The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-08-14

compared to us Catholics?
The members of the so-called
Russian Church, or more proper
", the Greek Church, are both her
etics and schismatics. They deny
doctrines of Catholic faith and they
reject Catholic authority. Their doc
trinal errors are principally three:
the denial that the Holy Ghost pro-
ceeds from the Son as we'll as from
the Father, the rejection of the SUI
primacy of the Roman pontiff, and
the concomitant heresy, the denial of
the Pope's infallibility. There are
also some disciplinary emergencies:
their clergy is married; they use
leavened bread in the Mass; the Ian
guage of the Mass is the vernacular,
not Latin, and there are other minor
differences. The Greek Church arose
formally in the ninth and eleventh
centuries Previous to that time, there
had been various heresies in the
Orient, which, while they did not die
out completely, ceased to threaten any
serious or lasting rupture with the
See of ST. Peter. However, misun-
derstandings and jealousy were rife.
This gave rise to almost endless fric-
ton The tyranny of emperors occa-
stoned temporary heresies and repeat
ed schisms. Still, the decisions of
the Pope were accepted and his spir-
itual supremacy recognized. In the
ninth century the malice of wicked
king set a uSurper on the patriarchal
throne of Constantinople. After many
complications, peace and order were
restored, but a legacy of hatred be-
tween the Latins and the Greeks was
the sad result. The quarrel broke out
again in the eleventh century, and the
great schism has lasted ever since.
This is the historical origin of the
Greek Church. Attempts have been
made to heal the schism: they have all
ended in failure. This Church calls
itself the Orthodox Eastern Church. ="
For a time, Constantinople was the
seat of authority, and its patriarchs
claimed universal jurisdiction.
Like all error, it soon disintegrated,
and today the communion of the
Orthodox Church consists of sixteen
independent churches. One of these
is the Church of Russia, which has
been Independent since 1859 and
which more and more casts her
shadow over the whole Orthodox
Church. None of these churches has
any claim to be Catholic. They are
strictly national. Their origin was
due to politics and national jealousy;
they make little progress outside the
limited sphere of their own race and
language. AS a rule, they are most
inimical to the true Catholic Church
and bear most bitter hatred for the
Pope of Rome.
Please give me some information
about the noted school of Alexandria.
Alexandria was founded by Alexan-
der the Great in 331 B. c., and it
grew rapidly in population. Under his
successors, the Ptolemies, Greek Lite
nature fourished with extraordinary
brilliancy in every department of
thought, and this city became the in
tellectual as we'll as the commercial
metropolis of the world. The Jews
who settled there in great numbers,
perceiving the fecundity. of the Greek
mind, strove to convert it from the
errors of polytheism to belief in the
unity of God Under this impulse the
Hebrew Scriptures were translated
into Greek in the Septuagint version,
and a school of eminent writer's was
founded among whom were the dis
tinguished Philo and Josephus. Many
ancient scholars here acquired endur-
ing fame Erasistratus and Herophi-
lus effected great advances in the
study Of human anatomy. Galen be-
came possessed of great skill in the
art of healing. Euclid founded a
school of mathematics, which pro-
duced an Archimedes, Ertosthenes,
Aristarchus of Samos, and later
Claudius, Ptolimaeus, Diophandus,
and Pappus. A school of grammar
ans, to which men like Philetas, Zeno-
dotus, and Aristophanes of Byzantium
belonged, made special and exhaus-
tive study of both philology and lit
erature, striving to explain things as
we'll as words, devoting themselves to
a critical study of the texts of an
tiquity, particularly revising the text
of Homer and preserving correct texts
of earlier Greek poetry for future
generations. In time Christianity was
introduced, and it was found that to
maintain this in a place so full of
learning and mental strife, it was
necessary to enter seriously into
philosophical debate in order to JUS
tify, by arguments which the learned
would appreciate, the wisdom of God
which was revealed through Christ.
Great scholars appeared, the most
brilliant of whom in the third century
were Pantaenus, Clement of Alexan-
dria, and Origen and multitudes of
Christian youths thronged thither to
gain a knowledge of the complete
doctrine of philosophical sciences by
studying the teachings of Plato and
Aristotle in union with and enlight-
ened by elementary and catechetical
as well as more scientific lessons in
Christianity. AS an aid to this, gram
mar, rhetoric, geometry, and other
subjects, nodded to the Christian
standard, were eagerly pursued.
Many illustrious representatives of
this school were produced who COM
bated error and falsehood. particular