diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

which attests to his ardent desire to be of spiritual assistance, his dedication toscholarly work in later life, as well as the high esteem in which he was held byhis Jesuit companions.In view of the fact that Fastens' letters contained theological as well aspolitical statements, an inquiry into the general character of his theology andpolitical views is now in order.THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF PASTELLS' THEOLOGYThe highly ramified movement of rationalism, in its multiple andcomplex forms, was the principal adversary of the Catholic Church in thenineteenth century. It represented the revolt of the intellectual world againstthe Church brought about through the combined efforts of the English deistsand the French encyclopedists' It attacked not one or other dogma of theChurch, but the very foundations of Christianity: the possibility of revelation,the notion of the supernatural, the validity of Scripture. At the same time,certain social and political developments, specifically the liberalist efforts tosecularize society, separate Church and State, and promote the new freedomsextolled by the French Revolution, were being pressed on the basis of arationalist ideology diametrically opposed to the spirit of the Gospel. Moreoften not, these were aimed at the destruction of the Church herself.To counteract the errors of rationalism and stem the tide of revolt againstthe Church, Pius IX issued in 1864 his famous Syllabus of Errors. Unhappily,this list of papal condemnations—belligerent, sweeping, and unnuanced inits language—made Catholicism appear incompatible not only with falseliberal ideas but also with all "progress" and "recent civilization:** Fiveyears later, in 1869, the First Vatican Council met. It authoritatively defmeda middle course between, on the one hand, rationalism, and semi-rationalism,which exaggerated the role of reason in religious knowledge, and on theother, traditionalism and fideism, which:Out emphasis on revelation and faithat the expense of reason.In view of the rationalist opposition, Catholic theology in the 19th centurybecame preponderantly apologetic, defensive, and highly suspicious ofmodem developments. The deeper understanding of Catholic dogma, whichhad been theology's traditional function emphasized by scholastic theologiansin the past, was thought less urgent than the defense of the foundationsof Christianity.* At the same time, as evidenced by the semi-rationalism ofsome Catholic theologians themselves condemned by Vatican I, theology222