Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1817-10-03
ALEXANDRIA,:
FRID.3J, OCTOBER s 1917.
LETTER TO MIR. QURRo.

biIiiy o' the church'" than ~ P'o'eSs'"s'
that in acting thus, Tam influenced only
nv the motives, TO which / alluded. IN
my last letter-If I can clearly prove,
or if uou can. clearly disprove, 81 the ~
falIbility of the Catholic church." thea
every other question viii be set at rest
our controversy, will som be terminal
ed, aud your wish of no longer outrag'ns
the public by newspaper controversy
will be entirely gratifed.
Before enter on the question, It will
no, be impe' tinen, to inform our readers
of the meaning which the Catholic churoh
attributes to those terms, which l shall
have occasion to employ Catholics,
sir, believe their church infa.ible; that
is. thev believe that when the majority
of chief pastors in union with the Pope
agree, that any article is Of faith, or that
any action is immoral, that tene; is oil
faith or revealed by the redeemer, and
that action is against Gods law. When
they pronounce their sentence in general
ccuncil assembled, or when dispersed o.
yer the Catholic world, they agree on
the subject; Catholics bow with suomis-
sion because in either case, each chief
pastor is the representative oil his church,
ard consequently their united voice, is
the voice Of the Catholic church. By
tie special isterposition of Providence
we believe this authority Incapable OF
being deceived itself, on points Of faith
end morality. and incapable of decei''ns
Us. We may on some other occasion
exarine the scriptural grounds of this
doctrine. This authority is deemed inca
pable Of forming any new article OF
faith, and if in their decisions, they
should deviate IRON the sphere OF reli-
giop, their ALTERATIONS would neither
claim obedieuce nor reverence On the
part Of Catholics, nothing more is requir-
ed, than that they believe what the
church teaches in regard to faith and
morals il they do this, sufficient rcve-
renee and obedience is paid TO the " in
fa!ibility II the Roman Catholic church."
Private div;nes may entertain. what /
IDEAS they please on snsi 80 -''
never been defined and are not univer-
sally believed and they are at tull iiber-
ty to give publicity to these ideas, when
aud how they please. They do not
burst through the pale of Catholic unity,
if they only believe those tenets which
are of iaits.- Hence the DISCREPANCY OF
diviues on points not vet dehned-Even
on the subject of infallibility, there are
disferca. opinions ; i, is only OF faith, that
the majority of bishops, with the Pope at
their head, either in, or out Cf general
council, is infaIlible Many divines how
ever believe, that the CHI eff pom i'll, when
acting as head OF the church is in'a'lible'
some believe that he is not: But every
Catholic believes, that the majority OF
chief pastors, as explained above, pos ess-
es the prerogatire Of inerrancy. You
insinuated in late letter, that Calhplic
diyines wee at absolute variance among
themselves on this subject, some placing
the church's inf1llibility here, and some
there 1t i-tout'sf 5our power, sir, to
point out one Catholic divine, wis does
not consider the body Of chief pastors in
union with the Pope the organ of intalli-
bility. AS long as they do h'., their
faith. on this subject is Catbolic,-la ~
eessaiis aniias, in dubiis .ibsrtas, IN
0mnibas c1rtfas.
1t viii be sulfiriert for me TO prove,
that the church which the Iedeemer es;a-
blished possesses the prerosative OF in
falEbili.y. II this be once proved, ii
viii Justly follow. that the Catholic
church is infal'ible, since no other church
lays claim to inerraDcy. All the reform
ed eharcies indeed, have declared, thai
tbey are mt infsllib,e Whether thi,