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This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, In Its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR: NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY TITLE: POSTSCRIPT TO A LETTER ADDRESSED PLACE: NEW YORK DA TE : 1875 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARCFT Master Negative ft Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record Restrictions on Use: 1^ **^ J *9 . ' J ■* * " 936 Newnan, John Henry, ^o^r^ 1801-90 G454 Postscript to a letter addressed to His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, on occasion of Mr Gladstone's recent expostulation, and in answer to his Vaticanism ^together with the decrees and canons of the Vatican council N. T. 1875 D p 175-200 + 31 p ^ f / TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA REDUCTION RATIp:__^. FILM SIZE:___J5___ IMAGE PLACEMENT: Ia""® IB IID DATE FILMED:___3jii^ INITIALS ^^£y\^ FILMED BY: RESEARCH PUBlTcATIOMS. 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XcU) ¥otU : THK CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY 9 Warren Street. 1875. - + mm W«< Kbw/ •*« a*B i>»B^ »V«|» T.TT-^"^ Tfii" Vntic»sin Decrees and €ivil^lle;;iaiiee. By Archbisliop Maniiing, . $0 50 liit it.ni« - lli^liuny; or, The Catholic Churcli the Way of Salvation, proved from the Scriptures. By Rev. A. F. Hevvit 1 vol. 16mo, 1 50 A Liettei lotlieDiike of^Orfolk on tlie Oeea»iH»n of Mr. Gladstone's Recent Expostulation. By John IIenr\' Newman, D.D. Paper, 50 lliiKii lii*% Complete Cateelii«>»Hi. Translated by Fan- der, 75 The Veil Withdrawn. By Mrs. Craven. 1 vol. 8vo, . I 50 JIi. ne% E\p<9Ntnlalioii I iiravelled. By Bishop Ullathorne. Paper cover, 25 Ri;;^ht Rev. Oi!>ili<»|» Van;;lian% Reply to ^r. €il lad- stone. Paper cover, 25 The Trne and the FaKe Inrallilniity oftlie Pope<>>. A Controversial Reply to Dr. Schulte. By Dr. Joseph Fess- ler, late Bishop of St. Polten, and Secretary-General of the Vatican Council. 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' »ii^. . c i f 1 \ I -zns OF ra^ 1 whexiherj or POSTSCRIPT. »»4 February 26, 1875. — Mr. Gladstone's new Pamphlet, which has just appeared, is only partially directed against the foregoing Letter, and, when he remarks on what I have written, he does so with a gentleness which may be thought to be unfair to his argument, ivlure- over, lie commences with some pages about me per- sonally of so special a character, ti] tiiat Ciiurch which the Apostles set up at Pentecost, wh ch .ilone has '' the adoption of sons, and tiie glory, and tlie cov- enants, and the revealed Luv, and the service (.f (h)d, and the promises," and in which the AngHcan conmui- nion, whatever its merits and chnnerits, whatever the great exccUence of individuals in it, has, as <^uch, no part. Nor liave T ever f)r a moment hesitated in luy conviction since 1845, that it wa^^ my clear dut)- to join that Catholic Church, as 1 did then jruu it, which in my own conscience I felt to be divine. Persons and places, incidents and circumstances of life, w In'eh belong to my first forty-four }'ears. arv: deeply lodged in mv memory and in my affections ; moreover, 1 have had more to try and aliliei me in various ways as a Catholic than as an Anglican ; l)ut never for a moment have I wished my- self back ; never have I ceased to thank my Maker for Ills mcrc\' in enabling me to make the great change, and never lias lie let me feel forsaken by Hen, Mi'in distress, or an.}' kiiul of religious trouble. I do not know how to avoid thus meeting Mr. Gladstone's lan- guage about me: but I can set}- no more. The judg- ment must be left to a da\- to come. In the remarks that fellow I shall take the order of my sections. My first reason for writing In answer to Mr. Glad- stone's Expostulation was his charge against us, '• that Catholics, if they act consistently with their prin.ciples, i ) ;^, > K. i k ^ODN' P. iJiiopnv Postscript, r^ ^ / canrint be hiyal subjects," su/^?'. p. 8. And he withdraws this in his new Viinvphlct {Vatican is ;ii, p. 14), thougli not in ver\- gracious lan.guage. " The immediate pur- pose of my appeal," he says, '' has been attained, in so far that the lovaltv of our Roman Catholic fellow- subjects in the mass remains evidently untainted and secure." My second reason v/as to protest against ''his attack upon our moral uprightness," supr. ibid. Here again he seems to grant that, if what I sav can be received as cnuin.e Catholic teaching, I have succeeded in m}s pur- er pose. He has a doubt, however, whether it does not *' sm.ick of Protestantism, V at. p. 69. He does not give any distinct reason for this doubt ; and, though I sliall motice it in its jih'ice, i^ifr. %. 5, I think it fair to main- tain as a plain j)rinciple of controversy, that it is the accuser who has to prove his point, and that he must not contLnit himself with professing that the accused l)arties Xyaxc not su.cceeded to his satisfaction in dis- proving it. La^tlv', as sT)ringinc{ out of these two charc^es and illustratini:^ them, was his ex accelerated notion of the force, drift, and rcinQ"c of the V^atican definition of the Ci Pope's infallibility. Here again I consider he leaves m\' inter|)retatioa of it without reply, though appa- rontl}' it does not content him. Some of the objec- tiv>ri<, which lie throws out obiter to what I have said, shall now i)e noticed. Siipr. page 18. I have said, apropos of the pros- pect of a definition of tlie Pope's Infallibility in the tn7ie of Pitt and Peel, ** If [the government] wanted to 1/6 Postscript. Postscript. 177 obtain some real information about the probabilities of the future, why did they not go to headquarters? why not go to Rome ? ... It is impossible that thc> could have entered into formal negociations with the Pope, without its becoming perfectly clear that Rome could never be a party to such a pledge as England wanted, and' that no pledge from Catholics was of value to wliich Rr>:Vie was not a party." To my as- tonishment Mr. Gladstone seems to consider this a fatal admission. He cries out, ^'Statesmen of the future, recollect the words ! . . . The lesson received is this : althouc^h pledL;es were c^iveii, altliuu^h their valulil}' was formally and even passionate!}- asserted, .ilthough the subject-matter \va^ one of civil allegiance, ' no [)ledge from Catholics was of an}' value, to w hieii Rome was not a party.' " p. 39. I den\' that tlie c^uestion of infallibilit \- was one of civil allegiance, hut let that pass; as to the maiu prin- ciple involved in what 1 ha\-e said, it certain!)- (h)es perplex and confuse me that a statesman with Mr. Gladstone's experience should niaivC liL;ht ol ercdc n- tials, and should not recoo-nize the difference between party opinion and formal decisions and pledges. Wliat is the use of accredited ministers and an official inter- course between foreign powers, if the acts of mere classes or interests will do instead of them ? At a coneress, I believe the first act of plenipotentiaries is to show^ to each other their credentials. What minister of foreign affairs would go to the Ccsarowitch, who happened to be staying among us, for an explanation of an expedition of Russia in upper Asia, instead ot having recourse to the Russian ambassador? f I 1^ L The common saying, that ** Whigs are Tories out of place *' illustrates again what is in itself so axiomatic. Successive ministries of opposite views show in history, for the most part, as one consistent national govern- ment, and, when a foreign power mistakes the objec- tions which public men in opposition made to the details, circumstances, or seasonableness of certain ministerial measures, for deliberate judgments in its favour, it is likely, as in the case of the great Napo- leon, to incur eventually, when the opposition comes into office, great disappointment, and has no one to blame but itself. So again, the Czar Nicholas seems to have mistaken the de})utation of the peace party be- fore the Crimean war for the voice of the English nation. It is not a business-like way of acting to as- sume the assurances of partizans, however sincerely in:ule, for onditiuns of a contract. There is nothing indeed to show th:it tlie Ilolx' See in 1793 or 1829 had an\' notion thiat the inhdlibility of the Pope, if ever made a dogma, would be so made within such limits of time as coudd affect the bond fide character of the pros- pects which English and Irish Catholics opened upon !\Ir. Pitt or ?^Ir. Peel. The events in Europe of the forecroimj half centurv £rave no encouragement to the Papal cause. Nor did Catholics alone avow anticipa- tions which helped to encourage the latter statesman in the course, into which the political condition of Ireland, not any kindness to the Irish religion, primarily turned him. There were Anglican ecclesiastics, wdiom he de- servedlv trusted, wdio gave it to him as their settled opinion, as regards the Protestantism of England, that, if the emancipation of Catholics could but be passed in I7S Postscript the night, there would be no excitement about it next morning. Did such an influential judgment, thus offered to Mr. Peel, involve a breach of a pledge, be- cause it was not fulfilled ? It was notorious all over the world that the North of Critliolic Christendom took a different view of Papal in- failibilit}- from Vac South. A long controversy had gone on ; able writer^ were to be found on cither side ; each side was positive in the truth of its own Cduse ; each hoped to prevail. Tlie Gallican party, t(>w:irds which England and Ireland inelineJ, ihoii-hl tlic other simply extravagant : but witli th.c Ultramontane stood Rome itself. IMinisters do not comnKjnlv believe a.!! the representations of deputations who come to them with the advocacv of particular measures, thoueh thio^e deputations may be perfectly sincere in wliat they aver. The Catholics of Ene,"han(l and Irehmd in iSeG Vvcrc al- most as one man in thinkim.^ IIl iitiv of the (iue>tinn, but even then there were those \\\\o spoke out in a (lirieri-nt sense, and warned the government tlnit there wasaeon- trary opinion, and one strong both in its preten>ions and in its prospects. I am not bound to go into this subject at length, for I have allowed the dominant feeling * among our Catholics at that day was against the pru- dence or likelihood of a definition of Paoal infallibilitv ; but I will instance one or two v/riters of name who had spoken mi a different sense. I cannot find that Mr. Gladstone deals with my re- ference to Archbishop Tro\', whose pastoral bears the date (1793) of the very year in which, as Vix. Gladstone tells us, Vat. p. 48, a Relief Act was granted to Ireland. The Archbishop, as the passage has been found for me, Postscript, 179 i, T ( T \ I says, ** Majiy Catholics contend that the Pope . is infallible . . . others deny this. . . . Until the Church shall decide . . . either opinion maybe adopted." Supr., page 16. This is a very significant, as well as authoritative passage. Again: — Father i\Iumford\s CatJiolic Scriptiirist is a popular Address to Protestants, in the vernacular, which has gone through various editions in the 17th, iSth, and iQth centuries. T!ic edition from which I quote is that of 1S63. He says, p. 39, " Whether the definition of a council alone, defininor without their chief pastor, or the definition of the chief pastor alone, defining without a council, be infallible, or no, there be several opinions amongst us, in which w^e do and may vary without any prejudice to our faith, which is not built upon what is yet under opinion, but upon that which is delivered as infallible." A^j^ain, Pishon Ilav is one of the most consoicuous Prelates and authoritative writers amoncfst us of the iSth century. In his *' Sincere Cliristian,'' published between 1770 and 17S0, he treats of the infallibility of the Pope at considerable length, and in its favour. He sa\'s, p. 188 6v/. 1871) that that doctrine '' is not pro- posed to us as an article of divine faith, nor has the Church ever made any decision concerning it. Great numbers of the niost learned divines are of opinion that in such a case, the Head of the Church is infallible in what he teaches, but there are others who are of a contrary opinion." He proceeds, '' On what grounds do those divines found their opinion, wdio believe that the Pope himself, when he speaks to the faithful as head of the church, is infallible in what he teaches?" j8o Postscript. .J \ and he answers, ** On very strong reasons both from Scripture, tradition, and reason." These he goes through seriatim; then he adds, p. 194, '* What proof do the others bring for their opinion, that the Head of the Cliiirch is not infalhble? They bring not a single text of Scripture, nor almost one argument from tradi- tion to prove it.'* I mioht add that the chief instrument in rousing and ralh'inij tlie Protestant sen.tiinent a-;:iinst Catholic emancipation was from first to last the episcopate and cler'^-v of the Churcli Establi-iied ; now, if there was anv •^ ^ - body of men who wore ])criectl\' aware ot liie division of sentiment among Catholics as to the se;it of iniaili- bihtv, it was thev. Their standard divines, writini^ in the vernacular, dischar<_:e it, as one of their nv^st effec- tivc taunts, against their opponents, that, whilst the latter held the doctrine of infallihilit}', they differ among themselves whether it is lodges! in an Ecumeni- cal Council or in the Roman See. It can never be said then that this opinion, which has now become a dogma, was not perfectly well known to be living and energetic in the Catholic communion, though it was not an article of faith, and was not spoken of as such by Catholics in this part of the world during the cen- turies of persecution. Mr. Gladstone, as his mildest conclusion against us, is inclined to grant that it was not an act of duplicity in us, that in 1826 our Prelates spoke against the Pope's infallibility, though in 1870 they took part in defining it ; but then he maintains it to be at least a proof that the Church has chang^ed its doctrine, and thereby forfeited its claim to be " semper eadem." Postscript. 181 f '♦ ^^ But it is no change surely to decide between two pre- valent opinions ; but, if it is to be so regarded, then change has been the characteristic of the church from the earliest times, as, for instance, in the tliird century, on the point of the validity of baptism by heretics. And hence sucli change as lias talceii place, (w^hich I should prefer to call doctrinal development,) is in itself a positive argument in favour of the Cluirch's identity from first to last ; for a growth in its creed is a law of its life. I have already insisted upon this, supra, p. 139; also in former volumes, as in my Apologia^ and DifftcullitS of Aui:;iicaus. ^ Supr, p. 33. As i\Ir. Gladstone denied that the Papal prerogatives were consistent with ancient his- tor\% I said in answer that that history on the contrary was the clearest witness in their favour, as showdng how the promises made to St. Peter w^ere providential- h' fulfilled by political, &c., changes external to the Pope, wdiich worked for him. I did not mean to deny that those preiogativcs w^ere his from the beginning, but merely that they wxre gradually brought into full exercise by a course of events, wdiich history records. 'Phus it w^as a mistake to say that Catholics could not appeal in favour of the Papal power to history. To make my meaning quite clear, as I hoped, I distinctly said I was not speaking theologically, but historically, nav, lookincr at the state of thincrs with *' non-Catholic eyes." Plowever, as the following passage from the Etudes Religietises s\\t\ws^ it seems that I have been mis- PostscripL k understood, thoucdi the writer himself, I'cre Raniicre, does me the justice and the favour to defend me, ami I here adopt hds words as ni\' defence. He sa\-s : '* Pour exprimer cette concentration providentielle, dans les mains du Tape, du pouvoir ecclesiasti(iue partage autrefois dans une plus large mesure par rei)is- cooat, le P. Newman se sort dhm terme Icgcd qudl nc laut pas prendre a la lettre. II dit que le Pape est Iicrciicr par defaiit de lalderarchie ecumenique di iv"^ siecle. Le savant directeur de la Voce dclla Vcrith blame cette expression, qui impliquerait, selon lui, qui le Pape tient son pouvoir de la hierarchie. r^Iais le P. Newman exclut cette interpretation, puis qu'il fait derivait le plenitude du pouvoir pontifical de la promesse faite par Jcsus- Christ a Saint Pierre," p. 256, 7, note. § 4. Supr, p. 6^. I here say that '' v/ere I actually a sol- dier or sailor in her ?vlajesty's service in a just war, and should the Pope suddenly bid all Catholic soldiers and sailors to retire from her service, taking the advice, S:c., . . I should not obey him." Here I avail myself of a passage in Canon Neville's recent pamphlet (''A few Comments," &c., Pic/jcriji^) in which he speaks with the authority belonging to a late theologiccd Professor of ?>Iaynooth : " In the impossible hypothesis of the Pope being en- eacred in a war with Enq-land, how would the allegiance of Eno-lish Catholics be affected ? . . how would it be, if they were soldiers or sailors ? . . . . Some one will urge, the Pope may issue a mandate enforced by an i,i> A, .1 i ^ Postscript. 185 annexed excommunication, forbidding all Catholics to engage in the war against him . . . The supposed actiun of the Pope does not change the question mate- riallv. His mandate will derive its force from his authoritative declaration of the immorality of the v/ar, and the censures annexed," /. e, excommunication, '' will have to be subjected to the ordinary rules and principles of ecclesiastical punishments. For instance, the soldiers and sailors would not incur it, because 'grave fears' excuse from censure [excommunication], censures beinr^- directed against the contumacious, not aeainst those who act through fear or coercion ... It is a trite principle, that mere ecclesiastical laws do not bind, when there would be a very grave inconvenience in their observance ; and it denies as a rule to any hu- man legislator {e.g., the Pope) the power of making laws or precepts, binding men to the performance of actions, which, from the danger and difficulty attendant on their fulfilment, are esteemed heroic," pp. lOi, 2. §5. Supr. p. 79. I have said, " The Pope, who comes of Revelation, has no jurisdiction over Nature," i.e. tlie natural Law. Mr. Gladstone on the other hand savs, " Idle it is to tell us, finally, that the Pope is bound by the moral and divine law, by the command- ments of God, by the rules of the Gospel: ... for of these, one and all, the Pope himself, by himself, is the judge without appeal," p. 102. That is, Mr. Glad- stone thinks that the Pope may deny and anathematize the proposition, '* There is one God :" and may pro- I 184 Postscript. Postscript. 185 ceed to circulate by Cardinal Antonelli a whole Sylla- bus of kindred '' erroneous theses " for the instructions of the Bishops. Catholics think this impossible, as be- lieving in a Divine Providence ever exercised over the Church. But let us grant, for argument-sake, that a Pope could commit so insane a violation of the Natu- ral and the Revealed Law: — we know what would be the consequence to such a Pope. Cardinal Turrecre- mata teaches, as I have quoted him, that ** were the Pope to command any thing against Holy Scripture, or the articles of faith, or the truth of the Sacraments, or the commands of the natural or divine law, he ought not to be obeyed, but in such commands to be ie- nored.*' Snpr, p. 68. Other, and they the highest Ultramontane theologians, hold that a Pope, who teaches heresy, ipso facto ceases to be Pope. Supr. p. 86. Here, after stating that there are cases in which the Pope's commands are to be resisted by in- dividual Catholics, I challenge Mr. Gladstone to bring passages from our authoritative writers to the contrary: and I add, *' they must be passages declaring not only that the Pope is ever to be obeyed, but that the;e are no exceptions to this rule, for exceptions ever must be in all concrete matters.'' Instead of doing so, Mr. Glad- stone contents himself with enunciating the contradic- tory to what I have said. '' Dr. Newman says there are exceptions to this precept of obedience. But this is just what the Council has not said. The Church by the Council imposes Aye. The private conscience re- serves to itself the title to say No. I must confess that in this apolog>' there is to me a strong, undeniable, sma:k of Protestantism.*' p. 69, r% ^ U Mr. Gladstone says '' there is to me ; yes, certainly to him and other Protestants, because they do not know our doctrine. I have given in my Pamphlet, three reasons in justification of what I said ; first that excep- tions must be from the nature of the case, ** for in att concrete matters,'* not only in precepts of obedience, rules are but general, and exceptions must occur. Then, in a later page, p. 159, I give actual instances, which have occurred in the history of Catholic teaching, of exceptions after large principles have been laid down. But my main reason lies in the absolute statements of theologians. I willingly endure to have about me a smack of Protestantism, which attaches to Cardinal Turrecremata in the 15th century, to Cardinals Jaco- batius and Bellarmine in the i6th, to the Carmelites of Salamanca in the 17th, and to all theologians prior to them ; and also to the whole Schola after them, such as to P^athers Corduba, Natalis Alexander and Busen- baum, and so down to St. Alfonso Liguori the latest Doctor of the Church in the iSth, and to Cardinal Gousset and to Archbishop Kenrick in the 19th, § 6. Supr. pp. 99, 100. Speaking of the proposition con- demned in the Encyclical of 1864, to the effect that it is the right of any one to have liberty to give public utterance, in every possible shape, by every possible channel, without any let or hindrance from God or man, to all his notions whatever, I have said that " it seems a light epithet for the Pope to use, when he calls such a doctrine of conscience a deliramtfituvi.'' Pres- iS6 Posisci'ipt. Postscript. 187 ently I add, '' rcrlians Mr. Gladstone wH! say, Wliy should the Pope take the tr.uible to ci-uidenm what is so wild ? but lie does," &c. On this Mr. Gladstone remarks, Wii. p. 21, 22, "It appears to me that this is, to use a miui phrase, merely trifling with the subject. We are asked to believe tliat what the Pope intended to condemn was a state of things which never lias existed in an\' countr\' in the world. Now he says he is condemning- one of the commonly prevailing errors of the time, familiarly known to the Bishops whom he addresses. What bishop knows of a State which by law allows a perfect- ly free course to blasphemy, filthiness, and sedition ^1 " I do not find any thing to show that the Pope is speaking of States, and not of writers ; and, thou^'-li I do not pretend to know against what writers he is speaking, yet there are writers wdio do maintain doc- trines which carried out consistently would reach that dclir anient ii))i\\\\\i:\\ the Pope speaks of, if the}' have not rather already reached it. We are a sober |)eoi)le ; but are not the doctrines of even so grave and i^atient a thinker as the late Mr. J. S. .Mill very much in that direction ? He says, '' The appropriate region of human liberty comprises first the inward domain of conscious- ness; demanding liberty of conscience in the most comprehensive sense, liberty of thouviit and feeli[v% absolute freedom of opinion and sentiment on all sub- jects practical or speculative, scientitlc, moral, or theo- logical. The liberty of exprcssi}:-; and pno/is/iuii; opin- ion may sccni to fall under a different princii)le, since it belongs to that part of the conduct of an individual which concerns other people ; but, being almost of as i. s much importance as the liberty of thought itself, and resting in great part on the same reasons, ts practically iiiscparablc from it, &c., &c. ... No society in wdiich these liberties are not on the whole respected, is free, whatever maybe its form of government," {On Liberty, Litrod.) Of course he does not allow of a freedom to harm others, though we have to consider well what he means bv harming : but it is a freedom which must meet with no " impediment from our fellow creatures, so \o\vj as what we do does not harm them, even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse, or wrong." ''The only freedom," he continues, '' vvdiich deserves the name is that of pursuing our own eood in our own wav, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual." That is, no in'nnoral doctrines, poems, novels, plays, conduct, acts, may be visited by the reprobation of public opinion ; nothing must be put down, I do not sav bv the laws, but even by society, by the press, by reliizious influence, merely on the ground of shocking the sense of decency and the modesty of a Christian community. Nay, the police must not visit Holyw^ell Street, nor a license be necessary for dancing rooms : but tlie most revolting atrocities of heathen times and countries must for conscience-sake be allow^ed free exer- cise in our great cities. Averted looks indeed and silent dis^nist, or again rational expostulation, is ad- missible against them, but nothing of a more energetic character. I do not impute this to Mr. Mill. He had too much 1 88 Postscript. English common sense to carry out his principles to these extreme but legitimate conclusions ; he strove to find means of limiting them by the introduction of other and antagonistic principles ; but then that such a man held the theorj'' of liberty which he has avowed, and that he has a great following, is a suggestion to us that the Holy See may have had abundant reason in the present state of the continent to anathematize a proposition which to Mr. Gladstone seems so wild and unheard of. SupTGy pp. 102. I have said that the Syllabus is to be received from the Pope with *' profound submission/* p. 102, and " by an act of obedience," p. io6 ; I add, " but not of faith,*' for it ** has no dogmatic force." I main- tain this still. I say, in spite of Professor Schulte, and tlie English Catholic writer to whom Mr. Gladstone refers, p. 32,1 have as much right to maintain that the implicit condemnation with which it visits its eighty proposi- tions is not ex cathcdrdyOX an act of the Infallible Chair, as have those " gravest theologians," as Bishop Fessler speaks, who call its dogmatic force in question^ FesslcTy p. 107. I do not know what Fessler himself says of it more than that it is to be received with submission and obedience. I do not deny another's right to con- sider it in his private conscience an act of infallibility, or to say, in Mr. Gladstone's words, p. 35, that ** utter- ances ex cathedrd arc oot tbc only i(>Tn\ in wbicJi In^ llifkc^.^-rnitc. Ani when tW i^*f# ty • MUf H^ froore* of r iR rit cr «^ wvftM #f# i»«f « Ai%4 #r M#(hfp / Postscript. 1S9 I 1 s both allowable. Mr. Gladstone speaks as if what the Pope says to Fr. Schradcr undoes what he says to Bishop Fessler ; why not say that his letter to Fessler neutralizes his letter to Schradcr? I repeat, when I speak of minimizing, I am not turning the profession of it into a dogma; men> if they will, may maximize for me, provided they too keep from dogmatizing. This is my position all through these discussions, and must be kept in mind by any fair reasoner. I grant the Pope has laid a great stress on the Syl- labus; he is said in 1867 to have spoken of it At •» rcgula docendi ; " I cannot tell whether vivd tccf. <€ in writing; anyhow this did not interfere witli KMikr^t grave theologians in 1S71 considering the Pope •!#! ^«t in it teach dogmatically and infallibly. Morcovri.^c^ can a list of proscribed propositions be a •* ruW**" «x* cept by turning to the Allocutions, Sic, in whii'i lUy are condemned? and in those Allocutions, v.>*. ^ v# turn to them, we find in what sense, and with ^^toc degree of force severally. In itself the Syllabu> cifi W no more than what the Pope calls it, a syllabus or «!• lection of errors. Led by the references inserted it H to the Allocutions, etc, I have ventured to cdl H something more, viz., a list or index raisonn/ ; m i^ea not attached to it by me fir^t of all, for Fere Daricl b the October of that very year, 1867, tells us, ^ tkc "Etudes Religicuses/' **Au Syllabus luimcnvc ll tc iitut pas demandcr que le degrd do clart6 que Cdsrkrft A lite I" ^' ^ tihV dcf . * I ^dUCf Vy nr^ jccmk of t¥c Postscript. 191 < V tions may be as false as heathenism, but they Jiave this redeeming virtue, that the Pope denounces them. His judgment of them may be as true as Scripture, but it carries this unpardonable sin with it, that it is given w^ith a purpose, and not as a mere literary flourish. Therefore I will not inquire into the propo- sitions at all ; but my original conclusion shall be dog- matic and irreformablc. Stat pro rationc voluntas. Supra, p. 1 13, 1 have declined to discuss the difllcuJtics which Mr. Gladstone raises upon our teaching rcsf^ctii; the marriage contract (on which I still think him v^cr obscure or incorrect), because they do not fall vftftit the scope to which 1 professed to confine my re«i-'w\. however, his fresh statements, as they arc foun/*. IW« p. 28, lead me to say as follows : The non-Roman marri.igcs in England, he sa}^ ''^O not at present fall under the foul epithets of R'M^ But why? Not because we marrv- . • • unJ^r •h# .s.inctions of religion, for our marrinKcs are. in tkc , - of the Pope, purely civil marriages, but only f « t . - technical . • . reason that the diiiciplmary ^€a«» of Trent arc not canonically in force in thiis ccttMry* etc," Here Mr. Gladstone ^K'^'ins to Mnnldcr that there irr only twowu>*s of marrying ntc«irding to Catholic ing; he omits a third, in which wo connidcr the cir. p. X27. "But if the fact be so that the Fa- \ 194 Postscript. thers were not unanimous, is the definition valid ? This depends on the question whether unanimity, at least moral, is or is not ncccssarj'' for its validity/* Vid. also p. 129. It should be borne in mind that these letters of mine were not intended for publication, and are introduced into my text as documents of 1870, with a view of re- futing the false reports of my bearing at that time towards the Vatican Council and Definition, To alter their wording would have been to destroy their argu- mentative value, I said nothing to imply that on re- flection 1 agreed to K^SQVf proposition which I set down on vay pri via facie view of the matter. One passage of it, perhaps from my own fault, Mr. Gladstone has misunderstood. He quotes me, Vat, p. 13, as holding that ** a definition which the Pope ap- proves, is not absolutely binding thereby, but requires a moral unanimity, and a i^ibsequcnt reception by the Church." Nay, I cons^idcrcd that the Pope could define without either iiiaiunty or minority ; but that, if he chose to go by the method of a Council, in that case a moral unanimity was required of its Fa- thers. I say a few lines lower down, waivinij the difllculty altogether, ** Our merciful Lord would not care so little for His people . . . as to allow their visible head and such a large number of Bishops to lead them into error.** P6re Ramit^re. in his very kind review of me in the Etudes Rtti^uusiS lor Fcbruar>% ti< \Ai%n: I. Postscript. ^95 doctrine without them. A council of Bishops of the world around him, is only one of the various modes in which he exercises his infallibility. The seat of inf libility is in ^i^, and they are adjuncts. The Pastor yEternus s^iys, *' Romani Pontificcs, prout tempo- rum et rerum conditio suadebat, nunc convocatis oecu- menicis conciliis, aut rogata Ecclcsia: per orbem dis- pers3e sententi^, nunc per synodos particulares, nunc aliis, quae Divina suppeditabat Providentia, adhibitis auxlliUi i»a («*MfMihi di*riniviM'MiU| qua^ lacrii Sci^ipti^^o et Ap»M. I . buo • iiir«i, Deo ipJ/«« tort- -t^KnovcraiU." Church \\j ctkieiin^ into the nccc^iuty cotidiikun \ \ ^/(ry/Vr dccinion. 1 Kald that by the •' Sccuriui ju» orbin tcrrarum '* alt actN of the rulcrn of the Church «^^ " ratified/' r K. In thU paMHujjo of myprlvai tcr I monnt ii> i.«ilftcd '* broupfht home to u^ ai jl- thcnt_ A: thUviuy /tJithlB^* obvlouH, and ptnrv^icoahlr .^1 ^\u duCCCpcUf tho Vatiran di f\ p. Tu. T uAi\ In €W f . 1. ^ tjt, th^ dl^rinifiiiii III Kpln'Mi'k vrr^tnl • ^$w^m^^f *• | VOfr»n Afl.Ui^Hl Til: MH \\\s •^>4 f infi'M'lur III inv MWII, I •<• ■ ^f^-^K it. '• fi >'M«lf III lhl» fiM 'JUit^. 'L • " -'.jyrt: : — i 1 li -# |{Tf«f > i!r. •fl^ nrre t ff^ t.lw^* ?•• I 196 Postscript. Postscript. 197 account of 68 of the Bishops already there. The num- bers present at the opening are given in the Acts as about 150. The first Session in which Nestorius was condemned and a definition or exposition of faith made, was concluded before night. That exposition, as far as the Acts record, was contained in one of the letters of St. Cyril to Nestorius, which the Bishops in the Coun- cil one by one accepted as conformable to Apostolic teaching. Whether a further letter of St. Cyril's with his 12 anathematisms, which was also received by the Bishops, was actually accepted by them as their dogmatic utterance, is uncertain ; though the Bishops distinctly tell the Pope and the Emperor that they have accepted it as well as the others, as being in accordance with the Catholic Creed. At the end of the Acts of the first Session the signatures of about 200 Bishops are found, and writers of the day confirm this number, though there is nothing to show that the additional 40 or 50 were added on the day on which the definition was passed, June 22, and it is more probable that they were added afterwards ; vid. Tillemont, Cyril, note 34, and Fleury, Hist. xxv. 42. And thus Tillemont, ibid,, thinks that the signa- tures in favour of Cyril altogether amounted to 220. The Legates of the Pope were not present ; but they had arrived by July 10. The Syrian Bishops arrived on June 26th or 27th. As to Africa, then overrun by the Vandals, it was represented only by the deacon of the Bishop of Carthage, who sent him to make his apolo- gies for Africa, to warn the Council against the Pela- gians, and to testify the adherence of the African Churches to Apostolic doctrine. The countries V which were represented at the Council, and took part in the definition were Egypt, Asia Minor, and Thrace, Greece, &c. The Avhole number of Bishops in Christendom at the time was about 1,800; not 6,000, as St. Dalmatius says at ran- dom. Gibbon says, '' The Catholic Church was admin- istered by the spiritual and legal jurisdiction of 1,800 bishops, of whom r,ooo were seated in the Greek, and 800 in the Latin provinces of the empire." He adds, *' The numbers are not ascertained by any ancient writer or original catalogue ; for the partial lists of the eastern churches are comparatively modern. The pa- tient diligence of Charles a S. Paolo, of Luke Hol- stein, and of Bingham, has laboriously investigated all the episcopal sees of the Catholic Church/* §9. Supra, pp. 146, etc. It has been objected to the ex- planation I have given from Fessler and others of the nature and range of the Pope's infallibility as now a dogma of the Church, that it was a lame and impotent conclusion of the Council, if so much effort was em- ployed, as is involved in the convocation and sitting of an Ecumenical Council, in order to do so little. True, if it were called to do what it did and no more ; but that such was its aim is a mere assumption. In the first place it can hardly be doubted that there were those in the Council who were desirous of a stronger definition ; and the definition actually made, as being moderate, is so far the victory of those many bishops who consid- ered any definition on the subject inopportune. And iqS Postscript it was no slight fruit of the proceedings in the Council, if a definition was to be, to have effected a moderate definition. But the true answer to the objection is that which is given by Bishop Ullathorne. The question of the Pope^s infallibility was not one of the objects professed in convening the Council ; and the Council is not yet ended. He says in his ^^ Expostulation Unravelled,** ** The expostulation goes on to suggest that the council was convened mainly with a view of defining the infalli- bility, and that the definition itself was brought about, chiefly for political objects, through the action of the Pontiff and a dominant party. A falser notion could not be entertained. I have the official catalogue be- fore me of the Schemata prepared by the theologians for discussion in the council. In them the infallibility is not even mentioned ; for the greater part of them regard ecclesiastical discipline.*' P." 48, he adds, ** Ca- lamitous events suspended the Council.'* Supr, p. 151, note. I have referred to Bishop Fessler's statement that only the last sentences of Boniface's Unain Saiictain are infallible. To this Mr. Gladstone replies p. 45, that the word *' Porro/* introducing the final words to which the anathema is affixed, extends that anathema to the body of the Bull, which precedes the ** Porro.** But he does not seem to have observed that there are two distinct heresies condemned in the Bull, and that the *'?orro" is the connecting link between these two coiu! rnnations, that is, between the penultima and final sentences. The Pope first says ** Nisi duo, sicut Postscript. 199 J! % Manichaeus, fingat esse principia, quod falsinn et hcereticiim judicamus . . . porro, subesse Romano Pontifici, omni humanae creaturae declaramus, defini- mus, et pronunciamus omnino esse de necessitate salutis.** That the Latin is deficient in classical terse- ness and perspicuity we may freely grant. Supra, p. 152, I say, ^^ We call * infallibility ' in the case of the apostles, inspiration ; in the case of the church, assistentiay On this Mr. Gladstone says, ^' On such a statement I have two remarks to make ; first, we have this as- surance on the strength only of his own private judg- ment, '' p. 102. liow can he say so when, p. 153, I quote Father Perrone, saying, *' Never have Catholics taught that the gift of infallibility is given by God to the Church after the manner of inspiration ! ** Mr. Gladstone proceeds, '' Secondly, that, if bidden by the self-assertion of the Pope, he will be required by his principles to retract it, and to assert, if occasion should arise, the contrary.** I can only say to so hypothetical an argument what is laid down by Fessler and the Swiss bishops, that the Pope cannot, by virtue of his infallibility, reverse what has always been held ; and that the '' inspiration ** of the church, in the sense in which the Apostles were inspired, is contrary to our received teaching. If Protestants are to speculate about our future, they should be ijnpartial enough to recollect, that if, on the one hand, we believe that a Pope can add to our articles of faith, so, on tlie otiicr, we hold also that a heretical Pope, ipso facto, ceases to be Pope by reason of his heresy. 200 Postscript, Mr. Gladstone thus ends : " Thirdly, that he lives under a system of development, through which some- body's private opinion of to-day may become matter of faith for all the to-morrows of the future." I thmk he should give some proof of this ; let us have one instance in which " somebody's private opinion " has become de fide. Instead of this he goes on to assert fintcrrogatively) that Popes, e.g., Clement XI. and Gregory II., and the present Pope, have claimed the inspkation of the Apostles, and that Germans, Italians, French, have ascribed such a gift to him ;— of course he means theologians, not mere courtiers or sycophants, for the Pope cannot help having such, till human na- ture is changed. If Mr. Gladstone is merely harangu- ing as an Orator, I do not for an instant quarrel with him or attempt to encounter him ; but, if he is a con- troversialist, we have a right to look for arguments, not mere assertions. \ DECREES AND CANONS > OF THE VATICAN COUNCIL laye< ( \ 2CMD Postscript. Mr. Gladstone thus ends: *' Thirdly, that he lives under a system of development, through which some- body's private opinion of to-day may become matter of faith for all the to-morrows of the future." I think he should give some proof of this ; let us have one instance in which " somebody's private opinion " has become d€ fide. Instead of this he goes on to assert (interrogatively) that Popes, e.g., Clement XL and Gregory II., and the present Pope, have claimed the inspiration of the Apostles, and that Germans, Italians, French, have ascribed such a gift to him ;— of course he means theologians, not mere courtiers or sycophants, for the Pope cannot help having such, till human na- ture is changed. If Mr. Gladstone is merely harangu- ing as an Orator, I do not for an instant quarrel with him or attempt to encounter him ; but, if he is a con- troversialist, we have a right to look for arguments, not mere assertions. DECREES AND CANONS OK THR U' VATICAN COUNCIL. \ / J^^ i DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CATHOLIC FAITH. Pius, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, WITH the approval OF THE SaCRED COUNCIL, FOR Perpetual Remembrance. w ) / Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Redeemer of Mankind, before returning to his heavenly P^ather, promised that He would be with the Chiircli Militant on earth all days, even to the consummation of the world. Therefore, He hp.s never ceased to be present with His beloved Spouse, to assist her when teacliing, to bless lier wlicn ;it work, and to aid her when in ddiv^er. And this His salutary providence, wliieh h.i^ Ix-en constantly di-played b\' other innumer- able benefits, has been nio>t manifestly proved by the ab'-iiulaiit crood results wliieh Christendom has derived from (Ecumenical Councils, and particularly from that of Trent, althouL;h it was held in evil times. For, as a cori.-equence, the sacred doctrines of the faith have been defined more closelv, and set forth more fullv, er- rors licive been condemned and restrained, ecclesiastical discipline lias been restored and more firmh' secured, the love of learninL;' and of piety has been promoted amon.c^^ tlie clerc^v, collec^cs liave been established to Decrees and Caftans of the Valicafi Council. 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 the more fre- quent use of the sacraments. Moreover, there has re- sulted a closer communion of the members with the visible head, an increase of vigor in the whole mystical body of Christ, the multiplication of religious congrega- tions and of other institutions of Christian piety, and such ardour in extending the kingdom of Christ throughout the world, as constantly endures, even to the sacrifice of life itself But while we recall with due thankfulness tnesc and other signal benefits which the divine mercy has be- stowed on the Church, especially by the last CEcume- nical Council, we cannot restrain our bitter sorrow for the grave evils, which arc principally due to the fact that the authority of that sacred Synod has been con- temned, 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 in- dividual, gradually became dissolved into many sects, which disagreed and contended with one another, until at length not a few lost all faith in Christ. Even the Holy Scriptures, which had previously been declared the sole source and judge of Christian doctrine, began ta be bcW ro loajjcr a^ 4ir\f%f.\r^\ to W T^-jVff^ #nrrr>; T^cft C%9tt ^fc^, ai^ 9^# nM^ H ^ t mn^ l %\r «Mt^ iKm 4^t9in^ i4 90i liiiraattgi «hMk ♦f^t^^ iltHf It erefr fr^y to ttc L >!ii^ re* V f \ ligion as a supernatural in*;titution, and works with the utmoti zeal in order ti)at, 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 forsaking 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 orriglrr^dRy labour to destroy the deepest foundations of knaaa society. Unhappily, it has yet further come to pais tbit« while this impiety prevailed on every side, manj- cica of the children of the Catholic Church have itnqred from the path of true piety^ and by the gradual dirili^ tion of the truths they held, the Catholic sense bcooc weakened in them. For, led away by varioct ^#i strange doctrines, utterly confusing nature and fTM#« human science and divine faith, they arc found l^ tStb prave the true sense of the doctrines which out lUiy Mother Church holds and teaches, and endangcj't^ 1)pt integrity and the soundness of the faitlu Considering these things, how can the Church Jil to be deeply stirred ? for, even as God wills all men 9» bo saved, and to arrive at the knowledge of the trath ; even as Christ came to save what had perished, $f>i lo jjui^tr tojjet'iev xV/: cViWrcu of God v!io h2ji been dit- pecie^ io the Chirck, ccailil^ci by Ocd tibc 8>^tkcr ai>i tcacfocr c«f tt^/tkoK k»€^rM ft> cats ^ffcc u dtJblc< 6 Decrees and Canons of tJic Vatican Coicncil. h I* ^ return, to confirm tlic good and carry tlicm on to belter liiines. Hence, it can never forbedr lVe)!ii witnessing to and proclaiminc^ the trutii of God, wiiiLii lieals all thines, knowinc^ the words addressed to ii : " My Spirit that is in thee, and my w^ords that 1 Inive put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of tlu' mouth, from lience- forth and for ever" (Isaias lix. 21). We, therefore, following; the footsteps of our prede- cessors, have never ceased, as becomes our su[)remc Anostolic office, from teachini^^ and defendin;^- Catholic truth, and condemning doctrines of error. And now, with the Bishops of the whole world asscnd^led round us and judging with us, congregated by our authority, and in the Holy Spirit, in this CEcumenical Council, we, sup- ported by the Word of God written and handed down as we received it from the Catholic Church, preserved wdth sacredness and set forth according to truth, — have determined to profess and declare the salutary teaching of Christ from this Chair of Peter and in sight of all, proscribing and condemning, by the power given us of God, all errors contrary thereto CHArTER I. OF GOD, THE CREATOR OE ALL THINGS. The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church believes and confesses that there is one true and living God, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. Almighty, Eternal, Immense, Incomprehensible, Infinite in intel- //v i^t 1 Hgence, in v/lll, and in all perfection, who, as being one, sole, absolutely simple and immutable spiritual sub- stance, is to be declared as really and essentially dis- tinct from the world, of supreme beatitude in and from lliip.self, and ineffably exalted above all things which cxi>t, or are conceivable, except Himself. 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 tlie blessinijs which He bestow^s on creatures, and with absolute freedom of counsel, created out of nothing, from the very first beginning of time, both the spiritual and the corporeal creature, to wit, the angelical and the mundane and afterwards the human creature, as par- taking, in a sense, of both, consisting of spirit and of bodv. God protects and governs by His Providence all thin^^s which He hath made, "reaching from end to end mic-htilv, and ordering all things sweetly " (Wisdom viii. 1). For '' all things are bare and open to His eves " (Ileb. iv. 13), even those wdiich are yet 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, 8 Decrees ami Canons of the Vatican CoicnciL I by means of created tilings; "for the invisible thini^s of Him from the creation of tlie world are clcarlv seen being understood by the things that are made" ( R(V mans i. 20), but that it pleased Ilis wisdom and bount\' to repeat Himself, and the eternal decrees of His will, to mankind by another and a supernatural way: as the Apostle says, '' God, having spoken on divers occasioiis, and many ways, in times past, to the fathers by the prophets ; last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by His Son '' (Hebrews i. i, 2). It is to be ascribed to this divine revelation, that such truths among things divine as of themselves are not beyond human reason, can, even in the present condition of mankind, be known bv everv one with facility, with firm assurance, and with no admixture of error. This, however, is not the reason why revelation is to be called absoluteh^ necessary ; but because God of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a super- natural end, viz : to be a sharer of divine blessin^-s which utterly exceed the intelligence of the human mind : for ''eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what thincrs God hath prepared for them that love Him " (i Cor ii. 9). Further, this supernatural revelation, according to the universal belief of the Church, declared bv the Sacred Synod of Trent, is 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 hhnself, or from the Apostles tliem- 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 \lr as sacred and canonical, in their integrity, wath all their parts, as they are enumerated in the decree of the said Council, and are contained in the ancient Latin edition of the V^uli^ate. These the Church holds to be sacred and canonical not because, having been carefully com- posed by mere human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority, nor merely because they contain revelation, with no admixture of error, but be- cause, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and have been delivered as such to the Church herself. And as the things which the Holy Synod of Trent decreed for the good of souls concerning the interpreta- tion of Divine Scripture, in order to curb rebellious spirits, have been wTongly explained by some, We, renewing the said decree, declare this to be their sense, that, in matters of faith and morals, appertain- inor to the building up of Christian doctrine, this is to be held as the true sense of Holy Scripture wdiich 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 con- trary to this sense, nor, likewise, contrary to the unani- mous consent of the Fathers. CHAPTER HI. ON FAITH. Man being wdiolly dependent upon God, as upon his Creator and Lord, and created reason being abso- lO D t C / LL^ U ;iJ Cano/is of the Vatican CotmciL II lately subject to uncreated truth, we are bound to yield to God, bv biiih i:i His revelation, the full obedience of our intellii^cnce and will. And the Catholic Church teaches that this faith, whic'i i^ the beginning of man's salvation, is a supernatural virtue, whereby, inspired and assisted by the grace of God, we believe that the things wliich He has revealed are true: not because of the intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural h'crht oi roa )ri, but because of the authority of God Himself who reveals them, and Who can neitlier be deceived nor deceive. For faith, as the Apostle testifies, is "- the substance of tilings hoped for, the conviction of tlnn^s that appear not " (Hebrews i. II). Nevertheless, in order that the obedience of our faith might be in harniori}' with reason, God willed that to the interior help of the Holy Spirit, there should be joined exterior proofs of Hid revelation ; to v/it, divine facts, and especiall}' miracles and prophecies, which, as they manifestly dispLiy tiic omnipotence and infinite know- led'-^e of God, are most certain proofs of Hi^ dixine revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all nie:i. Wherefore, both Moses and the Prophets, aPiil most especially, Christ our Lord Himself, showed forth many and most evident miracles and prophecies; arid of the Apostles we read : " Dut the\' goin- forth preached everywhere, the Lord working witlnd, and confirming the word with signs that full'wvrvl " (^Mark xvi. 20). And again, it is v/rittcn : ''We have the more firm prophetical word, wdiereunto you do well to attend, as to a light shining in a dark pLico " (2 St. Peter i. 19). But thoueh the assent of faith is bv no mean.s a ; I s blind action of the mind, still no m:in can assent to the Gospel teaching, as is necessary to obtain salvation, without the iihunination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all men sweetness in assenting to and believing m tlie trutli. Wherefore, Faith itself, even when it does not work by charity, is in itself a gift of God, and tlie act of fiith is a work appertaining to salvation., b\- which nnan yields voluntary obedience to God. llnp.self, l;)y assentmg to and co-operating with His grace, v;Iiieli he is able to resist. Fmrther, ail tiiose things are to be believed with divine and Catholic faith which are contained in the Word of God, written or handed dowm, and which the Church, either by a solemn judgment, or by her ordi- nary and nnivcrsnl magistcrinm, proposes for belief, as havin.g been divinely revealed. And since, withon.t faith, it is impossible to please God, and to attain to the fellowship of his children, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justi- fication, nior will any one attain eternal life, unless he sliail liave persevered in faith unto the end. And, that we m:i\' be able to satisfy the obligation of embracing the true faith and of constantly persevering in it, God has instituted the Church through IL's only begotten Son, and has bestowed on it manifest notes of that institution, that it maybe recognized by all men as the guardian and teacher of the revealed Word ; for to the Catholic Cluirch alone belong all those many and ad- mirable tokens which have been divinely established fi)r the evident credibility of the Christian health. Nay, more, the Church by itself, with its marvellous exten- sion, its eminent holiness, and its inexhaustible fruit- I Decrees and Canons fulness in every good thing, with its CathoHc unity and its invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility, and an irrefutable witness of its own divine mission. And thus, like a standard set up unto the nations (Isaias xi. I2), it both invites itself to those who do not vet believe, and assures its children that the faith which they profess rests on the most firna foundation. And its testimony is efficaciously supported by a power from on hi^h. For our most mcrciiul Lord gives His grace to stir ui) and to aid those who are astray, that they may come to a knowncd^e of tiie truth ; and to those whom He has brou-ht out of dark- ness into His own admirable light He tinct 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 natu- r:d reason can attain, there are proposed to our belief mysteries hidden in God, which, unless divinely re- vealed, cannot be known. Wherefore the Apostle, who testifies that God is known by the 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 mysteiy, 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 re- vealed them by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God " (i Cor. ii. 7-9). And the only- begotten Son himself gives thanks to the Father, because He has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them to little ones (Matt, xi. 25). Reason, indeed, enlightened by faith, when it seeks earnestly, piously, and calmly, attains by a gift from God some, and that a very fruitful, understanding of mysteries ; partly from the analogy of those things which it naturally knows, partly from the relations H Decrees and Canons of the Vatican CoiinciL 15 which the mysteries bear to one another and to the last end of man ; but reason never becomes capable of ap- prehending mysteries as it does those truths which constitute its proper object. For the divine mysteries by their own nature so far transcend the created in- telligence that, even when delivered by revelation and received by faith, they remain covered with the vail of faith itself, and shrouded in a certain degree of dark- ness, so long as we are pilgrims in this mortal life, not yet with God ; '' for we walk by 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 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 con- tradict truth. The false appearance- of such a contra- diction is mainly due, either to the dogmas of faith not having been understood and expounded according to the mind of the Church, or to the inventions of opinion having been taken for the verdicts of reason. We de- fine, therefore, that every assertion contrary to a truth of enlightened faith is utterly false.^ Further, the Church, which, together with the Apostolic office of teachings, 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 fallacy (Coloss. ii. 8). There- * From the Bull of Pope Leo X., Apostolici r^giminis. read in the V^III. Session of the Fifth Lateran Council, a.d. 1513. See Labbe'a Councils, vol. xix., p. 842, Venice, 1732. i ..f ff^<* the WotU. v» Mr lltnwK \ >c-rf M ■aaioo mO *»«* H HU0*^*» «♦«!»• cb4 el \ » world. And in order that the Episcopate also might be one and undivided, and that by means of a closely united pricsliiood ihc multitude of the faithful might be kept secure in the oneness of faslh and communion. He set Blessed Peter over the rest of the Apostles, and fixed in him the abiding principle of this two-fold unitv. and iis visible foundation, in the strength of which the everlasting temple should arise and the Church in the firmness of that faith should lift her majestic front to heaven. And seeing that tli# { of hell with daily increase of hatred are gathcrl#^ t strength on ever)' side to upheave the foundatio» '. God's own hand, and so, if that might be, to o\ • tr» the Church ; We, therefore, for the presorvati- ^U keeping, and increase of the Catholic flock, ••liii approval of the Sacred Council, do judge it to b< fK«w» s^iry to propose to the belief and acceptance oi Jl !^r faithful, in accordance with the ancient and c-r •• faith of the univcrKid Church, the doctrine touciiJ^ U>i institution, perpetuity, and nature of the sacrci A9«** tolic Primacy, in which is found the strenpi axaJ solidity of tlic entire Church, and at the same -JrtM to prescribe and condemn the contrary errors, su xiTtfd to the flock of Christ. or CHAPTER I. ivcrmmttie *r not jifOJ lidMiurf • 3c i«^ tr • ifUlmty «r the O^tpd. 1)k pf*»a^>of M***^*=^ ■ Jl n ^ Decrees a7id Canons over the universal Church of God was immediately and directly promised and given to Blessed Peter the Apos- tle by Christ tlic Lord. For it was to Simon alone, to whom He had already said : Thou shalt be called Ce- jilias,"^ th.it the Lord after the confession made by him, sa}^ing; : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, addressed those solemn words : Blessed art thou, Simon 13ar-Jona, because tlesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but iiu' Father who is in Heaven. Ami I sav to thee tliut tiiou art Peter; and upon this rock 1 will build \wx Church, ;uk1 the r^ates of hell shall not prevail ac^ainst it. And 1 w id give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt biud upon earth, it shall be l)ouiul also in lieaven, and whul- socver thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also iu lieaven. + And it was upon Simon alone that Jesus after His resurrection bestowed the jurisdiction of Chief Pastor and Ruler over all His fold in the words : Feed iri} Limbs : feed my sheep.:}: At open variance with this clear doctrine of Holy Scripture as it has been ever uriderstood h^\ the Catholic Church are the perverse opinions of tliose who, while they distort the form of government established b}' Christ the Lord m His Church, deny tiiat Peter in liis single person, pre- ferably to all the otlier Apostles, v/hether taleen sepa- rately or together, was endowed by Chri-t with a true and proper primac}' of jurisdictir)n : or cA tliose \vnio as- sert that the same primac}' wa^ not bestowed imnie^ diately and directly upon Blcs-cd Petm- himself, but upon the Church, and through the Church on Peter as her Jylinister. k i'*l ./ * St. John i. 42. t St. Mattiicw xvi. 16-19. ; St. John xx!. 15-17. > of the Vatican Coicncil. If any one, 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 pri- macy of honour only, and not (U true and proper juris- diction ; let him be anathema. CHAPTER H. ox TIIK PKRPKTUITY OF THE PRIMACY OF BLESSED PETER IN THE ROMAN PONTIFFS. That which the Prince of Shepherds and great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ our Lord, estab- lished HI tile person of the Blessed Apostle Peter to secure the perpetual welfare and lasting good of the Church, must, by the same institution, necessarily re- main unceasingly in the Church ; which, being founded upon the Rock, will stand firm tu the end of the world. p^r none can doubt, and it is known to all ages, that tlic holy and Blessed Peter, tlie Ih-ince and Chief of the Apostles, tlie pillar of the faith and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from Oua- Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Re- deemer of mardaind, and lives, presides, and judges, to this day and always, in his successors the Bishops of the Holv See of Rome, which was founded by him, and con Jecrated by his blood. Whence, whosoever succeeds to Peter in this See, docs by the institution of Christ 24 Decrees and Canons 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. Wherefore it has at all times been necessary that every particular Church — that is to say, the faithful through- out the world — should agree with the Roman Church, on account of the greater authority of the princedom which tliis has received ; that all beine associated in tlic unity of that See whence the rights of communion spread to all naiQlit: grow together as members of one Hea.d in tlic cunipcict unity of the body. If, then, any should iia:!)- that it is by the institu- tion of Christ tlic Lord, or by divine right, that i)less- ed Peter should liave a perpetual line of successors in the Pririiac\' over the Universal Church, or that tlie Roman Pontiff is the successor of lUcssed i'ctcr i:i tlii.-^ pnniac}' ; let liini be anrithcma. CHAi"r;:R in. ON THE POWER AND NArURE OY 'WW, Pi:iMA('V OF THE Ru^LVX POXTHE. Wherefore, restin^.^ on |:)Iain tc-timonics of the Sa- cred Writings, and adhering to the |_)iain and express decrees both of our predecessors, tiic Roman Pontiffs, and of the Genera! Councils, \W^ rcn.cw the dchnition of the CEcumenical Council of Inorcnce, in virtue of \ of the Vatican Council 25 * > > \ % * 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 Chris- tians ; 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 tlic acts of the General Councils and in the Sacred Canons. Hence we teach and declare that by the appoint- ment uf our Lord the Runuui Church possesses a supe- riority of ordinary power over aill other Churches, and that this puwcr of juri.^diction of the Roman Pontiff, which is trui\' episcopal, is immediate ; to which all, of wliatever rite ur dign.it}', both pastors and faithful, bt'iii individually and collectively, are bound, by their duty of hierarclTical suborilinatlon and true obedience, to submit, not only in matters which belong to faith and morals, but al^o in those tliat api)crtain to the dis- cipline and government of the Church throughout the world, so that the Church of Christ may be one flock under one supreme pastor through the preservation of iniit-.- [jotli of communion, and of profession of the same faith with the Roman Pontiff. This is the teaching of Catholic truth, from which no one can deviate without loss of faith and of salvation. ]>iit so far is this power of the Supreme Pontiff from being any prejudice to the ordinary and immedi- ate ])o\ver of episcopal jurisdiction, by which Bishops, who have been sent by the Holy Ghost to succeed and hold the place of the Apostles, feed and govern, each ■' V. X y ,♦' .- Jt I '< 26 Decrees and Canons Ills own flock, as true Pastors, that this their episcopal authontv is really asserted, strengthened and protected by the supreme 'and universal Pastor; in accordance ^vitll the words of St. Circ-ory the Great: my honour is the honour of tlie whole Church. My lu^nonr is the firm strength of my brelhren. I am truly honoured, when the honour due to each and all is not witliluld. Further, from this sui)remc power possessed by the Roman Pontiff of governing the Universal Churcli, it fel- lows that he has the ri-ht of free communication with the Pastors of the whole Church, and. with their flocks, that these may be tau-ht and ruled by him in ^ne way of salvation. ' Wherefore we condemn and reject the opinions of those who hold th.at tl;e communication between this Supreme Head and the Pastors an.d their flocks can lawfully be impeded ; or who make this com- munication subject to the will of tlie secular power, so as to maintain that whatever is done by the Apostolic See. or by its authority, for the government of the Church, cannot have force or value unless it be con- firmed b\- the assent of the secular power. And since by the d'ivine right of Apostolic in-iniac;.-, tlie ivuinan Pontiff is placed over the Cniversal Church, we fu.rtlu r teach and declare that he is the supreme jude-e of the faithful, and that in all cau.^e.-; the decision i>\ which belongs to the Church, recourse may be had to lus tri- bunal, and that none may re-open the judgment of tlie Apostolic See, than whose authority there is no greater, nor can any lawfully review its judgment." Wdierelore thev err from the right course who assert that it is l.iw- * From Letter viii. of Pope Nicholas I., a.d. S:S. to ib.c Eiupcror Michael, in Labbe's Councils vol. ix. pp. I3.*9 and 157^- V . A ■^ ._ .. . V s ) I \ \ of ihe Vatican Council. 27 ful to appeal from the judgments of the Roman Pon- tiffs to an (Ecumenical Council as to an authority higher than that of the Roman I'ontiff. If then any shall say tliat the Roman Pontiff has the office mcrcl}- of inspection or direction, and not full arid supreme power of jurisdiction over the Universal Clmrcli, not only in things which belong to faith and uioraL-^, but also in those which relate to the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the woiid ; or assert that he possesses merely the principal part, and not all the fullness of this supreme power; or that tliis i)0wer 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 THT TXFAT.LIBLE TEACHING OF THE ROMAN rONTIFF. 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, this Holy See has always held, the perpetual practice of the Cdiurch confirms, and (Ecumenical Councils also have declared, especially those in which the East with the West met in the union of faith and charity. For the P":ithers of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, fol- lowing in the footsteps of their predecessors, gave y ' .\.^ 28 Decrees and Canons forth this solemn profession : The first condition 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 my Church," these things which have been said are approved by events, because in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion and her holy and w^ell-known doctrine has always been kept undefiled. Desiring, therefore, not to be in the least degree sepa- rated from the faith and doctrine of that See, we hope that we may deserve to be in the one communion, which the Apostolic See preaches, in which is the entire and true soHdity of the Christian reliction. And, with the approval of the Second Council of Lyons, the Greeks professed that the Holy Roman Church enjoys supreme and full Primacy and pre-eminence over the whole Catholic Church, which it truly and humbly ac knowledges that it has received with the plenitude of power from our Lord Himself in the person of the blessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles, 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 its judgment. Finally, the Council of Florence defined : 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 (John xxi. 15-17) • St M;5tchcw xvi. 18- of the Vatica7i CoimciL 29 A \ ! I > I i 9i V To satisfy this pastoral duty our predecessors ever made unwearied efforts that the salutary doctrine of Christ might be propagated among all the nations of the earth, and with equal care watched that it might be preserved genuine and pure where it had been re- ceived. Therefore the Bishops of the whole w^orld, now singly, now assembled in synod, following the long established custom of Churches, and the form of the ancient rule, sent word to the Apostolic See of those dangers especially which sprang up in matters of faith, tliat there the losses of faith mij^ht be most effec- tually repaired where the faith cannot fail. And the Roman Pontifis, according to the exigencies of times and circumstance?, sometimes assembling Qicumenical Councils, or asking for the mind of the Church scatter- ed throughout the world, sometimes by particular synods, sometimes using other helps which Divine Providence supplied, defined as to be held those things %vhich with the help of God they had recognized as conformable with the Sacred Scriptures and Apostolic Traditions. For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they mi^rht make known new doctrine, but that bv His as- sistancc they might inviolably keep and faithfully ex- pound the revelation or deposit of faith delivered through the Apostles. And indeed all the venerable Fathers have cmbniced 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 v.. 30 Decrees and Canons of the Vatican CotmciL 31 thy faith fail not, and, when thou art converted, con- firm 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 wdth the pasture of heavenly doc- trine : til it the occasion of schism being removed from the whole Church, it 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 take away from its authority, w^e judge it altogether necessary solemnly to assert the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God vouch- safed to join with the supreme pastoral office. f" Therefore faithfully adhering to the tradition re- ceived from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God Our Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholic Religion, and the salvation of Christian peo- ple, the Sacred Council approving. We teach and de- fine that it is a dogma divinely revealed : that the Ro- man Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathcdrd, that is, wdien in discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, bv virtue of his supreme Apostolic authori- t\' ho ic fines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by th- Universal Church, by the divine assistance promised to him 111 blessed Peter, is possessed of that ^•- St. Luke xxi;. 12. See also the Actsof the Sixth General Council, A.D. 680. A V^ \ infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that 1-Iis Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals : and that therefore such de- finitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of them- selves, and not from the consent of the Church. But if any one — which may God avert — presume to contradict this Our definition; let him be anathema. Given at Rome in Public Session solemnly held in the V'atican Basilica in the year of Our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and seventy, on the eighteenth day of July, in the twenty-fifth year of our Pontifi- cate. /^ /' ■ ATJCTTBTSnOP MAKKI?s-GV^ AV'Ol^KS. i( ii n n II ii u n Sermons on Ecclesiastical Subjects, Vol. I., ** II *' III Temporal Power of the Pope, Essays on Various Subjects (Edited by Dr. Manning), Vol. I. II XX., III., Answer to Gladstone, .... nt>. All remiitaaces and cuuununicatioiis on bu>iness should bo addressed to THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY, T^^rr^ -e Kebue, Gen. Agent, JET NEW YORK. COL UMB A UNIVERS 0026057042 f3C ■^^/s-^ ,;•?• it.i ■Ml' if . ** • \ ■ ' Mil ( )> r/-:! .e»fe%. .-.£-... -