The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-16
ILLNESS OF POPE
CONDITION MAY BE MORE SERIOUS
 THAN ANNOUNCED.
Foreign Newspapers Begin Gossip About Successor to the Papacy -An 1ta,1ka Deyena
 Doubt

Washington, March l6.-The cable once again brings the information that the health of Pope Plus x is causing some concern In Vatican circles, though the ofrcial bulletins i0ued are always the same-that the Holy Father ts suf- fering only from a slight cold. If the bulletins are true, the Italians ask. why is there so much mystery about the Pope's illnesses. They suspect that Plus x Is really suffering from some serious disease which the doctors are striving to conceal.
 The Pope is fin his 7sth year. With In . few weeks after he was elected to the chair Of Saint Peter he was con- fined to his bed by illness. and since then his spells of sickness have been frequent. That his condition is re- gArded as serious Is evidenced by the fact that leading newspapers in Europe have of late begun to indulge in specu- Iation regarding his possible successor on the Papal throne.
 Among the embers of the Papal le- gation and others in Washington who are qualified to gauge the probabilities of the situation, the prediction that has been uttered frequently of late of the almost certain accession to the PapAcy of some ecclesiastic not of Italian birth whom death shall remove Plus x. re- CSlNCB uO COHotVyiotiou WhoeSNCA' Ass~ intransiHeant. or, as 1t Is otherwise of- ten called, the ultramontane element, is the one which will rule in Rome when the next Pope is selected.
 The intransigeants are unQuestion- ably opposed to the selection of a for eigner as head of the church. If there were really anything in the theory of . foreign Pope the United States might be more likely to supply the man for NHk A- cause 1t is free from the international rivalries which affect the various Euro pean powers. Germany would object to a French Pope and France to either an English or German one.
 The policy of the Vatican is to con- ciliate all countries and to avoid all complications. But for this fact-and were a foreigner at all possible-it might seem more reasonable on gen. eral principles to expect an English rather than an American Pope. But at the present time there is no English Cardinal upon whom the honor could be conferred.
 The chances for the selection of a foreigner as Pope are even more re- mote now than at the time of the cleo ton of Plus x. for the Italian majority in the Sacred College Is larger now than at any time within the past cen tury. Thirty-one votes out of fifty three in an election which requires a two-thirds majority have a preponder- ating influence. The minority can only obstruct If obstruction were possible. among eminent Cardinals. The Italian majority Is strong in numbers, but it Is stronger still in influence.
 A score of Italian Cardinals reside in Rome and direct all the affairs of the Papacy. As heads of congregations they have the power exercised efse- where by cabinet ministers Their views are carried out by Italian su bor- dinates. All the Papal nuncIos are Italian. depending from an Italian Car dinal Secretary of State. The majority of the Vatican officials are Italians, from the high chamberlain of the apos- tolic palace to the sweeper of the Vati- can stair-cases
 All these people with their influence, which Is strong. have nothing to gain and everything to lose from a foreign suceessor to Plus x