To commemorate 150 years since the First Vatican Council Professor John Morrill presented a study day entitled ‘St John Henry Newman and Vatican I’. The day was livestreamed on Saturday 21st November 2020.
The Council’s declaration of the infallibility of the Pope was extremely contentious above all since it redrew the understanding of the infallibility of the Church. After the election of Pius IX in 1846 the situation in the Papal States became ever more fraught. The Council began in December 1869 and suspension became inevitable in 1870 with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.
In England the hierarchy had been re-established in 1851 and Henry Manning became archbishop of Westminster in 1865. He was a former Anglican widowed clergyman and archdeacon and a staunch proponent of papal infallibility. The other English bishops, and theologians above all John Henry Newman, were resolutely opposed to the definition, considering it ‘inopportune’.
At the Council, which began in December 1869, the majority of the 700 bishops from around the world were in favour, though often out of fear of the consequences of speaking out. The environment for the discussions was the north transept of St Peter’s Basilica; it was difficult to hear, dreadfully cold in winter and boiling hot as the summer approached.
Those who opposed the definition argued that the role of Councils was being usurped. Had not Pope Honorius been corrected by the Third Council of Constantinople? Many ended up voting in favour for the sake of unity. Many left the Council to avoid having to vote.
The vote in favour of infallibility was practically unanimous, but there was major fallout, with many Catholic priests and people leaving the Church. Through it all John Henry Newman was serene. He maintained that the ultimate truth came from the sensus fidelium of the people. There would always be tension between the centre and the periphery, and between authority, tradition and conscience. In time the church would adjust, and the Second Vatican Council would be able to balance Vatican One with its teaching on the role of Bishops (and therefore Councils) in the Church.
