The San Francisco call., 1896-01-18

| tilal tnls eminent theoIogien'' never had any
| tnlng TO do with the Catholic Review"
| again Dr. Wendte writes:
| Recent Popes have denounced by name these es-
Sehllal institutions of our nation, calling them 1.-The
liberty OF perditionH - "impious, absurd and erron-
| eous doctrlnes, "detestable sentiments pregnant
with the most deplorable evils, of all others most
10 be dreaded in a state" Indeed Pope Leo XIII
| III tne encycllcal already quoted from, emphatl-
| cally condemns the supposed right of man to
choose his own religion and calls it degradation
OF hDerty," ana Pope Plus TX in his alocutIon TO
consistory of Cardinals, September, 1851. said;
| I'VE have taken this principle for basis that the
Catholic religion with all it's rights ought be
clusively dominant in such sort that every other
worship shall be banished and nterdicted.''
Let me state first that no Pope has denounced
| single essential institution of our nation as
"impious, :" absurd" etc.
Let me state secondly that Leo XIII does not
| call our American system of religious freedom
as "degradation OF liberty"
| Let me state thirdly that there was no con-
| sistory of Cardinals held in September, 1851,
and that the words ascribed TO Plus * are
| spurious.
4. Again DIR. Wendte says:
1t is characte eristic of the Roman clergy always
| to avail themselves of their immediate oppor-
tunty, no matter how it may contradict the logic
OF their principles Thus Louis Vieuot editor of
the Catholic iournal, i Univers, and leader of the
ultramontane party in the French Parliament, on
being reproached for inconsistency, cooly replied
10 the radical majority "When we were in
power we denied you free speech and action the
basis OF our principles But now that you are IN
power we demand this freedom from you on the
basis of your principles"
With the experience we have had of DR..
Wendte's quotations l am justified in refusing
TO credit this until he produces his authority.
D. Again Dr. Wendte says:
When Mary was Queen of England Pope Paul
~ issued bull confirming the previous Papal
grants of Ireland to the English crown and erect
ing it into a Kingdom. He said therein: "By vir-
tue of the supreme power which we have from
God, who has placed us over thrones and nations,
we erect Ireland into Kingdom
The words in inverted commas were 1nvente
by John S. Hittell.
D. Again Dr. Wendte says:
Nicholas I, whose pontifcate extended from S5S
to S67, wrote thus to the Bishops of Lorraine:
''W as the vicar of Christ have the right of
Judging all men; thus, before obeying kings you
owe obedience TO us; and if we declare monarch
guilty you should reject him from your COM
munlon until we pardon him. We alone have the
power TO bind and to loose. and Chris
tians cannot, under penalty of accommodation,
execute other Judgment than ours, which alone is
infallible. People not the Judges of their
princess they should obey, without murmurlng,
the most niquitous orders. But if we de-
clare king heretical and sacregious-if we drive
MN nm. from The church-clergy and laIty whatever
and may revolt against his power,"- (Cormenin's s
History OF the Popes," vol. /, 242.)
Cormenin. who gives this letter, was q
French Protestant minister He cites no au-
thorities for it whatsoever. 1t is not to be
found among any of Nicholas letters. His
epistles to the Bishop of Lorraine are extant,
and nothing like this occurs in them John S.
Hitten knew the letter forgery because
he omitted words which would show even the
densest bigot that no Pope could have uttered
them. Here are the sentiments which even
John s. Hittell considered too strong for his
readers. After the words "the most iniquitous
orders the alleged letter continues:
''They should bow their foreheads under the
chastlsements which 1t pleaseS kings TO infct
on them, for a sovereign can violate the funda-
mental law OF the state and seize upon the
wealth of the citizens by imposts or by confs-
cations; he can even dispose of their lives
without any of his subjects having the right to
address to him simple remonstrances."
And we are asked to believe that these words
were spoken by q sane mani No wonder Mr..
Hittell omitted them.
6. Again DR.. Wendte writes;
Gregory VII wrote to a Roman synod 1--WE can
earldoms, and, in word, the possessions OF all
men" Janus, l. e., the DR.. Doellinger cited above,
p S9t
In the first place Janus does not say that
Gregory wrote these words to a Roman synod.
In the second place the very quotation given
by Janus does not make Gregory says these
words at all.
In the third place, in the original the words
given by Janus are not said by Gregory OF him
self, but of the saints of God in heaven.
z. Again DR.. Wendte writes
Pope Innocent III claimed (see Janus p. 1897 in
OF his eccesiastie al epistles that Christ has
committe ed the whole world TO the government OF
the Popes."
Pope Innocent III makes no such claim in
the sense intended by Janus. The words occur
in the midst of a long letter to the Patriarch of
Constantinople- That letter is taken up in
proving the prlmacy OF Peter. innocent says
that the other apostles were appointed TO GER
tam provinces or churches as, for example,
James to Jerusalem, but that st. Peter was
given the whole world for his province.
Again DR.. Wendte says:
The code OF GrStian as compiled about 1850
and since accepted by all the Popes part of
the canon law, to which everybody owes obed-
ence declares that the Pope 'alone gives power
and efficacy in the first instance to every law
(Geffcken !, 24).
In the first place the code of Gratian was
never accepted by canonists or POpes as part
OF the canon law. 1t was a textbook for
schools and nothing more.
In the second place the code of Gratian
does not say that the Pope in the first instance
gives efficacy to civil law.
l think ! have given sufficient proof now to
show how untrustworthy DR.. Wendte's quota
tions are. II his scholarship can produce only
such scraps of learning as these the less he
boasts the better. | have not done with his
communication yet. l am sorry that he COM
plains of my verbosity. However, l cannot
help it, A fool can ask more questions in a
minute than q wise man can answer in year.
At the end l would advise DR.. Wendte to con-
suit the dictionary now and again He speaks
of "the bones of Il 900 holy virgins at Cologne
which modern physiology pronounces to be
largely the bones OF men and animals!" I
would humbly remind him that neither an
cient nor modern physiology could have
anything whatsoever to say on such point.
Yours truly, P. c. YoRKE.