THE POPE'S DECREE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2476, 24 May 1888, Page 2

THE POPE'S DECREE.

TO TILE UDITOK. Silt,—lt is proverbial that religio-political questions are questionis vexatus, but he who advocates truth from the love of it need not become irascible and petulant when his darling is assailed by sophistic reasoning and hyperbolic assertion, as neither will supply the place of facts and arguments. As my respected opponent Britannicus does not recognise these weapons in a discussion of this kind, it would be a mere waste of time and paper to attempt to refute the whole of his diatribes without resorting to the same. Having no inclination to follow ill the footsteps of Britannicus by resorting to phillipics I will simply content myself with pointing out a few facts which it may be necessary for my opponent to know. And here I may remark in passing that B.'s slur against my being a good Catholic, or as he endeavours to throw a doubt upon my being one at all, is entirely b-jside tho question. However, in order to satisfy his curiosity on that point, L do not hesitate to inform him that my education was received in a theological seminary in Ireland, so that 1 am perfectly acquainted with the doctrines of my Church, more so than Britannicus seems to be. B.'s definition of what constitutes a Catholic is of a somewhat slender thread to hang my faith on. Because L assert that there is no such doctrine attached to the Catholic Church, he assumes that L am not a Catholic. Now with all due submission to tho superior judgment of my opponent, 1 beg to point out to him that that only is of Catholic faith which God has revealed and the Church propuses to uur belief. Hence for any doctrine to be deemed of Catholic faith two things are necessary, first that it should have been revealed, second, that it be proposed by the Church, of which two conditions, if either be wanting, such doctrine is not of Catholic faith. Now as the infallibility of the Pope has neither been revealed, nor proposed as an article of faith by the Church, it is therefore no treason to my Church or its Sovereign Pontill to deny that which the Church has never sanctioned. I defy Britannicus, or any other Catholic, to show me any Pope or Council that over sanctioned the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff as an article of faith in tho Catholic Church. Unless you can show me such a practical proof of such an article of faith in tho Catholic Church your objection to my .statement is entirely worthless. lam peifectly well acquainted with the fact that the Pope's decisions, when given ex cathedra, in all questions of faith and morals are infallible. But the question to be asked here is : Is the general condemnation with which he is alleged to have formulated against the Land League in Ireland given ex cathedra, and, if so, on what grounds do the congregation of Cardinals at Home as a spiritual body issue their mandates against a perfectly legal temporal society, which in no wise interferes or meddles with anything in connection with the Church. The dogma of the Pope's infallibility is simply a matter of principle on the part of the laity, and of discipline on the part of the clergy, but neither Pope nor Council lias ever presumed to enforce it as an article of faith of the Catholic Church. Were the Pope to issue any decree to Lind L :agues of England and Scotland, such as he is reported to have done to Ireland, it would at once rouse the hostility of tho whole ot Croat Britain. Several instances are on record of the manner in which the Pope's Balls have been received in England, and that to when he was within his rights as tho head of the Catholic Church. What a roar of indignation was aroused throughout England when it was known that the then reigning Pontiff had signified his intention to elevate the late Cardinal Wiseman to the see of Westminster. Again when a grant was given to Maynooth Collego, in Ireland, the greatest opposition was shown to it by the highest ecclesiastics of the Pfeotestant Church. Not so very long since the like opposition was shown to MrErrington, when it was supposed that ho was sent to Rome as the (jueen's accredited agent as ambassador to tho Pope. Numerous other instances could be cited to show how unjustly the Pope has been assailed by our opponents when their own interests were at stake. But now when the interests of a whole nation are at stake and the country threatened by tho spiritual head of the Church if the people refuse to obey his decree he is at once raised to the highest pinnacle of eminence in the hearts and homes of those who wore lately his greatest detractors. Britannicus assures nio that there is nuthing of Protestantism or Romanism in this question. This is just what I pointed out in my firot letter and I again ask tho question what business has the Pope moddling with tho temporal affairs of Ireland when he dare not do the same with tho temporal affairs of any other country in Ekirope. To take the whole of my oppo-' nent's argument seriatim would occupy too much space, and as I have already exceeded the limits allowed, I must conclude by stating that Irishmen all over the world have adopted the latin motto, "Patria cara, carior libertas." As I still oonsidnr that the Pope's interference in temporal affairs in Ireland is an infringement of the rights and privileges ot the subjcct, I conceive myself to be quite within my rights, as an Irishman and a Roman Catholic, in protesting against the unjust usurpation of the temporal power,— I am, etc., Junius Hiitmttuoua. Cambridge Kast.