THE POPE'S GREAT PREROGATIVE.
The clear and certain recognition of a great truth is seldom the work
of a day. We often possess it in a confused and hidden way, before we
can detect, to a nicety, its exact nature and limitations. It takes
time to declare itself with precision, and, like a plant in its
rudimentary stages, it may sometimes be mistaken for what it is
not--though, once it has reached maturity, we can mistake it no
longer. As Cardinal Newman observes: "An idea grows in the mind by
remaining there; it becomes familiar and distinct, and is viewed in
its relations; it leads to other aspects, and these again to
others.... Such intellectual processes as are carried on silently and
spontaneously in the mind of a party or school, of necessity come to
light at a later date, and are recognised, and their issues are
scientifically arranged." Consequently, though dogma is unchangeable
as truth is unchangeable, this immutability does not exclude progress.
In the Church, such progress is nothing else than the development of
the principles laid down in the beginning by Jesus Christ Himself.
Thus--to take a simple illustration--in three different councils, the
Church has declared and proposed three different articles of Faith,
_viz._, that in Jesus Christ there are (1) two natures, (2) two wills,
and (3) one only Person. These may seem to some, who cannot look
beneath the surface, to be three entirely new doctrines; to be, in
fact, "additions to the creed". In sober truth, they are but
expansions of the original doctrine which, in its primitive and
revealed form, has been known and taught at all times, that is to say,
the doctrine that Christ is, at once, true God and true Man. That one
statement really contains the other three; the other three merely give
us a fuller and a completer grasp of the original one, but tell us
nothing absolutely new.
In a similar manner, and by a similar process, we arrive at a clearer
and more explicit knowledge of other important truths, which were not
at first universally recognised as being contained in the original
deposit. The dogma of Papal infallibility is an instance in point. For
though no Catholic ever doubted the genuine infallibility of the
_Church_, yet in the early centuries, there existed some difference of
opinion, as to _where_ precisely the infallible authority resided.
Most Catholics, even then, believed it to be a gift conferred by
Christ upon Peter himself [who alone is the _rock_], and upon each
Pope who succeeded him in his office, personally and individually, but
some were of opinion that, not the Pope by himself, but only "the
Pope-in-Council," that is to say, the Pope supported by a majority of
Bishops, was to be considered infallible. So that, while _all_
admitted the _Pope with a majority of the Bishops_, taken together, to
be divinely safeguarded from teaching error, yet the prevailing and
dominant opinion, from the very first, went much further, and ascribed
this protection to the Sovereign Pontiff likewise when acting alone
and unsupported. This is so well known, that even the late Mr.
Gladstone, speaking as an outside observer, and as a mere student of
history, positively brings it as a charge against the Catholic Church
that "the Popes, for well-nigh a thousand years, have kept up, with
comparatively little intermission, their claim to dogmatic
infallibility" (_Vat._ p. 28). Still, the point remained unsettled by
any dogmatic definition, so that, as late as in 1793, Archbishop Troy
of Dublin did but express the true Catholic view of his own day when
he wrote: "Many Catholics contend that the Pope, when teaching the
Universal Church, as their supreme visible head and pastor, as
successor to St. Peter, and heir to the promises of special assistance
made to him by Jesus Christ, is infallible; and that his decrees and
decisions in that capacity are to be respected as rules of faith, when
they are dogmatical, or confined to doctrinal points of faith and
morals. Others," the Archbishop goes on to explain, "deny this, and
require the expressed or tacit acquiescence of the Church assembled or
dispersed, to stamp infallibility on his dogmatic decrees." Then he
concludes:--"_Until the Church shall decide_ upon this question of the
Schools, either opinion may be adopted by individual Catholics,
without any breach of Catholic communion or peace."
This was how the question stood until 1870. But it stands in that
position no longer; for the Church has now spoken--_Roma locuta est,
causa finita_. Hence, no Catholic can now deny or call into question
the great prerogative of the Vicar of Christ, without suffering
shipwreck of the faith. At the Vatican Council, Pope Pius IX. and the
Archbishops and Bishops of the entire Catholic world were gathered
together in Rome, and after earnest prayer and prolonged discussion,
they declared that the prerogative of infallibility, which is the very
source of Catholic unity, and the very secret of Catholic strength,
resides in the individual Pope who happens, at the time, to occupy the
Papal chair, and that when he speaks _ex cathedrâ_, his definitions
are infallibly true, and consonant with Catholic revelation, even
before they have been accepted by the hierarchy throughout the world.
But here it must be borne in mind that the Pope speaks _ex cathedrâ_,
that is to say, infallibly, only when he speaks:--
1. As the Universal Teacher.
2. In the name and with the authority of the Apostles.
3. On a point of Faith or Morals.
4. With the purpose of binding every member of the Church to
accept and believe his decision.
Thus it is clearly seen that from the year 1870 the dogma of _Papal_,
in contra-distinction to _ecclesiastical_ infallibility, has been
defined and raised to an article of faith, the denial of which is
heresy.
The doctrine is at once new and yet not new. It is new in the sense
that up to the time of the Vatican Council it had never been actually
drawn out of the premises that contained it, and set forth before the
faithful in a formal definition. On the other hand, it is not new, but
as old as Christianity, in the sense that it was always contained
implicitly in the deposit of faith. Any body of truth that is living
grows, and unfolds and becomes more clearly understood and more
thoroughly grasped, as time wears on. The entire books of Euclid are
after all but the outcome of a few axioms and accepted definitions.
These axioms help us to build up certain propositions. And one
proposition, when established, leads to another, till at last we seem
to have unearthed statements entirely new and original. Yet, they are
certainly not really new, for had they not been all along contained
implicitly in the few initial facts, it is quite clear they could
never have been evolved from them. _Nemo dat, quod non habet._
Hence Papal Infallibility is not so much a new truth, or an "addition
to the Faith," as some heretics would foolishly try to persuade us,
as a clearer expression and a more exact and detailed presentation of
what was taught from the beginning.
It is here that the well-known historian, Döllinger, who rejected the
definition, proved himself to be not only a proud rebel but also a
very poor logician. Until 1870, he was a practising Catholic, and,
therefore, like every other Catholic, he, of course, admitted that the
Pope and the Bishops, speaking collectively, were divinely supported
and safeguarded from error, when they enunciated to the world any
doctrine touching faith or morals. Yet, when the Pope and the Bishops,
assembled at the Vatican, did so speak collectively, and did
conjointly issue the decree of Papal Infallibility, he proceeded to
eat his own words, refused to abide by their decision, and was
deservedly turned out of the Church of God: being excommunicated by
the Archbishop of Munich on the 17th of April, 1871, in virtue of the
instructions given by Our Divine Lord Himself, _viz._: "If he will not
hear the Church (cast him out, _i.e._), let him be to thee as the
heathen and publican" (Matt. xviii. 17). He, and the few misguided men
that followed him in his rebellion, and called themselves Old
Catholics, had been quite ready to believe that the Pope, with the
Bishops, when speaking as one body, were Infallible. In fact, if they
had not believed that, they never could have been Catholics at any
time. But they did not seem to realise the sufficiently obvious fact
that, whether they will it or not, and whether they advert to it or
not, it is utterly impossible now to deny the Infallibility of the
Pope personally and alone, without at the same time denying the
Infallibility of the "Pope and the Bishops collectively," for the
simple reason that it is precisely the "Pope and the Bishops
collectively" who have solemnly and in open session declared that the
Pope enjoys the prerogative of Infallibility in his own individual
person. Since the Vatican Council, one is forced by the strict
requirements of sound reason to believe, either that the Pope is
Infallible, or else that there is no Infallibility in the Church at
all, and that there never had been.
Those who were too proud to submit to the definition followed, of
course, the example of earlier heretics in previous Councils. They
excused themselves on the plea that the Council was (_a_) not free, or
else (_b_) not sufficiently representative, or, finally, (_c_) not
unanimous in its decisions. But such utterly unsupported allegations
served only to accentuate the weakness of their cause and the
hopelessness of their position; since it would be difficult, from the
origin of the Church to the present time, to find any Council so free,
so representative, and so unanimous.
Pope Pius IX. (whom, it seems likely, we shall soon be called upon to
venerate as a canonised saint) convened the Vatican Council by the
Bull _Æterni Patris_, published on 29th June, 1868. It summoned all
the Archbishops, Bishops, Patriarchs, etc., throughout the Catholic
world to meet together in Rome on 8th December of the following year,
1869. When the appointed day arrived, and the Council was formally
opened, there were present 719 representatives from all parts of the
world, and very soon after, this number was increased to 769. On 18th
July, 1870--a day for ever memorable in the annals of the Church--the
fourth public session was held, and the constitution _Pater Æternus_,
containing the definition of the Papal Infallibility, was solemnly
promulgated. Of the 535 who were present on this grand occasion, 533
voted for the definition (_placet_) and only two, one from Sicily, the
other from the United States, voted against it (_non placet_).
Fifty-five Bishops, who fully accepted the doctrine itself, but deemed
its actual definition at that moment inopportune, simply absented
themselves from this session. Finally, the Holy Father, in the
exercise of his supreme authority, sanctioned the decision of the
Council, and proclaimed officially, _urbi et orbi_ the decrees and the
canons of the "First Dogmatic Constitution of the Church of Christ".
It may be well here to clothe the Latin words of the Pope and the
assembled Bishops in an English dress. They are as follows: "We (the
Sacred Council approving) teach and define that it is a dogma
revealed, that the Roman Pontiff, _when_ he speaks _ex cathedrâ_--that
is, when discharging the office of Pastor and Teacher of all
Christians, by reason of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a
doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the whole Church--in
virtue of the Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter,
possesses that Infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed
that His Church should be endowed in defining doctrine regarding faith
or morals, and that, therefore, such definitions of the said Sovereign
Pontiff are unalterable of themselves, and not from the consent of the
Church. But if any one--which may God avert--presume to contradict
this our definition, let him be anathema."
"_Every Bishop in the Catholic world_, however inopportune some may
have at one time held the definition to be, submitted to the
Infallible ruling of the Church," says E.S. Purcell. "A very small and
insignificant number of priests and laymen in Germany apostatised and
set up the Sect of 'Old Catholics'. But all the rest of the Catholic
world, true to their faith, accepted, without reserve, the dogma of
Papal Infallibility."[4]
For over eighteen hundred years the Infallible authority of the
Pope-in-Council had been admitted by all Catholics. And in any great
emergency or crisis in the Church's history, these Councils were
actually held, and presided over by the Pope, either in person or by
his duly appointed representatives, for the purpose of clearing up and
adjusting disputed points, or to smite, with a withering anathema, the
various heresies as they arose, century after century. But in the
meantime, the Church, which had been planted "like a grain of mustard
seed, which is the least of all seeds" (Mark iv. 31), was fulfilling
the prophecy that had been made in regard to her, and "was shooting
out great branches" (Mark iv. 32) and becoming more extended and more
prolific than all her rivals. She enlarged her boundaries and spread
farther and farther over the face of the earth, while the number of
her children rapidly multiplied in every direction.
In course of time, the immense continents of America and Australia,
together with New Zealand and Tasmania and other hitherto unknown
regions, were discovered and thrown open to the influences of human
industry and enterprise. And as men and women swarmed into these newly
acquired lands, the Church accompanied them: and new vicariates and
dioceses sprang up, and important Sees were formed, which in time, as
the populations thickened, became divided and sub-divided into smaller
Sees, till at last the number of Bishops in these once unknown and
distant regions rose to several hundreds.
Thus the whole condition of things became altered; and the calling
together of an Ecumenical Council--a very simple affair in the
infancy of the Church--was becoming daily more and more difficult. Not
so much, perhaps, by reason of the enormous distances of the dioceses
from the central authority, for modern methods of locomotion have
almost annihilated space, but because of the immense increase in the
number of the hierarchy that would have to meet together, whenever a
Council is called.
On the other hand, with the greater extension of the Church, would
naturally come an increased crop of heresies. For, cockle may be sown,
and weeds may spring up, in any part of the field, and the field is
now a hundred times vaster than it was. Now, it is extremely important
that as fast as errors arise they should be pointed out, and rooted up
without delay, and before they can breed a pestilence and corrupt a
whole neighbourhood. But the complicated machinery of a great
Ecumenical Council, which involves prolonged preparation, considerable
expense, and a temporary dislocation in almost every diocese
throughout the world, is too cumbersome and slow to be called into
requisition whenever a heresy has to be blasted, or whenever a
decision has to be made known.
Hence we cannot help recognising and admiring the Providence of God
over His Church, in thus simplifying the process, in these strenuous
days, by which His truth is to be maintained and His revelation
protected. For the fact--true from the beginning, _viz._, that the
Pope enjoys the prerogative of personal infallibility--is not only a
profound truth; but a truth for the first time formally recognised,
defined, promulgated and explicitly taught as an article of Divine
faith. Consequently, without summoning a thousand Bishops from the
four quarters of the globe, the Sovereign Pontiff may now rise in his
own strength, and proclaim to the entire Church what is, and what is
not, consonant with the truths of revelation. This is evident from the
Vatican's definition, which declares that "THE POPE HAS THAT SAME
INFALLIBILITY WHICH THE CHURCH HAS"--"Romanum Pontificem eâ
infallibilitate pollere, quâ divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in
definiendâ doctrinâ de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit". Words
of the Bull, "PASTOR ÆTERNUS".
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: See _Life of Cardinal Manning_, vol. ii., p. 452.]