Vatican Council 1869
MacHale attended the First Vatican Council in 1869. He thought that the favourable moment had not arrived for an immediate definition of the dogma of papal infallibility. Better to leave it a matter of faith, not written down, and consequently he spoke and voted in the council against its promulgation.
Once the dogma had been defined, he declared the dogma of infallibility "to be true Catholic doctrine, which he believed as he believed the Apostles' Creed". In 1877, to the disappointment of the archbishop who desired that his nephew should be his co-adjutor, Dr. John McEvilly, Bishop of Galway, was elected by the clergy of the archdiocese, and was commanded by Pope Leo XIII after some delay, to assume his post. He had opposed this election as far as possible, but submitted to the papal order.
Read more about this topic: John Mac Hale
Famous quotes containing the word council:
“There by some wrinkled stones round a leafless tree
With beards askew, their eyes dull and wild
Twelve ragged men, the council of charity
Wandering the face of the earth a fatherless child....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)