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Page 4
The Church is established on earth by the direct act of God, and is
set "as an army in battle array". It exists for the express purpose of
combating error and repressing evil, in whatever form it may appear;
and whether it be instigated by the devil, or the world, or the flesh.
But, let us ask, Who ever heard of an army without a chief? An army
without a supreme commander is an army without subordination and
without law or order; or rather, it is not an army at all, but a
rabble, a mob.
The supreme head of Christ's army--of Christ's Church upon earth, is
our Sovereign Lord the Pope. Some will not accept his rule, and refuse
to admit his authority. But this is not only to be expected. It was
actually foretold. As they cried out, of old, to one even greater than
the Pope, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke xix. 14),
so now men of similar spirit repeat the self-same cry, with regard to
Christ's vicar.
Nevertheless, wheresoever his authority is loyally accepted, and where
submission, respect and obedience are shown to him, there results the
order and harmony and unity promised by Christ: while, on the
contrary, where he is not suffered to reign there is disorder, rivalry
and sects.
To be able to look forward and to foresee such opposite results would
perhaps need a prophetic eye, an accurate estimate of human nature,
and a very nice balancing of cause and effect. It could be the
prognostication only of a wise, judicious, and observant mind. But we
are now looking, not forwards, but backwards, and in looking backwards
the case is reduced to the greatest simplicity, so that even a child
can understand; and "he that runs may read".
The simplest intelligence, if only it will set aside prejudice and
pride, and just attend and watch, will be led, without difficulty, to
the following conclusions: firstly, without an altogether special
divine support, no authority can claim and exercise _infallibility_ in
its teaching; and secondly, without such infallibility in its teaching
no continuous unity can be maintained among vast multitudes of people,
least of all concerning dogmas most abstruse, mysteries most sublime
and incomprehensible, and laws and regulations both galling and
humiliating to human arrogance and pride.
It is precisely because the Catholic Church alone possesses such a
supreme and infallible authority that she alone is able to present to
the world that which follows directly from it, namely a complete
unity and cohesion within her own borders.
Yes! Strange to say: the Catholic Church to-day stands alone! There is
no rival to dispute with her, her unique and peerless position. Of all
the so-called Christian Churches, throughout the world, so various and
so numerous, and, in many cases, so modern and so fantastic, there is
not a single one that can approach her, even distantly, whether it be
in (_a_) the breadth of her influence, or in (_b_) the diversity and
dissimilarity of her adherents, or in (_c_) the number of her
children, or in (_d_) the extent of her conquests, or (_e_) in the
absolute unity of her composition.
Even were it possible to unite into one single body the great
multitude of warring sects, of which Protestantism is made up, such a
body would fall far short of the stature of her who has received the
gentiles for her inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
her possession (Ps. ii. 8), and who has the Holy Ghost abiding with
her, century after century, in order that she may be "a witness unto
Christ, in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the
uttermost parts of the world" (Acts i. 8). But we cannot, even in
thought, unite such contradictories, such discordant elements; any
more than we can reduce the strident sounds of a multitude of
cacophonous instruments to one harmonious and beautiful melody.
And if the Catholic Church stands thus alone, again we repeat, it is
because no other has received the promise of divine support, or even
cares to recognise that such a promise was ever made. The Catholic
Church has been the only Church not only to exercise, but even to
claim the prerogative of infallibility: but she has claimed this from
the beginning. Every child born into her fold has been taught to
profess and to believe, firstly, that the Catholic Church is the sole
official and God-appointed guardian of the sacred deposit of divine
truth, and, secondly, that she, and no other, enunciates to the entire
world--to all who have ears to hear--the full revelation of
Christ--_His truth_; the whole truth, and nothing but the truth;
fulfilling, to the letter, the command of her Divine Master, "Go into
the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark xvi.
15).
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