Letters to Monseigneur Dechamps

Bishop Gratry wrote this series of letters to Deschamps (spelled “Dechamps” throughout), Archbishop of Mechlin, Cardinal and Primate of Belgium. Deschamps had attacked Gratry's compatriot Dupanloup, Archbishop of Orleans, for Dupanloup's letter against Papal infallibility. Gratry wrote these as a defense of Dupanloup's thought, focusing on the question of Pope Honorius' anathema.

Gratry writes in a very persuasive manner, clearly demonstrating that many of the documents used to support the Vatican I Ecumenical Council were forgeries, such as Pseudo-Isidore. He also shows that even the great Thomas Aquinas, to whom the Jesuits appealed for their theory of infallibility, was led astray by Pseudo-Isidore.

These letters are fairly accessible to the layman, and constitute an interesting insight into the debate raging around 1870 concerning Papal infallibility. Gratry's humble yet firm approach is very convincing and engrossing.


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