Ketteler of Mainz, Bishop Hefele of Rottenburg, Cardinal Schwarzenberg of Prague, Cardinal Rauscher of Vienna, Archbishop Haynald of Kalossa, Bishop Strossmayer of Sirmium, Archbishop Darboy of Paris, Bishop Dupanloup of Orleans, to say nothing of the others, — assured this group an influence which, in spite of itself, the opposing faction was bound to feel. If the minority indeed had formed one compact phalanx, the council might possibly have taken a different course; but this it was not, and the fatal truth could not be concealed from the pope and his advisers. The bond which united its members was not a repudiation of the doctrine of infallibility itself, but simply a common sentiment that its elevation to the rank of dogma was inopportune at the time. Some — possibly many — may have entertained serious doubts with regard to that doctrine; but, if such was the case, they succeeded in repressing and disciplining their suspicions, and the greatest anxiety was shown to avoid the least attempt at founding their resistance on a dogmatic basis. And here the weakness of the opposition is at once manifest; it lacked a clear and positive goal.
In outside circles the proceedings at Rome were followed with strained attention, and the battle round the question of infallibility was waged with equal violence in France and Germany. In the one country public interest was focused on the writings of Gratry, the former Oratorian; in the other on the trenchant attacks of Döllinger. In England, Newman protested against the dogma. The progress of the council was marked by a plethora of controversial literature with which it was almost impossible to keep pace; articles and pamphlets were poured forth in increasing volume month after month, and even yet no classified collection of them is extant. Among them all, none exceeded in influence the Römische Briefe, first published in the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung, which gave a regular account of the most intimate transactions of the council, and maintained a high reputation for accuracy in spite of all attempts to discredit their authenticity. Important service in disseminating information among widely extended circles was done by the brochure Ce qui se passe au concile (May 1870), which revealed a number of proceedings never intended for publicity.
Among the secret propositions submitted to the council by the Curia was the schema De Ecclesia Christi, which was distributed to the members on the 21st of January. This contained fifteen sections, in which were defined the nature of the Church, the position of the pope in the Church, and, more especially, the relationship between the Church and the State. In case the harmony between these two magnitudes is disturbed, the responsibility lies with the State, because it thereby disregards the rights and duties of the Church (cap. 13). The divine law is binding on temporal sovereigns, but the administration of that law is a question which can only be decided by the supreme doctrinal authority of the Church (cap. 14). In addition to the education of youth, the Church demands absolute freedom in the training of its clergy and the abrogation of all restrictions on the religious orders, &c. Thus the superiority of Church to State was here enunciated in the same drastic terms as in the Syllabus of Pius IX. (1864) — a declaration of war against the modern political and social order, which in its day provoked the unanimous condemnation of public opinion. When, in spite of the injunction of secrecy, the schema became known outside Rome, its genuineness was at first impugned; but as soon as the authenticity of the text was established beyond the possibility of doubt, this attempt to dogmatize the principles of the notorious Syllabus excited the most general indignation, even in the strongholds of Catholicism — France and Austria. It almost appeared as if both governments, incensed by these encroachments on the sphere of the State, were at last bent upon bringing pressure to bear on the future deliberations of the council; but the international situation enabled the Curia to persist in its attitude of strict negation towards the despatches of Count Beust and Count Daru. On political grounds Napoleon was not inclined to employ any form of coercion against the synod; Bismarck maintained a like reserve; and although Lord Acton influenced Gladstone in the contrary direction, Lord Clarendon followed Odo Russell, his chargé d'affaires in Rome, who was himself adroitly kept in hand by Manning. Thus the danger that the attitude of the secular powers might imperil the liberties of the council was averted for the second time.
From the 22nd of February to the 18th of March no meetings of the General Congregations took place, on account of structural alterations in the aula itself. During this interval all uncertainty as to whether the question of infallibility would actually be broached was dispelled. On the 6th of March a supplementary article to section 11 of the schema De Ecclesia, dealing with the primacy of the Roman see, was transmitted to the members, and in it the much disputed doctrine received formal expression. But before the animated discussions which centred round this problem could begin, it was imperative to conclude the debate on the schema De Doctrina Catholica. From the deputation “for matters of faith” it returned to the plenum in a considerably modified form, and there it occupied the attention of the assembly for a full month, beginning with the 18th of March. Even in this later stage it frequently gave rise to trenchant criticism; but the greatest sensation was created by a speech of Bishop Strossmayer, who took exception to the terms of the proposal on the ground that it described Protestantism as the fountain-head of naturalism and as an unclean thing (pestis). There followed a dramatic scene: the orator was interrupted by the president and compelled by the outcries of the indignant fathers to quit the tribune. Nevertheless, Strossmayer by his courageous protest succeeded in modifying the objectionable clauses. The bishops of the minority were still dissatisfied with several passages in the schema, but, desirous of concentrating their whole available force in opposition to the next proposal, they suppressed their doubts; and the result was that, on the 24th of April, in the third public session, the Constitutio dogmatica de Fide Catholica[1] was adopted unanimously and immediately confirmed by the pope.
Meanwhile, the elaboration of the all-important business of the council had been quietly proceeding. Influenced by the alarming number of amendments to the schema De Ecclesia, and anxious above all to ensure an early acceptance for the dogma of infallibility, the deputation abandoned the idea of subjecting the entire doctrine of the Church to debate, and resolved to eliminate everything save the one question of papal authority, and to submit this to the council alone. That this procedure directly challenged criticism was obvious enough, and, within the synod, several speakers drew attention to the capriciousness of a method which required them to consider the infallibility of the pope before the nature of the Church herself had been defined. The event, however, justified the wire-pullers of the council in their policy, for the path they chose obviated the danger that the discussion might lose itself in a maze of generalities. It is impossible to give a short and, at the same time, an adequate account of the debate: lengthy disquisitions were the order of the day, and the disputants did not scruple to indulge in verbose repetition of arguments worn threadbare by their predecessors. A pleasant impression is left by the great candour of the opposition speakers, who, in the course of the next few weeks, made every point against the doctrine, which in their position it was possible to make. In the general debate, begun on the 13th of May, Bishop Hefele of Rottenburg, author of the well-known Konziliengeschichte, criticized the dogma from the standpoint of history, adducing the fact that Pope Honorius I. had been condemned by the sixth ecumenical council as a heretic (680). Others were of opinion that the doctrine implied a radical change in the constitution of the Church: one speaker even characterized it as sacrilege. The contention that the dogma was necessitated by the welfare of the Church, or justified by contemporary conditions, met with repeated and energetic repudiation. The champions of infallibility were, indeed, confronted with no slight task: — to establish their theory by Holy Writ and tradition, and to defend it against the arguments of history.
- ↑ Mirbt, Quellen, 371-77.
