The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-05-26
POSSIBLE P0NTIFFs.
Six Cardinals Who Have the Best
Chances Of Sitting in St.
Peters Chair.
No Probability that An Amer
lean Will Be Elected to
Succeed Leo.
An italian Will Undoubtedly be the
Favored Man-Leo XIII. Anxious
About the Succession.


81 foolish notion was never conceived.
II Il ia quite true that the question Of elect
n inc successor to the present pontiff is be-
q inc yery carefully studied, and these gray
d walls have hid many an august conference
Il over it. The pope himself is anxious about
his succession. He frequently speaks OF
the death which he feels to be near.
There ia not the slightest chance of any
but an Italian sitting in Peters chair al
4 present. Out of the sixty.three cardinals
{ Who compose the sacred college now, thirty
1 fonr are Italians. It takes two-thirds
II majority and one vote overCo elect pope.
e Italy easily controls the succession. No
q Italian cardinal will vote for foreigner
d for fear he MIGHT remove the seat of pont-
q ifical Government from Rome. Clement v.
" was French pope, and he removed his
Eccurt to Ayionon IN 1909. The result was
THAT France dominated the holy see, and
French popes were elected one after another.
Gregory XII. was the 1ast Frenchm la 10 ST.
kEback to Rome in 1877, and from that time
ION none but Italians have been permitted
II to wear the triple crown:
n OF the thirty-four Italian cardinals only
N six or seven are supposed TO ne serious can
hs monaco La Vaieta
1 of the college of cardinals and grand peni--
tencieria. He is q broad shouldered and
VI muscular Christian, whose herculean head
\ and neck would lead you to suppose that he
was pugnacious, whereas mllder man
in Aouila. and ia CD years old. He was a
marnnis. and has famous blood in his veins.
h His family ia branch of the French La
EVallettas, whose ancestor was the great
kknieht who. as grand master of the Order
of Malta, successfully defended Malta
against the fierce Sultan suleiman II.
land is an expert in canonical law.
BHe avoids politics and used to
Eboast that he never read newspapers. There
sis no stronger figure in the Catholic church.
He belongs to the intranslgeant branch OF
The Vatican, believing that the pope should
reject ali policies that SAVIOR of con citation,
and maintain a fir,n and unbending atti-
tude toward the Italian government.
The intransigeants are the strongest
party in the Vatican. and Cardinal La Val
is practically theli re az n;s,an ney ae
he fatal to the temporal power. This car
linal had great influence with Plus H.,
and was to some extent responsible for his
political demeanor in the last years of his
life. W,
ia Cardinal Iucido Maria Parocchi, the
Vicar Of Rome. and, as such, president of
the college of cardinals. He is only fifty
seven wears old. a clear headed, erudite and
Assagacious churchman. In his present high
office he virtually governs the church.
man on earth than this successful son of
Genoa. T have chatted with him in his
\ official residence. and found him to be a
great friend of America,
..America is lit by electricity" he said
significantly, land we sun use Sc, common mr. 70.
too, will blaze. with light-ligtht of more
than one kind. America is leading the
way"
Unlike Cardinal La ,Valleta, who despis J
newspapers, Cardinal Parrochi not only
reads them, but has actually been jour
nalist himself in his greener days. He is a
GOOD iudge of men and knows the world.
The none looks upon him as a scholar of
the highest rank. He has face that in
spires confidence and beautiful eyes. His
manner is that of 1aIner. Cardlnal Ear
rochi has always identified himself particu-
larly with the opere pie of the church. and I
remember how he said the other night when
ne tried to pronounce charity in English,
Il 1T is the finest word of every language"
| When the cardinal was archbishop of
BOLOGNA he had SUCH reputation as an IN
Il ransigeaut, or anti-conciliaticn man. that
ssjhe government refused to give him posses
as,ion of the archiepiscopal palace and reve-
N1ues of the archdiocese. He made a bold
Bsffort to secure the exequator, but failed.
1.-The pope, recognizing the situation,
Norought him to tome .o7I ne was mace 9
Norince of the church IN 1911, when only A
Xyears old.
81 the liberals. Cardinal Gaetano Ali
s.nonda stands a good chance for the pontif-
nEcate. he is a venerable man and an able
Drelate. Being archbishop of Turin, the
of VGtG h the house Of fe sn as
and is consequently inclined to take u mel
ow view of the Sandman offences against
he Vatican. This is the one thing that is
.pt to weaken his position as candidate.
There are cardinals who think that it would
,e very embarrassing to nave pope who
vas personally acquainted with the royal
amily of Italy.
A particularly strong man among the
LIBERALS is Cardinal francesca Bate glini.
Who succeeded Cardinal Parrochi as Arch
bishop of Bologna. He was born in St.
Agostino di Piano si KY years ago;
he present pope in temperament and ideas.
Ie il of an exceedingly afectionate nature,
md is greatly distressed at the bitterness
ghich exists between the Quirinal and the
e Cardinal Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet is
,oked mon by the Benedictine monks and
heir snnporters as probable success
r IF Leo. He il a native of Palermo and
E ~ wears old. which is rather against
him. Cardinal Dusmet is pure church
nan, leaving polite. n aIene ana vine
I have heard the Cardinal Patriarch Of
yenice nomenico Agostino, spoken OF
xa1mly in connection with the throne in the
Vatican. Sixty-fiye years ago ne was porn
n Treyiso. He is marked friend OF the
,olicy of Cancellation.
,ope. but t does not exist now and is not
likely to for long time. If the position Of
lis holiness in Rome should become abso-
utely unbearable, and the holy see should
,e located elsewhere the prospects of hav-
NO a Transatlantic pontiff would be very
Bright, No European government could
ford to allow the papacy to be controlled
,y any rival power. and protest made IN
ime would be sufficient to crush the hopes
If any cardinal. The unique position OF
America as an isolated nation not involved
"a European politics would give her cardl'
eals-or rather her cardinal, for there II
snly one-a great advantage.
As the vatican and the Quirinal are al
sar, and there is no likelihood that King
Iumbert will ever be able to exert any in
auence over the pope. the various European
lowers prefer to have Italians In Peters
hair in order to keep 1t IN Italy.
There is also a hope for dear old Cardinal
an Felice, the archbishop OF Naples. who
worshipped by his people. This gentle
nd sainfiy man turned out to be a hero
hen the cholera ravaged Naples. He went
bout fearlessly among the dying and dead
sorkine night and day. He exhausted hi
!y;vafe fortune and then sold hi,
evelad crozier in order to help the poor
here are two POINTS against Cardinal Sar
rsIice-he il yery old and he is a liberal
These are the only cardinals whose names