Anti-Christianism In Rome.
_THE HOLY ALLIANCE._
Pius VII. re-entered his capital May 24, 1814. In the meantime the
princes of Europe had remade the map of Europe; but in spite of all
hopes of permanent peace, their efforts only served to sow more widely
the seeds of trouble and revolution. The Congress of Vienna, in session
from November 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815, was, through the triumph it
accorded to Protestantism, a triumph for the Revolution. That coalition
was termed the Holy Alliance. Never was appellation more misleading, for
the work of those princes only compromised the interests of religion,
and put back for generations the empire of peace. Religious indifference
had become the first article of the international code and the first
requisite in the profession of diplomacy.
Pius VII. found the Eternal City despoiled of its artistic treasures,
and he hastened to supply the deficiency made by Napoleon. He set to
work to reorganize his kingdom. He replenished the impoverished
treasury; he published civil, commercial, penal and legal codes, and
regulated the taxes, re-established the Society of Jesus, and entered
into Concordats with Bavaria, France, Sicily, Piedmont, Russia and
Austria. Comparative peace settled upon his domains so that when he
closed his eyes in death on August 20, 1823, the fortunes of the Papacy
in Italy were apparently secure.
Nevertheless, even in his day, the storm was already rumbling and the
first threats were heard of that war which was later to wrest the
temporal power from the hands of his successor, Pius IX. In the forests
of Italy, in the fastnesses of the Abruzzi, among the woods of Calabria,
in the mountains of Sicily and in the caves and valleys of the
Appenines, a new spirit was in the mold taking shape.
_THE CARBONARI._
The Freemasons, silenced after the defeat of Napoleon, took a new form
in the notorious Carbonari, a secret society whose branches were
spreading throughout every part of the peninsula. They were called
Carbonari, which signifies charcoal-burners, because they held their
assemblies in places called Vendite or places for selling coal. Their
object was the overthrow of all organized government both in Church and
State, and they swore their oaths with the most bloody promises under
the most revolting penalties. Like all secret societies they had many
degrees, their lowest being formed of young unsuspecting candidates, who
were lured into the horrors of the higher grades by professions of
loyalty to religion and the promise of quick and certain wealth.
The younger portion of Italy, quickly caught by the bait, was bound by
oaths the infraction of which meant death, and finally led on to
associations in which revolution and plunder formed the means and end.
Pope Pius VII. issued an Encyclical directed against their insidious and
dangerous doctrines, which was followed by another from Pope Leo XII.
Both documents were enforced throughout the Papal States, and effected
some little relief; but the disease had gained too great a headway,
and even in secret continued to make its progress felt in various
centres of the country.
[Illustration: POPE LEO XII.]
The efforts of the secret societies in Italy became more pronounced
during the pontificate of Pope Gregory XVI., when the Carbonari were
united with a new association, the Young Italy of Mazzini.
_MAZZINI AND YOUNG ITALY._
Joseph Mazzini, born at Genoa in 1810, began to express his
revolutionary doctrines in 1830, in the _Genoese Indicator_, and in the
_Leghorn Indicator_. He was arrested and expelled from Genoa, whence he
fled to Marseilles. There he met with three Piedmontese: Bianchi, Santi,
and Rimini. These three conspirators furnished him with the idea of a
new branch of secret societies, which they called Young Italy. To this
nascent association Mazzini gave the motto "For God and the People,"
giving it to be understood that between God and the people there was to
be no intermediary, neither political nor religious.
In accord with the Carbonari in making war upon Catholicism, and
inspired by their title, they refused admission into their society to
anyone over forty years of age. At first the unity of the peninsula was
their apparent end, to which they added hatred of ecclesiastical
government, and made the dagger and revolution the means for attaining
those purposes.
The Republic appeared to them the only possible mode of government.
Nevertheless that preference was not so exclusive but that they could
consent to a monarchy as they actually did when they promised to Charles
Felix, in 1831, that they would not molest a monarch who would agree to
be a protege of the revolution and of the lodges.
[Illustration: POPE PIUS VIII.]
Exiled to Marseilles, in 1831, Mazzini passed on into Switzerland, where
he made disciples of some Polish and German exiles. Thence he went to
England, whence he directed the expedition in Savoie. Among the
propagators of the Young Italy movement, who gave most sorrow to the
heart of the Holy Father, were such apostates as Achilli, Gavazzi and
Gioberti. It is a significant fact that these disloyal ecclesiastics
received no real recognition for their treason, and as soon as their
services were no longer of use, they were cast aside by those for whom
they had betrayed both country and God. There were also some of the
nobility who betrayed a most shameful treason. Nearly all of them owed
their prestige to the Holy See, but abandoned their benefactor when the
promise of power was held out to them by Mazzini.
[Illustration: MAZZINI.]
From his retreat in London Mazzini sent out his messages of hate and
revolt. In 1842 he founded a revolutionary sheet called the "Popular
Apostolate," a weekly which propagated his doctrines and sent them as a
ferment of disorder into Italy.
At the same time, in France, Michelet, Sue and Quinet were attacking the
Jesuits; books with the same object were printed in London; and even in
Italy, Gioberti was publishing his _Modern Jesuit_, wherein he
ventilated for the benefit of revolutionaries and sectaries the idea of
a lay pontificate.
_HOSTILE CONGRESSES._
Among the many means employed to attack the Pope were certain Congresses
which were held successively at Turin, Florence, Naples, Milan, Genoa
and Venice. These Congresses were called _scientific_, and did actually
treat of the natural sciences and economic studies; but their true
purpose was to afford a forum for the expression of the views of Young
Italy, and of hatred to the Holy See. Gregory XVI. perceived the real
intent of these assemblies and forbade their holding in Rome, a refusal
which excited the protestations of the conspirators who did not hesitate
to proclaim him an enemy of progress and enlightenment.
_ACCESSION OF PIUS IX._
Gregory XVI. died in 1846 and was succeeded by Cardinal Giovanni
Mastai-Ferretti, Archbishop of Spoleto who took the name of Pius IX. The
proclamation of the election was marked in Rome by indescribable
enthusiasm. He was hailed as a savior from the severe rule of this
predecessor, and even Young Italy pretended to see in him a fosterer of
their republican intentions. The future indeed looked inviting to the
young Pope, who nevertheless, could not but see the darkness that hid
the horizon from view. The Revolution continued its work. Despite the
ovations of his people, despite the plaudits of the nations and their
governments, Pius IX. was made to feel that the storm was at hand. At
the same time while he felt the obligation of defending the rights of
the Church with courage, he determined to make all reasonable
concessions, and to accord as much liberty as his conscience might
permit. For a month he debated with himself and his councillors upon the
advisability of granting an amnesty to prisoners confined during the
reign of Gregory XVI. The cardinals with certain personal experiences to
guide them refused to accede to the demand for such amnesty, but the
Holy Father in his solicitude for peace, granted the request actuated by
the revolutionaries. All the political prisoners and exiles were
amnestied on the condition of recognizing the Supreme Pontiff as their
legitimate king, and of serving him as loyal subjects. All signed the
contract, some going so far in their protestations of affection and
loyalty as to arouse suspicion in the minds of some very practical
ecclesiastics. Popular satisfaction manifested itself in enthusiastic
fetes and dithyrambic felicitations.
_GENEROUS DISPOSITIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER._
The amnesty was followed by other marks of generosity on the part of the
new Pope. On April 19, 1847, the Holy Father gave to Rome a strong
municipal organization; the State had its two chambers, its civic guard,
an electoral law, a juris-consult, and a council of ministers. According
to the new order of things laymen were permitted to enter the Council of
His Holiness.
[Illustration: GREGORY XVI.]
The whole world applauded; but the revolutionists were disappointed and
prepared for a decisive blow. It looked for only one thing--the
overthrow of the Papacy. Pius IX. had done much in reforming the
administration, in laicising it to a reasonable degree, in providing
for all the popular needs, in creating asylums for the afflicted,
schools for the children, and retreats for the poor; but the fall of the
Pope was decreed, and Rome began to fill up with members of the secret
societies, evangelical societies, Bible societies, all of whom worked
together with implacable perseverance. Inspired by the perfidious and
meddlesome English agents, they clamored for a larger liberty of the
press, and for a greater national representation. Full liberty of the
press was accorded, March 15, 1847, and journalism began immediately its
work of destruction.
_EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT._
The year 1848 came. The situation throughout all Southern Europe wore a
foreboding aspect. The king of Naples was menaced by a revolution;
Venice was in the midst of an insurrection; Piedmont was at war with
Austria; Hungary had arisen and driven the Emperor Ferdinand from his
capital; and the July Revolution was just beginning in Paris. It was
then that Rome re-echoed with the sound of revolution. Demagogues
besieged the Vatican, and mobs yelled for impossible demands, to all of
which Pius IX. was forced to answer: "Non possumus." His minister Rossi
was assassinated on the steps of the Assembly, and the gentle Mgr. Palma
was shot as he stood near a window of the Quirinal Palace. The next day,
November 16, the Quirinal was invaded; Rome was in the hands of the mob.
Even the Holy Father yielded for the sake of peace, and signed the list
of a new cabinet.
When Europe learned of this, it concluded that the Pope, deprived of his
liberty had signed a document which was null. The Constituent Assembly
at Paris reproached in severe terms the actions of the Roman mob.
_FLIGHT OF THE POPE._
Finally on November 24, 1848, the Holy Father, realizing that he was a
prisoner of an infuriated revolutionary crowd, determined to escape as
soon as possible from Rome and seek asylum elsewhere. His release was
effected through the strategy of the Duke of Harcourt. In company with
Count de Spaur, the Bavarian ambassador, he contrived to ride incognito
through the lines of sentinels around the Quirinal and about the city
walls, and set out for Gaeta, where he arrived after some days. Here he
was received with cordial welcome by the King of Naples, under whose
filial care the Holy Father passed two years of exile.
In the meantime Mazzini had fastened his yoke upon the City of the
Popes. Clubs were formed here and there. The Circolo Populare directed
by Bonaparte Canino named a governmental junta, a sort of provisional
government. Mazzini himself hid behind the scenes and directed the
movements of the figures.
_GARIBALDI._
At that time there arrived from South America a personage who was to
play a serious part in the final spoliation of the Holy See. This was
the infamous Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was born at Nice, July 4, 1807. He
was a conspirator from the beginning. As a young man he had conducted a
practice of piracy with the Moroccan savages, after which he went to
South America. The European insurrections of 1848 awakened the old
passion for turbulence and disorder in his brain, and he hastened back
to Italy. He came to Rome in the very moment of republican triumph.
[Illustration: GARIBALDI.]
On February 5, 1849, the Roman Parliament held a session in the Capitol.
After a discourse pronounced by Armelini, the Prince de Canino arose
and cried out "Viva la Republica!" In a moment Garibaldi was on his feet
and added: "We are losing time in vain ceremonies. Let us hasten our
work." His words were repeated everywhere. By a decree of February 9, it
was declared that the Papacy had actually and legally lost the
government of the Roman States; that the Roman Pontiff, however, would
have all the guarantees necessary for independence in the exercise of
his spiritual power, that the form of government of the Roman State
would be democratic pure and simple, and would be known as the Roman
Republic.
Mazzini, the soul of the conspiracy, remained its dictator despite the
nomination of a triumvirate. Garibaldi was charged by him to guard the
Roman frontier against the operations of the Neapolitans. Rome itself
was delivered up to all the horrors of anarchy. The European Powers
intervened, and France sent under the walls of Rome, General Oudinot
with a corps of the army.
During the first days of the siege Garibaldi gained over the French a
slight advantage which gained for him the title of General.
One of the first acts of the exiled Pope at Gaeta was to issue a
proclamation addressed to his subjects. Therein he expressed the hope
that his misguided subjects would repent of their conduct toward him.
But seeing that they were every day proceeding from one excess to
another, he felt constrained to appeal against them to that supreme
power of which he was the depository, and to arm himself with the
spiritual sword which Jesus Christ had placed in the hand of His earthly
Vicar. Therefore, he pronounced the decree of excommunication against
all those who had taken an active part in the Revolution. Then, as if in
sorrow for the righteous severity, to which he was obliged to have
recourse, and of the just defence which he had to make for the rights
of the Church, he promised mercy and pardon to all who should give
evidence of repentance.
His words, however, fell upon deaf ears. Mazzini was still in power.
Atrocities of the most horrible type disgraced the streets of Rome,
Imola, Ancona and Loretto. The clergy were persecuted and some of them
strangled. Indeed, the triumvirs made use of fallen priests to celebrate
the sacred ceremonies. It was then that the Catholic nations began to
attest their veneration for the exile of Gaeta. France sent pressing
offers of hospitality. Spain, Portugal, Austria, Bavaria, even Prussia
and Russia offered their aid towards his restoration.
_ROME IS TAKEN BY PAPAL ALLIES._
It was finally to France that he owed the glory of his return. While the
Austrians were advancing through the Legations, the French army under
Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, entered Rome after a siege of twenty-six days.
At the end of June, 1849, the city finally capitulated, and General
Oudinot proclaimed the restoration of the Pontifical sovereignty. On
April 12, 1850, the Holy Father took possession of the City. An amnesty
was granted, but with certain exclusions, among them being the
triumvirs, the military chiefs and the members of the provisional
government.
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, which was received in all Catholic lands with a concert of
acclamations. But this triumph of Mary was only like a symbol of hope
before the approaching storm whose mutterings could already be heard in
the distance.
When Pius IX had returned from Gaeta, the secret societies made a solemn
oath that they would yet obtain possession of Rome. Not content with
wishing to deliver Italy from foreign domination, they held up before
the Italian people the illusory hope of becoming, through the defeat of
the Papacy, the first nation of Europe. To attain this end it was
necessary not only that the States should unite in one solid
confederation, but that they should constitute one kingdom the
government of which should be confided to the princes of the House of
Savoy, to be held at the discretion of the sectaries. Their method
consisted in spreading broadcast calumnies against the Holy See, in
discrediting in Austria the House of Hapsburg which had been the last in
Europe to shield the Papacy with the sword of the Holy Roman Empire, and
in assuring the hypocritical neutrality of Napoleon III., who had
ascended the throne only to be their supple instrument. Then they would
place the King of Piedmont and Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel, upon the
conquered throne of United Italy, first in the North and South, and
finally in the Eternal City itself.
_CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HOLY SEE._
In fact, the first attacks upon the temporal power of the Pope came from
the sectaries abroad. In the Congress of Paris, just after the Crimean
War, the ministers of France, Sardinia and England formulated against
the Papal States certain accusations, which they hastened to make
public. Therein they declared the government of the Pope to be the most
retrograde and perverse of the age. The Minister of Piedmont, Cavour,
already dreaming of the unification of Italy, placed in the hands of the
French and English ministers a verbal note in which he outlined a scheme
for the expropriation of the Papal States. The note had no immediate
effect, but combining with other hostile expressions against the Holy
See, it was the signal of the storm which was about to burst upon the
Church.
[Illustration: POPE PIUS IX.]
Piedmont had become a veritable hot-bed of liberalism and irreligion.
The government had ceased to respect its concordats with the Holy See.
It had violated the rights of the churches, and had established itself
as absolute judge in matters purely religious. The Archbishop of Turin
was banished and died in exile for having spoken in reproof of these
unwarranted usurpations. The Bishop of Cagliari was obliged to leave his
diocese. The encroachments of the civil government went from bad to
worse; the property of the churches was confiscated, the religious
orders persecuted, and a general reign of iniquity inaugurated.
In thus abandoning itself to the spirit of revolution, Piedmont went far
in the way of iniquity. Under the pretext of working for the
independence of Italy, its real design was to subjugate the whole land
and make all its princes tributary. In fact, the history of the
formation of the Kingdom of Italy is the history of all the treasons,
corruptions, and turpitudes that one can imagine. The records of Europe
contain nothing more high-handed or shameful. The Piedmontese
Government, at once astute and brutal, secretly arousing the people by
its paid emissaries, and then invading territories with violence;
shamefully dissimulating the manoeuvres of its ambition, and their
unmasking its projects with cynical audacity; scorning equally the
rights of the people and the anathemas of the Church; recoiling before
no means of corruption, and purchasing everything even military honor;
insulting after its victories those whom it had surprised and defeated,
not by the superiority of courage or skill, but by the aid of lying,
treason, and the force of numbers; boasting of having yielded to the
will of the peoples whose territory it was invading, and whose will it
was forcing by the most odious of martial laws. It was the Piedmontese,
Cialdini, who gave orders to shoot without mercy those peasants who were
faithful to their King, the Pope, to religion and to country. It was
Pinelli who said: "We must crush the sacerdotal Vampire, the vicar, not
of Christ, but of Satan." It was he who called for fire and sword, an
inexorable revenge against the Papacy and the Church. Other like
savages were Fantoni and Fumel, an Italian deputy speaking of them from
the tribune said: "The proclamations of Cialdini and the other
Piedmontese leaders are worthy of Tamerlane, Ghengeskhan and Attila."
In consequence of these barbarous orders, butchery was the order of the
day. Priests, magistrates, women, mothers, were imprisoned and shot. On
one occasion thirteen citizens were burned alive. Fourteen towns were
set on fire and their inhabitants pursued and shot down. At
Pontelandolfo thirty unhappy women who had taken refuge under the
shelter of a cross were savagely massacred. Ancona was bombarded, and
then Capua, and then Gaeta.
In that unholy war France hitherto the protectrix of the Church forgot
her past. It is true she redeemed herself at Castelfidardo and at
Mentana, giving to Pius IX her most generous blood; but she was
powerless to prevent the consummation of the most perfidious and
iniquitous acts of the nineteenth century.
Cavour recognized in Napoleon III., the French Emperor, a worthy
accomplice. The two statesmen met at Plombieres and there decided to
declare war against Austria. In the treaty of Zurich, concluded November
10, 1859, it was decided that Italy should be formed into one
confederation under the honorary presidency of the Pope.
But hardly had the treaty been signed than Piedmont disregarded it by
commencing a series of invasions, thanks to the silence of France and
the influence of England. Pius IX protested in an allocution, reproving
those acts of rebellion accomplished against the power and sovereignty
of the Holy See.
_HYPOCRISY OF NAPOLEON III._
In the midst of these events there appeared a pamphlet entitled: "The
Pope and the Congress," which public opinion attributed to Napoleon
III. Therein, the author, posing as a pious and sincere Catholic, gave
his adhesion to what had been done and counselled the separation of the
province of Romagna. Napoleon finding that his trick was discovered
wrote a hypocritical letter to the Holy Father.
At the same time Victor Emmanuel pursued his projects of annexation.
After a vote manipulated by Cavour, Tuscany, Modena, Parma and the
Romagnas were confiscated to the Piedmontese government. On March 26,
1860, Pius IX issued a Bull of excommunication against the usurpers and
against all who had participated therein whether by counsel or by
action. Without being named directly the King of Piedmont and Napoleon
III. were the objects of the censure. The two accomplices thereupon
threw aside all reserve and hastened to direct operations.
As the price of his complicity Napoleon III. obtained Nice and Savoy, in
March, 1860. Only two States of Italy remained to be conquered, those of
Naples (Italy) and the Holy See. The Revolution intoxicated with
success, set to work to gain these two prizes. A revolt in Sicily served
as a pretext. An Italian bandit, Garibaldi, favored by England, obtained
control of Sicily; then Naples was delivered to the cause of Victor
Emmanuel by treason and sacrilege. Francis II., its King, was forced to
shut himself up in Gaeta. At the same time Cialdini, a creature of
Victor Emmanuel, invaded the Papal territory, and brought his
Piedmontese army against the forces of the Pontifical troupes, commanded
by the gallant Lamoriciere. This brutal aggression aroused such
indignation in France and in Europe, that the French government felt
itself bound to remonstrate with Piedmont. The latter government,
however, paid no attention to the remonstrance, but continued its
invasion. All the Catholic countries of Europe sent to the Holy Father
the elite of their young men, and a gallant army of Papal Zouaves was
soon under arms, ready to shed its blood for the cause of the Church.
Piedmont, under the silent and inactive eye of France, crushed that army
on September 18, 1860. A few days later Ancona capitulated, and the
Marches and Umbria were lost to the Holy See. In the South, Francis II.
was still enclosed in Gaeta; Cialdini hastened thither and laid siege to
the town. The King defended himself bravely, but at length, February 13,
1861, was obliged to yield and retired to Rome.
_USURPATIONS OF VICTOR EMMANUEL._
At length, through robbery and brigandage, Victor Emmanuel, in February,
1861, took the title of King of Italy, which Europe had the weakness to
recognize. The moment seemed propitious to make the Rome of the Popes
the capital of the new kingdom; Garibaldi tried to effect it, but was
shamefully defeated at Aspromonte and forced to retreat. On September
15, 1864, took place the famous Convention, whereby Piedmont agreed to
respect what remained of the Pontifical Kingdom, while France withdrew
her forces from the Papal States.
The promise of Piedmont was illusory, and deceived no one. Garibaldi
marched almost immediately on Rome with six thousand revolutionaries.
Happily he was overtaken by Captain Costes, who commanded 388 horsemen,
and this delay, although only twenty-six hours, saved the city for that
time. The bands of Garibaldians were again defeated by the troops of
Saussier and de Charette, at Mentana, November 3, 1867.
From that time until 1870, the power of France maintained the Pope on
his throne. But when the Prussian war broke out, Napoleon recalled his
troops to the number of 5000; he needed them, he said, for the defence
of France in her danger. Nothing now could oppose the Piedmontese. The
Court of Florence at once sent 60,000 men, commanded by a renegade,
General Caderna, who arrived before Rome in September. The whole Papal
force amounted to scarcely 10,000, so that resistance became practically
impossible. The Holy Father, nevertheless, went through the form of
resistance. The enemy was obliged to force its way through a breach in
the wall at Porta Pia, and entered Rome thus on September 20, 1870.
_FALL OF ROME._
The same evening Cardinal Antonelli, the Papal Secretary of State, sent
a circular of protest to all the civilized governments. It met, however,
with silence, except in one instance. The Republic of Equador, through
its President, the heroic Garcia Moreno, sent a message of sympathy, so
full of courage and loyalty as to call forth the admiration and
affection of Pius IX.
In order to give an appearance of decency to his usurpation, and to
throw dust into the eyes of the European governments, Victor Emmanuel
caused a plebiscite to be taken at Rome. This pretence of a popular vote
called out only 40,000 names, most of which belonged to soldiers of the
invading army. A law of guarantees was also published, whereby the
person of the Pope was declared sacred and inviolable; the honors of
sovereignty were to be maintained by him; he was to possess the Vatican
Palace, the Lateran, and the country palace at Castel Gandolfo, besides
an annual indemnity of 3,225,000 francs, which was naturally refused.
There was also a guarantee of full liberty for future conclaves and
ecumenical councils. Only one thing was certain under all the
guarantees: that the usurpers would have their way in any case.
After the taking of Rome by the Piedmontese, Pius IX shut himself up in
the Vatican from which he was never to go forth alive. There he died,
February 7, 1878. Victor Emmanuel, who had fixed his Court at the
Quirinal, lived only until January 9, 1878.
_ACCESSION OF LEO XIII._
The new Pope, Leo XIII., a native of _Carpinetti_, of the family of the
Pecci, was one fitted to guide the bark of Peter in the trying
circumstances in which he found it. The law of guarantees apparently in
force could be said to shield the person of the Holy Father only because
he gave no opportunity for its infringement. As a prisoner in the
Vatican he could not easily come into conflict with the radical elements
of the City who would show him scant courtesy did he choose to appear in
the public streets, notwithstanding the law of guarantees.
In fact the temper of the mob has betrayed itself on more than one
occasion. On the night of July 12, 1881, as the remains of the late Pope
Pius IX were being borne to their last resting place in the cemetery of
San Lorenzo. The event was made the occasion of rowdyism unimpeded by
any surveillance on the part of the government authorities. As the
funeral cortege moved along, the chorus of mockery and insult was raised
on all sides. The police did nothing to silence the disturbers.
Encouraged by this tolerance the mob went still farther. Insults were
succeeded by threats. Then followed violence; stones were hurled and
blows rained upon the members of the cortege. The faithful followed
piously chanting the Miserere or reciting the Rosary, while the enemy
howled the Garibaldian song. In the Piazza dei Termi the crowd hurled
showers of stones. The attending prelates were insulted, threatened
with death, and struck upon the face. The faithful gathered around the
funeral car determined to resent the profanations of the savage mob. It
was only when the Church of San Lorenzo was reached that the police at
length thought fit to intervene. The danger was then over, and the
funeral obsequies proceeded in comparative peace.
_LEO XIII. AND LABOR._
The true genius of the prisoner of the Vatican began first to manifest
itself in his attitude towards the Knights of Labor in the States of
America and Canada. Cardinal Taschereau of Quebec, and the Canadian
prelates, as well as some prelates of the extreme party in the United
States had almost secured the condemnation of this great labor
organization by the Sacred Congregation at Rome. This body, it was
claimed, was constituted somewhat after the model of Freemasonry; it had
its secrets hidden from the outside world, and it had likewise a code of
signs and passwords known only to the initiated. Catholics numbered
largely among its members, and for this reason it was considered that
the characteristics of this organization were those of a secret society
which brought it under the ban of the Church.
[Illustration: POPE LEO XIII.]
But for the Pope the condemnation of the Knights of Labor by the Sacred
Congregation would no doubt have been pronounced. Freemasonry, with its
stupendous oaths and its invocations of dire and dreadful penalties in
case of the violation of such oaths, with its liturgical services and
elaborate ceremonial--not to mention Continental Freemasonry with its
factional political policy and aims--was an altogether different thing
from the constitution and workings of the society known as the Knights
of Labor. The avowed object of the Knights of Labor was the right of
the laborer to a voice in determining the price at which he should part
with his labor. It had no suggestion of anything revolutionary or
anti-Christian. To have condemned this particular organization would
have meant the condemnation of labor unionism everywhere.
Leo had already shown his sympathy for the workingman in many an
expression of marked significance. His unconcealed admiration for much
of what was characteristically American made him glad of the opportunity
to pronounce officially in favor of this great organization of American
workingmen.
The Encyclical which followed in 1891 made glad the sons of Labor
throughout the world, and gave satisfaction to all democratic
communities. Some of the sentences may well be quoted here: "The customs
of working by contract, and the concentration of so many branches of
trade in the hands of a few individuals, have brought about a condition
of things by means of which a very small number of rich men have been
able to lay upon the masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better
than slavery itself.... Is it that the fruit of a man's own sweat and
labor should be possessed by someone else?... If the workman has to
accept harder conditions because the employer will not grant him better,
he is the victim of force and injustice." Sentiments like these had been
expressed by other writers and other teachers, but coming from such a
quarter and at such a time, they powerfully influenced the minds of the
working classes, and won a regard for the Pope which has not died with
his death. Even so great an aristocrat as Dr. Moorehouse, the Protestant
Bishop of Melbourne, later of Manchester, in speaking of the Pope's
Encyclical, said: "He shows a spirit very vast, a great depth of
knowledge and a foresight most sagacious." Barres, the celebrated
French Socialist, said: "Let the Pope go on, and democracy will no
longer see an enemy in the priest."
President Cleveland recognized the Pope's spirit by sending him a bound
copy of the American Constitution, to which his Holiness graciously
replied, and added these words: "In your country men enjoy liberty in
the true sense of the word, guaranteed by that Constitution of which you
have sent me a copy. The character of the President rouses my most
genuine admiration." The Pope's recognition of the French Republic was
part of his policy of conciliation, and gained for the Church many
practical benefits in France.
Leo XIII. died peacefully on July 20, 1903. He was succeeded by Cardinal
Joseph Sarto, patriarch of Venice, a native of Riese near Padua in
Northern Italy, where he was born June 2, 1835. He was ordained to the
priesthood September 18, 1858; was made Bishop of Mantua November 10,
1884; Cardinal and Patriarch of Venice in June, 1893; and finally Pope,
taking the name of Pius X. on August 4, 1903.
_ACCESSION OF PIUS X._
Pope Pius X. came to his inheritance in a time of fearful storm and
stress. The war on religion was already far advanced in France, and its
mutterings were beginning to be heard in other States. But the new Pope,
putting his trust in Him Whose Vicar he was, placed before himself the
sublime mission of restoring all things in Christ.
His reign of seven years has already been signalized by an extraordinary
virility, and a care for all in the Church. His encyclicals are marked
by their timeliness and practical character. In 1906, his eyes as they
surveyed the new direction of anti-Christianism, that modern refinement
of error, detected its features in the movement to which he gave the
name of Modernism. This system condemned by him as the synthesis of all
heresies, is the destruction of the idea of Christian doctrine by the
theoretical or practical subordination of Catholicism to the modern
spirit. The modern world, with its ideas, its customs, its needs,
Modernism tells us, is an imposing fact; no power, not even the Church,
can arrest its progress; it is therefore necessary to prevent the
Church, intimately allied as it is with the life of modern society, from
falling into ruin; it must transform its doctrines, and make them
harmonize with the needs of a new age. The ideas of the Catholic faith
ought to progress like the ideas of philosophy and the profane sciences.
Such is the contention of the Modernists.
_MODERNISM._
They forget that the Catholic also can have modern ideas and can draw
profit for himself from all that is commendable in modern progress. But
at the same time the Church is actually in possession of a deposit of
faith infinitely true and intangible, coming as it does from divine
Truth itself, and being true it cannot undergo such changes as are
signified by the word evolution. But the adaptations which this modern
spirit would demand of her are nothing more than an evolution, and would
mean the abandonment of her Gospel, her dogmas, her supernatural
life--in a word of herself.
The condemnation of Modernism naturally aroused the anger of its
votaries. It had already gained to itself many men of prominence such as
Schell in Germany, Fogazzaro in Italy, Loisy in France, and Tyrrell in
England, all of whom made desperate endeavors to offset the effect of
the Papal condemnation. But the efforts of the Holy Father were
successful; Modernism has lost its prestige as a system, and men now
that they are warned of its true character are quickly abandoning its
influences.
_THE METHODISTS IN ROME._
An incident which created considerable excitement both in Europe and
America was the visit of ex-President Roosevelt to Rome in April, 1910.
While Mr. Roosevelt was yet in Egypt on his way homeward, he sent a
telegram to Mr. Leishman, the American Ambassador in Rome, requesting
that official to arrange for an audience with the Holy Father. It was
only shortly before that Mr. Fairbanks, the former Vice-President, had
been refused an audience because of his expressed determination to visit
and address the Methodist establishment in the Via Venti Settembre, an
institution hostile and insulting to the Papacy and the Catholic Church.
Just as the desire of Mr. Roosevelt became known to the Vatican, it was
also ascertained that strenuous efforts were being made by the
Methodists to secure the presence of the ex-President at a public
gathering. They had enlisted the services of Mr. Leishman to this end,
and as Mr. Roosevelt had not declined the invitation, it became
necessary to ascertain that he would not accept it before being invited
to an audience at the Vatican. The arrangements for the audience were
being made through Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Kennedy, D. D., titular bishop of
Indianapolis and rector of the American College, but the ex-President
refused to say that he would not accept the invitation of the
Methodists, and thus the audience was cancelled. The incident was a sad
reflection upon the good judgment of Mr. Roosevelt, who should have
known the character of the Roman Methodist concern and what it meant to
the Holy See; that it was an insult to the Holy Father, and to millions
of his fellow-citizens.
_SITUATION IN ROME TODAY._
On September 20 of last year, the fortieth anniversary of the breach of
Porta Pia, an incident took place which betrayed the real character of
Italian anti-clericalism. It was on that day forty years before that the
Pope was deprived not only of his temporal dominions but even of his
liberty. The Vatican became as a little rock, in the midst of a stormy
sea whose waves lashed it incessantly. Since 1870 no Pope has ever left
the Vatican alive. Even the dead remains of Pope Pius IX. could not be
carried through the streets without molestations. This fact made it
evident last year that the remains of Leo XIII. could not be brought
safely from their temporary resting place to their tomb in St. John
Lateran. To avoid all similar trouble Pius X. has chosen for his last
resting place the crypt of St. Peter's.
In the beginning of the Piedmontese occupation excessive care was taken
to show a good face before the world. The politicians and political
measures of the new government were at least moderate. But as time went
on the enemies of the Church became emboldened in their hostility. The
confiscations of the early eighties encouraged the spirit of unbelief
and outrage which was embedded by evil example in the minds of a new
generation.
_THE INSULT OF MAYOR NATHAN._
In 1889, the votaries of every manner of disorder, intellectual,
religious, and social, celebrated the reign of anarchy by the unveiling,
in the Campo dei Fiori, of a statue of Giordano Bruno, an apostate monk,
who has thus become the patron of anti-Christianism in Rome. Every year
thenceforth the anniversary of the taking of Rome has been made the
occasion of insult and defamation against the Holy See and the Catholic
religion. Last year, Nathan, the Jewish Mayor of Rome, carried
effrontery to its extreme. In a speech delivered on the occasion of the
20th September he hurled abuse, calumny and insult upon the Holy See in
a manner to call for protests from even the anti-clerical forces of the
City. The Holy Father himself uttered a vigorous protest, which met with
responsive sympathy from every part of the Catholic world. In Montreal,
especially, a mighty meeting of twenty thousand Catholics voiced their
indignation in the name of that Catholic city. Its effectiveness is
evident from the fact that it forced a speedy though very lame
explanation from Nathan himself, whose letter showed both his ignorance
and his lack of acquaintance with the elementary notions of good
breeding.
[Illustration: POPE PIUS X.]
_CHARACTER OF PIUS X._
Pius X. shines as an exemplar of indomitable Christian Faith,
confronting the infidelity of a modern world. He has the faith of Leo
I., which stopped the march of Attila against Rome; the unwavering
courage of Gregory VII., who died in exile but triumphed after his death
over his enemies. The crises which he faces are not new, and he meets
them with the old weapons of supernatural manufacture which have proved
to be the most effective against the enemies of the Church in all the
ages which have passed. He is the true diplomat relying not on earthly
defences, but on the promises of Christ to His Church.
The Latin statesmen who are opposed to him have found an impregnable
barrier to their sinister designs. They may exult in a cheap, temporary
triumph, but they have set loose to attain it the forces of disorder,
and they will reap in time the deadly fruitage of their ill-advised
plotting against the rights of the Church.
The Church ever triumphs. It is strange that these masters of a day do
not learn a lesson from the history of the past. They are blinded by
present power and position, and seek to accomplish what greater than
they have failed to achieve.
Meanwhile, Pius X. serenely carries on the government of the Universal
Church. He is unmoved by the clamors of politicians in high places, and
quietly steers his course, unmindful of their threats, but calmly
confident in the protection of a higher power.
He is an inspiration to the Catholics of the world. But especially to
Americans, who like fair play and admire devotion to a high ideal. He is
an exemplar whom they venerate and love. They admire his consistency and
single-minded devotion to the interests of the Church which he guards.
They are impressed by his courage and simple faith. In the face of the
trying difficulties which beset him on every side they commend his calm
faith in the ultimate triumph of right, and his serene confidence in the
victory of justice.
The enemies opposed to him are powerful and resourceful; but the brave
stand against them made by him and his Secretary of State elicit the
sympathy of all true Americans who love the right and adhere to it
despite the temporary prestige of those who are opposed to it.
The hope of all Catholics is that the reign of Pius X. may be prolonged
until he may reap the reward of his labors for the independence and
liberty of the Church. But in every event they feel assured that the
blessed result will be attained, if not in the lifetime of the present
illustrious Pontiff, at least in the years to come as a blessed heritage
of the intrepid Pius X.
At present the position of the Church is one of great difficulty.
Represented as Rome is in Parliament by deputies who are all hostile to
the Church, she has little to expect in the way of courtesy or justice.
The law of guarantees which holds the person and good name of the
Sovereign Pontiff inviolable, offers in fact but little security in the
time of need. There are, indeed, hopes that a better era is opening up;
that the people are beginning to look clearly upon the illusory promises
of men whose only interest is their own elevation and power. If this
hope is realized the Church may again breathe more freely, and the Holy
Father may hope for some little release from the worries that constantly
assail him.