Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-12
AN ENGLISH PONTIFF
Is Not Possible, and Father Tobin
Gives His Reasons in a Sermon.
he ARGUES AGAINST A CHANGE,
And Shows Why the Seat Of the holy See
Will Never Go to London.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS AWAITED

An article published exclusively in THE
London writer giving reasons why the COM
ing Pope should speak English, and the
Holy See should be removed to London has
attracted the attention of the civilized
world. The complete article has not been
published.
Yesterday Father F. L. Tobin, of the
st. Mary's Church, preached sermon on
the subject in which he differed from the
writer, and gives his reasons why the Holy
See should not be removed to the banks of
the Thames. A synopsis of his remarks
follows:
1t may seem premature to criticise an i'm
portaht article before we have received the full
text but a summary of its contents has been
telesraphed all over the civilized world. and
has been perused and discussed by millions of
readers. The great majority of these people
will never see the entire article. but will form
their opinions from the summary they have
read-which. in all probability, gives the gist Of
the whole document. 1t is, therefore, fair
subject for intelligent criticism.
The salient points of the paper in question I
take to be thsee. Rome is no longer the seat
of empire or the center of thought. The
Engiish-speaking races are foremost in
progress and influence. The English language
Is spreading every day over wider area. The
Pope, therefore, should remain no longer In
Rome. clinging to the delusion of temporal
sovereignty; he should remove his See
to London, speak the English language, and
rule the church according to the principles of
liberty and local self-government.
THE ERRORS OF THE IDEA
The subject Is too wide to be compressed into
the limits of single discourse. can do no
more than point out whatI consider two impor-
tant errors in the reasoning of this unknown
writer-errors fatal to the position which he
has taken. He is right when he tells us that
''the head quarters of the church" in the begin
ming ''gravitated to the center of the Empire;
but he is wrong when he assumes that for the
successful government Of the church, the See
OF the Pontih must be at the center of the EN-
pre-. Does he forget that Rome continued to
be the seat OF empire less than 500 years
Western Empire fell in f6, and the imperial
throne was removed to the shores Of the
Bosphorus. Did the power of the Pontif de-
cline after the change? No; it increased from
shadowed the throne Of Caesar. For /, 400 years
Rome has never been the seat of imperial rule.
It is rather late in the day to tell the Holy
Father that he must transfer his See to the
banks of the Thames because the center of en-
pire is no longer on the banks of the Tiber
Another mistake Is made in ignoring the fact
that the Pope must be independent in order to
govern his flock successfully. The Father of
the faithful must treat his spiritual children
justly and impartially; all have the same claim
on his care and his love. That he could hardly
do If he were the subject Of any earthly poren-
tate. He
MIGHT BE CoERCED
and thwarted by the influence and the power
of his own sovereign; free communication with
his children in another country might be
denied him. Not only he must be actually free
and independent, but his official acts must be
free from all suspicion of coercion.
The anonymous writer dwells at length on
what he terms the Persico incident. 1 want no
better illustration Of my argument. The
history Of Mgr. Persico's mission is too fresh in
your memory. to need repetition. The Papal
the methods of the Irish patriots. caused loud
and angry dfscontent among the Irish people
at home and abroad. Rightly or wrongly, the
action of the Pontih was ascribed to the in
trieues of an English emissary at the Vatican.
Now, suppose Leo XIII. had been British
subject, then what tremendous pressure
would have been exerted on him to induce him
to enforce the terms of that rescriptl The
the authority of the Holy See, . schism which
would not have been confined to Ireland, but
would have spread throughout the United
States and the BRITISH Dominions.
The Pope may be driven from Rome, as he
often was before; but have an abiding faith
that he will return, as he always returned be-
fore. The city in which st. Peter fixed his See
appears destined to be the center of Catholic
City seems to have been ordained by Almighty
God to secure the independence of His Vicar,
and to promote the welfare and glory Of His
Church.