686 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



Melville Bull and A. B. Capron, Republicans, were 

 elected members of Congress. 



The State Legislature will have on joint ballot 

 104 Republicans and 5 Democrats. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The year 

 1896 was marked by a renewal of Pope Leo XII I's 

 agitation of the question of the reunion of Chris- 

 tendom. The Holy Father's encyclical of the pre- 

 ceding year was supplemented by a second letter on 

 the subject, which was made public in America by 

 Cardinal Gibbons on June 30. Mr. Gladstone hav- 

 ing earnestly and sympathetically replied to the 

 letter of 1895 through Cardinal Kampolla, this sec- 

 ond encyclical was generally regarded as in some 

 degree an answer to Mr. Gladstone, and as paving 

 the way for a decision adverse to the validity of 

 Anglican orders. The letter clearly defines the 

 position of the Catholic Church on the question of 

 the reunion of Christendom, and sets forth in de- 

 tail the authority that belongs to the Church. It 

 opens with a reiteration of the love of the Mother 

 Church for "all sheep that have gone astray," and 

 describes the exemplar nature and the lineaments 

 of the Church, the most worthy of consideration of 

 these being set down as that of unity. In short, 

 the encyclical gives amplified reasons why all the 

 Christians of the world should be united, and points 

 out what the Holy Father believes to be the only 

 true path to Church unity. The gist of its argu- 

 ment may be gathered from this quotation : 



' ; It is the nature and object of a foundation to 

 support the unity of the whole edifice and to give 

 stability to it, rather than to each component part ; 

 and in the present case this is much more appli- 

 cable, since Christ the Lord wished that by the 

 strength and solidity of the foundation the gates of 

 hell should be prevented from prevailing against 

 the Church. . . . Surely jurisdiction and authority 

 belong to him in whose power have been placed 

 the keys of the kingdom of heaven, not alone in all 

 provinces taken singly, but in all taken collectively. 

 And as the bishops, each in his own district, com- 

 mand with real power not only individuals, but the 

 whole community, so the Roman pontiffs, whose 

 jurisdiction extends to the whole Christian com- 

 monwealth, must have all its parts, even taken col- 

 lectively, subject and obedient to their authority. 

 Christ the Lord, as we have quite sufficiently shown, 

 made Peter and his successors his vicars, to exer- 

 cise forever in the Church the power which he exer- 

 cised during his mortal life." 



On Sept. 20 the Pope issued a brief encyclical ur- 

 gently recommending the constant use of the rosary 

 as a " means of safeguarding the happiness and 

 peace which God has most mercifully granted to 

 mankind in his august mother," and explaining 

 that the form of prayer recommended obtained the 

 special name of rosary because " it represented by 

 its arrangements the sweetness of roses and the 

 charm of a garland." The rosary is recommended 

 as " most fitting for a method of venerating the 

 Virgin, who is rightly styled the Mystical Rose of 

 Paradise," its chief efficacy being the formation of 

 perseverance in prayer. 



In the same month, September, the most impor- 

 tant papal bull of the year was issued. It settles 

 the question of the validity of Anglican orders so 

 far as the Catholic Church is concerned. In his 

 prefatorial remarks, the Pope reverts to the ques- 

 tion of Church unity, and acknowledges the gener- 

 ous way in which his zeal and plainness of speech 

 on that subject have been met by the English peo- 

 ple. The letter then sets forth the reasons why the 

 questions concerning the validity of Anglican or- 

 ders was opened for re-examination : 



"In these last years especially a controversy has 

 sprung up as to whether the sacred orders con- 



ferred according to the Edwardine ordinal pos- 

 sessed the nature and effect of a sacrament ; those 

 in favor of the absolute validity, or of a doubtful 

 validity, being not only certain Anglican writers, 

 but some few Catholics, chiefly non-English.'' 



Both Anglican and Catholic writers urged that 

 in view of recently discovered testimony the ques- 

 tion ought to have a re-examination. Yielding to 

 this desire, the Holy Father appointed a commis- 

 sion of learned theologians, one of whom was known 

 to favor the validity of Anglican orders. They met 

 in Rome, and after months of research they came 

 to the conclusions that are set forth in the apos- 

 tolic letter. They agreed that the question laid be- 

 fore them had been already adjudicated upon with 

 full knowledge of the apostolic see, and that this 

 renewed discussion and examination of the issues 

 had only served to bring out more clearly the wis- 

 dom and accuracy witli which that decision had 

 been made. Their judgment was summed up by 

 the Pope in the following words: 



" Wherefore, strictly adhering in this matter to 

 the decrees of the pontiffs, our predecessors, and 

 confirming them most fully, and, as it were, renew- 

 ing them by our authority, of our own motion and 

 certain knowledge wo pronounce and declare that 

 ordinations carried out according to the Anglican 

 rite have been and are absolutely null and utterly 

 void." 



It was held that : 1. The form prescribed by the 

 ordinal of Edward VI was defective, and therefore 

 null. 2. ''With this inherent defect of form is 

 joined the defect of intention, which is equally es- 

 sential to the sacrament." It is shown that the 

 Church lias always held these propositions, both in 

 practice and in theory; that Cardinal Pole, as far 

 back as l.">.">4. who was appointed by Pope Julius 

 III, and confirmed a year later by Paul IV, to ex- 

 amine into the validity of orders conferred accord- 

 ing to the Edwardine ordinal, declared all such or- 

 ders invalid. 



The following quotation from the closing part of 

 the letter gives evidence that the Pope has real faith 

 in the possibility of accomplishing the Roman 

 scheme of Church unity. lie is firmly convinced 

 that there is gravitation of Protestantism, at least 

 on the part of the Anglican Church, toward the 

 bosom of the Catholic Church : 



We wish to direct our exhortation and our de- 

 sires in a special way to those who are ministers of 

 religion in their respective communities. They are 

 men who from their very office take precedence in 

 learning and authority, and who have at heart the 

 glory of God and the salvation of souls. Let them 

 be the first in joyfully submitting to the divine call, 

 and obey it and furnish a glorious example to 

 others. Assuredly with an exceeding great joy 

 their Mother, the Church, will welcome them, and 

 will cherish with all her love and care those whom 

 the strength of their generous souls has amid many 

 trials and difficulties led back to her bosom. Nor 

 could words express the recognition which this de- 

 voted courage will win for them from the assem- 

 blies of the brethren throughout the Catholic world, 

 or what hope of confidence it will merit for them 

 before Christ as their judge, or what reward it will 

 obtain from Him in the heavenly kingdom ! " 



This encyclical gave rise to prolonged discussion 

 in the press, the editor of a leading Catholic journal 

 expressing the belief that "Pope Leo's letter on 

 Anglican orders will bring many High Churchmen 

 into the true Church." 



That Leo XIII does not regard the reunion of 

 Christendom as a dream, may be inferred from the 

 announcement that early in 1896 he established a 

 new congregation in Rome, whose duty it will be 

 to treat all questions having reference to this re- 



