_Rome, March 30, 1870._—Yesterday (the 29th) the first voting in Council
took place, on the preamble of the _Schema de Fide_. As I told you in my
last letter, this preamble had been objected to by Strossmayer on account
of the passage representing rationalism, indifferentism, the mythical
theory of the Bible and unbelief as consequences of Protestantism. Several
amendments had been proposed; two of them I have mentioned already, one
introduced by Bishop Meignan of Chalons, substituting for a mere
approbation of the decree a statement expressly guarding the right of the
Episcopate to define,—the other, proposed by Dreux-Brézé, designed to
smuggle in the infallibilist doctrine in a form requiring a sharpsighted
eye to detect it.(72) Many infallibilists had reckoned on the victory of
their dogma last week by means of this amendment. The Presidents had got
some of the amendments withdrawn on Friday, the 25th, but these two they
suffered to remain. They were equally sure that the first would be
rejected and the second accepted by the majority; nay they counted on a
far larger majority for the passage implying infallibility than for the
rejection of Meignan’s proposal, and hoped that this occasion would tend
to bring to light unmistakably the power and extent of the infallibilist
party.
At the beginning of the sitting of Saturday, the 26th, the exact
regulations for the method of voting were first read out, and this was
repeated a second time to preclude any risk of misapprehension. Yet it was
announced immediately afterwards that there would be no voting, and this
unexpected change was made during the Session and in presence of the
Fathers. There had in fact been a kind of fermentation going on since
Tuesday, the 22nd, when Strossmayer’s affair occurred. The justice of his
criticism on the passage about Protestantism and unbelief had become
evident to many; at least fifteen Bishops made representations to the
President about it as late as the Friday. According to a very
widely-spread report, one of them was the Bishop of Orleans and the other
the Bishop of Augsburg. But in spite of this, and of the prospect of a
catastrophe, which the union of the Germans made imminent, they seem to
have gone into Saturday’s sitting firmly resolved not to yield. Yet a last
attempt succeeded. After the mass, when all were assembled, a Bishop
handed in a paper with a few lines to the Presidents, on which two of them
at once left the Hall. Meanwhile the order of the day and the method of
voting was read out. On their return the decision was announced; the
preamble was withdrawn to be amended. It was an English Bishop whose paper
produced such important results.(73)
On Monday, the 28th, the preamble was distributed in its revised form;
Dreux-Brézé’s objectionable amendment had disappeared, the passage about
Protestantism was altered, and even the style was improved. Primate Simor,
speaking in the name of the Commission, had already stated officially that
the Bishops were at liberty to subscribe the decrees by _definiens
subscripsi_, _i.e._, to use the ancient conciliar formula by which the
Bishops used to describe themselves as defining the decrees. And thus the
principle for which Meignan, Strossmayer, and Whelan had contended, was
conceded. In this form and after these concessions the preamble could no
longer be opposed.
The strength of the minority has been proved, though in an irregular
manner. But obviously this gives an opening to the majority for similarly
setting aside the order of business when it is inconvenient for
themselves. Beyond a doubt the spirit of conciliation has triumphed over
all opposition at the critical moment. And it may be distinctly said that
this result was attained, partly through the firm attitude of the
minority, partly through the prudent and abundantly justified yielding of
the Presidents. By this discreet procedure they have declined all
responsibility for the conduct of those who, on Tuesday the 22d, would
hear of no objections to that portion of the preamble. And their doing
this so decidedly makes their silence on the other matter, which caused
such an outbreak, the more surprising, and some explanation of it is all
the more necessary.
The amended preamble was then accepted unanimously. But the chapter _De
Deo Creatore_ did not pass so easily, though it might have been expected
that, at the end of four months, the Bishops would have arrived at some
agreement on that point. The main difficulty arose from the tendency again
to smuggle in statements favourable to infallibility, and paving the way
for its definition by a sidewind. The first paragraph, _e.g._, opens thus,
“Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia credit et confitetur unum esse Deum
verum et vivum, Creatorem cœli et terræ.” Two amendments were proposed on
this: (1.) “Proponitur, ut initio capitis primi simpliciter dicatur,
‘Sancta Catholica Ecclesia credit et confitetur,’ ” etc. (2.) “Proponitur,
ut in capite primo verba ‘Romana Catholica Ecclesia’ transferantur, ita ut
legatur ‘Catholica atque Romana Ecclesia.’ Sin autem non placuerit
Patribus, ut saltem comma interponatur inter verba _Romana_ et
_Catholica_.” There was a great deal of discussion about this word
“Romana.” The German Opposition Bishops exhibit a better organization than
the French. In spite of the great majority, it was announced that the
voting would be only provisional, a “suffragatio provisoria,” and it is
probable that the first chapter will be revised in this point, as in
several others, before being presented for definitive acceptance.
It is very noteworthy that the Italian Government has made no attempt to
utilize the new complications, and the introduction of a new system of
policy in France very hostile in principle to Roman absolutism. The Roman
question has gone to sleep at the moment when a solution seemed to be in
view. Indifference has taken the place of zeal at the very time when zeal
had a prospect of success. Nowhere is the reason of this seeming apathy
better understood than at Rome. The Italians are patient, because they see
the settlement approaching in the natural course of things and without
violence: they know that with the death of Pius IX. a far-reaching change
must ensue. His successor will enter on the difficult inheritance under
very different conditions.
The change of sovereigns will, in another point of view, be a very
critical transition for the system dominant here. There is no point the
non-Italian Episcopate with the foreign Cardinals and the Great Powers,
are so united upon as throwing open the _Curia_ and the Sacred College to
foreigners. A Papal election under present circumstances might be very
dangerous for the centralization policy. The hardly-won domination of that
party which Pius IX. has made into his instrument would be menaced, for
after a long pontificate an election is always a reaction and not a
continuation. The numerous elements of opposition, which have so long been
suppressed, combine then for mutual aid. Pius IX. has created the College
of Cardinals himself, but his successor will be the creation of the
College. The ruling party runs the risk of getting a Pope who will no
longer serve it and carry on its policy, and it is certain that the next
Pope will be much weaker than the present one in his relations with the
Governments, the Cardinals and the Episcopate. Much, very much, of the
present resources of the Papacy depends on the person of Pius IX., and
will be buried with him. It is the interest of all who are concerned in
the continuance of the existing system, that his personal influence should
survive his reign.
He alone can hand on to his successor his own special connection with
France, and he alone can secure the choice of a successor in the Jesuit
interest. But, to accomplish that, he must survive his own pontificate,
must himself fix on the desired successor, must himself inaugurate him and
support him with the whole weight of his personal influence. And thus the
bold and ingenious device has been started of Pius IX. abdicating, and a
new election being held during his life. It is said not to be quite a new
project; in the honeymoon of the Council, just after the New Year, it
first began to be somewhat inconsiderately spoken of. Pius IX. is nearly
eighty, two years older than is generally said. He was elected June 16,
1846, and will therefore, on June 16, 1870, complete the twenty-fourth
year of his pontificate. But there is an old saying, universally believed
in Rome, that no Pope will reign twenty-five years, as it was the
exclusive privilege of St. Peter to be Pope for a quarter of a century.
“Non numerabis annos Petri.” It is a fact that none of the 255
predecessors of the present Pope has held office for twenty-five years;
even those elected at thirty-seven, like Innocent III. and Leo X., died
earlier. So according to this belief, which is not confined to the vulgar,
Pius has only one year more to live. But in spite of his age he is healthy
and wonderfully strong, and, as he belongs to a long-lived family, he has
the prospect of still living some time, only not as reigning Pope. It is
no pleasing prospect for a man, in whose character there is a large
element of _amour propre_, to be treated as the setting sun, while all are
speculating on his speedy death. It would be another thing, at the very
moment of his glorious triumph over the Council and after gaining
infallibility, to resign it, to decline to enjoy his success, to renounce
this mighty power in the first moment of fruition, and to transfer the
splendid inheritance to the hands of a younger man. Thus next June might
witness the most brilliant jubilee, and an example be given of such
imposing grandeur that the world has seen nothing like it, of such wisdom
and eventful significance that the present system would be immortalized
and become the heirloom of the Papacy for all ages. The Pope would retire
into a glorious privacy, like the founder of the North American Republic
after his second Presidentship, and taste the honours of an ex-Pope,
unequalled by any former ceremonial splendour, and close his days in a
position of unprecedented elevation. This seductive dream has found little
aliment in the course of the Council hitherto. The plan would be at bottom
a conspiracy against existing law, against Cardinals, Governments, and the
Episcopate, and notwithstanding its dazzling lustre, would make the very
worst impression on the Council. A victorious Pope might conceivably
attempt to carry it out, but in the present situation it would be a
dangerous challenge.
The abdication of a Pope is not without precedent in history. In 1294 a
Pope took this step, which has never since been repeated; Celestine V.
resigned the papal office, to which he felt himself unequal. After a long
and quarrelsome Conclave, the Cardinals, at their wits’ end, had elected
the pious recluse of Einsiedlen, and dragged him from his mountain home; a
few months later they got tired of him and urged him to abdicate, and he
complied. Many doubted whether a Pope could resign; they thought that,
according to the law established by the Popes themselves in the decretals,
no Pope could dissolve of his own power the bond which unites him to the
Church and the Church to him. It would require a superior in the hierarchy
to do this, and none such exists. It had first therefore to be decided
that a Pope could resign, and Celestine settled this by a special Bull.
After that he solemnly and publicly laid down his office. Boniface VIII.
succeeded, who shut up the unfortunate man in a mountain fastness, where
he died soon afterwards in a damp unhealthy dungeon.
In the strictly initiated circles, where the above project is most
definitely spoken of, the man selected by Pius for his successor is also
known; it is Cardinal Bilio, aged forty-four, who possesses the confidence
equally of the Pope and the Jesuits. He edited the Syllabus, and assisted
the Jesuits in drawing up the first _Schema_; in short, Pius would have
the satisfaction of reckoning securely on his carrying on the present
system for many years. Of course, even if the seventeen or eighteen vacant
Cardinals’ Hats were given to men pledged to this scheme, it would still
remain a question whether Pius could succeed in still controlling the
Conclave after his abdication. Many think that the Cardinals would then,
as has so often happened, elect a very aged man, and Cardinal de Angelis
is named as the likeliest to be chosen.