He argues that
ecclesiastical authority belongs essentially to the whole Church. The Pope
and the bishops are its ministers, and form the executive power instituted
by God. The Pope is the ministerial head of the Church; our Lord Jesus
Christ is the Absolute Chief and Supreme Pastor. The Pope has no power of
making canons; that authority belongs to the universal Church, and to
general councils. Richer was seized by certain emissaries of a Catholic
leader as he entered the college of the Cardinal, and carried off to
prison, from which he was ultimately released on the intercession of his
friends and of the University. But Richer's troubles did not end when he
regained his freedom. Having been invited to supper by Father Joseph, a
Capuchin monk, he went to the house, not suspecting any evil intentions on
the part of his host. But when he entered the room where the feast was
prepared he found a large company of his enemies. The door was closed
behind him, daggers were drawn by the assembled guests, and they demanded
from him an immediate retractation of all the opinions he had advanced in
his work. The drawn daggers were arguments which our unhappy author was
unable to resist. As a reward for all his labour and hard study he was
obliged to live as an exile, as he mournfully complained, in the midst of
a kingdom whose laws he strenuously obeyed, nor dared to set foot in the
college of which he had been so great an ornament.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131