nly dread we were taught to have of the
Scriptures was that of reading them without fear and reverence.

And after his ordination every Priest is obliged in conscience to devote
upwards of an hour each day to the perusal of the Word of God. I am not
aware that clergymen of other denominations are bound by the same duty.

What is good for the clergy must be good, also, for the laity. Be assured
that if you become a Catholic you will never be forbidden to read the
Bible. It is our earnest wish that every word of the Gospel may be
imprinted on your memory and on your heart.

Chapter IX.

THE PRIMACY OF PETER.

The Catholic Church teaches also, that our Lord conferred on St. Peter the
first place of honor and jurisdiction in the government of His whole
Church, and that the same spiritual supremacy has always resided in the
Popes, or Bishops of Rome, as being the successors of St. Peter.
Consequently, to be true followers of Christ all Christians, both among
the clergy and the laity, must be in communion with the See of Rome, where
Peter rules in the person of his successor.

Before coming to any direct proofs on this subject I may state that, in
the Old Law, the High Priest appointed by Almighty God filled an office
analogous to that of Pope in the New Law. In the Jewish Church there were
Priests and Levites ordained to minister at the altar; and there was,
also, a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with the High Priest at its head.
All matters of religious controversy were referred to this tribunal and in
the last resort to the High Priest, whose decision was enforced under pain
of death. "If there be a hard matter in judgment between blood and blood,
cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, ... thou shalt come to the Priests
of the Levitical race and to the judge, ... and they shall show thee true
judgment. And thou shalt do whatever they say who preside in the place
which the Lord shall choose, and thou shalt follow their sentence. And
thou shalt not decline to the right hand, or to the left.... But he that
... will refuse to obey the commandment of the Priest, who ministereth at
the time, ... that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from
Israel."(153)

From this passage it is evident that in the Hebrew Church the High Priest
had the highest jurisdiction in religious matters. By this means unity of
faith and worship was preserved among the people of God.

Now the