New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-21
PAPAL NEUTRALITY.
a CONGRESS TO ASSEMBLE FOR THE
PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING IT UNDER
A GUARANTEE OF THE POWERS.

=. .ound on the face Of the globe there is none /
more utterly confusing to the average inteIH- |
ranoe and to the ordinary newspaper reading |
srtsen than the condition Of affairs which now
prevails AZ Rome 1t is the difficult to I'M
ss-stand owing 70 the fact that it is well nigh
,n,possible to obtain an impartial and un-
rretudiced exposition OF the problems involved |
~ begip With 10 two Italians seem to be Of |
.be same mind about the matter. For paradox |
81 though Il may appear at first sight, there |
.re many inmates Of the Vatican who are i'm |
h,as with the triendlest feeling toward King |
Yzr-nbert and his government while In the same |
x-ax there are many adherents OF the latter who |
are pious Catholics, and entertain sentiments Of
ne nost profound veneTation and devotion to |
the P0ntIf- One Italian statesman viii solemn /
IL assure you that there is no such thing as the
Roman question which exists. he asserts, |
solely IN the Imagination Of foreigners, while |
another such as for instance the Marquis Wis /
oDutd Venosta~ the veteran Minister Of Foreign /
Affairs Of Italy, and one OF the most eminent |
diplomats IN Europe does not hesitate to as
ser1 that the Roman question is always with US /
and though shOrtsighted politicians think that |
4 is an easy one 10 combat, to ignore, it Is !
a. the bottom Of al ItaIy's difficulties We shall |
never have peace until it is settled To-day an
amicabe arrangement between the Government /
and The Vatican is question of life and death |
for the nation"
DPCRTANCE OF THE ROMAN QUESTION
Yet some sort Of al explanation Is needed |
Fox the so-caIled Roman question-hat is to /
say. The respective positions Of the Vatican and
the QuirinaL and their relations toward each |
other-is far from being mere Italian affair, Of |
nc concern OF importance save to the people |
O. the peninsula The matter is one which de- |
nands the attention OF every foreign Govern /
Enent that has any large Roman Catholic popu- /
lati0l subject 70 its rule While these Govern /
uents view without apprehension the /
influence maintained over their Roman Catholic /
citizens by E foreign Pontif, who exercises his /
wonderfully powerful spiritual sway with pure |
y religious objects IN view. the situation would
b entirely different were there to be any sus- |
pici0n that the Papacy had been transformed
from an International into a purely Italian in /
stituIon, and were the Pontif to be rendered a |
dependant and subordinate Of the Italian Gov !
ernnent and as such more or less passive in !
sc-unent for the furtherance Of the secular
interests Of Italy in foreign countries
The interests Of the Papacy and Of the Roman
Catholic Church throughout the world demand
that the Pontf should enjoy independence of
any individual Government and that he should
Be relieved Of even the most remote imputation
o. exercising his spiritual sovereignty In the
pott1ca1 interests Of monarchy such as the
h-ll5-DA4 u 1L6-g Inc Vial interests of the
latter on the other hand require in an equally
imperative manner that the Church should be
sUbordinated TO the State-that is to say. that
TIE P0ntf should become mere -tipendiary of
the Italian Government
Prom this II viii be seen that the recent de-
cree Of the Supreme Court of Italy denying
extra territorial rights to the Pope, is a matter
@ grave international concern. Until now il
has been generally supposed that the Pope was
absolute master within the precincts of the
Vatican. and that the authority Of the Italian
Government stopped short at the doors Of the
pontifcal palace. This idea was confirmed by
the fact that the Pope was permitted TO main
tain his own armed bodyguards and that no
royal police officer, revenue official, magistrate 4
or military dignitary in the service of King
Eumbert had ever crossed the threshold of the
Vatican, save By special invitation, since the
abolition OF the temporal sovereignty of the
Papacy in 1870.
THE PAPAL GUARANTEES.
Article VII Of the law Of Papal Guarantees. /
enacted II May, 1871, expressly declares that I
no official Of the Government can, in the exer-
esse Of his peculiar Office, enter the palace or
residence Of The sovereign Pontif, unless au-
thOrized BY the latter Moreover, the foreign .
embassies and missions accredited to the Papacy
are conceded by the Italian Government the
same extra territorial rights as the representa-
tves Of the foreign Powers At the Court of the
QuirinaL It was, therefore. natural to assume .