The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-10-30
The Laity and the pope.


90 Some persons persistently maintain til.
" the laity of the Catholic Church are a poo
spirited, priest-ridden set, whose interes
80 are controlled and whose common sense
~ overruled by superstitious reverence ft
the clergy that their common sense, how
. ever, is constantly at war with this servil
superstition, and that gradually by a tint
:. self-assertion it gains courage and loosen
the bonds which it fears to break all a
q once. Thus it is presumed that in tn
= matter of the Papal Infallibility, as recent
defined, the hierarchy and the clergy hav
y 1oisted the new doctrine upon the Church
8 that the laity are naturally at war with i
:. and must feel strong repugnance in hay
ing it forced upon them.
The London Times is the ablest and mos
persistent of those assertors of a false the.
= DRY, the champion and organ Of all thes,
protesting enemies of the Catholic Church
who having no truth to advance against
her, make use of lies, and who, being
ashamed to lie in direct and straightfor
ward manner, do SO by ingenious and
plausible assumptions. An instance in
point is contained in the following words,
quoted from the Times, and referring to q
few OF the German Bishops who failed to
sign the recent pastoral of adhesion to the
doctrine of infallibility: "They (these few
blshops) will assist the laity in combating
the assumptions of their clerical brethren. !"
Here it is taken for granted that the Ca
tholic laity are opposed to the new dogma,
and are at war with the clergy on that sab
Ject. A plain statement of that proposition
In direct terms would have been aedirect
falsehood; as here set forth it is no less false.
but more ingenious and less obtrusive. 1t
produces the same effect, without calling so
much attention to itself
1t is utterly impossible for the Times to
prove that the laity of the Catholic Church
are opposed to the dogma of Papal Infalli-
bility, and being leading and very inf1u-
entail journal, it ought not to state as a
fact what it cannot prove. In fact, the
truth is just the contrary of what is implied
by the language of the Times. The people
or laity are unanimous in favor of the doc
trlne, SO far as any evidences have been
made public, or have in any way come to
our knowledge, while the whole opposition
resulted from the the personal feelings
of the Bishops themselves. 1t was but
human nature that they should object to
the idea of 80 mighty virtue as infalli-
bllIty being vested in one Bishop only,
while there was chance of claiming that
it was distributed among them all. The
vast majority of them rose superior to such
while few of the more
, l,s
Bishops found themselves affected by the
spirit of unbelief which unfortunately has |
)ervaded their race for the last few CEN
uries, at first breaking out in Protestant :
sm and latterly in rationalism. In spite c
IT their piety, the hierarchy of that nation. s
Illty appeared to be more or less Influenced l.
~ the spirit which surrounded it, and was =
Unaffected to the truth. 1t was necessary s
hat they should be put to the test The f
ogma was defined in spite of their doubts, !;
nd the moment of trial came. Whosoeyer u
not for me is against me. Happily they C
ave listened to the voice of truth and &
ubmission. They have issued pastoral II
ecognizng the genuineness of the council b
nd the binding nature of its decision. u
hey have done this in the most positive, O.
nequlvocal and hearty manner. A few o
ames only are wanting and it is of these I'll
nhappy few that the London Times makes i u
lie above remark. w
This happy event inaugurated new era ct
r Catholicity in Germany. The heroic en-
flowers of the faith in the Faderland have On
w broken all the ties that connected
EN- with the spirit of their generation.
ley have broken with the world and sided do
tn the Church. Henceforth their power re-
all be irresistible and, being united with ~.
9 true strength, heresy and infidelity av
list go down before them. Every truth is his
power, and the vast truth of the Papal OF
fallibility is power which must clear TN,
'iety of error in its present form, forcing tic
to assume a new one. The London 10y
mes will soon find that the laity are by i H,t
means at war with the Bishops in this ius
estion. but have, indeed, been always in ant
vance of them. Conviction of any num- nel
of lies, however, will not convert the hay
'es, which is the official organ of the AS
rit of the world. AS such it must al Pow
Us be the enemy-a polished one, per- tba
70, but still the enemy-of the truth. fore