C'.'J 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



crime, we proscribed any and every project of an 

 enactment of such kind. We declared null every 

 acquisition of property thus robbed ; and wo repeat- 

 ed the censures that were incurred, ytofaeto, by the 

 authors, and by the promoters, or enactment* of 

 aooh nort. 



Not only by the Church hag this enactment been 

 branded aa antagonistic to divine :i:i 1 < > li'sm-ii.-al 

 Law ; but by the lights of public legal science, on 

 subversive of all natural and humun justice ; and so, 

 of it* own nature, void and null. But we see it ac- 

 cepted to-day, by the votes of the Legislative As- 

 sembly and of the Sanate ; and, finally, sactioned by 

 royal authority. 



We judge it best. Venerable Brethren, to refrain 

 from repeating all that we have so often largely set 

 forth, hoping to deter these wicked rulers from their 

 attempt, in regard to the sacrilege, the m:ili 

 end, ana the most grave injuries ot this enactment. 

 But we are forced by the duty of vindicating the 

 rights of the Church, by the solicitude of warning 

 the careless, and by very charity lor the guilty, to 

 raise our voice and 'to declare to all those who have 

 not hesitated to propose, or to approve, or to sanc- 

 tion this aforesaid most iiii<(uit >us enactment; and 

 to all commissioners, promoter*, counselors, ad- 

 herents, executors, or purchasers of ecclesiastical 

 property, that whatever they have done, or may doj 

 u to no valuable account, but void, and null. And 

 not only so, but that they are, in the act of any par- 

 ticipation whatever, each and all of them, stricken 

 with the major excommunication, and with yet other 

 ecclesiastical pains and penalties, according to the 

 Sacred Canons, Apostolical Constitutions, and De- 

 cree* inflicted by General Councils, and especially 

 by the Council or Trent ; and that they have fallen 

 into the most terrible vengeance of God, and are 

 walking in plain peril of eternal damnation. 



Meantime, Venerable Brethren, while necessary 

 aids to our sovereign ministry are withdrawn mom 

 and more, while wrongs are heaped on wrongs tow- 

 ard persons and things sacred, while here and abroad 

 the persecutors of the Church seem to be concerting 

 their plots and joining their forces for tin- 

 smothering of the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdic- 

 tion ; and, to give a special instance, perhaps to in- 

 terfere with the free election of him who is to sit as 

 the Vicar of Christ in this chair of Peter, what is 

 left to as except that wo should, with all earnI- 

 BM*, take refuge in Him who is rich in mercy, and 

 deserts never nil servants in the time of' their 

 trouble! 



And, verily, the power of Divine Providence is 

 shown clearly in the perfect union of all the bishops 

 with this If'.lv Bee, in their nobla steadfastness 

 against wicked enactments, and the usurpation of 

 sacred rights; In the unbounded devotion of the 

 whole Catholic household to this centre of unity ; in 

 that life-giving spirit, with which faith and charity 

 ire bursting forth, everywhere, in works worthy of 

 the best days of the Chur -h. 



Let us, then, strive f> make ready the desired 

 eason of mercy. Let us all together, throughout 

 the world, try to do a pious violence to oar God. 

 Let all prelate* rouse their parish orients to this. 

 Let ill parish priests tlr up the people of their sev- 

 eral flocks. Let us, all and together, prostrate, and 

 bowed down bnforo our altars, cry out: Cant, O 

 Lord,mmt /Way not/ Span Thy ptoph, hoten Ou 

 burdeiuofThyJIackt BtMd our aetoln'linl It u 

 not fluting jutiijl.-ntinnt fur oimelrr* tin' it" pour 

 out ovrprayen btfore Thy face, hut far the mu'' 

 of Thy Under mtreiet.'' S'ir wn 'Thy pnieer, and 

 eomt ; Amt Thu/aee, and w thill bt ttutdt 



And although we may bo conscious of onr un- 

 worthiness, let us not fear to draw nigh, confidently, 

 to the Throne of Grace. Let us seek that throne by 

 the lntrcRs*lon of all who now surround it. Espe- 

 cially, let us seek it tlir -"xtlcs; let 

 tu aeok It through th< .f the 

 Mother of Ood (St. Joseph) ; lot as seek It, above 



all, through the Virgin Immaculate, whose interces- 

 sions with lier Son have the relation, in a certain 

 way, of commands. 



But, as a preparation for this, let us strive earnest- 

 ly I i cleanse our conscience from dtad work*. For 

 il is "on thnte that art jutt tht Lord alt kit tya ; 

 and it into their pray en that hit tan art open." 



That this may be accomplished more ivrtainly, 

 and more fully, we grant, by our apostolical author- 

 ity, to all the taithlul who will have duly confessed 

 and communed, and will have prayed fur the neces- 

 sities of the Church, in these matters, a 1'U-nury In- 

 dulgence, to be once gained, on whatever Jay the 

 Ordinary, in each diocese, shall have appointed: 

 which Indulgence may be applied for the souls of 

 the faithful departed 



Therefore, Venerable Brethren, though countless 

 and very lu-.i\\ r-t'.rm- of persecutions and troubles 

 rage, let us not lose courage on that account. For 

 wo are trusting in Him who never suffers those that 

 hope in Him to be confounded. For il is the prom- 

 ise of God which cannot be forgotten: ' 1 will de- 

 liver him, txcaute In hat hoped in tut I " 



The suppression of the Roman University, 

 and of the chair of Theology in tlio various 

 Italian universities, was also effected, BO that 

 the higher education of secular ami regular 

 clergy WHS rendered almost impossible in It:ily. 



The affairs of the Church in Switzerland 

 early in the year assumed a serious aspect. 

 On the occasion of issuing a doeroo in regard 

 to proceeding to the canonization of !'.] 

 Benedict of Labre, and Blessed Andrea da 

 Buririo, Pius IX., January Kith, nominated 

 Mgr. Menuillod Vicar-Apostle of Geneva, 

 thus relieving him from even nominal depend- 

 ence on the Bishop of Lausanne, without mak- 

 ing him Bishop of Geneva. The Government 

 of Geneva, in a circular, derlared his nomina- 

 tion an attempt against the authority of the 

 state, and ordered him to leave Swiss territory, 

 it' he attempted to act. Ho was accordingly 

 arrested at Geneva on the 17th of February. 

 and. in spite of his protest against the uncon- 

 stitntionality of the act, forcibly conveyed be- 

 yond the frontiers into France. He soon re- 

 ceived a letter of encouragement from the 

 Pope, and, on the 22d of March, sent a pr 

 to the council discussing the whole question. 

 It was returned to him by M. Nantier, Presi- 

 dent of the Council of State of Geneva, but 

 was again sent by the bishop, who insisted, as 

 a Swiss citizen, on his right to have it laid be- 

 fore the council. 



A law was then passed, March 2.1d. followed 

 by another of August 20, which established nn 

 entirely new system for the Catholic Church. 

 making now divisions of parishes, requiring 

 the clergy to be elected by Cat holies, whose 

 names appeared on the cantonal list of electors, 

 and forbidding any priest to perform any act 

 as such until approved by the Government. 

 These laws wore not allowed to remain a dead 

 letter, two priests having been arrested at the 

 altur on the 29th of March. When the elec- 

 tion for parish priests c:imo off, the Catholics 

 in communion with the Pope could not vote 

 without forfeiting their membership, and ab- 

 d. Those who shared the views of the 

 Old Catholics voted, M. Loyson (Father Ilya- 



