The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-10-05

THE ISFALLIBILITY DoeMA-ITs PRESENT STA
Tus-Many Of the American prelaies who attended
the Ecumenical Council have reached their
homes, and received from their hOcks hearty vel
come. Being called upon the balconies Of their
houses to make speech" or being interviewed by
reporters these dignitaries have all expressed their
willingness to abide by the Inallibility dogma.
With that judcious often remarked in the
Catholic priesthood, most Of them hive promised TO
make the dogma the subject Of special discourses at
an early day That they accept H. and will stand il,
there is no reasonable doubt. And yet 1t was from
the American prelates that the strongest opposition
to the dogma came. As in America, so in Europe,
the final adoption of the dogma seems to have
hushed all open objections TO it, not merely among
archbishops and bishops, but in the whole army of
priests Among the Catholic Journals of the world
there is entire unanimty Of acquiescence, if not
of ELUSIVE appreciation, and no strong dissenting
opinion has yet manifested itself among the laity.
Every where by the Catholic Church it is received
with federation respect enthusiasm. Only
where it comes into collision with the machinery
of civil government in certain of the European Cath
ole states does it provoke hostility. Austria abro
gates the concordat: and the Pope thereupon with
draws his Nuncio from Vienna The Government
of Bavaria forbids the PRONUNCIATION of the bull of
Papal nfallibili;y in that country. France
occupied with the which she had declared just
previous to the proclamation of the dogma by the
Council that she has not yet had time or the oppor
tunty TO mark her sense of dispeasure-unless the
withdraw of the last French soldiers from Rome
may be regarded as such an indication. Ii is
doubtful whether Napoleon. requiring every bayonet
at his disposal, would not have taken away his
troops from the same if the dogma had been
adopted. But the attitude of antagonism ndif
ference assumed by the Catholic powers Of Europe
in heir civil capacity towards the dogma does not
appear TO have any effect, We repeat, the senti
ment of individual Catholics TO appreciable ex-
tent anywhere. We account for this partly by not
unduly estimating the operation of that habit of
obedience which is the backbone of the Catholic
Church, and partly by the fact that the dogma is
only the assertion of proposition which may, or
may not, be acted upon by the Pontif. AT present
it is nothing more than abstraction. Not till it
is put into a concrete form, and practised upon
some question of human interest shall We expect
TO see whatever latent antipathy 10 the dogma (if
any now obtains in Catholic ranks brought out in
bold relief Pope Plus TX is a man of great expert
ence, and not worldly unwise. he needs no diplo-
matst to tell him that the frequent frivolous
employment of the power now vested in him would
uSi"s"'S ~ !" ms Wv" uiE"i'S "'u i"Ju'e 'ue Co
TEEN in which infallibility is now held among Cath
olics So great authority should obviously be
welded only upon great occasions. Its effect will
be almost in proportion to the infrequency of its
use Some time may elapse before the Pope will
give to the world an example of his infallibe judg
ment. When he does so, and not before, shall we
regard the doctrine of infailibiity put to test.
For the present. while we cannot say that the dog
ma has fallen st-born it has produced far less ex-
element than was expected. Even Protestant pull
pits have tired Of laundering against it. Perhaps
the outbreak of the war has diverted public atten
iiOn from the dogma, but think that better ex-
PLANTATION of the unconcern with which it is received
both by Catholics and Proestans is the fact that its
adoption is but an empty Formally, and that the
world will wait 10 see it exercised before allowing
itself to become excited over it.