The Irish standard., 1911-08-26
Archbishop Bourne Makes Plea at
National Catholic Congress
of England.
Says Pope Ought Not to be Subject
to the Interference of a Temp
oral Ruler.
AS the Supreme Head of the Cath
olic Church He Should Possess
Sovereign Rights.

At the second National Catholic
Congress which was recently held at
Newcastle on Tyne, Archbishop
Bourne Of Westminster made plea
for the independence Of the Holy See.
The bishops, he said, found it neces-
sary some time ago to call attention
to the intolerable position which had
been created for the head of the Cath
olic Church. He reiterated what he
had often said before, viz, that it is
of sovereign Importance to Catholics all
over the world that the supreme pas
tor of the Church should be absolutely
independent in the exercise of the au-
thority divinely entrusted to him. To
this end he must not be the subject
of any temporal ruler, lest the tenn
poral interests of that ruler should be
made to interfere with his spiritual
authority. The necessity of civil in
dependence for the due exercise of the
5pAAAsAeAA AASAAOAAIy VI IAAS 4AoAy NV
had been admitted over and over again
not only by Catholic but by Protest.
ant statesmen of the highest eminence.
Our complaint and our protest against
the situation thus created for. the head
of the CATHOLIC Church by the uniica-
ton of the Kingdom of Italy were
based on the following grounds. Civil
independence is Of absolute necessity
for the free and untrammelled exer-
else of the supreme pontificate. The
supreme head Of the universal Cath
olic Church cannot consistently with
the dignity of his Office or the exer-
else of the powers of which he is the
depository be the subject Of any Gov
ernment, but must not only possess
but freely exercise sovereign rights.
The temporal power has been de-
stroyed by the King and Parliament
of Italy. The guarantees of the civil
independence substituted by the Ital-
ian Government are absolutely illus
A1e~AAsSAA Wv
ernment to find and to give to the
Supreme Pontifcate such guarantees
of civil independence as will adequate
ly replace the temporal power which
it so ruthlessly and callously Destroy
ed by force of arms in 1870. There
was, he proceeded, no desire on the
part of the Papacy for Temporal Do
nlinion as such.
No Lust of Territory.
There was no lust of territory, no
desire to play a. part as one of the
leading powers of the earth in the
competition for increased worldly pos
sessions. So long as spiritual things
were duly and really and incontest-
ably safeguarded the extent of the CIV
il independence which guaranteed
them was matter of very small ac-
count ut is idle,'' his Grace pro-
ceeded "for those who have the pros
perity of Italy at heart to ignore the
presence therein Of many dangerous
and subversive elements, who, if they
hate the Papacy and strive to injure
it, are scarcely less hostile to the
House of Savoy and to the very idea
of Monarchy. If these revolutionary
clements succeed in obtaining even a
temporary mastery the Kingdom of
Italy will be in danger greater far
than any that can ever menace the
Papacy." Dealing with the Church in
Portugal, he said that when the revo-
luton broke out in Portugal too many
of the English newspapers seizing the
opportunity of speaking in terms of
criticism of the Catholic Church, al
lowed themselves to be misled by the
specious lies industriously propagated
by the revolutionaries. 1t was only
gradually the truth was made known,
but now the Portuguese Revolution of
1910 would remain branded in history
with the stigma of the callous, heart
less, persecution Of the most helpless
and most innocent inhabitants of that
unhappy country.
Indifference Of the Press.
If they had been Armenians or AL
banians the English Press would have
uttered keen notes of protest, but as
they are only Catholic priests and
n,,ns anv great indfpnation would ar