The Irish standard., 1898-03-19
THE REV. p. DANEfIY'S THEME IS
"PAPAL lNFAI.LlNILITY."
PETER IS the CHuRCH'S FOUNDATION.
THE PAPACY HAS COME UNSC AFFIXED
THROUGH THE CENT? RIES
WHILE DYAAs1lEs HAVE DISAPPEARED.
81 pERIORrrY OF PETERS AUTHOR
ITY DEMONSTR ATED.

| sacred Scripture at st. Paul Seminary,
continued his doctrinal sermons on
"Papal Infallibility" at the Cathedral
last Sunday evening. For his text he
took the words of Matthew, xvi.-lS.
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock l
will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it," He
said in part:
Last Sunday evening we saw that the
teaching of our Lord. Jesus Christ. re-
| quires us to believe as it rejoices us with
| the certainty that he has left In his
church an infallible guide In matters of
| faith and morals This evening we shall
/ answer the question: who is this guide?
Without such a guide man is thrown
| back upon his own research, or upon
the teachings of other men who are
| fully as liable to go astray as himself
If he take up the inquiry at all he will
meet with hundreds, indeed, who are
willing tc help him. but whose. counscls
disagree. One advises him that God
| has taught certain truths, another firm
ly denies it. Wearied at length by these
discordant voices, many IN earnest but
dsheartened man has given UP the in
quiry, convinced that all alike arc
equally wrong, and therefore it is nul
| worth while to follow any OF them.
| This state of mind is the gravest evil
| that confronts us in the religious world
ay-indifferentsm.
Now, l say If there were no church
on the earth that claims to lead man
with unerrng certainty in the truths of
God, indifferentism might be justified;
but II there Is such u church. the in
quiring mind must in simple honesty in
vestigate her claim. If her claim he
! proved just and well founded. he is
bound under pain of mourning the
wrath of God to obey her teaching
While on the other hand, IL her claim
when examined prove to be i'll founded,
there is nothing for 1T but to lapse into
that condition so sadly described in
Holy Writ when every man did that
which was right in his own eyes.
Now the Catholic church does claim
infallbilty in guiding men to God, and
she teaches that this extraordinary pre-
rogativc is vested in her chief executive,
our holy father, the Pope Her answer
is clear and straightforward; her terms,
too, are well defined. In the vatican
council she aflirms that 1.-THE bishop Of
l Suh hn lie tJ,<,, u
Chat is, when in discharge of the Of
fec of pastor and doctor of all Chris
tains, by virtue of his supreme apostolic
| authority, hu defines a doctrine regard
Ing faith or morals to be held by the
universal churcD by the Divine assist
ancc promised to him in blessed Peter,
Is possessed Of that infallibility with
| which the Divine Itedcemer willcd that
his church should be endowed for de-
filming doctrines regarding faith and
morals"
We believe then, that the church Of
God is divincly guarded against falling
into IN error when teaching mankind IL
doctrine of faith or morals We believe
that she is thus safcguardcd because size
is bnldcd upon Peter. whose faith and
whose teaching of 1t cannot fail. The
Pope, as the successor OF Peter, is in
vested with all his responsibilities and
ordinary powers in guiding and con-
firming his brethren. Therefore, The
Pope, when in virtue of his apostolic Of
flee he teaches a doctrine of faith or
morals to the universal church, is in
faliblc. Each of these propositions Is
as clearly laid down in holy writ as it
Is set forth in the teaching of the
church. Therefore, our faith distinctly
propoundcd by Gods church and con
firmcd by the inspired record, is both
clear and certain.
The first proposition towit, that Cod
guards his church against any error of
doctrine on faith or morals, Is the con
clusion that we reached last Sunday
evening. But this security comes to
her through her chief, the Pope.
We might expect as much from the
fact that during almost 900 years this
|
taught the Christian world the fulncss
of revealed truth. To be sure, speaking
in all strictness, this record of 1890
years without mistake, does not prove
that within another hundred years, or
at some time in the remote future, he
will not fall into error. 1t Is proof pos
tive that he iH a very safe guide safer
by far than Any other that the world
has ever known. Still, II is not the
proof that we demand in order to make
an act of faith in his teaching; and yet,
how much more cxacting we are in his
case than in that of any other man or
institution in the world.
The papacy has come unscathcd
through the wars OF centuries, remained
erect and noble while thrones topplcd