The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-12-25

@AttSiS AAtshtHsaSUs
It may be we'll, with as much Impair
tiality az the writer can command, 10
state exactly the position of the Roman
Catholic Church and OF the Protestant
Churches on this subject.
WHAT'S the doctrine Of the 'Churoh Of
Rome? The Council Of Florence IL now
generally acknowledged BY the members
of that Church to have been ecnmenical,
and its decisions in matters OF faith are
held to be iniallible. Ia one Of its DEGREES
it says: "Holy baptism, which is the gate
Of spiritual life, occupies the frat place
Of all .sacrauients; for by it we aie
made members Of Christ aud Of the body
Of the Church. And, as through the frSt
man, death has passed upon all; unless
we are born again, Of water and the
Holy Spirit, we cannot (as the
truth declares) "enter into the king.
dom OF heaven" That settled it as
an article OF faith among Roman Catho.
lics that no unhaptized infant, dying in
that condition, can 20 to heaven. The
great modern Roman Catholic theoio.
gian Perrone siys: "What ia certaih,
yea, a matter Of faith, we'have from the
decisions Of the Second Council OF Lyons
and the Council OF Florence, both Of
which declare concerning infants aud
idiots, ave believe that the souls OF those
who die in mortal sin or with only original
sin, Immediately descend into he'll (in In.
fernum)Eto be punished, however, with
different punishments." 1t follows that
the place and state Of these dead unbap-
tized fnfalb Is ii general The same as
those OF adults, who die in final impehi.
tence and are forever lost. They can
never come out Of this hell, Whatever il
may be.
The question which next suggests itself
Is, what kind Of place or Stits u the
he'll of unbaptizsd infnnts? Psryone
sayF, ia commenting on ihe decisions Of
these COUNCILS, that L u mater otfbith
that "ltttle children OF this Kind descend
into hell or incur damnation (damna.
tloneml,n and also that they are punished
with different puniShmenls from those
with which adults are punished5 but that
liberty Of belief il lawful % 10 the place
Of their hell, the disparity Of their pun.
ishment, and the like. The discussion
will be found in Perrone's Ptasleesioaes
IHeOtOgieas edit. Paris, 1861, Vol. !, page
494.
The expressions descend into hell p
"incur dAmnation," ," and "punIshed,P GER,
tainly imply that the state OF 'these dead
intan's, though 1t may not be so bad Is
that Of finally impenitent adults, ia dread
ful. They evidently must be vastly worse
of there than here. This ia still more
apparent from the language ot the Cate
cham OF the Council Of Trent. That
Catechism was prepared BY ths direction
OF the Council whose name 1t bears, and
while not binding, like the DEGREES Of that
body, as infalli6le, IL is universally re-
ceiyed BY the Roman Catholic Church as
an accurate exposition Of the dog
mas OF faith aud the principles
OF morality. The edition before the
wrilar claims for il piaes second only
to the books Of the canonical Scripture" !"
In this Catechism it is explained "lhat
the law Of baptism, Us established by one
Lord, extends to all, ia 90 much, that un.
less they are regenerated through the
grace Of baptism, bo their parents chris.
Iiaus or intidels, tsyure bonn 70 etenal mis-
cry and eVerIuItiag destruction" II such u
the fate Of dead unbApliEsd infants, even
lift is not 80 bad as that Of lost adults, II
is terrible enough.
J, There is evidently strong disposition
, on the part oil modern Roman Catholic
tea cherS to make the hell Of lost infants q
mere negation. Thus the Douay Cate,
chism says that infants dying without
baptism 60 to "a part Of hell, where they
endure the pain Of loa, and shall never
see the face Of God.n Even this, however,
still leaves them under an eternal
: pain-the pain Of losS. Gousset, whC
, a. a Cardinal and the Archbishop oi
Reims Is entitled To speak, not with Bind
ing authority, but still with special
weight has declared "that although un.
bapuzed infants are deprived forever o.
the happiness Of the saints, they suffsl
; neither sorrow nor sadness In conse
quence Of that priyation." Thus tht
idea Of positive suffering in their los
estate In the world to come Is wholly
eliminated.
Some persons might be uncharitabiC
enough 10 claim that this modification O
The doctrine is device adopted 10 escape
popular opprobrium. But let II rathel
be accepted "a thoroughly honest. Tht
difficulty il TO understand how Il car
be reconciled with the decreea Of thu
IC.n,n;Is xVhtrh ara hald In bA infAllibla