IICWAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



857 



Of 19 bishops in England and Scotland, 4 

 nre retired. The number, 207, given for the 

 clergy of Scotland, does not include priests 

 win* are retired, or who are at present unat- 

 tached. The numbers given for the churches, 

 dispels, and stations, for. 1870, do not in- 

 clude private chapels ; in former years private 

 chapels wore included. 



The number of Roman Catholic peers is 35, 

 against 83 in 1869; the number of Roman 

 Catholic baronets is 49, against 48 in 1869. 

 The number of Roman Catholic members of 

 the House of Commons is 37, against 86 in 

 1869. 



According to the London Catholic Directory, 

 the number of archbishoprics in the British 

 dominions in 1870 was 10 (against 9 in 1869); 

 the number of bishoprics was 69 (against 70 in 

 1869) ; and the number of vicariates was 82 

 (against 81 in 1869). There are seven vacan- 

 cies in the dioceses and vicariates. The total 

 number of archbishops and bishops in the Brit- 

 ish Empire, including coadjutors, and includ- 

 ing also four (living in Groat Britain) who are 

 retired, is 114. 



The most important event in the modern 

 history of the Roman Catholic Church is the 

 Vatican Council, which met on December 8, 



1869, and continued its sessions until July, 



1870. An accurate history of the Council can- 

 not yet be given, because there is not only 

 wanting an official report of the proceedings, 

 but all who took part in the proceedings were 

 bound by a solemn oath to observe the strict- 

 est silence. Nevertheless, a number of de- 

 tailed accounts of the full proceedings of the 

 Council have been published, the most famous 

 of which is the series of letters addressed to 

 the Allgemeine Zeitung of Augsburg, and sub- 

 sequently published under the title, " EdmiscJie 

 Brief e" von Quirinus (" Roman Letters by Qui- 

 rinus "). The accuracy of all these reports is lia- 

 ble to the gravest suspicion, and as regards 

 the Roman letters of Quirinus, in a French 

 pamphlet entitled, "Ce guise passe au Concile" 

 and several other pamphlets, we have the offi- 

 cial declaration of the Council itself, or a num- 

 ber of bishops, that they are gross misstate- 

 ments of the real facts. On the other hand, it 

 is generally admitted that, by the same channels 

 through which the accounts contained in the 

 above books were obtained, several important 

 documents were made public before the offi- 

 cial permission to publish them was given. 



The fifth General Congregation of the coun- 

 cil, on the 80th of December, 1869, was the 

 final meeting of the year. The first General 

 Congregation of 1871 the sixth of the coun- 

 cil was held on the third of January. At 

 this meeting the publication was made of the 

 names of the special congregation, or deputa- 

 tion de Ordinibus Regularibus, consisting of 

 twenty-four members. At this, and the ses- 

 sion of the next day, numerous speeches were 

 delivered in opposition to the schemata. The at- 

 tention which had been drawn to the strength 

 VOL. 



of the opposition was thought to be the cause 

 of a papal order prohibiting the publication of 

 the names of the speakers in the official jour- 

 nal. The second public session of the coun- 

 cil was celebrated on January 6th, with a 

 solemn profession of faith by the sovereign 

 Pontiff and all the fathers. No decree was 

 promulgated at this session. All represent- 

 atives of reigning royal families, except a 

 prince of Hohenzollern, were absent. The dis- 

 cussion of the first schema de Fide Catholica 

 was ended at the ninth General Congregation, 

 on January 10th, and the schema, with the 

 amendments proposed, was sent to the depu- 

 tation de Fide for their consideration. At 

 the next General Congregation, January 14th, 

 the discussion on Ecclesiastical Discipline was 

 opened. At the twelfth General Congrega- 

 tion, January 19th, the names of the 24 mem- 

 bers of the Congregation or Deputation de Mit- 

 sionibuset Ritibus Orientalibus were published. 

 On the 26th of January a petition, bearing the 

 names of three cardinals and 124 archbishops 

 and bishops, against the promulgation of the 

 dogma of infallibility, was taken to the Vat- 

 ican. It was drawn up by Cardinal Rau- 

 scher, Archbishop of Vienna, and entreated 

 the Pope not to submit the dogma to the dis- 

 cussion of the council. The reason urged was, 

 "that the Church has to sustain a .struggle 

 just now unknown in former times, against 

 men who oppose religion itself as an institu- 

 tion baneful to human nature, so that it seems 

 inopportune to impose upon the Catholic na- 

 tions, led into temptation by so many machi- 

 nations on every side, more dogmas than the 

 Council of Trent proclaimed." In conclusion, 

 the address says that "the definition which is 

 demanded would furnish fresh arms to the 

 enemies of religion to excite against the Cath- 

 olic Church the resentment even of men avow- 

 edly the best," and give to the European gov- 

 ernments " a motive or a pretext for encroach- 

 ing upon the rights the Church still possesses." 

 The Pope returned it, saying it related to a 

 question in which ho could not interfere, and 

 suggested that it should be sent to the commis- 

 sion de Postulate. At the twenty-third Gen- 

 eral Congregation, February 8th, the discus- 

 sion on the three schemata of Ecclesiastical 

 Discipline was closed, and they were referred 

 to the Deputation de Disciplina. At the next 

 General Congregation, February 10th, a fourth 

 schema on discipline, de Parto Catechismo (on 

 the Little Catechism), was taken up. The dis- 

 cussion on this point was closed at the twenty- 

 ninth General Congregation, February 29th.. 

 The decree Apostolicis Litteris, the object of 

 which was to expedite the proceedings of the- 

 council, was published on this day. After this 

 session an interval was given to allow time for 

 the deputations de Fide and de Disciplina to 

 consider the amendments offered by the 

 fathers. On the 7th of March, a formula re- 

 specting the infallibility of the Pontiff was 

 distributed for the examination of the fathers, 



