 |
| Papal primacy, supremacy and infallibility |
|---|
Cisalpinism (derived from "this side of the Alps") was a movement among English Roman Catholics in the late eighteenth century intended to further the cause of Catholic emancipation, i.e. relief from many of the restrictions still in effect that were placed on Roman Catholic British subjects. This view held that allegiance to the Crown was not incompatible with allegiance to the Pope.
With the deterioration of relations with the American colonies, the British government was faced with the necessity of increasing troop recruitments. While the Catholic Relief Act of 1778 eased some provisions of the Penal Laws, its main purpose was to encourage the Catholic gentry to support enlistments. According to historian Thomas Bartlett, "It firmly established the principle of Catholic relief as a key element of war-time strategy." [1] The passing of this act was the occasion of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots (1780).
Cisalpinism was more a political than theological position, directed toward helping the question of emancipation. [2] It sought accommodation of the English Roman Catholic Church within the Protestant State in the 18th century, when the Penal Laws persecuting the Catholic Church were still in place. Thirty Catholic laymen met in 1782 to elect a "Catholic Committee" of five, for a period of five years, "to promote and attend to the affairs of the Roman Catholic body in England". [3] According to the Secretary to the Committee, Charles Butler, "A variety of circumstances prevented them making any particular exertions in the cause entrusted to them." [3]
The Committee first action was to write to the four Apostolic Vicars that one of the causes raised against further repeal of the penal laws was the title "apostolic vicar" and the perception of too close a dependence on the "Court of Rome". The Committee proposed the restoration of the hierarchy with the apostolic vicars becoming Bishops in Ordinary, governing their own dioceses. From the perspective of the actual working of ecclesiastical affairs, each of the Apostolic Vicars had a different opinion; and the matter was dropped. [4]
| Separation of church and state in the history of the Catholic Church |
|---|
The powers of the first committee having expired at the end of its term in 1787, a new committee was constituted made up of ten members. In February, the Committee sent a letter to the Prime Minister protesting various prohibitions for which they suffered severe penalties. Among those listed were:
and as loyal subjects, they petitioned for redress of their grievances. [5]
In May 1788, the following year, the following members were added: James Talbot, vicar apostolic of the London district (although he never attended a meeting); Charles Berington, co-adjutor of the Midland district; and Joseph Wilks, a Benedictine monk.
Although it looked like a way to safeguard the English Catholic population, Bishop Charles Walmesley (1722–1797), the Vicar Apostolic of the west of England, thought Cisalpinism would mean a new oath of allegiance that would "exclude the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction" and "diminish our dependence in spirituals on the Church in Rome, and by degrees to shake it off entirely; likewise to take off the abstinence of Saturday, to reduce Lent to a fortnight before Easter, and to have the Liturgy in English".
The publication of the "Staffordshire Creed" by some Staffordshire clergy to Bishop Walmesley complained about the excommunication of the Benedictine Joseph Wilks. The creed also contained the Rights of the Priesthood against the Episcopacy, and this at a time when many Catholic laity were still being accused of treason.
In 1797 Bishop Walmesley publicly excommunicated the signatories of the "Staffordshire Creed". One of the defenders of the Cisalpine tradition who even objected to the Asperges (sprinkling of Holy Water) before Mass was John Lingard, author of the hymn Hail Queen of Heaven the Ocean Star and first Rector of Ushaw College seminary. Father Daniel Rock, chaplain to Lord Shrewsbury of Alton Towers from 1827 to 1841, continued for a short time elements of the Cisalpine tradition. It was the chance meeting at Alton Towers of Lord Shrewsbury with Father F. W. Faber that promoted Ultramontanism.
Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarch's or state's authority—over the Church is comparable to that of the Pope.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Roman Catholic diocese centred at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England.
Charles Walmesley, OSB was the Roman Catholic Titular Bishop of Rama and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England. He was known, especially in Ireland, for predicting the downfall of Protestantism in 1821–5 and the triumphant emergence of the Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of 3,373 square miles (8,740 km2), encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of Oxfordshire as well as Caversham in Berkshire. The metropolitan see is in the City of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad. The metropolitan province includes the suffragan dioceses of Clifton and Shrewsbury.
The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Cotton College was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as Saint Wilfrid's College.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by an apostolic vicar who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District was created in 1688 and changed its name to the Central District in 1840. It was dissolved in 1850 and was replaced by two dioceses.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the Western District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicariate of the Western District was created in 1688 and was dissolved in 1850 and replaced by two dioceses.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese that covers the Channel Islands as well as parts of England. The episcopal see is St John's Cathedral in Portsmouth and is headed by the Bishop of Portsmouth. The diocese is part of the metropolitan Province of Southwark, which covers all of the far South of England as well as the Channel Islands.
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted Catholics to the practice of law, permitted the exercise of their religion, and the existence of their schools. On the other hand, chapels, schools, officiating priests and teachers were to be registered, assemblies with locked doors, as well as steeples and bells to chapels, were forbidden; priests were not to wear vestments or celebrate liturgies in the open air; children of Protestants were not to be admitted to the schools; monastic orders and endowments of schools and colleges were prohibited.
The Cisalpine Club was an association of Roman Catholic laymen formed in England in the 1790s to promote Cisalpinism, and played a role in the public debate surrounding the progress of Catholic Emancipation.
Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre was a British peer and prominent member of the English Roman Catholic nobility. Born into an exceptional wealthy family, Lord Petre became a philanthropist and was responsible for employing James Paine to design a new Thorndon Hall and a house in Mayfair.
The English Protestant Reformation was imposed by the English Crown, and submission to its essential points was exacted by the State with post-Reformation oaths. With some solemnity, by oath, test, or formal declaration, English churchmen and others were required to assent to the religious changes, starting in the sixteenth century and continuing for more than 250 years.
John Milner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and controversialist who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1803 to 1826.
John Joseph Hornyold was an English Catholic bishop, titular Bishop of Phiomelia, and Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, England for twenty-two years.
A royal veto of the appointment of bishops was proposed in the United Kingdom from 1808 to 1829. According to the proposal, any restoration of the full episcopal hierarchy of the Catholic Church, in Great Britain, should be subject to a veto of the Crown over the appointment of any bishop whose loyalty was suspect.
The Roman Catholic Relief Bills were a series of measures introduced over time in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries before the Parliaments of Great Britain and the United Kingdom to remove the restrictions and prohibitions imposed on British and Irish Catholics during the English Reformation. These restrictions had been introduced to enforce the separation of the English church from the Catholic Church which began in 1529 under Henry VIII.
Charles Berington was an English Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1795 to 1798.
George Hay was a Roman Catholic bishop and writer who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District in Scotland from 1778 to 1805.
John Douglass was an English Roman Catholic bishop who was the Vicar Apostolic of the London District from 1790 until his death in 1812.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .