Does not every Bishop swear to persecute and oppose all heretics, schismatics, and rebels against the Pope?
The Latin word persequor does not mean the same thing as the English word “persecute.” It means that the Bishop must vigilantly watch against the inroads of heresy, and that he will enforce in his diocese and amongst his Catholic subjects the laws preserving them from heresy, schism, or rebellion. Every Bishop swears that he will maintain the discipline of the Church, in the interests of truth and morality. Our own Archbishop took that oath. But if he were armed with a revolver and met an unarmed Protestant in a secluded spot, he would not feel the least obligation in virtue of his oath to put a bullet through the poor man. 1085. The Church does not persecute because it cannot. Persecution in the world to-day for religious opinions is impossible. Persecution in the world for religious opinions is not impossible to-day. It occurs. In Russia and Mexico physical violence has been employed again and again. In almost all Protestant countries Catholics are persecuted by moral antipathy. But
