1828.] C 25 ] 



BISHOPS AND LAITY IN PARTIBUS INFIDEUUM. 



. 



WHAT is a bishop in partibus, of whom so much is heard in some parts 

 of Europe ? He is a canon, priest, prior, abbot, deacon, dean, superior, 

 nuncio, legate, or other kind of ecclesiastic, whom the Pope determines 

 to promote to the honours of the prelacy, without having a Catholic 

 diocese to bestow, and on whom, therefore, he confers a bishopric in some 

 heathen land (in partibus infidelium), where there is sometimes not a 

 Catholic soul to be found. " But how," said the unfortunate Montezuma, 

 <{ can the Pope give away that which is not his own to bestow ?" The 

 objection was overruled, and proved absurd, by the sword of Cortes : 

 and surely the Pontiff who could thus dispose of a whole continent, with 

 all its empires, kingdoms, tribes, gold, and gods, can give an episcopal 

 title to some ruin in Nubia, Palestine, or Mesopotamia, where there are 

 no treasures to be plundered, and no rights to be usurped. His holiness 

 is of course infallible, and therefore not liable to human caprices, other- 

 wise we should think it not a little odd, that he should erect a mitred 

 head, like a historical monument, among the ruins of Babylon or Per- 

 sepolis, where there is not even a hermit, an Agnus Dei, or a crucifix to 

 be seen, and refuse one to London, where we have so many rich chapels 

 and devout worshippers. Why should the broken pillars of Tyre or 

 Carthage have an archbishop, and the populous capital of England be 

 limited to a vicar-general ? Is it that the soul of a Catholic cockney is 

 not of so much value as that of a wandering Arab, or a Mahometan 

 bandit, who prowls among the ruins of these fallen cities ? or is it that 

 the Pope, as head of the church, considers himself as much bishop of 

 London as of Rome, and desires to honour the Catholic church of 

 England by reigning over it himself, through the medium of his vicars ? 



However that may be, his holiness is resolved that the church in par- 

 tibus shall not languish for want of pastors. A consistory was held at 

 the Vatican some months ago, in which thirteen episcopal promotions or 

 appointments took place. Of these thirteen, five archbishops and three 

 bishops were nominated to charges in partibus. In the list we have an 

 archbishop of Athens, an archbishop of Tyre, an archbishop of Nisibi, 

 an archbishop of Thebes, and an archbishop of Nazianza ; a bishop of 

 Ascalon, a bishop of Imola, and a bishop of Jericho. Three of these 

 have been honoured with a cardinal's hat ; and probably as many more of 

 the number, whom his holiness still retains in petto, may be advanced to 

 titles as ancient, dioceses as venerable, and duties as laborious. We 

 need scarcely mention that the episcopal functions of Tyre, Ascalon, and 

 Jericho (possessing, as these cities do, no inhabitants), are not likely to 

 embarrass the attention, or to overload the responsibility, of their right 

 reverend guides ; and that the spiritual improvement of their invisible 

 flocks will occupy about as much of their cares, as if their diocese was 

 one of the spots in the sun. To the uninitiated it might even seem 

 uncertain, whether the Thebes which has recently been honoured with 

 an archbishop, is Thebes in Bceotia, or Thebes in Upper Egypt, whose 

 hundred gates are more talked of in history and poetry, than its religious 

 establishments 



Ubi vetus Thebe centum jacet obrata Portis. 



In the latter case, the venerable archbishop of Thebes will be, as to 

 -diocese, the near neighbour, perhaps the ecclesiastical superior, of the 

 M. M. New Scries. VOL. V. No. 25. , E 



