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lunâ, sol autem octies major terrâ, restat ergo ut pontificalis auctoritas quadragesies septies sit major regali dignitate !*

Decretales D. Gregorii Papæ IX. (Taurini, 1621.)

Lib. i. de translatione Episcopi, tit. ix. Innocentius III. Episcopo et Petro Scholastico Moguntinensi.

Potestatem transferendi pontifices ita sibi retinuit Dominus et Magister, quod soli beato Petro vicario suo, et per ipsum successoribus suis, speciali privilegio tribuit et concessit, sicut testatur antiquitas, cui decreta patrum sanxerunt reverentiam exhibendam, ut evidenter asserunt sacrorum canonum sanctiones. Non enim homo, sed Deus separat, quos Romanus pontifex (qui non puri hominis, sed veri Dei vices gerit in terris,) ecclesiarum necessitate vel utilitate pensatâ, non humanâ, sed potius divinâ auctoritate dissolvit.

Veri Dei vices.] Unde dicitur habere cœleste arbitrium. Et ideò etiam naturam rerum immutat:

Et de nullo potest aliquid facere [de nihilo aliquid facere, est jus novum condere] hæc quippe, quia in his quæ vult, stat pro ratione voluptas. Ipse enim potest sanctum jus dispenItem de injustitiâ facere justitiam corrigendo jura et

sare.

mutando.

Bellarminus de Concil. Auctor. lib. ii. c. 17. (Ingolstadii, 1590.)

Omnia nomina, quæ in Scripturis tribuuntur Christo, unde constat eum esse supra ecclesiam, eadem omnia tribuuntur pontifici.

Bellarminus de Romano Pontifice, lib. ii. c. 31. (Editio ut supra.)

Papa, pater patrum, Christianorum pontifex, summus sacerdos, princeps sacerdotum, vicarius Christi, caput corporis ecclesiæ, fundamentum ædificii ecclesiæ, pater et doctor omnium fidelium, rector domus Dei, custos vineæ Dei,sponsus ecclesiæ, apostolicæ sedis præsul, episcopus universalis.

*The arithmetical skill of the writer of the Comment seems to have been as great as his astronomical science.

Sacrosancta Concilia, studio P. Labbæi et G. Cossartii. tom. xiv. (Parisiis, 1672.)

Christophori Marcelli in quartâ Lateranensis Concilii Sessione habita Oratio. Julius II. Papa.

An. Chr. 1512. "Tu enim pastor, tu medicus, tu gubernator, tu cultor, tu denique alter Deus in terris."

Ibidem.

Simon Begnius, episcopus Modrusiensis in sextâ sessione Lateranensis Synodi habitâ. An. Chr. 1513. Leo X. Papa. Sed ne fleveris, filia Sión, quia ecce venit, "Leo de tribu Juda, radix David." Ecce suscitavit tibi Deus salvatorem, qui salvabit te manibus vastantium.

.

beatissime, salvatorem venturum speravimus.

Ibidem.
Sessio vii.

Te, Leo

Baltassar del Rio, scholasticus Myndonyensis, apostolicæ sedis protonotarius, &c.

Ceu leo rex quadrupedum, tu alter leo, hominum non alter rex tantùm, sed regum rex et orbis terrarum monarchus effectus, alias oves, quæ non sunt de hoc ovili, ad tuum ovile reduceres, alliceres, revocares; "Accingere ergo gladio tuo super femur tuum potentissime."

Ibidem.

Oratio habita per rev. p. Dominum Antonium Puccium. An. Chr. 1514. Leo X. Sess. ix.

Licet enim divinæ majestatis tuæ conspectus, &c. non mediocriter me dicere incipientem terreat: Non ignari omnem tibi uni in cœlo et in terra potestatem traditam a Domino. Quasi in te uno vero atque legitimo Christi et Dei vicario, propheticum illud debuerit rursus impleri, "Adorabunt eum omnes reges terræ, omnes gentes servient ei."

Ibidem.

Oratio Stephani Archiepiscopi Patracensis. Sess. x. An. 1515. Leo X.

Te jubente, pater sanctissime, qui plenitudinem potestatis

in te habes, prædicabitur vera reformatio.

Arripe ergo gladium divinæ potestatis tibi traditum bis acutum, et jube, impera, et manda, ut pax universalis et colligatio per decennios in Christianos ad minus fiat, et reges ad id in compedibus magnitudinis magni regis, et nobiles in maniceis ferreis censurarum constringe, quoniam tibi data est omnis potestas in cœlo et in terrâ.

Extracted from Roscoe's Life of Leo X.

An account of the inauguration of Pope Alexander VI. On the eleventh day of August, 1492, Roderigo having assumed the name of Alexander VI., made his entrance as supreme pontiff into the church of St. Peter. The ceremonies and processions on this occasion exceeded in pomp and expense all that modern Rome had before witnessed; and whilst the new Pontiff passed through the triumphal arches erected to his honour, he might have read the inscriptions, which augured the return of the golden age, and hailed him as a God.

Of these the following one may serve as a sufficient specimen.

Cæsare magna fuit, nunc Roma est maxima, Sextus
Regnat Alexander; ille vir, iste Déus.

(Corio. Storia di Milano. par. 7. p. 888.)

Decretum Gratiani, &c. (Taurini, 1620.)

Decreti prima pars. distinctio 96.

Nicolaus Papa in Epistola ad Michaelem imperatorem. C. 7. Satis evidenter ostenditur a seculari potestate nec ligari prorsus, nec solvi posse pontificem, quem constat a pio principe Constantino (quod longè superiùs memoravimus) Deum appellatum; nec posse Deum ab hominibus judicari manifestum est.

The adoration of the Pope.

A Tour through Italy, &c. by the Rev. John Chetwode Eustace. Vol. ii. Appendix, p. 631. (London, 1813.)

It is not my intention to specify all the forms of etiquette observed, or the ceremonies practised during the process or

* A Roman Catholic priest.

at the conclusion of the election; two or three, however, I must notice for reasons sufficiently obvious, &c. The next ceremony to which I have alluded is that called "The adoration of the Pope;" it takes place almost immediately after his election, when he is placed in a chair on the altar of the Sixtine chapel, and there receives the homage of the cardinals: this ceremony is again repeated on the high altar of St. Peter's. Now, in this piece of pageantry, I object not to the word adoration; no one who knows Latin, or reflects upon the sense which it bears on this and on a thousand other occasions, will cavil at it, though he may wish it otherwise applied. Nor do I find fault with the throne; he who is at the same time both Pontiff and Prince, has from time and custom, perhaps a double title to such a distinction. But why should the altar be made his footstool? The altar, the beauty of holiness, the throne of the victim Lamb, the mercyseat of the temple of Christianity; why should the altar be converted into the footstool of a mortal?

I mean not, however, while I condemn the ceremony, to extend the censure to those who practise or who tolerate it. Besides the difficulty of altering an ancient rite, (if this piece of pageantry, however, deserve that epithet), the world is too well acquainted with the virtues of the late Pontiffs to suspect them of want of humility. To conform to an established custom and refer the honour to him whom they represent, the Prince of Pastors and the Master of Apostles, appears perhaps to them a greater act of humility, than to excite surprise, and perhaps to give offence, by an untimely and unexpected resistance. Be the motives of toleration, however, what they may, the practice is not edifying to any, it is offensive to most, and of consequence, as producing some evil and no good, it ought to be suppressed.*

Adoration of Pope Pius II.

Histoire Ecclesiastique de Fleury, tom. xv. liv. 3. (Nismes, 1779.

Le pape fut conduit dans l'eglise de S. Pierre, et apres etre monté sur le grand autel au pieds duquel sont les tombeaux des saints apôtres, il s'assit sur le trône qu'on lui avoit preparè, et y fut adoré par les Cardinaux, ensuite des evêques,

It still exists.

et enfin de tout le peuple, qui vint en foule lui baiser les pieds.

The grasping ambition of Hildebrand, Gregory VII.

An Essay on the Catholic Claims, addressed to the Right Honourable the Earl of Liverpool, K.G. by the Right Rev. James Doyle, &c. (Dublin, printed by Richard Coyne, 1826.)

This Pope (Gregory VII.) excited by an extraordinary desire to extinguish simony, and to render all mankind as fervent Christians as he was himself, conceived it necessary for his purpose to subject all the nations of the earth to his sway. He assembled his counsellors, and delivered to them and to the Holy Apostles, whom he frequently addressed, the most impassioned harangues.

The proceedings of this Pontiff, however, deserve especial attention, as it is he who commenced the warfare of the Popes against the independence of princes and states. As to the arguments from Scripture or tradition adduced by him or by any of his successors, they are such as will amuse or rather excite the pity of a serious mind.* One wisely observes that because an Apostle said to our Lord, " behold there are two swords here," the Popes have a right to depose kings. Such an inference might appear plausible to him, who was already resolved on an usurpation of right, but a Christian is forced to blush at such a profanation of the word of God. Gregory (from whose virtues I do not wish to detract by censuring his conduct in the matter about which I treat) quotes from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Ep. vi. 3.) “know you not that we shall judge angels themselves, how much more worldly things ?" and from this passage he claims to be invested with a power of invading the rights of kings and emperors, nay of remodelling the state of society throughout the world. If his reasoning were good, the last prebend of Westminster might remove your Lordship from the head of the Treasury; but to offer arguments against such theories is too humiliating to the common sense of men. I feel compelled while referring to them, to blush for the weakness of some great and good men, but I thank God to have lived myself in more enlightened times. This Pope, who would

This must not be forgotten in discussing the rule of faith. Dr. Doyle was one of the most learned and influential Romish bishops in Ireland.

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