Letter.
(Vide p. 284.)
Fr. Antonio di Gesu, formerly Pietro Leonini Pignotti of Rome, to the General of the Order of Carmelite Friars at Rome, Health.
Some time ago you summoned me to Rome to give an account of my belief. Nothing was ever more agreeable to me than your invitation, since I have always desired to bear testimony to the truth. I should not have hesitated in the least to obey you, if I had imagined that I could as freely have confessed my opinions at Rome as I do at Malta. But at Rome, as you well know, there are certain theologians, who for any dissent expressed against their views, immediately raise the cry of heresy, and conclude with Thomas Aquinas, "that heretics should be burned." Willing, therefore, to spare myself any such proceedings as you would, doubtless, have thought it necessary to put in force against me, had I presented myself before you, I judge it best to give you no other trouble than will accrue to you in examining my present belief, such as I now hold it, and, with the help of God, hope to keep it to the hour of my death.
I believe then all that God has revealed to us in his holy word, in which he has clearly pointed out to us the way, the truth, and the life we ought to follow, in order, through the assistance of Christ, to enter into his kingdom. I consequently believe, with the true Catholic Church, all that is taught in the Apostolic and the Nicene creeds.
I do not believe in the traditions of the Church of Rome, which are altogether false, and fabricated for interested purposes, partly from errors in the writings of the early fathers, and false interpretations of Scripture, and partly from foolish superstitions, which are by the Church called pious, although contrary to the spirit of the word of God.
I believe that Jesus Christ instituted two Sacraments—Baptism, and the Holy Supper: the first, when he said to the Apostles, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" and the latter, when he said, "This do in remembrance of me."
I do not believe that Jesus Christ ever instituted the sacrament of confirmation, since he gave no commands respecting it. The imposition of hands is a simple rite in imitation of what was done by the apostles. Acts viii. 17. The anointing is entirely of Romish invention. Neither is there any mention of auricular confession in the New Testament. St. James exhorts the faithful to confess their sins to one another, that is, to ask forgiveness of each other for mutual wrongs. Of extreme unction not a word is said in the whole of the Bible. Ordination is nothing more than a simple rite, a ceremony consisting in the imposition of hands, praying God to give to his people good and faithful ministers. And matrimony is merely a contract between the parties, and the priest is enjoined to implore the Lord to bless the union. These five last have by no means the same claim to be regarded as sacraments as the two first. And even these two are altered and injured by the Romish Church, since in baptism water alone should be used, and not salt and oil; and in the Holy Supper common bread should be used, as it was originally, and as it has always been in the true Catholic Church.
I believe that original sin consists in the corruption of human nature descending from Adam. I believe that justification is solely the work of grace, without regard to works, as the Apostle teaches in his Epistle to the Romans.