Letters From Rome on the Council Part 31

130 See, _e.g._, Tartarotti, _Apologia del Congresso_, etc., p. 176.

_ 131 Decr._ ii. 24, 27.

132 D'Achery, _Spicileg._ iii. 714. ["Vobis et successoribus vestris Regibus et Reginis Franciae in perpetuum indulgemus, ut confessor religiosus vel saecularis quem vestrum vel eorum quilibet duxerit eligendnm, vota per vos forsitan jam emissa, _ac per vos et successores vestros in posterum emittenda_ ... necnon juramenta per vos praest.i.ta, _et per vos et eos praestanda in posterum_, quae vos et illi _servare commode non possitis_, vobis et eis commutare valeat in alia opera pietatis." Two cases are reserved, viz., vows of chast.i.ty and _vows taken to the Pope_.-TR.]

133 Bzov. _Annal. Eccl._ an. 1555, p. 306, ed. Colon.

134 Dodd, _Church History of England_, iii. 288; _Tractat. Dogmat. et Scholast. de Ecclesia_, Romae, 1782, ii. 245.

135 D'Acheray, _Spicileg._ iii. 721.

_ 136 Acta Sanct. Bolland._ Ap. 23, p. 157.

137 Spondani, _Annal. Eccl. Contin._ ii. 595.

_ 138 Decr. de Transl._ c. ii. 3, 4. [Cf. _Ja.n.u.s_, pp. 55, 56.]

_ 139 Decr._ iv. 1, 16.

_ 140 Dist._ 81, c. 15.

_ 141 Concil. Gangrens._ can. 4.

_ 142 Concil._ ed. Labbe, t. xiii. pp. 1322, 3.

143 See Amort, _De Indulg._ i. 146.

144 D'Argentre, _Collectio Judiciorum_, Paris, 1728, iii. 297.

_ 145 Clementin._ i. 5, De Usuris, t.i.t. 5.

146 [On this subject, as also on persecution, the reader may profitably consult _Papal Infallibility and Persecution; Papal Infallibility_ and _Usury_. By an English Catholic. Macmillan, 1870.-TR.]

147 [This had been protested against by the minority. Cf. _supr._ pp.

327-8.]

148 The text of the speech, as it is now printed in the journals, has been subsequently corrected and toned down.

149 "Il est sans doute de certaines fonctions ou, tenant, pour ainsi dire, la place de Dieu, nous semblons etre partic.i.p.ants de sa connaissance, aussi bien que de son autorite," etc.-Lemontey, p. 151 (ed. de Bruxelles).

150 1 Cor. ii. 14.

_ 151 Pachym._ II. 20, ed. Bonn.

152 According to a letter of his which reached Breslau the 12th July, permission to depart has been refused him.

153 [The same strange confusion of thought seems still to prevail among some fervid infallibilists of the English and Irish Episcopate, to judge from their pastorals issued since the decree of July 18.-TR.]

154 Meanwhile the _Unita_ of July 15 has already begun to indicate the wholesome political fruits which may be looked for from the dogma of infallibility. Gallicanism, which demanded fixed guarantees against papal decisions, has paved the way, according to Margotti, for const.i.tutionalism and parliamentarism; for after a Pope whose decrees _ex cathedra_ are not irreformable, comes a king limited by the Const.i.tution, and then the era of parliamentary revolutions and political storms is introduced. But now the bright example set by the Bishops in their submission to the infallible Pope will restore not France only, but the whole of Europe. From them the nations will learn to submit as children to their sovereigns, the kingdom of unrighteousness will pa.s.s away, and the kingdom of G.o.d succeed. That is plain speaking; absolutism in the Church will lead to absolutism in the State. Margotti then surrenders himself to the most brilliant hopes, predicts unprecedented miracles, and records those which have been already wrought for infallibility during the Council, or will immediately be wrought. We cannot venture to withhold them from our readers. First, it seemed impossible to attain an agreement of the Bishops on the proclamation of infallibility; all wanted to speak, and the discussion seemed likely to be endless. But the Holy Ghost unexpectedly interposed; above sixty Bishops waved their right to speak, and the _Schema_ was voted and approved. Secondly, a great opposition of all the governments was feared, who only kept quiet while they watched the quarrels of the Bishops themselves in the Council. But scarcely had the Bishops shown themselves unanimous, when the Hohenzollern question turned up, which absorbs everybody's attention, and leaves the Church in peace. The third miracle is still in the future-the dogma will suddenly dissipate the menaces of war, because the word of G.o.d, like the Son of G.o.d, only comes into the world in the midst of universal peace.

155 The impending war led to its being held earlier.

156 [On the essential connection between the infallibility and the impeccability of the Popes, see _Ja.n.u.s_, pp. 113 _sqq._, and Maret, _Du Concile General_, vol. ii. ch. 13.-TR.]

157 [The decree of Constance defines that "every lawfully convoked c.u.menical Council representing the Church derives its authority immediately from Christ, and every one, the Pope included, is subject to it in matters of faith, in the healing of schism, and the reformation of the Church." It was carried in full Council without a dissentient voice.-TR.]

158 [That in fact is exactly what Antonelli calls it in his circular.-TR.]

159 This is emphatically a.s.serted in a sermon preached last year at Kensington by Archbishop Manning, where he says, speaking in the Pope's name, "I claim to be the Supreme Judge and director of the consciences of men; of the peasant that tills the field and the prince that sits on the throne; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy _and the Legislature that makes laws for kingdoms_-I am the sole last Supreme Judge of what is right and wrong."

160 These letters are taken from the _Journal des Debats_ of May 6 and 11. The Bishops of Ma.r.s.eilles and Montpellier are said to be the writers.

161 Lire: spartiates.

162 From the _Gazette de France_ of June 28. The Vicar-General of an eminent French Bishop, who had been at Rome, is the reputed author.