Letters From Rome on the Council. Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger
which has hitherto proved irresistible. They are commanded from two centres acting in common, the Gesù and the Propaganda. The Jesuit General, Beckx, if by no means in harmony with the line taken by the Civiltà, which has been removed from his jurisdiction, thinks and feels about the Infallibility question in strict accordance with the doctrine and rules of his Order, and knows how to hold fast the threads with the support and counsel of his assistants. Not a few Bishops, without knowing it themselves, get drawn and moved round by these wires which meet in the Gesù. If they cannot be commanded at once, they will be slowly but surely led into the right road by a chaplain or secretary or consultor devoted to the Order. The Propaganda, as we said before, provides for all missionary Bishops, and it again is inspired from the Gesù. The whole machine works so accurately that lately, in the selecting of a Commission, 450 voting papers contained the same names. So admirably is the discipline managed that many a Cabinet majority might envy this scarcely attainable ideal of the Council.
Third Letter
Rome, Dec. 19, 1869.– Since I have been here, breathing physically and morally the air of Rome, and have heard some of the most prominent Infallibilists, I can understand a good deal which was an enigma to me when in Germany. The leading spirits of this party believe in the advent of a new spiritual dispensation, a period of the Holy Ghost, which is to depend on the turning-point of this definition of Papal Infallibility. Archbishop Manning declared some years ago, in a speech received with enthusiastic applause by the Roman dignitaries, “La Chiesa Cattolica di oggidí esce tutta nuova del fianco del Vicario di Gesù Cristo.” This reference to the formation of the woman from Adam's rib is very suggestive, for Eve, by the Divine ordinance, was to be subject to the man, – and it includes the notion which I have met with in several quarters here, that the proclamation of the new dogma will be immediately followed by an outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and a renewal of the Pentecostal miracle. There will of course be this difference, that henceforth the Bishops will no longer speak with tongues, like the apostles and disciples on the day of Pentecost, but only with the tongue of the Infallible Pope, and will utter in this way the thoughts and words of the Holy Ghost. Hence not the slightest effect is produced when any one, say a German or Englishman, points to the terrible intellectual stumbling-block that will thereby be obtruded on the faithful, and the perplexity and inward alienation of so many thousands, and those too the higher and leading minds, which may be certainly foreseen. The gain will far exceed the loss; numberless Protestants and schismatics, attracted by the powerful magnet of Papal Infallibility, and the power of the Holy Ghost, hidden in Papal utterances, will stream into the Church – that is the sort of vision hovering before these men. And a man who believes in an age of the Holy Ghost cares nothing for what is said of the breach with the views and traditions of the ancient Church involved in the new article of faith: he thinks it quite in order that a new dogma should inaugurate a new era. Compared with such fanaticism, the speech of another Infallibilist leader, a Frenchman, at a public dinner, sounds sober, though in its way it is no less extravagant, when he assures us that the great connoisseur and discoverer of subterranean Rome, the Cavaliere de Rossi, has detected Papal Infallibility in the Catacombs, and whoever wants to see and appreciate it there, has only to descend into them.
Pius ix. finds that he can undertake what he likes with a majority so absolutely devoted to him and simply at his beck. The assurance, so often reiterated not long ago, that nothing was meant to be decreed which could disturb Governments or introduce conflicts between Church and State, seems to be already forgotten or held superfluous, and a number of Bishops, at a general audience, heard, not without consternation, from the mouth of the highest authority, the statement that the Syllabus must be made dogmatic: it would be better to yield in other points than give that up.
Meanwhile the Opposition grows visibly stronger, and men like Darboy, Dupanloup, and MacHale, Archbishop of Tuam,20 are not to be despised as leaders. They are not content with getting rid of Infallibility and the Syllabus, but strive for some freedom in the Council, and here they find sympathy even among the Infallibilists. For to have their hands so completely tied by the Pope's regulations, has surpassed all, even the worst, anticipations of the Bishops. That first gleam of hope, excited by the announcement that the Bishops would be allowed to propose motions, has speedily vanished. For it has become clear that this was merely intended to save the Pope from having to propose his own Infallibility to the Council, and provide for the motion emanating from the Bishops – according to the present plan, the Spanish Bishops. The right of initiation is rendered purely illusory by the fact that the Pope has reserved to himself and the Commission he has named, composed of the stanchest Infallibilists, the sanction or rejection of every motion. To this must be added the regulations for the order of business, and the naming by the Pope of all the officials of the Council, as well as the scrutators and presidents of Congregations or Commissions. This is an act of arbitrary power, and a gagging of the Council, far beyond anything attempted even at Trent. Yet at Trent the want of freedom was felt to be so great that for 300 years the Catholic world has manifested no desire to repeat the experiment of a Council. But what will be the impression made by the present Council, where the order of business is so managed as to make any serious discussion impossible? The strongest expressions of discontent come from the French Prelates, they feel how undignified, not to say ridiculous, is the rôle assigned to them, – of saying Placet to ready-made decrees – even more keenly than the Germans, who are also greatly disgusted. Attempts to protest against this oppressive code in the Congregation were suppressed by the declaration of the President, Cardinal de Luca, that the Pope had so ordained, and no discussion could be allowed on the subject. He would allow neither the courageous Bishop Strossmayer nor Archbishop Darboy to say a word on these intolerable restrictions. The whole scene made a profound impression.
On December 14 the two parties measured their strength and organization in electing the twenty-four members for the Commission de Fide, which is, of course, the most important of all. The Liberals were completely overmatched, and, notwithstanding their 200 votes, not indeed properly combined, failed to carry one of their candidates. Neither Dupanloup nor Hefele could be brought in. A list of names to be voted for from the Propaganda was handed to every trusted partisan; the Italians and Spaniards were also furnished with one, and so all the Infallibilist leaders appear on the list of the Committee, Manning and Deschamps, Martin and Senestrey, Pie of Poitiers, Reynier of Cambray, then some Italians, Spaniards, and South Americans, – these therefore are the flower of theological learning among the Bishops. One of these men they must keep their eye fixed on, for he seems called to take a place of supreme importance and honour in this Council, and if all goes well, will certainly be counted with the heroes of ancient Councils, Athanasius, Cyril, and Augustine. This is Mgr. Cardoni, Archbishop of Edessa, Secretary to the Congregation for examining Bishops, Consultor of several other Congregations, theologian of the Dataria, and President of the Ecclesiastical Academy. Yet this man was not long ago a very obscure personage, even in Rome, but as First Consultor of the Preparatory Commission of Dogmas, he composed the report or Votum of forty pages on Papal Infallibility. This is now printed and distributed, and serves as the basis for the discussion on the subject to be introduced in Council. Cardoni himself, as reporter, will discharge the necessary offices of midwife at the birth of the new dogma; he will have the last word if any doubts or objections are raised, and then at least 500 votes will proclaim at once the Infallibility of the Pope and the triumph of the greatest and most fortunate of Roman theologians. Cardoni will immediately be made Cardinal; as he brings this Divine gift to the Pope, he will himself partake in the enjoyment of what is so much indebted to him, and will reap the harvest of his labours.
Fourth Letter
Rome, Dec. 20, 1869.– It may truly be said that theology is now rare, very rare, in Rome. There is, of course, no lack of theologians; the Pope himself has no less than a hundred, chiefly monks; but if they were all pounded together in a mortar into one theologian, even this one would find some difficulty in getting his claims recognised in Germany. If any one here were to demand of the so-called theologians what, between the North Sea and the Alps, is considered the first requisite for a theologian, – the capacity of reading the New Testament and the Greek Fathers and Councils in the original language, – he would be ridiculed as a dreamer. And as to the theology of many Bishops, one is often reminded of the daughters of Phorcys, who had only one eye and one tooth, which
[Archbishop MacHale does not seem to have justified this anticipation. – Tr.]