Year: 1870

The eminent Catholic scholar, DR.. Dollinger
has written an "open letter" in answer to the
Bishops petition for the declaration of Papal
infallibility The following is an abstract of Dr.
Dollingers manifesto:-


The bishops he says, are signing an address
in which the Pope is besought, on the part of
the council, to declare himself infallible. That
is to say $50, 600, 900 of human beings are hence
forth to be forced, by pain of accommodation,
refusal of the sacraments, and everlasting dam
nation, to believe and to profess that which the
Church hitherto has not believed-not taught"
For it cannot be said that even those who have
hitherto held the Papal infallibility to be fact
have belieued in it. A Catholic can only be-
lieve that which he is told and taught by the
Church as divinely revealed thing, as thing
appertaining to the substance of the doctrine of
salvation, as thing beyond all and every
doubt, and the refusal to accept which implies
disobedience to be punished by exclusion from
the community.


But in reality there is not a single human
creature who ever believed In 1t in this way,
even as one would believe in God or the Trinity.
The proclamation of this dogma, therefore,
which at the very best has been agreed to by
some, tide hundnd, as thing OF probability,
would mean nothing less than an alteration in
the faith and doctrine of the Church, such as
has never been heard of ever since Christianity
was first founded. The whole foundation of
the Church, in fact, would thereby be affected.
Instead of, as has hitherto been the case, q
Catholic being able to say, believe certain





witness to it-that Church, unto which belongs
the promise that 1t shall ever remain In the pos
session of truth-we will henceforth have
to put, instead of that Church which
compasses all time and all space, single indi-
vidual: the Pope, to wit. He will have to say,
believe this or that, because the infallible Pope
teaches it, And why is he infallibleS Because
he says so himself. That several hundred
bishops-whatever their number-have decreed
in Rome In 1870 that the Pope Is infallible mat


ters very little lnasmuch as all bishops and every
council are subject to error without the help of


the Pope. Their testimony has only as much value


as he who Is alone exempt from error pleases
to place upon 1t; and only inasmuch as he ap-


proves this their resolution is there any validity
in IT. And, thus moving In various circle, the
whole matter resolves itself into the Popes own


testimony of himself. True some lS4O years
ago, some one higher has said, "If l testify to


myself, my testimony is not TO be believed"
Late Speeches by the Pope.
At a recent audience at the Vatican the Pope
said to some Knights of Malta from Prussia
THE period of conflict between your order
and the Mussulmans is past The Turks now
act better toward the Church than soLae Christ
ian governments. The task of the order now is
to fight for the Church against the modern
State"


At late reception the Pope related in a
\ familiar style how Christ, when only twelve
years of age had left his parents to render SER
vice to God in the Temple and added that he,
too, as the representative OF Christ on earth,
could only think of divine things. He had,
| therefore, called the council. Some said this
| council proposed to change the world and its
inhabitants; but, though the views and thoughts
| OF men might change, the council could not
| change. Some said. too that the
council ought to place itself in agreement with
the views of men. This also the council could
not do for Gods thoughts were not mems
thoughts, nor were Gods ways mems ways. The