New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-21
denying the extra territorial rights Of the
Papacy, as well as the immunity of the inmates
Of the Vatican from Italian Jurisdiction
A LONG PENDING SLIT Decided


LONG PENDING SUIT DECIDED.
The first effect Of this decision is that large
number of suits which have been pending for
years, including one brought against the PapaI
household in 1880 by the architect who made ell
the arrangements for the conclave at which Leo
XIII was elected, and who is still clamoring for
his money, will now be decided against the in
mates and dignitaries of the Vatican, against
whom they were instituted
The second result of this decree, and the one
which more Immediately concerns all foreign
governments. is the fact that it virtually
renders not only the dignitaries and in
mates of the Vatican but even the Pope him
self, amenable to the jurisdiction of the Italian
tribunals. Not merely as an Italian citizen. but
as the resident Of Italian city the Holy
Father becomes subordinate to the Italian
courts, and ipso facto to the Italian Govern
ment In Italy the judges are not as in this
country and in England, independent of the
control and authority of the Executive, but
entirely subject to the orders of the Minister Of
Justice for the time being, the Minister in Ques-
ton being a member Of an administration that
holds Office by virtue of the good will Of an
ephemeraI parliamentary majority. to the
whims and caprices Of which it is compelled to
pander
That is to say, that the Pope through the de-
cision of the Supreme Court of the kingdom
loses his status of an independent sovereign to
become a subject of King Humbert. AS such
he is amenable to all the laws of the Italian
kingdom, even to the extent of liability to civil
and criminal proceedings in the event of his
declining to comply with the statutes that may
be enacted by Parliament and interpreted by
judges deficient in independence in accordance
with the views of the Minister of Justice and
Cabinet of the day. The Pope, thanks TO this
decree Of the Supreme Court Of Appeal, does
not even enjoy the same extra territorial rights
that would be accorded by the Italian Govern
ment to the disreputable and drunken young
King of Servia were he to visit Italy. In one
word the effect of the decree of the Court of
Appeal is to transform the Papacy from an in
ternationaI into a purely national Italian insti-
tuition.
a GREAT CRISIS IMMINENT
The fact of the matter is that, thanks to this
decree, the so-caIled Roman question has now
reached a climax and that great crisis is i'm
minent in the history of the Church as well as
in the fortunes of Italy The settlement of the
question one way or another can no longer be
delayed, and it is now proposed to call an inter
national congress for the purpose of devising
some project with a view of neutralizing the
Papacy that is, in the sense of assuring its
entire independence and neutrality inter
national institution under the collective guar
antee of all the Christian Powers Were this
scheme to be put into execution the Vatican
would be able to abandon much of its political
and purely secular activity, which is not alto
gether in consonance with its spiritual mission,
but which is rendered necessary and inevitable
by the abnormal conditions By which it is now
environed.