The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-08-29
Continued from Page ~
POPE Plus AND HIS REIGN.

regional seminary which is common to
the sees of a given region and as a
consequence many small seminaries
were closed. For the more efficient
guidance of souls, by decree of the
Sacred Congregation of the Consis-
tory, instructions were given concern
ing the removal of parish priests as
administrative acts, when such pro-
cedure was required by grave circum-
stances that might not constitute a
canonical cause for the removal. At
the time of the jubilee, in honor of his
ordination as priest, he addressed a
letter full of affection and wise counsel
to all the clergy.
Important EncycIicals.
The Pope had at heart above all
things the purity of the faith. On
various occasions, as in the enCyclical
regarding the centenary of st. Gregory
the Great, Plus x had pointed out the
dangers of certain new theological
methods which, based upon Agnostic-
ism and upon Immanentism, necessar-
lily divests the doctrine of the faith
of its teachings of objective, absolute
and immutable truth, and all the more
when those methods are associated
with subversive criticism of the Holy
Scriptures and of the origins of Chris
tianity. Wherefore, in 1907, he caused
the publication of the decree "Lamen-
tabili," in which sixty-five propositions
were condemned. The greater number
of these propositions concern the Holy
Scriptures, their inspiration and the
doctrine of Jesus, and of the apostles,
while others relate to dogma, sacra-
ments and the primary of the Bishop
of Rome. Soon after that there ap-
peared the famous encyclical Pas
cendi," which eXpounds and condemns
the systems of Modernism. 1t points
out the danger of Modernism in rela-
ton to philosophy, apologetics,
exegesis, history, liturgy and discipline
and shows the contradiction between
the innovation and the ancient faith
and finally it establishes rules by
which to combat efficiently the per-
nicious doctrines in question.
Subsequently by the Motu Proprio,
"Sacrorum Antistitum," Plus x called
attention to the injunctions of the en-
cyclical and also to the provisions that
had already been established under
Leo XIII on preaching, and prescribed
that all those who exercised the holy
ministry or who taught in ecclesias-
tical institutions as we'll as canons,
the superiors of the regular clergy and
those serving in ecclesiastical bureaus,
should take an oath binding them
selves to reject the errors that are
denounced in the encyclical 'Lamen-
tabili."
AS the study of the Bible is both
the most important and the most dan
gerous study in theology, Plus X
wished to found at Rome a center for
these studies to give assurance at once
of unquestioned orthodoxy and scien-
tific worth, and so with the assistance
of the whole Catholic world there was
established at Rome the Biblical Insti-
tute under the direction of the Jesuits.
Codification of Canon Law.
A need that had been felt for a long
time was that of codification of the
Canon Law, and with view to
effecting it Plus X on March 10, 1904,
created special Congregation of Car
dinals. The most eminent authorities
on Canon Law throughout the world
are collaborating in the formation of
the new code. Some of the provi-
sions have already been published,
as, for example, that modifying the
law of the Council of Trent on secret
marriages, the new rules for did,
cesar relations and for episcopal visits
ad limina, and the new organization of
the Roman Curia The characteristic
of the new rule is the complete sep
aration of the judicial from the adj
ministrative, while the functions of the
various bureaus have been more pre-
cisely determined and their work more
eQualized.
Social Problems.
Plus X wished the Church to CO.
operate or rather to play leading
part in the solution of social questions.
His views on this subject were formu-
lated in syllabus of nineteen propo-
sitions, taken from different encycli-
Gals and other acts of Leo XIII and
published in Motu Proprio especially
for the guidance of Catholics in Italy
and other European countries. The
desire of Plus X was for the economic