The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-02-29

"old,'' he is adored by the young" hated
by the Triple Alliance, he is the fovar-
jte OF those who support the democratic
policy of the future. The struggle in
the next conclave will be between him
and Cardinal Calm berti. II the two
Cardinals VannrtelIi support Cardinal
Rampolla, the result Of the conclave is
settled.
l. Four years ago when the Sun published
the first fairly complete study on the con-
! clave, it was admissible to discuss the
possibility of a foreign Pope: today the
situation seems TO be modified. Under
present conditions it would be difficult
to touch upon this great and delicate
question. The foreign Pope, that is,
the Pope above nationality, is q reality
that must come. AS long as the deadly
dissension between Quirinal and Vat
can continues, the Pope, whoever he may
be, will be free from any national en-
cumbrance. The fall OF the temporal
power has brought about the fourth ear
of the Papacy, where, freed from every
political alloy it has become, not the
capital of a little territorial state, but
the sensorium commune of the moral life
OF the universe. s
This condition Of affairs may come to
an end. The hour may come, perhaps,
when Rome, having become once more
free, the reorganization of the Church
will become necessary and will demand
the attention of the world. 1t will be
the decisive moment when the system Of
Sixtus V. will be Transformed, making
room for new organisms. At present the
immediate needs are the most pressing.
Leo Kill, while preparing the way by
his innovations for the foreign Pope. is
concentrating his thoughts in a narrow
er circle. So long as the Pontifcal ques-
tion is unsettled it would be & bold thing
to approach a problem so deep and SO
serious for the government of the su-
preme power. Politics is the art of COM
promises; it always deals with what is
most pressing. AS, in the order of pure
ly ecclesiastical questions, the temporary
encampment at Rome.of political ly-
nasty delays internal reforms. so the
dwelling together on the hills of the Vat
ican and the Quirinal of these two powers
makes it for the time unnecessary to set
tie the question, which, in my opinion. is
the most important Of all, of an inter-
national and more than Italian Pope
If by chance this knot were to be cut
seen, no one doubts that Cardinal Glib
bons should be come the object of the at
tcntiOn of all. An apostolic Bishop, and
American, democrat, the incarnation Of
ali ecclesiastical -ype that has attracted
the attention OF the best men of Europe,
the lntrOducer of a new civilization, the
prophet, in a way, of the transformation
which events are tending to make in the
old framework Of the European CONT
nent, the Archbishop of Baltimore would
be more than an eminent Cardinal--he
would be a symbol
That is why the writer's for the house
OF Savoy the protectors of the statu quo
at Rome, and the champions of the Triple
Alliance have always been bitter again st
the Primate Of the United States From
the liberal Quirinal historian of the con-
clave, Signor de Casare, to the incense
bearers Of the Old parties, all have de-
Ecunced this possibility as danger for
the rn-out world of conservative and
u,onarchial groups. Against. him are
drawn up the freight Of Signor Crispi,
who is afraid Of any change: the fears of
the successors of Gioberti, who wish to
lmprlson the International greatness of
the Holy See in an Italian jacket: the
seif1shness OF courts and Of the Triple
Alliance, whose watchword is "No
change" and the stupid and incurable
obstinacy of all the belated conservatives
of the old world: De Cesare has gone
SO far AS to accuse the American Gardi-
nal of not knowing Latin, French and
Italian. Does not this show the man up? :?
But in the minds Of wiser men. as more
exact information cirnes to us from the
Vatican, it would foolish to lift today the
veil that hides the future To propose a
foreign Cardinal would be to increase at
once the chances OF the old parties of
those who would arouse the old ideas. the
constant traditions Of Rome. in order to
gather around their chief the undecided
and hesitating majority of the sacred Col
lege. Ii my information is correct. that is
the real opinion Of Leo XIII. To over
come the enemy all active forces must be
concentrated on a single point, free from
every new elem ent--the continuation Of
the present Pontificate. A conclave is
known factor to be introduced into it.
When Louis XIV. sent the Due de Chaul-
mes to take part in the negotiations for the
future conclave, Nine de Sevigne wrote to
her daughter: ''.The King declares that
he is resolved to send him (the Due de
Chaulnes) to Rome, because he thought
him the only person capable of doing the
most difficult thing there is to be done in
Europe. in giving to the, Church a head
who is at the same time capable of gov
erning the Church and of satisfying ev-
erybody, and France in Particular
When the thoughts of the very great,
majority Of minds in the religious world !.
and even of thoughtful men of all creeds,
are observed and summed up, it will be
easy to obtain from all their wishes one
general impression. It is that the com
ing concfaye must be the repetition of
that of 1873, and that the successor of
Leo Kill must continue his reign, his
ideals, his method of action. In acces-
sorry ecclesiastical matters, such as the
maintenance and preservation Of rites, the.
evolution Of political power, the order is
always the same: needs create rights and
rights create powers The end of the
nineteenth century shows that it has new
needs, which Leo XIII. has drawn up.
There will therefore be new rights and
new powers. Until new conservative par
ties have preached the indispensable union
of the throne and the altar that was the
capital mistake Of the nineteenth century
on the Continent, for in several countries
the throne and the altar have fallen to-
gether. They were flying buttresses, rest
ing on each. other; where one broke down
the other gave way. Hence a temporary
decline of Catholicism. Through his
greatness of heart, more than through his
progressive intelligence, Leo XIII. has
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