CHAPTER I.
'EXPOSITION OF THE SUBJECT AS INTRODUCTION.'
1. The general exposition of the subject with which my opponent, Dr. Schulte, opens his attack upon the Church commences with a German translation of the Address of several of our archbishops and bishops, issued under the date of April 10, 1870.[1] This Address entreats the President of the General Congregation of the Council not to bring on for consideration, or to decide the question of the Infallibility of the Pope, before the question as to the power of the Holy See in temporal matters, or rather, as to the relative position of the ecclesiastical and political power, has been thoroughly weighed in all its bearings, and put to the test. These prelates, it seems, thought it desirable that the question whether Christ our Lord had given to St. Peter and his successors the power over kings and realms should first be laid before the Council, and thus that the relation of the ecclesiastical to the temporal power should first be made matter of mature deliberation. He adds himself that this Address produced no result.
Accordingly, this Address of certain archbishops
- ↑ I ought to say that with respect to this address of April 10, 1870, I have not had at hand any copy of it, except the translation of Dr. Schulte himself, which he assures us is perfectly correct.
