Smyrna times., 1866-11-28
Changes in the C.,holic Church.

The loss of temporal power now threatening
the Pope, seems about to be compensated for
by an extension of his spiritual dominion, and
an alteration of the discipline of the Church
after the breaking off at the Reformation by
Luther and his followers. After the first out
break, the Church lost nothing territorially,
but gained so much in an extension to new ter
rltories and in discipline and missionary zeal,
that it, on the whole, rather gained than lost
in numbers, and in the nations to which it ex-
tended In India, in China, in Japan, and in
fact throughout the world, Ignatius Loyola es-
tablished discipline as powerful and centrall-
zing as that of John Wesley, while Francis
Xavier labored with an JUNCTION and zeal and
eloquence much like that of Whitefeld.
| Mr. Gladstone, a distinguished English
statesman, has just been to Rome to explain
to the Pope the necessity of giving up the tenn
poral dominion which he has held in part for
thousand years and more. He has probably
offered the Pope prospect OF regaining to the
bosom and unity of his fold the whole of the
! Greek Church in the Levant, which is all OF it
except the Russian portion, thus healing the
SchiSmof ten centuries at stroke. 1t seems
that England and France, jealous of Russia
and the amazing influence that nation was ex-
erting, through religious Sympathies with the
members of the Greek Church throughout the
East, have conceived the idea of healing the
deadly breach between the Roman and Greek
Churches, and putting the pope at their head
No doubt, this shows the continuance of the
policy of mixing up Church and State. Ever
since the time of MOhamed the Greek Church
has been declining in vital as we'll as political
power, the Turkish rulers have, in fact, ap-
pointed the most ignorant and inefficient men
possible to the Patriarchite of COnstantinople
and sold out the offices of the church, careful
Of only one thing, never to let the Greek reli
giOn become a dangerous power to the Sultan
For the last two hundred and fifty years the
Russian Church has formed a perfectly indie
pendent division of the church, that has grown
with the growing powers of the Russian Em
pire, until at last it expires to protect and re
Ijuvenate the parent. This is, no doubt inten
ded to favor the plan of an extension of the
Russian Empire through the East. But th'
Emperor Napoleon, fond of compensating dis
appointed hopes as we'll as be can, has propos
ed, and now about arranged, automatically
probably, with the Turkish Empire, as we'll al
the Pope, the terms by which the Greek Churcl
shall be restored to the communion with tina
of Rome.
The chief difficulty was found to be in tht
matter Of celibacy, which the Pope much insis
ted on, while the right to marry once has new
er been allowed to incapacitate the Greek
from becoming Priests Even this point ha
been managed by much diplomacy indeed
precedent was found for it in other branches o
the Greek Church, reconciled with the Pop
three hundred years ago, and that portion o
the church will still be allowed to follow tn
Greek rule; none higher than simply priests
however, being allowed to live in wedlock, b
this concession. The political object of a
this, will, no doubt be to keep the Russian
from exciting discomfort among the Greeks
but the effect will probably be elevating to tn
Greeks themselves. The further effect of
; on the Catholic Church itself will be to modif
its discipline as well as to extend to its nun
ers.-Phila. Ledger.