, 1866-03-26
An AalRR1oAn cARDMAA.

IL Is reported that the first CARDINALS hat
ever placed ~ Roman ponud npou IN Amer
| lean head, is about to be conferred upon
BiAhop Lynch OF Charleston, South Carolina
Il will be remembered that this IL the sa,ue
priest who went as d rebel ennissasy To the
Eternal City, and rot the Pope to write that
notorious letter In which the chief leader of
The shareholders rebellion vas honored with
the title Of President of an independent M
ton. To elevate the sanne person to
the rank OF = pstnee of the church Is
simply 10 array all the loyal Catholics in the
United Stated against the Pope, md to com.
plete that breach between the Court Of Rome
and the American people which had been
opened BY the Pope's correspondence With
Jefferson Davis, and by the ominous mart
which the papal party In France and Spain
have respectively taken in the entertainments
upon Mexico, Chill and Peru.
While this country was etraInlng every
nerve TO overthrow the o1lgarchy Of tho
eouth, the holy Father added to the emhas-
rassment Of the Republic by coquetting with
the enemies Of liberty in Richmond, Pails aud
Mexico, and while the Irish people are max
Ing new attempt TO ret rid Of The land and
church oligarchy Of England, the Pope is
equally bent On sitting 1t by throwing the
weight Of his influence into the scale Of the
ruling clnsses Of England. It is not a little
suggestive that while the last days of the
Pope's temporal power are thus employed in
smothering evil liberty as effectively as
religious liberty, the Colossus Of the North,
actually bnttcts the Roman Pontllf, and ap-
plauds the Russian Ambassador, who had the
moral courage to re5uke the Pope in his own
palace, ordering him not to withdraw from
Rome, rs he was requested to do by the out
ragcd Pope, but to remain at the Vatican as
warning TO that moribund po.cntate.
In this country where We respect the rcli-
gtous convictions Of Roman Catholics as sim
cerely aa those Of other pezsuasions, and
where religious liberty Is one Of the bulwarks
Of the Republic, We are only the more called
upon TO discriminate between the religious
aspects Of The the Church OF Rome aud the
political power still welded by the Pope.
Now it seems to Us, that the new
era upon which this country is entering
since the prostration Of the rebel army,
would fall In one Of It's most serious reforms
If American Catholics were not to be emanci-
pated from their subjcction to the Pope Of
Rome, rs far as the election Of the priests are
concerned, whe preside oyer American Catho-
lie dloeeses md preach 10 American congre-
cations. The nomination Of Bishop Lynch,
Of South Carolina, as Cardinal, and conse-
quently az Prince Of the American Catholic
churches, affords striking illustration Of the
bancfn1 influence OF this unseemly Emporium
in iraf,eyio whlch the Pope Of Rome continues
to exercise In the American Republic. Let 1t
t,N hat trn fnr
disloyalty 10 free institutions to The Catholic
priesthood In America, but 1t would be folly
to deny that tho rcpubllcanIsm oil q Roman
priest must be indeed Of the staunchest Kind
to resist The antagonistic influence of freedom
hatlng PoperY. Granting, for arSument's
sake that the creation Of the office Of Cardi-
nal were absolutely indispensable for the vel
fare Of American Catholics, the Pope, II anl-
mated by generous sympathy for the Re-
public, would certainly hare selected for this
office some prelate who had been COM
mcnded to His Holiness for his peculiar
affluities with the Union and Freedom, and
who might thus propitiate the spiritual In
terests of the Church, without fostering
spirit OF anlmosity, us regards Its i7cpresslhle
conflict with institutions that are based upon
The sovereignty Of the people, md not like
those Of Rome upon the power Of one man
But there Is not the least necessity for the
creation or such an aristocratic Office In
democratic county,
II the appointment OF Cardinal is unde-
strab1e in republic undor all circumstances,
how much greater must be the objection to
It It the prclatc invested with that function Is
as notorious as Bishop Lynch, Of South Caso-
f1r h5u fo,yn of Irf}E,