Letters From Rome on the CouncilDöllinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz von
History
Letters From Rome on the Council
Döllinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz von
Popes -- Infallibility; Vatican Council (1st : 1869-1870 : Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano)
I have just learnt from the _Kölner Volkszeitung_ that the chaplain of a
prelate here charges me with a gross falsehood in reference to the words
of the Pope. He appeals to the Paris _Union_, which has the words used by
the Pope, “Je suis la voie, la vérité, et la vie,” with the passage
inserted by the editor. I had cited the words from the _Observateur
Catholique_ of 1866 (p. 357), where they are authenticated by the
signature of an ear-witness, MacSheeby, and correspond entirely with the
statement of the _Union_. But in the _Monde_, which was not in my reach, a
totally different version is given, which has no similarity to that
authenticated by Roman correspondents in the _Union_ and _Observateur_,
and does not connect the words, “I am the way,” etc., with the Pope at
all. It must remain uncertain after this whether the version of the
_Monde_ or of the two other journals is the genuine one.
THIRTY-SECOND LETTER.
_Rome, March 28, 1870._—The Bishops who have attacked the new order of
business, because it brought into view the possibility of a dogmatic
definition being carried without the _consensus moraliter unanimis_,
received the desired answer in no doubtful form at the sitting of Tuesday,
the 22d. The measures of the _Curia_ for a month past have been
unmistakably contributing more and more to produce a worthy and
loyal-hearted attitude among the minority. After long dallying, Rome has
brought the secrets of her policy a little too boldly and conspicuously
into view. Hardly was the domination of the majority in matters of faith
fixed by the stricter _regolamento_, when the Pope had the proclamation of
his own infallibility proposed in the most arrogant form. On this followed
the attempt to press it to an immediate decision, and then the
determination to admit no ambassadors of the Governments. If these
proceedings were not enough to lay bare the perilous nature of the whole
situation, the Pope and the zealots of his party supplied the remaining
proof,—the former, by his conduct about Falloux, about Montalembert on the
day the news of his death arrived, about the Munich theologians in secret
consistory, and about the so-called Liberal or “half-Catholics” on every
occasion; the latter by their growing impatience about the infallibility
definition, and their assurances that there is no real opposition to this
dogma, and that, if there was, it could not hold its ground after the
promulgation had taken place. And so the opponents of the decree must know
at last that they have to deal with a blind and unscrupulous zeal, not
with a theological system carefully thought out and placed on an
intellectual basis; that the contest has to be carried on against the
whole power and influence of the Pope, and not, as had been maintained
with transparent hypocrisy, only against the wishes of the noisy and
independent party of the _Civiltà_ and its allied journalists. They begin
to use more earnest and manlier language, the language of clear
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account