THE OATH TAKEN BY ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS AT THEIR CONSECRATION. I ii ' pt f j r ^P WHi iMl WW. ' " " ■"■•■ A Standing Menace and Danger to all Governments and to THE PEACE AND GOODWILL WHICH SHOULD REIGN AMONG THEIR SUBJECTS. I*r»icc S cents. »••• *■••.*. CIci'gy ami othoi-s wliO(li'sir^n^vhrtih«»! • • • '. ' ■ • ' .••••• »v»* •• •*• SAINT JOHN, N. J'..: riUNTED i'Oll THE I'L'DLI.SIIEU.S IIY (!E0. A. KXODELU 1889. LATIN OF THE " PONTIFICALE ROMANUM " STILL IN USE. FORMA JURAMENTI, Ego N., Electus Ecclesiic N. ab hac liora in antea fidelis, et oLediens ero heato Petro Apostolo, fianctc-equo Eoinaiifu Ecclesiie, et Domino Nostro, Domino IST. Papa. N. suisque Successorilms canonice intrantibus. Non ero in consilio, aut consensu, vel facto, ut vitain i)er(lant, ant ineml)nim, sou capiantiir mala captions, aut in eos violenter manus, quoniodoUbet ingerantur, vel injuri;t alicpux- inferantur, (luovis quaesito colore. Consilium vero, quod milii credituri sunt, per se, aut Nuntios suos, sen litteras, ad eorum damnum, me sciente, nemini pandam. Papatum Pomanum, et Eegalia sancti Petri, adjutor eis ero ad retinendum, et defendendum, .salvo nico ordine, contra onineni lioniinem. Legatum ApostoliccX Sedis in eundo et redeundo honorifice tractabo, et in suis necessitatibus adjuvabo. Jimt, hono/es, lyrivilegia, d audoritatem sandcv liomano: Ucdcsiw, Domini Nostri Papa; d Successoruvi prwdidorum conserv'are, defendere, augcrc, d promovere cnrabo. Neque ero in consilio, vel facto, seu tractatu, in quibus contra ipsum Dominum nostrum, \'el eamdeni Romanam Ecclesiam, aliqua sinistra, vel prit-judicialia personarum, juris, honoris, status, et potestatis eoruni macliinentur. Et si talia a quibuscumque tractari, vel procurari novero, impediam hoc pro posse : et quauto citius potero, significabo eidem Domino nostro vel alteri, per quem possit ad ipsius notitiam pervenire. Eegulas sanctorum Patrum, decreta, ordinationes seu disposi- tiones, reservationes, provisiones, et mandata Apostolica, totis viribus observabo, et iaciam ab aliis observari. Hmrdicos schismaticos, et rchelles cidem Domino nodro, vd Successoribus pra:didis, pro posse per- seguar, et impugnaho. ' Vocatus ad synodum, veniam, nisi prsepeditus fuero Canonica i^ra-peditione. Apostolorum limina singulis trienniis personaliter per me ipsum visitabo : et Domino nostro, ac Successoribus prwfatis, rationem reddam de toto meo pastorali officio, ac de rebus omnibus ad mea; Ecclesiic statum, ad cleri et populi discipli- uam.animarum denique, quje mea3 fidei traditie sunt, salutem, quovis modo pertinentibus: et vicissim mandata Apostolica humiliter recipiam, et quam diligentissime exequar. Quod si legitimo iinpedimento detentus fuero, pra'fata omnia adimplebo per certum iSTuntium ad lioc speciale mandatum liabentem, de gremio mei Capituli, aut alium in dignitate ecclesiastica constitutum, sen alias personatum liabentem : aut, his mihi deficientibus, per ditecesanuni Sacerdotem : et clero deficiente onmino, per aliquem alium Presbyterum Sivcularem, vel regularem, spectatix; probitatis, et religionis, de supradictis omnibus plene instructum. De hujusmodi autem impedimento docebo per legitimas probationes ad sanctte Eomame Ecclesi.e Cardinalem proponentem in Congregatione sacri Concilii, per supradictum Nuntium transmittendas. Possessiones vero ad mensam meam pertinentes non vendam, nee donabo, neque impignorabo, nee de novo infeudabo, vel aliquo moLk):alit;uja>a,; ptiam/cytn ;col*sie% Capituli Ecclesiic mea° incon.sulto Eomano Pontifice. Et si ad aliquaak' aliQ^W'tifCtem idev^Jiei^-ikt'nj^ in quadam super hoc edita constitu- tione contentas, eo ipso incurrere v«ki- . • . ■ • .••... •..•"". Sic me Deus adjuvet, et haic-fearfcta I)ei* Evangelia: •'•■•'* • '■ •' PONTIFICALE RoMANUM, MecliUn 1873, Part L, mx 84-6. De consccrationc Elcdi in Episcnpum, The samt oatli is repeated on receipt of the pallium from Eome. p. 12G. ENGLISH TRANSLATION. FORM OF OATH. Z/^-' f '^ r^ ^° t^'f ^J'"»'^"l^ «f ^^ ^vi". <™'" "•« time forwanl, be faitliful and obedient to the blessed Apostle Peter, and to the boly Konian Cbnrcb and to o,u- lord, lord N., Pope N and to bis canonical suceessors. I will not abet by advice or consent or deed any injnry to then, in lif'e or lin.b or pietext whatsoever. I wdl not knowingly .eveal to anyone, to their injurv, the advice which thev shall entrust to me either directly or by their messengers or letters. Savin, mv order, I will assist ti.om in retainin^r ami defending the Roman Papacy and the royalties of Saint Peter against every man I will honorably deal with the Legat. of the Apostolic See both in coming and going, and will assist Idni in time «t need lunll take care to preserve, .defend, increase and adcanee the riyht., honors, privileges cnul authority of the holijlioman Chureh, our lord the Pope, and his aforesaid sneeessors. Neither by counsel, deed nor treaty wilil be party to any devices against our lord himself or the same Poman Church which may be evil or prejud.cal to their persons, right, honour, position and power. Moreover, should I become aware «t any such attempts be.ng undertaken or set on foot by any person wiiatsoever, I will hinder them to the utmost ot my power, and as speedily as possible will notify our same lord thereof or some other by whom .he may receive the information. I will, with all my power, observe the rules of the holy Fatllers the Apostol.c decrees, ordinances or disposition.s, reservations, provisions and commands. / will to the utmost of mg power, persecute and attach heretics, schismatics, and rehels agaitist the same our lord or his aforesaid successors. When called to Synod 1 will come unless hindered by some canonical impediment. Every three years I wdl m my own person visit the threshhold of the Apostles; and I will render to our lord L\ hi. uccessors atoresaid an account of my whole pastoral ottice, and of all things in any way pertaining to the tate my Church, the discipline of its clergy and people, in fine, ot the .solvation of the souls comm t d fommandf ' '"' ""^" °'''"" ^^^^^ ^ -i" humbly receive and most diligently carry out the Apostolic bv menus !^!l '''"'' ^'"'""^''' "*" -"^ ^'"'° '^'^'"^"^ ^'^' ^''''^''^ '''"^^'"''^"^^ ^ ^"^' <""1«1 ^" ^he aforesaid duties by means of some messenger appointed from among my chapter to have special charge of tiiis matter or else by some other ecclesiastical dignitary or person of station ; or, should these fail me! In- some pr est of my diocese; and m the event of all my own clergy failing me, by some other presbyter eitlier secularfr regular of approved honesty and piety iully instructed in all the matters aforesaid. Concerning a Tu hindrance, howeve, 1 wdl supply information to tlie Cardinal of the lioly Poinan Church who J si tssTnT ^'°""" ''' '"''"' '^ ^'"'"^ """'•'^^■^ transmitted to him by the said I will neither sell nor give, nor pawn the possessions belonging to mv table,* nor will I enfeoff tiiem anew, "or ahena e them in any manner even with the con.sent of the chapter of my Churcii without tiie italit> to incur the penalties contained in a certain constitution passed upon this subject. So help me God, and these holy Gospels of God. */. c. Episcopal Estate. Tliere is a picture in tlic illustrated Meclilin edition of the rontijicale Ji'oiiia/uiin, lH7o, \'ol. I., p. 84, which shows the ritual of the oath taking. Of the tliree consecrating Bishops (all luitered), two sit and one stands. The principal of tlie three sits immediately in front of the altar holding towards the JJishop-elect, M'ho kneels before him, an open book of the Gospels to kiss. Vested assistants stand about tlie group. The function appears to be one of exceptional solemnity. The i)ublication of this oath seems to be es- pecially called for at the present time, Ijecause the Jesuits, with well feigned indignation, repu- diate the oath published as theirs when I'ope Clement XIY. issued his Bull for the suppres- sion of their order in 1773. So atrocious do they pretend to esteem it that they liave threat- ened the Toronto Mail with an action for heavy damages for reimuting it as theirs. In wliat respects the wording of that oath dilfers i'rom the secret oaths now taken by the several grades -sviUiiii Uic .TonulL Cu»ii|uiiiv iiu uiio oulniilo tlmt body can say, as they belong to Mliat is called its discijjlina arcani, and have never been pub- lished by authority. If their suit against the Mail proceed they will either have to recite them fully in court or else lose the case. But however modified the oaths of the revived order may be, compared Mitli the old one re- printed in the Toronto Mail, wrathful indigna- tion ill Ijeconies even the pious and iuollensive members of a Ijody, which for its e\il deeds against monarchs, governments and the Church herself in the past, has Ijeen banished from every lloman Catholic country under the sun, and altogether suppressed for many years by the Papacy itself. It i'l becomes tliem also more especially becaup .ucli violence seriously re- flects upon the ' ' ps' oatli here given, which practically involves Li:« brutal and seditious language of the so-ci-^cd Jesuits' oath, wlule at the same time it is even more dangerous in its results, since it connnits the whole Iloman Church to a policy of persecution. We sliall, however, now expect the Jesuits to advocate witli burning zeal either the repeal of the Bisiiops' oath liy the Pope himself or its suppres- sion by the civil i)ower. There is scarcely a clause in this oath imposed upon every Ponian Bisliop-elect as a condition of his consecration, which is not a menace to every government find peo])le not wholly I?oman Catholic, while the clause wluch pledges tlie ]5ishops "to i>ersecute "and attack to the utmost of their power "all heretics, schismatics and rebels against "their lord the I'ope and liis successors," is utterly incompatilile with that peace and good will which should dominate all civil and social life. It should be observed that thisoatli is widely different from a pledge to be ready "to banish "and drive away all erroneous and strange ''doctrines contrary to Cod's word " from Christ's flock, l)y the legitimate weapons of ]niblic teaching, warnings and cutting olf from com- i^himIoh ; it irj a aoluniu vuw tu ^'^ivckJc ,k„lI attack an vii/oroi(slj> us 2'Oiisible persons, indi- viduals and communities, who refuse assent to any of the dogmas of Kome and repudiate the I'ope's claim to universal obedience. To apprehend more fully the nature of this oatli we may ask, Wliat would lioman Catholics think and say if the Ministry of any other Christian coannunity were to pledge tliemselves upon the Bible, at the most solemn moment of tlieir lives, to persecute and attack un- sparingly and persistently all Poman Catholics as far as their power and opportunity allowed ? What an outcry would be raised (antl justly so) agiunst their bigotry and intolerance! Let it not be said that this Bishops' oath is part of an ohl form which is practically olisolete, that those who take it mean nothing by it, and will not act upon it, and that therefore it is unchaii- table to call attention to it. That would be untrue. The oath is full of meaning for every lioman Bishop, it presents to him an ideal standard of centralized domiiiioii to be kept constiintly in view, to l)e woriscd lip to diligently as I'onie recovers her spir- itual and tenqjoral powers. It supplies not merely an excuse for cruelty and for sulitile, crafty and dislionoraMe dealings Avitli al! Chris- tians not lionianists, which is alihorrent to tlie mind of Christ, hut it exhiliits sucli dealing;- as a necessary expression of loyalty to Christ and His (so called^ ^'icar. At times and places where it would he suicidal on the i)art of IJoniau Bishops and their flocks to stir up active persecution agidnst other Cliristians, they are still hound liy the Bishops' oath to Avar against them secretly, to undermine their power, their governments, their institutions and political influence. Thus foxl means become fair in this religious war with "all rebels against their lord the I'ope's au- thority," and the dictum, acted on at Coii.stance, which brought JIuss to tlie stake in spite of his "safe conduct," is practically endorsed^ viz., " fixith need not be kept T\-ifch herctica." Like Joal) greeting Amasa Mitli a smile and kiss while he plunged a hidden sword into his vitals (2 Sam. xx. 10), ,so do the I'ope's obedient slaves deal very treacherously with States and peoi)le who are independent of his sway. Be it remembered that tins oath is only in strict accordance with the teachings of IJome's most revered theologians. Thomas Acpiinas, vol. iv., p. 01, says: "Thougli heretics must not be "tolerated because they deserve it, we nuist "bear with them till by a second admonition "they may be brought back to the Faith of the " Church ; hut those who, after a second admoni- " tion. remain obstinate in their errors, must not "only be excommunicated, but must be deliurcd " fo the secular iMWcrs to be extervtinafrd " Pope Pius YI., 178G, in the Bull Si'pcr Soli- ditate, declared "that the Pope can deprive "kings of their authority to rule, and ab.solve "subjects from their allegiance." The Jesuit Suarez in Defeasio Fidei Book vi., chap. 4, says , '■ Monarchs deposed by the Pope- "thereby become notorious tyrants, and may bo "killed by the first who can reach them." Pope Pius IX. declared in 1851 : "The l.'o- " man Catholic religion must l)e exclusively "dominant, and every other worship nnist be "banished and interdicted." {The raimey of Modern Timex, pp. 220-229;. S. Thomas Aciuinas, vol. iv., p. Of, .says : " 'When a man is cxconnnunicated for his ajios- "tacy; it follows from that very fact, that- "all tliose who are his subjects arc released "from the oath of allegiance by Avliidi they " were bound to obey him." The present Pope Leo XIII. has speeially approved the writings of S. Tiiomas Aquinas as- standard tlieological works. Cardinal i\Ianning admits in his Petri privi- leijiinn (3, 10 note^ that I'rban VIII.'s 15ull, In Ciena Domini, is in full force at the present day, a Bull in wiiich the Pope claims power over thrones and to release subjects from their oaths of allegiance to any reigning sovereign he may please to exconmuinieate. This is the L'oman theory dear to the heart of the present Pope and all his hierarchy, and it is stereotyped and promulgated in tlie most forcible way in tlie Bi.shoiis' oath here given. Is it then to be wondered at that the whole Church of Pome throughout the world is corrupted from the highest to the lowest of its memljers with tiu" poisonous leaven of ;• persecuting scornful spirit ? Under such circumstances can it lie con- sidered uncharitalile or bigoted to say that Po- man Catholics cannot make good citizens, or that they ought not to be entrusted witli offi- cial positions of trust in our cities, since it is impossible for them to work for the good of a conmuinity unless it also subserve the Po])e's designs i The recent disturljances at Boston and Qaebec, the present condition of those cities, as also of New York and Montreal, amply confirm the assertion. In all tlieso cities we sec the Church of Eonie as a vast ]»olitical engine working by and througli its members to ojipress in every way those who do not agree witli her. flladstone in his able refutation of the attacks ■of Newman, ^Manning, Capel anil otliers upon Lis pamphlet criticising the Vatican Decrees, says : "My object has been to ])roduce, if possi- " ble, a temper of greater watchfulness (i. c, on *' the i)art of Englishmen) ♦ » • to dis- "" turb th.at lazy way of thought which acknowl- •" edges no danger until it thunders at the doors, " to ivarn mrj immtrijiiicn of/aind the velvet jxtw, "the smooth ami saft exterior of a system which "is daiKjerons to the foundatimis of civil order, "and which any one of us may at any time •" encounter iu his daily path." (Gladstone's Vaticanism, A. D. 1875, p. 117). The cities just named iiave bitter experience -of this velvet-jKiw treachery. They have harbored a religion all smiles and affability while in low estate, they have been flattered into giving it pi I'.uniary and political aid ; they have with kindly spirit patronized its bazaars and lotteries, and yet what is the return ? Exchange of kindnesses ? Ear, far from it. It combines to plot against and crash its benefactors and to boycott them out of otiice and existence. Bos- ton is the only city of the four which has revolted somewhat successfully against the tyranny. Xew York groans under its Papal fetters and a press controlled by the llomau Church. Quebec has become almost wholly Itoman by the exoJus of the rising generation of English people not strong enough to withstand tlie trade boycott, while the non-l!onian popula- tion of ^Montreal is outnumbered by the Roman in the i)ro})ortic n of three to one — and yet the minority hive to pay more taxes than all the rest put togethcr,as the KomunChurch, though rolling iu wealth, has managed to exempt its vast property from taxation. The "danger" CUad- stone spoke of has indeed thundered at their doors. Roman Catholics in some })arts of the States have become so elated with tlie power of tiieir consolidated votes that tliey have incautiously withdrawn the veil from their real aims and ex- pectations. Tiie Freeman's Journal a few yeur."? since thus presented tlie views of its ecclesiasti- cal dictators which went tiie rounds of the papers: ''A Catholic temporal (Jovernment " would be guided in its treatment of I'rotesUmts "and other Recusants, solely by the rules of ejcpe- " dicnry. ♦ * » None hut an atheist can " iij)hold the ^^rineijilcs of religions liberty. * * ♦ " Shall I hold out hopes to my fellow country- " men that I will not meddle with his creed, if "he will not meddle with mine? Shall I lead " him to think tliat religion is a matter of " ])rivate opinion, and teinpt him to forget that " he has no more riyht to his reliyious vicivs than, "he has to my purse, or my house or my life- " blood ? No ! Catholicism is the most intolerant "of creeds." In a Roman Catholic paper entitled Shepherd of the Vdlli'y, P.iHliop Ilyan of S. I^oiiis, recently called by the Pope to be ArchbLshop of Piiila- delphia, thus instructs his flock in an article which for clearness leaves nothing to be de- sired : " AVe maintain that the Church of Rome is intolerant, that is, she uses every means in her power to root out heresy : but her intolerance is the result of her infallibility. She .alone has the right to be intolerant, because she alone has the truth. Tiie Church tolerates heretics where she is obliged to do so, but she hates them with a deadly hatred, and uses all her power to anniliilate them If ever the Roman Ciitholics in this land should become a considerable ma- jority — which in time will surely be the case — then will religious freedom in the Republic of the United States come to an end. Our ene- mies know how the Roman Church treated heretics in the Middle Ages, and how she treats them to-day whenever she has the power. We no more think of denying these historical facts than we do of Llaniiiif,' tlio Holy God and tlic Princes ot the Cliuivli for wliat they luivu tlionght it good to iW~Chirch Gmrtliim, Montreal, Oct. 28, 1885. Here we .see Eome exliihitinp herself in jier true colors, here is the logical result of the IJishops' oath. It is surely time then for all noii-I!o- manists to coinl)ine and demand of their re- spective governments that the Koman IJishops' oath as it now stands be abolished as a menace, offence and insult to the ruling powers and a constant source of bitterness in Christian com- munities where social harmony might otherwise reign. It is not a valid objection to say that the- IJomanist laity are for the must part ignorant of the wording of their I'.ishops' oath. They are bound to obey the dictates of their priests in everything, even in politics, since politics IJome claims is a branch of morals; the priests must o])ey their J'.ishops, and their Hishoj.' must render implicit obedience to the Popt In such a centralized system as the Koman CImrch, therefore, it is eviihiiit that the P.ishops' oath is th.>, fulcrum by which the Pope can move his whole Church to execute his will and ' purposes, and is, therefore, a terrible danger to States and to the peace and wellbeing of Chris- tendom. :.::•• • •: • : :.: