After the mass, which was said by the Archbishop of Corfu, the council was addressed by Mgr. Wierzchleyski, Archbishop of Leopoli, in Galician Poland, who spoke in the name of the deputation on discipline, of which he is a distinguished member.
Speeches were afterward made by the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux, Cardinal Rauscher of Vienna, and by the Bishops of Guastalla, Saluzzo, and St. Augustine, Florida.
The next morning, Saturday, the 30th, the discussion was resumed. The Archbishop of Avignon, and the Bishops of Luçon and Parma made some remarks on the general features of the schema. These prelates were followed by the distinguished Bishop Von Ketteler of Mayence, the Bishops of Plymouth and of Clifton in England, and the Bishop of Trèves in Germany; all of whom confined themselves to some particular points of the document. Bishop Von Ketteler, who belongs to a baronial family in Germany, before becoming a chief in the church militant, served his country with distinction as colonel in the German army. He must be at least six feet high, has quite a soldierly bearing, and is concise and to the point in his remarks. The last speaker was the Bishop of Seckau in Germany, a member of the deputation.
As the rules of the council authorize the members of the deputation to reply to the observations of the fathers at any stage of the discussion, the committee avail themselves of that privilege by making the final speech, which in ecclesiastical convocations, as well as in civil meetings, is generally the most telling one.
At the conclusion of the remarks by the Bishop of Seckau, the president declared that the debate on the Little Catechism was closed, and that the vote would be taken on the following Wednesday, on all the amendments proposed.
In the congregation of Wednesday, May 4th, the Bishop of Tyre and Sidon celebrated mass in the peculiar and impressive form of the Maronite rite. The president asked the prayers of the fathers for the venerable Bishop of Evreux in France, who died in his seventieth year, and survived only two days after returning home from the council.
Permission was granted to nine foreign bishops to return to their sees. Among them were the Bishops of Arichat and Charlottetown, in British America. The regular business commenced with a second speech by the Bishop of Seckau, who reviewed all the amendments proposed in the preceding congregation. The final vote was then taken on the Little Catechism as a whole. Each bishop voted viva voce. The term placet was used by the prelates who gave unqualified approbation to it; placet juxta modum by those who had some modification to propose, while assenting to its general features; and non placet by those who dissented from the measure. The total number of votes given was 591.
The Little Catechism, which has received no small share of public attention, now "lies over" till the final seal of approbation is stamped upon it at the next public session.
The general congregations were resumed on the 13th. After the usual religious exercises, leave of absence without the obligation of returning was granted to the following prelates:
The Bishop of Gezira, Mesopotamia, Syriac rite; the Bishop of Merida, Venezuela, South America; the Bishop of Ferns, Ireland; the Bishop of Goulbourne, Australia; the Bishop of Puno, Peru; the Bishop of Santiago, Chili; the Archbishop of Marasce, Cilicia, Armenian rite; and the Bishop of Mardin, Chaldea, Armenian rite.