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 PURGATIVE

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PURGATORIAL

founder of the Campbellite wing of the Presbyterian Church, felt called to take upon himself the de- fence of Protestantism. He sent a letter to Bishop Purcell challenging him to a public debate. The bishop with a great deal of reluctance accepted the challenge, and invited Mr. Campbelle to call at his residence in the Athenseum on Sycamore Street to arrange for the debate. The meeting took place at 2 p. m. on 11 Jan., 1837. It was agreed to hold a debate in the Baptist Church, now St. Thomas's Cath- olic Church, on Sycamore Street. The debate was to begin 13 Feb. and to continue seven days, exclu- sive of Sunday. Two sessions were to be held each day, the morning session from 9 to 12.30, the afternoon from 3 to 5. The debate was to be held under the direction of five moderators, two to be chosen by each of the disputants, these four to choose a fifth.

Mr. Campbelle was to open the discussion. Bishop Purcell to reply. The discussion was to be taken down by shorthand writers, printed after re- vision by the disputants, and sold, the net proceeds to be distributed equally among Catholic and Prot- estant charities. The moderators selected were Messrs. Samuel Lewis, Thomas J. Briggs, William Disney, John Rogers, and J. W. Piatt.

Mr. Campbelle's charges were:

(1) The Catholic Church is not now nor was she ever Catholic, Apostolic, or Holy, but is a sect in the fair import of the word, older than the sects now ex- isting, not the Mother and Mistress of Churches, but an apostasy from the Church of Christ.

(2) The notion of Apostolic succession is without foundation in the Bible and reason.

(3) She is not uniform in faith, but fallible and changeable as other sects in reUgion and phi- losophy.

(4) She is the Babylon of St. John.

(5) Purgatory, indulgences, confes.sion, and transub- Btantiation are immoral in their tendencies, injuri- ous to the well-being of society, political and religious.

(6) The world is not indebted to the Church for the Bible.

(7) If the Church is infallible and unchangeable, she is opposed to the spirit of the institutions of the United States, which means progress.

At the close of the debate one of the city papers said "Catholicity lost nothing and Protestantism gained nothing by the discussion." It made a pro- found impression on the community at large. Catholic doctrine was brought before the people in a way they had never understood it before. Thinking men were led to lay aside the prejudice caused by their igno- rance of the Church. Bishop Purcell's ability as a public teacher was recognized and his learning re- spected. The reputation and standing he acquired by this discussion he maintained during his entire administration. The members of his own flock were encouraged when they found their bishop so com- petent to teach them their faith and defend it against the attacks of non-Catholics. The discussion brought him into prominence throughout the whole country. He was called upon to deliver lectures and preach sermons in nearly every diocese. He was looked upon as the representative bi.shop of the West, as Arch- bishop Hughes was of the East.

In 1867 Mr. Vickers preached a sermon at the lay- ing of the corner-stone of St. John's Evangelical Church, in which he made charges against the Church. Archbishop Purcell felt called upon to take notice of Mr. Vickers's sermon. This he did in a sermon preached at the laying of the corner-stone of St. Rose's Church. This brought on a discussion in the columns of the "Catholic Tclcgr.aph" and the "Cin- cinnati Gazette". The discussion attracted little attention, as the archbishop had to patiently follow

his opponent, refuting the oft-repeated false charges against the Church.

The observatory corner-stone was laid on Mount Adams 9 Nov., 1842, by John Quincy Adams, ex- president of the United States. He is reported to have said in the course of his speech, "this obser- vatory is to be a beacon of true science, that should never be obscured by the dark shadows of superstition and intolerance symbolized by the Popish Cross". The position is now the site of the Holy Cross Mon- astery of the Passionist Fathers. The monastery was solemnly dedicated 22 June, 1873, when the arch- bishop preached a most eloquent sermon on the "Triumph of the Cross". This was his reply to the remarks of John Quincy Adams and his slur on the Cross of Christ. He had before that placed the cross above the observatory when he built his votive church called the "Immaculata" on Mount Adams.

The following religious orders came to the arch- diocese during the incumbency of Archbishop Pur- cell: — the Sisters of Charity, founded at Emmitsburg, came to Cincinnati in 1829, in union with the Sisters of Charity of France. In the changes, the Sisters formed an independent community, taking the name of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Archbishop Purcell received their vows in 1852. The Jesuit Fathers took charge of the college in 1840, and the congregation in 1847. The Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, Belgium, came to Cincinnati in 1840. The Precious Blood Fathers came to Ohio in 1840. The Franciscan Fathers came to the diocese in 1844; the Good Shepherd Sisters in 1857; the Sisters of Mercy in 1858; Little Sisters of the Poor in 1868; Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis in 1858; Ladies of the Sa- cred Heart in 1869; and the Passionist Fathers in 1870.

Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati): Shea, History of the Catholic Church in the United States; Cist, Cincinnati (18.51).

John B. Murray. Purgative State. See State oh Way.

Purgatorial Societies, pious associations or confraternities in the Catholic Church, which have for their purpose to assist in every possible way the poor souls in purgatory. The Catholic doctrine concerning purgatory, the condition of the poor souls after death, the communion of saints, and the satisfactory value of our good works form the basis of these associations, although they were called into life by pure Christian charitj' for one's neighbour which reaches beyond the grave. This brotherly love was the distinguishing mark of Christ's Church from the very beginning; the first Christian communi- ties and the whole Church of the early centuries down to the time of the catacombs was one grand purga- torial society. The clearest evidence of this is sup- plied by the prayers for the dead in the oldest liturgies and breviary prayers, and by the earliest Christian inscriptions.

In the centuries which followed, wherever the Christian and ecclesiastical spirit manifested itself in the form of associations, zeal and love for the poor souls were revealed in the same degree (cf. Kraus, "Christl. Altertiimer", s. v. FratemUas). The old religious orders, e. g. the Benedictine Order with all its branches, especiallv the Order of Cluny which inaugurated All Souls' Day, furnish the most con- vincing proof of this. Religious confraternities are likewise distinguished in their early beginnings by a special devotion to the sick and deceased, e. g. the Brotherhood of Const.antinople which flourished in 336 (Baronius, "Ann.ales", ad an. 336, IV (Lucca, 17.39), 295; cf. VII (Lucca, 1741), 869 "Parabolani"], and in the West the Cnnfratritr or Cntifralrrnilates of the Middle Ages. Even the medieval qddonicE or guilds, established primarily for secular purposes,