The Irish standard., 1898-04-30
IMMENSE INFLUENCE WHICH TUE
POPE HAS EXERCISED.
IN The INTERESTS OF PEACE AND
TO CHECK IIOSTILITlES DEIN\EEN
SPAIN AND AMERICA.
FROM THE EARLY AGES THE PONTIFFS
HAvF EVER sO|GIlT TO uE a
MEDIATlXG INELi ENCE.

ut is my hope" said Pope Leo MIL,
| that my life will not end in the smoke
| OF battle, and if it is impossible to avoid
| hostilitics between the United States and
Spain l pray God to take me to Him."
These pathetic words are the outcome
| of the Popc's failure to mediate between
| tho two countries, the second attempt he
| has ever made to interest himself ac-
| lively in the affairs Of any two nations,
| the first being the Carolinas matter be-
tween Spain and Germany.
In no capital in the world are matters
diplomatic conducted with so much sccrc
| cy and punctilio as they are at the Nati-
| can, and when 1t comes to Lco's partcl-
| patton in national matters, in which lie
is an acknowledged adept, one is remind
| ed that before he reached tho papal
| throne when he was Apostolic Nuncio to
! the Court of Brussels, King Leopold l.
said to him:
| Really, monsignor, you are as clover
q statesman as you are an excellent
churchman."
That the Popo should wish to bring
about a peace between the United States
and Spain is but natural. His Holiness
is called the Prince of Peace and wishes
to give effective meaning to title which
would otherwise be but an empty affair.
And In his efforts to do so 1t cannot be
said that the Pope did not have n thor
ough understanding of the many condi-
tons which govern the case. No other
| foreign office In the world is SO we'll sup
| piled with the political data referring
to every important question as is that of
the Vatican. If priests may be termed
religious consuls, Rome has its fingers
! on the pulse Of every habitablc point on
the globe, and has q thorough comprc-
hcnsion of what is transprng.
| Nowhere else has the Roman Catholic
| Church been so utterly untrammeled in
| Its growth rs 1t has in the United States.
| Here, having no state connection, the
church has not been periodically
strangled by political considerations, al
| though 1t cannot he said that the ini]u-
ence Of the church has not been felt in
the political affairs of tho nation. No
one appreciates more fully the absolute
freedom and liberty of the church in the
United States than does Leo. Mi.
| The church in the South and Centra!
| American republics has not for MANY
| in I,
dition as would satisfy the Pope anf
the Vatican. Mgr. Bernard O'Rcilly in
his Life of Leo XIII.," from an nr-
thcntic memoir furnished by his order.
written with the encouragement, ap-
probation. and blessing of his Holiness
the Pope" which may therefore be con-
sidered as reliable and voicing the Pope's
views in certain matters, says:
| "'Tho only hope for religion in Mexl
co, as in Brazil and all South and Gem
tlal America, would be in annexation To
the United States, in the Introduction of
| American institutions, and plentiful in
| practical sense, political conservatism,
| reverence for religion, and the full lib
! crty of the Holy See to regulate the
Catholic interests of the southern as 1t
does of the northern continent" For
eign as this idea may be to the prln-
cipcs of the United States, and while
Cuba is not mentioned, 1t does not take
much stretch of the imagination to in
| ri hat icI n I'M fn. if,,n n
any mentioned by Mgr. O'Rcilly. Know
ing that this was written with the
Popc's full knowledge it may be easily
inferred that his Holiness would hail
make for the bcttcrmcnt of the religious,
condition Of Cuba.
From the early ages the pontilrs have
ever sought to be a mcdating influence
between nation and nation. Ancillon
says: "During the middle ages, when
there was no social order, the papary
alone, perhaps saved Europe from total
barbarism. 1t created bones Of cOnncc-
ton between the most distant nations;
it was a common center, a rallying point
for isolated states. It was a gu
prcmc tribunal, established in the midst
Of universal anarchy, and its DEGREES
were usually as mcritorious as they
were respected. 1t prevented and arrest
ed the dcspotsm of cmpcrora, compcn-
sated for the want of equilibrium, and
diminished the Inconvenience Of the
fcudal system"
Voltaire said: 1.-THE interests of the
human race demand check to restrain
sovereigns and to protect the lives of
the people. This check OF religion
should by universal agreement be in the
hands of the Popes"
Tho Papacy has been all opponent Of
slavery and never lost an opportunity
of making its influence felt in this d.
rect,on.