The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-07-21
THE LATE POPE.

The attitude of the Protestant anc
secular press towards the late Pope
Leo during his pontifical life ana ms
last sickness marked, in n most sig
nificant way, the growth among men ol
the mild humanities. Fifty years age
M Protestant preacher-least of all one
I'm n Honolulu pulpit-would nave uareu
pray for the recovery of the Roman
pontiff. That was time when NC
Popery" was rallying cry among the
Puritan and Lutheran stock OF whlch
American evangelical bodies were COM
posed To the zealots who inherited
the shirt of Cromwell and of the Monk
of wittenberg, Rome was 1.-The Scarlet
woman and the Pope was Anti
Christ" Far be it from them to wish
him we'll even upon bed of pain.
But to be just to the stern protest.
antism of the time, 1t cannot be sara
that the rancor of its attitude towards
Rome was wholly without cause. The
church, sharing the spirit OF It's age
had often been oppressive and unjust,
even merciless and cruel; there had
been bad Popes as well as good. But
the fault Of Professionalism was IN
charging wrongs against the Papacy
as an institution rather than against
the times in which it lived, times IN
which Professionalism itself was brought
very low. When Rome was at It's worst
estate the world was also at Its worst;
when Torquemada lit the fires of the
inauisition, the prosecutions under
Cromwell and the hanging of witches
IN nd were about
TO come. But Professionals saw only
the mote in the eye of Rome; they dlu
not stop to cast out the beam In their
own eye. and prejudices grew winch
while not yet wholly extirpated, are
happily weakening as men of all faiths
grow more civilized. The blessing OF
Pope Leo was given to many Prot
estant; the last sovereign he received
at the Vatican was one VINO had Out
lately taken an oath TO defehu MS
crown and people against all Popery'
and Professionals on their side nave not
hesitated to invoke the Throne or
Grace to prolong the life of the good
old man who sat for so many years
upon the throne of Peter. The mean
ing of it all is that the world Is broad
pnlIlS III us lllnd anu iiil''h'N''
ing in tolerance, learning to look for
the good in institutions and men rather
than the evil-approaching, however
slowly, that millennial age, foretold In
prophecy, when the lion shall lay down
with the lamb and a little child shall
lead them.
AS the Popes of the far past, with all
their faults, were probably better men
than the purely temporal soVereigns
with whom they were surrounded. so
Leo XIII was an example in dignity,
purity of life and sweetness of char
acter to his contemporary rulers. There
were none of them fitted to look down
upon him; there were many who, with
moral benefit to themselves, could have
sat at his feet.
The policy of Leo XIII was broad and
wise. 1t used to be said that the
church scooped out the brains of it's
followers so that it could think for
them, but Leo, in his devotion to edu-
cation, gave the church the higher and
and nobler work of moulding the lay
intellect to think for itself. Catholic
colleges and universities grew up wher-
ever the Papal benediction fell; and to-
day they are adding thousands of edu-
Gated young men to that army of faith
full communicates upon whom the ma
terial and spiritual progress of the
church depends.
AS a student of sociological problems.
the Pope was deeply concerned over
the rising spirit of anarchy. He be-
lieved in rendering unto Caesar the
things that are Caesars and so he
made the church a bulwark of defence
for any Christian government against
the Entertainments of the mob. For his
services to the French republic in the
time of Boulanger he had but a sorry
requital; for his services to Great Brit
ain against the malevolent spirits of
the Land League, England held him in
reverent esteem, while Germany, for
getting Bismarck's warnings, was glad
to get his aid, which was freely given,
to preserve the integrity of the State
against the Vaccinations of the Social
Democrats.
Finally the Pope, as became his high
station in the Christian world, used his
great influence TO keep the peace of
and he had the happiness, dur
ing his long reign TO see no desolating
war between Christian powers.
Looking back over the career of
the late Pontiff there is nothing for
Protestants to carp at, nothing to make
Catholics ashamed. Thanks to the
wisdom of Leo the church has
grown in power, in spiritual strength,
in wise administration and in that
peculiar influence over the unframed
masses which makes 1t the most formid-
able and beneficent police power in the
world today.
Kings College, Windsor, Nova Scotia,
which conferred the degree of d. d. on
BlShnn Resin rick lie ana nf tln nlanrt