The Saint Paul globe., 1903-03-09
Typical American Prelate
Discusses the Character
and Remarkable Reign of
the Pope, Which Has Ex-
ceeded in Length That Of
ALI Save Two Predecessors.


of the commission vested in Peter, the
| first pope and the Catholicity of the
| church of Rome. The archbishop said
in part:
The occurrences now taking place
in Rome bring home to us, and indeed
to all the world. Catholic or Protestant,
| Christian or pagan, the significance
of the wonderful fact that it is the
celebration of the twenty fifth ami
! verSary of the accession of the Ro-
man pOntiff to the throne. And the
! fact is singular that in the whole of
| history but three out of all the men,
| bers of the Roman pontificate reigned
| for that length of time. Only three
| who from the Eternal City, ruled the
destinies of the Church of Christ-only
| three out of all that brilliant galaxy of
minds, than which the brilliant pages
| of history can show none brighter,
| who by their wise administration of
matters sacred have given enlighten-
| ment to the World-only three of all
who have reigned for 900 years have
occupied the papaI throne for a quar-
ter of a century Beginning with our
own time and going back the first is
| Leo Kill, the next one is Plus TX;
and to reach the other we must travel
on back through the darkling years
with all their woes and trials and joys
| and bleSsingS--back to st. Peter him
self.
Long Reign Is Significant.
"And it does seem as though this
| long reign, set apart from Christ's visi-
tation on earth by 1000 years-almost
| 1900 years from the origin of the
| church-is a direct sign that ProTi-
| dence wishes to attest in a tangible
manner to the significance of the Chris
| tian religion and the Christian church.
Think of the stretch of years that
/ lies between Peter, who touched di-
| rectly the divine hand who received
! his divine commission from Christ
| himself, and Leo XIII in 1903. From
Peter, told of Christ, Go forth, etc.
| all down the march of the ages an un-
broken chain Of pontiffs, to Leo XIII.
| What a mystic chain of spiritual au-
thority that has been, none missing
despite the tempests of time and the
distance of the intervening space, we
| follow them down the ages link by
link from Peter to- Leo-and Leo is
none other than Peter.
And now what is the origin and
significance of the Roman pontiff?
Nineteen hundred years ago there
walked in Palestine a lowly man, a
man whose unsullied purity of life,
whose overpowering intellect, whose
many miracles showed plainly that he
| was more than a man, whose every
dCI IOlQ IHdI ne WIS divine, IIldI lie
! was the redeemer. He came as man.
! that he might the better be understood
of aAd by men; and he came for all
men, for all ages and for all nations.
1t was his divine mission on earth to
| found a church, a society, a body, a
tangible representation of him which
! would grow as it was intended. And
one dayzin talking to his disciples he
! turned to. one of them, aforetime call
/ p6 SiTonn-SiDonn har-and he
/ said u41to Simon: Thou art Peter, and
upon this sreek 1 will build my church.
| Now Peter, in the language spoken by
Christ, means rock so that 1t would
i hayesbeen equivalent had the transla-
/ tion said thou art rock.
Why Christ Chose Peter.
/ Christ understood the merits of Or
ganization, thorough organization, and
i he naturally chose from among those
i around him the one who would prove
/ the best man as a manager, q head, q
president, a,Xicar, a pope, or whatever
name you wish to give to this repre-
| sentative chosen by Himself out of the
| number with whom he had been as
| sociating, with the object of choosing
/ one of them in view from the first
| Peter, for so we must call him from
now on, he knew would prove the most
| enthusiastic executive head; and SO he
chose him and commissioned him when
| he said: Feed my lambs and in that
commission he assured his newly
| chosen vicar that the gates of hell
shall not prevail against the church
! which he had that day formally found
! ed.
In Peter was vested the light and life
and authority Of Christ; and Peter, chos-
| en- out OF twelve, constituted the first
| representation of stated authority
After the bitter days of the crucifix-
| ion, and those Immediately following, Pc
ter, as pope, ruled the Christian world
| from Antioch, at that time the center
| of the Oriental world. But this was
| found unsatisfactory, and a day came
that the city was. such as satisfied his
needs; and he said: Here will 1 plant
| the cross! And there from Imperia
Rome he ruled the spiritual world as his
unbroken chain of successors have done
| to this day.
Rome! Imperial Rome! Over whose
| marvellous roads, that reached out to al
parts of the world, came pilgrims from
every corner of the three continents. Fol
Rome was acknowledged to be the center
OF the world, and over those roads ha6
/ travelled the glory. the pomp, the legion
aries, the purple and the eagles of count
| less sovereigns and despotic Caesars
| new kingdom was to be formed, a new
/ sovereignty was established and Peter
the vicar of Christ on earth was its rul-
i Ing. spirit. And proof that the new soy.
ereignty was well received is not lack
i
| ter's installation at Rome. pilgrims and
| traders from the distant and pagan prov
%1nces % of Thrygia in Asia and Lyons ir
| Gaul would tell of the knowledge of his
| administration that was prevalent i'm
! their lands.
For over twenty-five years he dis
| pensed the offices of his pontifcate from
| the seat at Rome when Clement, the
| plshop OF Rome, succeeded him.
| Tribute to Leo XIII.
"a ld now, who and what is this mar
/ Leo XIII? With us the man is lost iY
| the office. 1t is the mantle which Gov.
erS him TO which we look our faith is
! sufficient for that; but If we also have
knowledge that the man is able, an ad
| mffabe administrator brilliant states.
man. and In all ways clever, are we moi
| better pleased?
| And L am in somewhat of position
| to be able to speak of him with a de.
| gree of intelligence; for two years agC
| when | met him l was impressed as neV-
er before; as l will never be impressed
| again. Imagine a man In his ninety
I third year, who preserves all the mental
| OF mind that have marked his every act
L found him as well acquainted with the
! condition of affairs in America as though
| he were citizen Of the United States
| found him to be a true Catholic In tine
| truest and widest, broadest sense of thf
word. He is cosmopolitan. And being
/ all these things, he is a true and fittine
| pontiff an ideal head of the only Catho-
| lie church
And so we may truIy rejoice TODAY
| that the gates of hell aave not pre-.
vailed against the church Of Christ"
|
Mrs VVInsIouso coo4hInn S,,.,,n