The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1919. THE UNION OF CHURCHES

New Zealand Tablet, 17 July 1919, Page 25

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1919. THE UNION OF CHURCHES

FEW months ago our cables announced that" ’a number of American Protestant bishops fFEW set out, ago Rome with the purpose a number of American Protestant bishops had set out for Rome with the purpose of consulting with the Pope fox - a union of all ; the Churches. A cable to the Brooklyn , Tablet, dated from Rome, May 22, informs us that Pope Benedict granted a special ;••• audience to the delegates of the American Commission for the Pan-Christian Congress.' Archbishop Cerretti acting, as interpreter, the Holy Father addressed the delegates iii the,following words.: “The Pope thanks.you for your visit. As successor, to St. Peter.and the ; Vicar of Christ, he has no greater desire than that there should be one fold and one shepherd. .. The Pope adds that the teaching and practise of the Roman . Catholic Church ‘ regarding unity of the visible Church of Christ is well known, and, therefore, it would not »be | possible for the ; Catholic- Church to participate in such a Congress’ as is proposed. However,

he /by . no ,means wishes to disapprove, of the. .Congress in question , for ~ those i who ; are not l in union with ' the Chair of St. Peter ; on the contrary, he earnestly desires and prays that those who partake ,therein, j may, by the Grace of; God, see the light and become reunited to the Visible Head of .the Church, who will.receive. them with open > arms.” ... * t ., .; .. A w . , - /''"1:, • After the audience the visitors were received by Cardinal ' Gasparri, . who discussed , , the project in * a friendly manner, while dwelling on the attitude of the Catholic Church. 3 ; r ..,./ ... ... . .....

We understand that the visitors were disappointed at' the result of their mission, while at the same time they were sensible of the courtesy of their reception. What we fail to understand is that they "should ever have imagined it possible that the attitude of Rome could be otherwise. The ; average Catholic, from - a knowledge of his catechism, could have told the American bishops that the Church, which is the divinelyappointed custodian ; . of ..the ..deposit of Truth, could under no circumstances compromise in matters of doctrine,; and that union was possible only on the. understanding that a common acceptance of the entire deposit of the Faith must be the first step. The mind of the Catholic Church on this cardinal question is unequivocal. As Christ, the Founder of the Church, is One, so the Church He founded is one; as unity is His attribute, so is r it Truth's; and as Truth is from above, it is independent of man and cannot be changed by human intelligence or by the vagaries and vicissitudes of created imaginations. Truth is God Himself, and man must bow down before its revelation: in- a word, this is the essential position of Catholics. All members 'of the Catholic Church must accept all the revelation of Christ, as contained in the Bible and Tradition ; and all those who coming from outside the Fold seek union with the Catholic Church must fully accept the mind of Christ as revealed in the Church's doctrine. Truth is indivisible, and with the Church, which is the pillar and the ground of Truth, Christ remains all days to safeguard it from error. Moreover, the Church is united with Christ as His spouse, His bride, His mystical body ; He lives and acts in and through the Church to-day and always, and every member of the Church is a member of Christ. It is certain beyond shadow of doubt that we can only become members of Christ on His conditions. We cannot co-opt ourselves or arrange for ourselves on what terms we will accept membership. That is above and beyond us the conditions were made by Him, and no conferences or congresses will in any way affect them. The other Churches have compromised at times; they allow a large variety of contradictory doctrines to be held by their members; in their outward and visible action they show forth clearly that they are in doubt as to the mind-of Christ and as to His teaching. There is no need to labor this point: it is sufficient, to recall that when one Anglican bishop published a manual of what he held to be Christian doctrine a divine who is now another Anglican bishop protested that the manual was misleading. In the Catholic Church no such dissension as regards doctrine is possible, because as He is One in His Divine Person so also Christ-is One in His teaching, revealed to be held by all members of His Church. On this principle alone can any. union ever be conceivable: to make any | compromise where the divine deposit of doctrine is concerned • would -be an impossibility for the Pope ~as Visible / Head ..' of. the Catholic Church. In the words ; of-'.Leo XIII., "Not the foundation of the Church •• alone,, but its whole constitution, belongs to the class. of .."things', effected by Christ's free choice. For i: this reason, .the entire case .must be judged by what, was actually done. ,/ We must consequently investigate hot how. the Church may possibly be , one, - but .how- He who founded it willed it should be one." /,.,<-...',„«■ '//.!' '.'".;. "..'.. 'V.'/,'././'../! '//.'

Laudable as was the object of the American Mission to Rome, we could i see from the first that it was dqomed<»to failure. "There is one God. and one Christ/'

says St. Cyprian,, "and His Church. is one and the faith is one j arid one the people 'joined together in the; solid unity of the body in the bond of ,- concord. This unity cannot be' broken, nor the "one body divided by the separation "of its constituent parts." ? To all Catholics it is clear that only when other Churches hecome one with us, l in unity ; of faith _ and in organic unity . under one head in the ' mystical ' body of ■ Christ can the/dream be realised. "We are the Church founded on the rock; the " Roman 'Pontiff is the successor of Peter for whom Christ prayed that his faith should never fail and that he should confirm his brethren. To all men we .preach the. Gospel of Christ; but we preach it as- He willed not as they would have .us preach it.: For, as we said before, it is from above and no man may mould it or change it according to human/ideas/ The Pope and the humblest Catholic are members of the Church on the same conditions: they must receive without doubt the deposit of the Faith and believe and profess all the Church teaches. And on like conditions, and on "no others, all mankind are welcome to the Fold, which will never receive them otherwise.'- '/'" '■': '/ : ; - r:: K ;: ;. -