There can be little discernment in any man who cannot perceive how these two events brought out the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff—that of 1854 in the defining of a dogma of faith, that of 1862 in matters which, though not dogmas of faith, are nevertheless in contact with his supreme office as "teacher of all Christians."
3. But, powerfully as these two events tended to bring before the minds of men the subject of the authority of the Pontiff as the successor of Peter, they bear no proportion in their power and efficacy to the Centenary of St. Peter's martyrdom in 1867. In the month of June in that year bishops from all parts of the world began to arrive in Rome. There were bishops who travelled from regions which lay far beyond any practicable road. Some came from the furthest East, others from the extreme West, some came from Africa, some from South America, some from Australia. Thirty nations were represented by their patriarchs, archbishops, primates, and bishops. All languages were to be heard, and all costumes were to be seen in the streets. It was said that the population of Rome was nearly doubled by the concourse of
- ↑ Declaration of the Bishops, June 8, 1862, in the "Acts of the Canonisation of the Martyrs of Japan," p. 543. Rome, 1864.
