chapter 8 the church gives witness in wars and revolutions

CHAPTER 8

THE CHURCH GIVES WITNESS IN WARS AND

REVOLUTIONS

PART IV - Bl. Pio Nono and the Rise of Nationalism

In 1846, Pius IX was elected PopeHe visited hospitals and schoolsMade improvements to the cityAllowed for greater toleration of Roman Jews.

The Revolutions of 1848

By 1848, Metternich’s Europe—the tight conservative grip that kept unhappy peasants and unruly revolutionaries at bay—was slowly weakening.

The spirit of revolution in central Europe was linked to a desire for national unity.

The Revolutions of 1848 (cont’d)

In Italy-Pope Bl. Pius IX faced growing pressure to declare war on Austria on behalf of Italy.Italians wanted to win back the regions of Lombardy and Venice that Austria seized during the Congress of Vienna.Because of the pope’s popular liberal policies, many had hoped that the pope would actually lead in the initiative to fight Austria.Not surprisingly, the pope refused to involve the papacy in a war against another Catholic nation. He condemned the idea of a federal Italy led by the pope and urged the Italian people to stay faithful to their respective princes.

The Revolutions of 1848 (cont’d)

In the eyes of the people, Bl. Pio Nono’s opposition to the revolution made him an enemy. The revolutions of 1848 and his exile from Rome not only changed Bl. Pius IX’s political position, but also the focus of his papacy. To defend his sovereign territory, Bl. Pius IX raised an international army of volunteers.

Ultramontanism •The ongoing liberal revolutions of the nineteenth century divided Catholics.•In Mainz, thinkers believed that liberal ideas were too secular, rational, and anti-clerical. •They began to look to the pope as the last defender of the Catholic cause, the final bulwark against a liberal world. •ultramontanists (over the mountains) because as they looked to the pope for support and leadership, emphasizing his centrality and authority more than ever before.

Ultramontanism (cont’d)•In Munich, another Catholic school recognized an inevitable trend of European governments towards liberal democracy and sought to build bridges of mutual understanding between the Church and democratic regimes. •These thinkers were optimistic about modern culture and believed that Church leaders could co-exist with liberal ideas and that dialogue with the modern world was beneficial for the future of the Church.

The Immaculate Conception

Ironically, it was a religious proclamation, not a political one that would bring the questions of Liberalism and papal authority to the forefront of debate within the Church. In 1854, fours years after his return to Rome, Bl. Pius IX solemnly defined the doctrine of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. “Theotokos” (literally, “bearer of God”).

The Immaculate Conception (con’t)

Throughout the history of the Church, Mary had been venerated as the Immaculate ConceptionThe Feast of Her Immaculate Conception had been celebrated since 7th CenturyDebate however continued during the 12th CenturyThe Council of Trent specifically excluded Mary from its decree that all have inherited the stain of original sin.With all of this, the exact nature of the Immaculate Conception was never officially defined as a dogmatic statement of the Church


The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was not a surprising proclamation But the way in which Bl. Pius IX proclaimed it certainly was. The Immaculate Conception was no longer debated theologicallyBl. Pius IX had consulted with bishops before his definition

But ultimately he defined this tenet of Faith on his authority as pope.


He spoke as the voice of the Church Not as the first among bishops Nor within the context of an ecumenical council.

This bold move implied that the authority of the Church on doctrinal and moral matters lay within the competence of the papal office.


Four years later, in 1858, at the grotto of Massabielle, in Lourdes, France, a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous had a vision. Mary appeared to the girl, proclaiming in the ninth vision, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” It seems that she was pleased with Bl. Pius’ solemn declaration.

Our Lady of Lourdes (con’t)

In all, St. Bernadette received eighteen visitations from Mary over a six month period. The Church declared the apparitions authentic in 1862, and today Lourdes is one of the world’s most popular pilgrimage sites. The miraculous spring has healed thousands of people from all over the world.

The First Vatican Council •Pope Bl. Pius IX continued to assert his opposition to the liberal world. •In 1864, Bl. Pius issued the encyclical Quanta Cura with its Syllabus of Errors. • the pope attacked many ideologies and opinions

that challenged Church authority• Socialism• Gallicanism• Rationalism• and the separation of Church and state.

The First Vatican Council (cont’d)

• The Syllabus of Errors condemned many errors prevalent in nineteenth-century Europe• pantheism • naturalism • rationalism, whether absolute or moderate• false tolerance in religious matters• socialism • communism • secret societies• errors regarding the Church and her rights, especially in relation to the

state• and errors regarding Christian Matrimony.


At the time, all Catholics generally agreed that the pope taught infallibly. Some argued that the pope spoke as the first among all bishops and did not agree that Church authority lay exclusively in the pope himself. Others argued that as the Vicar of Christ, the pope himself was infallible and that all his letters, encyclicals, and teachings stood as official Church doctrine.On December 8, 1869, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Bl. Pius IX opened the First Vatican Council to help reconcile these growing divisions between members of the Church.

The First Vatican Council (cont’d):Papal infallibility

The Galileo affair: the Holy Office—the Roman congregation that advises the pope on doctrinal questions—handled the inquiry and meted out the punishment

Although, from a modern perspective, this matter should have been handled better, the silencing of Galileo was a disciplinary measure and not a doctrinal one.It bears repeating: disciplinary actions do not fall with

the context of infallibility.


Proof in favor of papal infallibility can be found in both Scripture and Tradition. Sacred Scripture includes three specific proofs.

Matthew 16:18 records Christ’s words to St. Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”

This text contains the promise that St. Peter was to be the rock-foundation of the Church, and it follows that his successors are heirs to this promise.


Luke 22:31-32 records Christ saying to St. Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen our brethren.” This prayer of Christ was specifically for St. Peter as head of the Church. John 21:15-17 recounts the post-Resurrection triple command of Christ to St. Peter, culminating with: ‘“Simon, son of John, do you love me?’…And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything: you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”


The whole of Christ’s flock is thus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors.

History has recorded many statements in almost every century to the effect of “Peter has spoken through _____” (whoever was the reigning pope at the time).


“On the Infallible Teaching Authority of the Roman Pontiff”:

We teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable (Constitutio prima de Ecclesia [First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ], 1870, 4.9).


This definition, approved by Bl. Pius IX, set specific parameters for infallible papal teachings.

Therefore, without the necessary conditions for infallibility encyclicals, letters, and homilies are simply ranked as ordinary teachings of the pope.

Although these papal writings still enjoy very high authority of opinion, they are not to be considered infallible teachings of the Catholic Church on their own authority.

The Roman Question In September 1870, Vittorio Emmanuele took Rome.

In November 1870, Italy passed the “Law of Guarantees” to regulate the new relations between Church and state. (A similar offer had been rejected by Bl. Pius IX before the conquest of Rome.) The law provided that the pope would retain all of the honors and immunities of a sovereign. It gave the pontiff use of the Vatican, the Lateran, and Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence in the hills southwest of Rome, and allotted him three and a half million lire each year as compensation for his territorial losses.

What were these losses?

The Roman Question (cont’d)

Significantly, the law also stated that the pope would appoint all the Italian bishops (the highest concentration of bishops in the world).

Before this time, papal appointment of bishops was not an assumed or guaranteed privilege. Paradoxically, by losing control of the Papal States, the pope gained greater moral authority in administering the Church as a whole.

Pope Pius IX Responds

Bl. Pius IX refused to accept the “Law of Guarantees. Instead, he locked himself inside the Vatican palace, declaring himself a “prisoner of the Vatican.”

The Pope remained in this state until 1929 when Italy agreed to an independent city-state and granted the pope possession of his palaces, not just “use”.


In the meantime, the pope was at the mercy of the Italian state, and consequently, Church and state were at odds.

The government seized Church properties, took responsibility for education away from religious orders, monastaries were suppressed and religious orders abolished.


In 1868, Bl. Pius IX had issued the decree “Non expedit” which forbade Catholics from participating in the Italian political process, either by voting or running for office.

Catholics became second class citizens in their own country.

chapter 8 the church gives witness in wars and revolutions

Documents

ongoing liberal revolutions

liberal ideas

liberal world

immaculate conception

liberal democracy

church leaders

ultramontanism contd

th century debate