New-York tribune., 1903-07-23
THE CHURCH OF THE POPEs.

The latest and one of the greatest of the
Popes to-day lies in state-or the mortal remains
of him-and his bier is the solemn cynosure of
the worlds regard. But even more than upon
the dust of Leo XIII. and more than upon the
distinguished and beneicent record of his reign,
attention centres upon the organization OF
which he was at once the ruler and the ser
want. POpes come and go, but the Church of
the Popes goes on without let or hindrance,
far more noteworthy among ecclesiastical bod
les than Leo XIII was among its Pontiffs.
Nearly sixty-three years ago Macaulay declared
that there is not, and there never was on this
"earth, work Of human policy well deserv
ling of examination as the Roman Catholic
Church" Macaulay was certainly not preju-
diced in favor of that Church, but rather to the
contrary. Had he indeed, been partial to it,
he would scarcely have described it "a work
Of human policy" But he deliberately paid it
the highest tribute within the compass Of his
gifted speech. 1t is worth while to recall
more of his often quoted words:
The history of that Church joins together the
two great ages of human civilization. No other
institution is left standing which carries the
mind back to the times when the smoke Of sac
rifice rose from the Pantheon and when camel
opards and tigers bounded in the Flavian am
pHtheaue, Inc prouoest royaI houses are OuI
or yesterday when compared with the line or
the supreme Pontiffs. . . The Papacy re-
mains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but
full of life and useful vigor. Nor do
we see any sign which indicates that the term
of her long dominion is approaching. She saw
the commencement Of all the governments and
Of all the ecclesiastical establishments that
exist in the world, and we feel no assurance
that she is not destined to see the end of them
all. She was great and respected before the
Saxon had set foot on Britain before the Frank
had passed the Rhine when Grecian elo-
quence still hourished in Antioch, when idols
were stlIl Worshipped In the temple of Mecca.
And she may still exist in undiminished vigor
when some traveller from w-Zealand shall
in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand
on broken arch Of London Bridge to sketch the
ruins Of st. Paul's.
We need scarcely make any allowance of
diminution from that estimate on account of the
eXuberance Of the great essayist's fancy. Nor
need we materially modify that estimate of
more than threescore years ago because of the
changes time has made. There are striking
differences between the reign of Gregory XVI
and the end Of that of Leo XIII, but almost if
not quite, without exception they are such as
confirm rather than discredit Macaulay's glow
ing panegyric. The members of her COM
munion," he said in 1910, ARE certainly not
fewer than a hundred and fifty millions; and
lit will be difficult to show that all other Chris
titan sects united amount to Il hundred and
twenty millions" To-day the world contains
about two hundred and forty million Catho-
fifty million Protestants, while if to the latter
We add the Greek Church, the Abyssinians and
all other Christian sects we shall have a non
Catholic total of not more than two hundred
and forty million, or just equal to the numbers
of the Church Of Rome. Since Macaulay's time
it is true, the Roman Church has lost its terri
torial dominons and the Pope has been deprived
of his temporal sovereignty. But we may well
doubt whether that fact has weakened the
Church. There are judicious observers who be-
lieve on the contrary, that it has materially
strengthened it as a spiritual organization and
has promoted its growth and influence
At any rate the organization which comprises
half of all the Christian world which is doing.
perhaps, more than half of the missionary
propagandism, and which, after so long a ca
reer still displays the energy and vital force
Of youth, is Unquestlonably power TO be recb-
Oned with, and to be reckoned with largely.
The perfection of its discipline in this great
crisis commands universal admiration and the
choice of n new head which its ecclesiastical
princes shall make will be matter OF no or
binary interest to the whole world. The direc-
ton Of half the Christian population OF the
globe is something which no one can afford TO
ignore.