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569741

Oiiiurioilistorical Society

1 900

PASTORAL LETTER

\m m

ut the Jrdibishojj of |^oronfo

TO THE

Ckrgii, lleligtous Communities ;mb f iiitn

OK THE —

.A- 1^ 13: i: I O O E S E

III.

TORONTO

CATHOLIC REGISTER PRINT
1896.

PASTORAL LETTER

oi-

His Grace the Arclibisho|) of Tordnto.

JOHN Wi.\L8H, BY THE (tragi-: ok (Iod and the Appoint-
ment OF THE Holy See, Aiichbishoi' of Toronto.

To the CJcn/i/, li I'lfi'ioiiH Connunnitica ti)i<l Laittf <]f tlir
ArcJi(Jioc('s<', Ch'fKw und Brned'tct'ioti in flir Lord.

Dearly Beloved Brethren :

By these presents we bepj to remind you of the sacred
duty that devolves u])oii us as cLildren of the CathoHe C'liurcli
to contribute of our means and in accordance with our
capacity towards the support and maintenance of our Holy
Father tlje Pope, and to uphold him in the discharge of the
sublime ])ut arduous duties of his august office by our prayers,
our sympathy and loyal devotion. The Vicar of Christ has
been robbed of his independence and liberty as head of the
Cliurch ; he has been deprived of his civil princedom secured
to him for centuries by the action of Divine Providence ; and
he has been made dependent on the contributions of the
faithful for the means that are necessary to enable him to
exercise his divine and world-wide ministry. Under these
circumstances it becomes an imperative duty for Catholics to
rally around our Holy Father, to stand by and uphold him
by loving loyalty and devotion, and to contribute of their means
towards his congruous support and maintenance.

It is now eight years since the Archdiocese contributed
anything towards this sacred cause. We have thus far
delayed calling on our faithful people for this purpose,
because of the many demands made upon them for the

diocesan works of religion and charity. But conscience,
duty and honor require that we shall delay no longer. It is
enough for us to know that our Holy Father urgently needs
our aid, and that it is our bounden duty to give it generously
and heartily. The Pope is the central figure and chief
Pontiflf in the Hierarchy of the Spiritual Kingdom which
Jesus Christ has established on earth. He is the Vicegerent
of the Son of God, the supreme visible head of the Church
of Christ, and the infallible teacher of God's revelation to
mankind. Hence it is that the children of the Holy Catholic
Church regard him with deep reverence and filial love ; that
they look to him for light and guidance in tliis world of
doubt and darkness ; and that they are prepared to make the
greatest sacrifices in order to uphold him in the discharge of
his sublime duties, and in his warfare against the enemies of
Christ and His Church, and of the best interests of humanity.

THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE.

The supremacy of the Roman Pontift' over the Catholic
Church, in all that relates to faith and morals and jurisdic-
tion, is an article of faith and a fundamental doctrine of our
holy religion. What the sun is to the solar system, that the
Sovereign Pontiff is to the Catholic system of belief. The
Papacy is the rock on which the superstructure of Christ's
Church rises in all the grandeur of its imposing majesty, and
in all the grace and beauty and harmony of its heavenly
architecture. It is the unshaken foundation on which the
Church securely reposes, proof against the tempest's shock
and the upheavings of the earthquake. The Church of
Christ is the kingdom of God on earth; it must therefore
have a ruler. Every well regulated society must possess a
Chief Magistrate to preserve it in law and order. Take him
away and you reduce society to anarchy and chaos. We see
this fact too well illusirated in the religious denominations
that have adopted the radical principle of private judgment.

They are nplit up into discordant fragmentn and jarring stcts
by the very force and action of the disintegrating and de-
structive principle which forms the shifting and sandy
foundation on which they have souglit to bnihl.

The Church of Christ is a visible body ; it must have a
visible head. It is a sheepfold : it must have a supreme
shepherd to guard the sheep and the lambs of Christ's Hoc k.
In other words, the visible Church of Clirist must have a
visible ruler to act as Christ's Viceregent, and to govern the
Church in His name and by His authority until His second

commg.

Even in the Jewish Church there was the oltice of tiie
High Priest, who acted as God's Viceregent, and was supreme
ruler in spirituals. Now, the Jewish Church was but the
shadow of the Christian Church ; the latter, the reality and
the completion of the former, just as the many-turreted
cathedral, with all its beauties and glories, is but the realiza-
tion and completion of the grand inspired design sketclied
by the artist on his parchment. It follows, tlierefore, that
in the Christian Church there must be an office answering to
that of the High Priest in the old dispensation, and at the
same time excelling it, as the new is the better and more per-
fect dispensation. Now, that office is evidently none other
than that of the Sovereign Pontiff, the supreme visible head
of the Catholic Church. In fact, even apart from the divine
promises and appointment, we find in iioly writ various
indications of the primacy and supremacy of St. Peter.
In many pages of the New Testament Peter is always
named before the other Apostles — " The Jirsf, Simon, who
is called Peter," says St. Matthew x. 2. He is the
first that confessed his faith in the divinity of Christ, the
first in the manifestation of love, the first of the Apostles
who saw the risen Saviour, the first to whom the announce-
ment of the resurrection was made by Mary Magdalen,
as he was the first to bear witness to this stupendous

t'..

:, '(d

(mi before all the peni)le. He was the first who f^ave diree-
tioiiH when it was necessarv to lill up the number of the
Apostles, the tirst who confirmed the faith by a miracle, the
lirst to convert tlie Jews, the (irst also to admit the (ientiles
into tlif Christian Church, and it was he who presided over
the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem. Of course, Jesus Christ
is by personal and inherent ri<,dit the Hi}j;h Priest and Head
of tlie Catliolic Church, hut the Pope is His Viceregent and
supreme visible head of the Church. Jesus ('hrist havin<j;
triuisl'erred His ;j;li)rilied humanity from earth and placed it
hifTli above tlie wiiole hierarchies of heaven, even at the ri^ht
hand of (iod, must rule His Church on earth by a substitute*
and this substitute is Peter or the Pope actin<^ as His vice-
legent in His name and by His sovereif;n authority, just as a
King rules the distant provinces of his empire by viceroys.
Our Queen never visited her Indian empire, yet she rules
there. She rules by a vicerov. Christ also, whom it has
pleased to withdraw His visible i)resence from amongst us,
I'ules His universal empire-church by a viceroy, and that is
Peter and his lawful successors. There is no fact mcu-e tho-
roughly attested in the Xew Testament than this. Our
Blessed Lord on a very striking occasion promised to St.
Peter that He would build His Church on him, and that He
would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven as the
symbol and evidence of his supreme power and jurisdiction
in the Christian Church. He fallilled these promises, as we
shall see, before His ascension into heaven, by committing
the whole tiock, both the sheep and the lambs of the fold, to
the pastoral care of Peter. In the lOth chapter of St.
Matthew we find our Lord questioning His disciples and ask-
ing them " Who do men my that I am?" When informed
by them of the various opinions existing on this subject,
Jesus said, " Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter
answered and said, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living
God." And Jesus answering, said to him, " Blessed are

thou, Simon Barjona, because ticsli and hlood liatli not
revealed it unto tlioe, l»ut my Fatlier who iH in heaven. And
1 Hay to tiiee that thou art Peter (that is a rock), and on this
rock I will huild my cliurch, and the ^atoH of hell shall not
prevail against it. And I will give; to thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever tiiou shalt hiiel <»n
earth it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoever thou
bhiilt loose on earth it shull be loosed also in heaven." This
is one of the most niagnilicent promises ever made to man,
and the most far-reaching and beneiicent in its inriuence.
Peter is made the rock on whicii the Chureli of Ciirist is
built. Peter is to the Ciiristian Church what the foundation
is to a house. Now, it is the foundation that gives strength,
unity and durability to the house. if the foundation be
sand-built, or if it be removed, the whole superstructure
comes tumbling down iu fragments ; but if it be iirm and
scrong and u\ishaken as a rock, then the rains may fall and
the winds blow and beat against the house, but it will defy
the tempest and the floods. Peter being the foundation and
rock-basis of the ('hurch, imparts to it its enduring solidity,
its order and unity, and its undying per])etuity. Ilis
antliority must be the }»rincij)le of its unity and strength. All
the force of its laws must be derived from him, and all its
authority must finally rest cm him as its basis and ground-
work. Who does not see that all this necessarily implies his
primacy of order and jurisdiction and teaching over the
universal church.

Again, Christ gives to Peter the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, adding that " whatsoever he will bind on earth shall
be bound also in heaven, and that whatsoever lie will loose on
earth shall be loosed also in heaven." With all nations the
keys are a symbol of power and siovereign jurisdiction. When
the Queen visits the cities of her kingdom, the keys are pre-
sented her in acknowledgment of her royalty and sover'^ignty.
When a fortress surrenders to a victorious general, its keys

are prcflented to him to denote submission to hirt nutliority.
So \v!ien Jesus promises Peter the i^eys of the kinijjdoui of
heaven, He wishes thereby to convey the truth that He
intends to impart to him supreme authority and jurisdiction
over the Christian Ciuirch. This is the plain and evident
meaning of the promise, or language has no meaning at all.
It is the meaning attached to it by all anti(|uity, and by the
living Churcii herself in all the ages of her existence. Nor is
it a valid objection to say that Christ gave to all the Apostles
on another occasion tlie power of l)inding and loosing, for, as
Bossuet well savs :

" When power is given to several, the exercise of the
power by each one is restricted by the fact tliat otliers share
it with him. But power given to a single individual over all,
and without exception, necessarily implies the plenitude of
power. * * * All the Apostles receive the same power,
but not in the same degree, or with the same ixtent. Jesus
Christ commences by the first, and in this first one He
develops the whole, in order that we learn that the ecclesias-
tical authority which was originally constituted in the person
of one man is not imparted to others, except on the condition
of remaining always subordinate to the principle from which
its unity is derived, and that all those who shall be charged
with its exercise are found to remain inseparably united to
same chair."

Oui Blessed Lord was now about to ascend into heaven
to the glory of His Father ; but He will first redeem the
promise of the primacy which He had made to Peter when
He said He would appoint him the rock-support of His
Church, and would give him the keys of the kingdom of
heaven.

It was a most solemn and awful moment when Christ
committed the care of His whole flock to Peter. He had shed
His precious blood for the redemption of the world ; He had
risen glorious and immortal from the grave, triumphant over

death and liell ; He was now about to with h-aw His vi8il)le
presence from amongst men. But Ho Wiil not leave us
orplians : He will leave us a father, a vicej^ercmt, who will
n^e the whole family of God in His absence, a supreme sliep-
herd, who will feed and care and protect the sheep and the
iambs of His fold. But before communicating tiiis awful
charge, before imparting this tremendous power. He exacts
from Peter a confession of the most tender and ardent love.
We find this solemn scene thus described in the 21st cliapter
of St. John's (iospel :

" When therefore they had dined, Jesus said to Simon
Peter : Simon, son of John, lovost thou me more than these '?
He saitli to him: Vea, Lord, thou knowcst that I love tliee-
ife saitli to him: Feed my lambs."

** He saith to him again : Simon, son of John, lovest
thou me".^ He saith to him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I
love thee ? He said to him : Feed my lambs.'*

*' He said to him the third time : Simon, son of John,
lovest thou me '? Peter was grieved, because he had said to
him the third time, Lovest thou me '? A» d he said to him :
Lord, thou knowest all things; chou knowest that I love thee.
He said to him : Feed my slieep." — St. John, xxi. 15-17.

In these words our Bedeemer evidently, and beyond all
power of cavil, appointed Peter supreme and (ecumenical
pastor over His whole tlock, with power to rule, govern and
lead it, and with the right and the duty of shielding, protect-
ing and feeding it. In other words, Christ appoints Peter
supreme pastor over the Universal Church ; for the words ,
"my lambs, my sheep," comprise not only the faithful, but
even the apostles, the bishops and priests, as belonging to the
flock of Christ. Such is the doctrine taught by the Fath'^r 3
both of the east and west. " To Peter," writes St. Epipii,i-
nius, " was committed the flock. He leads the way admirably
in the power of his own Master." St. John Chrysostom,
commenting on these words of St. John, speaks yet more

iri

■y

strongly: "Why," he says, " passmg by the rest, does He
discourse with Peter concerning these things? He was the
chosen one of the apostles, and the mouth of the disciples,
and the head of the company. For this cause also did St.
Paul take his journey to visit him in preference to the rest ;
and, withal, showing him he must have confidence, for his
denial has been done away with, Christ places in his hands
the empire over the brethren. He appointed Peter teacher,
not of the Church, but of the habitable globe."

The supremacy of Peter is the conviction and faith of all
Christian antiquity. These prerogatives of supremacy and
infallibility conferred on Peter must in the very nature of
things descend to his succesHors. Peter is, by appointment
of our Lord, the rock on which the Church is built, and its
firmness and stability depend on Iiim. For the permanent
good of the Church, and iu order to preserve it safe from
Satan's assaults, Peter is made its head and guardian. It
follows, therefore, from these considerations, that for the
security and well-being of the Cliurch Peter's sublime prero-
gatives should continue as long as the Church herself will
exist : that is, till the consummation of the world. I'eter's
authoritv must therefore continue in his successors. Hence,
the illustrious Bousset truly says : " The ))rerogative confer-
red on Peter cannot be sap})osed to have ceased with him,
because the foundations of a building designed to last forever
cannot be subject to the ravages of time ; therefore Peter will
alwajs live in his suc-f^essor, and will always speak from his
chair. Such is the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers, such is the
declaration of the (530 Bishops assembled in the Council of
Chalcedon." (Sermon on Unity.)

In order to the perfect fulfillment of the sublime duties
of the primacy Christ conferred on Peter and his successors
the gift of infallibility in teaching matters of faith and morals
to the universal Church. This is evident from the scriptural
passages which we have already cited to prove the primacy.

The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, because
it is founded on the rock Peter ; but they could prevail if the
rock could be shaken or broken by error. The commission
given to Peter to feed the sheep and lambs of Christ's flock
clearly implies the gift of infallibility. We cannot suppose
tlint Christ would have committed His flock to a shepherd
who would lead them astray or desert them when danger
threatened. Besides, we lind that our Lord positively assured
Peter that his faith would not I'ail : ** Simon, Simon," eaid
our Lord, " behold Satan hath desired to have you that he
may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy
faith fail not ; and thou being once converted, confirm thy
brethren."' St. Luke, xxii,, 82-3;i.

Our Lord foresaw that the Ciiurch would be assailed by
the most bitter persecutions ; that it would liave to encounter
the most tremendous trials; and in order to enable iu to
withstand both the one and the other, He prayed that the
faith of Peter might not fail ; in other words, He prayed for
the infallibility of Peter in order that he, endowed with this
august prerogative, would confirm his bretln-en, that is, the
universal Church.

Peter, therefore, ever living in the Church in the person
of his successors, is its supreme and (ecumenical pastor, and
is endowed with the sublime gift of infallibility in his official
teaching.

Such, dearly beloved brethren, are the great prerogatives
conferred upon the vicar of Christ ; such is the exalted posi-
tion assigned to him ; and this is why we take so profound
an interest in all that concerns him, and why in all our
doubts and perplexities we turn to him with the docility and
confidence of children for his guidance in the road to eter-
nal life.

And how faithfully and gloriously the Popes have dis-
charged the duties of their high office ! Of the thirty Popes
who occupied the Chair of Peter during the lioman persecu-

\ '>i

tions, twenty-tive mounted the scaffold, and there died the
martyr's death, in witness to the Christian Faith. Whenever
lieresy arose to assail Christian truth the Pope smote it with
his anathemas. The great genervil Councils, which shine out
like beacon lights through the centuries, were convoked and
ratified by papal authority.

But the Popes not only protected the Christian Faith
against the inroads of heresy, and safe-guarded the moral
code of Gospel teaching, but they also promoted in the most
efficient manner the cause of Christian civilization and well
regulated liberty. It was they that sent their missionaries to
preach the Gospel to the fierce barbarians who swarmed over
southern Europe at the break up of the Roman Empire. It
was they who caused them to be taught the arts of peace and
all that was calculated to create and advance their civiliza-
tion ; nnd when a worse evil threatened the Christian Faith,
and the liberty of European nations, when Mahometanism
hung like a cloud over the greater part of Europe, threaten-
ing to break down upon it in a destructive deluge, the voice
of the Popes called on the chivalry of Christendom to combine
for the defence of their homes and their altars. The Popes
organized the Crusades, and thus saved European civilization
from destruction by the fanatical hordes of Mahomet.

The voice of the Popes was ever raised in defence of the
weak against the strong, in defence of well-regulated liberty
against despotic tyranny. The arts, the sciences, universi-
ties, as well as popular education, always found the Popes
their most encouraging and generous patrons. It would be
truly impossible to give a just estimate of the beneficent
influence of the Popes on the happiness, the well-being and
progress of our race. They have made a track of light
across the ages they have traversed.

Our present Holy Father Leo XIII,, assuredly ranks
amongst the great Popes, who, by the splendour of their genius-

and virtues, and by their great services to mankind, have shed
an unfading lustre on the Holy See, and on the Catholic
Church at large. Leo XIII. lias been raised up by Divine
Providence to meet the wants of the times, and to apply
healing balm to the wounds that afflict modern society.
From the heights of the Vatican his luminous teachings
shine out over a world of doubt and darkness like beacon
lights over a dark and stormy sea. In his immortal Encylical
letters he points out with a clear, unerring voice tlie moral
evils that scourge modern society and menace its destruction,
and he also shows forth the divine remedies that alone can
save it from overwhelming ruin. His teachings on the con-
dition of the laboring classes and on the rules that should
regulate the relations between the employers and the em-
ployed, would, if carried into execution by the parties con-
cerned, solve one of the most difficult and dangerous problems
that disturb the mind of men and threaten the very founda-
tions of social order and public peace. The fatal dissensions
and divisions that distract the Christian world and weaken
the cause of Christ and of His religion, his apostolic zeal
seeks to terminate, holding out the olive branch of neace to our
separated brethren and striving to realize our Blessed Lord's
desire to gather in His strayed sheep into the one fold
of the one true Church. But it would be impossible within
the limits of this pastoral letter to dwell on the vast and
signal services this great and Holy Pontiff has rendered, not
alone to the Catholic Church, but to mankind at large. Now
this venerable and illustrious Pontiff" has been not only robbed
of the temporal possessions conferred on the Apostolic See by
the piety of Christian ages, but he is practically a captive
in the hands of his enemies. Here is what he himself has
pathetically said on the subject on a recent occasion :

** I, too, am a prisoner," he said, "and that for eighteen
long years. In fact, the nineteenth has now begun since 1
am here in imprisonment, a noble imprisonment, if you like,
but still a real imprisonment. For eighteen years I have not

if!

1 ,. 1

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been able to get a glimpse of the streetB of Rome or of its
holy basilicas. I have had a nevv apse constructed in St.
John Lateran's, and yet it has been impossible for me to see
it. Nor, indeed, is this all. If I wish to name bishjps 1
have the difficulties and delays that the formality of the
Placet and the exequator imposes. Bishops in their own
dioceses cannot appoint their parish priests without submit-
ting to the visto and to the exigencies of the tiscal authorities.
Add to this the perversity of an evil press, which distorts a.nd
maligns one's every act and intention. What more ? On the
slope of the very Vatican hill, quite close to my abode, they
have raised a statue to Garibaldi, to him who called the
Papacy 'the cancer of Italy.' And, indeed, if I am free at
this moment to speak and to write it is simply because it
would not do for them to come into my room avid prevent me."

In view of this sad condition of things it becomes our most
sacred duty as Catholics to contribute generously of our
means towards the congruous support of our Holy Father,
and to enable him to maintain the dignity and independence
of his office. He is charged with the " solicitude" of all the
Churches of Catholic Christendom. The funds required for
the administration of the ecclesiastical affairs of the Catholic
world must be very large indeed. The sevrral congregations
charged with the conduct of ecclesiastical aifairs, the
apostolic delegations appointed to various nations, the
Nuncios at European courts, must be properly supported and
maintained, the postal service to all countries of the world
must be paid for. For meeting this enormous expenditure
the Holy Father must depend on the contributions of th^
faithful, on their generous and loyal support. It is, dearest
Brethren, for us to take our share in this vast and necessary
work ; it is time we should help our spiritual Father to carry
the heavy burthen of his world-wide duties. This is for us a
sacred duty and a strict obligation ; we are c mfident that on
this occasion we shall perform this duty and fulfill this
obligation in a manner at once In^lpful and consoling to the
Vicar of Christ, and creditable to tlie clergy and faithful

people of this Archdiocese. It is true the times are hard and
the calls made upon us are many, but tlie cause we are asked
to help on this occasion is a most sacred one ; it enlists the
.tiympathies and makes appeal to the faith and heart of the
whole Catholic world, for it is the cause of rif^ht against
might, of religious liberty against the tyranny that would
shackle it, of the Vicar of Christ in captivity against the
(xovernment that has robbed and imprisoned him ; it is, in a
word, the cause of Jesus Christ against the world that has
been His enemy from the beginning. Let then our offerings
be worthy of this sacred cause and worthy of our faith and
love. And if in the past we have been somewhat tardy in
our duty in this respect, let our contributions now make full
amends by their hearty and generous character for any ap-
parent negligence.

( .li

ir.

Wherefore, having invoked the Holy name of God, We
ordain as follows : —

1. A collection shall be taken up in every Church and
Chapel of this Archdiocese, as an offering of our faith and
love to our Holy Father, on some Sunday in October next,
the object of the collection having been previously and fully
explained to the people by their pastor.

2. The proceeds shall be sent with as little delay as
possible to the Chancellor of the Archdiocese.

8. The names of the donors shall be taken down and
sent to us to be kept in the archives as an honorable record
of the loyalty and generosity of our faithful people.

4. This pastoral shall be read in all the churches and
chapels of the Archdiocese on the first Sunday after its
reception.

May the peace and blessing of the omnipotent God,
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost descend upon you, and abide
with you for ever, dearly beloved Brethren.

Given at St. Michael's Palace, Toronto, on the 2lBt day
of September — Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle — in the
year of our Lord, 1896.

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By order of His Grace the Archbishop.
Jamais Walsh, Secretary.