The Red Cloud chief., 1878-02-21
The Council Of Trent.

Two hundred and fourteen years ago
last month this celebrated council com
mcnced its formal session. Its sittings
extended overa period of eighteen years,
| and through no less than five pontiii-
Gates, commencing with Paul Ill, and
ending with Plus ", the closing sitting
taking place on the 18th of December,
l563.
The SummOnin% of 4 general council
| had been ardcntly desired by the adhe-
| rents both of the Roman Catholics and
| the RcformerS, partly from Il desire to
| have MANY abuses removed, partly from
"A hope of etfrcting IA reconciliation be
tween the opposite faiths, through mu-
tual concessions. and an adjustment of
| the points in dispute by the decision OF
| some authoritative assembly. The req
u~isition TO convokc such Il meeting was
first made To Pope Clement VII, and
was seconded with all his influence by
the Emperor Charles V, but the council
was not formally convened until the
| pontiticate of Paul Ill. After much dis
| pute the town of Trent, in the Tyrol,
was fixed upon as the place of meeting
of the assembly.
Not only was the place selected dis
tasteful to the Protestant subjects of
Charles V, but they were also dissatis-
fed with the right claimed by the Pope
of presiding in the council and direct
inw its deliberations, rs also with the
refusal To guarantee throughout the
proceedings the recognition of the scrip
| lures, and the usage of the primitive
church As the sole standard of faith.
After some abortive attempts to accom-
| modate those differences, the Protest
| ants finally declined to attend or rec
ognize in any way the approaching
council, which was accordingly left
| wholly to the direction of the Catho-
lies.
The Pope Paul Ill, created Marcellus
afterwards raised to the chair of Pc
ter) President of the Council, and three
celebrated JesuitS. Faber, Lainez and
Salmeron, acted as theologianS to the
Pope. One of the first points deter
mined vas That the books to which
the designation of 'Apocryphal' hith
been given, are of equal authority of
those which were received by the Jews
and primitive Christians into the sacred
canon; that the traditions handed dewn
from the Apostolic age, and preserved
in the church, are entitled to as mich
regard as the doctrines and prectpts
which the inspired authors have c(m-
mitted TO writing; that the Latin trans
lation of the scriptures, made or re-
viSed by st. jerome, and known by the
name of the Vulgate transaction, should
be read in churches and appealed to in
the schools as authentic and canonical.'
In virtue of its infallible authority,
claimed to be derived from the imne-
diate inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the
council denounced anathemas against
all those who should impugr or deny
the validity of its decisions. The an
cient formula, however, prefixed by &C.
clesiaStical councils 10 their delive.an-
ces-.'It has seemed good to the Eoly
Spirit and to uS"-waS, on the occasion
of the Assembly at Trent, exchanged
for the phrase-.'In the presence of
the Holy Spirit, it has seemed good to
u.s."
There has been no council, if we con
suit all the venerable past, in which so
many questions were treated on dog
mas. discipline and morals. These
matters have never been better defined
than in this council. which may be re-
garded as the faithful image and per-
feet completion of all other councils
So far from any modification being eff
fected in the tenetS or claims of the Ro-
mar Catholic Church and its ministers,
these. on the contrary. were more Wig
~orously enforced and defined. In the
words of DR.. Robertson, Doctrines
which had hitherto been admitted upon
the credit of tradition alone and re-
ceived with some latitude of interpreta-
ton. were defined with a Scrupulous
nicely. and confirmed by the sanction
of authority. Rites which had former
~ been observed only in Difference TO
custom. were established by the DEGREES
of the church and declared to be essen
tial parts of its worship. The breach,
instead of being closed, was widened
and made irreparable." Thus the de-
creeS of the Council of Trent are re-
garded as one of the principal STAN
dards and completed digests of the
Catholic faith.
Iowa, Kentucky and Tennessee have