IMPOETANT CATHOLIC DOCUMENT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 98, 13 March 1875, Page 9

IMPOETANT CATHOLIC DOCUMENT.

The following important document from Archbishop Manning was ' read by the clergy in the Catholic churches of the diocese of Westminster on Sunday Nov. 29. Dear Children in Jestjs Christ.— l. On Sunday, the 28th of August, 1870, the following letter from his Eminence Cardinal Antoneln was read by our order in all churclies of this diocese : T . , , , Rome, August 11, 1870. „ ** . has ° een m ade known to the Holy See that some among the taitntul, and perhaps even among the bishops, are of opinion that the Apostolic Constitution, which was published in the session of the (Ecumenical Council of the Vatican on the 18th day of the month of July, will not be of obligation until it has been solemnly published by some further act of the Holy See. How strano-e such a supposition is, any one may easily know. The said Constitution had the most solemn publication possible on the very day on which, in the Vatican Basilica, it had been solemnly confirmed and promulgated by the Sovereign Pontiff in the presence of more than nve hundred bishops : for it was on that day, although there was no such necessity for the case, put up with the customary formalities m the usual places of Rome, so that, according to the wellknown rule, it was made obligatory for tlie whole Catholic world without need of any further publication whatsoever. I have thought it my duty to communicate these brief observations to you, in order that they may be your guide in the event of any doubts that may from any quarter be brought before you. f James Cardinal Antonelli. I. This declaration was made by the Cardinal in answer to the objection of some persons who had thought that the Decrees of the Vatican Council, although they had been solemnly defined and connrined by the Sovereign Pontiff in the Council itself, might require some further promulgation as a condition of their being regarded as publicly binding upon the whole Church. • 11. Events which, unhappily, are notorious induce ns to make known to the faithful, lest they should be misled by the words or examples of one or two who still profess to be Catholic, that whosoever does not in his heart receive and believe the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the doctrine of the Infallib Hit u of the f icar of Jesus Christ as they have been denned by the supreme authority of the Church, does by that very fact cease to be a Catholic. The Encyclical IneffaUlk Deus, by which, on the Sth of December, 1854, the Sovereign Pontiff denned "tha*t the most blessed Virgin Mary was, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and by reason of the merits of Jesus Christ the baviour of mankind, preserved in the first moment of her conception tree from all stain of original sin," contained these words : „. Wherefore, if any persons, which God forbid, shall presume to think in their hearts otherwise than we have now defined, let them know that they are condemned by their own judgment, they have suffered shipwreck in faith, and have fallen away from the unity of the Church. J In like manner, the constitution of the Vatican Council which denned that " the Eoman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra— that is, when discharging the office of pastor and teacher of all Christians he, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, defines a doctrine of faith or morals to bo held byjthe universal Church"— is infallible, ended with these words : _ And if any one, which God forbid, shall presume to contradict this our definition, let liim be anathema." 111. It has come to our knowledge that some who openly refuse to believe the said doctrines, persist nevertheless in callin°themselves Catholics, and give out that they go to confession and Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. We therefore hereby warn them that m so doing they deceive our clergy by concealing then- unbelief ; and that in every such Confession and Communion they commit a sacrilege to their own greater condemnation. We rejoice to know, dear children in Jesus Christ, that of such men there are but few indeed. But, lest their words or their example should seem to be tolerated by the Catholic Church, we make this i declaration ; and we make it with an earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit of God, against whom they are striving, may brinothem to repentance. '-"-^o xx- J^f gl ' a ?? Of the Holy Ghost abundantly confirm you in His inf alhble guidance. 3 t Henry Edward, „ , nn Archbishop of Westminster. November 22, 1874.