Bishop Hefele on Pope Honorius [pp. 273-301]

~78 VON HEFELE ON POPE HONORIUS. [Apr11,
~as a high rank; also his two volumes of "Contributions to
Church History, Arch~ology and Liturgics." But his great
work is his "History of Councils," (one volume of which has
been done into English), which has now reached the 7th vol.,
including the Council of Constance. Every man is human; and
Protestants might say, that a bias for Catholic tradition pervades this work to a certain extent, especially in the interpretation of the decrees and canons of some of the earlier Councils. But still it must be acknowledged to be a candid and
thorough work; altogether the best history of Councils cxtant, and the most reada~le; prepared with full knowledge,
and written in a calin and transparent style. In the third
vohime of this history, published in 1859, he reviewed at
length the case of Honorins and the Sixth General Council
(also under the Seventh and Eighth Councils), and came to the
same results, with a fuller exhibition of the grounds and
reasons which he restates in the pamphlets cited at the beginning of this article. So that this is no new opinion of his,
evoked by debate, but an historical judgment, resulting from
the facts of the case. Of this document we give a full translation, based upon both the Latin and German editions.
It may be said, that the three eminent divines we have
named, Mgr. Maret, Father Gratry, and Bishop Hefele, have
renounced the~~c views, since they have all submitted to the
dogmatic definition of the Vatican Council. They have submitted, but their works remain They have submitted for the
sake of the peace of the Church. They have submitted, in
part, doubtless, because they were bound fast by the meshes
of their own logic; for they said, the Pope alone is not infallible, but Pope and Council together are; and both Council
and Pope decrecd Papal Infallibility. They have submitted;
because otherwise they must take the ground that the Vatican
Council was not (I~cumenicA. They have submitted; and
their very submission is an additional argument against the
iron power of Rome, compdling men at its bidding to renounce
in an hour the results and fruits oE such life-long, conscientious, historical studies as were never made by any one of the
Fathers of the majority of the Council which passed the de