ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



687 



out in all these is so illustrated by the continuous 

 series of facts, that no one of a sound mind can be 

 deceived ; and the op enest species of trifling is 

 stamped on those conditions. 



But, if the Church ought to bear the image of her 

 Divine Author, should not we, who, though unwor- 

 thy, are the vicegerent of Christ on earth, give thanks 

 to Him that He permits us, also, to be surrounded 

 with the mockery of a royal state? Thus, He con- 

 quered the world ; and thus, also, through His 

 spouse, His Church, He will again triumph over the 

 world. 



On the llth of the same month the Pope 

 solemnly declared St. Alphonsus Liguori a 

 doctor of the Church. The decrees of the 

 Vatican Council had been accepted hy the 

 hishops, and promulgated by the Episcopate, 

 without the consent of the civil governments. 

 In Bavaria it was done in the face of an ex- 

 press prohibition. On the 29th of March Dr. 

 von Dollinger, Professor of Ecclesiastical His- 

 tory in the University of Munich, addressed a 

 declaration to the Archbishop of Munich, re- 

 fusing submission to the decree. So much of 

 this declaration as relates to the views enter- 

 tained by Dr. von Dollinger will be found in 

 the following extract : 



Your Excellency has asked me in two letters to 

 explain my position with respect to the Eomish res- 

 olutions of July 18, 1870, which have been published 

 by you. 



It has transpired in the circle of your cathedral 

 chapter that it is your intention to proceed against 

 me with such penal measures as are used only against 

 such priests as have been guilty of gross moral 

 crimes, and even but seldom against these. This is 

 to occur if I do not, within a certain period, submit 

 myself to the two new articles of faith, as to the 

 universal (AllgewaU} power and infallibility of the 

 Pope. 



I learn, at the same time, that a council-meeting 

 of German bishops is to take place shortly at Fulda. 



In the year 1848, when a meeting of all the Ger- 

 man bishops was held at "Wurzburg, the honor of an 

 invitation was extended to myself, and I took part 

 in the proceedings. Your Excellency might perhaps 

 arrange that I might be allowed in the meeting 

 which is about to take place, not this time to take 

 part in the proceedings, but to have an audience for 

 a few hours. 



For I am prepared to prove before this meeting 

 the following theses^ which are of decisive impor- 

 tance to the present situation of the German Church, 

 as well as for my personal position : 



1. The new articles of faith are based upon the 

 texts in the Holy Scriptures, St. Matt. xvi. 18, and 

 St. John xxi. 17, and, as far as infallibility is con- 

 cerned, upon the text, St. Luke xxii. 32, with which 

 the same, biblically considered, must stand or fall. 

 But we are bound by a solemn oath, which I myself 

 have twice sworn, to " accept and explain the 'Holy 

 Scriptures, not otherwise than according to the unan- 

 imous consent of the Fathers." The Fathers of the 

 Church have all, without exception, explained the 

 texts in question as bearing a totally different mean- 

 ing to the new decrees, and especially in the text 

 St. Luke xxii. 32 have found any thing but an infalli- 

 bility given to the Pope. Therefore, were I to accept, 

 with the decree^ this explanation, without which 

 every biblical basis to the same is wanting, I should 

 commit a perjury. And, as I have said, I am pre- 

 pared to prove this to the bishops in council. 



2. In several Episcopal pastorals and notices which 

 have lately appeared, the assertion has been made, 

 or the historical proof sought, that the new doctrine 

 now proceeding from Rome as to the universal power 



of the Pope over every single Christian, and as to 

 the papal infallibility in decisions in the Church on 

 matters of faith from the beginning, through all time 

 and forever, has been generally, or at least nearly 

 generally, believed and taught. I am ready to prove 

 that this assertion is based upon an entire miscon- 

 ception of the traditions of the Church for the first 

 thousand years, and upon an entire distortion of her 

 history. It is in direct contradiction to the plainest 

 facts and testimonies. 



3. I am ready to prove that the bishops of the 

 Latin countries, Spain, Italy, South America, France, 

 who formed the immense majority at Eome, were, 

 with their clergy, already led astray by the class- 

 books from which they took their ideas during their 

 seminary education : since the proofs given in these 

 books are for the most part false, invented, or dis- 

 torted. I shall prove this, firstly, as to the two prin- 

 cipal and favorite works of modern theological schools 

 and seminaries, " The Moral Theology of St. Al- 

 phonsus Liguori" (and especially as regards the 

 treatise contained therein concerning the Pope), and 

 with " The Theology of the Jesuit Perrpne ; " further, 

 as regards the writings of the Archbishop Cardoni, 

 and of Bishop Ghilardi, which were distributed in 

 Koine during the Council ; and, finally, with " The 

 Theology of the Viennese Theologian Schwetz." 



4. I appeal to the fact, which I am ready to prove 

 in public, that two General Councils and several 

 Popes have already decided in the fifteenth century 

 by solemn decrees, issued by the Councils, repeat- 

 edly confirmed by the Popes, the question as to the 

 extent of the Pope's power, and as to his infallibil- 

 ity ; and that the decrees of the 18th of July, 1870, 

 are in the most glaring contradiction to these reso- 

 lutions, and therefore cannot possibly be considered 

 as binding. 



5. I believe that I shall be able to prove that the 

 new decrees are simply incompatible with the Con- 

 stitutions of the states of Europe, and especially with 

 that of Bavaria ; and that I find it impossible for me, 

 who am bound by oath to this Constitution, which I 

 have lately sworn on my admission to the Chamber 

 of the Councillors of State, to accept the new decrees, 

 and, as a necessary consequence, the bulls " Unam 

 Sanctam" and "Cum ex Apostolatus officio," the 

 Syllabus of Pius IX., with so many other papal dec- 

 larations and laws, which are now to be accepted as 

 infallible decisions, and are in irreconcilable antag- 

 onism to the laws of the country. I appeal on this 

 subject to the opinion given by the legal faculty in 

 Munich, and am ready to abide by the arbitration 

 of any German legal faculty which your Excellency 

 may be pleased to name. 



I ask only two conditions for the conference which 

 I have proposed, or rather prayed for : the first, that 

 my assertions, together with any counter-assertions, 

 shall be recorded, with a view to their subsequent 

 publication ; the second, that a man of scientific cul- 

 ture, to be chosen by me, shall be allowed to be 

 present at the conference. 



Should this be unattainable before the German 

 bishops in Fulda, I venture most respectfully to 

 proffer another request, that it may please your Ex- 

 cellency to form, out of the members of your cathe- 

 dral chapter, a committee, before which I may plead 

 my cause in the way above mentioned. Several of 

 these venerable gentlemen are doctors, and were for- 

 merly professors of theology, and at the same time 

 my former scholars. I may hope that it would bo 

 more agreeable to them to treat me with quiet argu- 

 ment, to confute me, if possible, with reasons and 

 facts, than to draw up, upon the seat of judgment, 

 criminal sentences against me, and to submit the 

 same to your Excellency, to be fulminated, as the 

 saying is. If your Excellency will consent to pre- 

 side at this conference, and to condescend to correct 

 any errors into which I may have fallen in the cita- 

 tion and explanation of testimonies and facts, I shall 

 count it as a great honor, and the cause of truth can 



