But even the opposition of the French Bishops will produce no results, if the decisions of the Council are to depend on majorities, for there can be no doubt that Rome may safely count on the great majority upholding her designs. We should have a repetition of what occurred in the Doctrinal Commission, when the question of Infallibility came before it, and a Monsignore and titular Bishop, residing in Rome, produced a memorial intended to prove that this high prerogative of the Pope had been the abiding faith of the Church all along, and arguing from this belief for the opportuneness of promulgating the new dogma, on the ground especially, among others, that at no period had the Bishops been so devoted to the Holy See as now. It is natural to expect of men so submissive, and so ready to follow every hint of the Papal will, that they should joyfully seize the occasion for offering this grand homage also to the Pope. This was so conclusive to the Committee that they all decided at once, without any discussion, for the promulgation of the new dogma. Only one of the two German theologians, Alzog of Freiburg, opposed it; Schwetz of Vienna, on the other hand, fully agreed. For Rome, therefore, the question is settled, and whoever is otherwise minded at once forfeits his character for Catholic orthodoxy.
Nor is there any more doubt about making the Syllabus dogmatic, for Roman prelates, who wish to have the character of being very enlightened, openly affirm that the propositions contained in it might already be regarded as dogmas. And it is stated on the best authority, even by high dignitaries themselves, that the whole of the seventeen questions laid before the assembled episcopate by Cardinal Caterini at the time of the Centenary, are to come before the Council for discussion, on the basis of the opinions then transmitted by the Bishops to Rome. And as a considerable number of these questions concern the relations of Church and State —e. g., civil marriage, the relations of Bishops to the civil power, etc., – it is clear enough what credit is to be given to the assurances that the Council will not deal with any matter that could involve the Church in conflict with the State. It was found almost necessary, after public opinion had been alarmed by the Civiltà, to change the method of procedure. It was either expressly denied that the Council would deal with such matters as the Civiltà had indicated, or it was said that even in Rome what subjects would come on for discussion and decision was unknown, since the intentions of the Bishops, at present scattered over all parts of the world, were not known, and on the general ground that the decisions of a Council acting under Divine guidance cannot be conjectured beforehand. As if the recent Provincial Synods, and the answers of the Bishops to the questions laid before them by Caterini, had not supplied Rome with a perfectly clear understanding of their views! As if it was not notorious that the work the Council was desired to accomplish had been already cut out for it in detail in the preparatory Congregations!
Now, at length, if we may trust a communication dated from Rome in the Donau Zeitung, the authorities seem inclined to abandon this system of playing at hide-and-seek with the public, and find it necessary, in some measure at least, to lift the mask from their designs for the Council. Pius ix. himself is said no longer to make any secret of his intention to bring forward the question of Infallibility; but he declares that the Council will be left entirely free in discussing and deciding on it, and that it will only be raised to a dogma if a large majority pronounce for it. And with this agrees a recent statement of Antonelli, made in the teeth of his earlier declarations, that the Holy Father will meet the Council with positive proposals of his own, and that no doubt can be allowed as to the acceptance of his authority. This last clause shows what is meant in Rome by the so-called freedom to be enjoyed by the Council. If then that freedom is all of a sudden pointedly dwelt on, this is only one of the devices of the Curia for hoodwinking public opinion, just as eminent theologians of liberal tendencies were summoned to the previous Commissions, which were none the less occupied with duties of a precisely opposite kind.
It may be conceived that loyal but far-sighted Catholics, like Montalembert, are profoundly afflicted at the course things are taking in questions of decisive interest for the authority and the whole future of the Church, The religious indifference of the age will prevent any open schism in the Catholic Church, but the internal apostasy will be all the more extensive. All modern culture will separate itself in spirit from the Church, which has nothing but anathemas for the development of the human mind. And when an Œcumenical Council, which is the highest teaching authority in the Church, degenerates into the instrument of an extreme party, and sanctions doctrines in glaring contradiction to the teaching and history of the Church, the very foundation on which the confidence of faith has hitherto reposed is undermined and destroyed. And thus the ever growing rejection of Christianity will be powerfully strengthened, so that even believing Protestants watch with sorrow an Œcumenical Council preparing to compromise its authority. Very different, of course, is the view of men like Manning and Ward, who fancy the definition of Papal Infallibility will be a short and easy way for restoring their countrymen to the bosom of the Catholic Church. Pius ix. himself is indeed convinced that he is only building up the Church and crowning her work in placing the dogma of Infallibility on it as a cupola.
It has been thought fit by statesmen to exercise no constraint on the designs of the Curia, but to await its decisions, and afterwards, if they should be menacing to political interests, to employ measures of repression. This conduct cannot, of course, accord with the mind of believing Catholics who are not ultramontanes, as it leaves their obligations towards those articles of faith untouched, and cannot annul the definitions for their consciences. But the question arises, whether from a political point of view this expedient must not be pronounced a mistake. Consider the dangerous influence conciliar decrees provoking hostility against the modern State and its civilisation may exert on those numerous classes, which are always in the hands of the clergy, and form an important factor in the life of the State. Consider, again, what is to be expected in this respect of a clergy who, as everything serves to indicate, will hereafter more than ever before be alienated from all modern culture, on the express ground of the decrees of the approaching Council, educated in a spirit of hostility to the State, and made into a mere passive instrument of Rome. It is difficult to exaggerate the conflicts between Church and State that may be expected to follow.
The Fulda Pastoral. (Allg. Zeit., Sept. 25, 1869.)
The Pastoral which the Bishops assembled at Fulda ordered to be read in all the Churches under their jurisdiction is an important document. It reflects the excited and abnormal state of feeling prevalent among Catholics, since the Jesuits, and some Prelates allied with them, have announced the design of using the Council for proclaiming new dogmas, especially that of Papal Infallibility. “Even among loyal and zealous members of the Church,” say the Bishops, “anxieties calculated to weaken confidence are being excited.” The object and main substance of their Pastoral is directed to allaying those anxieties, and assuring German Catholics that their Bishops at least will not assent to the projected dogmas. They have solemnly pledged their word, before the whole nation, that they will avouch at the Council the three following principles —first, “That the Council can establish no new dogmas, or any others than are written by faith and conscience on all your (German Catholics') hearts;” secondly, “That a General Council never will or can proclaim a new doctrine not contained in Holy Scripture or Apostolic Tradition;” thirdly, That only “the old and original truth will be set in clearer light.”
This indeed is very re-assuring. The Jesuits have proclaimed that the bodily Assumption of the Holy Virgin and the Infallibility of the Pope are to be made dogmas at the Council. The Bishops are aware that the two Jesuit organs, the Civiltà, and Rheinischen Stimmen, from the Monastery of Laach, as well as the Archbishop of Mechlin (Deschamps), and Bishop Plantier of Nîmes, have put forward the erection of Papal Infallibility into a dogma of the Universal Church. Moreover, the assembly at Fulda knew well enough that the preliminary materials for this definition were already prepared at Rome. Now nobody will seriously maintain that these two opinions are written by faith and conscience on the heart of every Catholic, or are doctrines contained in Scripture and Tradition, and ancient and original truths. The Pastoral therefore contains a promise, worded with all the distinctness that could be desired, that, so far as it depends on the votes of the German Bishops, the yoke of the new articles