Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-16
COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH
ARCHBISHOP GROSS ADDRESS
LAST NIGHT.

LAST NIGHT.
Catholicism Reviewed and a History of
the Great Church COnventiOns-The
Laws of Marriage and DivOrce-The
Late PIenary Council at Baltimore
The Spread of the Catholic Faith.
A large audience assembled In Catholic
Library Hall last night to listen to the ad-
dress Of His Grace Archbishop Gross on
the third PlenaTy Council of Baltimore,
delivered under the auspices of the Cath
Olc Library Association. The audience
comprised not only members Of
the church of which the speaker is
a distinguished representative, but many
| leading citizens and nOn-CathOlics, all 81
whom followed the address closely ana
apparently with the deepest interest.
| His Grace selected as his subject the
Injunction of Christ TO his disciples: $50
We. therefore, and teach all nations,
4 baptiZing them in the name Of the Father,
| and of the Son, and Of the
| HOLY Ghost: Teaching them to eb-
/ serve all thiEgs whatsoever have
| commanded you; and 10, am with you
| AWAY. even unto the end of the world.
| Amen"
| This admonitiOn of the Saviour, re-
| marked the speaker, was the foundation
| of the mission Of the holy Catholic Church,
ana it had been Obeyed by its teach
ers and prelates for nearly 1000
years: The faithful and Jealous, in
4 spired by the injunction of their Di-
/ vine Master, had met and overcome
the enemies of Christianity, though the
i power of the Kings of the earth had been
arrayed to destroy the influence Of the
church and OF its Drelates and teachers.
/ Hence the church had stayed the inrOads
of the Huns and Nandals, checked the
,nf1
the Emperor Constantine to yield
| obedience to her mandates. Her H.
| fiuence. had OverthrOwn the influence
| Of the infdel in Milan and Madrid,
and given to England laws which until
| quite recently were held among the most
sacred Of her statutes. What would the
| world have been to-day, he asked, but for
the missionary work of the church? What
was the condition of woman! The church
found her degraded and enslaved,
but by the enforcement of the
| laws governing the marital relations 1t
has elevated her to the position which
God intended her to occupy in the family
and in society.
| His Grace then took up the different
councils Of the church that have been
held during several hundred years in
Europe, where the policy of its work
and the necessity of proposed missionary
labor was discussed by the bishops and
priests. These councils, he said, were
like the organization of Congress, the
bishops constituting the Senate, and the
| priests the members Of the House. The
congress was supposed to deliberate upon
| secular matters, while the councils Of the
| church were called to consider the
means best calculated to promote the
| spiritual welfare of the masses. As a
part of the mission Of the church, her
councils had from time to time deliberated
with an authority equal to that ever ut
tered by an Emperor or a Parliament.
The church speaks to-day, he said, with
no unmeaning or trivial force upon
the subject. of divorce, while
it appears that England
and other countries have become lax in
maintaining the laws which were incOr-
pOrated in the statutes hundreds of years
ago in reference to that subject.
The first church council held il America
was at the City OF Mexico in 1853.
He then reviewed the history and growth
of the church in the United States. In
1883 be said there were but twelve priests
and one bishop Carroll, of Baltimore }.
| In 1910 a meeting Of three bishops was
held in Baltimore, at which a
number of priests were present, but
the first council was held in
that city in 1929. There are three kinds
of councils of the church. One is the
| Ecumenical, the second, the Provincial
and the third. the Plenary. The Ecu
menical Council Is composed of prelates
from all parts of the world. The Pro-
vincial Council is made up of the repre-
sentatiyes of the priests and bishops of a
! province. while a Plenary Council is
| composed of priests and bishops
from every portion of the United
States. In 1883, less than
100 years ago. there was but one bishop
and twelve priests in the United States.
There are now u bishops and archbishOps,
1913 priests and 1900 Catholic churches,
| besides a large number of semlnaries and
colleges and other Institutions working
under the authority of the church.
The last PleHary Council was composed
of 100 bishops and aTchbishOps,
and more than 500 priests, who
marched in procession and attended the
| solemn services. The council was in seS-
sion five weeks, and during its sitting,
though many subjects of the deepest inter-
est were discussed and the debates were
at times extremely animated, not one I'M
| kind or harsh word was passed. Some OF
the members addressed the private ses-
siOns of the council wholly in
Latin. 1t held two kinds of sessions, one
known as the private and the other as the
/ public session. At the private sessions
the archbishOps, bishops and abbOts
were present and took an active part in
] AllC nAeIuooAoliSs ~ tAlO INhAiN oNo1loho az "a
/ the priests We're present with the bishops,
but the latter took no part, the object
being to give the priests ample time to
| express their views freely upon different
measures which would subsequently,
perhaps. be passed in turn to the session
| Of bishops for consideration.
Before the council met all the priests
and bishops were advised of the sub
jects which would be brought before it,
hence when the august body met
the representatives were IN measure
prepared to give their views. Upon the
assembling of the council committees
were appointed to deliberate on certain
matters, and when they reported to the
meeting in public or private session the
report was acted upon. The Bishop
stated that he was one of the Committee
on Summaries and Colleges.
The work and recommended
ton of the Plenary Council
had been submitted to the Pope. Among
other matters which the public might
learn that it had acted upon were the sub
| iects of divorce. secret societies, social
ism, dynamiters, etc.
His Grace, in concluding, said that when
| the head of the church should speak upon
| these questions the Utterances would be
from one who was the chief of 20O,00O,OOO
| of people devoted to the teaching of Cath
Olicism and Obedient to the human influ-
! ences of Christianity.
HIS GUN EXPLODED.