The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 110, 9 May 1895, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895.

ffor the causa that laota assistant, 3?or'tlib TTroHgtliat-iieeds reGißtanoe, For The future in thß distanoop- '. And ttis good that we can do.

The subject of the re-union of Christendom, raised by the. Pope's encyclical letter inviting members of the Anglican Church no enter the fold of Ronie, has been debated withconsiderablewarmth during the past fortnight between the chief ecclesiastics, of these two great branches of the Christian Church in Australia. The echoes of th.eir c'onr troversy have reached us through the cable. ' This discussion seemsjto have been led off by Cardinal Moran in an interview with a representative, of the Sydney "Daily Telegraph." Th c Cardinal prefaced his remarks by 'point-: . ing out that it was necessary to disi tinguish between ■."•two" concurrent movements to|6btain Church Union. The one, represented by a series of conferences held at; Grindeweld in Switzerland, for the purpose of securing a union of all the Protestant sects in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. The other, promoted'by a series of conferences held iii many ot the principal towns of England, hiainly organised by the High Church, party with the special aim of bridging,, over the separation of the Anglican Church from Rome. ' : Cardinal Moran eulogised the views enunciated by Lord Halifax, as representing the High Cimrch party, in an address delivered before proceedingVtq Rome, with regard to the relations existing between the Anglican Church and the Roman Pontiff before the time of Henry VIII. The Cardinal stigmatised as," absurd" the position taken up by the Archbishop of Canterbury and " other extreme Anglican writers "in asserting the continuity.of the Church under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth with the Catholic Church of early times. He said :—''Anyone who has studied the history of those days, and has read the able historical works of Brcwerand Gardiner.thetxiselves Protestant writers, must be convinced that :such a theory of continuity is one of theniosfunhistorical theories that;, could be con-

ceived." : : '; With regard ,to thq* view , of..the Pope's proposals for union adopted by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, we cannot do better than xjuote the; Cardinal's own words.: •..•-:.-... *■>».,.■ '• Some time ago I read fchesfcaiemsnb of some leading Protestanb, dissonterin England, who, while discussing thoqu33tion of ' •re-union with tho established Obarch of England, said that he could only imagine it as-the union of tho boa constrictor and f,he rabbit, that ho .was about tq; swallow. But euch is not. tho Union bhab Catholics would wish to i'nvito" their Protestant friends to. We invite them to come to their Father's house, and to bo tho most honored avid the most privileged among the children of their Father. Tho Catholic. Church showed this true spirit of re-union when it conferred its highest honours ou such men aa Newman and Manning and a hundred : others who have returned to their Father's house." It is evident from his subsequent I remarks that, in the opinion of Cardinal •■ Moran at any rate,, the High Church party, while adopting a ritual which 'makes it impossible for a stranger I entering one of their churches to distinguish the Anglican service from the Roman, have already thrown overboard , the primary doctrines of Ihe Reformation : . . - ~ . Tho two points on which they generally consider that the Roman Catholic Church lias fallen away from ita primitive tenets are the infallibility of the Sovereign Pontiff, and the honour that) .ia paid to the blessed Virgin. As a matcer of fact, these tenets are rejected only on account of the misrepresentation of the teaching of the ' Catholic Church in their regard. We do not hold that the Pope is personally ' i exempt either from moral • errors or I from doctrinal errors. He is as liable |to mistake as other men. Bud, liko St. \ Peter in regard to the Apostles, he ha 3 | been constituted the head of the' Church", j and ABeuch is guided and controlled by tho- ' | divine lie'deoinor, who promised to be with ", hi?. Apostles to tho end of time, and, as I head of the Church, he cannot lead the ''faithful into any. doctrinal error. So also in regaid to the blessed Virgin, the enemies. ox" *he Church Bay that we give her divine honours. Nettling is more false or more absurd. We honour her as being the most privileged of croatures^ being, as she was, chosen to be the mother of our blessed Lord, bub none are so reprobate that they !■■ think of offering divine honour £o her.

Judging 'by., the summary of . the i concessions which the Roman Catholic i Church might be'willing to make to1 returning ' Anglicans, the analogy of the boa and the rabbit seems to us particularly apt: ' ... If there bo a question of compromise in the teachings of the divine faith, the Catholic Churcli can never make any such Compromise. Those teachings, we regard as a divine inheritance, and the Catholic Church can :no more ceaae to teach those truths which she received from our Saviour than the sun can in a material way cease to shed its light upon the world. - But in all disciplinary matters, and all things which ore' of human origin, there is no. Church, so free as the Catholic Church, and it depends on the wisdom of the Sovereign rontiff. to make such arrangements of discipline as are best suited for each race and each'country. For instance, nothing can be more different from our Western rites than those that are approved of by the Eastern Church, though the two Cburchea are absolutely one in the union of faith and the union of sacramental life. And so, if the Holy Father desires to make-any disciplinary concessions to his Anglican friends, it is quite within his pro - vince to do "so." • . ,>

Coming to particulars, the Cardinal was emphatically of the opinion that the rule prescribing the celibacy of the clergy could never be rescinded, although arrangements might be made to enable those already married to continue in the ministry. The Church

would be equally rigid in i^^ the reading of Iheluurgymthe^aun^ tongue, but an except lO n v might; made of a particular portion, kj- for the ScripturaLpornon^ot be mass, such as the Gospel and we •E^h«e calm proposals for gobbtog the Anglican, ecclesiastical^ li^ m ent,andappropnaungHs^lrnd4 edifices and organisation for the use o Rome, display a singular ignorance of of the Anglican laity. . Cara nal Moran apparently regarded , this | Snast which might be settled by the Anglican clergy. As a matter of fact, there,is just about as : much chance the great mass of jadherents to the. Church- of England going over to Rome as there is of Pool ascending the Throne of England How far any. large section of the Anglican clergy may be in sympathy with' these ecclesiastical pretensions iwe- are in ,n* position to judge,-but Dr. Thornton,, Bishop,of. Ballar at, at t^e opening of the-Anghcarj. Church Assembly in that city, too*: an early bppbrturvity of repudiates, on" behalf of himself and tne Church, any disposition to parley withßorne. He said that while regarding the'reunion of the Protestant Christian bodies as one that would be hailed jvith; 3 oy, "we hold Rome Reunion to be as absolutely objectionable as it is /hopelessly impracMcable. 'Our own convictions are that the. Papal c^aira is entirely destitute of foundation ; m fact, Scripture, or the ancient Fathers ; and its concession most perilous to: the spiritual and intellectual' liberty-and progress of mankind.1' / .-■• •■ - For the reasons which made union with Rome. utterly but of the question Dr. Thornton especially commended to his hearers Salmons "Infallibility of the Chinch " and Ljttledaie's " Plaiu ' Reasons for Not Joining the Church of Rome." In the course of his address the Bishop asserted claim 'of the Church bf England to the ancient title of Catholic, and denied the assertion that Rome is turning England away from the -Protestant faith. He maintained that there were as many converts from Rome as to her. His conclusions are thus stated :—

The position of the truly Catholic Church of England'is, as I believe, Scripturally and historically<ed sound and impregnable, that eha, . may well refrain from all excited detianco of "and passionate eallie« against her assailants. We desire to live in peace with all fellow Christians, even, with those who question our being Christiana, or salvable, at; all! We. ungrudgingly recognise in thousands of our. Roman Catholic neighbours devoted servant* ofChrist, intrepid .fellow champions of Catholic truths, zealous philanthropists, exemplary pUizen3,;delightful companions, and 'warai'-\ieart.od /friends : arkl I regreb that what I 'feel it my duty to cay to-day maybe calculated to cause pain to adherents of Rome with whom, I am .linked in sincere personal . regard. Bu^ : .they the&isejvea surely would fool leas respect for us if we were nofc inspired with some measure of ;fluie,b indignation when, as sons and dauenters of a spiritual mother to "whom we owe all our training; in purity and holiness, we are challenged by their chief representative in the empire .to.produce that mother's marriage tines. We cannot allowany right whatever in Rome to reassumea tone of lofty superiority towards the Church pf Our forefathers, which <>od for 1,000 years was pleased to use as the sole Channel of Christian life and light for the great English peoplo for.while, glady admmitting with a recent leader, in the " Age," chat there is much in tho Roman Church that commends it to the students of history, the paid student as such, must needs admit that there is much thafc does tho opposite. "A colossal ligure, partly of gold and partly of miry clay—such was Home for ages ; what was broadly Catholic in her, blessing the times and peoples in which ehe dominated; that which was special, and 1 papal' in "her, blighting both. Certain things cannot be gainsaid without a cynical disregard for historic facts ; and, painful as it is, and seldom necessary to recall them, they may not be forgotten. The Dark Ages of our era were, precisely those when Papalism' was supreme in Christen • dora ; and it -produced in " the person of certain Popes —-infallible, as Romans profess to believe— some of tho worst of all mankind. For centurios Rome was the parent and fountain head of a most, truculent arid awful eystem.pf religious persecution—the wickedness of which, by the way, she has, never ; officially admitted. No . British; citizen, whether ' Roman ' or nob, can deny that our \ frightful experience of sovereigns 'specially \ devoted to the Bishop of Rome 13 some.excuse, to Bay.'the' least, for our bafring'our throne absolutely against bis adherents ; ■while it is an indisputable fact, which pur Roman tellow citizens must deplore even more than ourselves, that their communion (nominally, at any rate) furnishes the largest proportionate contingent of any to our gaols. These things muss possess significance. Xc?, there are two sides, a splendid and a pestilent, to this great institution: qua jtruly Catholic; it i,3 grand ; qua Papal and usurping, it is dangerous to the spiritual health of the peoples. Kome is the Janus of the Christian ages.; bruth and falsehood, healing and mischief, boon and bane, find common..harbour within her;: one moment we are filled with admiration at her, at- another With sorrow and' aversion. As a Victorian,: I for one. cannob - too strongly commend her zeal, for religious' educationin tbeday fchool: but Ishouldfeel a coward if I missed this opportunity of lifting my protest'against the demoralising influence of some of the devices she.employs to-day—as in the sixteenth century—for the replenishment of her treasury.

" JNo ; for Catholic reunion we will ever long arid pray. Reunion with Rome on the basis of subjection is unthinkable.'' .■ • .

We notice in our cablegrams of \ res" terday lhat Archbishop Carr, of Melbourne, has published, an answer to Bishop- Thornton's address, in which be asserts that "many Anglicans are yearning for union with Rome." If this be really so, why in '■. the. name of all that is sensible don't they satisfy their yearnings—the Church's; doors are wide open to them. If they' cherish the vain hope of carrying the Church as a body with them, they are doomed to go on yearning until doomsday. " :