The year 1907 was perhaps the highwater mark of the Modernist controverst, for in this year Pope St. Pius X published his groundbreaking encyclical
Pascendi dominici gregis condemning the errors of the Modernists.
The publication of the encyclical was timely for the disciples of the late John Henry Newman. Newman had been dead for almost two decades by the time of Pius X's encyclical, but his works were stirring up controversy. Some Modernist thinkers had attached Newman's name to their own ideas to add the lustre of orthodoxy to their errors; others, in their zeal against the Modernists and suspicious of Newman's name always coming up in their company, began to suspect Newman himself may have been a proto-Modernist. There was also no small confusion caused by the circulation of quotes from Newman's Anglican period and to what degree he had still affirmed many of his earlier opinions.
One of Newman's defenders in these controversies was Edwin Thomas O'Dwyer, the Bishop of Limerick, Ireland. In the aftermath of
Pascendi, O'Dwyer penned an essay comparing Newman's thought to the teaching of
Pascendi with the intention of vindicating him from charges of Modernism. Bishop O'Dwyer thought it prudent to forward the essay to Pius X himself for approval. Pius X read the essay and sent a response to O'Dwyer in 1908, eagerly approving his work and vindicating John Henry Newman of any taint of error. Here follows some pertinent quotes from St. Pius X's letter:
"The writings of Cardinal Newman, far from being in disagreement with Our Encyclical Letter Pascendi, are very much in harmony with it...Regarding the large number of books of great importance and influence which he wrote as a Catholic, it is hardly necessary to exonerate them from any connection with this present heresy...We therefore congratulate you for having, through your knowledge of all his writings, brilliantly vindicated the memory of this eminently upright and wise man from injustice...
Those who were accustomed to abusing his name and deceiving the ignorant should henceforth cease doing so. Would that they should follow Newman the author faithfully by studying his book...let them understand his pure and whole principles, his lessons and inspiration which they contain. They will learn many excellent things from such a great teacher..."
If anyone is competent to judge whether Newman's doctrine was Modernist, should it not be St. Pius X? Who better to discern if Newman's work is tainted with error than the sainted author of
Pascendi? Will those who invoke tradition against the teaching of Newman also align themselves against the judgment of the pope whose name is synonymous with tradition?
We have reproduced the entirey of Pius X's letter on John Henry Newman below, along with a link to the Latin text in the Acta Sanctae Sedis at the bottom of the article.
LETTER
In which Pope Pius X approves the work of the Bishop of Limerick
on the writings of Cardinal Newman.
To his Venerable Brother
Edward Thomas Bishop of Limerick
Venerable Brother, greetings and Our Apostolic blessing. We hereby inform you that your essay, in which you show that the writings of Cardinal Newman, far from being in disagreement with Our Encyclical Letter Pascendi, are very much in harmony with it, has been emphatically approved by Us: for you could not have better served both the truth and the dignity of man. It is clear that those people whose errors We have condemned in that Document had decided among themselves to produce something of their own invention with which to seek the commendation of a distinguished person. And so they everywhere assert with confidence that they have taken these things from the very source and summit of authority, and that therefore We cannot censure their teachings, but rather that We had even previously gone so far as to condemn what such a great author had taught. Incredible though it may appear, although it is not always realised, there are to be found those who are so puffed up with pride that it is enough to overwhelm the mind, and who are convinced that they are Catholics and pass themselves off as such, while in matters concerning the inner discipline of religion they prefer the authority of their own private teaching to the pre-eminent authority of the Magisterium of the Apostolic See.
Not only do you fully demonstrate their obstinacy but you also show clearly their deceitfulness. For, if in the things he had written before his profession of the Catholic faith one can justly detect something which may have a kind of similarity with certain Modernist formulas, you are correct in saying that this is not relevant to his later works. Moreover, as far as that matter is concerned, his way of thinking has been expressed in very different ways, both in the spoken word and in his published writings, and the author himself, on his admission into the Catholic Church, forwarded all his writings to the authority of the same Church so that any corrections might be made, if judged appropriate.
Regarding the large number of books of great importance and influence which he wrote as a Catholic, it is hardly necessary to exonerate them from any connection with this present heresy. And indeed, in the domain of England, it is common knowledge that Henry Newman pleaded the cause of the Catholic faith in his prolific literary output so effectively that his work was both highly beneficial to its citizens and greatly appreciated by Our Predecessors: and so he is held worthy of office whom Leo XIII, undoubtedly a shrewd judge of men and affairs, appointed Cardinal; indeed he was very highly regarded by him at every stage of his career, and deservedly so. Truly, there is something about such a large quantity of work and his long hours of labour lasting far into the night that seems foreign to the usual way of theologians: nothing can be found to bring any suspicion about his faith. You correctly state that it is entirely to be expected that where no new signs of heresy were apparent he has perhaps used an off-guard manner of speaking to some people in certain places, but that what the Modernists do is to falsely and deceitfully take those words out of the whole context of what he meant to say and twist them to suit their own meaning.
We therefore congratulate you for having, through your knowledge of all his writings, brilliantly vindicated the memory of this eminently upright and wise man from injustice: and also for having, to the best of your ability, brought your influence to bear among your fellow-countrymen, but particularly among the English people, so that those who were accustomed to abusing his name and deceiving the ignorant should henceforth cease doing so. Would that they should follow Newman the author faithfully by studying his books without, to be sure, being addicted to their own prejudices, and let them not with wicked cunning conjure anything up from them or declare that their own opinions are confirmed in them; but instead let them understand his pure and whole principles, his lessons and inspiration which they contain. They will learn many excellent things from such a great teacher: in the first place, to regard the Magisterium of the Church as sacred, to defend the doctrine handed down inviolately by the Fathers and, what is of highest importance to the safeguarding of Catholic truth, to follow and obey the Successor of St. Peter with the greatest faith. To you, therefore, Venerable Brother, and to your clergy and people, We give Our heartfelt thanks for having taken the trouble to help Us in Our reduced circumstances by sending your communal gift of financial aid: and in order to gain for you all, but first and foremost for yourself, the gifts of God's goodness, and as a testimony of Our benevolence, We affectionately bestow Our Apostolic blessing.
Given in Rome at St. Peter's, on 10 March 1908, in the fifth year of Our Pontificate.
Pius X's letter to Bishop O'Dwyer can be found in
Acta Sanctae Sedis, Vol. 41, 1908, page 200
in the PDF of Volume 41 linked on the Vatican website. The English translation above is that provided by Michael Davies, also included in Davies'
Lead Kindly Light: The Life of John Henry Newman, Neumann Press, 2001.
