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raging against the rights, the authority, and the majesty of the church. We have seen evil desires, and the dire thirst of gold and gain. We have seen, I say, violence, rapine, adulteries, incest, finally every pestilence of wickedness, so confound all things sacred and profane, so strike against the sacred vessel, that she was almost laid upon her beam-ends amidst the waves of iniquity, she was almost sunk and foundered.

Julius 2, An. Dom. 1512.

Bull of the declaration of the objects of the Holy General Council of Lateran.

Julius, bishop, and servant of the servants of God, &c.

Who shares in such an error as to accuse us of negligence in calling this council, when for the last eleven years that we have enjoyed the office of cardinal, we have had nothing more at heart than to behold the assembling of a general council, and that the state of the Roman church should be reformed?

From Labbæus, as above.

Julius 2, An. Dom. 1512.

Extract from a Speech delivered by Christopher Marcellus in the fourth Session of the Council of Lateran.

We are placed in such a license of siuning, that, with a few exceptions, there is no one who does not oppose all virtue, and who observes even the most trivial laws. Wickedness and intemperance fill and occupy all things; all things wander and deviate from the straight path of equity and righteousness: there is no one who looks to himself, to his heart, or to his understanding. Every one prefers his own convenience and his private advantage. The state itself and the church herself are deserted, and being deserted mourn, languish, and lament.

Fifth Council of Lateran, 5th Session, Pope Leo 10. An. Dom. 1513. Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God, &c.

Since, therefore, Pope Julius 2, our predecessor of happy memory, in order that the state of the aforesaid church should be reformed, with the counsel and assent of our venerable brethren, then his cardinals of the said church, called and proclaimed the sacred and general council of Lateran, and afterwards began to celebrate it, and held as many as five sessions in it, and declared that the sixth session should take place on the 3d of the ides of the present month, as is more fully contained in the papers or letters of the said Julius our predecessor; we, who were then among the inferior clergy, and most particularly desired that the said council should be assembled, being through the divine will appointed the successor of the Lord Julius, our predecessor, have not less at heart the celebration of the said council, and that it continue and be carried on until the causes for which it was called are fulfilled, and we announce our intention of continuing this council until its proper conclusion and completion.

majestatem ecclesiæ sævientem. Vidimus malas cupiditates, diram auri et habendi sitim. Vidimus, inquam, vim, rapinas, adulteria, incestus, omnem denique scelerum pestem ita sacra profanaque miscere omnia, ita in sanctam naviculam impetum facere, ut pene scelerum fluctibus illa latus dederit, ac prope mersa et passumdata fuit.

P. 31. Julius 11, An. Ch. 1512.

Bulla indictionis Sacri Generulis Concilii Lateranensis. Julius, episcopus, servus servorum Dei ad futuram rei memoriam. Quis enim tanti erroris particeps est, qui nos de negligentia erga convocationem concilii redarguere possit, cum nihil nobis per ultimos undecim annos, quibus cardinalatus officio functi sumus, magis cordi fuerit, quam celebrari videre generale concilium, et ecclesia Romanæ statum in melius reformari?

Julii 2, An. Ch. 1512, p. 107.

Christophori Marcelli in quartâ Lateranensis concilii Sessione habita oratio.

In tantâ namque peccandi licentiâ constituti sumus, ut paucis quidem exceptis, nullus sit, qui virtutibus non officiat omnibus, qui leges neque minimas quidem observet. Omnia improbitas et intemperantia complet et occupat, omnia a recto æquitatis et justitiæ tramite deviant, in obliquum tendunt; neque ullus est, qui ad seipsum, ad cor suum mentemque respiciat. Quisque commoditatem suam privatamque utilitatem prætendit. Ipsa verò respublica, ipsa ecclesia derelinquitur, et derelicta conqueritur, et languet, et plorat.

P. 130.

Concilium Lateranense 5, Sessio. 5, Leo. 10. An. Dom. 1513.

Cum itaque felicis recordationis Julius Papa secundus, predecessor noster, ut status ecclesiæ præfatæ in melius reformaretur, sacrum et generale Lateranense concilium de venerabilium fratrum nostrorum, tunc suorum ecclesiæ præfatæ cardinalium, de quorum numero tunc eramus, concilio et assensu,, convocaverit et indixerit, illudque deinde celebrare inceperit, et in eo plures usque ad quintum sessiones inclusivè tenuerit, sextamque sessionem tertio idus præsentis mensis faciendam indixerit, prout in literis seu schedulis dicti Julii prædecessoris desuper confectis plenius continetur: nos qui etiam tunc in minoribus constituti, concilium præfatum celebrari summopere cupiebamus, et Domino Julio prædecessore, sicut domino placuit, illius successores effecti, non minus cordi tenemus dicti concilii celebrationem usque ad perfectionem causarum, propter quas indictum fuit, continuare et ad finem perducere, conciliumque hujusmodi ad illius debitum finem et complimentem prosequi velle nuntiamus.

Extract from the Bull for the Reformation of the Court. Labbaus, tom. 14, Leo. 10, p. 219, An. Dom. 1514.

It becomes the Roman pontiff, who sits by the will of the divine arrangement, by which all things in heaven and on earth are arranged by an ineffable providence, on the exalted throne of the blessed Peter, and who is the vicegerent upon earth of Christ, the only begotten Son of God, to discharge primarily the office of a wise shepherd for the care and safety of the Lord's flock entrusted to him by the Deity. Wherefore, moved by the watchfulness which belongs to the said pastoral office, whereas we behold ecclesiastical discipline and regularity of life stagger, depart, and wander farther from the right way through the difficulty of the times and the malice, licentiousness, and impurity of men, so that unless it be carefully improved by correction, it is to be feared that from the facility of sinning with impunity, men will fall into various errors, &c.

Fifth Council of Lateran. Session 6, An. Dom. 1513. P. Leo. 10. Phil. Labbæus and Cossart, vol. 14, p. 149.

(Printed at Paris 1672.)

Simon Begni, Bishop of Modrusch.

I have always deemed it to be necessary first of all that the head of our faith, I mean the Roman church, be quieted, restored, and reformed.

It is a matter of regret and sorrow that faith, piety, and religion, have grown so cold, I might almost say, have become so corrupted, that scarcely any vestiges of them remain; and that the faith and fervour which dwelt in the minds of our forefathers have so cooled in us, when the church, free from the persecutions of heretics, enjoys the greatest peace and liberty, that we may truly say with Jeremiah, "From the daughter of Sion all her beauty is departed," the beauty, namely, of innocence and chastity. "Her princes have become like rams; enemies have entered her sanctuary." They have polluted the churches; her virgins and young men have gone into captivity. The priests and the ancients have despised God. There is no law or commandment; judgment is perverted. From Labbæus, vol. 1, p. 239.-Fifth Council of Lateran.-Pope Leo 10, an. Ch. 1514.

Extracts from the Speech delivered by the Most Res. Father Lord Anthony Pucci, Clerk of the Apostolic Chamber, at the Ninth Session of the Holy Council of Lateran.

If you direct your attention to the monastic order, you will decide according to your wisdom that it is necessary frequently to inquire and to look into it, lest besides a difference of rule and convention, and certain contentions and divisions even among those who maintain their obedience, a great contamination of ignorance, ambition, avarice, and worldly-mindedness, 'be not deeply infixed in their hearts. I shall purposely pass over what presents itself respecting

Bulla Reformationis Curia, An. Dom. 1514. Labbæi, tom. 14, Leo. X. p. 219.

Supernæ dispositionis arbitrio, quo cælestia pariter et terrena ineffabili providentiâ disponuntur, in sublimi beati Petri solio, Christi unigeniti Dei filii gerentem vices in terris Romanum pontificem decet imprimis, pro cura et salute dominici gregis sibi divinitùs commissi, providi exercere pastoris officium. Quare pro dicti pastoralis officii solicitudine, cum ecclesiasticam disciplinam, ac per omnes ferè Christi fidelium gradus bene recteque vivendi regulam, temporum difficultate ac hominum malitiâ, licentiâque et impunitate, in deterius ita labi, diffluere, aberrareque longius a recta via animadvertimus, ut nisi provida corrigatur emendatione, in varios errores securitate peccandi quotidie magis incidere, moxque obortis publicè seandalis, prorumpere sit verendum, &c.

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Concilium Lateranense 5, Sessio 6, An. Ch. 1513, P. Leo 10. Ph. Labbæi et Cossarti, tom. 14, p. 149.-(Parisiis 1672.) Simon Begnius, Episcopus Modrusiensis, &c.

Illud enim necessarium imprimis semper fore duxi, ut fidei nostræ caput, Romana scilicet ecclesia, componatur ante omnia, instauretur,

reformetur.

Tædet verò pigetque fidem, pietatem, religionem nostris temporibus ita tepuisse, et poenè dixerim, contabuisse videri, ut vix earum ulla vestigià sint reliqua. Et in nobis quo tempore ecclesia ab hæreticorum persecutionibus vacua, summâ pace et libertate fruitur, tantopere fidem et fervorem majorum nostrorum animis insitam refrixisse, ut cum Jeremia verè dicere possimus, ❝ Egressus est a filia Sion omnis decor ejus," Innocentiæ scilicet et castitatis. Principes ejus facti sunt ut arietes, hostes ingressi sunt sanctuaria ejus." Ecclesias polluerunt, virgines ejus et juvenes in captivitatem abierunt. Sacerdotes et senes sprecerunt Deum. Non est lex, non est mandatum, judicia pervertuntur.

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Ibidem, p. 239.

Concilium Lateranense 5, Leo P. 10, An. Ch. 1514.

Oratio Habita per Reverendum Patrem Dominum Antonium Puccium, Camera Apostolica Clericum, in Nona Sacrosancti Lateranensis Concilii Sessione.

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Si ad monasticum inde ordinem te contuleris, citra primam illam observantiæ conventusque dissonantiam, ac nonnullas etiam inter observantes ipsos obedientiæ contentiones atque scissuras, ne qua præcipua ignorantiæ, ambitionis, avaritiæ, ac sollicitudinis temporalis labes intimis eorum præcordiis medullitus inhæserit, etiam atque etiam animadvertendum inspiciendumque pro tuâ sapientia judicabis. Ut autem de fæmineo devotoque sexu, miserabilis cojus

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religious women, whose miserable state may be appreciated from the condition of man, who is the head of woman; but I beseech you to apply all your thoughts and mental powers to those, who called to the heritage of the Lord and distinguished by the clerical profession, have the chief care and management of souls. For you will thus more clearly and openly behold what cogency, what usefulness, what safety in governing the sheep may thence be hoped for.

Alas! alas! unhappy fathers about to hear such things from my mouth respecting your sons; yet far more wretched am I, who am about to utter these things, and most wretched of all are they who have occasioned you to hear and me to recount their works. The distinguished order of our clergy has gone such lengths, that the ac ceptable time being slighted, and the present hour of so great salvation being neglected, we have so far destroyed the reign of charity, and we have so far increased the tyranny of covetousness, that it will be expedient that out of your goodness towards us, you should diligently inquire, and that we, urged by the reproaches of our conscience, should greatly fear, lest we should belie both in word and deed this our most honourable warfare in the presence of the divine Majesty. For to use the words of Augustine, to speak falsely is not the only kind of falsehood, but to profess one'self to be a bishop or a priest, and to act in opposition to this order.

If we turn over the sacred volume and examine the ancient decrees of the fathers, and inquire into the whole tenor of the canons, do we not learn that clergyman who is a parasite, and wicked, a betrayer of his neighbour, malevolent, a perverse accuser of his brother, envious, seditious, a disturber of another's peace, ambitious, a sacrilegious usurper of sacred dignities, an adulterer and a vile perpetrator of other obscenities, cruel himself, but a remorseless avenger of the injuries inflicted by others; a nefarious covetor of vile gain; do we not learn, I say, by the authority of the sacred volume, and by the decrees of the fathers, and by the fullest authority of the ancient canons, and by inviolable decrees, that such clergymen either should not be invested with the priestly office, or that if they have been promoted to it, part of them should be deposed from the priesthood, and the rest of them wholly suspended? Truly if the kindness of our mother had not induced her in her wisdom to relax a little from the very great severity of the ancient canons, where would such clergy have taken refuge in our times? Where would they have hid their faces, conscious of so many acts of wickedness? Whose aid or pity would they have dared to implore? For when after thus running through the ranks of the church I direct my attention to the city herself, which the chief of the apostles inspired by the divine Spirit called Babylon, and demand of the pastors who dwell within her, and who are set over the whole world for the salvation of souls, the cause of such great errors, Behold! I appear to see, I know not by what perception, that divine spouse, the Jerusalem that is above, shining in the splendour of her mystical body or resplendent with the brightness of the human nature of her husband, but attired in a mournful garment, all covered

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