from rebellion, from vain glorio u s strivin g after p o w er, in a w ord b y k illin g the self.
In the id ea lly perfect ch u rch every m em ber b ow s to th e a u th o rity
o f the C h u rch and seeks no pow er or honour for h im self ap art from his brethren.
T h e C h u rch sp eaks through and b y the priests, but the priests
seek neither pow er, nor honour, nor w ealth for th em selves, but are sim ply the organ s o f speech w h ereb y the association com m u nicates w ith livin g m en. 7.
S u ch an ideal has n ever been realized a n y m ore than an y id ea lly p er
fect m an has ever yet lived .
T h e C h u rch of R om e in old d a ys did not escape
the contam in ation o f the tim es.
Ita ly w a s the m ost c ivilized and refined
cou n try in the w orld and also the w ick ed est. possible under a M a c ch ia v e lli. schism
shook the con fid en ce of E u rop e.
pagan ism
from
N o p o litical m orality w as
T h e secession to A v ig n o n and
the great
T h e n cam e the era o f n eo
N ich o las V . in 1447, and L a u re n tiu s V a lla up to L e o X .
In all this the student w h o m erely looks at th e outside sees g ig a n tic abu ses and corru ption s in the eccle siastica l system and looks to its total d estru ction as the on ly possible hope for h u m an ity.
T h e clearer sigh ted occu ltist sees
the w orkin g of a great spirit of pu rity and love strivin g am id the in tolerab le m ass o f corruption, not outside of it, not as an a d viser w ho stan ds far enough off to preserve his shin ing robe from stain, but a ctu a lly w orkin g in th e m ass of e v i l ; w h ose evil ind eed is o n ly after a ll the u tter selfishn ess o f each sep arate un ity o f th e m ass ; strivin g in them and am ong them , b y gen era tin g stron g and h ea lth -g iv in g cu rren ts, to heal and p u rify the d isease and co r ruption.
W e r e this not so how could the C h u rch id ea l, the v e ry th o u gh t
of the A sso cia tio n , h a ve su rviv ed the d a y s o f the B o rg ia s and P o p e Julius, ct hoc genus omne. 8.
T h e priests w ho in form er tim es and even
now p rostitu te their
high c a llin g for w ealth or pow er ; the people w h o profess to b elon g to the C h u rch and lead lives w h o lly at varian ce w ith their profession ; those w ho ca llin g th em selves C h u rch m en d en y the v ita l d octrin es o f the C h u rch and so w eaken its pow er— all these and m any m ore are sim p ly d iseased m olecu les; th ey are th e cau se o f pain and suffering to the C h u rch as an e n tity , and the C h u rch b y the law s of its ex iste n ce, w h ich a re the sam e as the la w s o f the ex iste n ce o f a n y liv in g b od y, m ust eith er brin g them into su b jection to the influence of the v ita l cu rren ts o f its corp orate life or m ust en d eavou r to cast them out.
P ro b a b ly , as in th e c a se of the m olecules o f a hum an body,
neither process is w h olly accom p lish ed , but the via medicatrix in both cases w orks g e n tly and lo vin gly , strivin g at first rath er to h eal than d estroy, rath er even p a rtially to brin g the m olecules into th e sw eep o f the life curren ts so that th ey m ay be endured, though it be w ith pain, than to cast them out.
If, how ever, th ey are w h olly sep a ra te th ey m ust go, even though
the process of castin g them out cau se violent inflam m ation.* * l-or a most suggestive account of the way in which the Ama'boid cells (Leucocytes) behave in inflammation, on the analogy of a battle, see D r. Suttons’ General-Pathology.