The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-11 00:00:00

THE SU N, LONDON, FRIDAY E VENT LNG, OCFOREI 11, 1861.

, easily under-
Icbilli.jiterness of our
poofrttills'pain and anguish,
,sithout special as-
sdtiavninde,
veannedrabhluembarenthtrheinn,gai
slytohue
swo
hr
co
hw eße
ou
ut id
nt
ehvee midrsus
pt
the virtue, and the
thre)l, the bishops of
as-
sistance from God, it is for us a supreme consolation
ctoonsreaegteheofadomuirravbelneerraeblilgelobnre
Italy, and of all the Catholic worl d. These vene-
rable brethren, attached to us and to the chair of
Peter, by the closest ties of. a ah, charity, and
respect, not allowing themselves to be intimidated
by any peril, and fulfilling tlaeir ministry to the im-
mortal honour of their name and order, do not cease,
both by tongue and by writings full of wisdom,
to defend with intrepidity the cause of God, that
of his Holy Church, and of this Apostolic See, its
rights, its doctrines, the cause of justice and huma-
nity; neither do they cci ise to Watch with the
greatest care over the faith ,of their flock, to refute
the false and erroneous doctrines of hostile men, and
courageously to resist their impious efforts. We
do not feel less joy in seeing in what a striking
manner the faithful priests and populations of Italy,
and of all the Christian univ erne, walk in the steps
of their prelates, and glorify themselves more and
more by publicly manifesting to wards us and this
Apostolic See their love, their respect, and their
admirable zeal in professing and defending our
most holy religion. _ _

" And as our venerable brethren, their clergy,
and the faithful see clearly the extreme embarrass-
ments in which we are placed by the spoliation of
the greater part of our civil domain, they believe
also that nothing is more meritorious for them,
more glorious, more religious, than to lighten with
the most ardent zeal, by their pious and sponta-
neous donations, these very grave embarrassments
and those of the Holy See.

"Thus,
mostwhile off
in all humility of soul
the earnest
to the God of all
consolation, who deigns, by that remarkable piety
therainnkgsg up
pving
and generosity of the episcopacy and of the faith-
ful, to give us alleviation and strength in the midst
of our grief and bitterness, we are happy to be able
to again express in the face of the world our feel-
ings of deep gratitude, since it is from their support
and their co-operation that we derive the power of
being able to meet the enormous and increasing
charges of the Holy See.

" And here, venerable brethren, we cannot pass
over in silence the constant testimonies of real affec-
tion, of unflinching fidelity, of devoted submission,
and of generous liberality, which this Roman people
have lavished on us ; and we wish also to point out
how much they remain firmly attached to us, to this
Apostolic See, and to the temporal power which
belongs to us, and with what warmth they repel
and condemn the guilty attempts of those who seek
to spread disturbance among them. Have not yon
yourselves, venerable brethren, frequently wit-
nessed the sincere and cordial manifestations by
which this Roman people, whom we so much love,
have shown the sentiments of their traditional faith,
of that faith which so justly merits the highest
praise.

"As we have the Divine promise that our
Saviour Jesus Christ will be with his Church to
the end of time, and that the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it, we are assured that God
will not fail in his word, and that a day of won-
ders will arrive when God will show that this for-
midable tempest has not been raised to sink the
vessel of the Church, but to raise her still higher."
" In the meantime, let us not cease, venerable
brethren, to invoke with all our hearts the all-
powerful patronage of the Holy and Immaculate
Virgin Mary; let us pray and entreat night and
day, by the most fervent supplications, the merci-
ful Ciod, whose nature is goodness itself, whose
power is equal to His will, and whose works are
full of mercy, that he will shorten as much as
possible the days of temptation; that He will hold
out His right hand to the civil and Christian society
so cruelly tried, and shower on all the treasures
of His grace and of His mercy ; that He will con-
vert all the enemies of the Church and of the Holy
see, and bring them back to the paths of justice;
that His all-powerful influence will have the effect
of dissipating all errors and doing away with all
impiety, and that thus His holy religion, in which
resides the principle of the felicity and even of the
temporal peace of nations, may live and flourish
more and more over the whole earth."

FATHER PASSAGLIA'S WORK ON TILE

ROMAN Q U.ESTION.

The following is an analysis of the chief passages
of the very important work on the Roman ques-
tion, which is now exciting so much attention in
Rome itself, and which has called forth the unmea-
sured indignation of the Pontiff:—
"Who does not see (Father Passaglia observes)
that the Italian people aro hastening to that un-
happy situation in which there is eminent danger,
not trifling, but very serious danger ; that a vast
number of Italians, either by open and corporeal,
or by secret and spiritual separation, become re-
moved from the paradise of the Church, and leave
the Church itself deprived of its most chosen sons ?
Already a great part of the clergy are in open dis-
cord with the majority of the laity; already almost
all the shepherds are separated from their flocks,
whilst the shepherd of shepherds, the successor of
Peter, the venerable Vicar of Christ on earth, hurls
against the kingdom of Italy, and against Italian
society, the dread thunderbolt of his censures. One
might be tempted to believe that of the double
power to bind and to loose, our bishops now retain
the first alone, such concord do they exhibit in con-
demning, repelling, execrating whatever the whole
nation desires and is striving to obtain. Wherefore
this spectacle ? Are the Italians renouncing the doc-
trines of our orthodox faith? No; on the contrary,
they all revere that faith, and observe its rites in
the most minute particulars. Are they assailing the
rights of their legally constituted bishops in all that
relates to sacred and religious matters ? On the con-
trary, they all agree in professing for those rights
the reverence which is their due. Do they despise
the supreme and spiritual authority of the Pontiff?
Far from it. Do they attack that feeedom which was
secured to the church by the precious blood of Christ?
On the contrary, by proclaiming the principle of a
Free Church in a Free State,' they seek out every
possible means of settling these difficult questions;
even though repelled in the attempt they return a
second and third time to the search for peace, and
they protest by all the means in their power that
they will preserve the Catholic faith."
In the opening part of his treatise Passaglia
reminds the bishops of the divine duties to which
their mission is limited ; and he then goes on to
'with a force of argument,
prove, with a clearness,
with an array of patriotic authorities, absolutely
leaving no hope of reply, that the Roman Catholic
bishops, by their addresses, by their pastoral letters
to the clergy and their flocks respecting the tem-
poral authority of the Popes, have betrayed their
duty, and have furnished the world an occasion of
gross scandal. The preaching of the Gospel, the
teaching of Christian morality, the inculcatiors and
example of Christian love, these constitute the legi-
timate tasks of bishops, ministers of God; whatever
goes beyond these is wrong But to stir up by the
deeds which we all deplore, especially during the
last three years, war amongst Christians, to create
deplorable and atrocious dissensions, to furnish the
occasion of a religious schism which the Church
must weep over to the end of time—this is a truly
deplorable course of action, and on that can never
be sufficiently condemned. It is an act for which
God, at His day ofjudgment, will assuredly summon
the perpetrators to render a terrible account. In
truth, the Church consists only in the clergy and
their flocks. If the clergy remain isolated, if it
drive away the flocks, and if the latter finally leave
the clergy because they find themselves treated as
enemies, where is the Church ? Does it not altoge-
ther disappear ? The unity of the Church is not
possible without mutual concord, An anti-national
clergy is a contradiction in terms. The clergy can
never go hand in hand with the people unless its
members confine themselves to their own lawful
sphere, unless they cease to assail the rights of the
people, unless they desist from menacing and com-
bating national hopes and liberties, unless they
again place their true greatness in the work of a
religious apostleship.

fassaglia accordingly concludes that the Ruth°,