CCHA, Report, 27 (1960), 35-49
The Attitude of
the American Hierarchy
Toward the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility
at the Vatican Council
Rev. Frank J.
BOLAND, C.S.B., Ph.D.,
Assumption
University, Windsor, Ontario.
In its attitude
toward the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, the American hierarchy can be
divided into three factions. Vigorously opposed to the definition of the dogma
was a group under the aegis of Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis. The members of
this group, called the Anti-Infallibilists, including Archbishop Purcell of
Cincinnati and Bishops Fitzgerald of Little Rock, McQuaid of Rochester, Mrak
of Sault Ste. Marie, Domenec of Pittsburgh, and Verot of St. Augustine, firmly
contended that the infallibility of the Pope was a doctrine that had no foundation
in Scripture or Catholic tradition.
A second group, called Inopportunists,
believed the dogma but deemed the period of 1870 unfavourable for any public
definition.1 In the third
group, we may place the bishops who from the outset held for the definition of
the doctrine – these we may refer to as the Infallibilists.2
By far the most ardent adversary of papal
infallibility from the United States was Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis. “Of
the seventy members of the Council who were opposed to the definition of Infallibility
as a dogma, the Archbishop of St. Louis was among the most formidable.”3 To Kenrick, the
new dogma would impair the rights of bishops, for it implied a surrendering of
episcopal dignity and pastoral responsibility to the Pope, who would speak as
the official mouthpiece of the Church.4 Moreover, the bishop of St.
Louis contended that the doctrine had never been presented as an article of
faith in any of the catechisms,5 nor could it be found as such
in any document of public worship. Such speculations led Kenrick to assert that
the Church had never hitherto taught infallibility as a thing to believe as
faith. No book treating of faith and morals contained any opinion that the
dogma was a matter of faith. Kenrick pointed out that, on the contrary, any
book treating the subject held that the opposite opinion was true.6
For him the proclamation of Pius IX’s
infallibility necessarily implied the infallibility of all his predecessors in
the See of Peter. Yet history presented him with some grave arguments against
the dogma. How could Pope Victor in 192 approve Montanism and later condemn it?
How could Pope Honorius in 625 adhere to Monothelitism or how could
Pope Sixtus V in 1587 publish an edition of the bible to be condemned by Pope
Pius VII? With these feelings regarding Papal Infallibility, Archbishop
Kenrick sailed for Rome. During the sessions of the Vatican Council, he took
every means possible to prevent the definition of the doctrine.
On January 15, 1870, he, together with
Purcell, McQuaid, Domenec, Amat, Fitzgerald, Verot and Bayley, signed a
petition sent to the Holy Father, begging that the definition of Infallibility
be not proposed for it could only result in ‘disunity among Catholics,
alienation of possible converts and the impeding of the works of the ministry.”7 That such was the
view of Archbishop Kenrick can be seen from the prelate’s letter to his Vicar
General, Monsignor Muehlsiepen, March 6, 1870:
The Council appears
to have been convoked for the special purpose of defining the Papal
Infallibility and enacting the propositions of the Syllabus as general laws of
the Church. Both objects are deemed by a minority, of which I am one,
inexpedient and dangerous, and are sure to meet with serious resistance. The
minds of both parties are considerably excited and there is every reason to
fear that the Council, instead of uniting with the Church those already
separated from it, will cause divisions among ourselves most detrimental to
Catholic interests.8
On March 15, 1870
Kenrick addressed another petition to the Holy Father, demanding that the
doctrine be not inserted before some of the other business of the Council. This
petition was signed by Purcell and Fitzgerald.
We hear that the
schema on Papal Infallibility is to be placed before the next General
Congregation and to be carried without discussion. We cannot think that such a
proposal could be tolerated... but we give notice that if the impossible should
happen, we would immediately leave the Council and make public the reason of
our departure.9
On receiving this
petition, the president of the congregation disavowed any such intention and
the general congregations, recessed since February 22nd, were resumed on March
18th for a discussion on the revised constitutions of the Catholic Faith.
On May 8th, some seventy-two ecclesiastics,
all of whom opposed the definition, submitted a protest against the Council
considering Infallibility: “While all accept the infallibility of the Church of
Christ, it is impossible to accept the personal infallibility of the Roman pontiff.”10 To this protest
were affixed the signatures of Kenrick, Purcell, Verot and Domenec.
In a speech given before the assembled
Vatican Council, June 4th, the Archbishop of St. Louis both protested against
the termination of debates on the Infallibility issue and violently declared
that the Council could not declare it an article of faith.
“The opinion that the Roman pontiff, and he
alone, without the consent of the episcopate, is infallible is not certain and
cannot be defined as a dogma of faith.”11 When the
congregations terminated on June 5th for a period of recess during which the
committee on Infallibility worked on the proper theological phrasing of the
definition, Kenrick performed a very rash act. Leaving Rome, he went to Naples
where he had a pamphlet printed and circulated containing his own objections to
Papal Infallibility.12
In his pamphlet, referred to as the Concio,
Kenrick reiterates his arguments against Papal Infallibility:
The successors of
Peter and the rest of the Apostles constituting the Apostolic College have
every power now which they had when the College was first instituted by Christ.
The individual bishops, taken singly, receive, by the ordinances of the College
itself, only an ordinary local jurisdiction in their several dioceses. But the
bishops taken universally have a universal jurisdiction, not in that sense
exactly that the universal jurisdiction is made up by the sum of the local
jurisdictions, but that the bishops universally, whether dispersed and separated
from each other or united in a general council, constitute the Apostolic
College ... the primacy of the Roman pontiff, both in honour and in
jurisdiction in the universal church I acknowledge... we have in the Sacred
Scriptures perfectly clear testimonies of a commission given to all the
apostles and of divine assistance promised to all. These passages are clear and
admit no variation of meaning. We have not even one simple passage of Sacred
Scripture, the meaning of which is undisputed, in which anything of the kind is
promised to Peter separately from the rest. And yet the authors of the schema
want us to assert that to the Roman Pontiff as Peter’s successor is given that
power which cannot be proved by any clear evidence of Sacred Scripture to have
been given to Peter himself except just so far as he received it in common with
the other apostles ... I admit that a great privilege was granted to Peter
above the rest; but I am led to this conviction by testimony not of the Sacred
Scriptures but of all Christian antiquity. By the help of this testimony it
appears that he should use the counsel of his brethren and should be aided by
the judgment of those who are his partners in this supreme function and should
speak in their name of whom he is head and mouth.13
In analyzing the
Concio of Archbishop Kenrick, we find that he begins by claiming that the
doctrine is not so certain that it can be defined as an article of faith, and
then takes up the position that even if it were certain, it would not be
expedient that it should be defined by the present council. The dogma of
infallibility would not only impair the rights of bishops but would impose on
the faithful the necessity of believing that the Roman pontiff never did err in
faith. Kenrick embraces under the head of expediency, matters very different
indeed from what one would have anticipated. He barely indicates the social and
political dangers likely to arise out of the contemplated changes in dogma.
Having done this, he concludes that if the definition of Papal Infallibility
should be proclaimed in the name of the Council it would rather increase
dissension than promote peace and would lead to a diminution of the rights of
bishops.
The Concio was published at an extremely
inopportune time. The question was before the Tribunal de Fide: the Pope had
proposed the doctrine for definition, the majority of the Fathers had supported
the suggestion of Infallibility, and yet one of the Fathers declared to the
world that the doctrine about to be defined was false.
Why proclaim it to the world? The people
would not decide the question; it was more the act of an enemy of the Church
and Council. Certainly as a bishop, Kenrick would have to submit humbly to the
decision once promulgated. Actually his Concio only resembled all the other
works and reasons written against Infallibility. It is true that Kenrick was
scheduled to speak on May 20, 1870, before the Council and that he was unable
to do so because of the long list of orators who preceded him. Dissatisfied, he
protested and published his Concio – the action of a man seemingly piqued.
Archbishop Kenrick, like so many other
leaders of thought and spokesmen of the Faith of his day, believed that it was
the office of the Bishop of Rome, as supreme Pontiff, to decide controversies
and condemn errors and that such decisions and condemnations must be regarded
as final and infallible if accepted by the universal church. According to this
view, the College of Bishops, whether assembled in Council or dispersed in
their sees, in union however with the Roman Pontiff, was the true seat of
Infallibility; but the Pope, separated from the body of the Bishops, if that
were possible, did not enjoy the gift.
The views and ideas of Archbishop Kenrick
were those of the small group of American Anti-Infallibilist prelates.
On New Year’s Day, 1870, a petition was
received from a huge majority of the bishops by the Committee de Postulatis,
soliciting the definition of Papal Infallibility. This petition gave rise to a
counter petition from the anti-infallibilists.
We sincerely beg
that the question of defining the infallibility of the Supreme Pontiff as a
dogma of faith be not proposed to the Council.14
On examining the
protest, we find that the reasons against the definition were three-fold,
namely, that discord would arise among the bishops, heresies would appear among
wavering Catholics and the work of conversion would be hindered. It might be
noted that these were reasons of inexpediency.
In the recess period from February 22nd –
March 18th, two petitions were despatched to the Committee by the followers of
Archbishop Kenrick. The first, March 11th, demanded that unanimity was necessary
before the dogma be defined; and the second, March 15th, held that the dogma be
discussed in its proper place on the agenda.15 These two
petitions shed no light on the reasons for the attitude of the signers – they
show, however, the fears of the anti-infallibilists over the possibility of an
immediate declaration of Papal Infallibility.
The first petition which showed Verot,
Domenec and McQuaid to be similar in thought to Kenrick, was presented to the
Pope on April 17th. Following a petition by some American prelates for the immediate
proclamation of Infallibility, the anti-infallibilists sent the following
protestation:
We object to the
declaration because it is not certain that it can be defined as a dogma of
faith, and it is not expedient to define Infallibility as an article of faith
even if it were true.16
From this date
until the prorogation of the Council, the anti-infallibilists emphasized the
lack of scriptural and traditional proof for infallibility. The possibility of
the termination of the debates on the doctrine, which threatened momentarily
early in June, led to another petition from the American opponents of
Infallibility, for on June 4th they wrote protesting the ending of discussions.17
The first vote on the Infallibility Decree
which occurred July 13th saw the anti-infallibilists vote “non placet.”18 Four days later,
the Fathers protested against the holding of the fourth public session which
was to proclaim the doctrine:
We renew and
confirm the votes which we have already cast.
Thus confirming our votes by this writing, we have decided that we will
not be present at the public session which is to be held on the 18th of this
month. For filial piety and reverence for your Holiness will not suffer us, in
a cause so proximately concerning the person of your Holiness, openly and
before a Father to say: non placet.19
With the despatch
of this petition, the work of the American anti-infallibilists in Rome was
completed. None, save Bishop Fitzgerald, was present for the convening of the
Fourth General Session. The Bishop of Little Rock petitioned on July 17th to
the Holy Father that his name be not read out the next day. When it was, he
became the sole American to offer a public dissenting vote against Papal Infallibility.
When the doctrine was proclaimed, Bishop Fitzgerald showed his acceptance and
belief in Papal Infallibility by humbly kneeling at the feet of Pius IX.
Other than Archbishop Kenrick, the most
influential of the American anti-infallibilists was Bishop Verot of St.
Augustine. On May 8th, he addressed the congregation and presented his
arguments against infallibility, showing that it was inexpedient, then quoting
from the French bishop Bossuet’s opinions, and finally bringing out the seeming
historical opposition in the persons of past Popes.20 On June 30th, he
attacked the doctrine on the grounds that it was not contained in the
Scriptures and quoted Polycarp to show that it was not universal in tradition.21 Carrying his
arguments to what he considered a correct conclusion, Verot, on May 28th,
claimed that it was a sacrilege to vote for a dogma so intrinsically erroneous
as Papal Infallibility.22
Though absent from the fourth Public
Session, Bishop Verot was quick to adhere to the definition once proclaimed.
Just before leaving Rome, he indicated his acceptance of the doctrine by writing
July 25th to His Holiness
“In the general congregation I voted ‘non
placet.’ I was absent from the public session. I now adhere to the
constitution.”23
Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati, while
firmly espousing the cause of the anti-infallibilists, tented to emphasize the
role of the bishops of the world in the definition of infallible decrees.24 The Archbishop
left Rome June 30th before the final vote on infallibility, and the press and
public felt great interest and curiosity as to his utterances on the subject
since he was known to be a strong member of the minority. He was invited to
give a lecture in the Catholic Institute Hall in Cincinnati, August 1, 1870.
His acceptance of the definition was evident from the opening sentence of his
talk: “I am here to proclaim my belief in the Infallibility of the Pope, in the
words of the Holy Father defining the doctrine.”25
Coming from the obscure hinterlands of
Rochester, Bishop McQuaid, while feeling that the doctrine was not certain, had
a thorough knowledge of the bitterness and bigotry directed against his flock.
Consequently, inopportunism is frequently evident in his statements against the
dogma:
It will be highly
injurious to us in America ... if I had not confidence in God’s protecting
hand I would run from council in despair, so strangely ignorant are many men of
what is going on in the world.26
The acceptance
speech of Bishop McQuaid was delivered in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rochester,
on August 28, 1870:
The question is
simple enough, the definition is clear enough ... the Sovereign Pontiff,
exercising the office of supreme head of the Church in matters of faith and
morals as contained in Sacred Scripture, as revealed by Christ and contained
in apostolic tradition cannot err ... the doctrine then and thus given by the
Holy Father is the true doctrine ... I have now no difficulty in accepting.27
“In the beginning
the Church existed free, pure and immaculate without any such dogma
(infallibility) and now it does not seem to me to be necessary.”28 Such words as
these uttered in Council, June 3rd, showed Bishop Domenec of Pittsburgh to be
opposed to the dogma solely because tradition and the Scriptures would not
sanction it. However, he showed inopportunist leanings also when on May 8th he
spoke: “the definition would be useless to Catholics, for if they are good ones
they obey the Pope anyway, and if they are poor ones this may make them fall
away.”29 Unlike his colleagues in opposition to the Infallibility definition,
Domenec delayed in acknowledging his acceptance. Not until December 31, 1871,
was word to this effect received at Rome, though the Bishop published the
decree in his native diocese almost immediately on his arrival. His belated
acceptance was in the nature of a gift to usher in the twenty-fifth anniversary
of Pius IX’s reign.30 That Bishop Mrak of Sault Ste. Marie made his
adherence is proven by a letter sent him by Cardinal Barnabo, Papal Secretary
of State:
Your letter in
which you stated that you adhere fully to the decrees of the Vatican Council,
and especially the decree handed down in the fourth Session has just been taken
to our most Holy Father. As I know that His Holiness receives such letters with
deep gratitude, I have been mindful to notify you.31
THE INOPPORTUNISTS.
Together with the anti-infallibilists, and
forming the minority party in the Vatican, was a band of prelates known as the
inopportunists. These latter were opposed to the declaration of Papal Infallibility,
not because of any disbelief in the doctrine – for they believed the dogma to
be in the body of tradition and the Scriptures – but because they deemed the period
inopportune for formal declaration. The world seemed to them to be in a
condition that would not prove receptive to the proclamation of a new Catholic
doctrine – new in definition, though not in actual fact.
The group of American inopportunists comprised
some thirteen ecclesiastics of whom Archbishop McCloskey of New York and
Bishops Amat of Los Angeles and Whelan of Wheeling may be considered the most
influential.32
The arguments of the inopportunists may be
catalogued under five headings. First, the proclamation of Papal Infallibility
might retard conversions to the Catholic faith as it would be one more doctrine
to be believed. Possibly, would-be converts might be confused regarding the
meaning of infallibility to the extent that the Church was conferring Divinity
on the Pope. This might be particularly true in a country such as the United
States, filled as it was with religious bigots who were constantly picturing
the Papacy in an unfavourable manner.33
Secondly, the promulgation of the dogma
seemed useless in Catholic circles. In all probability, good Catholics accepted
the doctrine as true, though undefined, in much the same way as many Catholics
accepted the doctrine of Mary’s Assumption before its definition. Was it
necessary to define the doctrine for persons who already accepted it and who
shaped their religious thinking in conformity with it? On the other hand, poor
Catholics would not mend their ways because of the Papal Infallibility decree:
likely the severe criticism and raillery attendant on it might shake their
already wavering faith.
Thirdly, the prelates had been accustomed
to assume that the Church, the Pope in counsel with the College of Ecclesiastics,
was infallible. To posit that the Pope alone was infallible might imply a
lessening of their own prestige to the more worldly-minded bishops. The
doctrine might result in the Pope ruling each diocese personally with the
bishops being relegated to unimportant and menial capacities.
The doctrine could quite probably be a new
weapon in the hands of governments and local officials, hostile to the Church.
Scandal and bigotry, which are always based on ignorance and hate, would thrive
as the proponents of anti-Catholic doctrines would viciously assert the
mutability of Catholic teachings. Governments might offer it as a reason to
seize Church property and to persecute the Catholic religion as they had done
in the sixteenth century.
Fifthly, if the bishops themselves were not
unanimous over the definition of the dogma, it would probably result in
divisions in the Church. That this was no idle speculation is proven by the
origins of the old Catholic movement in Germany under the aegis of Dr. Dollinger
after the promulgation of infallibility.
These were the main motives that prompted
the Inopportunist bishops consistently to support the Anti-Infallibilists and
to oppose the publication of Papal Infallibility. Thus we find the name of
McCloskey, Amat, Whelan, Henni, Bacon, Bayley, Feehan, Hennessy, Hogan, Lynch,
McFarland, Melchor, Mullen and O’Gorman affixed to the petition of Archbishop
Kenrick presented to the Committee, January 15, 1870.34 This petition,
though opposed to the declaration of the dogma, listed as its reasons only
those conformable to the inopportunists, namely, the resultant lack of unity,
the loss of converts and the consequent religious bigotry.
That the position of the bishops be not
relegated to insignificance was a partial worry of Bishops Whelan and Mullen.
They proposed that the Holy Father should speak as “confirming the doctrine of
the bishops as well as exercising the functions of supreme teacher of all
Christians.”35 Apparently, the loss of episcopal prestige greatly worried Bishop
Whelan, for in his public address to the Council he said:
Although the
question of Papal Infallibility is a disputed one in America, England and Ireland,
I myself am convinced by the argu ments in favour of this doctrine. .. the
formula should state explicitly that the definition of infallibility of the
Supreme Pontiff is indeed an expression or a declaration of the faith of the
Church which is the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, but that on the
other hand the pronouncement of a council of bishops should not be ignored.36
It was only natural
that we find the names of McCloskey and Whelan supporting the petition protesting
the termination of the debates on infallibility.37 Holding the
doctrines of inopportunism, Whelan objected to the closing “on account of the
difficulties and controversies which had arisen.”38 Amat had mentioned
these difficulties in the Council the preceding day, May 11th, “divisions
between pastors, the difficulty of converting heretics and the exasperation of
rulers.”39
Though all during the Council, Bishop Amat
had opposed the declaration of Papal Infallibility, he held that the doctrine
was certain and contained in the tradition of the Church. On June 7th, he
quoted from the Council of Florence to the effect: “the Roman pontiff is alone
the head of the Church,” and then commented “the words of the Council
(Florence) do not need further definition.”40 In other words,
for the Bishop of Los Angeles, the infallibility of the Pope was enunciated
once and for all. Another definition would be but repetitious.
When the Committee was determining a
proposed title for the Pope on June 28th, Amat suggested as an alternative for
“infallibility” the “magisterial primacy.” He offered what seemed to him a
clearer statement of the source of Infallibility, i.e. that it was a natural
and implicit consequence of the supreme apostolic authority given to Peter and
to his successors.41
When the first voting for the doctrine
occurred, July 13th, Amat voted “placet juxta modum,” which inferred that he
disagreed with the terminology of the infallibility outline. When questioned
regarding his vote, he offered a criticism of the preamble as his reason.
Nothing, however, was offered in criticism of the doctrine itself.42
By voting “placet” on July 18th, Amat
showed conclusively that he at no time doubted the truth of the doctrine, but
merely thought it inexpedient to define papal infallibility in 1870.
Like Bishop Amat, Archbishop McCloskey held
for the infallibility doctrine, but thought the time for its promulgation to
be inexpedient. Representing the United States, a young priest from the New
York diocese, Dr. Corcoran, had been summoned to Rome early in 1869 to help in
the preparation of the subject-matter preliminary to the Vatican Council. In
all probability, the young cleric reflected the idea of his immediate religious
superior; at any rate, he wrote to McCloskey on March 6, 1869, regarding papal
infallibility:
“I consider that
he (Pius IX) has the thing theoretically and practically in the Catholic world
of today. What more is needed. The res is more important than the titulus.”43
McCloskey, in
Rome, voted against the doctrine up to the last. We have seen that he joined in
the protests against declaration on January 15th, and also against the
termination of the debates on June 4th. On July 13th, he, along with Amat,
voted “placet juxta modum,” on the grounds that the words “anathema sit” be
deleted.44 It is significant that the doctrine itself was not the subject of
McCloskey’s criticism and at the last public session he voted “placet.”45
The attitude of Archbishop McCloskey and of
the inopportunists generally was summed up in the account of an eye-witness,
Bishop Gibbons of North Carolina, later to become a Cardinal of the Church:
I have a distinct
recollection of the attitude of the different prelates in regard to the
question of Infallibility. Kenrick of St. Louis and Purcell of Cincinnati
declared themselves against Infallibility in itself, but I recall most
distinctly that Cardinal McCloskey was not opposed to Infallibility in itself
but declared himself against the expediency of declaring it an article of
faith at that time.46
The inopportunist
bishops voted “placet” at the Fourth Public Session, July 18, 1870, thereby
evincing their approval of the doctrine as doctrine, and proving their earlier
opposition to have been based on inexpediency.47 Bishop O’Gorman of
Nebraska best expresses the views and thoughts of the inopportunists. Called
from Rome before the end of the Council, he wrote to the Secretary-General of
the Trappists, June 9, 1870:
When leaving Rome,
I would have given to some bishops the power of voting for me when the question
of Infallibility should come up, but I understood that voting by proxy would
not be recognized. I wish, however, to record my vote for the Infallibility,
and I would ask you to request Reverend Bishop Gibbons to vote for me if it be
allowed. I wish to repair any offense that I may unintentionally have given by
signing my name to the letter of the inopportunists.48
THE INFALLIBILISTS.
The bishops of the United States who
believed in the doctrine of papal infallibility and desired its immediate definition
were called “Infallibilists.” Of the twenty infallibilists, Archbishop Spalding
of Baltimore and Alemany of San Francisco and Bishop Gibbons occupied the
rostrum of the Council chamber more often than any of the others, and by their
speeches voiced the ideas of their colleagues of this majority group.49
The attitude of Archbishop Spalding
underwent several changes, not regarding the truth of the doctrine itself,
which he always accepted, but over the necessity of enunciating a formal
definition. In a series of lectures delivered in the cathedral in Louisville,
Ky., in May 1867, he said of Papal Infallibility: “though not an article of
faith, it is however the general belief among Catholics, and I myself am
inclined strongly to advocate it.”50 This belief of
Spalding in the dogma remained unaltered, and thus he could write to the theologians
in Rome on May 27, 1869: “I firmly believe in the Infallibility of the Pope,
but incline to think its formal definition unnecessary.”51 In other words,
Spalding seems to take for granted that a definition will be made, and he
simply indicates his preference for an implicit rather than a formal
definition. The Baltimore prelate believed that all Catholics believed in the
Infallibility of the pope, and hence the necessity of a formal promulgation was
not apparent. This consideration led him to think that the most proper way of
proclaiming the dogma of Papal Infallibility would be to condemn all errors
opposed to it, and this was his opinion when he went to the Council.
Prior to leaving for Rome in August, 1870,
he wrote to Cardinal Barnabo in Rome:
I have not the
least doubt of this Infallibility... should the Fathers deem it necessary to
make a formal definition ... statement should be made whether and how far this
infallibility should be extended to pontifical letters, allocutions,
encyclicals and other documents of this nature.52
This letter affords
evidence that Spalding had all along contemplated an explicit definition and
that he was quite ready to accept such a proclamation. If he did not always
advocate a formal definition, he was not in favour of abstaining from an
affirmation of the faith of the Church on this point. It was not until Spalding
reached Rome that he realized the possibility of an attack on the Eternal City
by the army of Sardinia and found reports too, that rationalistic governments
in France, Bavaria and Austria were intriguing to prevent the formal
declaration.53 It was then that he declared a definition to be necessary.
Therefore he drew up his ‘Postulatum’:54
Unanimity seems to
be altogether necessary on account of the rumours which have been spread ... to
the effect there is discord among the Fathers. A definition unanimously
pronounced by the Fathers ... would give great edification to the Church ...
the proposed method of defining by implication, although it be indirect, seems
to excel both in force and simplicity; for it is clearer and perhaps contains
more than a formal and explicit definition.55
When chosen to the
Committee de Postulatis, Spalding refrained from taking further steps to bring
his Postulatum to the notice of the prelates. Instead, his work was advocated
by Bishop Wood of Philadelphia and supported by Bishops Conroy, Elder, Quinlan
and Williams.56 The only motive of Spalding in favouring an implicit definition was
that he thought a schema of this kind would secure the unanimous vote of the
prelates and thus prevent any possible discord or strife within the confines of
the Council. What Protestants or liberal Catholics would think of the
definition were matters that did not trouble him. In evidence of this
interpretation of Spalding’s postulatum and against the view that his was but
the embodiment of inopportunism, we have only to witness his contradiction of
Bishop Dupanloup of Orleans. This learned French Bishop, inopportunist in
thought, began to quote Spalding’s Postulatum in support of his own views.57
To prove that his favouring a definition by
implication did not mean he was opposed to a formal proclamation and hence
inopportunist in thought, Spalding addressed a letter to Dupanloup, April 4,
1870:
Your citations are
so arranged as to lead your readers to suppose that we are averse, if not to
the truth, at least to the opportuneness of this definition and consequently to
class us with what certain journals chose to call the party of the opposition
in the Council... this mode of action attempts to place us among your allies –
a character we feel compelled to repudiate.58
In short, Spalding
affirms that everything in his postulatum implies Infallibility and that anyone
identifying it as the organ of an inopportunist is misconstruing the facts.
On May 30, 1870, Spalding spoke in favour
of defining Papal Infallibility, arguing that the doctrine was contained in
tradition – “the Church has always stood by the successors of St. Peter and
their decisions.”59 In defending his stand, the Baltimore primate
showed the historical arguments of the anti-infallibilists to be erroneous
because they refer to personal opinions or particular decisions of the Pope,
and not to doctrines imposed on the whole Church. Shortly before, on May 10,
1870, together with Alemany, St. Palais, Quinlan, Conroy, Wood and Elder,
Spalding presented the views of the infallibilists:
We hold and
define that the Roman Pontiff assisted by the Holy Ghost, defines what in
matters concerning faith and morals are to be held by the universal Church.60
When any of the
prelates of the Vatican Council wished to introduce any new matter for the
consideration of the Council, the lawful way was to send a petition to the
Committee de Postulatis, asking leave to suggest such a measure. On New Year’s
Day, 1870, Archbishop Dechamps of Mechlin circulated a petition addressed to
all the fathers:
We solicit from
the Council the sanction of that Catholic doctrine ... that the Roman Pontiff
when teaching all the faithful with Apostolic power any question of faith or
morals is supreme and therefore exempt from error.61
This petition
requesting the proclamation of the dogma was signed by some three hundred and
eighty clerics, among whom Blanchet, Odin, Dubois, De Goesbriand, Heiss,
Lootens, Martin, Miege and O’Connell represented the Infallibilists of the
United States.
On March 7, 1870, another formula for the
definition of papal infallibility was distributed to the prelates and they were
allowed until March 25th to write their observations. It soon became apparent
that if matters took their normal course in the Council, a year or more would
pass before the bishops came to the question of Infallibility. On March 10th,
Bishops Dubois and Miege signed a petition that Infallibility be proposed
immediately. However, the petition was apparently ignored as the session which
commenced March 18th began a discussion on a revision of the Constitution de
Fide Catholica.
Notwithstanding the hesitancy of the
Committee to discuss Infallibility at this date, an observation signed by
Alemany, Spalding, Conroy, Elder, Quinlan, St. Palais and Williams was sent
in, March 20th: “Whatever the Roman Pontiff defines as the universal teacher
... in matters pertaining to faith and morals must be held or rejected by the
universal Church.”62 To further the demand for immediate proclamation,
Archbishop Alemany wrote on May 14th: “the matter is open to no doubt but is
more certain and more founded on Scripture than many dogmas of our religion.”63 The prelate from
San Francisco was so insistent for the proclamation because of the many errors
rapidly increasing throughout the world and the fear that the Council, once
closed, could be re-assembled only with the greatest difficulty. His fears were
the echoes of those voiced by Archbishop Spalding. On June 20th, Alemany
proposed the insertion of a canon warning pastors to distinguish carefully in
expounding the differences between infallibility, impeccability and
inspiration.64
At the preliminary meeting, June 13th,
Blanchet voted “"placet juxta modum.”65 He professed
belief in the dogma, but thought the constitution was not explicit enough in
proclaiming the Infallibility of the Holy Father when condemning error, and at
the final vote, July 18th, he voted “placet.” Bishop Ryan of Buffalo through
sickness was absent from both these meetings, but confirmed his faith by
letter, September 10, 1870: “I profess belief with all my heart in all the
decrees of the Fourth General Session.”66 Bishops Conroy
and O’Connell, absent from the preliminary meeting, both voted “placet” on
July 18th.67
Although the meetings of the Council
continued until October 22nd, when the army of Italy marched into Rome and the
Council had to be prorogued, nevertheless the discussion on Infallibility had
come to an end on July 18th. On this date the final vote was taken. Since it
resulted in an overwhelming numbers of “placets,” the doctrine was now
proclaimed.68 Word of the proclamation was sent to the prelates
who were absent from this final convocation, some of whom had left rather than
vote “non placet.”
Among these was Archbishop Kenrick, who had
left the Eternal City for his home diocese of St. Louis. Informed of the
proclamation of the dogma as an article of Catholic faith the prelate was not
slow to promulgate the doctrine in his diocese before announcing it on New
Year's Day, 1871. He issued a pastoral in August, 1870, informing the faithful
of his province of his actions and beliefs:
Up to the very
period of the assembling of the Council, I had held as a theological opinion
what the Council has decreed to be an article of Christian faith and yet I was
opposed to the definition. I knew that the misconceptions of its real character
would be an obstacle in the way of the diffusion of Catholic truth. At least I
thought so... on more closely examining the question itself on its intrinsic
evidence, I was not convinced of the conclusiveness of the arguments by which
it was sustained or of its compatibility with certain well-ascertained facts
of ecclesiastical history which rose up strongly before my mind. These were the
motives of my opposition. The motive of my submission is simply and singly the
authority of the Catholic Church.69
The official
publication of the doctrine came in a sermon in St. John’s Church in St. Louis,
New Year’s Day, 1871
During the
discussions of the subject in the Council, questions arose which I thought at
the time were unanswered. Now that the Council has decided differently I have
only to say with St. Peter: ‘Lord to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of
Eternal Life.’70
So the tidings of the proclamation of the dogma reached the land of the free and the various prelates published the decrees in their dioceses until, with the belated acceptance of Bishop Domenec, which was in the nature of a gift to usher in the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pius IX's reign, the whole American hierarchy, Anti-Infallibilists, Inopportunists and Infallibilists were in accord.
1The Inopportunists
included the following prelates: Archbishop McCloskey, New York; Bishops
Amat, Los Angeles; Whelan, Wheeling; Bacon, Portland; Bayley, Newark; Feehan,
Nashville; Hennessy, Dubuque; Hogan, St. Joseph; Lynch, Charleston; McFarland,
Hartford; Melcher, Green Bay; Mullen, Erie; O'Gorman, Nebraska; Henni,
Milwaukee.
2The Infallibilists
included the following prelates: Archbishops Spalding, Baltimore; Alemany, San
Francisco; Blanchet, Oregon; Bishops Wood, Philadelphia; St. Palais,
Vincennes; Conroy, Albany; Elder, Natchea; Quinlan, Mobile; Williams, Boston;
Gibbons, North Carolina; Ryan, Buffalo; Miege, Rocky Mountains; Odin, New
Orleans; O'Connell, Grass Valley; Lootens, Idaho; Martin, Natchitoches; Dubois,
Galveston; Rappe, Cleveland; Goesbriand, Burlington; Heiss, La Crosse.
3John J. O’Shea, The
Two Kenricks, p. 318.
4Johann Friedrich, Documenta
ad Illustrandum Concilium Vaticanum, I, pp. 122-129.
5No attempt here is
made to comment on the theology of the American hierarchy, but simply to
present their views.
6Charles Butler’s
Historical Memoirs, IV, 501, in Leonard Bacon, An Inside View of the Vatican
Council, p. 141.
The speech of Kenrick: “It is no matter of
faith to believe that the Pope is in himself infallible, separated from the
Church, even in expounding the faith.”
John Mansi, Amplissima
Collectio Conciliorum, LI, 782.
8John Rothsteiner, History
of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, II, 305.
9John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 714.
10John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 728.
11Ibid., LI, 1059.
12This pamphlet,
popularly referred to as the “Concio,” is properly called “the speech of Peter
Kenrick prepared for speaking but not spoken in the Vatican Council.”
13Leonard Bacon, An
Inside View of the Vatican Council, pp. 119-120.
14Raymond Clancy,
“American Prelates in the Vatican Council,” Historical Records and Studies,
XXVIII, 41. This petition bears the names of the following American clerics:
Kenrick, McCloskey, Purcell, Amat, Bacon, Bayley, Domenec, Feehan, Fitzgerald,
Hennessy, Henni, Hogan, Lynch, McFarland, McQuaid, Melcher, Mullen, O’Gorman,
Verot, Whelan.
15John Mansi, op.
cit., LII, 703-716. This petition bears the names of Kenrick, Verot,
Purcell and Fitzgerald.
16Ibid., LII, 949. The
names of Domenec, Kenrick, Verot and McQuaid are affixed to this declaration.
17Ibid., LII, 380.
Kenrick, Purcell, Fitzgerald, McQuaid, Mrak, Domenec and Verot all objected to
the termination of the Infallibility debates.
18Ibid., LII, 1285. All
the American anti-infallibilists voted “non placet.”
19Raymond Clancy, op.
cit., p. 63.
20John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 1004.
21Ibid., LII, 958.
22Ibid., LI, 45.
23John Mansi, op.
cit., LIII, 1010.
24Ibid., LII, 365.
25Sister Mary McCann,
Archbishop Purcell and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, p. 93.
26Frederick Zwierlein,
“Bishop McQuaid of Rochester,” Catholic Historical Review, V (1920), 2.
Quotation is an extract of a letter from McQuaid to Dr. Corrigan, dated Rome,
February 6, 1870.
27Frederick
Zwierlein, Life and Letters of Bishop McQuaid, II, 60. Taken from a
sermon given by McQuaid, August 28, 1870, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral,
Rochester.
28John Mansi, op.
cit., LII, 427
29John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 1034.
30Ibid., LIII, 1016.
31Ibid., LIII, 1053.
32For list of
inopportunists, see p. 35.
33In proof of this,
recall the Philadelphia riots.
34John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 782.
35Ibid., LI, 712. Presented
to the committee, April 11, 1870.
36Ibid., LII, 915.
37Raymond Clancy, op.
cit., p. 55. This protestation was sent to the Committee, June 4, 1870.
38John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 1050.
39Ibid., LI, 1029.
40Ibid., LII, 538.
41Ibid., LII, 955.
42Ibid., p. 1282.
43John Cardinal
Farley, Life of John Cardinal McCloskey, p. 276. By res, Dr.
Corcoran meant the possession of Infallibility; by titulus, he meant the
possession of the title and official recognition of this title by the world.
44John Mansi, op.
cit., LII, 1301.
45Ibid., LII, 1339.
46John Farley, op.
cit., p. 285.
47John Mansi, op.
cit., LII, 1339-1347. The names of Bishops Henni, Bayley, Bacon, Hennessy,
Hogan appear, as well as that of McCloskey.
48Ibid., LI, 682.
49For list of
infallibilists, see above, p. 35.
50Leonard Bacon, op.
cit., p. 263. Archbishop Spalding had been invited to deliver a series of
lectures in Louisville.
51John Salding, Life
of Reverend M. Spalding, p. 384.
52Ibid., p. 385.
53Ibid., p. 408.
54Archbishop
Spalding’s “Postulatum” was called “A Schema for the Clear and Logical
Definition of the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff in Accordance with the
Principles Already Received by the Church.” It was presented December 29, 1869.
55John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 663.
56Ibid., LI, 664.
57John Spalding, op.
cit., p. 396.
58John Mansi, op.
cit., LI, 397.
59Ibid., LII, 315.
60Ibid., LI, 1049.
61Ibid., Ll. 644-6.
62Ibid., LI, 534.
63Raymond Clancy, op.
cit., p. 51.
64John Mansi, op.
cit., LII, 870.
65Ibid., LII, 1297.
66Ibid., LIII, 1050.
67Ibid., LII, 1916. Among
the others voting “placet” on this occasion were: Archbishops Alemany and
Spalding, Bishops Henni, Goesbriand, Elder, Dubois, Williams, Heiss, Gibbons
and Lootens.
68Ibid., LIII, 1916. Of
the 535 prelates who voted, 533 voted placet and 2 voted non-placet. Bishop
Fitzgerald of Little Rock voted non-placet.
69 John G. O’Shea, op.
cit., p. 332.
70Bertha Ivory, Peter
Kenrick – His Golden Jubilee, p. 35.