Page:Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Buckley.djvu/40

, of the title of St. Praxedes, acted as our legate with the greatest learning and integrity. For, whereas, what we had previously feared would come to pass, that by the advice of that diet we were called upon to declare that certain of the articles, maintained by those dissenting &om the Church, were to be tolerated until they should be examined and decided upon by an œcumenical council; and whereas neither Christian and Catholic truth, nor our own dignity and that of the Apostolic See, would suffer us to yield this,—we preferred rather to command that it should be openly proposed, that a council should be held as soon as possible. Nor indeed had we ever been of any other opinion or wish, but that an œcumenical and general council should be convened at the very first opportunity. For we hoped that thereby both peace might be restored to the Christian people, and the integrity of the Christian religion; yet were we desirous to hold that [council] with the good-will and favour of the Christian princes. And, whilst awaiting this good-will, whilst watching for that hidden time, for the time of thy good pleasure, O God, we were at last compelled to come to the conclusion, that every time is well pleasing unto God wherein deliberations are entered upon touching holy things, and such as relate to Christian piety. Wherefore, beholding with the greatest pain of our soul, that the affairs of Christendom were daily hurrying on to a worse state,—Hungary being overwhelmed by the Turks, Germany endangered, all the other states oppressed with terror and affliction,—we resolved to await no longer the consent of any prince, but to look solely to the will of the omnipotent God, and the advantage of the Christian commonwealth. Accordingly, as we no longer had the city of Vicenza, and were desirous, in our own choice of a new place for holding the council, to have regard both to the common welfare of Christians, and also to the troubles of the German nation; and seeing, upon several places being proposed, that they wished for the city of Trent, we,—although we deemed that everything might be transacted more conveniently in Italy, —nevertheless yielded up our will, with paternal charity, to their demands. Accordingly,