Abstract
An important source for 19th century church history is conserved in the Acta Episcoporum Brugensium of the Archive of the Diocese of Bruges (Belgium). The Acta of Bishop Jean-Baptist Malou (B 110–126) contain the transcripts of some letters and a rather lengthy report, dated July 10, 1852: Notes sur les erreurs nouvelles, contraires à la religion révélée, à ses dogmes, à sa morale. Ecoles qui méritent une attention spéciale. It appears that this text was to be sent to the Consultors on the Fornari Commission in Rome, who at that time were preparing a draft for the Bull on the Immaculate Conception, and who wanted to insert a solemn condemnation of modern errors. Towards that end, the Commission contacted several outstanding scholars all over Europe. Though the identity of these scholars is known, the response of the marquis Donoso Cortes was the only one known until now. The particular contribution of this article is to also make known the full text of the response of the Bishop of Bruges, and the related correspondence. In addition, when compared with the documentation already known, these documents help to clarify the rather confusing history of the earliest efforts to draft a Syllabus Errorum. For example, it appears that immediately after the revolution of 1848, some of the scholars contacted by the Commission in June of 1852, and by Fornari in August of the same year, were not prepared at that time to devote their efforts to a condemnation of errors. Secondly, it seems that a substantial discussion of what was intended to be the second chapter of the Bull unduly delayed the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and so the Syllabus project was subsequently postponed.
© Walter de Gruyter
