primordial truth, and defends it against new errors.' 'In a word, the Œcumenical Council will declare no new principle, nor any other than that which is already graven on your hearts by your faith and conscience; or than those which have been held sacred for ages by Christian peoples, on which repose, and have ever reposed, the welfare of States, the authority of magistrates, the liberty of nations, and which are at the same time the foundations of true science and true civilisation.'[1]
There is one thing against which it is our duty to be on our guard; I mean a fearful and timid anxiety as to the results of the Council and as to the future of the Church. It is the illusion of some minds to imagine that the Church was strong once, but is weak now; that the days of its supremacy are over, and that now it is in decline. The reverse is the fact. There was never a time since the Apostles descended from the guest-chamber to traverse the world, when the universality of the Church was so manifest, and its divine jurisdiction so widespread. There was never a moment when the unity of the Church both within and without, that is the unity of the faithful with their pastors, and of the pastors with their Head, the unanimity of pastors and flocks in faith and in charity, was so solid and invincible. From the mystery of the Holy Trinity to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, there is not a doctrine of faith on which Catholics in all the world differ by a shade. Peter's faith has not failed, and the Church rests on Peter's faith. We may be upon the eve of
- ↑ Address of the Bishops at Fulda, Sept. 6, 1869.
