The Irish standard., 1895-05-11
THE POpE'S LETTER.

THE POpE'S LETTER.
The reign of Leo XIII. is truly one of
peace. More than once in the last fif-
teen years he has earnestly pleaded for
pace among the nations of Europe. To
his efforts and those of the late Alexan-
der of Russia may be assigned the credit
OF preserving the peace of Europe. He
has striven not only for peace among
nations, but also for peace among Chris
tians. The late Apostolic letter to the
English people was prayer that the
Anglican Church might again enter the
folds OF the Mother Church. There is
nothing in the letter to which Protest
ants can reasonably object. There is no
discussions Of doctrines. Nothing to
suggest past. bitternesses. OF course
nobody will doubt, that the only condi-
ton ON which the English could enter
the Catholic Church would be on submit
ting to Papal authority. Here is where
the real difficulty lies. 1t may be i'm
practicable, but it is not impossible that
England will some day again be the
''fairest flower" of the Church. It can
not be reasonably expected that England
will in a body go over to Catholicism as
it did in the days of Alfred the Great.
But there have been two movements in
the English Church during the past hun
dred years in directly opposite direc-
lions, one toward the Catholic Church
and tile other away from it. These
movements represent the two tenden-
cies Of Christianity. One after another
the Protestant Churches have been let
ting down the bars and throwing away
ali restraints of organization until to-
day in many of them there is no unity
of faith, nothing to keep Church organ
ization together except locality and So
cial interests. There are many Protes-
tants that can as we'll associate with one
church as with another. This seeming
unity is brought about not by any agree
ment of beliefs, but by the absolute lack
of any agreement or belief. The strug-
gle among the Protestant Churches to-
day is to get as far away from any def
mite doctrines as possible. Their cry
has been to liberalize the Churches, and
they have been liberalized almost out
OF existence. This of course is not the
kind of unity Leo XIII. contends for.
Those are not the terms on which he
would agree to Christian unity. ~
But while this has been the general
tendency Of Protestants, it has not been
the only one During the past century
the most aggressive party in the Episco-
pal Church both in this country and in
England has been gradually moving to
Rome. This party has been ridiculed
By other Pretestants as apers Of the
Catholic Church. The movement, how
ever. has been substantial, the change
has been in belief as well as in forms.
In the last century this party has re-
traced the ground gone over in the pre-
ceding two and half centuries, and now
in some instances is almost indistin-
guishable from Roman Catholic.
They teach Catholic doctrines. They
believe in the confessional, they speak
of the mass, they hold that the Church is
infallible, they copy after the Catholic
Church in administering the commu~
Mon, they copy Catholic ceremonies and
symbols, they render alteration to the
Blessed Virgin and the saints, but they
reject the authority of the Pope. They
contend for the supreme authority OF
the Church, but oddly enough admit no
means Of securing and enforcing that
authority. OF late years many Of these
Episcopals, both clergy and laity, have
entered the Catholic Church. There is
doubtless desire on the part of some
Episcopalians for reunion with the
Catholic Church. To these the Pope's
letter has been a welcome event. And
it is not impossible that it will be fol-
lowed by large gains for the Church in
England.