644 OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



ONTARIO. 



OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Old Catholic 

 Church originated in the dissent of a portion 

 of the Roman Catholic clergy of Germany from 

 the decree asserting the infallibility of the Pope 

 when speaking ex cathedra, which was promul- 

 gated in accordance with the resolution passed 

 by the Vatican Council of 1870. About two 

 hundred of the 744 bishops who attended the 

 Council refused to vote for the decree, and a 

 number of them asserted for a time a deter- 

 mination not to abide by it. They were all, 

 however, ultimately won to obedience ; and it 

 devolved upon Dr. Dollinger, of the University 

 of Munich, who had gained eminence as a the- 

 ological writer, to give voice to the sentiment 

 of opposition within the Church to the " Vati- 

 can decrees," and to lead the revolt against the 

 imposition of the dogma. He was supported 

 by his fellow professors in the theological fac- 

 ulty at Munich, and by their action a large list 

 of signatures was obtained to a protest against 

 the enforcement of the decree, which was pre- 

 sented to the King of Bavaria. A conference, 

 attended by five hundred members, prepared 

 a plan of action, the effect of which was to cut 

 the participants off from all relations with the 

 Roman Catholic hierarchy. Their professed 

 object was to restore the Church to the sim- 

 plicity which characterized the earlier centuries 

 of its history, as well as to separate it from 

 political influences. The organization of the 

 Old Catholic Church was completed in 1873, 

 when articles of faith were agreed upon, and 

 the first bishop, Bishop Reinkens, was chosen, 

 and afterward consecrated by the Jansenist 

 bishop of Utrecht. This bishop was recognized 

 by the Prussian Government, and the Church 

 received its moral support for several years. 

 The Old Catholic Church now has a regularly 

 organized existence in the Rhine provinces of 

 Germany and in Switzerland and Austria ; and 

 it is represented in France by the Gallic;m 

 Church, of which Henry Lascelles Jenner is 

 bishop pro tern., and Pere Hyacinthe is an ac- 

 tive clergyman. Friendly relations and cor- 

 respondence are maintained with the latter 

 branch of the Old Catholic Church by the 

 bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 

 the United States. The Old Catholics have 

 ceased to enforce the celibacy of the clergy, 

 oral confessions to the priest, prayers for de- 

 liverance from purgatory, fasting, and penance, 

 although they believe the last two services to 

 be Christian duties. They have disused the 

 service of the mass in the Latin language, al- 

 though some of the German clergy still prefer 

 it. At the last meeting of the synod in Ger- 

 many, it was decided to prepare a mass-book 

 in the German language, the use of which is 

 left optional with individual congregations. 

 The clergy of Baden have unanimously re- 

 solved to introduce this book, but in. Prussia a 

 division of opinion prevails on the subject. The 

 Holy Communion is administered in both kinds 

 to the laity. The incomes of the clergy are 

 fixed, and fees including those for the serv- 



ices of marriage, baptism, and burial are dis- 

 pensed with. The Virgin Mary is adored only 

 as an example and as the mother of the Lord, 

 in a service that is so modified as to exclude 

 the idea of worship. The Old Catholic Church 

 was legally recognized in Austria in 1878, and 

 now numbers in Vienna between 2,000 and 

 3,000 members, of whom 700, above twenty 

 years of age, are contributing members. It 

 has recently been making great progress in 

 northern Bohemia. 



The Anglican Bishops of Salisbury and Lich- 

 field, by the request of the Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury, visited the principal communities and 

 most influential divines of this Church in Oc- 

 tober, bearing a commission to consider with 

 them the relations between the Church of Eng- 

 land and the Old Catholics. At Bonn they 

 had a conference with Bishop Reinkens and 

 Dr. Von Schulte, at which, it is represented, 

 such an agreement of views touching the 

 constitutions and creeds of their respective 

 churches appeared to exist as to encourage 

 hopes for the ultimate success of the mission. 

 At Freiburg, in Breisgan, they attended a con- 

 firmation service performed by Bishop Rein- 

 kens. At Olten, in Switzerland, they con- 

 ferred with Bishop Herzog, and other promi- 

 nent men of the Swiss churches, and at Munich 

 with Dr. Dollinger and Prof. Friedrich. At 

 Vienna, October 23, they attended, in their 

 canonical robes, the Old Catholic service, held 

 in the church which bad been given to the 

 community by the municipal council in com- 

 memoration of the foundation of the society, 

 sixteen years previously, and witnessed the 

 baptism of an infant according to the Old 

 Catholic rite. On the next day they conferred 

 with representative members of the Church in 

 Austria, among whom were the president of 

 the synod, Herr Sinnek, and Prof. Reudel, a 

 member of the Austrian Parliament. 



ONTARIO. Government. Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, Sir Alexander Campbell ; Executive 

 Council : Premier and Attorney-General, Oli- 

 ver Mowatt; Commissioner of Crown Lands, 

 T. B. Pardee ; Commissioner of Public Works, 

 C. F. Fraser : Provincial Secretary and Regis- 

 trar, A. S. Hardy; Provincial Treasurer and 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, A. M. Ross; 

 Minister of Education, G. W. Ross. 



Finances. The revenue for the year 1880 

 was $4,811,876.90, and the expenditure $4,- 

 800,642.62. 



Commerce. The following table shows the 

 imports and exports of the province for a 

 period of five years : 



