The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1872-12-22

sass ae, while the mOst inferior capacity ID
susceptible Of is. Therefore NO matter
how learned a Bishop he may be, he ia not
infsllible In that capacity or In amy other,
except only when setting officially - Pope.
How strange that our neighbor can't I'M
derstand this! ~.
nakes the paragraph it quotes
from the LIST dogmatic degree! This goes
on to say that the Pope has ordinary and
immediate Jurisdiction over all the
Churches, and all the pastors and faithful"
Have we ever questioned this And yet our
neighbor SCENE to imply that we have and
is very triumphant about it.
Again. The most considerable portion Of
our neighbor's space is devoted to dis.
graceful and unseemly attack upon the per-
sonal character Of tho Roman Pontiffs. Can
it not do better than this In the discussion
of Infallibilityf Will it still insist in ig-
noring the distinction between it and i'm
peocability, . distinction easily understood
by every child. We referred to Peters
holy ministry and his fall Yes, it says,
but he repented and the Popes did not.
he was SHINING and before he repentedf
Look at the crimes Of Solomon and David
and read their inspired writings. See the
wickeduess Of Caipha, was he not high
priest1 Look at all the crimes recorded
of priests, prophets, and Levites in the Old
Testament, did they thereby lose their
levitical character7 ...-. -.-
If any man vrikoo ha AcoatIo .or> u.
is without STA he 10 liar. Do our Calvinis-
tic teachers travel on their sanctity! Are
their pbylacteries so holy that they cannot
recognize the priestly character in any
bad mani II our neighbor will point out
the exact degree of sinfulness to which
man may proceed before he becomes unfit
for the priesthood We will then ask if he
loses his capacity at the moment he attains
that degree. In the cases of extreme de-
pravity in the Protestant clerical force, re-
Gently brought to light, did these men
cease to be preachers and parsons at any
particular moment before they were detec-
ted7 Ifso, wheni II not then the loss
of capacity resulted not from the crime
but from the detection.
Now suppose, however, as we Catholics
do, that there is . certain specific character
impaired and indelibly imprinted on the
soul by priesthood, is the man NO longer q
priest because he becomes badf Does his
personal wickedness deprive him of his off
cial capacityf Is q sacrament null because
administered by himf Doesthe validity of
baptism, confirmation. holy orders, etc., con-
ferred by him depend upon his being in the
state of grace Ifso we are unfortunate
indeed, for many au apparent saint is really
a great sinner. No, the Almighty has not
depend upon the personal sanctity of his
ministers. The personal character Of the
man may indeed have much to do with
the efficiency and success of his work.
Neither the debanchee, nor the liar, nor
the thief that our neighbor speaks of,
would effect much good as priest, but sup
posing, as we do, that there are sacraments
and that there is a Priestly character and
Office, his ministerial functions would at
least be efficaciously performed. In the
same way Pope, no matter how much
harm he might do by scandalous conduct,
how m UGH evil he might bring on the chi rob,
would at least be constrained to teach the
truth in his official capacity.
But it is tiresome to go over the same
ground SO often, and We notify our neighbor
that we shall in our next article proceed
to another branch Of the subject. Tie
grounds over which we have already trav-
evled have not been touched by our OPP
ponent except on the outskirts. 1t keeps
up y kind of show of war by sallies of
small wit and fierce contention on points
that have scarcely anything to do with the
subject. We shall go onward, leaving it
to its beating of tom toms at safe dis
tauce.
There will be a mission at the Holy Trinity
church, st. Ferdinand street, Third District,