
by the supreme and universal Pastor; in accordance with the
govern, each his

words of St. Gregory the Great my honour is the honour of the

whole Church. My honour is the firm strength of my brethren.
I am truly honoured, when the honour due to each and all is not
:

withheld.f
Further, from this supreme power possessed by the Roman
Pontiff of governing the Universal Church, it follows that he has
the right of free communication with the Pastors of the whole
Church, and with their flocks, that these may be taught and
ruled by him in the way of salvation. Wherefore we condemn
and reject the opinions of those who hold that the communication
between this supreme Head and the Pastors and their flocks can
lawfully be impeded or who make this communication subject
to the will of the secular power, so as to maintain that whatever
is done by the Apostolic See, or by its authority, for the govern
ment of the Church, cannot have force or value unless it be con
;

firmed by the assent of the secular power. And since by the

divine right of Apostolic primacy, the Roman Pontiff is placed
over the Universal Church, we further teach and declare that ho
is the supreme judge of the faithful, J and that in all causes,
the decision of which belongs to the Church, recourse may be had

and that none may re-open the judgment of

than whose authority there is no greater,
Wherefore they
nor can any lawfully review its judgment.
err from the right course who assert that it is lawful to appeal
from the judgments of the Roman Pontiffs to an (Ecumenical
to his tribunal,

the Apostolic

See,

||

From

chap.

iv.

of xxiii. session of Council of Trent,

Of the

Ecclesiastical

Hierarchy.

f From the

letters of St.

Gregory the Great, book

Benedictine edition, Paris, 1705.

Pius VI. Super
J From a Brief of

From
Labbe

s Councils, vol. xiv. p.

From

30, vol.

November

ii.

p.

919,

28, 1786.

the Acts of the Fourteenth General Council of Lyons, A.D. 1274.

Letter

viii.

Labbe s Councils,

vol.

||

soliditate, of

viii.

512.

Pope Nicholas I., A.D. 858,

ix. pp. 1339 and 1570.

of

to the

Emperor Michael,

iu

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

216

Council, as to an authority higher than that of the

Roman

Pontiff.

If then any shall say that the Roman Pontiff has the office
merely of inspection or direction, and not full and supreme
power of jurisdiction over the Universal Church, not only in
things which belong to faith and morals, but also in those which
relate to the discipline and government of the Church spread
throughout the world or assert that he possesses merely the
principal part, and not all the fullness of this supreme power or
that this power which he enjoys is not ordinary and immediate,
both over each and all the Churches and over each and all the
Pastors and the faithful let him be anathema.
;

CHAPTER

IV.

CONCERNING THE INFALLIBLE TEACHING OF THE EOMAN PONTIFF.

Moreover, that the supreme power of teaching is also included in

the Apostolic primacy, which the Roman Pontiff, as the successor
of Peter, Prince of the Apostles, possesses over the whole Church,

Holy See has always held, the perpetual practice of the

Church confirms, and (Ecumenical Councils also have declared,
especially those in which the East with the West met in the
For the Fathers of the Fourth
union of faith and charity.
this

Council of Constantinople, following in the footsteps of their

predecessors, gave forth this solemn profession The first con
dition of salvation is to keep the rule of the true faith.
And
because the sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be passed
:

by,

who

said

Thou

art Peter,

and upon

this

Rock

I will build

Church,* these things which have been said are approved

because in the Apostolic See the Catholic Religion and
events,
by
her holy and well-known doctrine has always been kept undefiled.
Desiring, therefore, not to be in the least degree separated from

my

the faith and doctrine of that See, we hope that we may deserve
to be in the one communion, which the Apostolic See preaches,

which is the entire and true solidity of the Christian religion.^

And, with the approval of the Second Council of Lyons,

in

St.

Matthew

xvi. 18.

t From the Formula of

St. Hormisdas, subscribed by the Fathers of the

Eighth General Council (Fourth of Constantinople), A.D. 869. Labbe s Coun
cils, vol. v.

pp. 583, 622,

217

APPENDIX.

the Greeks professed that the Holy Roman Church enjoys

supreme and full Primacy and preeminence over the whole
Catholic Church, which it truly and humbly acknowledge! that
it has received with the
plenitude of power from our Lord Him

person of blessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles,

self in the

whose successor the Roman Pontiff is and as the Apostolic See

is bound before all others to defend the truth of faith, so also if
any questions regarding faith shall arise, they must be defined by
;

Finally, the Council of Florence defined f

judgment.*
That the Roman Pontiff is the true Vicar of Christ, and the
Head of the whole Church, and the Father and Teacher of all
Christians and that to him in blessed Peter was delivered by
our Lord Jesus Christ the full power of feeding, ruling, and
governing the whole Church. |
To satisfy this pastoral duty our predecessors ever made un
its

wearied

care watched that

it

salutary doctrine of Christ might be

the nations of the earth, and with equal

efforts that the

propagated among

all
it

had been received.

might be preserved genuine and pure where

Therefore the Bishops of the whole world,

now singly, now assembled in

synod, following the long-established

rule,|| sent

and the form of the ancient

custom of Churches,

word

to this Apostolic See of those dangers especially

sprang up in matters of faith, that there the losses of faith

which
might

be most effectually repaired where the faith cannot fail.^f And

the Roman Pontiffs, according to the exigencies of times and
circumstances, sometimes assembling CEcumenical Councils, or
the
asking for the mind of the Church scattered throughout
world, sometimes by particular Synods, sometimes using other
which Divine Providence supplied, defined as to be held

helps
those things which with the help of God they had recognised as
conformable with the Sacred Scriptures and Apostolic Tradi
For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of
tions.

Peter that by His revelation they might

*

From

1274.

make known new

the Acts of the Fourteenth General Council (Second of Lyons), A.D.

Labbe,

vol. xiv. p.

f>l

J.

t From the Acts of the Seventeenth General Council of Florence,

Labb,
t

Johnxxi. 15-17.

From a

letter of St. Cyril of Al.-xaiulriu to

vol. vi. part

||

ii.

From a

Labb6,
^[

A.D. 1438.

vol. xviii. p. 526.

vol.

From

Rescript of St. Innocent

iii.

St. Celestine I. A.P. 4

J:?,

I.

to the Council of Milevis, A.D. 402.

p. 47.

a letter of

vol. iv. p. 433,

Pope

1638.
p. 36, Paris edition of

St.

IVrnanl

to

Paris edition of 171-

Pope Innocent

II. A.D. 1130.

Epist. 191,

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

218

by His assistance they might inviolably keep

expound the revelation or deposit of faith delivered

doctrine, but that

and

faithfully

And indeed all the venerable Fathers

through the Apostles.
have embraced and the holy orthodox Doctors have venerated
and followed their Apostolic doctrine knowing most fully that
this See of holy Peter remains ever free from all blemish of error
according to the divine promise of the Lord our Saviour made to
the Prince of His disciples I have prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not, and, when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren.*
This gift, then, of truth and never-failing faith was conferred
by Heaven upon Peter and his successors in this Chair, that they
;

might perform their high office for the salvation of all that the
whole flock of Christ kept away by them from the poisonous food
;

of error, might be nourished with the pasture of heavenly doc

that the occasion of schism being removed the whole

trine

Church might be kept

one, and, resting

on

its

foundation, might

stand firm against the gates of hell.

But since in this very age, in which the salutary efficacy of the
Apostolic office is most of all required, not a few are found who
its authority, we judge it altogether necessary
the prerogative which the only-begotten Son
assert
to
solemnly
of God vouchsafed to join with the supreme pastoral office.

take away from

Therefore faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the

beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God Our
Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholic Religion, and the salvation
teach and
of Christian people, the Sacred Council approving,
define that it is a dogma divinely revealed that the Roman

We

Pontiff,

when he speaks

ex cathedra, that

of the office of Pastor and Doctor of

is,

when

in discharge

Christians, by virtue of
his supreme Apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding
faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church, by the divine

assistance promised to

him in

all

blessed Peter,

is

possessed of that

that His
infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed
Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith
or morals and that therefore such definitions of the Roman
Pontiff are irreformable f of themselves, and not from the consent
:

of the Church.

Luke

St.

Labbe,

xxii. 32.

See also the Acts of the Sixth General Council, A.D. 680.

vol. vii. p. 659.

words used by Pope Nicholas I. note 13, and in the Synod of

it is allowed to none to revise its judgment, and to
judgment upon what it has judged. Labb6, vol. xii. p. 679.

i.e.

in the

Quedlinburg, A.D. 1085,

sit in

APPENDIX.
But if anyone which may God avert presume
Our definition let him be anathema.

this

Given

219
to contradict

at

Rome

in Public Session solemnly held in the Vatican

Our Lord One thousand eight hundred

and seventy, on the eighteenth day of July, in the twenty-fifth
Basilica in the year of

year of our Pontificate.

In conformity with

the original.

JOSEPH, Bishop of S. Pollen,

Secretary to the Vatican Council.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

220

V.

RULES LAID DOWN BY THEOLOGIANS FOE

DOCTRINAL DEFINITIONS.

What are the characters and marks whereby we

Question.
may know whether a proposition can be submitted to the authori
judgment of the Catholic magisterium, or in other words,
whether a proposition be definable as de fide ?
Answer. In the answer distinction was made between that
which was sufficient in order to come to a definition, and that
which was not necessary for that purpose.
With respect to that which was not necessary, the following
four points were established unanimously.
1. It is not necessary, that antecedently there should not have
been a variety of opinions in the Catholic Church, and that all
should have agreed in that which is to be defined.
This is manifest from the ancient controversy long ago decided
on re-baptism, although many bishops held the opposite opinion.
This is also confirmed by the practice of the church, which many
tative

times has permitted the profession of opposite opinions, provided

there has been a willingness to submit to any decision that might

be made. This practice supposes that points may be defined,

about which Catholics have been permitted to think and dispute
freely.
2. It is

not necessary that no writers of authority should be

an opinion contrary to that which is to be defined. This
is manifest from the history of the dogmas successively defined
and in this place it will be sufficient to observe, that the Council
of Trent (sess. vi. can. 23) did not hesitate to affirm as the faith
of the church, that the most Holy Virgin Mother of God had
never committed any even venial sin, although it is certain that
grave doctors and Fathers wrote otherwise.
cited for

3.

It is not necessary to cite texts, either implicit or explicit,

from Holy Scripture, since

it

is

manifest that the extent of

APPENDIX.
revelation

is

greater than that of

221

Holy

Scripture.

Thus,

it

has

been defined, for example, that even infants

may and ought to be
baptized, that Christ our Lord is wholly contained and received
under one species of the most Holy Eucharist, that the
Holy
Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one
prin
although theologians do not produce texts either implicit
or explicit from Scripture in which such
dogmas are taught.
4. Lastly, it is not
necessary to have a series of fathers and
ciple,

testimonies reaching to apostolic times, in order to

prove thai
such a proposition belongs to apostolic tradition. With respect
to this, it was observed, that the assertion of ruch a
nec<

rests

upon

false hypotheses,

and

is

refuted by the most palpable

facts.

The false hypotheses are,

That all doctrine preached from the beginning has been

a.

committed to writing by the fathers.

b. That
all the monuments of
antiquity have come down
to us.
c. That the entire
object of faith has always been distinctly
conceived and formally expressed
d. That subsequent tradition
may differ from the preceding
e. That it cannot be
legitimately concluded from the fact that
;

a doctrine

is

held in any age, that the same doctrine was never

denied by the majority, and that

by the greater number.

The

it

was

at least implicitly bel:

such a necessity are manifold, but it

mention the definition of Ephesus, of Chalcedon, of the
Lateran Synod under Martin I. or the dogmatical letters of St.
Leo and St. Agatho, in which appeal is made to the faith of the
fathers and to tradition, and where there appears to be no anxiety
to produce testimonies of the first three centuries, on the contrary,
authors are quoted, who in those times were of recent date.
Having thus laid down by common agreement that which was
not necessary, they passed on to discuss what was sufficient in
order that an opinion should be defined as an article of faith.
The five following characters were proposed and decided upon
facts that refute

suffices to

as being sufficient.
I.
certain number of grave testimonies containing the con
troverted proposition.

This after thorough discussion was unanimously acknowledged

and it was said that to deny it would

to be a sufficient character,

be going against the councils, the dogmatic bulls of pontitlThus with a certain number
the economy of the church itself.

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

222

of such testimonies referred to in the acts of the councils, it is

how the fathers proceeded to a definition at Ephesus

easily seen

against Nestorius, in the sixth council against the Monothelites,

and in the seventh against the Iconoclasts.
II. One or more revealed principles in which is contained the
proposition in question.
Upon this also the consultors were unanimous, and they more

over said that the production of such principles would be equi

valent to a virtual and immediate revelation. Thus, from the
revealed principle that Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect
man, it follows as revealed that Jesus Christ has two wills also,
:

in the revealed principle that God is One and the Divine Persons
three, and that all in God is one except where the relation of
origin intervenes, it is also revealed that the Holy Ghost can

only proceed from the Father and the Son as from one principle
of spiration.
III.

The intimate nexus of the dogmas,

or,

what

is

the same

thing, that a proposition must be believed to be revealed, from the

denial of which the falsity of one or more articles of faith would

necessarily and immediately follow.

The consultors were unanimous

on this point, agreeing that

such a character was equivalent to a virtual and immediate re
velation.
Thus, when it is established that some sins are mortal,
and that not every sin is incompatible with a state of grace, it
necessarily follows that the distinction between mortal and venial
So also from the fact that the Sac
sins is a revealed doctrine.

raments produce their effect ex opere operato and that Jesus

Christ is the primary minister of them, it follows as virtually and
immediately revealed, that the effect of the Sacraments does not
depend upon the virtue or malico of the secondary minister.
IV. The concordant testimony of the existing episcopate.
The consultors with regard to this were again unanimous, and
it was said that to deny the sufficiency of this character was to
contradict the promises of our Lord, and the constant practice
of the fathers in proving the articles of faith.
Thus, Irenasus,
Tertullian, Augustine, and Fulgentius, in order to put an end to
controversies, considered

it sufficient

to ascertain the faith of the

Sees and more especially of the chief ones.

V. The practice of the Church.

That

would afford sufficient evidence to proceed to a

was likewise unanimously affirmed by the consultors.

this point

definition,

APPENDIX.

223

VI.

THE CASE OF HONORIUS.

I HAVE intentionally refrained from
treating the historical evi
dence in the case of Honorius in the text of the fourth

chapter,

for the following reasons

1. Because it is sufficient to the
:

affirm that the case of

Honorius

argument of that chapter to

doubtful.
It is in vain for
the antagonists of Papal Infallibility to
quote this case as if it
were certain. Centuries of controversy have established, beyond
contradiction, that the accusation against Honorius cannot bo

raised

And

by

his

most ardent antagonists

this probability, at its

defence.

is

to

maximum,

more than a
is

less

probability.

than that of his

I therefore affirm the question to be doubtful

which
sufficient against the private judgment of his
;

is

abundantly

accusers.

The cumulus

of evidence for the Infallibility of tho

Roman

Pontiff outweighs all such doubts.

2. Because the argument of the fourth
chapter necessarily ex
cludes all discussion of detailed facts. Had they been introduced
into the text, our antagonists would have evaded the point,
confused the argument by a discussion of details. I will, m
theless,

MI id

here affirm, that the following points in the case of

Honorius can be abundantly proved from documents

(1) That Honorius denned no doctrine whatsoever.
(2) That
he forbade the making of any new definition.
(3) That his
fault was precisely in this omission of Apostolic authority, for
which he was justly censured. (4) That his two epistles are
entirely orthodox though, in the use of InniriinLT* he wrote as
was usual before the condemnation of Monothelitism, and not as
it became
necessary afterwards. It is an anachronism and nn
injustice to censure his language, used before that condemnation,
as it might be just to censure it after the condemnation had been
made.
:

To this I add the following excellent passage from the recent

Pastoral of the Archbishop of Baltimore
:

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

224:

The case of Honorius forms no exception; for 1st, Honorius

expressly says in his letters to Sergius, that he meant to define
nothing, and he was condemned precisely because he temporized
and would not define 2nd, because in his letters he clearly
taught the sound Catholic doctrine, only enjoining silence as to
the use of certain terms, then new in the Church arid 3rd,
;

because his letters were not addressed to a general council of the

whole Church, and were rather private, than public and official
at least they were not published, even in the East, until several
;

The first letter was written to Sergius in 633, and

eight years afterwards, in 641, the Emperor Heraclius, in excul
pating himself to Pope John II., Honorius successor, for having
years later.

published his edict

the Ecthesis

which enjoined

silence

on the

disputants, similar to that imposed by Honorius, lays the whole

responsibility thereof on Sergius, who, he declares, composed the
edict.
Evidently, Sergius had not communicated the letter to

the Emperor, probably because its contents, if published, would

not have suited his wily purpose of secretly introducing, under

another form, the Eutychian heresy. Thus falls to the ground

the only case upon which the opponents of Infallibility have
continued to insist. This entire subject has been exhausted by

many
On
abili

recent learned writers.

capp. 19, 20
ii.

De irreformin definiendis fidei controversiis judicio, torn. i. p. i.

Jeremias a Benetti s Privileg. 8. Petri vindic. p.

the question of Vigilius, see Cardinal Orsi

Rom. Pont,
;

torn. v. art. 12, p. 397,

ed.

Roman. 1759;

De

Ballerini

vi et

ratione primatus, cap. 15; Lud. Thomassin, Disp. xix. in Condi.

Petr. De Marca Diss. de Vigilio ; Yincenzi in S. Gregorii Nyss. et

Origenis scripta cum App. de actis Synodi V. torn. iv. and v.

On the question of Honorius, amongst older writers los.
:

Biner

S. J. in

eruditionis, p.

iii.

andxi.

iv.

Orsi, op. cit.

Bellarm. De Rom. Pontif. liv. iv.; Thomassin, op.

xx. Natalis Alex. Hist. Eccles. Saec. VII. diss. 2. Zaccaria

capp. 21-28
cit. diss.

Apparatu
;

Antifebrom. p. ii. lib. iv. Amongst later authors, see Civilta

cattolica, ann. 1864, ser. v. vol. xi. and xii.
Schneeman, Studio,
;

in qu. de Honorio
los.
causa in Concilio VI.
;

Pennachi de Honorii

I.

Romani

Pontificis

A1TKNDIX.

22f)

VII.

PASTORAL OF THE GERMAN BISHOPS

ASSEMBLED AT FULDA.
THE undersigned Bishops

to the reverend clergy and faithful,

and peace in the Lord.
Having returned to our respective Dioceses from the Holy
(Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, we, in union with other
German Bishops who were prevented attending the Council, con

greeting,

it our
duty as your chief pastors to address to you, dearly
beloved in the Lord, a few words of instruction and exhortation.
The occasion and reason for our doing so, and that unitedly and
solemnly, is found in the fact that many erroneous ideas have for
several months been disseminated, and still, without
any authority,

sider

are striving in

many

places io Lruin acceptance.

In order, then, to maintain the divine truths which Christ our

Lord hath taught mankind in their entire purity, and to secure

them from all change and distortion, Ho has established in

His Holy Church the office of infallible teaching, and has promised
and also given to it His protection and the assist since of the Holy
Ghost for all times. On this office of infallible teaching of the
Church reposes entire the security and joy of our aith.
i

As

often as in the course of time misunderstandings of, or

oppositions to, individual points of teaching have sprung up, this

of infallible teaching has in various ways, at one time in

greater Councils, at another without them, both exposed ami
foiled the errors, and declared and established the (ruth.
This

office

been done in the most solemn manner by the

has

(Jeneral

Councils, that is, by those great assemblies in which the J lead and
the members of the one teaching body of the Church combined
for the deciding of the

doubts and controversies in matters of

which then prevailed.

These decisions, according

faith

to the

unanimous and undoubted

tradition of the Church, have always been held to lie

from error by a supernatural and divine Mtifeteafle,

piv-.

Henee the

226

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

have submitted themselves to these decisions

as to the infallible expressions of the Holy Ghost Himself, and,
with undoubting faith, have held them to be true. They have

faithful in all times

done
were

might suppose, because the Bishops

mature and extended experience, not because
many of them were versed in all sciences, not because they had
come together from all parts of the world, and therefore, in a
so,

not, as persons

men

of

certain sense, brought together the human knowledge of the

whole earth not, lastly, because through a long life they had
studied and taught the Word of God, and hence were trust
worthy witnesses of its meaning. All this indeed gives to their
declarations a very high, indeed perhaps the highest possible,
Still this is not a
degree of mere human trustworthiness.
sufficient ground on which to rest supernatural faith.
For this
act, in its last resort, rests not on the testimony of men, even
when they are most worthy of confidence, and even if the whole
human race by the voice of its best and most noble representa
tives should bear witness to it
but such an act always rests
wholly and alone on the truth of God Himself. When therefore
the children of the Church receive with faith the decrees of a
General Council, they do it with a conviction that God the
Eternal and alone of Himself Infallible Truth co-operates with
it in a supernatural manner, and preserves it from error.
Such a General Council is the present one which our Holy
Father Pius IX., as you know, convoked in Rome, and to which
the successors of the Apostles, in larger numbers than ever before,
have hastened from all parts of the world, that they might, with
the successor of St. Peter and under his guidance, consult for the
present urgent interests of the Church. After many and serious
;

debates the Holy Father, in virtue of his Apostolical authority as

teacher, on April 24 and July 18 of this year, with the consent of
the holy Council, solemnly published several decrees relating to
the true doctrine about faith, the Church, and its supreme
head.
*

By

this means, then, the infallible teaching authority of the

Church has decreed, and the Holy Ghost by the vicar of Christ
and the Episcopate united with him has spoken and therefore
to receive their
all, whether Bishops, priests or laymen, are bound
decrees as divinely revealed truths, and with joyful hearts lay
hold of them and confess the same, if they wish to be and remain
true members of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
When, then, beloved in the Lord, objections are raised, and you
:

hear

it

maintained that the Vatican Council

is

no true General

APPENDIX.

2-27

Council, and that its decisions are of no authority, do not allim

yourselves to be led astray thereby, so as to alter in your de
votion to the Church and in your belief and acceptance of its
f

for such objections are wholly unfounded.

in the unity of faith and love with the Pope,
have the assembled Bishops, both those who in Christian lands

decrees
*

Bound together

administer well-established sees, and also those

who

are called

extend the Kingdom of God among the heathen in apostolic

poverty, Bishops, whether they tend a larger or a smaller flock
these, as legitimate successors of the Apostles, have all with tin;
same right taken part in the Council and maturely considered
everything.

As long

as the discussions lasted, the Bishops, as their con

and as became their office, expressed then-

sciences demanded,

views plainly and openly, and with all necessary freedom and, as
to be expected in an assembly of nearly 800 Fathers, many
differences of opinion were manifested.
These differences of
opinion can in no way affect the authority of the decrees them
should even we not take into consideration the fact, that
selves
almost the entire body of the Bishops who, at the time of the
Public Session, still maintained an opposite opinion, abstained in
;

was only

the said Session from expressing dissent.

1
However, to maintain that either the one or the other of the
doctrines decided

by the General Council are not contained

in

the

those two sources

Scripture, and in tradition of the Church
the
of the Catholic faith or that they are even in opposition
with
the
irreconcilable
a
first
is
same,
primary principles
step,

Holy

t<>

of the Catholic Church, which leads to separation from her com

munion. Wherefore, we hereby declare that the present Vatican
is a legitimate General Council
and, moreover, that this
Council as little as any other General Council, has propounded in
formed a new doctrine at variance with the ancient teaching;

Council

it has simply developed and thrown light upon the old

and faithfully-preserved truth contained in the deposit of faith,
and in opposition to the errors of the day has proposed it

but that

that
expressly to the belief of all the faithful; and, lastly,
these decrees have received a binding power on all the faithful
the fact of their final publication by the Supremo Head of

by

the Church in solemn form at the Public Session.

While, then, we ourselves with full and unhcMtat ing faith
adhere to the decrees of the Council, we exhort you as your

and beseech you in love

divinely appointed pastors and tvachers,
to your souls, to give no ear to any teaching contrary to this.

228

THE VATICAN COUNCIL.

whencesoever

may

it

come.

Cling

all

the

more nnwaveringly,
and faith of the

in union so with your Bishops, to the teaching

Catholic Church let nothing separate you from the Bock on

which Jesus Christ has founded His Church, with the promise
In view of
that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against
the excitement which exists in consequence of un-ecclesiastical
manifestations and movements against the decrees of the Council in
several places, and which undoubtedly forms no small trial and
danger to many souls, as well as considering the tremendous
war which has been forced upon our German Fatherland, and
which claims at the same time our intense interest and watch
fulness, and which has already plunged innumerable families
into sorrow and mourning, we cannot forbear from earnestly
;

it."

calling all the faithful to fervent prayer for the present great
necessities of Church and State.
Lift up, then, your hearts in
to our Father in Heaven, Whose wise and
Providence
loving
guides and rules everything, and whose Divine
Son has promised most surely to hear us when we ask in His
name.
Pray also with faith and trust that this sanguinary war, by a
faith

and confidence

complete triumph of the right cause, and a true and lasting peace,
may quickly end. Pray for the wants of Holy Church, especially
for all who err or hesitate in their faith, that they may have the
grace of a firm, decided, and living faith. Pray for the Supreme

Head of the Church, the holy Father, who most likely at this
very moment is more than ever before in distress and embarrass
ment. Pray with confidence in the merits and infinite love of
the Divine Heart of Jesus Christ, invoking the powerful inter
cession of the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God.

And may the blessing of God Almighty descend upon you and
remain with you all, in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
At the end of August,
*
*
*
*
*
&
*
*
*

1870.

GREGORY, Archbishop of Munich.

PAUL, Archbishop of Cologne.

PETER JOSEPH, Bishop of Limburg.

CHRISTOPHER FLORENTIUS, Bishop of Fulda.
WILLIAM EMMANUEL, Bishop of Maj^ence.
EDWARD JAMES, Bishop of Hildesheim.
CONRAD, Bishop of Paderborn.
JOHN, Bishop of Kulni.
IGNATIUS, Bishop of Batisbon.

APPENDIX.

221)

* PANCRATIUS, Bishop of Angsbnrg.

* FRANCIS LEOPOLD, Bishop, of Eichstadt.
* MATTHIAS, Bishop of Treves.
* PHILIP, Bishop of Ermlan.l.
* LOTHATK, Bishop of Leuka in partibus. Administrator of
the Archbishopric of Friburg.

* ADOLPHUS, Bishop of Agathonopolis

in partibus, Chaplain in

Chief of the Forces.

* BERNARD BRINKMANN,

Vicar- Capitular and Bishop Elect of

Monster.

CONRAD REITHA, Bishop Elect of Speyer.

LONDOir

M OITISWOOUK

PHIWTED

11V

AND CO., NKW-8TKEBT SQUASH

AM) KAKLlAMIiM SIKKET

GENERAL INDEX.
NoTH.-i.
ii.

iii.

refers to Pastoral Letter No. I. The Centenary

of St. refer and the General Council.
pp. 1-141.
refers to Pastoral Letter No. II. The (Ecumenical Council and the
Infallibility of the
Roman Pontiff, pp. l-isi.
refers to Pastoral Letter No. III. The Vatican Council and its
Definition, pp.
:

ABO

BOU

of the state religion,

ABOLITION
15
ii.

Acclamation, definition by,

the Council of Chalcedon,

Act of faith, iii. 46

Address of the Bishops

In

36.

iii.

Auctorem

37

iii.

i.

ii.

Augustine,

iii.

the Sovereign

Ballerini,

ii.

Thomas,

Bianchi, 0. P.,

i.

25.

Assembling of the Bishops

Assent of the Episcopate,
Assistance,

the

Divine,

in 1867,

i.

101,
4.

thirty nation*.
As-.-m107.
Answer of, t the

of,

his t. ,^-timony on the dot-trine

note
of Infallibility, i. o,
Bottalla, S. J., Father, on the Suprem.Authority of the P..JV, ii. 94, note
Bouix, De Papa et de Concilio (Ecu-

92

promise!

iii.

Of

21.

minority

Bosswt.

73

iii.

const it u-

Of Mayence,

151.

-t

iii.

iii.

7-">

iii.

of,

61

bling of the, i. 9.
Sovereign Pontiff, 30
Bonaventuiv. St.. ii.
Boniface VIII., ii. 72

32,

seien<-

iii.

Supremacy,

Raymund, De

iii.

Not deputies,

of

definition

Mil nor, 151. Of Rottemburg, 6

Bishops, in an (Ecumenical Council,
Witnesses, iii. 139.
judges, i. 78.

15

73

iii.

Primatiis,

104, 111

Pontiff,

77
Archives of the Vatican Council,

ratione

et

Monarchica Fcclcsia,

ti<>nc

Archbishop of Cologne, iii. 5, note. Of

Munich, letter of Pope Pius IX. to,

132
Arius, condemnation

26;

ii.

136
Bellarmine, Cardinal, i. 17, 21, 23, 76,
79; ii. 58; iii. 61
Benedict XIV., constitutions of, i. 15
Bernard, St., ii. 78

Bishop Hay,
of,

vi

Barrow on the Pope

78

55

56, note
Aristotle, his

De

97
Bannez, 0. P., Dominic,

Tradition, 123

Apostolorum Limina, visitation

Appeal, none from the Roman
Aquinas,

27;

iii.

Antonelli, letter of Cardinal, iii. 39

St., iii. 61
Apostles, tho, primacy of St. Peter over,
iii. 55.
Shared the plenitude of ju
risdiction with St. Peter, 52
Apostolic authority of the Roman Pon
Office of teaching, 49.
tiff, iii. 57.

ii.

BACON,
tain philosophers,

Antoninus,

St.

4,

Lord, his description of cer

iii. 135
Balaam, gift of prophecy in, iii. 85

Pontiff,

Anselm, Bishop of Havclburg,

Anselm, St., ii. 77

iii.

iii.

14, 16,

i.

Augustinus of Jansenius, iii. 67, 73, 89

Authority, doctrinal, of the Roman Pon
tiff, iii. 56.
Divine, of the Church, 43
Avignon, the Sovereign Pontiff at, i. 15

June 26, 1867, i. 28, 109

Alphonsus Liguori, St., iii. 63
Ambrose, St., i. 14; iii. 79
Animosity of newspapers against tho
Council,

76, 88

The true doc

58, 71, 80, 106.
trines of grace in, 71, 72

Alexander VIII., Pope, his Constitution

Inter multiplies of January 1691,
i. 45
Allegations of Protestant critics, i. 35
of

Holy Ghost,

Hull of Pius VI..

tin-

i,

iii.

St.,

the

iii.

81

Allocution

Fi>J

41, 49;

Augsburg Gazette,
to the Pope,

30, 39, 120

July 1, 1867,
Agatho, Pope St., iii. 84, 125
Aguirre, Cardinal, i. 52, 53
i.

Alcuin,

Of

Peter, iii. 57.

106, 113

to

nienico,

ii.

98, 105

r_>,

GENERAL INDEX.

232
BRA

DEC

Bradwardine, Archbishop of
bury, ii. 73
Bramhall s Schism Guarded,
Brancatus, i. 25, 26, 71
Brief Paternce

Canter

Office of, 50.

Teacher of all
Teacher of truth, 47.
nations, 66.
Tradition of, 124.
Unity of faith

131.

136

iii.

of Innocent

Charitati

45

XI., April 1682,

Bull Auctorem Fidei of Pius VI., i. 41,
49; iii. 76, 88. Inter cunctos of
i.

Of

Martin

V., 76.
Council, ii. 7

indiction of the

1619,

98

Caiaphas,
iii. 85

of

gift

prophecy

in,

Campian, S. J., F. Edmund, his answer

to Whitaker, iii. 144
P., Melchior, iii. 63, 122
II Trionfo della
Cappellari, Mauro,
Santa Sede, iii. 101
Cardinal Aguirre, i. 52, 53. Antonelli,
iii. 39, 173.
Bellarmme, i. 17, 21,
23, 76, 79; ii. 58; iii. 61.
Gerdil,

Canus, 0.

iii.

72.

Orsi,

74

26, 58, 68, 71,

i.

224.

Pacca, iii. 30. Pallavicini,

104.
24.
Sfondrati,
Pole, 142.
Turrecremata or TorToletus, 94.
quemada, 70
Cardinal Presidents of the Council,
iii.

34
Caroline Books, ii. 82
Cathedra Petri, i. 24
iii.

33,

58
Catholicism, a blunder, i. 39
Ce qui se passe au Concile, a libel, iii. 33
Censures, the greater and less, iii. 67,
74, 75, 89
;

Centenary of 1867,

iii.

its

And

4.

i.

cance,

moral

the

signifi

Council

of

37

ii.

Cerboni, 0. P.,

De Jure

et

dis

Legum

110

ci plina, iii.

Chapters, the three, condemnation of,

iii. 67, 73
Character of the Vatican Council, iii. 42
Charisma of the supreme jurisdiction of
the Roman Pontiff, ii. 61 iii. 56, 89,
97
Charter of the Church, iii. 69
;

Church, authority
131.

The

43, 87, 122,

51.
of,
infallible motive of credibility,

Body

gation
51,

of,

51.

of,

Charter

48, 50.

of,

123.

50.

ii.

74

V., Pope,
iii.

101.
iii.

72.
VI., Pope,
VII., Pope, ii. 72.

ii.

71
error,

duty

of, iii. 77.

Of

Gallicanism, i. 45, 47/49

Consent of the Episcopate, i. 93

of,

VIII., January 1691, i. 47

Conversion of Protestants, ii. 35
Council of Nice, the First CEcumenical,
iii.
Of Ephesus, the Third
15, 73.
Oecumenical, 73. Of Chalcedon, the
Fourth ditto, ii. 87 iii. 37, 84. Of
Constantinople (second), the Fifth
;

ditto,

67,

73.

Of Constantinople

iii. 38,
(third) the Sixth ditto, ii. 84
84.
Of Nicsea (second), the Seventh
;

Of Constantinople
82.
the Eighth ditto, ii. 81
Of Lyons (second), the
Fourteenth ditto, i. 74 ii. 75 iii. 56,
Of Vienne, the Fifteenth
60, 87.
ii.

ditto,

(fourth),
iii.
56.

i. 75.
94, 95, 99 ;

ditto,

Of Constance, ii. 40, 69,

Of Florence, the
75.

iii.

Sixteenth ditto, i. 74; ii. 28, 33, 68,

Of Lateran (fifth),
iii. 56.
94, 99
the Seventeenth ditto, ii. 69.
Of
Trent, the Eighteenth ditto, i. 75, 88,
;

90; ii. 6, 35, 69; iii. 15, 41, 60, 68.

Council of the Vatican, the Nineteenth
CEcumenical, the reasons for con
voking it, i. 69. And the supreme
Pontiff, 71. Not a parliament, iii. 17,
21.
Cannot be written down, 28.

Trent, 12
Centralisation,

25

Constitution, De Fide Catholiea, iii. 43De Ecdesia, 54, 204,

53, 182, 192.
211. Inter multiplices of Alexander

94

ii.

\J

iii.

Clement

XI., Pope,
A.D.

ele

Civilisation of old Catholic countries,

Condemnation of

iii. 148
Bzovius, O. P., Abraham,

Butler, Eev. Alban,

iii.

and communion in, 55. Two

ments of the discipline of, i. 81

Character of, 42.

Alleged indiffer
ence to, 13, 17. Liberty of, 28, 29,
30, 32
Credibility, motive of, ii. 125
Creed of Pope Pius IV., i. 89
Criticism, historical, ii. 125, 126
iii. 58, 70
Cyprian, St., i. 13, 27
Cyril of Alexandria, St., iii. 80
;

iii.

Head

59.

Divine

le

divine witness, 48,

Magisterium

of,

87,

122,

EX CATHEDRA, 59
DECREES
Definition, two senses of the word,
i.

iii.

41.

Of faith, 39. History of,

Of the Roman Pontiff irreform-

87.

GENERAL INDEX.
PEP

Il>

able, 55, 57.

errors, 41.

Rectifications of partial

Value

57

of,

Deposit of faith, iii. 60, 77, 113. Cus

tody of, 67
Doctor of the Universal Church, i. 34
Doctrine of faith and morals, iii. 87
Documents of the Centenary of 1867,
i.
Of the Vatican Council of
107.
1870, iii. 164
Dollinger, Dr.,

iii.

Dominic, family of St., ii. 122

Duty of condemnation of error,
Duval of the Sorbonno, i. 63

iii.

77

Franzelin, S. J.,

Frohschammer,
Fulda, the
153

61

i.

78

i.

German

.Bishops at,

iii.

the Sovereign Pontiff at,

GAETA,
Gallicanism,
55;

41, 45, 47;

i.

ii.

120,

15

i.

63,

149
Gallicans capable of sacramental abso
lution, i. 51
Gatti, Vincent, O. P., Secretary of the
iii.

35, 140,

Congregation of the Index,

iii.

100

Gerdil, Cardinal, i. 34 iii. 72

Gerin, M., Rechorches historiques sur
;

reunion with the, ii. 29, 34

Docens, the Episcopate to
gether with Peter, i. 77; iii. 106,
113, 123, 139.
Cannot be dissolved,
106
Ecclesia Discens, the faithful, iii. 107,
113
Encyclical of 1864, i. 37, 55
England, the old and the new, ii. 9.
The Catholic Church in, 11

EAST,
Ecclesia

Episcopate, the ecclesia doccns, iii. 106.

How distinct from the Roman Pon
Without its head not infal
tiff, 43.

90
Equilibrium of mind and will, ii. 27,124
Error, duty of condemnation of, iii. 77
Evidence of the first six General Coun
lible,

cils,

Ex

i.

73.

Of revelation,

Cathedra decrees,

Meaning

of, iii.

Excommunication,

iii.

59;
57, 58, 89
iii.

i.

97
ii.

61.

Assemblee du Clerge de France do

1682,

ii.

108, etc.

Gerson, ii. 64, 70, 96, 105

Gnosticism, modern, iii. 135, 138
Godard, M. 1 Abbe, Les Principes do
89 et la Doctrine Catholique, ii. 22
Gonzalez, De InfallibUitate Romani
ii. 92
Pontificis, i. 61
;

Governments, representations of, iii. 19.

And the Council, ii. 127
Grace, order of, i. 83. True doctrines
of,

iii.

71, 72.

Gravina, Dominic,
quoted, iii. 99

57.
49.
46.

i.

iii.

46

deposit

of, 60,

The ordinary medium of,

Duty of, iii. 47. Illuminated,

Motive of, 46.

Obedience of
Rule of, 122. Stability in, 56.

And morals, 57, 60, 86. And reason,

49.
And revelation, 41, 47. And
And science, 49
unbelief, 43.
Fathers of the Church, iii. 120
Fenelon, i. 42
Ferre, Vincent, O. P., A.D. 1675, quoted,
iii.

99

Fisher,

A.D.

P.,

1620,

19
iii.

act of,

stability in faith,

0.

Gregory de Valentia, i, 59; iii. 61, 63

132
Gregory Nazianzen, St., iii. 70
Gregory XVI., Pope, iii. 101

HARDING,
from,
FAITH,
77.

Of

Cardinal, against Luther,

iii.

142
Fiume, Ignatius

de, Bishop of Polignano, Naples, iii. 103

Five points of the charter of the Church,

59
France, the Church of to-day
The Council in, ii. 17
iii.

in,

i.

53.

Thomas, D.D., quotation

143

Hay, Bishop, iii. 151

Hefele, Bishop of Rottemburg,

iii. 6
of England, ii. 52
Henrician heresy, the, ii. 81
Heresy, history of, iii. 41. Progress of,
42. And the tradition of
C hun-li,
Partial aberration from truth,
123.
41.
Condemned by the Council of

Henry VIII.

tlu>

Trent, 43

Hermes, i. 78
Hervaeus Natalia, 0.

P., A.D. 1323,

quoted, iii. 63
of
the
iii.
123.
Diffi
Church,
History,
culties of human, 119.
Judge in
matters of, 115.
Scientific,
114,

116, 125, 128.

Truths

of,

68

llnlv Ghost, assistance of the,

iii.

113.

Illuminating the intelligence, 47

Homily of Pius IX., Juno 29, 1867,
i.
116

GENERAL INDEX.

234
HON
Honorius, Pope,

ii.

MAT
85,

132;

91, 92,

117, 122, 126, 129, 223

iii.

Hormisdas, Pope, ii. 86 iii. 69

Hungary, plenary council of, in 1686,
i. 45
Huss and Wickliffe, iii. 75
;

AS, chapter

of, iii.

IB Immaculate

73

Conception,

i.

8;

ii.

43,

48, 50, 63, 65

Impeccability and Infallibility, iii. 85

Imperialism, ii. 53, 94
Incarnation, the living witness of the,
i.

Christendom resting on

47.

111.

the,

83

Indiction of the Council, ii. 7

Indifference of the world to the Council,
13, 17, 157
God, ii. 30 iii. 46
of the Church, three classes of evi
dence for, i. 21. Active and passive,
ii. 5,

17;

iii.

Infallibility of

How

Essenti

114.
ally heretical, 128, 135
Jerome, St., i. 27; ii. 72, 85;
37.

regarded,

iii.

Jewell, Anglican Protestantism

127, 136

141
of, iii.

Judge, supreme, over all the Church,

iii. 55
Judgments, dogmatic, iii. 88
Jurisdiction, primacy of, in Peter and
his successors, iii. 55, 56
Justin Martyr, St., iii. 116

TT AUNITZ,

JV

spirit of,

101

i.

Kellison, Matthew, D.D., Survey

of the New Religion, by, iii. 145
Ketteler, Bishop Von, of Mayence, iii 4
Keys of jurisdiction and knowledge,
i. 24; ii. 94
Knowledge, two orders of, iii. 48. In
strument of, 49.
Key of, i. 24;

ii.

The supreme office of teaching

and ruling, 26. The ordinary medium

94

23.

In matters op
In
posed to revelation, iii. 66.
matters not revealed, 87. Extension
In the custody of the
of the, 78.
Deposit of Faith, 67. In the minor
Limits of the, 78.
censures, 74.
Object of, 66
of the Eoman Pontiff, i. 17, 21, 23,
Denial of, iii. 27, 35. Effi
26, 29.
cient cause of, 79.
Limitation of, 58,
of Divine Faith, 57.

86.

How

Object

of,

59.

Intrinsic,

91.

personal, 94, 96, 103, 104, 112,

How independent, 97, 107,
How absolute, 97, 113. How
separate, 98, 100, 105, 107, 113.
150.
112.

Vide under MAUISTERIUM

Innocent II., Pope, ii. 78. X., Pope,
102.
XII., i. 48
Inspiration and Infallibility, iii. 85

and

Intellect

will,

iii.

47

Interest in regard to the Council, iii. 10

Ireland, i. 83
Irreformable, meaning of, iii. 40, 57,
91

T A

derniere Heure du Concile,

TANSENISTS,
Jansenius,

Augustinus
143; iii. 67
Janus,
ii. 93

ii. 8, 57, 65; iii. 69, 73

condemnation of the
of, i. 78; ii. 102, 105,

The Pope and the Council,

;

iii.

4.

Council, 11.

ments, 136.

by,
the freedom of the
Distributed by Govern
Discovery of plot by,

On

33

Lamennais, i. 78
Latrocinium of Ephesus, iii. 40
Launoy condemned, iii. 71
Leo,

St.,

114;

the Great,

ii.

i.

14,

81, 83, 88, 157;

20, 29, 67,

iii.

81, 83

Libels on the Council, iii. 33

Liberius, Pope, iii. 118
Liberty of the Council, 28, 30, 32
Limina Apostolorum, visitation of,
Literature of the day, iii. 46
Loqui ex cathedra, iii. 57
Louis XIV. of France, ii. 52
Lupoli, i. 19

Luther,

ii.

99;

MACEDO,
64

iii.

i.

15

115, 141, 142

0. S. F., Tessera

Eomana,

i.

Magdeburg

Centuriators,

iii.

137

Magisterium, or teaching authority, of

the Church, ii. 61, 73; iii. 87, 122,
131.

Of the Roman

Pontiff, 87, 89,

113
Majority, the, in the Council,
28, 30

iii.

J-J

iii.

12, 18,

Marca, Peter de, i. 53

Marchese, Dominic, 0. P., A.D. 1680,
Bishop of Pozzuoli, iii. 98, 100
Maret, Mgr., Bishop of Sura, Du Concile
General, ii. 139
Martin V., Pope, his Bull Inter cunctos,
iii. 76
Materialism, iii. 50

GENERAL INDEX.

235

MAT

REV

Matrimony, sacrament of,

Mayence, Bishop of, iii. 4
Minority in the Council,
30

129

ii.

iii.

12, 18, 28,

77

i.

147,

ii.

Pontiff,

148

Roman

of the

Morals, faith and,

More, Sir
iii.

iii.

Thomas,

Pontiff,

51

iii.

57, 60, 80

Luther,

against

141

Moses, the chair of, iii. 58

Motive of faith, iii. 46
Munich, Theological Faculty of, ii. 131
Murray, Dr., of Maynooth, iii. 75
Muzzarelli, quoted,

iii.

72;

i.

i.

41;

101

ii.

98, 116

NATIONALISM,
note
Nations, thirty, represented at the Vati
can Council, iii. 25
Naturalism,

44

iii.

Nestorius, condemnation of, iii. 73

Newspapers at the time of the Centen
ary, i. 10.
Animosity of, to the
Council, iii. 3

Nicolas

I.,

iii.

Pope,

69

Nine phases of attack against the

nition,

iii.

defi-

38

Nonconformists,

i.

97

civil,

i.

Du

76, 88.

iii.

VII., imprisonment of,

IX., calumnies against, I

30.

Monitum

II.,

Philipps,

Misunderstandings, popular,

Monarchy of the .Roman

Pope, iii. 81
Droit Ecclesiastiquo, i. 51
Pistoia, Synod of, iii. 88
Pius IV., Pope, creed of, i. 89. VI.,
his Bull Auctorem FiJei, i. 41, 49;

Pelagius

Of

97.

faith,

156.
Monitum of, 51. His letter to
the Archbishop of Munich, 77

Plowden, Rev. Charles,

Poland, i. 83
Pole, Cardinal, iii. 142
Pombal, i. 101

Roman, how

Pontiff, the

149

iii.

distinct

from

the Episcopate, iii. 113. Magisterii ni of, ii. 73; iii. 87, 89, 113.
Irreformable definitions of, 55, 67.

Supreme jurisdiction, 55
Praxis of the Church, ii. 64
Prerogatives of St. Petor, i. 1 7
Primacy, a privilege attaching to the
person of Peter and his successors,
iii. 103.
Charisma of the, 141. Of
jurisdiction, 55.
of, 55, 56

Principles of 1789,
Privilege,

meaning

Three consequences
ii.

17, 19,

of, iii.

23

103

Privilegium Petri, ii. 141

Prosper, St., i. 20
Protestantism, Anglican, iii. 127. Lu
theran, 127
Protestants, conversion of, ii. 35
Public opinion hostile to the Catholic
religion,

iii.

25

OBEDIENCE,
46
iii.

Object of the Infallibility of the Church,

iii. 66.
Of the Roman Pontiff, 59
Ockam, ii. 64; iii. 132
(Ecumenicity of the Council, ii. 7
Opinion, public, hostile to the Catholic
religion, iii. 25, 30 note
His use of the
Optatus, St., i. 14.
phrase Cathedra Petri, iii. 58
Order of faith, iii. 49. Of nature, 45,
Of truth, i. 67; iii. 45. The
49.
supernatural in, ii. 10
Oriental Bishops, ii. 8
Orsi, Cardinal,

Osma, Peter

i.

de,

26, 58, 68, 71, 74

ii.

66, 91, 99

Cardinal, iii. 30 note

Cardinal, iii. 24
Paolo Sarpi, iii. 3

PACCA,
Pallavicini,

Patriarchs, i. 94
Paul, St., at Corinth,
ii.

63;

4,

iii.

ii.

144

71, 72

the Encyclical,

i.

iii.

119

iii. 4:?. -H
"RATIONALISM, ii. 124
Xt Rayuaud, Theophilus, i. 66 ii. 71,
142
Reason and faith, iii. 49
Reformation, heresies of the, i. 89 ii.
6, 100; iii. 43
Regalism, ii. 53
Reunion with the East, ii. 29, 34
Revelation, the communication of super;

The Chun-h
natural truth, iii. 45.
the divine witness, teacher, and judge
123.

And

11

CUBA,

Qnocllinburg, Synod of, ii. 80

Quirinus, letters on the Council by,

of,
ii.

Peccatum Philosophicum,
Pelagianism,

34
QUANTA

Two

onli-rs

onlrr,

4:5.

Revolution,

>f

truth

Of
supernatural
M.m bound to believe, 46

faith, 41.
ii.

129

tlu>

GENERAL INDEX.

236
ROC

ZOS

Maxima

Eoccaberti, Bibliotheca
ficia, i.

25

iii.

Ponti-

63, 70, 98, 111, 142

Eoskovany, Bishop of Ncitra, De Eomano Pontifice, i. 46, 48 ii. 66, 100,

102
Eule of faith, iii. 121
;

riTEMPOEAL POWEE,

downfall of
128 iii. 156
Tertullian, i. 27; iii. 119
Teutonic element, i. 35, 37
Theodoret, i. 27
Theology how a science, ii. 126; iii.
133.
Technical language of, iii. 103
Theses Damnatae, ii. 51, 143
iii. 75
Thirty nations, Bishops of, i. 10 iii. 25
Thomas Aquinas, St., ii. 73 iii. 88, 132
Thornclike, Epilogue of, iii. 136
JL

the,

i.

38

ii.

ACE AMENTUM GEAECOEUM,

C1

ii.

10

76
Saint Alphonsus Liguori, iii. 63.
brose, i. 14; iii. 79.
Anselm, ii. 77.
Antoninus, iii. 61. Augustine, i. 14,
16, 27; ii. 26, 104; iii. 58, 71, 80,
106.
Cyprian, i. 13, 22; iii. 58, 70.
Cyril of Alexandria, iii. 80. Gelasius,
iii. 71,
81.
Gregory the Great, iii.
82.
Gregory Nazianzen, iii. 70.
Irenaeus, i. 19, 27; ii. 91 iii. 214. Je
rome, i. 27 ii. 72, 85 iii. 141. John
Chrysostom, iii. 80, 123. Leo the
iii.
Great, i. 20, 29, 71, 78 ii. 87
Thomas Aquinas,
81, 83, 211, 213.
Thomas of Can
ii. 73
iii. 88, 132.
terbury, ii. 14, 52,77. Vitalian, iii. 83
Salutation of the Bishops, i. 30, 39, 120

Am

Tradition, Apostolic,
the faith, 139
Truth, two orders

iii.

Of

109, 123.

The

45.

iii.

of,

guardian of, 47. Of human history, 63

Tudors, legislation of the, ii. 14
Turrecremata or Torquemada, Cardinal,
i. 71
iii. 70
;

Sanders, Nicolas, D.D.,

Sarpi, Paolo, iii. 3
Scavini, i. 51

Ultramontanism, i. 35, 39
80, 111, 117; iii. 13, 85

ii.

ii.

45, 67,

Unanimity of the Council, iii. 18, 26

Universal Doctor, office of, iii. 109
Universality of the mission of the
.

Church, iii. 59
United States, the,

145

iii.

TTBI PETE US IEI ECCLESU;

Unity, strivings

102

i.

for,

ii,

iii.

9,

32

16

Schrader, F. Clement, S. J., De Unitate

Eomana, i. 26, 28; ii. 142
Science, definition of, iii. 131, 132. And
And historical certainty,
faith, 49.
ii.

126

Secret, the Pontifical,

Semipelagianism,

iii.

26

ii.

71, 72

Sessions of the Council, iii. 24

Sfondrati, Cardinal, O.S.B., A.D. 1680,
iii. 104
i. 48, 59
Six points of the definition of the In
fallibility of the Eoman Pontiff, iii.
57
Soto, Peter, O.P., A.D. 1557, quoted, iii.
101
Southwell, author of Eegula viva seu
;

Analysis Fidei,

iii.

147

Stapleton, Thomas, D.D.,

States, the United, i. 102
Suarez,

i.

61, 63

iii.

of Pistoia,

burg,

ii.

iii.

19
iii.

iii.

71

iii. 132
Veracity of God, iii. 46
Vicars, Apostolic, iii. 139
Vigilius, Pope, iii. 118 note.

i.

15
Vitalian,

Pope

83

St., iii.

iii.

Vulgate, the,

68

iii. 75
Will and intellect, iii. 47. And
reason, 59
Witness of the Church, ii. 125
World, indifference of, to the Council,

"\T7ICKLIFFE,

VV

32

iii.

13, 17.

10.

Interest

Materialism

of, in

of,

the Council,

50

42. Present

iii.

88.

Vigiliua

Dormitans of Crakenthorp, 136

Visitation of the Limina Apostolorum,

62

Supernatural order, the,

in the world, 50
Sylvius, i. 62

Synod

i.
;

TTASQUEZ,

fTACCAEIA,
Of Quedlin-

80

Ll

ii.

Zosimus, Pope

Spottiswoode

&

Antifebronius,

i.

42, 45

104

Co., Printers, New-street Square,

St., letter of,

London.

ii.

85, 103

NEW WORKS

----------

PUBLISHED BY

Lyra Mystica ..............................

15

Essays ................
History of England
Lays of Ancient Rome
Miscellaneous Writings
Speeches ..............

3
1

M ACAULAY S (Lord)

Works

18
7
5

................

MACFAH^KN S Lectures on Harmony ......

MACLEOD S Elements of Political Economy

11

5
Diction*,-? of Political Economy 5
Elements of baking .......... 19
Theory and Practice of Banking 19
McCuLLOCH s Dictionary of Commerce .... 19

---

MAGUIBE

MALET

Geographical Dictionary ....

Father Mathew ........

Pius IX .......................
Overthrow of Germanic Confede

S Life of

1-i

..................................

MANNING S England and Christendom ....

MAECET on the Larynx ....................
MARSHALL S Physiology ..................
MABSHMAN S History of India ............

15
11
11

Life of Havelock ............

MAETINEAU S Endeavours after the Chris
tian Life ................................
MASSINGBEED S History of the Reformation
MATHESON S England to Delhi ............
MAUNDEE S Biographical Treasury ........
Geographical Treasury ........
Historical Treasury ..........

ration

-----MAT S

Scientific an d Literary

--

..................

Foot and Horse Shoeing

17
17
17

17
4
2
2

MONSELL

MOOEB

Journal and Correspondence

(Dr. G.)

Story

10
10
10
10
10
4
17

Comparative Anatomy and Physio

Animals
Lectures on the Invertebrata

logy of Vertebrate

PACKE S Guide to the Pyrenees

PAGET S Lectures on Surgical Pathology
PKKEIRA S Manual of Materia Medica
PERKINS S Italian and Tuscan Sculptors

PEWTNEE

. .

..

Comprehensive Specifier

Pictures in Tyrol

PIESSE

Art of Perfumery

Chemical, Natural, and Physical Magic

PONTON S Beginning
PRATT S Law of Building Societies
PREXDERGAST S Mastery of Languages
Scripture Difficulties
Present-Day Thoughts, by A. K. II.
PROCTOR S Handbook of the Stars

....

Saturn
Other Worlds than Ours

Sun

9
9

16
10
11
12
20
16
13
13
9
20
6
14
6
8
8
8
8

4
10
15
1

RAE

15
.

....

15
15
18
18
3
18

of the Soul over

15

Westward by

Rail

of a Country P:i:-sou
S See of II
-Map of Mont Blanc

,ti..ns

REICHEL
KKII

>me

Hi-nMNN on
i.ns s

13

Spiritual Songs
S Irish Melodies
Lalla Rookh

the Body

..

of Architecture
of Assaying

Works
Power

4
20
9
14

Beatitudes
His Presence not his Memory.

Poetical

Course of Practical Chemistry

Manual of Chemistry
Lectures on Carbon
Outlines of Chemistry

Hymn Writers
Manual
Manual

12

12

ODLING S Animal Chemistry

Economy

System of Logic
Hamilton s Philosophy
-Inaugural Address at St. Andrew
MILLEE S Elements of Chemistry
S

16
20

Notes on Bouks

MITCHELL

2
11

Wood En

NORTHCOTT on Lathes and Turning

NORTON S City of London

PRESCOTT

Subjection of Women ..........

on Representative Government
on Utilitarianism ............
8 Dissertations and Discussions

MILL

Testament Illustrated with

gravings from the Old Masters

NEWMAN S History of his Religious Opinions
NIGHTINGALE S Notes on Hospitals
NILSSON S Scandinavia
NOETHCOTE S Sanctuary of the Madonna .

Nothing ............

New

Liver Complaints
Language and Literature of Greece

on Horses Teeth and Stables ......

(J.) on the Mind
....................
( J. S.) on Liberty

Political

MUEE S

OWEN

MILL
MILL

MUECHISON on

. .

MENDELSSOHN S Letters ..................

MERIVALE S Fall of the Roman Republic
Romans under the Empire
MEEEIFIELD and EVEES S Navigation ....
s

Literature of Ancient

O.)

S Irish Chancellors

Kate Coventry ................

Queen s Maries ..............

BIILES on Horse

(K.

Greece

Holmby House ................

Interpreter

Lectures on the Science of Lan

17
17
17
17

7
7

guage

3
16
4
3

Workshop

O FLANAGAN

Gladiators ....................
for

Elements of Psychology
Mental Philosophy
(Max) Chips from a German

Our Children

Digby Grand ..................

General Bounce ..............

Good

of Knowledge ........

15

MOEELL

.M<>ui:u/s

MULLER S

AND CO.

20
9

Treasury

Treasury
Treasury of Natural History
Constitutional History of England.

MELVILLE

LONGMANS

Aniline Dyes
(Jlaphyra

RILEY S Memorials of London

KINKKS S Rose Amateur s Guide
ROBUINS S Cavaliy Catechism
ROGEBS S Correspondence of (Jivyson
Eclipse of Faith

Defence of Faith
ROGET S Thesaurus of English Words and
Phrases

Roma

Sotterranea

16
6
14
16
13
1

16
9
19
7
7

18

NEW WORKS
RONALDS S Fly-Fisher s Entomology
ROSE S Loyola
ROTHSCHILD S Israelites

19
34
14

ROWTON S Debater
RULE S Karaite Jews

14

RUSSELL on Government and Constitution

and Despatches

(Earl) Speeches

LONGMANS AND

PUBLISHED EY

TODD

CO.

on Parliamentary Government
BOWMAN S Anatomy and Phy

(A.)

Man

11

lerne

17

siology of

TEENCH

Realities of Irish Life

TEOLLOPE

Barchester Towers

17
17
19

Warden
s Law of Nations
TYNDALL S Diamagnetism
Twiss

SANDAES

Justinian s Institutes
SCOTT S Lectures on the Fine Arts
Albert Durer
SEEBOHM S Oxford Reformers of 149S
SEWELL S After Life
Glimpse of the "World
History of the Early Church ....
Journal of a Home Life
Passing Thoughts on Religion
S

. .

Poems

of

Bygone Years

Preparation for

Communion

....

Principles of Education

Readings for Confirmation

Readings for Lent
Examination for Confirmation

. .

Stories and Tales

Thoughts for the Age
Thoughts for the Holy Week ....
SHAKSPEAEE S Midsummer Night s Dream,

SHIPLEY

Four Cardinal Virtues

Invocation of Saints

SHOUT
Smart

S
s

Church History

WALKER S

English Dictionaries

SMITH S (SOUTIIWOOD) Philosophy of Health

(J.)
Voyage and Shipwreck
(SYDNEY) Life and Letters

Paul

Works
Wit and Wisdom
Miscellaneous

. .

Poetical Works
STANLEY S History of British Birds
STEBBING S Analysis of MILL S Logic
STEPHEN S Ecclesiastical Biography
Playground of Europe
STIBLING S Secret of Hegel

Science

UEE

4
16
7

Fairy Tale
Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and

on the Greyhound

Tudor Princesses
Queens of England

Strong and Free

Sunday Afternoons at the Parish Church cf
a Scottish University City

TAYLOE

THOMSON

EDEN

VAN DEE HOEVEN S Handbook of Zoology.

of

my

WAEBUETON S T T anting Songs

WATSON S Principles and Practice of Physic
WATTS S Dictionary of Chemistry
WEBB S Objects for Common Telescopes
WEBSTEE & WILKINSON S Greek Testament

18
10
10

S Life, by GLEIG
on Children s Diseases
on Nursing Children
WHATELY S English Synonymes

WELLINGTON

WEST

10
20
5

Logic
Rhetoric

WHITE and RIDDLE

WILCOCKS
WILLIAMS

S Latin Dictionaries
Sea Fisherman
Aristotle s Ethics

History of Wales
Climate of South of France

Y ILLI AMS on

Consumption

WILLICH S Popular Tables

WILLIS S Principles of Mechanism

WINSLOW on

WOOD S

(T.)

WOODWAED

Bible Animals

Homes without Hands

Chemical Notes
and CATEE S Encyclopaedia

YAEDLEY S Poetical Works

YONGE S History of England

9
9
10
3

IS
1
6

English-Greek Lexicons

You ATT

5
5
G
19
5
1
10
11
20
12
8

Light

J. G.)

14
4

Editions of Horace

18
19
19

on the Dog
on the Horse

Thought

17

AXD

IS

17

15

Three Weddings

SPOTTISWOODE

Discontented Cousin

Visit to

11

Conspectus

Laws

8
8

12

Two
History of India
(Jeremy) Works, edited by
THIELW ALL S History of Greece
S

Mines

19
19
4
4

4
9

Uncle PETEE

20

14
3

18
9

Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON

STONEHENGE on the Dog
S

11
2

7
5

SOUTHEY S Doctor

STEICKLA ND

11

12
14
15
3

illustrated with Silhouettes

Faraday as a Discoverer
Lectures on Electricity
Lectures on Light
Lectures on Sound
Heat a Mode of Motion;
E^snys on the Imagination in

17
17
3
17
15
18
15
15
15
15
15
17
15
15

and

CO.,

ZELLEE

Socrates

and Sceptics.
Zigzagging amongst Dolomites
Stoics, Epicureans,

HUNTERS, SETT-STREET SQUARE

3
3
16

BINDING SECT. AUG 2 3

1967

University of Toronto

Library

DO NOT
REMOVE
THE

CARD

FROM
THIS

POCKET

Acme

Library Card Pocket

LOWE-MARTIN CO.

LIMITED