The New York herald., 1878-02-11
The Higher Duties of tho Conelavs.

ereen Pontiff are called to act in circum-
stances of great difficulty and embarrass-
ment. If they choose wisely they must dis
regard to some extent the wishes of the
illustrious and venerated Pope whose de-
cease creates the occasion for their assem-
| bling But the constitution of the Church
not only leaves them at liberty, but makes
it their duty, to act on their own best JudS-
ment of what will be for its interest. In
the whole history of the Papacy there has
been but one Sovereign Pontiff who under
took to select his successor, and he soon
recognized and acknowledged his error, pub
! licly throwing into the flames with his own
hand the written instrument or decree
by which the appointment was made The
policy of the Church on this great point
rests on wider views than the mere exclu-
sion of personal favoritism or the danger of
making office quasi hereditary by the sue
cession of the nephews or other family con-
nections of the reigning Pontiff Although
| this is one OF the reasons it is minor one,
| the high and disinterested character of
most occupants Of the papal throne afford
| ing pretty good guarantee on that head.
| The controlling reason why Popes are not
| permitted to appoint their successors is the
| expediency OF leaving the Church always free
| to adapt it's ecclesiastical policy to new cir
| cumstances. While the great spiritual truths
of which it is the depository are immuta-
bic the external arrangements for guarding
and propagating those truths must vary
from age to age in accommodation to
secular changes and revolutions, but If the
Popes were permitted to choose their sue
cessors persistence in policy once adopted
might work Inconvenience in an altered
state of the world to which that policy was
no longer suited. AS general rule the
Popes have been aged men when elected.
The average duration of their reigns was,
therefore, short giving them opportunities
to appoint but small minority of the car
dinals who were to compose the next Con-
clave But Plus TX. has been so long on
the papal throne that the greater part of
the present cardinals are of his creation,
but he was, of course too loyal to the con-
stitution Of the Church to attempt to in
huence the election in this indirect way and
thereby secure the continuance of his own
infexible policy.
The present Conclave is the first that has
been called to elect Pope since the fall of
the temporal power. For more than eleven
hundred years it has been the Office of the
College of Cardinals to elect man who was
to be not merely the supreme head of the
Church, but the reignng sovereign over a
considerable extent of Italian territory. The
present Conclave is to elect only a supreme
head of the Church, and its high duty
should be discharged with reference
to this important and. to all human
appearance, irreversible change. The
late Pope never ceased to assert his
inalienable claim to jurisdiction over
the States Of which he had been
despoiled, and considering that the loss oc-
Cured in ksssPontifcate his infexbility
was suitable to his character and situation.
| It was not to be expected that the same Pope
who had been stripped of his temporal
dominions would ever acquiesce in the loss.
But no dignity or prestige would attend his
successor in maintaining bootless fight
against accomplished facts The temporal
sooner the Church accepts the situation the
less strength and effort it will waste in
abortive resistance. Among the higher
duties of the present Conclave frank rec
ognition OF the new condition of Italy and
Of Europe stands in the first rank.
The fact that the Holy Father is no longer
to be temporal sovereign being acquiesced
=. L. ell
It removes the whole reason for giving 30
purely Italian complexion to the admins
tration OF the Church. For the last three
hundred and fifty years every Pope has
been an Italian by birth, and altogether the
greater proportion OF them for the preced-
ing eight hundred years-that is to say,
ever since the full establishment of the
temporal power. For the rule which was
so nearly uniform throughout the existence
of the temporal power there were sound. or
at least Ineligible, reasons. govern
ment is best administered by men
born in the country over which it
exercises jurisdiction, because they bet
ter understand it's institutions, laws
and traditions, and, what is not
less important the spirit of the people.
But now, when the temporal sovereignty has
become thing of the past, the principle
that country is best governed by native
rulers has no longer any application. AS
purely ecclesiastical organization, which the
Church has now become, it holds no partic-
ular relation to any one country, and there
is no reason why the range Of choice should
be confined to Italy. Even if an Italian is
elected by this Conclave he should not be
a man of strong Italian sympathies, but
liberal and large-minded ecclesiastic, whose
tendencies are as catholic MS the Church
itself and who takes a cosmopolitan view of
IL Al. 4