The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-08-14
The Pope.

The Pope.
How sublime is the character Of the
Papacy in comparison with that of merely
temporal sovereignties. The difference is
well exempliied in two most remark
able expressions of human feeling, as
spread upon the Geographic records of the
week just passed. Two events of the
decree had gone forth that Rome must be
evacuated by it's protectors and left to the
chances of a threatening fate. 1t was
equivalent to great battle lost. This was
one of the two events the other was the
defeat Of the French arms and the triumph
of the Prussians. Two human souls were
especially tried by these two reverses-one
that of Plus TX, the King Pope, the other
that of the French Emperor-and what
were their respective sentimentsf Good
will protect me-" said the humble priest,
resplendent with faith "I will never re-
turn to Paris except victorious or dead, !"
burst from the agonized heart of the naughty
monarch. On one hand the calm tranquil
ity of steadfast faith on the other the
AAA ououAV Va WOAANty uOdIU f1Au1u Lu0
tempest where despair alone gives gloomy
courage.
Indeed the history. of the world and of
society presents but one fxed point in
human affairs, but one single object which
alone is immutable and superior to the in
fuence of change and revolution-the un-
varying law of nature. This is the Papacy
hn Ofr t,rsc H.
ton how many nations have passed from
empire to oblivion; how many great dy-
nasties have arisen and fallen how COM
pletely has the tide of conquest and power
shifted from land to land and from CONT
nent to continent! Yet there it stands to-
day, as full of youth as when hid in the
Catacombs, as vigorous as when the Roman
Empire first knelt at its shrine. Every
other organization grows old and crumblcs,
whether it be civil, social or religious.
Mahometanism is perishing with the lustre
of the arms that in the first flush of fanati-
cism bore it on to dominion. The creed of
the Hindoo, the Chinese, the African, the
Indian, is confined to his race or his caste,
and has no claim to existence apart from
the permanence of the government or
social popularity that sustains it. If they
should change, it must become extinct. 1t
has no organization independent of those
conditions.
The Church and the Papacy stand very
The Church inhabits all
countries, the Pope is independent of every
power. Dynasties may be swept away,
but his control remains intact races may
perish, but the Church is there to receive
their successors. The Papacy is the great
central point around which all human
things must revolve, for it alone is inn
and -immutable. When it was
the world was falling to ruin,
society had commenced it's downward
course to barbarism, and in few centuries
afterwards had resolved itself into anarchy |
and chaos. Christianity gave it new vi
tality, and 1T formed again around the |
Papacy as the only fixed point. To-dayi
first principles are the same. Society |
tendssto corruption, anarchy and barbar-
ism y; the Papacy alone gives it stability,
teaches it forgotten truths and saves it
from ITSELF |
This superiority to the law of nature,
proves incontestibly the divinity of Ca
tholic Christianity, and justiies the Pope
In his sublime indifference to human
causes. He knoacs that the Church is i'm
mortal and that the Papacy cannot fall. |
Why, then, should he be troubled about
the movements of few French troopsq He
can look back through his predecessors to
the day when there were no French troops,
and he knows that his successors will see
the end of the French Empire.