For we hope that with the assistance of God, all ecclesiastics as well as lay Catholics, having before their eyes what by the Apostolic See has been decreed, on account of the same vicariate, will be constant both in its observance and in spiritual subjection to you, and thus will avert all fear which we have entertained of schism. "In the meanwhile, venerable brother, the Apostolic Benediction we affectionately impart to you. "Given at Rome, in the Palace of St. Mary Major, 13th May, 1848, in the second year of our Pontificate. "PIUS P. P. IX. "To the Venerable Brother, Caetano Antonio, of the Congregation of St. Philip Neri at Goa, Bishop of Usula and Vicar-Apostolic of Ceylon." This brief has been formally published by the Vicar-Apostolic of Ceylon, together with a Pastoral Letter, exhorting all the Roman Catholics of the island to "submit to it in the spirit of obedient children of the Catholic Church." ITALY. Anarchy at Rome. Flight of the Pope-Gross Mariolatry. The experiment which the papacy has tried upon the democracy, in assaying to "baptize and Christianize that wild matron "," has termipated at last in the utter discomfiture of the former. The circumstances connected with the late revolution at Rome, and the flight of the Pope to Gaeta, are too generally known to require detailed mention here. We shall therefore content ourselves with recording the rescript addressed by Pius IX. to his rebellious subjects. "Pius IX., Pope, to his beloved subjects.-The violence committed against Us during these last days, and the intention of rushing into farther crimes, which has been evinced (may God avert these misfortunes by instilling into men's hearts sentiments of humanity and moderation!) have compelled Us to separate Ourselves for a moment from Our subjects, and Our children whom We have always loved, and whom We still love. 66 Among the motives which have determined Us to have recourse to this separation (and God knows how painful it is to Our heart), the most important is that We wished to have full liberty in the exercise of the supreme power of the Holy See, which, under existing circumstances, the Catholic world might not unnaturally suppose We no longer possessed. While this violence is to Us in itself a cause of great bitterness of heart, it is still more so when We remember the stain of ingratitude with which a number of men of perverse minds have covered themselves in the face of Europe and of the whole world, and still more the stain stamped upon their souls by the wrath of God, who sooner or later executes the chastisements pronounced by His Church. "In the ingratitude of Our children We recognize the hand of the Lord which smites Us, and wills that We should expiate Our sins and those of the people. Yet We cannot, without betraying Our duty, * See Father Ventura's Funeral Oration for O'Connell, English Review, vol. viii. pp. 249, 250. refrain from solemnly protesting before all (as on the fatal evening of the 16th and the morning of the 17th of November, We have done orally before the corps diplomatique, which had so honourably gathered around Us, and contributed so much to strengthen Our heart) that We have been subjected to unheard of and sacrilegious violence, which protest We intend by these presents solemnly to renew, to wit, that We have been oppressed by violence, and that, consequently, We declare all the acts which have followed, thereupon, null and void, and of no legal force or validity. "The severe truths and protests which We have now set forth, have been wrung from Us by the wickedness of men, and by Our conscience which in this emergency has stirred Us up mightily to the fulfilment of Our duties. Nevertheless, in the presence of God Himself, and while We pray and supplicate Him to appease His wrath, We trust that We shall not be precluded from commencing Our prayer with these words of a holy king and prophet: Lord, remember David and all his trouble.' "Meanwhile, being anxious not to leave the government of Our State without a head at Rome, We appoint a government commission, consisting of the following persons: Cardinal Castracane, Mgr. RobertoRoberti, Prince Roviano, Prince Barberini, Marquis Bevilacqua of Bologna, Marquis Ricci of Macerata, Lieutenant-General Zucchi. In confiding to this government commission the temporary administration of public affairs, We recommend all Our subjects and sons to maintain peace and order. Lastly, We will and decree, that fervent prayers should daily be addressed to God for Our humble person, and for the restoration of peace in the world, and especially in Our State and at Rome, where Our heart will always be, in whatever part of the fold of Christ We may take shelter. And for Ourselves, as becomes the sovereign priesthood, and above all, We invoke, most devoutly, the Sovereign Mother of mercy, the Immaculate Virgin, and the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in order that, according to our ardent desire, the indignation of Almighty God may be turned away from the city of Rome, and from all Our states. "Given at Gaeta, the 27th November, 1848. PIUS PAPA IX." It is not a little remarkable, that while the Saviour's name does not once occur in the above document, (except in designating the Church as "the fold of Christ "), the office of intercessor being altogether attributed to the "Sovereign Mother of mercy," that holy name was subjected to the most fearful profanation in the streets of Rome, during the late disturbances. The crowds which proceeded through the city in triumph, after the assassination of Count Rossi, on their way to the papal palace, shouted "Blessed be the democratic dagger! long live the Democrat Jesus Christ!" The appeal which the Pope has made in his rescript for special prayers for himself has been readily responded to every where. The Ami de la Religion is full of extracts from the mandements of the different bishops, ordering prayers pro summo pontifice. They are mostly conceived in the same profane and anti-Christian style as the rescript itself. The Arch bishop of Paris, for instance, speaks of " the Vicar of Jesus Christ having commenced his passion," forcibly calling to mind the passage of the Psalmist, "Let his prayer be turned into sin." Since the above was written, intelligence has been received of the deposition of the Pope from his temporal sovereignty. The mode by which this result was arrived at, is for the present involved in obscurity; but the fact itself there appears to be no reason to doubt. NEWFOUNDLAND.-Spiritual Destitution of the Coast of Labrador.The following extract from a letter of the Bishop of Newfoundland to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, exhibits, in a striking light, the miserable spiritual destitution of this part of his lordship's diocese, which he has recently visited :— "A store was quickly offered and prepared for Sunday service, and in the morning we had a congregation of nearly 150 persons, almost all men, and nearly as many in the afternoon. None of the heads of families had ever had an opportunity of being married otherwise than by public attestation before witnesses. Three of them were anxious to be married by a Clergyman, and all their children were to be admitted into the Church. You would have been equally surprised and delighted to have seen the decent and devout way in which the people entered into these services. Had there been longer notice, many would have attended the service from neighbouring coves and harbours, but the intelligence and opportunity were confined to this bay only. "I know not whether to be most pleased or grieved by the earnest anxious desire of the people to have a Clergyman amongst them. One very respectable man, who has brought up, or is bringing up, a family of nine children, is just on the point of removing to Nova Scotia, in despair of finding any spiritual guide or counsel for himself and family here. He has been resident in this neighbourhood nearly thirty years, and in all that time has never seen a Clergyman of his own Church. All his children were admitted into the Church, and one of his daughters married, or remarried. "My chief object in writing to you is to ask and pray that some Clergyman may be found to take the oversight of these poor people. They say they are well able to support a clergyman. One poor man, as we should call him, said there is not a man on the shore who would not give 57. a year towards his support; and if I would only give them the promise of a Clergyman, they would soon build a church. "This is the first place I have visited on the coast of Labrador, and I may expect to have similar applications in other places. A Clergyman placed here would be able occasionally to visit the opposite coast of Newfoundland; and in a settlement almost immediately opposite, called Anchor Point, are nearly one hundred souls, who have never been visited by a Clergyman. At Bay of Islands are as many; and at Bonne Bay more than half that number. But on the Labrador coast, in the summer, within the limits of the Government of Newfoundland, and therefore, I presume, of my spiritual charge, are ten thousand souls who have no spiritual guide or overseer. Most of these remain four months, and there are now many resident families. SWITZERLAND.-Captivity of Bishop Marilley. Bishop Marilley, with whose character and career our readers have been made acquainted in former numbers of our Review 3, has become involved in a serious quarrel with the authorities of the five cantons* over which his diocese extends, and especially with those of Freiburg, where the Bishop of Lausanne and Genève usually resides. Being known to be unfavourable to the recent revolutionary changes, by which the old aristocratic and Roman Catholic party were dispossessed of power, and the reins of the state fell into the hands of the democratic, and in a great measure infidel, party, Bishop Marilley, who had, moreover, official differences with the existing government, was suspected of secretly fomenting a reactionary movement against the new federal constitution. Accordingly he was, on the 14th of October, called upon by the Council of State-1. To enter into a distinct engagement to submit himself, and to cause his clergy to submit, to the federal Constitution; 2. Tó renounce all ecclesiastical pretensions inconsistent with the Constitution; to submit to the previous approbation of the State, all his pastorals, mandements, and other circulars, and to reform the Synodal Constitution of the diocese in conformity with the recent political changes. The Council of State added that they would not suffer him by underhanded machinations to perpetuate mistrust, disquietude, and disorder in the Canton." They gave him time to consider, adding, that if no answer was received from him by the 23rd, his silence would be construed into a refusal of submission. To this ultimatum the Prelate replied by a haughty letter of remonstrance, in which, after a long homily to the Cantonal Government, on its delinquencies towards the Church, he thus concluded in reference to the three points specified :-1. That he was quite ready, for himself and his Clergy, to submit to the Constitution in all civil matters, but not in any matter affecting the rights and the constitution of the Church; 2. that he could not abate any of his ecclesiastical rights; and 3. that he would not submit his Pastorals and other Episcopal publications to the approbation of the State, but claimed for them the freedom of the press; and that he could not alter the synodal constitutions, to make them square with the civil laws, where the two might differ. The result of this reply was, that in the night from the 24th to the 25th of October, the Bishop was suddenly arrested and transported to Lausanne, whence, on the 26th, he was removed to the famous castle of Chillon. Against this measure the Papal Nuncio at Lausanne protested in the most energetic terms, deinanding the instant liberation of the captive Bishop, which was followed, shortly after, by a note to the same effect, from Cardinal Soglia, in the name of the Pope himself. The result of this intervention was, that the government of the five Cantons came to the following resolutions: --- 3 See vol. v. pp. 454-456; and vol. vi. pp. 222, 223. "1. Stephen Marilley shall no longer exercise the Episcopal functions in the diocese of Lausanne and Genève. "2. He is prohibited from residing in the territory of the Cantons over which the said diocese extends. "3. The Council of State of the Canton of Freiburg will, if occasion should arise, take suitable measures for the provisional administration of the diocese. It will, moreover, take the preliminary steps for bringing about a re-organization of the bishopric." These resolutions were communicated to Bishop Marilley on the 10th of December, and in the night from the 12th to the 13th, he was transported by the authorities of the Canton of Lausanne to the French frontier, and set down in the small parish of Divonne. This proceeding must necessarily lead to further dissensions between the Papal See and the Swiss Republic, and will probably put a stop to the negotiations which had been in progress, relative to the changes caused by the recent revolution in the Cantons of the Sunderbund. UNITED STATES. Diocesan Convention of New York. - Number and Qualification of Lay Delegates. The Diocesan Convention of the diocese of New York was opened on Wednesday, October 11. The most important subject that came before it, was an alteration in the number and qualification of the lay delegates. On this subject a committee had been appointed in 1847, whose report was now presented to the Convention. From the length of the document, we are compelled to confine ourselves to a brief abstract of its contents. The alterations proposed were as follows:- "After the words 'lay members,' in Article III., to insert the words, 'who shall be Communicants;' and to strike out the words 'or more,' and to insert the words, 'and not more than three,' whereby the Article, as amended, should read thus: "ARTICLE III.-The Convention shall be composed of the officiating ministers, being regularly admitted and settled in some church within this diocese, which is in union with this convention; and of lay members who shall be Communicants, consisting of one, and not more than three, delegates from each church, to be chosen by the vestry or congregation; and clergymen employed as Missionaries under the direction of this Convention; and clergymen engaged as professors or instructors of youth in any college, academy, or general seminary of learning, duly incorporated, may be members of the Convention." The committee unanimously agreed, that the number of lay delegates from each parish ought to be limited to three. On the question as to the qualification of lay members, the report says:-"The foremost fact presented to the view of your committee, is the cherished truth, that the Church is the mystical Body of Jesus Christ; organized into a Kingdom, of which He is the Lord and Head; and composed of members which He hath incorporated together, by virtue of scriptural qualifications, and sealed into union by his appointed Sacraments. The constitution, proposed to be amended, while |
