The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-12-03
The Ecumenical Council Of the
Vatican,

To the ordinary Protestant mind,
the formal summons by "Letters
Apostolic of His Holiness Pope PIUs
K~ of cred Ecumenica' or Gen
eral Council, to be held a the holy
city of Rome, beginning on the 9th OF
December, is very insig-
uifcant matter, It is with some diff
6eulty that large share Of the rea-
ders Of the daily press can command
enough intellectual interest to read
the numerous dispatches, letters and
articles bearing upon this Council,
With which the journals have been
and will be filed. Yet, to another
class of readers, and that by no means
small one, this Ecumenieal Coun-
ell is the great event Of Christendom
for the present time, far outweighing
in importance the political events OF
the year, or even Of the decade. So
much depends upon the point of
view.
This twentieth Ecumenical Council
of the Holy Catholic Church is to be
called the first Council of the Vatican,
from the name of the palace in Rome
in which its sessions are to be held.
1t is to begin, according to the let
tiers apostolic convening it, son the
day sacred to the Immaculate Con
ception of the Virgin Mother of God, "
/. e.. on the 9Th of December From
| this proclamation it has been assum-
ed, without very definite grounds, as
it appears to US, that one of the main
objects of the Council is to proclaim
the dogma Of the Immaculate Con
ception and Assumption of the Vir-
gin. 1t is true that the present
Pope, by letters apostolic dating
many years back, has testified his
own devotion to this special dogma,
and MS jealous desire to make it a
cardinal doctrine of the Catholic
creed. Another surmised object of
the Council is the proclamation of
the infallibility of the Pope himself:
as an ecclesiastical dogma. But
whatever may have been the hidden
purposes or desires Of His Holiness.
be has not in the letters apostolic
convoking the Council, given utter
ance to anything that would lead us
to conclude either dogma to be up
permost in his mird Here is the
rather vague, though sufficiently
I lugubrious presentment of his rea-
sons for summoniog the one thousand
bishops of the Catholic world to meet
him at the Vatican:
"Nor have the Pontifs omitted,
when they thought it seasonable, es-
pecially in times of very grave dis
turbance, and of calamity to our holy
religion and society, to cOnvoke
general councils; that, comparing
councils, and uniting strength with
the Bishops of the whole Catholic
world, whom the Holy Ghost has ap-
pointed to rule the Church of God,
they might wisely and prudently es-
tablish whatever might conduce to
define especially the dogmas of faith,
to put to flight advancing errors, to
defend, illustrate and develop Cath
olic doctrine, to preserve and reform
ecclesiastical discipline, and to cor
rect the corrupt morals of the peo-
pie.
"Now, it is well known and mani
fest to all by how fearful tempest
the Church is at this time shaken,
and what and how great are the evils
with which society itself is afflicted.
By tie bitter enemies of God and
men, the Catholic Church and her
saving doctrine and venerable power,
and the supreme authority of his Ho-
ly See, have been assailed and trod-
den under foot; all sacred things have
been despised; ecclesiastical possess
ions have been plundered; bishops,
and most excellent meu devoted to
the divine ministry, and men remark
able for their catholic spirit, have
been in every way harassed; religious
communities have been destroyed;
impious books of every kind, pesti-
lential journals, aud most pernicious
sects of many forms have been on ev-
cry side spread abroad; and the edu-
cation of unhappy youth has been
almost everywhere taken away from
the clergy, and, what is worse, in no
few places committed to the teachers
of iniquity and error Hence, to our
own grief, and that of all good men,
and with loss of souls which can
never be enough deplored, impiety
has been SO propagated, together
with corruption of morals, Inbridled
license, and the contagion of all kinds
of depraved opinions, of all vices, and
crimes, and violation of divine and
human laws, that not only our most
holy religion, but human society it
self is miserably disturbed and atfiict-
ed"
Whatever may be the special OBJ
ject of the head of the Church for
couvoking the first General Council
in three hundred years at this time, it
is manifest that there is no lack of
zeal in responding to his call. Al
ready there are signs Of the great
Roman catholic revival, which it is
believed, is the grand object of the
convocation. 1t hardly probable, in
deed, that the Bishops will so the
length of proclaiming so unpopular
dogma as downright Papal infallib-
ility. However eager and Jealous
the Italian Bishops and the members
of the order of Jesuits may be to es-
/ tablish this dogma, it is known that
large majority of the French and
other European primates are opposed
to it. So, also it is believed are
those of the United States, and it
will hardly be found expedient to
risk violent difference of opinion in
the council, to say nothing of re-
sulting schism in the Church it
self.
A few items regarding the present
statistics Of the Church will be timely
for such as care to follow the history
of this grand council. The Catholic
Church now contains ffty-seven car
dinals, of whom no less than thirty
nine were italian by birth. The num-
Der of Patriarchates, Archbishoprics
and Bishoprics amounts to one thou
sand and ninety-four-all the in
fcumbents of which are er offcio mem
bers of the Council. This includes
all the Bishops of the Oriental
churches that arc in communion with
Rome-that is, the American Cath
olics, the Greek Catholics, the Mar
onites, the Syrians, and the Chald
cans. The title of Patriarch no longer
signifies in the Catholic Church, as it
formerly did, the head of one Of the
largest divisions of the Church, but it
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