




                     The Irish Ecclesiastical Record

                                Volume 1.

                              November, 1864





CONTENTS


The Holy See And The Liberty Of The Irish Church At The Beginning Of The
Present Century.
   I. From Mgr. Brancadoro to Father Concanen, O.P., Agent at Rome for the
   Irish Bishops. Dalla Propaganda. 7 Agosto, 1801.
   II. From the same to the same. Dalla Propaganda, 25 Settembre, 1805.
A Recent Protestant View Of The Church Of The Middle Ages.
The Mss. Remains Of Professor O'Curry In The Catholic University. No. II.
The Destiny Of The Irish Race.
Liturgical Questions. (_From M. Bouix's __"__Revue des Sciences
Ecclesiastiques__"_).
Documents.
   I. Condemnation Of Dr. Froschammer's Works.
   II. Decree Of The Congregation Of Rites.
Notices Of Books.
Footnotes






THE HOLY SEE AND THE LIBERTY OF THE IRISH CHURCH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PRESENT CENTURY.


All students of Irish Catholic affairs must feel, at every moment, that we
are at a great loss for a collection of ecclesiastical documents connected
with our Church. The past misfortunes of Ireland explain the origin of
this want. During the persecutions of Elizabeth, of James the First, and
Cromwell, our ancient manuscripts, and the archives of our convents and
monasteries, were ruthlessly destroyed. At a later period, whilst the
penal laws were in full operation, it was dangerous to preserve official
ecclesiastical papers, lest they should be construed by the bigotry and
ignorance of our enemies into proofs of sedition or treason. Since liberty
began to dawn on our country, things have undergone a beneficial change,
and recently great efforts have been made to rescue and preserve from
destruction every remaining fragment of our ancient history, and every
document calculated to throw light on the annals of our Church. We are
anxious to cooeperate in this good work, and we shall feel deeply grateful
to our friends if they forward to us any official ecclesiastical papers,
either ancient or modern, that it may be desirable to preserve. Receiving
such papers casually, we cannot insert them in the RECORD in chronological
order, but by aid of an Index, to be published at the end of each volume,
the future historian will be able to avail himself of them for his
purposes.

To-day we insert in our columns two letters never published before, as far
as we can learn, in their original language. They were addressed, in the
beginning of this century, by the learned Archbishop of Myra, Monsignore
Brancadoro, Secretary of the Propaganda, to a distinguished Dominican,
Father Concanen, then agent of the Irish bishops, who was afterwards
promoted to the See of New York, and who died at Naples, in the year 1808,
before he could take possession of his diocese.

The first letter, dated the 7th August, 1801, refers to certain
resolutions adopted by ten Irish prelates, in January, 1799, at a sad
period of our history, when Ireland was in a state of utter prostration,
and abandoned to the fury of an Orange faction. In such circumstances, we
are not to be surprised that the Catholics of Cork, Waterford, Wexford,
and many other parts of Ireland, in the hope of preserving their lives and
property, should have petitioned to be united to England; or that Catholic
prelates, anxious to gain protection for their flocks, should have
endeavoured to propitiate those who had the power of the government in
their hands, by taking into consideration the proposals then made--that the
state should provide for the maintenance of the clergy, and that a right
should be given to the state to inquire into the loyalty of such
ecclesiastics as might be proposed for the various sees of Ireland.

The celebrated Dr. Milner, treating of the resolutions just referred to,
observes in his _Supplementary Memoirs_, p. 115, that they had nothing in
common with the veto which was afterwards proposed by government in 1805,
and several times in succeeding years, and adds, that the prelates
"stipulated for their own just influence, and also for the consent of the
Pope in this important business."

According to the wise determination of the prelates, the matters they had
agreed to were referred to the judgment of the Supreme Head of the Church.
A speedy answer, however, could not be obtained. At that time the great
Pontiff, Pius the Sixth, was a captive in the hands of the French
Republicans, and soon after died a martyr at Valence in France. The Holy
See was then vacant for several months, until, by the visible
interposition of Providence, Italy was freed from her invaders, and the
cardinals were enabled to assemble in conclave to elect a new Pope. Soon
after his promotion, Pius the Seventh occupied himself with the affairs of
our Church, and the secretary of the Propaganda received instructions to
communicate through Father Concanen to the Irish Prelates the wishes of
his Holiness.

The substance of the official note of Monsignore Brancadoro is, 1. That
his Holiness is thankful to the British government for the relaxation of
the penal laws to which Catholics had been so long subjected, and for any
other acts of liberality or kindness conferred on them. 2. That the Irish
prelates, whilst manifesting their gratitude for the favours they had
received, should prove, by their conduct, that it was not through a
feeling of self-interest, or through hopes of temporal advantages, that
they inculcated on their flocks the necessity of obedience to the laws and
the conscientious fulfilment of the duties of good citizens; but that they
did so through a spirit of religion, and in conformity with the dictates
of