The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1903-07-23
THE VATICAN.


Leo was noted for the attention he used
to give to missionary fathers who went TO
Rome from their distant fields of labor to
obtain audience with the head of the
church His information regarding the
status of the Catholic church in the United
States was notably full and accurate. On
one day he gave audience to a bishop whose
diocese included large portion of Alaska.
a priest whose work was conducted under
the burning skies of Borneo and native
Syrian, newly ordained as a priest, whose
field was located not far from the scenes of
Christ's life on earth OF the details and
difficulties of the labors of each of these
three fathers the pope informed himself ac-
curately, and to each he made suggestions
that were of much practical value.
Rome, July 21.-Pope Leo XIII Is
dead. The last flicker of life expired
at four minutes past o'clock yester-
day afternoon, and the pontiff now
lies at rest. The pleuro-pneumonia
with which his holiness had been suf-
fering was scarcely so responsible for
his death as that inevitable decay of
tissue which ensues upon 90 years of
life. The tested steel which had bent
so often before human ills was bound
to break at last. The emaciated and
lifeless frame which held so brave
spirit lies on the bed "a the Vatican
beside which almost all the world has
prayed.
Was Not an Easy Death.
Pope Leo's final moments vert
marked by that same serenity and Ge-
votion, and, when he was conscious,
that calm intelligence which is asso-
ciated with his twenty-five years pom
tificate. His was no easy death An
hour before he died, turning to DIR.
LappOni and his devoted valet, Pho
Centla, he murmured: 1.-The pain suf-
fer is most terrible" Yet his part
ing words were not of the physical
anguish that he suffered, bet were
whispered benedictions upon the car
dinals and his nephews, who knelt at
the bedside, and the last look of his
almost sightless eyes was towards the
great ivory crucifix hanging In the
death chamber.
Practically all the cardinals now in
Rome kneeling at the bedside, watched
the passage of his soul. Earlier ia
the day Cardinal Serafino yannuteli
had impressively pronounced the ao-
solution in articulo mortis. The condi-
ton of his holiness varied from agoay
10 coma. Wishing to relieve him DR..
Mazzoni suggested that morphine
should be administered, but Or. Lap
poni did not agree. fearing lhat the
end might be quickened.
During his closing hours the pope's
mind lived in the past, except when
he had a lucid interval At one time
thinking of some grand ceremony of
the church, apparently, he said: What
crowds. What devotion. My dear peo-
pler Then recurring to some time
when the weight Of official care was
heavy he murmured: 'Oh, the weight
of these robes. Can hold out until
the end?"
Next the close of some controversy
seemed to come to him and he was
heard to say: "The consistory Is over.
They can reproach me no longer, How
many faces of all kinds. How many
foreignersi The church is triumph
ingw To Oreglia, in moment of con-
sciousness, be said: TO your emf
nence, who viii so soon seize the reins
of supreme power. confide the church
In these difficult times" This was
his last utterance. except that when
Bisleti asked his blessing he granted
IT and added: "Be this my last greet
ing"
OF the death DR.. Lapponi said: 1T
was resigned, calm and serene. Very
few examples can be given of q man
Of such advanced age after so ex-
haustive an illness showing such SUI
preme courage In dying. The pontiff's
last breath was taken exactly at four
minutes past 4. / approached q light
ed candle to his mouth three times. ac-
cording to the traditional ceremonial,
and afterward declared the pope to be
no more. l then went to inform Car
dinal Oreglia, the dean Of the sacred
college, who Immediately assumed full
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