Dealings with the Inquisition; Or, Papal Rome, Her Priests, and Her JesuitsAchilli, Giacinto
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Dealings with the Inquisition; Or, Papal Rome, Her Priests, and Her Jesuits
Achilli, Giacinto
Catholic Church -- Controversial literature; Inquisition
Whether we shall adopt the Episcopalian or the Presbyterian form of
government, I cannot as yet say. To tell the truth, I am not at present
much interested in the question, since I consider it altogether a
secondary one. It will greatly depend on the Bishops of the Latin
Church in Italy. If they receive and promote our views, it is probable
that they may, like the Bishops of England, be received by the general
body of the Reformers; otherwise, they will be done away with; as is
the case in Scotland, Switzerland, and other countries: we shall have
pastors in their stead, and among them some will be appointed, as
presidents, to offices of greater authority. I am inclined to believe
that the change of name will be sufficient to induce the reform. The
word bishop is of Greek origin, and would be better rendered by the
word moderator, inspector, or superintendent; which would at once
get rid of the idle notion of the reformed bishops, respecting the
Apostolic Succession, and all its presumed rights and privileges. I
maintain the absolute necessity of a complete and thorough reform of
what is degraded and abused. As to anything further, I am, for my own
part, indifferent about it.
The Italian Church must be built on the ruins of the Latin Church,
which is already an anachronism. The Church of Christ must arise
from the destruction of the Church of the Popes, which has become a
blasphemy and an impiety. I do not believe it possible for the Church
of the Priests to be reformed; it must be destroyed, as it is written
in the 18th chapter of the Revelations. It is the people of this Church
that will be reformed; and it is precisely the object that I myself and
a few others are endeavouring to effect.
The religious reformation of Italy, at the time I am now writing, in
the month of December, 1850, has already made considerable progress;
and, except for the interference of an Inquisition, similar to that
which existed in the time of Pius IV. and Pius V., it is impossible,
humanly speaking, for it to be checked.
Undoubtedly, in some parts of Italy, it is yet concealed, inasmuch as
it is denounced by the present government; and may be said to exist,
as was the case with the Church herself, in early times, among the
catacombs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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