Quotes from Chiniquy

 The following quotes are from , 50 Years in the Church of Rome, pp 479-488

The church is of necessity intolerant. Heresy, she endures when and where she must, but she hates it, and directs all her energies to destroy it.

If Catholics ever gain a sufficient numerical majority in this country religious freedom is at an end. So our enemies say, so we believe. The Shepherd of the Valley, official journal of the Bishop of St. Louis, Nov. 23, 1851.

No man has a right to choose his religion. Catholicism is the most intolerant of creeds. It is intolerance itself. We might as rationally maintain that two and two does not make four as the theory of Religious Liberty. Its impiety is only equaled by its absurdity. New York Freeman, official journal of Bishop Hughes, January 26, 1852.

The church is instituted, as every Catholic who understands his religion believes to guard and defend the right of God against any and every enemy, at all times, in all places. She, therefore, does not, and cannot accept, or in any degree favour, liberty in the Protestant sense of liberty. Catholic World, April, 1870.

The Catholic Church is the medium and channel through which the will of God is expressed. While the State has rights, she has them only in virtue and by permission of the Superior Authority, and that authority can be expressed only through the Church. Catholic World, July, 1870.

Protestantism has not, and never can have, any right where Catholicity has triumphed. Therefore we lose the breath we expend in declaiming against bigotry and intolerance and in favour of Religious Liberty, or the right of any man to be of any religion as best pleases him. Catholic Review, June, 1865.

Religious Liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic Church. Rt. Rev. O'Connor, Bishop of Pittsburgh.

The Catholic Church numbers one-third the American population; and if its membership shall increase for the next thirty years as it has the thirty years past, in 1900 Rome will have a majority, and be bound to take this country and keep it. There is, ere long, to be a state religion in this country, and that state religion is to be the Roman Catholic.

1st. The Roman Catholic is to wield his vote for the purpose of securing Catholic ascendency in this country.

2nd. All legislation must be governed by the will of God, unerringly indicated by the Pope.

3rd. Education must be controlled by Catholic authorities, and under education the opinions of the individual and the utterances of the press are included, and many opinions are to be forbidden by the secular arm under the authority of the Church, even to war and bloodshed. Father Hecker, Catholic World, July, 1870.

It was proposed that all religious persuasions should be free and their worship publicly exercised. But we have rejected this article as contrary to the canons and councils of the Catholic Church.

The Rt. Rev. Foley, Bishop of Chicago on December 30, 1880 translated the following law and swore before the court of Kankakee that it was promulgated by St. Thomas Aquinas as an unchangeable law of the church of Rome.

Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it, we must bear with them, till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to the faith of the church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain obstinate in their errors, must not only be excommunicated, but they must be delivered to the secular power to be exterminated. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia, Vol. iv. p. 90.

Bishop Foley was forced to acknowledge further, under oath, that this doctrine was taught in all the colleges seminaries and universities of the Roman Church and that every priest had to acknowledge that every word of this teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas had been inspired by the Holy Ghost.

Bishop Foley also translated the following decree passed by the Council of Lateran in 1215, and acknowledged under oath that it was still the law of the Roman Church:

We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts itself against the holy orthodox and Catholic faith condemning all heretics, by whatever name they may be known, for though their faces differ, they are tied together by their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered over to the existing secular powers to receive due punishment.  If laymen, their goods must be confiscated.  If priests, they shall be degraded from their respective orders, and their property applied to the church in which they officiated.  Secular powers of  all ranks and degrees are to be warned, induced, and if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that they will exert themselves to the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all heretics denounced by the church, who shall be found in their territories. And whenever any person shall assume government, whether it be spiritual or temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this decree.

If any temporal lord, after having been admonished and required by the church, shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the Metropolitan and Bishop of the Province, shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he remain contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the Supreme Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance from that time, and will bestow his territory on Catholics, to lie occupied by them, on condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory in the faith.

Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics, shall enjoy the same indulgence, and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree further that all those who have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend and encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not he eligible to any public officer. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath his property by will, nor succeed to an inheritance. He shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can bring action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not he allowed to plead. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be held valid, but shall be condemned with their authors. St. Thomas Aquinas.

I [the Pope] acknowledge no civil power; I am the subject of no prince; and I claim more than this. I claim to be the supreme judge and director of the consciences of men of the peasants that till the fields, and of the prince that sits upon the throne; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy, and the legislator that makes laws for kingdoms I am sole, last, supreme judge of what is right and wrong. Moreover, we declare, affirm, define, and pronounce it to be necessary to salvation to every human creature, to he subject to the Roman Pontiff!!Cardinal Manning, speaking in the name of the Pope, Tablet, October 9, 1864.

Undoubtedly it is the intention of the Pope to possess this country. In this intention he is aided by the Jesuits, and all the Catholic prelates and priests. Brownson's Review, May, 1864.

For our own part, we take this opportunity to express our hearty delight at the suppression of the Protestant chapel in Rome. This may be thought intolerant; but when, we ask, did we profess to be tolerant of Protestantism, or to favour the question that Protestantism ought to be tolerated. On the contrary, we hate Protestantism. We detest it with our whole heart and soul, and we pray our aversion for it may never decrease. Pittsburg Catholic Visitor, July, 1848, official journal of the Bishop.

No good government can exist without religion, and there can be no religion without an Inquisition, which is wisely designed for the promotion and protection of the true faith. Boston Pilot, official journal of the Bishop.

The Pope has the right to pronounce sentence of deposition against any sovereign when required by the good of the Spiritual Order. Brownson's Review, 1849.

The power of the church exercised over sovereigns in the middle ages was not a usurpation, was not derived from the concessions of princes or the consent of the people, but was and is held by divine right, and whoso resists it rebels against the King of kings and Lord of lords. Brownson's Review, June, 1851.

 . . . any person who has promised security to heretics shall not be obliged to keep his promise, by whatever he may be engaged. The Council of Constance, 1414.

It  is, in consequence of that principle that no faith must be kept with heretics, that John Huss was publicly burned on the scafford, the 6th of July, 1415, in the city of Constance, though he had a safe passport from the Emperor. Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, Charles Chiniquy, 1886.

Negroes have no rights which the white man is bound to respect. Roman Catholic Chief-Justice Tany, in his Dred Scot Decision.

If the liberties of the American people are ever destroyed, they will fall by the hands of the Catholic clergy. Lafayette.

If your son or daughter is attending a State School, you are violating your duty as a Catholic parent, and conducing to the everlasting anguish and despair of your child. Take him away. Take him away if you do not wish your deathbed to be tormented with the spectre of a soul which God has given you as a secret trust, surrendered to the great enemy of mankind. Take him away, rather than incur the wrath of his God, and the loss of his soul. Western Tablet, official paper of the Bishop of Chicago.

Secular (government) schools, are unfit for Catholic children. Catholic parents cannot be allowed the sacraments, who choose to send their children to them, when they could make use of the Catholic schools. Catholic Columbian, edited under the immediate supervision of the Right Rev. Bishop of Columbus, Ohio.

The absurd and erroneous doctrines, or ravings, in defense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential error, a pest of all others, to be dreaded in the State. Encyclical Letters of Pope Pius IX., August 15, 1854.

You should do all in your power to carry out the intentions of his holiness the Pope. Where you have the electoral franchise, give your votes to none but those who assist you in so holy a struggle. Daniel O'Connell.

Catholic votes should be cast solidly for the democracy at the next election. It is the only possible hope to break down the school system. Toledo Catholic Review.

It is of faith that the Pope has the right of deposing heretical and rebel kings. Monarchs so deposed by the Pope are converted into notorious tyrants, and may be killed by the first who can reach them.

If the public cause cannot meet with its defense in the death of a tyrant, it is lawful for the first who arrives, to assassinate him.Suarez, Defensio Fidei; Book VI. c. 4, Nos. 13, 14.

See, sir, from this chamber, I govern, not only to Paris, but to China; not only to China, but to all the world, without anyone knowing how I do it. Tamburini; General of the Jesuits.

A man who has been excommunicated by the Pope may be killed anywhere, as Escobar and Deaux teach, because the Pope has an indirect jurisdiction over the whole world, even in temporal things, as all the Catholics maintain, and as Suarez proves against the King of England. Busembaum. Lacroix, Theologia Moralis, 1757.

Father Guivard, writing about Henry IV. King of France, says: If he cannot be deposed, let us make war; and if we cannot make war, let him be killed. Cretineau Joly, Roman Catholic historian of the Jesuits, Vol. II., page 435.

Are heretics justly punished with death?

St. Thomas says: Yes 2.2. Question 11, Art. 3. Because forgers of money, or other disturbers of the State. are justly punished with death; therefore, all heretics who are forgers of faith and, as experience testifies, grievously disturb the State. This is confirmed, because God, in the Old Testament, ordered the false prophets to be slain, and in Deuteronomy it is decreed that if any one will act proudly, and will not obey the commands of the priests, let him be put to death. The same is proved from the condemnation of the 14th Article of John Huss in the Council of Constance. Dens, Theologia Moralis, tom. ii. n. 56 de poenis criminis haeresis, p. 89. Dublinii [R. Coyne] 1832.

That we may in all things attain the truth. That we may not err in anything, we ought ever to hold, as a fixed principle, that what I see white, I believe to be black, if the superior authorities of the church define it to be so. Spiritual Exercise, by Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.

As for holy obedience, this virtue must be perfect in every point, in execution, in will, in intellect, doing which is enjoined with all celerity, spiritual joy, and perseverance; persuading ourselves that everything is just, suppressing every repugnant thought and judgment of ones own, in a certain obedience, should be moved and directed under Divine Providence, by his superior, just as if he were a corpse (Perinde acsi cadaver esset) which allows itself to be moved and led in every direction. Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercise.

If the Holy Church so requires, let us sacrifice our own opinions, our knowledge, our intelligence, the splendid dreams of our imagination and the sublime attainments of human understanding. Pope Gregory XVI., Encyclical, August 15, 1832.

No more cunning plot was ever devised against the intelligence, the freedom, the happiness and virtue of mankind than Romanism. Gladstone, Letter to Lord Aberdeen.

The principle and most efficacious means of practicing obedience due to superiors, and of rendering it meritorious before God, is to consider that, in obeying them, we obey God himself, and that by despising their commands, we despise the authority of the Divine Master.

When, thus, a Religious receives a precept from her prelate, superior, or confessor, she should immediately execute it, not only to please them, but principally to please God, whose will is known by their command.

If, then, you receive a command from one who holds the place of God, you should observe it as if it came from God Himself. It may be added that there is more certainty of doing the will of God by obedience to our superiors than by obedience to Jesus Christ, should He appear in person and give His command.

St. Philip used to say that the Religious shall be most certain of not having to render an account of the actions performed through obedience, for these, the superiors only, who command them, shall be accountable. Saint Liguori, The Nun Sanctified.

In the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, the plentitude of which resides in His Vicar, the Pope, we declare that the earth is not the center of the world, and that it moves with a diurnal motion, is absurd, philosophically false, and erroneous in faith. Decree of Pope Urban XIII. (signed) by Cardinals Felia, Guido, Desiderio, Antonio, Belligero, and Fabricius.

In consequence of that infallible decree of the infallible Pope, Galileo, in order to escape death, was obliged to fall on his knees and perjure himself, by signing the following declaration on the 22nd of June, 1663:

I abjure, curse and detest the error and heresy of the motions of the earth around the sun. Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, p. 486.

Lesueur and Jacquier, two Jesuit astronomers, made the following statement: Newton assumes in his third book, the hypothesis of the earth moving round the sun. The proposition of that author could not be explained, except through the same hypothesis; we have, therefore, been forced to act a character not our own. But we declare our entire submission to the decrees of the supreme Pontiff of Rome against the motion of the earth.Newtons Principia, by Fathers Lesueur and Jacquier, vol. iii., p. 450.

A Catholic should never attach himself to any political party composed of heretics. No one who is truly, at heart, a thorough and complete Catholic, can give his entire adhesion to a Protestant leader; for in so doing, he divides his allegiance, which he owes entirely to the church. Univers, the official Catholic paper of the Bishops of France, March 28, 1868.

Would he (the priest) he warranted in withholding any sacrament of the church from a man by reason of his preferring one candidate to the other! Absolutely speaking, he would; because a priest is not only warranted, but bound to withhold the sacraments from a man who is disposed to commit a mortal sin!!Bishop Vaughans address to the Catholic Club at Salford, England, January 2, 1873.

Our business is to contrive:

1st. That the Catholics be imbued with hatred for the heretics, whoever they may he, and that this hatred shall constantly increase, and bind them closely to each other.

2nd. That it be, nevertheless, dissembled so as not to transpire until the day when it shall be appointed to break forth.

3rd. That this secret hate be combined with great activity in endeavoring to detach the faithful from every government inimical to us, and employ them, when they shall form a detached body, to strike deadly blows at heresy. Secret Plans of the Jesuits, revealed by Abbate Leon, p. 127.

I am compelled to do one of these two things: Either recall the Jesuits, free them from the infamy and disgrace with which they are covered, or to expel them in a more absolute manner, and prevent them from approaching either my person or my kingdom.

But, then, we will drive them to despair and to the resolution of attempting my life again, which would render it so miserable to me being always under the apprehension of being murdered or poisoned. For these people have correspondence everywhere, and are so very skillful in disposing the minds of men to whatever they wish, that I think it would be better that I should be already dead.Henry IV, King of France, after being wounded by an assassin sent by the Jesuits.

Let us bring all our skill to bear upon this part of our plan. Our chief concern must be to mold the people to our purposes. Doubtless, the first generation will not be wholly ours; but the second will nearly belong to us and the third entirely. The Secret Plan, pp. 127-128.

The state, is, therefore, only an inferior court, bound to receive the law from the superior court (the church) and liable to have its decrees reversed on appeal. Brownson's Essays, pp. 282-284.

The Jesuits are a military organization, not a religious order. Their chief is a general not an army, not the mere father abbot of a monastery. And the aim of this organization is: POWER. Power in its most despotic exercise. Absolute power, universal power, power to control the world by the volition of a single man. Jesuitism is the most absolute of despotisms; and at the same time the greatest and the most enormous of abuses. Memorial of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, by General Montholon, vol. ii. p. 62.

The general of the Jesuits insists on being master, sovereign, over the sovereign. Wherever the Jesuits are admitted they will be masters, cost what it may. Their society is by nature dictatorial, and therefore it is the irreconcilable enemy of all constituted authority. Every act, every crime, however atrocious, is a meritorious work, if committed for the interest of the Society of the Jesuits, or by the order of its general. Memorial of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, vol. ii. p. 174.

That he had taken that principle for basis: That the Catholic religion, with all its votes, ought to be exclusively dominant in such sort that every other worship shall be banished and interdicted! Pope Pius IX. in the allocution of September, 1851.

You ask if the Pope were lord of this land and you were in a minority, what he would do to you? That, we say, would entirely depend on circumstances. If it would benefit the cause of Catholicism, he would tolerate you; if expedient, he would imprison, banish you, probably he might even hang you. But be assured of one thing, he would never tolerate you for the sake of your glorious principles of civil and religions liberty. Rambler, one of the most prominent Catholic papers of England, September, 1851.

Pope Gregory VII. decided it was no murder to kill excommunicated persons. This rule was incorporated in the canon law. During the revision of the code, which took place in the 16th century, and which produced a whole volume of corrections, the passage was allowed to stand. It appears in every reprint of the Corpus Juris. It has been for 700 years, and continues to be, part of the ecclesiastical law. Far from being a dead letter, it obtained a new application in the days of the Inquisition; and one of the later Popes has declared that the murder of a Protestant is so good a deed that it atones, and more than atones, for the murder of a Catholic. Lord Acton, The London Times, July 20, 1872. 

RETURN