Page:The True Story of the Vatican Council.djvu/87

Rh 3. The chief points provided for in the order of proceedings were as follows:—

(1.) The proposition or introduction of matters to be treated.

(2.) The mode of discussion and of voting.

(3.) The attendance of the bishops.

(4.) The justification of absence.

(5.) The precedence in session.

(6.) The possible variances.

(7.) The mode of living.

(8.) The nature, number, and office of the officials of the Council.

(9.) The oath, or obligation of secrecy.

These points were defined after prolonged deliberation by the body of Consultors and published afterwards in the form of an Apostolical Constitution. All but the first two and the last points may be passed over in silence here; but on the right of proposition, the mode of discussion, and the secret, it may be well, in a narrative of the Vatican Council, to state briefly the course which was laid down.

We have already seen that there exists in the divine constitution of the Church no absolute necessity for the holding of councils—that the assembling of all bishops in one place is an usage of prudence, the expediency of which must be ultimately decided by the only authority which extends over all. No one but