TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES.
I. How The Popes Acquired Temporal Power.
For the clearer understanding of the origin and the gradual growth of the
Temporal Power of the Popes, we may divide the history of the Church into
three great epochs.
The first embraces the period which elapsed from the establishment of the
Church to the days of Constantine the Great, in the fourth century; the
second, from Constantine to Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor in the
year 800; the third, from Charlemagne to the present time.
When St. Peter, the first Pope in the long, unbroken line of Sovereign
Pontiffs, entered Italy and Rome he did not possess a foot of ground which
he could call his own. He could say with his Divine Master: “The foxes
have holes and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man hath not
whereon to lay his head.”(181) The Apostle died as he had lived, a poor
man, having nothing at his death save the affections of a grateful people.
But, although the Prince of the Apostles owned nothing that he could call
his personal property, he received from the faithful large donations to be
distributed among the needy. For in the Acts of the Apostles we are told
that “neither was anyone among them (the faithful) needy; for as many as
were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things which they sold and laid them before the feet of the Apostles, and
distribution was made to everyone according as he had need.”(182) Such was
the filial attachment of the early Christians towards the Pontiffs of the
Church; such was the confidence reposed in their personal integrity, and
in their discretion in dispensing the charity of the faithful.
During the first three hundred years the Pastors of the Church were
generally incapable of holding real estate in Rome; for Christianity was
yet a proscribed religion, and the faithful were exposed to the most
violent and unrelenting persecutions that have ever darkened the annals of
history.
The Christians of Rome worshiped for the most part in the catacombs. These
catacombs are subterranean chambers and passages under the city of Rome.
They extend for miles in different directions, and are visited to this day
by thousands of strangers. Here the primitive Christians prayed together,
here they encouraged one another to martyrdom, here they died and were
buried; so that these caverns served at the same time as temples of
worship for the living and as tombs for the dead.
At last Constantine the Great brought peace to the Church. The long night
of Pagan persecution was succeeded by the bright dawn of religious
liberty, and as our Blessed Savior rose triumphant from the grave, after
having lain there for three days, so did our early brethren in the faith
emerge from the tombs of the catacombs, after having been buried, as it
were, in the bowels of the earth for three centuries.
Constantine gave to the Roman Church munificent donations of money and
real estate, which were augmented by additional grants contributed by
subsequent emperors. Hence the patrimony of the Roman Pontiffs soon became
very considerable. Voltaire himself tells us that the wealth which the
Popes acquired was spent not in satisfying their own avarice and ambition,
but in the most laudable works of charity and religion. They expended
their patrimony, he says, in sending missionaries to evangelize Pagan
Europe, in giving hospitality to exiled Bishops at Rome and in feeding the
poor. And I may here add that succeeding Popes have generously imitated
the munificence of the early Pontiffs.
An event occurred in the reign of Constantine which paved the way for the
partial jurisdiction which the Roman Pontiffs commenced to enjoy over
Rome, and which they continued to exercise till they obtained full
sovereignty in the days of King Pepin of France.
In the year 327 the Emperor Constantine transferred the seat of empire
from Rome to Constantinople, the present capital of Turkey. The city was
named after Constantine, who founded it. A subsequent emperor appointed a
governor, or exarch, to rule Italy, who resided in the city of Ravenna.
This new system, as is manifest, did not work well. The Emperor of
Constantinople referred all matters to his deputy in Ravenna, and the
deputy was more anxious to conciliate the Emperor than to satisfy the
people of Rome. Italy and Rome were then in a political condition
analogous to that in which the Irish were placed for several centuries.
Abandoned to itself, Rome became a tempting prey to those numerous hordes
of Barbarians from the North that then devastated Italy. The city was
successively attacked by the Goths under Alaric, and by the Vandals under
Genseric, and was threatened by the Huns under Attila. Unable to obtain
assistance from the Emperor in the East, or the Governor at Ravenna, the
citizens of Rome looked up to the Popes as their only Governors and
protectors, and their only salvation in the dangers which threatened them.
The confidence which they reposed in the Pontiffs was not misplaced. The
Popes were not only devoted spiritual Fathers, but firm and valiant civil
Governors. When Attila, who was surnamed “the Scourge of God,” approached
the city with an army of 500,000 men, Pope Leo the Great went out to meet
him unattended by troops. His mild eloquence disarmed the indomitable
chieftain and induced him to retrace his steps. Thus he saved the city
from pillage and the people from destruction. The same Pope Leo also
confronted Genseric, the leader of the Vandals; and although he could not
this time protect Rome from the plunder of the soldiers he saved the lives
of the citizens from slaughter. Such acts as these were naturally
calculated to bind the Roman people more strongly to the Popes and to
alienate them from their nominal rulers.
In the early part of the eighth century Leo Isauricus, one of the
successors of Constantine on the imperial throne, not content with his
civil authority, endeavored, like Henry VIII., to usurp spiritual
jurisdiction, and, like the same English monarch, sought to rob the people
of their time-honored sacred traditions. A civil ruler dabbling in
religion is as reprehensible as a clergyman dabbling in politics. Both
render themselves odious as well as ridiculous. The Emperor commanded all
paintings of our Savior and His saints to be removed from the churches on
the assumption that such an exhibition was an act of idolatry. Pope
Gregory II. wrote to the Emperor an energetic remonstrance, reminding him
that “dogmas of faith are to be interpreted by the Pontiffs of the Church
and not by emperors,” and begging him to spare the sacred paintings. But
the Pope’s remonstrance and entreaties were in vain. This conduct of the
Emperor tended to widen still more the breach between himself and the
Roman people.
Soon after an event occurred which abolished forever the authority of the
Byzantine Emperors in Italy, and established on a sure and lasting basis
the temporal sovereignty of the Popes.
In 754 Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invaded Italy, captured some
Italian cities and threatened to advance on Rome.
Pope Stephen III.,(183) who then ruled the Church, sent an urgent appeal
to the Emperor Constantine Copronymus, successor of Leo the Isaurian,
imploring him to come to the relief of Rome and his Italian provinces. The
Emperor manifested his usual apathy and indifference and received the
message with coldness and neglect.
In this emergency Stephen, who sees that no time is to be lost, crosses
the Alps in person, approaches Pepin, King of France, and begs that
powerful monarch to protect the Italian people, who were utterly abandoned
by those that ought to be their defenders. The pious King, after paying
his homage to the Pope, sets out for Italy with his army, defeats the
invading Lombards and places the Pope at the head of the conquered
provinces.
Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, not only confirms the grant of his
father, but increases the temporal domain of the Pope by donating him some
additional provinces.
This small piece of territory the Roman Pontiffs continued to govern from
that time till 1870, with the exception of brief intervals of foreign
usurpation. And certainly, if ever any Prince merited the appellation of
legitimate sovereign, that title is eminently deserved by the Bishops of
Rome.
II. The Validity And Justice Of Their Title.
There are three titles which render the tenure of a Prince honest and
incontestable, viz., _long possession, legitimate acquisition_ and _a just
use of the original grant confided to him_. The Bishop of Rome possessed
his temporality by all these titles.
First—The temporal dominion of the Pope is most ancient in point of time.
He commenced, as we have seen, to enjoy full sovereignty about the middle
of the eighth century. The Pope was, consequently, a temporal ruler for
upwards of 1,100 years. The Papal dynasty is, therefore, the oldest in
Europe, and probably in the world. The Pope was the temporal ruler of Rome
four hundred years before England subjugated Ireland, and seven hundred
before the first European pressed his foot on the American continent.
Second—His civil authority was established not by the sword of conquest,
nor the violence of usurpation. He did not mount the throne upon the ruins
of outraged liberties or violated treaties; but he was called to rule by
the unanimous voice of a grateful people. Always the devoted spiritual
Father of Rome, he providentially became its civil defender; and the
temporal power he had possessed already by popular suffrage was ratified
and sanctioned by the sovereign act of the Frankish monarch. In a word,
the ship of state was in danger of being engulfed beneath the fierce waves
of foreign invasion. The captain, meantime, folded his arms and abandoned
the ship to her fate. The Pope was called to the helm in the emergency,
and he saved the vessel from shipwreck and the people from destruction.
Hence, even Gibbon, the English historian, who cannot be suspected of
partiality, has the candor to use the following language in discussing
this subject: “Their (the Pope’s) temporal dominion is now confirmed by
the reverence of a thousand years, and their noblest title is the free
choice of a people whom they had redeemed from slavery.”
Third—What is the use or advantage of the temporal power? This is well
worth considering, as many have erroneous notions on the subject.
The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the Pope. He ascends the Papal
chair generally an old man, when human passion and human ambition, if any
did exist, are on the wane. His personal expenses do not exceed a few
dollars a day. He eats alone and very abstemiously. He has no wife, no
children to enrich with the spoils of office, as he is an unmarried man.
The Popedom is not hereditary, like the sovereignty of England, but
elective, like the office of our President, and the Holy Father is
succeeded by a Pontiff to whom he was bound by no family ties. What
personal motive, therefore, can he have in desiring temporal sovereignty?
I am sure, indeed, that if the Holy Father were to consult his own taste
and feelings, he would much rather be free from the trammels of civil
government. But he has higher interests to subserve. He must vindicate the
eternal laws of justice which have been violated in his own person.
As the Popes were not actuated by a love of gain in possessing temporal
dominion, neither had they any desire to enlarge their territory, small as
it was. The temporalities of the Pope were not much larger than the State
of Maryland before he was deprived of them by Victor Emmanuel a few years
ago.
And this is the little slice of land which Victor Emmanuel wrested from
the Holy Father. This is the vineyard which the modern King Achab wrung
from the unoffending Naboth. But the Pontiff answers, like Naboth of old:
“The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of
my fathers.”(184)
This is the little ewe-lamb which the modern David has snatched from
Uriah, its legitimate owner. The royal shepherd of Piedmont had already
seized all the other lambs and sheep of his neighbors; but he was not
satisfied till he added to his fold the solitary, tender lamb of the Pope.
Let him take care, however, that the prophecy denounced by Nathan against
David fall not upon himself and his posterity: “Why, therefore, hast thou
despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in My sight? Therefore the sword
shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised Me. Behold,
I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house.”(185)
While the patrimony of the Pope was large enough to secure his
independence, it was too small to provoke the fear and jealousy of foreign
powers. The authority of the Roman Pontiffs in the Middle Ages was almost
unbounded. Had they wished then, they could easily have increased their
territory; yet they were content with what Providence placed originally in
their hands.(186)
The sole end of the temporal power has been to secure for the Pope
independence and freedom in the government of the Church. The Holy Father
must be either a sovereign or a subject. There is no medium. If a subject,
he might become either the pliant creature, if God would so permit, of his
royal master, like the schismatic Patriarch of Constantinople, who, as
Gibbon observed, was “a domestic slave under the eye of his master, at
whose nod he passed from the convent to the throne, and from the throne to
the convent.” And, indeed, the Oriental schismatic Bishops are as
subservient now as they were then to their temporal rulers. Or, what is
far more probable, the Pope might become a virtual prisoner in his own
house, as the present illustrious Pontiff is at this moment.
The Pope is the representative of Christ on earth. His office requires him
to be in constant communication with prelates in every country in the
world. Should the kingdom of Italy be embroiled in a war with any European
Power—with Germany, for instance—it would be difficult, if not impossible,
for the Holy Father and the German Bishops to confer with each other, and
religion would suffer from the interruption of intercourse between the
Head and the members.
The interests of Christianity demand that the Vicar of the Prince of Peace
should possess one spot of territory which would be held inviolable, so
that all nations and peoples could at all times, in war, as well as in
peace, freely correspond with him. Nothing can be more revolting to our
feelings than that the spiritual government of the Church should be
constantly hampered by the hostile aggressions of ambitious rulers, an
eventuality always likely to occur so long as the Pope remains the subject
of any earthly potentate.(187)
But we are told that the Roman people, by a _plebiscitum_, or popular
vote, expressed their desire to be annexed to the Piedmontese Government.
To this I answer, in the first place, that we ought to know what
importance to attach to elections held under the shadow of the bayonet. It
is well known that the Roman _plebiscitum_ was undertaken by the authority
and guided by the inspiration of the Italian troops. It is equally
notorious that the numerous stragglers who accompanied the Italian army to
Rome legalized the gigantic fraud of their master, as well as their own
petty thefts, by voting in favor of annexation.
In the second place, the Roman people, even had they so desired, had no
right to transfer, by _their_ suffrage, the Patrimony of St. Peter to
Victor Emmanuel. They could not give what did not belong to them. The
Papal territory was granted to the Popes in trust, for the use and benefit
of the Church—that is, for the use and benefit of the Catholics of
Christendom. The Catholic world, therefore, and not merely a handful of
Roman subjects, must give its consent before such a transfer can be
declared legitimate. Rome is to Catholic Christendom what Washington is to
the United States. As the citizens of Washington have no power, without
the concurrence of the United States, to annex their city to Maryland or
Virginia, neither can the citizens of Rome hand over their city to the
Kingdom of Piedmont without the acquiescence of the faithful dispersed
throughout the world.
We protest, therefore, against the occupation of Rome by foreign troops as
a high-handed act of injustice, and a gross violation of the Commandment,
“Thou shalt not steal.”
We protest against it as a royal outrage, calculated to shock the public
sense of honesty, and to weaken the sacred right of public and private
property.
We protest against it as an unjustifiable violation of solemn treaties.
We protest, in fine, against the spoliation as an impious sacrilege,
because it is an unholy seizure of ecclesiastical property, and an
attempt, as far as human agencies can accomplish it, to trammel and
embarrass the free action of the Head of the Church.
III. What The Popes Have Done For Rome.
Although the temporal power of the Pope is a subject which concerns the
universal Church, no nation has more reason to lament the loss of the Holy
Father’s temporalities than the Italians themselves, and particularly the
inhabitants of Rome.
It is the residence of the Popes in Rome that has contributed to her
material and religious grandeur. The Pontiffs have made her the Centre of
Christendom, the Queen of religion, the Mistress of arts and sciences, the
Depository of sacred learning.
By their creative and conservative spirit they have saved the illustrious
monuments of the past, and, side by side with these, they have raised up
Christian temples which surpass those of Pagan antiquity. In looking today
at these old Roman monuments we know not which to admire more—the genius
of those who designed and erected them, or the fostering care of the Popes
who have preserved from destruction the venerable ruins. The residence of
the Popes in Rome has made her what she is truly called, “_The Eternal
City_.”
Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in five years grass will be growing
on its streets.
Such was the case at the return of the Pope, in 1418, from Avignon, which
had been the seat of the Sovereign Pontiffs during the preceding century.
On the Pope’s return the city of Rome had a population of only 17,000(188)
and Avignon, which, during the residence of the Popes in the fourteenth
century contained a population of 100,000, has now a population of only
36,407 inhabitants. Such, also, was the case in the beginning of the
present century, when Pius VII. was an exile for four years from Rome, and
a prisoner of the first Napoleon, in Grenoble, Savona and Fontainebleau.
Grass then grew on the streets of Rome, and the city lost one-half of its
population.
Rome has naturally no commercial attractions. It is only the presence of
the Pope that keeps up her trade. Let the Popes abandon Rome, and her
churches will soon be without worshipers; her artists without employment.
Her glorious monuments will perish. Science and art and sacred literature
will take their flight and perch upon some more favored spot. The hundred
thousand and more strangers who annually flock to Rome from different
parts of the world will shake off the dust from their feet and seek more
congenial cities.
Let the Popes withdraw from Rome, and it may become almost as desolate as
Jerusalem and Antioch are today.
Peter preached his first sermons in Jerusalem, but he did not select it as
his See; and Jerusalem is today a Mahometan city, with its sacred places
profaned by the foot of the Mussulman.
Peter occupied for a time the city of Antioch as his first See. But, in
the mysterious providence of God, he abandoned Antioch and repaired to
Rome; and now, little remains of the ancient Antioch of Peter’s day except
colossal ruins.
Had the Popes remained in Antioch, Syria would now very probably be,
instead of Europe, the centre of Christianity and civilization. The
immortal Dome of St. Peter’s would, doubtless, overshadow the banks of the
Orontes instead of the Tiber; and Antioch, not Rome, would be the focus of
art, science, and sacred literature, and would be called today “The
Eternal City.”
Our present(189) beloved Pontiff, Pius IX., I need not inform you, is now
treated with indignity in his own city. In his declining years, as well as
in the early days of his Pontificate, he is made to drink deep of the
chalice of affliction. His name is dear to us all. To many of us it is a
name familiar from our youth; for thirty-one years have now elapsed since
he first assumed the reins of government; and it is a noteworthy fact
that, since the days of Peter, no Pope has ever reigned so long as Pius
IX.
The Pope in every age, like his Divine Master, has his period of
persecution and his period of peace. Like Him, he has his days of sorrow
and his days of joy, his days of humiliation and death, his days of
exaltation and glory. Like Jesus Christ, he is one day greeted with
acclamations as king, and another day crucified by his enemies.
But never does the Holy Father exhibit his title as Vicar of Christ more
strikingly than in the midst of tribulations. If he did not suffer, he
would bear no resemblance to his Divine Model and Master; and never does
he more worthily deserve the filial homage of his children than when he is
heavily laden with the cross.
I envy neither the heart nor the head of those men who are now gloating
with fiendish joy over the calamities of the Pope; who are heaping insults
and calumnies on his venerable head, while he is in the hands of his
enemies,(190) and who are confidently predicting the downfall of the
Papacy, from the present situation of the Head of the Church, as if the
temporary privation of his dominions involved their irrevocable loss; or,
as if even the perpetual destruction of the temporal power involved the
destruction of the spiritual supremacy itself. “The Papacy,” they say, “is
gone. Its glory is vanished. Its sun is set. It is sunk below the horizon,
never to rise again.” Ill-boding prophets, will you never profit by the
lessons of history? Have not numbers of Popes before Pius IX. been
forcibly ejected from their See, and have they not been reinstated in
their temporal authority? What has happened so often before may and will
happen again.
For our part we have every confidence that ere long the clouds which now
overshadow the civil throne of the Pope will be removed by the breath of a
righteous God, and that his temporal power will be re-established on a
more permanent basis than ever.
But whatever be the fate of the Pope’s temporalities, we have no fears for
the spiritual throne of the Papacy. The Pontiffs have received their
earthly dominion from man, and what man gives man may take away. But the
spiritual supremacy the Bishops of Rome have from God, and no man can
destroy it. That Divine charter of their prerogatives, “Thou art Peter,
and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it,”(191) will ever shine forth as brightly as the sun,
and it is as far as the sun above the reach of human aggression.
The Holy Father may live and die in the catacombs, as the early Pontiffs
did for the first three centuries. He may be dragged from his See and
perish in exile, like the Martins, the Gregories and the Piuses. He may
wander a penniless pilgrim, like Peter himself. Rome itself may sink
beneath the Mediterranean; but the chair of Peter will stand, and Peter
will live in his successors.