Eugene continues to share his first experience of division in Christendom with Henri Tempier:<\/p>\n
\nHowever, I did not wish to deprive myself of the consolation of saying Holy Mass in this land of infidels, and offered the Holy Sacrifice with intentions you can surmise; I avow it was not without some emotion for after all, to offer the holy victim on this thoroughfare of error, to adore Jesus Christ there, to raise him in the sight of so many rebels, and invoke on them his mercy or, failing that his justice, is worthwhile, especially when one thinks of the past centuries and the present disposition of minds. Nonetheless it would be impossible for me to live in such a place; we left as quickly as possible, continuing on our road.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 26 July 1830, EO VII n 349<\/em><\/p>\n
A few years later he expressed a more tolerant attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite his intransigence on principles and the harshness of his remarks on Protestantism, Bishop de Mazenod is usually understanding and indulgent towards people. In his letter to the Company for the colonization of the North of Africa, February 4, 1839, after having stated his principles, he writes:<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe Church is full of love for all people, regardless of their belief. It loves all those whom God has created in his image and thereby called to the knowledge of the truth. It does all the good it can for them in the temporal order as in the spiritual order [\u2026]<\/strong><\/h5>\n
However, gentlemen, I do not want to conclude from this that we are obliged, when saying anathema to the errors of Protestants, to exclude them. We must at any rate live with them in charity and be on good terms with them in temporal matters, and with respect to their persons treat them as brothers.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Yvon Beaudoin, \u201cMgr de Mazenod et les Protestants\u201d in\u00a0Vie Oblate Life<\/em>\u00a058 (1999), p 523-524<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eugene continues to share his first experience of division in Christendom with Henri Tempier: However, I did not wish to deprive myself of the consolation of saying Holy Mass in this land of infidels, and offered the Holy Sacrifice with … Continue reading