Cardinal Caterini, president,
Mgrs. Giannelli,
Angelini,
Svegliati,
Simeoni,
Nina,
Nobili,
Lucidi,
de Angelis, professor of canon law in the Roman university,
F. Tarquini, S.J.,
Canon Jacobini,
Professor Hergenroether, of Wurtzburg,
Professor Feije of Louvain,
the Abbé Sauvé, of Laval,
Canon Giese, of Munster,
Professor Heuser, of Cologne,
Professor de Torres, of Seville, and
Mgr. Louis Jacobini, secretary.
Several other distinguished men have been added to these commissioners since this list was published. Dr. Newman was invited to assist, but declined on account of his infirm health. Dr. Döllinger was also invited.
The sessions of the council will be held in one of the large chapels of St. Peter's Church, which is capable of containing several thousand persons. The principal architects of Rome are already engaged in preparing the proper accommodations, under the immediate supervision of the Holy Father himself. The altar of the council is at one end of the chapel, the throne of the sovereign pontiff at the opposite end. On the right and left of the throne are placed the seats of the cardinals, patriarchs, and ambassadors of sovereigns. The seats of the prelates are ranged in two semicircles, each tier being elevated above the one before it; the tribune of the orators is placed in the middle of the open space between, and there are also tribunes prepared for those who will be admitted as spectators of the public sessions.
A large and beautiful piece of black marble, which was found among the treasures of the Emperor Nero, at the recent exhumation, is to be made into an obelisk commemorative of the council, which will be erected near the spot where St. Peter was crucified. The base of the column is to be made of a number of small blocks of white marble, equal to the number of prelates assisting at the council, each one placing his own block, with his name and title engraved upon it.
The bishops alone are entitled to a seat in the council by divine right. Cardinals, abbots, and generals of religious orders are entitled to a seat also, by ecclesiastical law or privilege. The question of the right of bishops in partibus infidelium to a seat is now under discussion, and we have not learned whether it has yet been decided or not.
This circumstance has given the Roman correspondent of the New York Heralda chance of furnishing a specimen of the ridiculous and reckless falsification of matters relating to the Catholic Church, by which the ordinary readers of newspapers are perpetually befooled and mystified. The doubt respecting the right of these bishops is represented as having been raised in order to keep out those who are not sufficiently subservient to the holy see, and the conclusion drawn—with the usual flippant impertinence of this class of writers—that Rome will admit none who are not prepared to carry out fully her own policy. The truth is, however, that these bishops in partibus—who are prelates holding merely titular sees which are in fact extinct or in the possession of schismatics, many of them having been decorated with the episcopal character by the pope only for the sake of honor—are precisely the men who have the least power of opposing the holy see and the greatest interest in procuring its favor. Some of them are vicars-apostolic governing missionary districts, others are coadjutors of diocesan bishops, others are prelates who have resigned their sees, and the remainder are prelates filling certain high offices in the Roman court. It is evident enough that if there were any reason to apprehend opposition to the pontifical authority from any portion of the hierarchy, it would be rather from the primates and metropolitans of old and powerful sees, who have been nominated by sovereigns, and who would have all their support and authority to sustain them. There is no reason, however, to apprehend that any collision will take place between the holy see and the hierarchy, who have never in the whole history of the church been more completely united than they are at present.
The bishops take no theologians with them, and, besides the prelates themselves, only the theologians of the holy see and the representatives of the sovereigns will participate in the deliberations of the council.
In regard to the matters which will be proposed for the adjudication of this supreme tribunal, we find many conjectures, more or less plausible, both in Catholic and secular periodicals. We prefer to wait until the acts of the council are made known in an authentic manner, before speaking on this subject. We remark merely that there is not the slightest foundation for the rumors which are reported in certain newspapers respecting proposed changes in the established discipline of the church, regarding matters which have long ago been definitely settled.