Before being approved unanimously in the April 24, 1870 session, the constitution De Fide (On Faith) was returned several times to the special commission to be modified according to the amendments presented and to receive its definitive wording. In the meantime, the Council Fathers decided to move on to disciplinary matters. They successively examined the schemas1 De episcopis (Of the Bishops), De sede episcopali vacante (On the Vacant Episcopal See), De vita clericorum On the Life of the Clergy, and De parvo catechismo (On a Small Cathechism).
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The debates during the study of the constitution De Fide made clear that papal infallibility was the Council’s ultimate concern. To resolve the disciplinary matters, it became evident that considering other items of business required solving the infallibility issue first. In every discussion, the infallibilist majority and the anti-infallibilist minority always had infallibility in view, orienting their proposals to facilitate or hinder its proclamation as dogma.
For example, when they began studying the schema De episcopis, Friedrich Cardinal Schwarzenberg of Prague and Bishop Josip Strossmayer of Đakovo asked that the Council issue a decree on the Sacred College, the Curia, and the Roman congregations before dealing with the reform of the episcopate. This ploy was a clear allusion to the proceedings of the Council of Trent, in which Archbishop Friar Bartholomew of the Martyrs pointed out that the College of Cardinals urgently needed reform. In raising the issue at the Vatican Council, the two liberal hierarchs clearly intended a patent criticism of the Holy See.
To circumvent this maneuver by the minority, Camillo Cardinal di Pietro responded by defending the Curia and the cardinals. For their part, the majority’s bishops did everything they could to smooth out the difficulties that might arise when the schema on infallibility was presented. They also tried to hasten its introduction, mindful that the chaotic political conditions of the time could impede the continuation of the Council at any moment.2
Prominent among the majority was Henry Edward Cardinal Manning. He tirelessly fought to have the dogma of Papal Infallibility defined. All who knew the illustrious Archbishop of Westminster described him as a man whose physique revealed his noble soul and imposing dignity. The son of a London banker, he had been a friend of future Prime Minister William Gladstone in his youth. Initially, Henry Manning also set his sights on a great political career. His motto at the time was: “Be either Caesar or nothing.” The Oxford movement, in which he participated, led him to abjure Protestantism. He collaborated with Cardinal Wiseman to restore English Catholicism.
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In his A History of the Catholic Church (1930), Fernand Mourret, who met Cardinal Manning at the end of his life, described him. “His noble, grave, austere countenance, with something firm and decisive, was unforgetful. His build was tall and somewhat curved.”
Cardinal Manning was the undisputed leader of the majority. Released by Pius IX from confidentiality concerning the Council’s sessions, he defused diplomatic intrigues and plots by those interested in the Council’s failure.
The issue of infallibility arose constantly, and not only within the Council. Agitation about the subject grew all over Europe as discussion on the De Ecclesia schema approached. The public debate reached its peak in France. Every issue of l’Univers published petitions from the faithful supporting the definition. Except for the small liberal group, all Catholics longed for infallibility. In Rome, the Pope had forbidden any public debate on the subject, but onlookers pointed out the “opportunist” bishops who opposed infallibility at the entrance to the Council. At the same time, Pius IX only had to appear anywhere for the people to burst into cheers for the infallible Pope.
On April 23, several Council Fathers addressed this Postulatum to the pontiff, urging prompt action on the infallibility question.
“Your Holiness: ever more incendiary writings are spreading every day, attacking the Catholic tradition, belittling the dignity of the Council, disturbing the minds of the faithful, exaggerating divisions among the bishops, and gravely wounding the peace and unity of the Church. On the other hand, times are approaching when it may be necessary to suspend the Council’s meetings, with the imminent danger that the question agitating people’s minds remain unresolved.
“To prevent Christian souls from being swayed by all sorts of doctrines and the Council and Catholic Church from being exposed to insults by heretics and unbelievers, so the already severe evil does not become irremediable, the undersigned Fathers humbly and earnestly beseech you, Holy Father, to deign to apply to these great evils the only efficacious remedy by ordering that the scheme on the infallibility of the Sovereign Pontiff be immediately proposed to the Council’s deliberations. In so doing, you will carry the mission Christ Our Lord entrusted to you to feed the sheep and lambs and the duty imposed on you to confirm your brethren.”
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At the session on April 29, Filippo Cardinal de Angelis of Fermo, the Council’s chief presiding officer, relayed a message from Pius IX. Taking into consideration the bishops’ numerous and pressing requests, the Pope had determined that the schemas De Primatu (Of the Primate) and De Infallibilitate (On Infallibility) would be submitted for deliberation before the remaining part of the De Ecclesia (On the Church) schema.
The excitement was enormous. The Pope’s strategy was so obviously wise that the Council Fathers hastened the vote on the Catechism, quickly resolving the difficulties that arose. This cleared the way for the study of the issue of infallibility after four sessions.
Commenting on the attitude of the minority bishops, Louis Veuillot pointed out that they had made the definition of infallibility opportune by repeatedly calling it inopportune. Indeed, political events would soon bring the Council to a halt. In effect, the minority’s agitation made inevitable the event the minority feared most. Had it not been for them, the Church might have been deprived of the great grace of this proclamation of the Dogma of Papal Infallibility.
Footnotes
- Within the Chruch, schema is the term used to describe a proposal or draft document. They are often used in large councils to provide a basis for consideration and debate. There is a considerable difference between the Church’s usage of this term and its more modern usage among psychologists and educators.
- Often overshadowing the Council’s deliberations was revolutionary unrest in both Italy and France. In Italy, the Savoyard King Victor Emmanuel II threatened to invade the Papal States, which he did on September 20, 1870. In August of that year, the Prussians successfully attacked France, which caused the overthrow of Napoleon III on September 4. The combined impact of these two events forced Pope Pius IX to adjourn the Council indefinitely on October 20. It never reconvened, although the Council was not formally closed until 1960 by Pope John XXIII.