Page images
PDF
EPUB

the civil government. The presentation | a vicar apostolic are necessarily more is generally vested in the crown; but extended than those of ordinary bishops, the appointment must proceed from the and are ampler in proportion to the diffipope. culty of keeping up a close communication with Rome. Thus many cases of dispensation in marriage which a continental bishop must send to the Holy See may be provided for by an English or American vicar apostolic; and other similar matters, for which these must consult it, could at once be granted by the ecclesiastical superiors of the Mauritius or of China. The nomination of vicars apostolic is solely with the pope.

The powers of bishops, and the manner of exercising their authority, are regulated by the canon law; their jurisdiction on every point is clear and definite, and leaves no room for arbitrary enactments or oppressive measures. Yet it is of such a character as, generally considered, can perfectly control the inferior orders of clergy, and secure them to the discharge of their duty. In most Catholic countries there is a certain degree of civil jurisdiction allowed to the bishops, with judicial powers, in matters of a mixed character; as in cases appertaining to marriages, where a distinction between civil and ecclesiastical marriage has not been drawn by the legislature. Some offences connected with religion, as blasphemy or domestic immorality, are likewise brought under their cognizance.

Where the succession of the Catholic hierarchy has been interrupted, as in England, or never been established, the bishops who superintend the Catholic church and represent the papal authority are known by the name of vicars apostolic. A vicar apostolic is not necessarily a bishop-an instance of which we had a few years ago at Calcutta-where the vicar apostolic was a simple priest. Generally, however, he receives episcopal consecration; and, as from local circumstances, it is not thought expedient that he should bear the title of the see which he administers, he is appointed with the title of an ancient bishopric now in the hands of infidels, and thus is called a bishop in partibus infidelium, though the last word is often omitted in ordinary language. A vicar apostolic, being generally situated where the provisions of the canon law cannot be fully observed, is guided by particular instructions, by precedents and consuetude, to which all the uniformity of discipline through the Catholic church gives stability and security. Thus the vicars apostolic, who rule over the four episcopal districts of England, have their code in the admirable constitution of Pope Benedict XIV., beginning with the words Apostolicum ministerium. The powers of

The inferior clergy, considered in reference to the government of the church, consists mainly of the parochial clergy, or those who supply their place. In all countries possessing a hierarchy, the country is divided into parishes, each provided with a parochus or curate,* who corresponds to the rector or vicar of the English established church. The appointment to a parish is vested in the bishop, who has no power to remove again at will, or for any cause except a canonical offence juridically proved. The right of presentation by lay patrons is, however, in particular instances fully respected. In Italy the parish priests are generally chosen by competition: upon a vacancy, a day is appointed on which the testimonials of the different candidates are compared, and they are examined before the bishop in theology, the exposition of scripture, and extemporaneous preaching; and whoever is pronounced, by ballot, superior to the rest, is chosen.

Under an apostolic vicariate, the clergy corresponding to the parochial clergy generally bear the title of apostolic missionaries, and have missions or local districts with variable limits placed under their care; but are dependent upon the will of their ecclesiastical superiors.

Besides the parochial clergy, there is a considerable body of ecclesiastics, who do not enter directly into the governing

The parish priest in Ireland corresponds to the cure in France, the curato (or, in the country, arciprete) of Italy, and the cura of Spain. The curate in Ireland, as in the church of England, is equivalent to the vicaire of France and the sottocurato of Italy.

part of the church, although they help to discharge some of its most important functions. A great number of secular clergy are devoted to the conduct of education, either in universities or seminaries; many occupy themselves exclusively with the pulpit, others with instructing the poor, or attending charitable institutions. A certain number also fill prebends, or attend to the daily service of cathedrals, &c.; for in the Catholic church pluralities, where the cure of souls exists, are strictly prohibited, and consequently a distinct body of clergy from those engaged in parochial duties, or holding rectories, &c., is necessary for those duties. Besides this auxiliary force, the regular clergy, or monastic orders, take upon them many of these functions. The clergy of the Catholic church in the west are bound by a vow of celibacy, not formally made, but implied in their ordination as sub-deacons. This obligation of celibacy is only reckoned among the disciplinary enactments of the church. The clergy of that portion of the Greek and Armenian church which is united in communion with the see of Rome may be married; that is, may receive orders if married, but are not allowed to marry after having taken orders. A similar discipline, if thought expedient by the church, might be introduced into the West. The only point concerning the government of the Catholic church which remains to be mentioned is the manner in which it is exercised. The most solemn tribunal is a general council, that is, an assembly of all the bishops of the church, who may attend either in person or by deputy, under the presidency of the pope or his legates. When once a decree has passed such an assembly, and received the approbation of the Holy See, there is no further appeal. Distinction must be, however, made between doctrinal and disciplinary decrees; for example, when in the Council of Trent it was decreed to be the doctrine of the church that marriage s indissoluble, this decree is considered binding in the belief and on the conduct, nor can its acceptance be refused by any one without his being considered rebellious to the church. But when it is ordered that marriages must be celebrated

only in presence of the parish priest, this is a matter of discipline not supposed to rest on the revelation of God, but dictated by prudence; and consequently a degree of toleration is allowed regarding the adoption of the resolution in particular dioceses. It is only with regard to such decrees, and more specifically the one we have mentioned, that the Council of Trent is said to have been received, or not, in different countries.

When a general council cannot be summoned, or when it is not deemed necessary, the general government of the church is conducted by the pope, whose decisions in matters of discipline are considered paramount, though particular sees and countries claim certain special privileges and exemptions. In matters of faith it is admitted that if he issue a decree, as it is called, ex cathedrâ, or as head of the church, and all the bishops accept it, such a definition or decree is binding and final.*

The discipline or reformation of smaller divisions is performed by provincial or diocesan synods. The first consist of the bishops of a province under their metropolitan; the latter, of the parochial and other clergy under the superintendence of the bishop. The forms to be observed in such assemblies, the subjects which may be discussed, and the extent of jurisdiction which may be assumed, are laid down at full in a beautiful work of the learned Benedict XIV., entitled 'De Synodo Diocesana.' The acts and decrees of many such partial synods have been published, and are held in high esteem among Catholics; indeed, they may be recommended as beautiful specimens of deliberative wisdom. Such are the decrees of the various synods held at Milan under the virtuous and amiable St. Charles Borromeo.

II. The laws of the Catholic church

*The great difference between the Transalpine and the Cisalpine divines, as they are termed, is whether such a decree has its force prior to, or independent of, the accession of the body of bishops to it, or receives its sanction and binding power from their acceptance. Practically there is little or no difference between the two opinions; yet this slight variety forms a principal groundwork of what are called the liberties of the Gallican church

[ocr errors]

The preamble runs as follows "I, N. N., with a firm faith believe and profess all and every one of those things which are contained in that "creed which the holy Roman church maketh use of.” Then follows the Nicene creed.

may be divided into two classes; those | creed of Pius IV., of which the following which bind the interior, and those which is the substance :regulate outward conduct. This distinction, which corresponds to that above made between doctrinal and disciplinary decrees, may appear unusual, as the term laws seems hardly applicable to forms of thought or belief. Still, viewing the Catholic church under the form of an organized religious society, and considering that it professes to be divinely authorized to exact interior assent to all that it teaches, under the penalty of being separated from its communion, we think we can well classify under the word law those principles and doctrines which it commands and expects all its members to profess.

"I most steadfastly admit and embrace apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same church.

"I also admit the holy scriptures, according to that sense which our holy mother the church has held and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the scriptures neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers.

"I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one, to wit: baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders,† and matrimony: and that they confer grace; and that of these, baptism, confirmation, and orders cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremo

Catholics often complain that doctrines are laid to their charge which they do not hold, and in their various publications protest against their belief being assumed upon any except authoritative documents; and as such works are perfectly accessible, the complaint is reasonable and just. There are several works in which an accurate account is given of what Catholics are expected to believe, and which carefully distinguish between those points on which latitude of opinion is allowed, and such as have been fully and decisively decreed by the supreme authority of the church. Such are Veron's Regula Fidei,' ornies of the Catholic Church, used in the Rule of Faith, a work lately translated solemn administration of the aforesaid into English, and Halden's Analysis sacraments. Fidei.' But there are documents of more authority than these; for example, the 'Declaration' set forth by the vicars apostolic or bishops in England, in 1823, often republished; and still more the Catechismus ad Parochos,' or 'Catechism of the Council of Trent,' translated into English not many years ago, and published in Dublin. A perusal of such works as these will satisfy those who are desirous of full and accurate information regarding Catholic tenets, of their real nature, and show that the popular expositions of their substance and character are generally incorrect.

The formulary of faith, which persons becoming members of the Catholic church are expected to recite, and which is sworn to upon taking any degree, or being appointed to a chair in a university, is the

"I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification.

"I profess likewise that in the mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living

Under penance is included confession; as the Catholic sacrament of penance consists of parts: contrition or sorrow, confession, and satisfaction.

three

†The clerical orders of the Catholic church are divided into two classes, sacred and minor orders. The first consists of subdeacons, deacons, and priests, who are bound to celibacy and the daily recitation of the Breviary, or collection of psalms and prayers, occupying a considerable time. The minor orders are four in number, and ceremony in which the hair is shorn, initiatory to are preceded by the tonsure, an ecclesiastical the ecclesiastical state.

and the dead: and that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a change of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which change the Catholic church calls transubstantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.

"I firmly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.

66

Likewise, that the saints reigning with Christ are to be honoured and invocated, and that they offer up prayers to God for us; and that their relics are to be had in veneration.

"I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the mother of God, and also of other saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration are to be given them.

"I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.

"I acknowledge the holy Catholic Apostolic Roman church for the mother and mistress of all churches: and I promise true obedience to the bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ."

Then follow clauses condemnatory of all contrary doctrines, and expressive of adhesion to all the definitions of the Council of Trent.

It is obvious that this form of confession was framed in accordance to the decrees of that council, and consequently has chiefly in view the opinions of those who followed the Reformation.

Such is the doctrinal code of the Catholic church; of its moral doctrines we need not say anything, because no authorised document could be well referred to that embodies them all. There are many decrees of popes condemnatory of immoral opinions or propositions, but no positive decrees. The moral law, as taught in the Catholic church, is mainly the same as other denominations of Christians profess to follow.

Of the disciplanary or governing code we have already spoken, when we observed that it consisted of the Canon Law, which, unlike the doctrinal and moral code, may vary with time, place, and accidental circumstances.

III. The last head was the essential or constitutive principle of the Catholic church. By this we mean that principle which gives it individuality, distinguishes it from other religions, pervades all its institutions, and gives the answer to every query regarding the peculiar constitution, outward and inward, of this church.

Now, the fundamental position, the constitutive principle of the Catholic church, is the doctrine and belief that God has promised, and consequently bestows upon it, a constant and perpetual protection, to the extent of guaranteeing it from destruction, from error, or fatal corruption. This principle once admitted, every thing else follows. 1. The infallibility of the church in its decisions on matters concerning faith. 2. The obligation of submitting to all these decisions, independently of men's own private judgments or opinions. 3. The authority of tradition, or the unalterable character of all the doctrines committed to the church; and hence the persuasion that those of its dogmas, which to others appear strange and unscriptural, have been in reality handed down, uncorrupted, since the time of the apostles, who received them from Christ's teaching. 4. The necessity of religious unity, by perfect uniformity of belief: and thence as a corollary the sinfulness of wilful separation or schism, and culpable

errors

or heresy. 5. Government by authority, since they who are aided and supported by such a promise must necessarily be considered appointed to direct others, and are held as the representatives and vicegerents of Christ in the church. 6. The papal supremacy, whether considered as a necessary provision for the preservation of this essential unity, or as the principal depository of the divine promises. 7. In fine, the authority of councils, the right to enact canons and ceremonies, the duty of repressing all attempts to broach new opinions; in a word, all that system of rule and autho

ritative teaching which must strike every one as the leading feature in the constitution of the Catholic church.

The differences, therefore, between this and other religions, however complicated and numerous they may at first sight appear, are thus narrowed to one question; for particular doctrines must share the fate of the dogmas above cited, as forming the constitutive principle of the Catholic religion. This religion claims for itself a complete consistency from its first principle to its last consequence, and to its least institution, and finds fault with others, as though they preserved forms, dignities, and doctrines which must have sprung from a principle by them rejected, but which are useless and mistaken the moment they are disjoined from it. Be this as it may, the constitution of the Catholic church should seem to possess, what is essential to every moral organized body, a principle of vitality which accounts for all its actions, and determines at once the direction and the intensity of all its functions.

We conclude this account of the Catholic church with a sketch of the extent of its dominions, by enumerating the countries which profess its doctrines, or which contain considerable communities under its obedience. In Europe, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Austrian empire, including Hungary, Bavaria, Poland, and the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, which formerly belonged to the ecclesiastical electorates, profess the Catholic religion as that of the state, or, according to the expression of the French charte, that of the majority of the people. In America, all the countries which once formed part of the Spanish dominions, both in the southern and northern portion of the continent, and which are now independent states, profess exclusively the same religion. The empire of Brazil is also Catholic. Lower Canada and all those islands in the West Indies which belong to Spain or France, including the Republic of Haiti, profess the Catholic faith; and there are also considerable Catholic communities in the United States of North America, especially in Maryland and Louisiana. Many Indian tribes, in the Canadas, in

the United States, in California, and in South America, have embraced the same faith. In Asia there is hardly any nation professing Christianity which does not contain large communities of Catholic Christians. Thus in Syria the entire nation or tribe of the Maronites, dispersed over Mount Libanus, are subjects of the Roman see, governed by a patriarch and bishops appointed by it. There are also other Syriae Christians under other bishops, united to the same see, who are dispersed all over Palestine and Syria. At Constantinople there is a Catholie Armenian patriarch who governs the united Armenians as they are called, large communities of whom also exist in Armenia proper. The Abbé Dubois, in his examination before a committee of the House of Commons in 1832, stated the number of Catholics in the Indian peninsula at 600,000, including Ceylon, and this number was perhaps rather underrated than otherwise. There are at present an archbishop who is vicar apostolic of Bengal, bishops who are vicars apostolic of Madras, Bombay, and Ceylon respectively, and they are assisted by coadjutor bishops. [BISHOPRIC.] A new one has been added for Ceylon. We have not the means of ascertaining the number of Catholics in China, but in the province of Su-Chuen alone they were returned, 22nd September, 1824, at 47,487 (Annales de la Propag. de la Foi, No. XI. p. 257); and an official report published at Rome in the same year gives those in the provinces of Fo-kien and Kiausi at 40,000. There are seven other provinces containing a considerab.e number of Catholics, of which we have no return. In the united empire of Tonkin and CochinChina the Catholics of one district were estimated at 200,000 (Ibid, No. X. p. 194), and, till the late persecution, there was a college with 200 students, and convents containing 700 religious. Another district gave a return, in 1826, of 2955 infants baptized, which would give an estimate of 88,000 adult Christians. A third gave a return of 170,000. M. Dubois estimates the number of native Catholics in the Philippine Islands at 2,000,000. In Africa, the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon are Catholic, and

« EelmineJätka »