Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-12-09
The First PapaI Mission
to St. Petersburg.
The IMPORTANCE OF IT
The Pope's Effort to Reconcile the
Polish Catholics to the Cars
Government the Price of Rus
sian Help to the Vat!can-R Relig-
ious Differences May Be Sur
mounted.

si@n help 10 tne VaI!can-Rel1g-
ious Differences May Be Sur
mounted.
Rome, Dec. THE Car of Russia
has now taken a final decision. the reli-
slous and diplomatic Importance of
which can be misunderstood by no one:
1t is to allow the establishment at ST.
petersburg of an extraordinary PapaI
mission. The history of this affair is
peculiarly interesting. At the begin
mig of the year the czar understood
perfectly how fruitful would be a closer
collaboration between Russia and the
Papacy. If in other points he has ne
elected the positive and weighty inher-
1tence Of Alexander III, in ecclesiastical
matters he has followed up his fathers
policy with remarkable tenacity.
For moment his mind dwelt on the
plan of a aunciature. The national an
peasement of Poland, the reaction
which policy of intimacy with Rome
would have on the Slav races and on
the Balkan peoples, the close connec-
ton between ecclesiastical questions
and foreign politics, the subordination
OF former struggles and internal rexo-
lutions to a gradual realization of Rus
sia's mission in history, his deep
admiration for the pacifying spirit
of Leo XIII, the identity of the Roman
questions with the aims of the Franco
Russian alliance; all these interests in
duced the sovereign to cultivate the
friendship of the Holy See
His ideas were opposed at once by the
who has always preached to the Rus
slams that the Slav races must be unit
ed under the protectorate of the schis-
matte orthodox hegemony. The latter
in his Political, Religious and Social
Thoughts of a Statesman" has tried to
prove ethnographically the impossibili-
ty of a reunion of the churches, and.
consequently, of an alliance with the
Papacy. Luckily for himself the pro-
curator of the Holy Synod found eff
cient and ardent assistants among the
Germans, the Italians and the English.
The first oppose vehemently any COM
ing together of the czar and Rome, be-
cause William II, supported by the
centre, the bishops, the Catholics and
many groups, both at Rome and else
where, dreams of ressurecting an en-
pire of the west, with the aid of the
church and of the Holy See, by incorpo-
rating with Germany the German
speaking provinces of Austria The
Italians, ever uneasy at the growing
increase of the Papacy's influence op-
pose necessarily and passionately any
radical understanding between the
Pope and a political power. The ex-
tension of the Russian empire in Asia
makes England uneasy, and as the
Natican's assistance renders Russias
task easier and shorter, the British for
eign office finds that it must be the
active and unrelaxing opponents of this
widening of the Roman ''pomoerium"
for the advantage of st. Petersburg.
The time has not yet come for the rev.
elation of all the secrets about this
great intrigue, 'nomina sunt odiosa.'
When this manifold opposition was
disclosed Nicholas II substituted for his
first idea more modest scheme and
one less difficult to put into practice:
The sending, namely, to st. Petersburg
If an extraordinary Papal mission. All
ready; the agreement with Leo
XIII, the limitation of the questions to
be discussed, the choice of ambassa-
lors, when at the last moment in Au-
gust last, some persons of secondary
Importance who either misunderstood
| note of the Vatican or were subject
o hostile influences. suggested to the
'zar that he should put off the date of
he missions departure, on the ground
hat it offered no benefit to Russia
Politicians of authority, however, have
tut an end to these intrigues, and on
November 2, at Darmstadt, Nicholas
L gave orders that his consent should
'e made to the Holy See.
AGAINST THE TRUST.