Page:The True Story of the Vatican Council.djvu/78

66 the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, we by these letters indict, announce, convoke, and ordain that the sacred Œcumenical and General Council be held in this our mother city of Rome in next year, 1869, to begin on the 8th day of December, sacred to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, mother of God, and to be continued, and, by God's help, to be completed and ended for the glory of God and the salvation of all Christian people.

Then follows a paragraph of great moment:—

It seemed well to quote thus much from the text of the Bull of Indiction. If any man would ask why was the Council convened, here he has his answer. If any think that Pius the Ninth desired to be assured of his supreme power, he need only see with what apostolic boldness he asserts it here, and with what authority he wields it over the episcopate of the Universal Church.