ORIGIN OF A CHURCH DOGMA.
We have seen how much stress was laid, in the quarrel between the empire and the Papacy, upon John's innovation on the accepted belief as to Christ's poverty, and the manner in which his resolute purpose had carried that dogma against all opposition. On this occasion he was the conservator of the previously received faith of the church, but the political conjuncture was against him. Not only was Louis of Bavaria consolidating the empire in resistance to the aggressiveness of the Papacy, but France, the main support of the Avignonese popes, was indisposed. Philippe de Valois had been offended by the rejection of his excessive demands in compensation of fulfilling his vows of a new crusade, and had been alienated by John's yielding to the schemes of John of Bohemia, who was endeavoring to secure the imperial territories in Italy. Both monarchs took active steps to turn to the fullest account the Papal heresy. It was a received principle that, as a dead man was no longer a man, so a pope detected in heresy was no longer a pope, seeing that he had ipso facto forfeited his office. Nothing better could serve the purpose of Louis of Bavaria and his junto of exiled Franciscans. Under the advice of Michele de Cesena he took steps to call a German national council, for which Bonagrazia drew up a summons based upon the Papal heresy, and the plan was approved by Cardinal Orsini and his dissatisfied brethren. This came to nought, however, through the still greater promptness of Philippe de Valois to avail himself of the situation. He made the celebrated William Durand, bishop of Mende, write a treatise in opposition to the Papal views, and protected him when John sought to punish him. He assembled the University of Paris, which, January 3, 1333, pronounced emphatically in favor of the beatific vision, and addressed to the Pope a letter asserting it without equivocation. Gerard Odo, the time-serving Franciscan general, was dispatched ostensibly to make peace between England and Scotland, but instructed to dally in Paris and endeavor to win over public opinion. He ventured to preach in favor of John's conservative views, but only succeeded in arousing a storm before which he was forced to bow, and humbly to declare that his argument was only controversial and not assertive. Philippe took the boldest and most aggressive position. He wrote to John that to deny the beatific vision was not only to destroy belief in the intercession of the Virgin and saints, but to invalidate all the pardons and indulgences granted by the church, and so firmly was he convinced of its truth that he would take steps to burn all who denied it, including the Pope himself. Even Robert of Naples joined in remonstrance. Haughty and obstinate as John had proved himself, he could not resist single-handed the indignation of all Europe, and he yielded. He purchased peace by political concessions, and wrote humbly to Philippe and Robert that he had never positively denied the beatific vision, but had treated it simply as an open question, subject to discussion. Even this was not enough. All his ambitious schemes had broken down. In Germany, Louis of Bavaria was posing as the defender of the faith. In France, even the weak Philippe de Valois had resumed his ascendancy over Avignon. In Italy, John's son, Cardinal Bertrand, had been forced to fly, and Lombardy had freed itself. For the wretched old man there was nothing left but to recant and die. He had convoked a consistory for December 2, 1334, to choose a successor to Louis of Bavaria, but before daybreak he was seized with a fatal flux which stretched him hopeless on his bed. Towards evening of the next day he assembled the cardinals and exhorted them to select a worthy successor to456the chair of St. Peter, when his kindred urged him to save his soul and the reputation of the church, by withdrawing from his opinions as to the beatific vision. The secrets of that awful death-bed have never been revealed, but after he passed away, on the 5th, a bull was promulgated over his name in which he professed his belief as to the divine vision, and, if he had in that or anything else held opinions in conflict with those of the church, he revoked all that he might have said or done, and submitted himself to its judgment. Humiliating as was this, Michele de Cesena pronounced it insufficient, as he made no formal confession of error and recantation, whence it was to be inferred that he died a contumacious heretic. Even Paris was not satisfied, although conclusions were not expressed so openly. Benedict XII., who was elected December 20, was a zealous defender of the faith, who had manifested his determination to extirpate all forms of heresy when, as bishop of Pamiers, he had personally conducted for years a very active Episcopal Inquisition in co-operation with the labors of Jean de Beaune and Bernard Gui. Such a man was not likely to underrate the importance of his predecessor's error, and in fact he lost no time in correcting it. On the 22d a significant threat to General Odo to beware, for he would tolerate no heresy, was a notice to all who had yielded to John's imperiousness. On February 2, 1335, he preached a sermon on the text "Behold, the bridegroom cometh," in which he clearly enunciated the doctrine that the saints have a distinct vision of the divine essence. Two days later he summoned before the consistory all who had given in their adhesion to the opinion of John, and demanded a statement of their motives, by way, we may presume, of admitting them back into the fold as easily as possible. A twelve-month later, January 29, 1336, he held a public consistory in which he published decisively that the saints enjoy the beatific vision, and decreed that all holding the contrary opinion should be punished as heretics. Benedict had earned the reputation of a ruthless upholder of orthodoxy, and persecutor of dissent, and no victims were necessary to enforce the reception of the new article of faith. So thoroughly was it received that it passed into the formulas of the Inquisition as one of the points on which all suspected heretics were interrogated; and when, at the Council of Florence, in 1439, a nominal union was patched up with the Greek Church, one of the articles enunciated for the acceptance of the latter asserts that souls which after baptism incur no sin, or after sinning have been duly purged, are received at once into Heaven, and enjoy the sight of the triune God. Thus a new dogma was adopted by the church, in spite of the opposition of one of the most arbitrary and headstrong of the successors of St. Peter.