The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-05 00:00:00

THE PAPAL BILL.

THE ADDRESS OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOPS AND
BISHOPS OF IRELAND TO THEIR BELOVED FLOCKS
UPON THE PENAL ENACTMENT WITH WHICH THE CA-
THOLICS OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND ARE THREATENED.
" Dearly bee ved Brethren,—The approach cf a sea-
son of trial and tribulation naturally calls forth the ad-
monitions of a voice that has never been absent from
you in the hour of suffering and sorrow. Though you
are familiar with its accents, and confiding in its assu-
rances, we feel-that it will demand no ordinary exercise
of the docility and obedience which you have always
rendered to its instructions, to receive, in the spirit of
patience and conformity to the Divine will, the last
and hitter ingredient which is now about to be
poured into the cup of your afflictions. It is unneces-
sary to state that we allude to the penal enactment
against the Catholics of the three kingdoms that occupies
at present the attention of the Legislature. And yet, in
reference to the persecution of which this measure is
to be the instrument, as well as to the other sufferings
destined for the Church, may we not address you in
the language of the prince of the Apostles to the early
Christians—' Dearly beloved, think not strange the
burning heat that is to try you, as if some new thing
happened to you; but if you partake of the sufferings
of Christ, rejoice that when his glory shall be revealed
you may also be glad with exceeding joy.'—l Pet. iv.
The sufferings thus inflicted he tells you are necessary,
in order that the trial of your faith (much more pre-
cious than gold which is tried by the fire) may be found
unto praise, and glory, and honour, at the appearing of
Jesus Christ.'—l Pet. 1. 7. Nor is the exhortation of
St. Paul on this subject, recalling, as it does, the touch-
ing reminiscences of the past, less appropriate and ap-
plicable to you in the present emergency: Call to mind
the former days wherein, being illuminated, you endured
a great fight of afflictions. Do not, therefore, lose your
confidence, which hath a great reward. For patience is
necessary for you, that doing the will of God yeu may
receive the promise:—lleb. x. 32-36.
" We deem it better, dearly beloved brethren, thus
early to prepare you for the magnitude of the trial with
which our holy church is menaced, both in England and
Ireland, than to seek to conceal and palliate its real cha-
racter. The object and tendency of the measure before
Parliament at present will be put in its true light by an
eminent lawyer, whom we have consulted on this matter,
and whose legal opinion we publish as an appendix to
this address. For us, suffice it to say that the measure
we are treating of tends to annoy, disorganize,
and crush the Catholic hierarchy; to annul its acts
of jurisdiction; to fetter and impede, as much as
possible, the exercise of that ministry by which the
truths of revelation are proclaimed, and the
mysteries and sacraments of religion imparted; and
grievously to injure, if not to destroy, those noble
charitable institutions which are the glory and the
blessing of the land, and which are maintained, as they
have been established, by the free offerings of the faith-
ful. The blighting effects of this penal law, if adopted,
will be felt by the orphan that is now sheltered in the
bosom of Catholic benevolence, and by the destitute
sufferer on his death-bed, whose pangs are so often
soothed by the devoted daughter of charity, whilst they
are consoled by the Christian ministry that has called
those institutions into existence—by the power of that
kindling and creative word which it has been com-
missioned to preach.
"Nor are the grounds on which this measure has been
proposed more in accordance with truth than its objects
are with justice and humanity. We need scarely remind
you, dearly beloved brethren, that what has given
rise to the proposed enactment against us is the re-
establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Eng-
land. Our beloved Father, the Pope, desirous to pro-
mote the spiritual welfare of the Catholic children in
that kingdom—to give them increased means of spiritual
instruction to enable them to make greater progress in
every virtue, and to afford more abundant opportunities
of providing for the eternal salvation of their
souls, determined to give them a number of
pastors more proportionate to their wants, and there-
fore appointed an archbishop and several bishops with
ordinary jurisdiction. As supreme pastor of the flock,
appointed by Jesus Christ, in the person of St. Peter,
to feed his lambs and sheep, both pastors and people, he
had a fully recognised Divine right to do so—a right
essential to his office—a right, without which he could
not maintain his authority over the universal Church of
Christ. We need not tell you, dearly beloved brethren,
that the Roman Pontiffs, from the earliest ages, and
in the times of the most cruel persecution, exercised
this authority to its fullest extent, and that
all the chutthes of these kingdoms owe their
establishment to its acts. The episcopal sees of
Ireland can trace back their origin to St. Patrick, who
was sent to this country by the holy Pontiff, St. Celes-
tine, and it is our glory to be able to state that the
chain of the apostolical succession has not been broken
since that time in our portion of the Catholic
Church. The principal churches of England were
founded by St. Augustine and his companions,
sent by St. Gregory the Great to bring the glad tid-
ings of salvation to a nation that was then sitting in
darkness and the shades of death. It was in virtue
of his primacy over all the churches, that the Pope ex-
ercised this right, and of that supremacy which made
one of the most ancient fathers, St. Irenmus, assert—
' that every church, and all the faithful, should have re-
course to the Roman Church, on account of her greater
principality;' and induced St. Cyprian to consider the
chair of Peter as the principal church, from which the
unity of the priesthood has arisen, and to which perfidy
cannot have access.'—Y. 59. Ad Petri cathedram,
atque ad ecclesiam principalem ad quam perfidia non
possit habere accessum.'
" But whilst exercising a purely spiritual authority for
spiritual purposes—for the promotion of God's kingdom
on earth—for the more ready administration of the sacra-
ments—for the salvation of souls, we can assure you,
dearly beloved brethren, that the Pontiff made
no aggression on any one's authority; that he did
not interfere, directly or indirectly, with the admi-
nistration of the temporal affairs of this king.
dom ; that he did not, in the remotest manner, insult
the Crown or diminish its privileges; and we may
add, that he did not in the slightest degree intrench on
the authority, the revenues, or the territorial possessions
of other religious institutions. If an outcry has been
raised against his Holiness, it is not on account of any
usurpation or aggression on his part, it must have arisen
from a misapprehension of the nature of his acts, or it
must be allowed that it is directed to impede the exer-
cise of that divine and indefeasible jurisdiction, which all
Catholics are bound to acknowledge in, the successor of
St. Peter, and the acts of which they must admit unless
they wish to incur the guilt of schism.
" As one of the effects of the penal measure now
pending over us would be to separate the faithful from
the supreme head of their Church, so also another con•
sequence would be to sever the priesthood from the
people. Do not allow yourselves to be persuaded that
this would not be a serious injury to religion. Would
not the flock be necessarily scattered if the pastors were
smitten? If the branches of the vine were torn from the
parent trunk, would they not necessarily wither? If
separated from its head, would not the mystical body
immediately languish and decay? There may be other
religious establishments which require no such unity
between the pastors and their flock—which, stript
of a sacrifice and almost of sacraments, and giving
an unbounded liberty to the interpretation of doc-
trine, demand little more than a nominal exer-
cise of the ministerial functions; but in the Catholic
Church the action of the priesthood is the vivifying
principle that gives life and energy to the entire body—
that fellows the faithful from the cradle to the grave—
from the sacrament that gives admission to the church
to that which soothes and fortifies against the pangs and
terrors of death—that watches with assiduous care over
the sacred deposit of faith, and preserves it from the con-
tagion of error. To destroy that principle, therefore, or
impede its action, is to inflict a fatal or a dangerous
wound on the body itself.
" llaying briefly pointed out to you the real nature of
this penal enactment with which we are menaced and the
substantial injuries which it embodies, we implore of you.
dearly beloved brethren, to adopt the best and surest
means of defeating it—namely, the fulfilment of all
your duties, loyalty to the Crown, obedience to the
constituted authorities, moderation, patience, and,
above all, a fervent recourse by prayer to the throne
of the most High, who bends the hearts of
princes, and has in his hands the destinies of nations.
Implore of Him to preserve his Church, to guard His
chaste spouse, and to put to nought the designs of those
who would enslave her. Let us cry out, in the fulness
of our affliction, Turn,O.God of Hosts; look down from
Heaven and see and visit this vineyard,' (Ps. 79). Do
not allow the boar out of the wood to lay it waste, nor
the wild beast to devour it,' (Ps. 79). Inspire those that
would excite the spirit of bigotry and intolerance against
us with better counsels, and do not permit them to incur
your indignation. Give us help from trouble, for vain is
the salvation of man,' (Pa. 59).
" But whilst we exhort you to have recourse to heaven
in your afflictions, we are not to be understood as
if we condemned the peaceful exertion by those
legal and constitutional rights for the redress
of political wrongs and injuries which are the
birthright of every British subject. It is not,
however, necessary to make any suggestion on this
matter to you, as we perceive that you have already
commenced to petition Parliament, and to take other
legal steps to resist the encroachment on the liberties ofd
the church with which we are threatened. Instructed
by you, those who represent you in Parliament will
only assert the independence and freedom your
reli-
gion both in England and Ireland (for
men ie
the Catholic body are the same in botha_eof interests
trso)f,
but they will insist that Catholic
equality with
be put and
maintained on a footing of per feet
and that every
all the other subjects of the Corse .We ask for
t)
rated '
remnant of persecution shall be
nothing but what is conceded to others, and we cannot
be content with less than the full and free right to
practice our religion conformityinen to its doctrines and
discipline. Nor can we loubt that, whilst defending
your rights as Catholics,
you will be promoting the in-
terests of the
empire at large ; for it cannot be iu
accurcianc„ with justice humanity. to deprive so
many millions of faithful subjects, guilty of no
offence, of their lawful rights; nor can it contribute to
the
bad feeling stability and welfare of the country to excite discord
and
among those whose interests should be
common; nor can it ever tend to encourage public
morality to enact laws which it must be the conscisntious
duty of millions to evade.
But whilst exerting yourselves to impede an unjust
measure, recollect that the man who Outrages the peace
cf society and violates the law not only offends against
the moral code, but grievously injures the cause that he
supports, and strengthens the hands of his enemies.
Based upon the eternal principles of truth and equity,
the cause with which you are identified cannot fail to
succeed, when advocated by means which are consonant
to its justness and holiness, and such, dearly beloved
brethren, are the only means which we feel convinced
yon are disposed to employ.
" Whatever temporary tribulation the Church may