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See was annulled. Excepting in a few Swiss cantons,
the promulgation of the decision of the council did
not encounter any actual difficulties elsewhere.
IV. The Results. — In comparison with the large scope of the preparations for the council, and with the great amount of material laid before it for discussion in the numerous drafts and proposals, the immediate result of its labours must be called small. But the council was only in its beginnings when the outbreak of war brought it to a sudden close. It is also true, as is known, that reasons within the council prevented a larger result from its sessions. Thus it was that in the end only two not very large Constitutions could be promulgated. If, however, the contents of these two const itut ions be examined their great impor- tanceisunmistakable. The contents meet in a striking manner the needs of the times.
A. The dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith defends the fundamental principles of Chris- tianity against the errors of modern Rationahsm, MateriaUsm, and atheism. In the first chapter it maintains the doctrine of the existence of a personal God, Who of His own free volition for the revelation of His perfection, has created all things out of nothing, Who foresees all things, even the future free actions of reasonable creatures, and Who through His Providence leads all things to the intended end. The second chapter treats the natural and supernatural knowl- edge of God. It then declares that God, the begin- ning and end of all things, can also be known with cer- tainty by the natural hght of reason. It then treats the actuaUty and necessity of a supernatural reve- lation, of the two sources of Revelation, Scripture and tradition, of the inspiration and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. The third chapter treats the super- natural virtue of faith, its reasonableness, super- naturalness, and necessity, the possibility and actual- ity of miracles as a confirmation of Divine Revelation; and lastly, the founding of the Catholic Church by Jesus Christ as the Guardian and Herald of revealed truth. The fourth chapter contains the doctrine, especially important to-day, on the connexion between faith and reason. The mysteries of faith cannot, indeed, be fuUy grasped by natural reason, but revealed truth can never contradict the positive results of the investigation of reason. Contrariwise, however, everj' assertion is false that contradicts the truth of enlightened faith. Faith and true learning are not in hostile opposition; they rather support each other in many ways. Yet faith is not the same as a philosophical system of teaching that has been worked out and then turned over to the human mind to be further developed, but it has been entrusted as a Divine deposit to the Church for protection and infallible interpretation. When, therefore, the Church explains the meaning of a dogma this inter- pretation is to be maintained in all future time, and it can never be deviated from under pretence of a more profound investigation. At the close of the Constitution the opposing heresies are rejected in eighteen canons.
B. The other dogmatic Constitution is of equal, if not greater, importance; it is the first on the Church of Christ, or, as it is also called in reference to its con- tents, on the Pope of Rome. The introduction to the Constitution says that the primacy of the Roman pontiff, on which the unity, strength, and stability of the entire Church rests, h.as always been, and is especially now, the object of violent attacks by the enemies of the Church. Therefore, the doctrine of its origin, constant permanence, and nature must be clearly set forth and established, above all on account of the opposing error.'*. Thus tlie first chapter treats of the establisliment of (he Apostolic primacy in the popes of Rome. I'^ach chapter closes with a canon against the opposing dogmatic opinion. The most important matter of the Constitution is the last two
chapters. In the third chapter the meaning and
nature of the primacy are set forth in dear words.
The primacy of the Pope of Rome is no mere prece-
dence of honour. On the contrary, the pope possesses
the primacy of regularly constituted power over all
other Churches, and the true, direct, episcopal power
of jurisdiction, in respect to which the clergy and
faithful of every rite and rank are bound to true
obedience. The immediate power of jurisdiction of
the individual bishops in their dioceses, therefore, is
not impaired by the primacy, but only strengthened
and defended. By virtue of his primacy the pope has
the right to liave direct and free relations with the
clergy and laity of the entire Church. No one is
permitted to interfere with this intercourse. It is
false and to be rejected to say that the decrees issued
by the pope for the guidance of the Church arc not
valid unless confirmed by the placet of the secular
power. The pope is also the supreme judge of all
the faithful, to whose decision all matters imdcr
examination by the Church can be appealed. On the
other hand, no further appeal, not even to an oecu-
menical cotmcil, can be made from the supreme deci-
sion of the pope. Consequently the canon appended
to the third chapter says: "When, therefore, anyone
says that the Pope of Rome has only the office of
supervision or of guidance, and not the complete and
highest power of jurisdiction over the entire Church,
not merely in matters of faith and morals, but also in
matters which concern the discipUne and administra-
tion of the Church throughout the entire world, or
that the pope has only the chief share, but not the
entire fullness of this highest power, or that this his
power is not actual and immediate either over all and
individual Churches, or over all and individual clergy
and faithful, let him be anathema."
The fourth chapter, lastly, contains the definition of papal infallibility. First, all the corresponding decrees of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, 6Sf) (Sixth (Ecumenical), of the Second Council of Lyons, 1274 (Fourteenth Oecumenical), and of the Council of Florence, 1439 (Seventeenth (Ecumenical), are repeated and confirmed. It is pointed out, further, that at all times the popes, in the consciousness of their infallibility in matters of faith for the preserva- tion of the purity of the Apostolic tradition, have acted as the court of last instance and have been called upon as such. Then follows the important tenet that the successors of St. Peter have been promised the Holy Ghost, not for the promulgation of new doctrines, but only for the preservation and interpretation of the Revelation dehvered by the Apostles. The Constitution clo.ses with the following words: "Faithfully adhering, therefore, to the tradi- tion inherited from the beginning of the Cliristian Faith, we, with the approbation of the sacred council, for the glory of God our Saviour, for the exaltation of the Catholic rehgion, and the salvation of Christian peoples, teach and define, as a Divinely revealed dog- ma, that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when he, in the exercise of his office as .shepherd and teacher of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, decides that a doc- trine concerning faith or morals is to be held by the entire Church, he posse.s.ses, in con.sequence of the Divine aid promi-^^ed him in St. Peter, that infallibility with which the Divine Saviovir wished to have His Church furnished for the definition of doctrine con- cerning faith or morals: and that such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not in con- sequence of the Church's consent, irreformable."
Wh.at is given above is essentially the contents of the two Conslittitions of the \'atican Council. Their import may be briefly expressed thus: in opi)osition to the Rationalism and Free-thinking of the present day the first Constitution gives authoritative and clear expression of the fundamental principles of
