The New York herald., 1874-08-04
CHURCH AND STATE.
Pastoral Protest Of the Archbishop Of Caracas
Against the Ecclesiastical Laws
The Contest Between the Episcopacy
and the State of Venezuela.

CARACAS, Venezuela, July TO- 1874
We are on the eve OF Q revolution. Caracas
plays no minor part The city, even the country,
Is full OF Venezueans who are awaiting the sig
nal Guzman Blanco has ordered the chief onicer
to expel some OF these venezuelans. forward a
translation OF the pastoral letter which has just
been Issued by His Grace the Archbishop Of Ca
racas.-
PASTORAL LETTER OF THE ARcHBIsHor oP Ca
RACAS.
We, SYLVESTER GuEvARA, by the grace Of God and
the viii OF the Holy Apostolic See, Archbishop OF
Caracas and venezuela, TO the clergy and faith
iul OF our Archdiocese-Peace IN our Lord Jesus
Christi
calumny has been launched against our episcopal
honor This the government OF our country has
made use OF in order TO discharge upon the
Church. its Independence and ITS rights, multi
piled and successive blows, which have reduced it
to the iamentsbie state in which 1t groans to-day,
without an authority which governs freely and
openly. Separated by official declarations and
legislative acts from the divine trunk OF the Roman
Catholic Church, with Its temples razed or desc
lated; Its semnaries and converts abolished; the
Levites OF the sanctuary and holy virgins dis
persed; its liberties, Its properties and its re-
under the hand of the oppressor, which letters or
debases them. vide breach opened to public
marriage, menacing the glorious and splendid
crown Of the priesthood by the enacted law OF the
sacrllegious conjuga union of the clergy; in fine,
against the repose OF the grave, wbicn she has
always covered with love aud respect they nave
disturbed and cast forth from the protective
shades OF her affairs the venerable relics OF our
ancestors.
PERSONAL OFFENCE.
In order to inaugurate this crusade Of desrruc.
tion which they call the great work OF regenera-
ton and progress, 1t is said, with all the cynicisns
which always characterizes falsehood, that we
and yet it is well known that the cause OF our n.
qnitous exile was the petition we presented TO the
W have
solid. Yet we still persist in believing that II at
the time we solicited political amnesty the Presi.
dent had been inspired by sentiment Of justice
and o sense OF the public welfare, and II, following
the dictates Of sound administrative policy. he
had restored the liberties instead OF cOnhscating
them more, the effect would certainly have been
the cessation OF the war and the security OF the
public tranquility by general contentment while
the obstinate persistence in q system Of vengeance
and OF violent arbitrarness produced the civil CON
tests which succeeded those that have cost so much
finally lett but an ephemeral peace as generally
happens where force OF the most violent nature Is
we USyea a. Of IN sinus
and no one has right to crlminate In tentions.
Nor, how deny to bishop the right to form an
opinion and express his thoughts In q cause OF so
grave national interest," a right that in cases
IKE this becomes duty, to point out to his chill
dren the abysses into which they are running.
FUTILE PRETEXTs FOR PERSECUTION.
Everybody in Venezuela knows, even our perse-
cutors themselves are convinced Of the futility OF
that pretext for persecution. Then, alter having
formally convicted it OF falsehoOd, the govern
ment has not been able to adduce single proof 10
connections Of the country. Our only crime has
been the resistance we made TO the present time,
and which. with the divine assistance we win con.
tlnue to make till death, against the unlawful
measures OF The government itself against
the constitution, laws and discipline of
the Holy Church, and against the authority with
which we are invested by the grace of God. That
such Is our only crime Is brilliantly proved by the
very fact that the sellsame persons who yester-
dence OF the government have begun to expert
ence violent Prosecutions, losing an favor from
power. And, on the other hand who Ii not con-
vinced, until the evidence is otherwise, that it is
Venezuela which the government Of the Republic
contempates and now executes with manifest
arGors will NIT IT be, be said j. Is only to punish the
semnaries Of the Republic have been closed and
forbidden, their properties connscatedp That 1t is
with sach an emo in view that the converts are
abolished. their rents sequesirated and number
OF Christian virgins nung on the streets without
bIon Of assembling more than four In tn the same
l0dgingS That 1t Is with such an object that civil
marriage, obligatory, has been @ established ip
the laws OF the church,
{Iis, We presume fog this reason that the illus.
trions Bishop Merlae, an octogenarian and sick,
was cast fortn from his country In such manner
that he rendered up his pure soul to God on his
way to exile and equally for this motive that six
temples OF the capital have been destroyed or ap-
Piled to profane uses, and that the remains of SO
many OF the faithful piously deposited IN the
churches OF san Jacinto San Francisco and San
tlssma Trinidad, and three converts OF religious
have been ruthessly thrown out Of the holy sane
tuaries. No, beloved children all these acts and
we here omit In order not to be repeating such
demoniike acts evince the spirit Of the gov
ernmen nas tne recent expulsion Of the
OF the Sovereign Ponti1 the errors and impeties
In which for years the ofllcious press and public
especially this horrible message to Congress
during the present year, in which he went so
far as to deny the necessity OF the worship and
the divinity OF Lord Jesus Christ thus reveal
ing the lnnamed hatred, the hatred OF doctrine
with which the present government OF venezuela
Is animated against the Catholic Church.
THE INTERCEPTED ARCHIEpIscoPAL CORRESPOND
ENCE.
fest with which the government permits
those Of its school to misiead the opinion
or the tncautious to continue to falsify and
calumniate the truth In order to make US ap-
pear as conspirators and thus in the presence OF
the people put good face on the most oppressive
means which cease not to cry out against the
Church. 1t ls said that the government mas inter.
cepted large seditlous correspondence OF the
Archbishop OF Caracas; but it took good care not
to publish any OF tae documents. Every one pa
tiently awaited. but this formidable correspond
ence has never been given to the public.
RESOLVED IN THE RIGHT
We challenged publicly our prosecutors to pub
lish the documents they have taken, and although
thls alone VIII sufhce to convince every man OF
Judgment OF the perfdy to which we are still vic.
Tins, we owe IL, nevertheless, to the cause OF our
good name, Tor which reason we are always ready
to give here, as We have solemniy given it before
new IND public denial to this caumny lately forged
We know, beloved children, what we owe to the
character witha which, although un " 0rtby. we are
invested. We know to what point it Is allowed us
TO resist the enemies OF the Church From St.
Peter to Plus TX, from Athanaius and ST. John
ChrysOstom to those other renowned cOnfessors or
the fatth-Bshops OF Germany OF switzerland OF
Brazil-who to-day suffer like US In prison or in
exlle for the defence OF the liberty OF the Nburch
we have examples enough to understand where
to begin and how for to push our resistance To
suffer patiently persecution, awaiting the Justice
OF God until 1t pIeases Him to decree ana the
ceases; to take from US the unjust
burdens which we ourselves bear and to oppose the
attacks OF the prosecutors by the clear atrmation
OF the doctrine OF the Church. This is what
we ought to do; this Is what we have done. This |
we did once before, In our protest OF the
i1th OF April last to the Congress OF vene- |
suela against the vacancy OF the Metro
poitan See, and also against the election |
Of utul2r, neither Inc other balopUao ~