Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1869-12-30
thirty five have died ~ violence. The


guilty of murder, some Of other fh,grant
crimes; ono of them, Plus " died of
| his own excessive Iicen'ionsncss. In
short, the records OF history plainly
shows that out OF two hundred and
sixtv-two popes in the calendar, at
least one hundred and tifty-three have
been men whose lives prove them un-
worthy 10 be teachers in the Church.
These facts. established by god
Catholic authority. make 1t hard for
the common mind to accept the doe
trine that this series of bishops have
all been inf.lilihlc teachers OF divine
truth. Blrt it is only fair 10 say that
: the advocates of infalliDility. without
denying the facts. claim that they are
not pertinent TO the issue. DIR. Freel.
at st. AIMS Church. in this city. gave
| the following statement of the ultra
montane position:
Il do not hold. nor does auv Cath
olic hold. the doctrine of infillibillty
as defined in Webster's dictionary r
any other dictionory. or as II is uni
vcrsalv understood among Protest
auts. We do not believe in the Poye's
impeccability we do not believe that
he may not sin as well rs any other
man. We do not claim that he may
rot err in p.conversation. in writing, In
preaching, even rs another bishop may
err in those things hut we do bcffeSo
that the Pope, as head OF the Church.
rs the successor Of 81. Peter. a. the
one comman1Dsfto confirm his bre,n
ercn rs the rock on which Christ found
ell his Church--we do believe that
when he acts in this capacity. a head
of the Church, and Teaching the uneab
Church. either by defining some truth
ordeclaEi2Gu GR1ns aoLaiuo Dosais,s<ss
he eanho, command anything wrong %
the whole Church. \
But giving the Pope the full bcncG,
of this demurrer. what shall b. said ID
the unique toned facts pressed bI
Janus that the ialliuiitv of tar
Pope, was not only admitted but Ia
sisted on by the whole church during
its early history ani that do -,r,ues
formerly proclaimed by She highest
authority Ia the church, that Of 4 gen
eral council:
The question Is one which strictly
concerns, only the Catholic Church.
But il concerns that Institution NOR,
deeply than can easily be Understood
The doctrine of the Pope'- infaliihility
has hithe.to been held hy large part
OF the Church, and rejected by the rest
The Jesuita And. ~ woman psgnSfs
genersty maintain IL; most OF tins
German and French prelates oppose it.
But the opposition 10 it j. thousit by
the ultramontane party tends to loJ,,
views Of allegiance 10 the Church. ani
10 interfere with the compact unity ans
energy Of the hieral ehy III its wariAr,
with Professionalism AMI hcatheuj, Ia.
IL they can make this doctrine a par.
or the Catholic creed, 50 that cvcry
member of the Church must adopt an
teach it, or be driven out of the com
munioa, they will perhaps lose little
in number. tut will gam much more III
uniformity and discipline. Bat II they
find themselves opposed Ia spirit
which shows that 10 press the que,lio
they will perhaps follos the course
which runor NOW says they have re.
solse cd on, and postpone the subjecl
indefinitely.
However this may be, it remain
nre that the Papai See claims lnial.r
bility; -..t the claim is sustained bl
The Italian Bshopsn ns body aud b,
the Jesuits that it gives tone To tue
Church in all It's united action aud IL
all its missionary opcratioase; and that
those Catholics who oppose The clam
are every day placed IN "a position q
greater embarrassment and of weakeI
union with the church as whole. The
policy OF Plus *. has been from III.
beginning 10 aggaandlze the papaey
a.Ii t,ota& ..own everything like
\ free,lotTof thought or comprehensive
ness Of -pirit in Catholicism. In 1854
by his solemn definition" of the doe
trine of the Immaculate Conception OF
the Virgin Mary; in l8jj, by the
Austrian concordat, in which he iornal-
is claimed for the church The exclusive
control Of marriage and of education
and in 1864, when.. by encyclIcal letter,
lie denounced free discus sion aud free
thought ~ enemies OF religion<s
nsaais. importlh.. sseaS toward seSell6g
the Catholic Church from all that II
best and most characteristic inglIodexf
-civilization. By these measures, ar
the devout aud eloquent Iuet insists
the Church has been giving over irrev-
oc,bly TO the ultranontane party and
by these measures, As ny his whole
policy, We may add, the papasX has
done all that its enormous infiuenee
coulG effect To restore the church ol
the middle ages in the nineteeneh
century, \. \. Evening rost.
Il a -