The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-07-24

ed for humanity, when he worked for the
church, for he believed that the church
was the lever wherewith to uplift hui
! manity. He never sought to help the
church except through motives and
methods, most worthy in themselves,mos
useful to humanity. He never hesitated
to reach out beyond the formal confines
OF the church to serve humanity, to serve
nations and men who were not of the
fold of the church The heart of Leo
as his mind, knew no limitations, no
frontiers; he was the pontiff of humani-
ty.
One of the most meaningful of the acts
of Leo was his announcement to the
Catholics of France that it was their
moral duty to adhere to the republic;
and the doctrinaI teaching of guarding
modern ideas and forms of government
involved in that announcement. 1t was,
too, masterful stroke of diplomacy All
the Catholics of France did not follow
Leo, their political traditions held the
field; today they are suffering from their
shortsighted conservatism and their dis
obedience.
A Majestic Figure.
What majestic figure was that of
Leo! There he stood for twenty six
long years, an old man, stripped of ex-
ternal power-naught but a personality
and voice. But kings and emperors
did him homage; his words were caught
up by the peoples of all countries; his
hand reached out to the high and the low,
the cultured scholar and the untutored
savage; to peoples civilized, and tribes
barbarian; and by all it was grasped
with loving tenderness. No other man
reigned at the dawn of the twentieth
century as Leo reigned-truly the SOW
ereign of sovereigns. 1t was the supreme
triumph of moral power-the triumph
of truth and justice, the triumph of a
soul repleted with truth and justice
A Lover of America.
with Leo there dies the admirer and
the lover of America. Said he one day
to a bishop from America: oh, America,
it is the future Leo's clear vision of
things far away in time as well as
in space had endeared America to him.
AS no other statesman in Europe, Leo
understood America-its possibilities and
the meaning of its institutions.
Nothing in the circumstances connect
ed with the illness and death of Leo
does SO much honor to him and so much
honor to our common human nature as
in him by the non-Catholic world, espe-
cially in the United States.
I'm America the Associated Press daily
burdened trans Atlantic wires with mes
sages lengthy and sympathetic from
Rome. The newspapers of the country
quickly opened their columns to those
messages and repeatedly wrote of Leo
in friendliest language.
''In numerous Protestant churches,
kindliest mention was made of Leo from
the pulpit and prayers for him went up
to heaven from lips and hearts of minis
tiers of congregations. What transcen-
dent merit in Leo to have won the world
to this extent! What nobleness of mind
and heart in men to have risen high
above traditions and customs-to have
acknowledged Leo's greatness and good
ness; to have given him such unstinted
love! Leo in his last moments was deep
ly touched ON hearing of this attitude
of Protestants toward him. The world
il today the better for the sweet
kindness begotten in it by Leo.
The Benediction.
"The Catholic church, America, hui
manity, bid Leo loving farewell. Those
who knew him closely feel their heart
strings culver with sorrow as the mar
BILE lid closes over his remains. But God
lives and other Leos, we pray, will come
to us as heavens gift. Rest thou, Leo,
rest at .Iast from thy long and toilsome
battlinSs on earth; rest forever, with thy
God, thy Master"