The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-26
AN ENTIRELY NEW DEPARTURE FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

William E Curtis, whe has been acting
as special commissioner to the Vatican
on behalf Of the Worlds Fair, has writ
ten full account Of his work and what
he expects to come of 1t. This account
has been sent to the Chicago Record
Herald. which newspaper Mr.. Curtis rep
resents in a trip around the globe, In the
letter Mr.. Curtis says;
The Holy See will be we'll represented at
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and
for the first time will participate in such
function. An exhibit selected from the
Vatican library. museum and art galleries
will be taken to St. Louis by Father Ehrle.
project of the pontifical library. An inter
esting collection of relics Of the late Leo
XIII will be loaned by his family, includ-
ing several Of the choicest Of the gifts re-
ceived by him at the Jubilee anniversary
of his reign, and Cardinal. probably Car
dinal satolli. will represent the Pope at
the ceremonial functions. although that
has rot yet been definitely settled.
This Is an entirely new departure for the
church. It Is unprecedented, and Is In
tended to be an expression of the interest
the holy father feels In the progress and
the welfare Of the American people. 1t
was decided upon after three weeks Of
conference and reflection, and to tell the
story I shall have to be a little more
personal than usual in my letters, for /
have the responsibility Of bearing the in
vitation and conducting the negotiations
on behalf Of President Francis and the d.
rectors Of the Exposition. was request
ed to undertake that mission because Of
o~d no Inf
acquaintance with the officials of the Vat
lean. gained In 1892 IN connection with a
similar duty in behalf Of the Columbian
Exposition. The circumstances. however.
are quite different.
In 1862 the Congress of the United
States passed q resolution requesting the
Pope to settle long-continued and acri-
monious controversy by having the ar
chlves of the Vatican searched for evil
dences Of knowledge on the part Of the
church of pre-Columbian discoveries Of
America by the Norsemen. / was select
ed by President Harrison to present the
request to Leo XIII, and then began 6
very highly appreciated and valuable ac-
quaintance with him and several Of the
Cardinals and other ecclesiastics Of Rome
The papers from st. Louis were received
while was In Seville, and consisted of
a formal Invitation from President Fran
els to the Pope, handsomely engraved,
letter of credentials for myself from John
Hay. Secretary Of State. and somewhat
lengthy instructions for my guidance.
The formal invitation and letter of Gre
dentials read as follows:
Department Of State Washington, Aug.
%. 1903.-To the Most Eminent Cardinal
Secretary of State. Rome-I have great
pleasure In commencing to the acquaint-
ance and courtesy of your Eminence, Mr..
William E. Curtis. distinguished citizen
of the United States. who bears a letter,
from the President of the Louisiana Pur-
chase Exposition inviting the concurrence
Of his Holiness. the Pope, in commemora-
ton of the one hundredth anniversary Of
the purchase of the Louisiana Territory
from France. on the first day of May, 1904.
This is an enterprise of the greatest sig
and Importance, and one in the |
success Of which the President of the |
United States takes lively interest.
Commenting Mr.. Curtis to the conf |
dence and esteem Of your Eminence. I am, !
with sentiments Of the highest considera- |
ton your obedient servant,
JOHN HAY"
Upon my arrival In Rome / sought the |
good offices of Mgr. Kennedy of Philadel- |
phia, the genial rector OF the American |
College, who is sometimes called the Uni
ted States Ambassador to the Holy See.
because he is always obliging and ener
getic in assisting fellow-countrymen who
want to see the Pope and have other
business at the Vatican. There is no one
else to whom they can appeal. Our Am
bassador to the King and our Consul Gen.
eral are powerless, for they cannot ap-
proach the officials Of the church. Mgr. |
Kennedy enjoys the highest rank of all
the American prelates at Rome and is a
great favorite at the Vatican, SO that I
whatever business we have there is usual
" conducted through him.
BY his hands 1 sent to the papal sec
rotary Of state copies and Italian trans
lations OF the documents I carried. in
GLIDING my Instructions In order that the
holy father should understand from the
start what came for and what was ex-
pected to do, with an application for an
early audience, that the originals might
be presented in person. The officials at
he. Vatican are always prompt and
obliging and an appointment was made
From that time the negotiations con-
inued for about three weeks, which made
almost daily visits to the Vatican neces-
Iary, and frequent conferences with the
Pope, Mgr. Merry del VAL his Secretary
II State. and other high officials Unfur-
unately. as Doctor Kennedy was about
,tarting. on his annual vacation. was
deprived Of his valuable assistance and
counsel. but he gave me good start, and
lfter his departure was chaperoned by
Father Edward Byrne, vice rector Of the
md lovable gentleman. to whom / am
inder the greatest obligations.
From the beginning to the end was