The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-11
Civil Prinecdof11 81 tie Pope

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Review and published by permlsslon.l 90
q church which its members hold to nave
been founded by Christ, the 1ncarnao re
God, to teach all peoples until the eIG VI
time The church is complete organism,
possessing in itself the elements OF ire
and the potencies of action and invested
with inherent rights to all means, natural natural
as well as supernatural, that are neeoeo
to secure for it dignity before men ana
the liberty for the work with winch II IS
charged. 1t is catholic. world cnurcn,
having humanity as the object of It's
mission and it's operations. 1t has as It's
head the pope, the bishop of Rome, IN
whom is centered the supreme conscious
ness of its powers and rights ana 10
whom is intrusted the supreme duty OF
interpreting its mind and guiding its des-
tinies
purpose and in the forces of which 1T
disposes, is spiritual. 1t reaches out to
souls, proffering to them salvation
through divine truth and grace. Spiritual
no other than that of the church Ihls
mission. however, the pope exercises upon
earth, among men, he hlmsei man. an, any any
thus he is at once brought into contact
with human interests and human meth
DDS, upon which his mission, spiritual as
1t is in its primary purport must IN some
live on earth, must have a foothold on
earth. AS long as religion works In hu-
mainly the spiritual needs the temporal.
Civil independence Not Vital.
When, therefore, the pope's civil prince
dom is brought under discussion, inc
question really is whether such clvli
princeton is in a manner necessary to us
spiritual mission. So far as is shown TO
be, necessary to the spiritual we s sha hH
right divine Else Christ's mission to
his church is vain and illusory
Civil independence, it is urged. IS nee
essary to the papacy for the Iulnillil lem
of its mission. Here, however, as Es
tinction is to be made. No one main
tains that civil independence is so essen
tial that without it the papacy ca 11,a,
have existence or cannot in some way:
though it be under stress of most uli
propitfous circumstances, do its appoin I5
ed work In other words, fiy i i tba being
of the papacy. 1t is necessary only IN the
sense that without it the papacy does not
possess the dignity and the freedom when 1is,a
Should belong to it as the representative
of Christ and the teacher of nations. But
will anyone assert that it is merely a
right to what is vitality essential to It's
life and its work that the papacy, tae
chieftaincy of Christ's church, received
from it's author, or that it was not tne
intention of its founder that II sH f aIa aG
the freedom of action required LOT tns
exercise of it's ministry with dignity anu NJ
efficiency? Christ was not an o un"ise + oe
impotent builder. 1t was, indeed, In the
catacombs of Rome that, in the t1rst ages
of Christianity, the papacy acconplisle af
it's work. But 1T Is not IN the uayS u,
-nersecution that we expect to Denold ~ ~.
the papacy the normal form Whlcn IL
should hear or the normal rights when
1t has received from Christ.
Human Hlndrances to Religious Freedom.
The pope, all, of course, concede. must
have absolute freedom OF actlon IN ln ne
work of governing the church ana OF
teaching faith and morals. No hindrance
must come to him from human agencies;
d. his action, whether in governing or teacn.
ing must be purely his own, or rather tnat
of the church, which he represents. NOW,
to secure such freedom IS the purpose OF
s. the civil independence OF the pope. sup
pose the pope were to be in Sub]ectlon TO q
civil ruler His freedom, at most Woulo
be a concession from this ruler; nor would
there be any certainty that the concession
would not be withdrawn.
Such ruler would have the power to stay
the action of the pope, to throw countless
obstacles in his way, to strive, by threats
or promises to influence him. And who
will say that a civil ruler would not often
make use of such power? The action OF
the pope might be of nature to OFFEND
him. it might mean the Reputation OF
laws which he had enacted in violation of
Justice, or the condemnation of Ubiquitous
courses which he followed in his private or
public life. The word of the pope is po-
tent with men and nations, and the con-
troll of it, real or seeming; would give val
liable aid to a rulers ambitions. The
temptation either to reduce the pope to
is SO great that, were the opportunity
given, many rulers would yield to it. To
such a temptation Napoleon yielded when
Plus VII was temporarily under his do
minion and history tells US how, at Sa
vona and Fontainebleau, neither fraud nor
fattery nor physical violence was spared
to compel the pontiff to issue, in matters
purely ecclesiastical such edicts as the
conquerer'S pride and coVetouSness of SUI
premacy eXacted. In the course of CEN
turtles the monarchs have not been few
NTJAn Il 70 al
were equal to him in pride and ambition.
What if popes had been subjects of such
monarchs? What if Clement VII. had been
the subject of the king of England when
Henry VIII. called for the annulment of
his marriage with Queen Catherine? Or
If Gregory VII. had been under the sway
OF the emperor of Germany when Henry
~. undertook to dispose of the crozier of
the bishop as he disposed of the crozier of
the vassal?
Pope Extra National
National antipathies and jealousies, so
strong and so persistent in the life of hu-
mainly, make 1t imperative that the head
of the church be not the subject of a civil
ruler. Inasmuch the Catholic church is
universal church it is vitality differen-
t1ated from other religious societies and
has exigencieS to which those of none
other can be compared. Because it is the
church of all nations its supreme chieftan
must be OF no nation; he must have ter
r1tory of his own where all nations are at
home, where no nation is master.
In virtue of his Office the pope is supra
national; for this reason he must be ex-
ira national. AS the subject of one ma
ton he would be viewed with askance by
subjects of other nations, who would deny
his impartiality or doubt his freedom from
undue influence. If war were declared be-
tween his master and foreign sovereign
his own ruler would demand from him act
I've aid. and the foreigner would refuse
communication with him. 1t is to no pur
pose to draw an abstract line between the
spiritual and the temporal and to expect
that all nations shall hearken to the pope
as the father in one sphere of action and
repel him as an enemy in another When
minds are inflamed the aims and objects
OF the spiritual and of the temporal are
cas- easily COMPOUNDED. If today the pope were
the subject of France how weak would be
his moral power in Germany! Had he by
recognizing the sovereignty of the Italian
KING over Rome, made himself subject of
the qulrinal, he would be bound es q
ioyai Italian. to the obligations of the drei
nund, and Intellectual would be his letters
20 the people of France, whom the dTei.
bund fain would crush - q
Religious and Civil Freedom.
The history of churches other than the