The Irish standard., 1905-01-28
Plus X. AT HOME
English Jesuit's Impressions of
the Holy Father.
Endowed With Extraordinary
Personal Magnetism.

Conception, was interviewed by COR
respondent of one of the English
papers recently, and gave the follow
ing impressions Of the Holy Father
During his stay in the Eternal City
Father Vaughan was several times adj
mitted in private audience to His Holt
ness, and his words of praise of the
Holy Father are enthusiastic and sim
cere.
Plus ~" said Father Vaughan, has
Il heart large enough to embrace all,
and his sympathies go out to the poor.
AS he said to me, Was not Christ
poor, and did He not make over the
Kingdom of Heaven to the poor? The
rich are rich for the sake of the poor,
that the poor live in patience under
privation and charity under suffering
The Pope has always held good posi-
tons in the church, but he never has
become richer by them"
rs the Pope great traditionalist
in the sense of sticking to whatever
has beenY'
by no means. He loves the grand
old traditions which are the safe
guards of principles, but he does not
say of all things that have been,
'Sicut crat in principio,' etc. For in
stance, his modest meals he refuses to
take alone; he likes his secretaries to
see him in human relationship, and so
he has them to share his meals. He
dislikes all mere display of wealth,
and says he can easily live on one Ira
per day.
Personally" continued Father
Vaughan, Il like the present Holy
Father more than lis predecessor, and
his head is just as capable. You can
not help loving hinl-he is father,
mother. brother, and sister to you all
ut once. l believe he has been raised
up to do great and lasting good to
the Catholic church. He may not live
long, but Plus \ will so down to pos
terity us Pope Plus the good and great
the father of his people.
The people say that in the days
when he had no money to give to the
sick his simple blessing cured them.
His intimate friends regard him as a
saint, and assuredly if he is to be
judged by the standard of practical
charity he comes as near to one as we
are likely to reach on this sin-stained
EARTH"
rs the Pope as close worker as
his predecessor wasp
Il should say he is a faster and a
closer worker. He has a fine business
hran-quick and intuitive He sees
straight as an arrow through most
involved questions, and quickly ar
rives ut Il determined Judgment His
Holiness is endowed with an eXtraor-
binary personal magnetism He is
intensely human in his sympathies.
and he captures everyone with whom
he comes in contact. AS for the pOlit-
ica side of the case, you may be sure
that the Pope does not intend to be-
come the glorifed chaplain of the
King of Italy, or of any other sover-
eign. The Pontiff will always assert
his absolute independence. and he can
never for a moment tolerate position
which might, under ordinary circum-
stances. call in question that independ-
ence.
''When he was Bishop" continued
Father Vaughan. ''the Pope frequently
sold things in the house that he might
have more to meet the distressing
cases with. Once, when he was told
that there was nothing else to pawn
or sell, he sent off his pastoral cross,
saying that he had been presented
that morning with new one. AS
Patriarch of Venice he kept open
house. and it was his practice always
to be accessible to all who wanted to
see him. Once, when poor woman
came to him. saying that her dying
boy was ordered beef tea, the Patri-
arch told his secretary to go and get
him some money. There's none, rev.
crence. in the house. We'll. said the
Cardinal to the woman, come with
me: the cook is out And he took the
poor woman to the kitchen. There
he gave her the copper containing the
beef being stewed for dinner. Take
it off quickly, my child; and mind
YOU don't meet the cook on your way,
or we shall both remember this day
sadly instead Of gladly
Comparisons between the present
Pontiff and his predecessor are inevi-
table. The last Pope was what one
might call Pope of carriere. He was
brought up in diplomatic circles, was
Nunico, and so passed through the
various stages making for the Papacy;
whereas the present Pope has always
remained the parish priest, and his
chief interest has been in the cure Of
souls. Before he was called to st.
Peters he rarely passed from his par
ish, his diocese or his patriarchate.
In fact. he used to say that he had
something more useful to spend mon
ey on than in going to Rome"
4 Bright Outlook.
give bought n farm aho,t ton rniloo