[248] A learned Jesuit, Clemens Schrader, translated them into a positive form.
[249] 'Jesus Christus est mythica fictio.' I am not aware that any sane infidel has ever gone so far. Strauss and Renan resolve the miracles of the gospel history into myths or legends, but admit the historical existence and extraordinary character of Jesus, as the greatest religions genius who ever lived.
[250] No. 13. 'Methodus et principia, quibus antiqui Doctores scholastici theologiam excoluerunt, temporum nostrorum necessitatibus scientiarumque progressui minime congruunt.'
[251] No. 15. 'Liberum cuique homini est eam amplecti ac profiteri religionem, quam rationis lumine quis ductus veram putaverit.'
[252] No. 16. 'Homines in cujusvis religionis cultu viam æternæ salutis reperire æternamque salutem assequi possunt.'
[253] No. 17. 'Saltem bene sperandum est de æterna illorum omnium salute, qui in vera Christi Ecclesia nequaquam versantur.'
[254] No. 18. 'Protestantismus non aliud est quam diversa veræ ejusdem christianæ religionis forma, in qua æque ac in Ecclesia catholica Deo placere datum est.'
[255] No. 23. 'Romani pontifices et concilia oecumenica a limitibus suæ potestatis recesserunt, jura principum usurparunt, atque etiam in rebus fidei et morum definiendis errarunt.'
[256] No. 24. 'Ecclesia vis inferendæ potestatem non habet, neque potestatem ullam temporalem directam vel indirectam.'
[257] No. 37. 'Institui possunt nationales Ecclesiæ ab auctoritate Romani Pontificis subductæ planeque divisæ.'
[258] No. 38. 'Divisioni ecclesiæ in orientalem atque occidentalem nimia Romanorum Pontificum arbitria contulerunt.'
[259] No. 45. 'Totum scholarum publicarum regimen, in quibus juventus christianæ alicujus Reipublicæ instituitur, episcopalibus dumtaxat seminariis aliqua ratione exceptis, potest ac debet attribui auctoritati civili,' etc. Compare Nos. 47 and 48. Hence the irreconcilable hostility of the Romish clergy to public schools, especially where the Protestant Bible is read.
[260] No. 55. 'Ecclesia a Statu, Statusque ab Ecclesia sejungendus est.' Compare Alloc. Acerbissimum 27 Sept. 1852.
[261] No. 73. 'Vi contractus mere civilis potest inter Christianos constare veri nominis matrimonium; falsumque est, aut contractum matrimonii inter Christianos semper esse sacramentum, aut nullum esse contractum, si sacramentum excludatur.'
[262] (77.) 'Ætate hoc nostra non amplius expedit, religionem catholicam haberi tamquam unicam status religionem, ceteris quibuscumque cultibus exclusis.' (78.) 'Hinc laudabiliter in quibusdam catholici nominis regionibus lege cautum est, ut hominibus illuc immigrantibus liceat publicum proprii cujusque cultus exercitium habere.' (79.) 'Enimvero falsum est, civilem cujusque cultus libertatem, itemque plenam potestatem omnibus attributam quaslibet opiniones cogitationesque palam publiceque manifestandi conducere ad populorum mores animosque facilius corrumpendos ac indifferentismi pestem propagandam.' (80.) 'Romanus Pontifex potest ac debet cum progressu, cum liberalismo et cum recenti civilitate sese reconciliare et componere.'
§ 31. The Vatican Council, 1870.
Literature.
I. Works Preceding the Council.
Officielle Actenstücke zu dem von Sr. Heiligkeit dem Papste Pius IX. nach Rom berufenen Oekumenischen Concil, Berlin, 1869 (pp. 189). This work contains the Papal Encyclica of 1864, and the various papal letters and official documents preparatory to the Council, in Latin and German.
Chronique concernant le Prochain Concile. Traduction revue et approuvée de la Civiltà cattolica par la correspondance de Rome, Vol. I. Avant le Concile. Rome, Deuxième ed. 1869, fol. (pp. 192). Begins with the Papal letter of June 26, 1867.
Henry Edward Manning (Archbishop of Westminster): The Centenary of St. Peter and the General Council. A Pastoral Letter. London, 1867. The OEcumenical Council and the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. A Pastoral Letter. London, 1869. In favor of Infallibility.
C. H. A. Plantier (Bishop of Nîmes): Sur les Conciles généraux à l'occasion de celui que Sa Sainteté Pie IX. a convoqué pour le 8 décembre prochain, Nîmes et Paris, 1869. The same in German: Ueber die allgemeinen Kirchenversammlungen, translated by Th. von Lamezan, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1869. Infallibilist.
Magr. Vict. Aug. Dechamps (Archbishop of Malines): L'infaillibilité et le Concile général, 2d ed., Paris et Malines, 1869. German translation: Die Unfehlbarkeit des Papstes und das Allgemeine Concil, Mainz, 1869. Strong Infallibilist.
H. L. C. Maret (Dean of the Theol. Faculty of Paris): Du Concile général et de la paix religieuse, Paris, 1869, 2 vols. Against Infallibility. Has since recanted.
W. Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler (Bishop of Mayence): Das Allgemeine Concil und seine Bedeutung für unsere Zeit, 4th ed. Mainz, 1869. First against, now in favor of Infallibility.
Dr. Joseph Fessler (Bishop of St. Pölten and Secretary of the Vatican Council, d. 1872): Das letzte und das nächste Allgemeine Concil, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1869.
F. Dupanloup (Bishop of Orleans): Lettre sur le futur Concile OEcuménique, in French, German, and other languages, 1869. The same on the Infallibility of the Pope. First against, then in favor of the new dogma.
Der Papst und das Concil, von Janus, Leipzig, 1869 (pseudonymous). The same in English: The Pope and the Council, by Janus, London, 1869. In opposition to the Jesuit programme of the Council, from the liberal (old) Catholic stand-point; probably the joint production of Profs. Döllinger, Friedrich, and Huber, of the University of Munich.
Dr. J. Hergenröther (R.C.): Anti-Janus, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1870. Also in English, by J. B. Robertson, Dublin, 1870.
Reform der Röm. Kirche in Haupt und Gliedern Aufgabe des bevorstehenden Röm. Concils, Leipz. 1869. Liberal Catholic.
Felix Bungener (Prot.): Rome and the Council in the Nineteenth Century. Translated from the French, with additions by the Author. Edinb. 1870. (Conjectures as to what the Council will be, to judge from the Papal Syllabus and the past history of the Papacy.)
II. Reports During the Council.
The Civiltà catholica, of Rome, for 1869 and 1870. Chief organ of the Jesuits and Infallibilists.
Louis Veuillot: Rome pendant le Concile, Paris, 1870, 2 vols. Collection of his correspondence to his journal, l'Univers, of Paris. Ultra-Infallibilist and utterly unscrupulous.
J. Friedrich (Prof. of Church History in Munich, lib. Cath.): Tagebuch während des Vaticanischen Concils geführt, Nödlingen, 1871; 2d ed. 1872. A journal kept during the Council, and noting the facts, projects, and rumors as they came to the surface. The author, a colleague and intimate friend of Döllinger, has since been excommunicated.
Quirinus: letters from Rome on the Council, first in the Augsb. Allgemeine Zeitung, and then in a separate volume, Munich, 1870; also in English, London, 1870 (pp. 856). Letters of three liberal Catholics, of different nations, who had long resided in Rome, and, during the Council, communicated to each other all the information they could gather from members of the Council, and sent their letters to a friend in Germany for publication in the Augsburg General Gazette.
Compare against Quirinus: Die Unwahrheiten der Römischen Briefe vom Concil in der Allg. Zeitung, Von W. Emmanuel Freiherrn von Ketteler (Bishop of Mayence), 1870.
Ce qui se passe au Concile. Dated April 16, 1870. Troisième ed. Paris, 1870. [By Jules Gaillard.]
La dernière heure du Concile, Paris, 1870. [By a member of the Council.] The last two works were denounced as a calumny by the presiding Cardinals in the session, July 16,1870.
Also the Reports during the Council in the Giornale di Roma, the Turin Unità catholica, the London Times, the London (R.C.) Tablet, the Dublin Review, the New York Tribune, and other leading periodicals.
III. The Acts and Proceedings of the Council.
(1.) Roman Catholic (Infallibilist) Sources.
Acta et Decreta sacrosancti et oecumenici Concilii Vaticani die 8 Dec. 1869 a ss. D. N. Pio IX. inchoati. Cum permissione superiorum, Friburgi Brisgoviæ, 1871, in 2 Parts. The first part contains the Papal Encyclica with the Syllabus and the acts preparatory to the Council; the second, the public acts of the Council itself, with a list of the dioceses of the Roman Church and the members of the Vatican Council.
Actes et histoire du Concile oecuménique de Rome, premier du Vatican, ed. under the auspices of Victor Frond, Paris, 1869 sqq. 6 vols. Includes extensive biographies of Pope Pius IX. and his Cardinals, etc., with portraits. Vol. VI. contains the Actes, decrets et documents reccuillis et mis en ordre par M. Pelletier, chanoine d'Orleans. Each vol. costs 100 francs.
Atti ufficialli del Concilio ecumenico, Turino, pp. 682 (? 1870).
Officielle Actenstücke zu dem von Sr. Heiligkeit dem Papst Pius IX. nach Rom berufenen Oekumenischen Concil, Zweite Sammlung, Berlin, 1870.
Das Oekumemische Concil. Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, Neue Folge. Freiburg im Breisgau, l870. A series of discussions in defense of the Council by Jesuits (Florian Riess, and K. v. Weber).
Henry Edward Manning (R.C. Archbishop of Westminster): Petri Privilegium. Three Pastoral Letters, London, 1871. The True Story of the Vatican Council, London, 1877.
Bp. Jos. Fessler (Secretary of the Vatican Council): Das Vaticanische Concil, dessen äussere Bedeutung und innerer Verlauf, Wien, 1871.
Eugen Cecconi (Canon at Florence): Geschichte der allg. Kirchenversammlung im Vatican. Trans. from the Italian by Dr. W. Molitor. Regensb. 1873 sqq. (Vol. I. contains only the history before the Council.)
The stenographic reports of the speeches of the Council are still locked up in the archives of the Vatican.
(2.) Old Catholic (anti-Infallibilist).
Joh. Friedrich: Documenta ad illustrandum Concilium Vaticanum anni 1870, Nördlingen, 1871, In 2 parts. Contains official and unofficial documents bearing on the Council and the various schemata de fide, de ecclesia, etc. Compare his Tagebuch während des Vaticanischen Concils geführt, above quoted. By the same: Geschichte des Vaticanischen Concils, Bonn, 1877. Vol. I. (contains the preparatory history to 1869); Vol. II. 1883.
Joh. Friedrich Ritter von Schulte (Prof. of Canon Law in the University of Prague, now in Bonn): Das Unfehlbarkeitsdecret vom 18 Juli 1870 . . . geprüft, Prag, 1871. Also, Die Macht der Röm. Päpste über Fürsten, Länder, Völker, Individuen, etc., Prag, 2d ed. 1871.
Stimmen aus der katholischen Kirche über die Kirchenfragen der Gegenwart, München, 1870 sqq. 2 vols. A series of discussions against the Vatican Council, by Döllinger, Huber, Schmitz, Friedrich, Reinkens, and Hötzl.
(3.) Protestant.
Dr. Emil Friedberg (Prof. of Ecclesiastical Law in Leipzig): Sammlung der Actenstücke zum ersten Vaticanischen Concil, mit einem Grundriss der Geschichte desselben, Tübingen, 1872 (pp. 954). Very valuable; contains all the important documents, and a full list of works on the Council.
Theod. Frommann (Privatdocent in Berlin): Geschichte und Kritik des Vaticanischen Concils von 1869 und 1870, Gotha, 1872 (pp. 529).
E. de Pressense (Ref. Pastor in Paris): Le Concile du Vatican, son histoire et ses conséquences politiques et religieuses, Paris, 1872. Also in German, by Fabarius, Nördlingen, 1872.
L. W. Bacon: An Inside View of the Vatican Council, New York, 1872 (Amer. Tract Society). Contains a translation of Archbishop Kenrick's speech against Infallibility, with a sketch of the Council.
G. Uhlhorn: Das Vaticanische Concil (Vermischte Vorträge). Stuttgart, 1875, pp. 235-350.
An extensive criticism on the Infallibility decree in the third edition of Dr. Hase's Handbuch der Protestant. Polemik gegen die römisch-katholische Kirche, Leipz. 1871, pp. 155-200. Comp. pp. 24-37.
The above are only the most important works of the large and increasing literature, historical, apologetic, and polemic, on the Vatican Council. A. Erlecke, in a pamphlet, Die Literatur des röm. Concils, gives a list of over 200 books and pamphlets which appeared in Germany alone before 1871. Friedberg notices 1041 writings on the subject till June 1872. Since then the Gladstone Expostulation on the political aspects of the Vatican Decrees, Lond. 1874, and his Vaticanism, 1875, have called forth a newspaper and pamphlet war, and put Dr. J. H. Newman and Archbishop Manning on the defensive.]
More than three hundred years after the close of the Council of Trent, Pope Pius IX., who had proclaimed the new dogma of the Immaculate Conception, who in the presence of five hundred Bishops had celebrated the eighteenth centennial of the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and who was permitted to survive not only the golden wedding of his priesthood, but even--alone among his more than two hundred and fifty predecessors--the silver wedding of his popedom (thus falsifying the tradition 'non videbit annos Petri'), resolved to convoke a new oecumenical Council, which was to proclaim his own infallibility in all matters of faith and discipline, and thus to put the top-stone to the pyramid of the Roman hierarchy.
He first intimated his intention, June 26, 1867, in an Allocution to five hundred Bishops who were assembled at the eighteenth centenary of the martyrdom of St. Peter in Rome. The Bishops, in a most humble and obsequious response, July 1, 1867, approved of his heroic courage, to employ, in his old age, an extreme measure for an extreme danger, and predicted a new splendor of the Church, and a new triumph of the kingdom of God. [263] Whereupon the Pope announced to them that he would convene the Council under the special auspices of the immaculate Virgin, who had crushed the serpent's head and was mighty to destroy alone all the heresies of the world. [264]