The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-06-08

LOUIS lay a long, narrow STRIP OF ter
ritOry henceforth known as Lotharin-
gia, after its ruler, Lothian, the eldest
child of the late Emperor.
Lotharingia included the two capt.
tails of Charles the Great, Rome and
Aachen, and extended all the way
from Italy to the North Sea- On the
death of Lothair a bitter struggle be-
gan between his brothers and their
1 heirs for the possession of, Lotharin.
lgia. The fair inheritance of Lothair
i has been fought for by France and
! Germany in the thousand years that
have since ensued It's name sur
wives in. Lorraine" that much dis
puted province which passed from
Germany to France in 1913, and back
again to Germany in 1871. My read
1sers will kindly perceive the signif-
lcance of the Middle Kingdom lAl-
iisace- LorraineJ in the present world
! war.
i 1t was the violent and disruptive
epoch Of which the general course
1 is outlined above That gave birth to
the False Decretals.'' In the brief
Iaspace at my command I cannot do
l!more than place a few general con-
illusions about them before my read
ers. Their authorship is attributed
with much probability to Ebbo,
Archbishop of Rheims, and foster
brother to the Emperor Louis the
4 Pious, referred to above EbbO was
a peasants son raised by the favor
of Charlemagne to position of
4 great influence. For long he admin
istered his diocese with zeal and
Il fervor, correcting abuses and COM
manding the approval of the court, the
clergy and the people. Then sudden.
Ily he turned against the King, his
\ foster-brother, and became a prime
mover in the civil strife which result
ed in the temporary deposition of
Louis. When in due course reaction
set in in favor of the illused monarch,
Ebbos turn for humiliation arrived.
/ He was tried for treason in 835 before
La Synod of French Bishops and I'M
economically thrust out of his Archdio-
cese. After Louis death in $40 he
was reinstated at Rheims
/ 1t has well been said that "the civil
wars tof this .epoch) had been pro-
ductive of many evils, of which not
the least was the decay of ecclesiasti-
cal discipline The clergy
4 Leased to obey bishops who could not
or would not help them. Bishops
fought for Lothian or Louis, and for
got their sacred character in their
ipOlitical craftsmanship"
=
1t was in the midst of this turmoil
that the False Decretals" appeared
They consist of % A large number OF
forged letters together with a few
genuine ones) attributed to various
early Popes, (2) A lengthy selection
of DEGREES of General Councils of the
Church, most of which are genuine
, (3) A medley of pretended and authen
tic DEGREES of Popes, especially of the
sixth century. Whether or no we are
!, fright in regarding this remarkable
compilation as the work of Archbishop
) Ebbo, there can be no question thai
they were drawn UP in his interest
!. land with view to his vindication.
II It is certain that they were not de
I tvised with the object of increasing
!, the power of the Bishop of Rome
!. though the purpose of their author
& was to justify an appeal to the Pope
' against the action of the local bishop!
. of Western France. Little account wal
taken of them at Rome until at leas
Il two centuries after their appearance
Il and if during the eleventh centur.
81 they are quoted in Papal document
! and regarded as authentic there cal
!. be no doubt that the step was itakel
q in perfect good faith.
), The significance of these docu
r ments is summed up in the words o
d Father r. F. Clarke, ST.. He says
e IF it were true that the modern sys
Item of Church government is bull
up in great measure on these III
trustworthy documents, our oppor
G ents would have a great argument i
their favor. . If the Popes ha
adopted them, knowing or suspectin
them to be forgeries, we should b
Il obliged to allow that the Wears (
= Christ had descended to the use {
: shameful means to strengthen the
= own power. -.
:. Happily, the false Deeretals hay
= had no such influence on the legisl
= ton of the Catholic Church. The
: have introduced no dogmas, no lay
!, no custom that did not exist previou
= ly. 1t can be proved with ce
- tainty that the Holy See knew not
- ing of them until many years aft,
= they were compiled, much less he
- any sort of part in their compilatio
If the ready acceptance of the Fall