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On the 8 December 1864, the tenth anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, Pius IX (1792-1878) issued his encyclical Quanta Cura with its attached Syllabus Errorum (Syllabus of Errors). The Syllabus marked the gradual increase in papal authority which began in 1854 and culminated with the decree of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council in 1870. In Europe the Syllabus divided Catholics and non-Catholics, forced the hand of ultramontanes and liberals, and left many Catholics simply bewildered and confused.
Meanwhile, on the far distant shores of Australia, the Syllabus encountered a Church and a society starkly different to the Italian context in which the Syllabus originated. It encountered a Catholic Church that not only engaged with a liberal society condemned by many of the Articles in the Syllabus, but a church which enjoyed many privileges given to her from a liberal society. Rather than recognising it as a defining document in Australian Catholic history, Australian historians tended towards Edmund Campion's assertion that the Syllabus of Errors was seemingly irrelevant to Australia.1 Some historians barely gave it a mention in its Australian context while others such as Michael Hogan believed that no serious attempt was made to apply the Syllabus in the Australian scene since most Catholics in public life were committed to some form of liberalism.2 Thus, it had little impact on Catholics but rather helped to solidify Protestant and secular opposition to Catholic attitudes.2
1. Edmund Campion, Australian Catholics: The Contribution of Catholics to the Development of Australian Society (Ringwood, VIC: Viking, 1987), 26.
2. Michael Hogan, The Sectarian Strand: Religion in Australian History (Ringwood, VIC: Penguin, 1987), 129.
3. Hogan, Sectarian Strand, 91.
John Molony concurs and sees the Syllabus as being largely ignored except for the sections which 'struck home in Australia.'4 And, as we will see, it only really struck home in two areas: mixed marriages at a social level, and education at a political level. The irresponsiveness of many lay Catholics to these issues also seems to support the Syllabus' irrelevance. However, at a time which saw the Hiberno-Romanisation* of the Australian hierarchy, how could such an authoritative papal document seem irrelevant? Would not a very Romanist hierarchy readily embrace a very Roman document? I will...