Evening star., 1903-07-21
ARCHBISHOP RYAN's TRIBUTE.
Meeting With the Pope at Latter's Sill
yer Jubilee.

Archbishop P. ]. Ryan of Philadelphia
gave the following tribute to the memory
of Pope Leo XIII to the New York Herald
Of today:
'In reply to the request for an opinion
concerning the great pontiff who expired
today 1 think it sufficient to say that
ioin in the universal estimate of him as a
great man and a great pope. He was pre-
eminently a man of his age His sympa-
thy for our institutions in America was
genuine. 1 had the honor of addressing him
on the occasion of the presentation Of the
copy Of 1.-The Constitution of the United
States, sent as present to his holiness by
President Cleveland in 1885, at the silver
jubilee of the episcopate of the pope In
that address I alluded to the homage paid
to him by the kings and potentates Of the
world and I added:
Remember, most holy father. that the
people represented by the shepherds Of Ju-
dea came by angelic summons to the crib
of Bethlehem before the kings of the east.
and that He whose vicar you are was not
only the King of Kings. but also the re-
puted son of Joseph. the carpenter; that
He was q man of the people and Sympa-
thized with the people,
"When I concluded the pope approved
my utteranceS. There was some discussion
in the newspapers of Rome regarding this
subject. Everything then assumed a politf-
cal drift at Rome, and newspaper the
Italia, said that 1 had conveyed a useful
lesson to the pope, who. the paper declared
preferred kings to peoples. Soon afterward
the official organ Of the Vatican. the Moni-
teur de Rome, replied to this criticism and
demonstrated that the holy father had.
whatever former policies Of the Vatican
may have been, shown a strong sympathy
with republican institutions.
THE following extracts from the address
and from the pope's reply may be interest
ing at this time:
Extract From Pope's Reply.
"In one Of your holiness admirable en-
cyklicals you truly state that the church is
welded to no particular form of civil gov
ernment. Your favorite theologian. st.
Thomas Aquinas. has written true and
beautiful things concerning republicanism.
Church Is left perfectly free to act out her
sacred and beneflcent mission to the human
race.
1--WE beg your holiness therefore, to bless
this great country, which has achieved so
much in single century, to bless the land
discovered by your holy compatriOt, Chris
topher Columbus: to bless our prudent and
energetic President of the United States of
America; and finally we ask, kneeling at
your feet, that you bless ourselves and the
people committed to our care
I'm answer his holiness said:
LAS the archbishop has said, they (the
Amerfcans) enjoy full liberty, In the true
sense of the term. guaranteed by the Con-
stitutiOn. copy of which is presented to
me- Religion Is there free to extend con-
tinually. more and more, the empire of
Christianity, and the church to develop her
beneficent activities. AS the head of the
church, owe my love and solicitude to all
parts of the world. but bear for America
a very special affection
"'Your country Is great, with future full
Of hope; your nation Is free; your govern
ment is strong, and the character Of your
President commands my highest admira-
ton. It Is for these reasons that the gift
thn 1fxyn1i nct MA fvr,l0
agreeable impulse, to manifest to you my
most profound gratitude and esteem
Because Of this great pOntif's knowledge
of human nature and of the philosophy Of
history. he knew that in proportion to the
freedom from political restraint should be
the governing power of conscience and that
the freest states required for their perma-
nence the best citizens. Hence his zeal for
the Christian education Of youths in our
free republic"