"Christian is my name, Catholic my surname", said one of the early
Fathers, when he wished to give an adequate description of his
religious belief. In the same way, the name and surname of this
publication sufficiently indicate its character and scope. First of
all, it is Ecclesiastical, by reason of its subject matter, of the
class which it addresses, and of the sanction under which it appears.
Next, it is Irish, because, to the best of its humble ability, it is
intended to serve the Catholic Church of our native country. Father
Segneri tells us in one of his sermons, that in his day men used
to flock to the religious houses in Italy, eagerly asking: "What
news from Ireland?" Those were the stormy days of the latter half
of the seventeenth century. How often, on such occasions, in the
cool cloisters of Roman colleges, where he had spent so much of his
blameless life, was the name of Archbishop Plunket pronounced by the
old friends to whom his worth was so well known! How many a listener
went straight out from such conferences to pray for his stricken
brethren of the suffering Irish Church! At that time the trials,
the wounds, the sorrows, the triumphs, the hopes of Irish Catholics
were the subject of many a discourse, the anxious care of many a
heart. To-day all this is changed in great part. No foreign preacher
now-a-days would allude to his hearers' widespread interest about
the Irish Church, as one of the signs of the times. And why? Not
because--due allowance made for changes--our country has become less
interesting; for surely our Catholicity, in the bloom of its second
spring, is not less remarkable than it was when torn and beaten to the
ground by persecution. And if fraternal love made our distant brethren
look sorrowfully over the sea upon our Church when in ruins, surely
the same love would teach them not to turn away their eyes from us now
that we are once more setting in fair order the stones that had been
displaced. Brothers share each other's joys as well as each other's
sorrows. The reason of the change is, that Irish Catholic intelligence
does not find its way abroad. There is much to be said about the
Church in Ireland, there are many anxious to hear it, but there is
no messenger to bear the news. It is not, perhaps, too much to say,
that there is less known abroad about the state of the Irish Church in
these days of telegraph and railway, than there was when Dr. Plunket
had to borrow a name under cover of which to write to the internuncio,
and when Irish news was not thought out of place among the _Epistolae
Indicæ et Japonicæ_ of the Jesuit Fathers. The IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL
RECORD will endeavour to meet this want. It will give some account
of the necessities, the progress, the efforts of the Irish Church.
Facts of Ecclesiastical administration, Episcopal letters of general
interest, various documents that go to make up the history of a Church,
shall find their place in its pages. By these means we shall have at
hand a ready answer, when we are asked what are we doing in Ireland.
Otherwise, our silence is likely to be taken as an admission that we
have nothing to show worthy of the _Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum_.
Besides, as the world goes on, history is ever repeating itself, but
with a difference. In Father Segneri's time the Catholics of Italy
asked after the news from Ireland; now it is our turn to ask: "What
news from Rome?" Then the Head was tenderly solicitous about the
suffering members; now the members are troubled for the perils of the
Head. This being the case, it is intolerable that modern journalism,
with its lies, clumsy or clever, should be teachers of Pontifical
history to the Irish Clergy. The sheep should hear the very voice of
the Chief Shepherd, and not the distorted echo of that voice. We want
no unfriendly medium between us and our Holy Father's words as they
run in his Allocutions, Briefs, Decisions, or in the responses of the
Sacred Congregations. It will be the privilege of the RECORD to publish
from genuine copies those documents, which, if left to hostile or
indifferent channels, might otherwise either be cast away as useless or
mutilated in the carrying. In addition, we shall give from time to time
Roman Intelligence of general interest to the Clergy.
A distinguished German scholar has lately said that the candlestick
of theological science has been moved in our days from its primitive
seats, and that upon the German mind has devolved the charge of
becoming the principal support and guardian of theological knowledge.
We do not share this view. The science of Theology being supernational
in its nature, although at a given date it may flourish more in one
country than another, can never become the special property of any.
In Rome, above all, and in Italy generally, in Belgium, in France,
in Spain, in America, as well as in Germany, much is being done for
Theology. The literary and scientific labours of Catholics in all
these countries ought to be better known amongst us. Surrounded by a
literature which, non-Catholic at its best, is fast losing all colour
of Christianity, we have need to profit by all that modern research has
anywhere contributed to the Catholic solution of the great questions
of which the age has been so fertile. Nor is Catholic Ireland without
her own proper treasures to give in exchange for what she receives from
abroad. Not to speak of the actual labours of Irish Divines in Theology
and History, it may be said that few Churches are so rich as ours in
remains of ecclesiastical antiquity of the highest importance. A catena
could be formed from the unpublished writings of Irish Fathers so
complete and so full, that scarcely a single dogma of faith or practice
of religious life would be left outside the circle. Fresh researches
will every day bring new treasures to light, and the application of
sound critical principles will teach us to estimate at their true value
those already in our possession. These remains have been scattered over
many countries, but pious bands are even now bringing them together
once more. The RECORD will tell how the work of restoration progresses,
and give from time to time some of the more valuable documents to the
light.
The RECORD would thus be, in some degree, a link between the clergy of
Ireland and their foreign brethren. It would likewise serve as an organ
for direct communication between the Priests of Ireland themselves.
We have, no doubt, many excellent Catholic newspapers and periodicals
which are of material service to our holy religion. But it is quite
true, nevertheless, that ecclesiastical subjects cannot well be treated
of in publications devoted to general literature. Liturgical decisions,
rubrical questions, remarkable cases, points of theology, notices of
books treating of clerical or pastoral duties, Christian archæology,
if they can gain admission to their pages at all, look strangely out
of place in the midst of an indiscriminate gathering of the changing
topics of the day. Besides, the general reader might complain, were
too much space given in such works to the discussion of new phases of
Protestantism or infidelity, to accounts from the Foreign Missions, to
the claims of Catholic Education; whilst the clergyman would regret to
find his letter or paper on some ecclesiastical matter cut down to a
size altogether out of keeping with its importance. In one word, the
Catholic Clerical body requires a special organ for itself. This want
has been felt in Italy, in France, in Belgium, in Bavaria; and in all
these countries the clergy now have a publication exclusively devoted
to what concerns their sacred calling. We have abundant assurance from
many quarters that these periodicals are esteemed as of great advantage
to the clergy. To-day the IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD takes an humble
place among them, content to do even a little in so great a work. We
are confident that it will receive the sympathy and support of our
brother Priests of this country; for the feeling that has called it
into existence is a feeling that lies close to the heart of every one
amongst us, namely, a true love for the Catholic Church of Ireland.