Irish Catholicism and Science: From "Godless Colleges" to the Celtic Tiger

5. Anti-Modernism,1907–1920s

100 5. Anti-Modernism, 1907–1920s The Campaign against Heresy In the late nineteenth century Catholic scholars struggled with a range of exegetical problems arising from the latest findings in archaeology, history and the natural sciences. Modernist initiatives in theology were not unique to the Roman Catholic Church and occurred in other Christian denominations also.1 However, theological controversies in the Protestant churches, arising from developments in historical research and the natural sciences, started about forty years earlier and were less intense than in the Catholic Church.2 Theologians and Biblical scholars in the Catholic Church were particularly disadvantaged. They had to work within the excessively restrictive parameters of Thomism. Furthermore, the new pope, Pius X (1903–1914), was extremely intolerant of even moderately liberal opinions in theological discourse. Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, whom he appointed as secretary of state, was also of a reactionary disposition. The modernist crisis which arose in the first decade of the twentieth century was the greatest intellectual upheaval in the church since the Reformation. Thomism failed to bring about the intellectual unity hoped for by the ecclesiastical authorities and served mainly to exacerbate the crisis.3 Modernist authors put forward a number of proposals which were at variance with a core doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning the immutability and infallibility of the apostolic deposit of faith – the depositum fidei. Their outlook in this matter was based on an evolutionary perspective.4 Two leading figures in the modernist movement, Alfred Loisy and George Tyrrell, argued that the organisation and dogmas of the church had developed in response to the social milieu and needs of Catholics throughout history.5 All this was reprehensible to many Catholics, especially those in the upper echelons of power. 5. Anti-Modernism, 1907–1920s 101 Pope Pius X acted decisively against the modernists.6 Catholic writers found their works condemned – especially theologians and Biblical scholars. Anti-modernist pronouncements issued forth from the Vatican. In July 1907 the Holy Office published the decree Lamentabili Sane Exitu (‘A Lamentable Departure Indeed’), condemning sixty-five propositions concerning theology and exegesis. On 8 September 1907 Pius issued the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (‘Feeding the Lord’s Flock’), which condemned modernism in the harshest terms. On 1 September 1910 he issued the motu proprio,7 Sacrorum Antistitum, obliging the vast majority of the clergy to take an anti-modernist oath.8 Pius instructed the bishops to enforce the study of scholastic philosophy , based on the works of St Thomas Aquinas, in Catholic colleges and seminaries and to exercise vigilance in the censorship of unorthodox literature .9 The pope’s encyclical strengthened the position of reactionaries within the church. Liberal Catholic periodicals and newspapers were suppressed. Professors and lecturers in seminaries who were suspected of holding heterodox ideas suffered censorship, disgrace and dismissal from their posts. Some of those who were denounced as modernists, such as Loisy and Tyrrell, had strayed far beyond the dogmatic teaching of the church. But many Catholic scholars, although innovative and liberal in their approach to theology and the scriptures, had stayed within the limits prescribed by dogma. Ardent anti-modernists often failed to discriminate between these two categories of Catholic writers. Catholic scholars were spied upon by networks of informers – the most infamous of which was Monsignor Umberto Benigni’s Sodalitium Pianum (League of St Pius V). They were discouraged from pursuing new lines of enquiry, especially in Biblical studies. This had a devastating impact on the quantity and quality of research publications. The vast majority of Roman Catholics did not cultivate intellectual interests affected by modernist controversies. Generally, Roman Catholics accepted that their church was the arbiter of truth and provider of religious certitudes and were not inclined to confront the complexities, abstractions and enigmas of theology.10 There is no reason to suppose that the Catholic laity of Ireland were exceptional in this regard. However, the Irish Catholic clergy, in common with their counterparts elsewhere, were very much aware of the intellectual turmoil within the church. The dominant tendency was to regard modernist ideas as a threat to the very foundations of the faith. Daniel Coghlan (or Cohalan) was particularly intolerant of ideas not clearly in conformity with the teachings of the 102 Irish Catholicism and Science magisterium. He had been bitterly critical of Walter McDonald.11 That Coghlan’s outlook, rather than McDonald’s, was the dominant one amongst the bishops and priests is...