, 1877-12-09

Il i ANAO
Legislature passed an act authorizing eact
Bishop to say In what part Of the cemetery, eon
buried. In the Guibord case, the U1tramon
tancs claimed jurisdiction over the con
! sciences OF Protestants no less than CaIn az
| olics. Vicar-General Truteau said: - ihe
Church regards as those over whom she can
| exercise jurisdiction all persons who have been
baptized. There are, therefore, only non,oap'
| tized persons belonging to the Institut-Gana'
dicn who are not subject to the authority OF the
Church all others are subject to that authorlly
| whether they be Catholics or Protestants." This
claim Of extended jurisdiction, as a1r. Lindsey
points out, means nothing less than that every
Protestant who has been baptized may be de-
nicd the liberty Of reading any book which has
been put in the lnae1. Accordingly the an,
marie of ithe 1nstitut- Canadicn was condemned
at Rome because it contained report Of lee.
ture in favor OF federation; and Bishop Bour5et
issued warning TINT any one who should per.
sist IN Keeping the book in his possession would
be denied the sacraments, even in the article OF
death. Bishop Bourget has attached 70 MS
episcopal palace ten priests, whose duty 1t IS to
examine new books to determine whether they
contain anything which baptized persons, Catho-
licand Protestant, should not be allowed to read
This duty is performed with more industry than
intelligence, for the Vicar-Gencral admitted in
the Guibord trial that he had never seen q COPY
of the Index EIpurqatorius, and did not know
whether it could be found in the episcopal pal
ace. Probably the lesser clergy are no better
informed. The application of this doctrine Of
authority over the conscience Of Protestants and
Catholics alike would produce very serious con-
sequences if applied to tho marriage relation.
The Jesuit writer's in Canada denouncc civil
marriage as concubfnage, declare all such con
tracts as null and void, ana stgmatizc the chill
dren born Of them as illegitimate. a leading
Jesuit writer, Father Praun, Of Montreal, says
calmly: t'It is customary to regard Protestant
ism as religion which has its rights. This Is
all error. Professionalism is not religion;
Professionalism has not single right" Starting
with such postulate as this. it Is easy to see
what the Canadian Ultramontanes arc aiming
at, and how serious is the peril which mcnaccs
Protestant liberties.
In the election Of 1873, the priests. urged on
BIZ the Bishops, exercised to the fullest their
spiritual despotlsm over the voters. The Bish-
op Of Rimousli, who, SO short time before as
1861 forbade the priests to interfere in the cleo
tious, went to the opposite extreme. In 1875,
he issued pastoral claiming the right Of priests
DENYING the right OF tho civil authority to put
any limits to The ecclesiastical power. He
warned the faithful not to vote for any one who
favored principles which tho Church condemned,
aud closed with an assertion Of Divine power
worthy of the Pope himself: II am Judge and
doctor, dtyincly appointed" A joint letter Of
theeight Bishopswas sent outinstructing priests
todcclarc with authority that to vote in pnrticu
lar way is sin, bringing down upon the culprit
the censures Of the Church. This joint letter
was thrice approved at Rome, first By DR.. de
Angels, Doctor Of Canon Law, next by Cardinal
FrancIi Prefet OF the Congregation Of the Prop
agaud2, land finally By the Pope himself 4
letter from the Archbishop, seemingly in con-
hict with it, was explained away, and rcmon-
STRANGE sent to Rome proved to be Intellectual.
The priests accordingly went actively to work.
One Of them told his hearers that to rotc for q
Liberal was to disobey the Pope; another that