The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-04-03
Reply 70 MA. pEasy.
E ather van Ciarenback Denies Lectur.
e:s. Stsry Of Popess Jeanne.

Billings April 1, 1903.
Editor Gas cite: 1t is loathing to
me that in this goth century of boast.
ed enlightment one should have to
raise his voice in protest against Ger.
tain calumnies that are vomited forth
from time to time on the public plat
forms Of our country by our public
lecturers. Eager to raise themselves
on the pedestal Of public admiration
and taking advantage Of the suppos-
ed -bigotry against the Catholic church
and shallowmindedness Of many in
their audiences, these so-called learn
ed and up-todate men have the au-
'dacity in their arrogant and all-know-
ing ignorance to display certain so
called historic facts, which they would
well guard themselves to set forth
before an assemblage versed in his
tory. The famous Popess Jeanne! I
really thought that she was buried
long ago " to be called to life
again. But a wonderworker who had
the press to sound the trumpet be-
fore him came to Billings and last
Friday evening displayed his wonder.
full power by re~suscitating the long de-
cayed corpse. He must have surpris-
ed MAN. Of his admirers! l am sure
they will be ~eternally thankful to the
gentleman for the new and welcome
information they received about that
abominable institution, known as the
! Papacy.
This age Of ours prides itself on
i S observation-disclosures. Yet occasion
ally we find individuals, even some
who come to us very highly recon-
mended. who seem to be firm believ-
ers in the words Of the Infamous Vol
taire, lie and blaspheme, something
will always be believed" BY the
very fact that the gentleman I refer
TO-, before an audience in Billings,
cited as an historic fact a fable, a
vile calumny, refuted a thousand
times before and invented for the sole
purpose of slandering the Catholic
church, he proves conclusively that
he belongs to that class, referred to
above. According to nm compare
lively recent d%etractors Of the Pap
acy the famous Popess Jeanne ruled
the church between the reign of
Pope Leo w. and that of Benedict
III. Now, it is a we'll known and
an incontrovertable fact of history
that Pope Leo Nv. was succeeded i'm
mediately by Pope Benedict III. 1
would refer all detractors of the Pap
acy to two of the most famous his
torians the world has ever produced,
N. NJ. Palma, Prael, hist. eccl. I. 367
and Hinkmar Rhemens Ep. 26. A
female pope is a thing not only i'm
probable and absurd, but also impos-
sible, for according to Catholic be-
lief a woman cannot even be a priest,
much less a bishop or a pope. This
name of "Popess Jeanne" is not
found in any of the ancient chronolo-
gies of popes, nor is it mentioned by
any trustworthy historian during at
Least four centuries that followed the
epoch of the pretended reign. Lei
BRITT, Blondel, Boxhorn, Cave and 9th
Protestant historians have proved the
whole thing to be absolutely false. A
Protestant clergyman, w. S. Barring
Gould, shows the absurdity of the
story in his curious, Myths of the |
Middle Ages" l would also kindly |
refer Mr.. Perry to Doellinger's Papist
fables, p. 1, ct S. It appears that this
story has no other foundation than
the venemous brain of Fredric Span
helm, eagerly received by people dis
to the Papal chair and filled
with all the venom their heart is cap
able of holding against the church of
Jesus Christ. The fable is supposed
to date back to the thirteenth century,
see Etienne de Barbonne 1861 and
Martin de Sologne 1879. Their writ
ings have been interpolated and when
manuscripts of these two chron-
were recovered some time
ago they were found to contain not
even as much as an allusion to the
fable.
All this evidence shows conclusive
what we are to think of the IA
nous Popess Jeanne and of those
who have the impudence to display
before an audience so great an alb
and so vile a calumny against
the Catholic church.
FIR. VAN CLARENBECK.