Arizona republican., 1902-08-15
HoEN1x, ARIZONA, AUG. 15. 1902
Leo's Possible Successor.

Leo's Possible Success or.
 The controversy which is going on within the Catholic church over the proposed withdrawal 0; the friars from the Philippines has awakened a gen eral interest in the affairs of that church, and this interest has been heightened by the recent appointment of Cardinal Gotti to be prefect of the propaganda-both by reason of the fact that Cardinal Gotti is looked upon as the possible successor of Leo Hl1l, and because the prefect of the propaganda has practical control of the vast or ganization which owes allegiance to Rome. According to the most recent census. the members of the Roman Catholic church outnumber by several millions those of any other religious denomina- tion in the United States. The figures are in the neighborhood of ten millions. exclusive of the million of Catholics in Porto Rico and the considerably larger number oi the adherents of the same creed in the Philippines. The person. ality of the prelate who has just been appointed by Leo XIII to assume as prefect of the propaganda at Rome the ecclesiastical supervision and control of the hierarchy of the clergy and of the Roman Catholic laity in the great republic of North America and it's colonial possessions must, therefore. be matter of con- siderable interest, and even import ance, to the people of this country. It is the prefect of the propaganda who determines the appointments to the vacant bishcprics and archbishoprics in all missionary countries, in which the United States and Great Britain are comprised. It is the prefect of the propa ganda again who decides all dis putes iu connection with ecclesiastical administration or doctrine that may arise either directly or through the pa pal delegate at Washington, and. final ly, it is the pre:ect of the propaganda who constitutes the channel Of inter- course between all American Catholics ard the pope, and is the representative and deputy of the latter in his dealings with all those members of the Roman church who live and flourish beneath the protection of the stars and stripes
 It is difficult to refrain from the con viCtiCn that in appointing Cardinal Gotti to the office of pTefcct of the congregation for the propagation Of the faith Cthis is his official title) Leo XIII has in view the United States and it's colonial possessions. For. accord ing to sketch in the New York Tribune of last Sunday (from which this article is condenseD, the distin- guished prelate in question, who is man of the most humble origin, his father having been a dock laObrer at Genoa, may be said to have won his spurs and the good will of the pontif by the tact. the diplomacy and the skill which he displayed in reorganiz- ing the Roman Catholic church in Bra gil after it's disestablishnent on the overthrow of the empire and the E- stitution of republican form of gov eminent. The connection between dlu SIIle III 1SEGZil was severed when Dom Pedro lcst his throne, and absolute equality now exists among all forms of religion. It was task of considerable difficulty to accustom the Brazilian hierarchy and clergy to the new order of things and to the loss O. some of their most cherished privileges. while still more arduous was the labor of bringing the various monastic or ders to comprehend that they were placed, beth as regards the possession of property and fiscal obligations, on the same footing as ordinary corpora- tions and individuals.
 Yet Gotti accomplished this without friction by means of common sense and the spirit of conciliation in such a manner as to give saticfaction alike to the Brazilian government, the clergy and religious orders in Brazil and Leo XIII, receiving, indeed, his red hat as q reward fer his success in tine matter.
 The papacy is now confronted in the colonial possessions of the United tates with q situation very similar to that which existed i'll Brazil at the time of the downfall of the empire. The Roman Catholic church has been discstablishcd in Porto Rico and in the Philippincs-that is to say. it has ceased to be state church-and in the same way the various religious or ders, which during the Spanish regime enjoyed the most extraordinary pre- negatives in the shape of immunity from taxation. well as from civil and criminal j 1iHtion. besides vir-