The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-25
FORGETTING" THE POPE.
History of Some of the Revoits
Against the Head of the Church.
How the Pontif Has, for Sixteen Hundred
Years, Tried to Mix Things Spiritual
with Things. Temporal,


King John, declared the famous Magma
Charta null and void and released the sover-
eign from his oath to abide by it, the English
barons defed him. 1.-THE ordering of secular
matters appertaineth not to the Pope" they
said. In this instance the Pope was beaten,
for the principles of the great charter
have been embodied in the law of
the land from that day to this.
Later ON King Henry VIII seeded from
the jurisdiction of Pope Clement VII and
proclaimed himself ''the only supreme head
In earth of the Church of England" because
the Roman Pontiff refused to authorize him
to put away his wife. Again the Pope over
ruled, and the Anglican Church continues
to acknowledge no subsection to Rome.
Both controversies sprang from attempts of
the Pope to direct the course of Englishmen
ia matters that were chiefly secular. The
Vatican is now once more interfering with
secular affairs in the English realm. 1t has
virtually disapproved of the Irish movement
for national independence. But the advice
OF Leo XIII is no less distasteful to the lead
ing spirits in the rebellion-for rebellion it
is, in essence-than that OF Clement VII.
VAS. NAhS 1ACAAy - VI Shdb vi INV
cent Ill to the feudal lords of the thirteenth
century. 1t is now to appear whether there
is to be a conflict between the allegiance of
the Irish to the Pope and their devotion to
'liberty."
1t is plain enough, however, that the talk
about "boycotting the Pope" and Throwing
the Pope overheard has some venerable pre-
cedents. For nearly 1900 years the history
of the church has been one long tale of the
confusion of spiritual things with temporal.
This is true alike of Latin and of Greek
Christianity, and of the offshoots of both.
The Church of Rome has alternately lorded
it over kings and depended on them for sup
port. The projects of its pontiffs have been
about as often thwarted as successful. Ever
since Constantine took the church under his
imperial protecting wing, the conditions
have been favorable for the creation of dis
cord by civil interference in ecclesiastical
affairs and ecclesiastical dictation in secular
matters. Just such results have been pro-
duced as might have been anticipated. In by
gone days the papacy has again and again,
and not merely in the two cases referred toat
the outset, taken sides in English disputes
upon issues of civil government, to the re-
lection of its authority both in temporal and
spiritual things, the violent denunciation-
the "boycoting''-of its head, and the loss
of some part of its power. The history of
several of these controversies is repeating
Itself to-day in Ireland.
William | and his immediate SUCCESSORS
had no end of difficulty with the Papal See.
The couqueror refused to do fealty for tire
realm of England to Gregory VII, saying that
he had never promised to do it, nor had his
predecessors acknowledged any obligation on
that score. The contest between Innocent
II mud 1nhn fnliOwa6 hu ma hn%unar Tia
Pope and the barons, brought no glory to
Rome or to the King. A dispute about the
right of election to the Archbishopric of Can
terbury having been appealed to Rome, limo
cent set aside the English candidates and
nominated, and ordered elected, Stephen
Langton-a prelate who afterward fairly
earned the right to be enrolled among the
worthless of England. This assumption of
the power to nominate provoked the King
to terrible wrath. He refused to. recognize
Iiangton, and in return for his stubbornnesS
found his kingdom deprived by an interdict
of all the offices of the church. In this age
1t is impossible to realize the terribleness of
that curse. But the Kings blood was up.
He proceeded to seguester the church es-
tates. He abused the clergy and deprived
them of the protection of the law, so that if
they were robbed or assaulted they found no
redress. In one sense, this controversy grew
out of disputes within the church. But the
Pope's next step was to excommunicate the
King, and then followed Immediately
papal encroachments upon the civil govern
ment. According to the doctrine of the
church, an communicated king had no
claim to the obedience of Christian subjects.
AS spiritual heads OF c~hristendom." SAYS
Green, 1.-THE popes had ere now asserted their
right to remove such a ruler from his throne,
and to give it to a worthier than he. 1t was
this right which Innocent asserted in the
deposition of John. He proclaimed a crusade
against him, and committed the execution of
his sentence to Philip of France"
If John had been a man instead of n mon
ster, he might perhaps have made successful
resistance to the claims of the Roman see to
supremacy in the control of the state. His
insufferabie tyranny, however, brought his
barons to the point of revolt, and he hast
ened to make his peace with Innocent. From
that moment the Pope espoused his cause as
against the demands OF the barons, and thus
brought upon himself the defeat already al
luded to.
STRIKING PARALLEL.
There is a striking parallelism between the
hostility of Innocent III to the great charter
of English liberty and that of Leo XIII to
what the Irish are pleased to call their liber-
ties. If the course of the Pope nov produces
effects like those which it produced then, the
Irish people, if not the clergy, will go right
on with their rebellious demonstrations.
'The great charter of the liberties of Eng
land" Milman writes, was absolutely, per-
emptorily annulled by the supreme authority
OF the Pope, as Pope and as liege lord Of Its
realm, The King was absolutely released
from his oath to the statute. Still, the
rebukes, promises, threats of spiritual
censure, the annulling edict, were re-
ceived with utter disregard by the
sturdy barons. They retorted in the
language OF the Scripture: Woe unto him
who iustifieth the wicked for reward" 1t
requires no great stretch of the imagination
to hear a similar declaration of independence
uttered by the Irish now. A bull of excom-