AMERICAN.
tt S'i s
fv;t f t rr
Nl VI'HH Jtii
Vitl.VMh 111.
OMAIIA. NKUKA8K A, I UUA JH.Y 21. ,v.;t.
M
E
(
i
INTERESTING HISTORY
j
Something About lh Roman Cln:rch
t
Which I Not OencrsUy Knewo,
the Ihrhf f lafallihllll lt
i allied - Uerntlti l,hr if Some
tTiiuiUl'l from Hi ,itl, of ltl Mm
ly 1 nrl M Hi !!. n I
t'p to the year hit) tin' fundamental
doctrine of Humanism wit that if I ho
ono beautifying, Infallible church.
They niHtntain, however, that In that
year, by some dlvlno revelation, tho
Infallibility of tho church trans
ferred to the hih, ami from that time
tho doct rine of the o' Infallibility
must 1st regarded as tho very sum and
substance of tho 1 toman Catholic sys
tem of belief.
This revalution was imparted us fol
lows: 1'opo I'lus IX. convoked, after
many propurulory negotiations, a diet
at Homo.
Woven hundred und sixty-four bishops
assembled at this meeting. A largo
part of these, however, were only
traveling missionaries, who had been
summoned from their distant Holds, be
sides which tho popo had appointed a
largo number of titular bishops
In order to Increase tho number
of veto for tho coming resolu
tions. About !i(H) of tho delegates
woro provided with board and
lodging by tho popo himself, and
those were solemnly reminded,
through tho pope's olllclal organ,
tho Jesuit paper, Civiltd Catkolica,
not to forgot that which grati
tudo imposed on thorn towards
tholr exalted host, as regards
the matter under discussion at
tho mooting. Many other wlso
provisions had boon made by tho
cunning josults to Insure tho
proper direction to tho revelation.
Among others, tho Intentionally
chosen hall was so arranged that
from certain parts thereof a
speaker could only bo heard with
tho greatest difficulty, Those
whom tho popo suspected of bo
longing to tho opposition woro
mostly placed horo, so that It went
with particular case to effect that
which tho papal majority had al
ready decided. For tho sake of
further certainty, tho popo had
taken It upon himself to decide
the order of business, and also
tho right to pronounce tho final
decisive word.
Those that expected a free
mooting with free discussion
woro therefore thoroughly unde
ceived. Tho doctrine of Infallibility
was contested hy lf0 delegates,
tho must learned, and, as regards
Influence, tho most powerful of
those present. Hut tholr protests
were In vain, In vain woro their
arguments, however profound
and learned, Hither tho leaders
of tho opposition could not bo
heard, or they woro Interrupted
by tho ehulrrnrn's bell, or they
woro received hy the popo'g ma
jority with Irrelcvencles, When,
finally, everything had thus been pre
Arranged, every warning voice of truth
hushed, and all opposition broken, the
divine revelation was at hist Imparted,
was proclaimed by the holy father Jn
tho following words: "It Is a divinely
revealed truth, that tho popo, when ho
Apeak from tho pulpit (fx-mtlitdm) us
the shepherd and teacher of all chris
tians, and sanctions provision for faith
and customs, that shall bo followed by
tho whole church, by virtue of the
divine assistance promised through HI,
I'otor, enjoin and commands with that
Infallibility with which the Jird has
desired hi church to bo endowed for
tho confirmation of doctrine of faith
und customs, and that therefore tho
popo' doctrinal provisions are lrreform
able by virtue of themselves" ": nine
irrrformitbllni"CtniHtU. J 'untiir cUrvm).
This was followed by thundering
"plant" (applause) from tho jmijhj'
boarders, missionaries, titular bishops,
und tho divine revelation was made,
tho anticipation of centuries of popes
crowned with tho most brilliant suc
cess, the popo wus (to quote Martonsen)
exalted us "vlco-God of the world." ,
Most of the opposition, discouraged
and desperate at tho papal-Jesultleal
conspiracy for the suppression of lib
erty of speech, had left tho meeting,
and tho few remaining could accom
plish nothing.
The whole came, however, to an un
expectedly ignominious conclusion.
Tho Intention was to celebrate tho con
ferred revelation with u grand Illumi
nation, hut a violent thunder storm
with rain made this Impossible. Only
a few "braves!" and little applause was
hoard, und a few nuns beat their breast
and emotionally sobbed forth "pupa
mio" (my pope). "No further demon
strations were mode," remarked Mar
tonsen sarcastically.
A storm of Indignation from tho
il,cllioi ti'itmt liMUs oonwloo
n. fp . M jn tvleU aad i !.'.
tttt front tth t sUielk'a nint i'mt.-!-aitt.
w h, the piiilti; Ion "tv eUtion"
w aiutoiitttinl o tlie wotUt. It wa
ltcd I sn t vhn-tUon t-l tund Mi,
in' l It il ptvun'itititfcit art of human
ptvcniptiotitie mid ptlitc And it
W niily by placing the sltvngo! eon
Msliit on ti;elr loudly uttered turn ie
tioim, that a ifvry taw piut of tmlh the
higher and luii I'lithnHe clergy eii
Indiiivd to submit to the rvohttiih of
Infallibility, " ? tnt wilir l
riii.wm cf U ifinit otvf Itt foil if xmii'ifi "
(with the help of the majority anything
can lie iioeompllxhi-d j;lii!-t reason and
justice), said the archbishop of I'aiis,
and signed.
Wo will now pit on to a short ex
smltlon of the contents and meaning of
the doctrine of Infallibility.
The diH'Irinal clauwi in question
poswcMses the advantage of being com
posed with all desirable clearness and
perspicuity; it wording excludes all
doubt and all suhtllo controversy con
cerning Its real meaning.
It Is us follows: Mistakes in the doc
trine of salvation are as illipoenible for
tho popo as for tho Son of God, Jesus
Christ, Himself.
The pope's teachings of faith and
ethics from tho pulpit constitute noth
ing but pure and unadulterated dlvlno
truth, so that no Improvement can be
made on them. Therefore, tho pupal
teaching posses tho sumo obligatory
power a all of God' word, both In the
(dd and new testaments; aye, stands
even above tho dlvlno word, us tho popo
ha tho jiowcr of dispensation can
release from uny dlvlno commandment,
whatsoever. Jn mimma: Hllnd fulth
In the popo constitute tho whole relig
ion, obedience to him the whole moral
ity, Hlessod bo ho, who In everything
believes and obeys (ho pope; ctornally
damned be ho who shows disobedience
and unbelief toward him,
"For the farmer that plow his field,
for the sovereign that sits on his throne,
for the legislator Unit make luw.s for
kingdoms for nil am I the only, tho
last and highest Judgo, of what Is right
or wroifjf," uro the word Unit Curdluul
Manning, In u lecture, puts In tho proud
mouth of tho popo, "Wlum tho pope
meditates," his organ, Virilln (Jiillolim,
tell us, "God thinks In him," und the
urchblshop of Avignon declared In u
sermon during tho "Infallibility your"
that God's incarnation occurred threo
times, "in tho manger at Hethlchcm,
on tho Catholic mass-ultar, and In tho
Vatican," (vl,., In tho pope). An
Kngllsh eeeleslust deduces, In a pub
lished article, tho sovereign popo to bo
Vlirinl'n third vihihlc pmuwe uinongi us
and luicordlngly Informs us, that "de
votion to the pope" (ih votilm an pt):)
constitutes an csscntlul purt of chris
tian piety.
In tho Vatican, therefore, stand that
divine throne, before which all shall
bend their knees; there sits tho "three
fold Incarnate God," tho last, the only
and highest judgo over humanity, Ills
statements demand blind faith und
blind obedience. "In order that we
may, In everything," says Loyola,
"reach tho true belief und In no respect
mis tho right way, we must at all
times, as an irrevocable axiom adhere
lv America .J itJtMkmJ ,L--A-WMllm
t.ltlu- Tt.St liNt r .. t. twKu
, Im-iiM t iivve to lr Mm k, if lh
I hull V bit l t !ttnt ity iWmtv tlist
HK'bWk," gut b.M : "May
He, If the holy biiivh itininnd it, ne
titiiv our kno Icilirv, our nl-lligfnv,
the bt ilHsnl ii(iur tmsjjlustieii,
and tln niddest sifts if be Ininian
tuilid!" He ho would h on the one
Imnd the iiiont t!splu'nioii and a'smt
innlde man deification, on the other an
cipialty abomlnalde and i'.oblng npii il
eal slsxery, be invd only timflder lliew
clauses, Hefmv the pajial god on the
throne of the Vatican all humanity
shall sacrifice muMii-nce, knowledge
and Intelligi iHV, the Hible and sclent I
II e Inquiry, and humbly kneel In
olvdioneo.
Hut still another side id infallibility
needs lw taken into conlderatlim- the
silitical. The siH's still continue, un
stubbornly as In the middle ages, with
their pretent Ions on the guardianship
over sovereigns und nations, their
claim still is: "The throne shall stand
at tho foot of tho altar." The papal
church invest itself with tho right of
promulgating its plans by violence,
possesses In tho Jesuit a formldablt)
isuiy-guard, besides which tho popes
still claim the K)wer to annul constitu
tions, depose sovereigns and release
subjects from their oath of allegiance.
With such teachings and expodlenti
tho divinely Infallible popes uro still
UELKMOUS TREASON, THE
dungorou for king and nation. It
socm somewhat peculiar, therefore, to
hear tho Catholic declare that Cathol
icism 1 tho strongest support of
thrones, and tho sufost surety for the
development of tho people. Hindi usser
tlon uro challenged hy both doctrine
and history. Nowhere have such
terrible revolutions, subversions und
sanguinary Insurrection filled the
world with horror us In the Catholic
countries, wo need only mention Franco,
Ituly, Spain und tho South American
republics, No, Homo' unfortunate
mixing of religion und politics, until
you cannot tell which I politic and
which I religion, makes, on tho con
trary, Catholicism u politically pre
carious religion, und u experience
shows, Homo nearly continually Is,
secretly or openly, at war with politi
cal power. Hy means of her human
tools, Homo throw her permontiitlves
everywhere Into popular movements
and endeavor to weaken one faction
through the other, and then march to
victory over the ruin of both. Tho
papal church cannot break loose from
thl mingling of politic and religion;
tho pupal church live on her rcllglo
politlcal sis'ciilutlons, thereupon she
builds her future but they nlso consti
tute her weakness, the soro that never
heals, und through which alio will at
length, perhaps, bleed to death,
Hut wo now ask, how does this doc
trine of the dlvlno Infallibility of popes
ajqs'iir Isforo tho Bible, reason and
history, these, in all questions of truth,
decisive powers?
Infallible papacy i supposed to bo a
dlvlno institution, und Mutt. 10:18 is
quoted as tho decisive words. The
Lord say to I'otor: "Thou art IV tor,
and upon this rock I will build my
church, and tho gates of hell shall not
prctall against it. But whether we,
with Luther, most of tho old fathers,
Mlt. IJM'h ft ,) ,,,,,( (.' , I
..!. r t lie I i, itiikl ,i'i; xt S ':
I ! Ill t(ttl ' t ..lf.-k'lll, l .. iM '
k I ru'l. i i-i.i, r andettn r i
intetpii t I.y t). mk oii.t. fti.l
IVtir hmiM if, .y iiiw .tv. tang tlie
1 Iih li to tn tiHihdi-d, e lnd
r.ol fnr (10111 tl.e t.tunditiL- of nv
Infallible m iV with IN r iti'tn-r-stono,
,ll otiii r iiitfrpr uiiims aw
not iviinbtetvi!, they fall Open their
own ai.iiidtty. The IsHil si'oak, in
the cited er f ISU f hitMm(, hot tiot
a word almut cither real tr jnvtendod
"sinv ssors" to him IWidcs, the ss'
have never niH-n ptxved to U the sue
eessitr of I'eter, but it is on tlu con
trary, IniHititestably ptuvcd that lhe
hivi not, as we shall see further on,
They may make the most strenuous
exertions, but never will they Is' able
to so prevert the words of the Savior,
that a thinking man will In them find
any foundation for Infallible papacy.
It w as, however, but small consolation
for the Cat holies, even If IV tor were
their first pope, for as he once made
such a mistake, or rattier yielded from
weakness, as to endanger tho gospel
road to salvation, and I'uul was com
wlled to publicly reprimand him
(Gal. 2), infallibility totters on it very
foundation. Although Haul wa caught
up to tho third heaven, where, to our
knowledge, no popo has yet been ele
vated, ho declares, that wo know In
RUIN OF THE REL'UnUO.
part, and we prophesy In part. Would
the pope, then, who, according to tho
testimony of history, have usuully con
lined themselves rather close to tho
earth, understand perfectly and proph
esy perfectly? Tho Lord say: "If I
do not tho work of my father, lad love
mo not."
Ho thereby relinquishes all claim to
Infallibility and perfection us teacher,
If sinful deed could ho found In him.
Hut the bold answer of tho pnpucy is:
Although a t'Ofi: did tho work of the
WCVIU believe II 1M still, for UK I
nevertheless lnfulllblo. One must
either Isi absolutely indifferent or else
huvo "sacrificed his Intelligence und
the noblest gift of the human mind"
to be satisfied with such prodigious
contradictions of tho Scripture. The
orthodox Catholic glories, too, in his
"Intellectual sacrifice" maijlcium
inttllirtuH), und feed proud to declare
that ho bus even so far devoted bis In
tellect to obedience of the pope und
church, that nothing Is impossible for
him to Ixdicvo, If it Is taught by tho
church,
If wo listen to the answer of reason
to all human pretensions to Infallibility
it Is us short us It Is decisive. There
exists, so read lis judgement, only ono
perfect lsdng, exulted above all re
strictions, and consequently ulsivo
every error und imperfection in know
ledge, namely, God. '
Every other being 1 iniHrfect. Tho
only thing that can be said of man in
the way of infallibility Is that ho Is In
fallibly fallible. The highest and
greatest spirits of humanity constitute
Indisputable proofs to this. To make
pretentions to Infallibility Is by reason
branded as irrational, absurd. And wo
occasionally hear of patient in insane
asylums suffering from hallucinations
of tho kind in question.
We now turn to history.
lt. J l-I.li, ! f.Mlll.Uii.itl !( I!.. hi n. . t . . !-, ,. 4, l ( to lMfcl
lj. --j t ti.jk 4 o! a li'f.it, ! I, g, t.n,tttil to lb, tmsniin
mtk. I'cti-f the Jet t.)v t ;.,- .,,! ; allow ami ti.n t,i tt ,nn st.ti4.1Ky
!! f,t '' sutHs--., i l.a alii.lk-i4 aaj inUitihiiitr
i.uipjv,! with ran tHMim It.laili-1
jbUitv td authmilj. It l t isiitifd It si I
tlie A)tb I'.'tt f feuntb .l the r.rt i
i htilin t-ttiovh at Hotiie, that he w j
il fitt bi-hop, that he vupli-d tbo ;
I piwoi! etiair t nit five years and
that he, hortly ts'foii hi death, tian-f.-rti'4t
hi)wial power to all Miitv,ii
lug bishop of liiHiin. Hy leli of the
ttliwt leal tied itlVtigstlo)iS Wt flnd
however, first, that I'eter did MT
found the christian church at Komc;
stMHtnd, that be Nl,Mt WAS lilsliop of
Home for either twenty-live years or
shorter time: third, that consequently
the bishops of Homo arc as Utile the
smvessors of I'eter as, for example, the
bishops of Lund, I.lnkoplng, or 1'psala,
etc. Hrlefly, the w hole story has lxon
proved to Isi a pure fabrication, In
vented in oilier to Invest tho papal
(tower with that historical foundation
which it felt was necessary. Many
Catholic theologians (tVllmower, Sten
gel, Kloe, ctxj.) have for this reason
felt compelled to abandon t he use of
the legend In question.
Hut this was not Koine's only Inter
pretation of hlslory In the interest of
tho papacy; this counterfeiting Is com
mitted systematically. Wo will here
only mention the so-called psoudo-
Isldorlan decretals. These decretals,
probably originating in tho nlncth
century, but falsely ascribed to Isidore
of Seville (X (l.'l(t), were composed of
forged letter and documents, thntsccm
to prove tho great ngo of papacy, Its
divine origin and extensive authority.
The deception was mndo with clumsy
hands, 1m t tho Ignorant middle ages
put up with It, und tho pope used the
collection of decretal as a well-stocked
armory, from which they brought their
weapous for tho erection of tho omnip
otent pupuey of tho middle ages. As
un example of the rude deception
which appeared In the decretals, und of
which many "holy fathers" found
proper to make use, may be cited, that
Hope Victor I., who died in the year
2'.!, Is represented a writing to tho
patriarch Tcophllu in Alexandria,
who lived alsiut 380, consequently ISO
yeurs Inter than Victor. Hope Mel
chlades, who died in tho year 314, is
made to refer to resolutions passed at
tho diet of Nice, which was held cloven
years after hi death. Fathers of tho
church in tho first century are repre
sented sH'uklng tho barbaric Latin of
the ninth century, quote a translation of
tho Hible which appeared long after
their deaths, etc. It Is now, however,
a long time since tho deception was
discovered. One unclean rag of Hoian
history counterfeiting, after tho other,
Is produced by science and cast
aside. Hut Instead of accepting the
truth und doing penance, tho most
hideous imprecations are poured out by
tho papal bulls over modern science.
As u prisif of this one need only read
Hiux IX's. "syllabus errorum," of 104.
Tho church history of the earliest
christian time gives Incontestable
witness, that during the great doctrinal
war the voice of the poiH-s was not
considered more infallible than that of
other, and also that tho resolutions
iJ.itaa leho. el t , during
IW ti!l,.t! atf.Hi, b. onon r at
it . rlti., tt Hit.m,tt ,mm ttitijJ that
eon!,! l" ,. tor h oy rcir
in it s ti in. )
Kwn the illicit! r po,
ba a-lilolodg-d this
Inn i.t III
test-lung, siel also uclrtd tiial a tqx
eouM toil ii,i j r,yt tint not oom
ph (. i. HS,i,. to Infallibility.
Hut hj.tory also show that many
lM really have gniw a-tisy In doe
trine; aye, otie-lionorius 1. has
solemnly b,vu condemne-d a heretic In
os n diet. It Is evident that heresy
and Infallibility in doctrine cxclialo
each oi Iw r, so that whore one is lh
other cannot lie; heresy excludes
fallibility, and vice versa. j
Manv Cat hoi ie bishops went t hf
foro might ily surprised, tin their tv
from tho Vatican council, when tj
found that Infallibility concerned j
only Plus IX. with his successors,)
Itieludes AM, l'ltKt'KDISU potes as 1
They found that they had received
torlcal facta for which to answer,
they never before had suspected.
oven I'lus IX. himself folt his n
acquired infallibility shaken by '
published article of tho lenred He
on F'opo Honorliis I., hi heresy
ex-oominunioutlon, and oonnnundi
certain professor delegutl
the Jesuit Llberatore to rot
everything from tho church
tory's treatment of Horn
which was repugnant to
theory of infallibility,
pupal church manipulates hi
a follows: "She lay her
dation with He and build the
upon with deception." T1
the express! vo axiom holds t
"Dogmas before history."
evident that with an hlsto
conscienco of such quality
dcrs could ho accomplish
the writing oi history, and
also occur In tho papal ohuro
When, during forty years
1378-1418. Christendom was
edified by tho Hpoctuelo of two,
sometime throo, popes, who
strovo for tho honor of being
"prefect of Christ" and damned
each other as chief of heresy
und untl-Chrlsts, while each one
clulmod to bo tho right pope, viz.,
according to tho resolution of tho
Vatican council, tho "lnfulllblo"
supremo head of Christendom,
good reason undeniably exist to
doubt Infallibility in all. Each
ono of them hud one tir two
equally lnfulllblo opponents, who
ariuthemutlzod him as herctlo
und anti-Christ.
Infallibility was scarcely better
verified by Urban VIII., before
whoso tribunal tho celebrated
astronomer, Galileo, on hi knees
with his hand on tho Bible, wu
compelled to declare that he re
nounced, damned, and abominated
tho heretic theory of tho earth's
movement tttiout tho un. Before
thl a pope, CalixtuM III. had
placed llttlloy' grout comet,
which crossed the heaven in
14.r)0, under this ban of tho church
and let ring in all tho church
bells of Christendom to frolghten
tho monster away, whoso tall wa be
lieved to "shake down sickness, pestil
ence and war over the earth."
In order to rightly understand infal
libility, wo must ulso take into con
sideration another side of tho history
of tho papacy. This Is o much more
necessary, a voices have already arisen
to declare tho popes morally infallible,
or sinless, and that In tho future it 1
just us possible that n diet will munu
fueture a revelation for the slnlossnes
of the popes, us it did for tholr infalli
bility in doctrine. It may even bo
considered certain that, In tho future,
for the suko tif consistency, an effort
will Iki made in that direction, since it
must always b! considered a grout de
ficiency to lie infallible in ono point
and fallible In another. Wo will, how
ever, in this respect be brief.
Wo remember tho period of tho so
called "Htrumpetoeracy," when tho
notorious harlots Theodora, tho elder,
and her two daughters, Theodora, tho
younger, and Maro.ia, placed their
paramours and son on the pupal chair.
Tho grandson of Marola became pojo
at the ago of It), as John XII. He ac
cepted bribes for ordaining bishops,
was convicted of consecrating av ten-year-old
boy as bishop, and performing
tho ceremony In a stable, further, to
have lived in Incest with ono of his
father' concubines und transformed
the Vatican Into a brothel. He had the
eyes of a priest put out; ho drank im
moderately, gambled and swore by tho
heathen divinities, Jupiter and Venus.
In tho year 1033 the papal chair was
ascended by Benedict IX., a twelve-year-old
boy, who, with divine infalli
bility, should lead all Christendom on
tho road to salvation. Through the
coarsest dissipations tho wretched child
was already completely ruined. Hi
ttftcr-lifo was ono continuous chain of
immorality, adultery, murder and other