The San Francisco call., 1897-05-12

church, as the Emperor wished to regu-
late the affairs OF the church. and this
brought with it deadly sting. MANY
hypocrites entered the church" the
speaker said, "because it was favored by
the Emperor. Even Bishops became
courtiers and time servers, am ashamed
to say. EN- peror Constantine, in o23,
when he became sole ruler of the Roman
world, called convocation OF all the
Catholic Bishops of the world. 300 i n num-
Der, to discuss the Eastern question. then
the inost troublesome problem that OBJ
truded itself on the attention of Roman
Emperor. At this grand council the Off
cial formula of the Christian religion was
drawn up-the famous Nicene Creed.
After reviewing the remarkable career
OF Constantine. he declared that great as
was Constantine, he made his mistakes.
One OF the greatest mistakes he made, &C:
cordlng TO Father Gleason, was in trying
TO dictate to the Catholic church in de-
mandlng the return of an eXiIed Bishop
Archbishop Athanas us of Alexandria.
He spoke of the trials and prosecutions
to which Athanasius. the defender of the
Catholic faith, was subjected by the
Arians, the enemies of the church.
"Athanasius, after having been deposed
from his position, vas restored by Pope
JULIUS" went on the speaker, latter
trial at which he proved himself to be
innocent OF the charge of which he had
been originally convicted. At the time OF
his trial al Rome. a synod of the eastern
Bishops was called in the kingdom of
Constantius, one of the sons Of Constan-
tine, and this synod declared that Bishop
once deposed could never be restored.
This brought forth polite but firm letter
from Pope julius requesting the Emperor
TO refrain from interfering with the private
affairs OF the church This was the
declaration of independence of the church,
made in 345, and from that day to this
the church has maintained that same
position of freedom from civil interfer-
ence.
''St. Athanasius was the 'One man
against the world, +" he said. He fought
against the greatest odds the world has
ever seen and won, because he had right
on his side, and right will always conquer
might however powerful might may be.
"Athanasius lived for the purity of the
Catholic church and was the defender of
the faith against any interference by the
state with the church."
In speaking Of the part the Cappadocians
played in the persecution OF Athanasfus,
he declared they were much like the A.
P. A. s of the present day.
He went somewhat into detail Of the
five exiles which Athanasius has been
subject to and traced his personal history
untll the time of his death in 373.
There have been scandals in the
church. Who can deny it? But the very
fact that the church is to-day in its
primevaI vigor and has survived them all
is thu best proof that it is divine"
He spoke OF the ninth and tenth
centuries in the history of the church
as being most marked with scandals, be-
cause of the authority assumed by the
civil powers over the church. Hide
brand t,known afterward as Gregory VII,
was the brave man who broke this power
of the state over the private affairs of the
church in the eleventh century. He then
briefly mentioned The struggles since that
time which have been waged between the
state and the church in various parts of
the world, and declared that Pope Loo
XIII is to-day prisoner in the Vatican.
and would so remain until the temporal
power of the Pope was restored. This
temporal power he defined as the right of
the Pope to administer the affairs OF the
church throughout the world without in
terference by any civil or state authority.