Arizona republican., 1911-10-15
PHOENIX, ARIZONA. OCT l.. 1911.
Italy and Jerusalem.


\ special dispatch from Rome states
that it is the plan Of the Italian
government not to make peace with
Turkey until Jerusalem and the Holy
Land have been wrested from Turk
ish control and presented to the pope
as papal state. 1t is explained that
this program is part Of a far-see-
ing policy on the part Of the Italian
government to end the controversy
with the vatican over the question
Of the temporal power of the pope
and the truth Of the story would ac-
count for the enthusiasm with which
the holy father gave his blessing to
the departing Italian soldiers.
The quarrel between the Italian
government and the vatican over the
question of the temporal power Of
the papacy has now lasted quite forty
years. and both sides would be glad
10 make peace if it could be done
without sacrificing principle. When
the detached Italian states were weld
ed into the kingdom Of Italy 10y
Emanuel !, il seemed unavoidable.
from the standpoint of Italian unity,
that the king of Italy should be the
sole sovereign Of Rome, and the
power Of the pope as an earthly
Ssy-,.r.iorr, y,-1e aN-tfyg,,ieE.7 Ipf,,- "
Leo XIII and Plus y, each protested
with all might against this arbitrary
and apparently cruel policy Of the
government, and as one Of the marks
Of this protest not one of the popes
has set foot outside the walls of the
vatican since the destruction Of the
temporal power. Recognizing that
hostility between the church and the
government is bound to weaken the
hold Of the church upon the Italian |
people. Plus y, like his predecessors. |
would be glad to have a reconcilia-
ton, and the government would be |
more than glad; but the issue admits
Of no modification. There is no mid
die ground
The suggestion has often been
made that the powers Of the world
unite in setting aside a small ter
ritory over which the pope should be
the sovereign. but the objection has
always been made by the vatican
that Rome is the holy city Of the
church and no other place could be
substituted as its capital And as
the Italian government insists that
Rome must be the capital Of the
kingdom, no solution Of the difficulty
has ever seemed practical
Jerusalem as the capital OF the
Catholic world, under the temporal
as well as the religious control Of {
the pope, might be practical solu- ]
ton Of this problem which has so {
long vexed both pope and king.
Whether the information from J
Rome is authentic or not remains to (
be seen, but the mere mention Of 8
such a program is sufficient to stir /
the dullest imagination. For many l
long centuries the Christians Of every e
creed have resented the fact that the '
very home Of Christianity, the soil i
trodden by the feet of Jesus, the Il
scene of his crucifixion and resur- :
rection, is profaned by the presence v
and sovereignty of an infidel peO- i
Christian pilgrims to the u
Holy Land have to be careful to n
avoid the butts of Turkish muskets. s
And Protestant and Catholic alike
would welcome the transfer Of the f
Holy Land and the city Of Jerusalem Il
% the pope G.
For nearly eight hundred years Je- u
-usalem and all of the Holy Land q
nave been under the feet of the o.
Turks. They first captured Jerusalem -
n the year 637. They were driven u
tut in 1899 by the crusaders, all the n
Christian nations Of the world Eav- r.
yrest the Holy Sepulchre from the C
nfidels. But dissensions among the II
christians enabled the Moslems to re- C
apture the city in 1877, and they az
ave held it ever since. Today it is II
impossible for n Christian to visit
erusalem without a permit from the NJ
turkish government, and Christian 81
lgrims are spied upon and insulted
v the Turkish masters Of the place.
There is but one link between the
civilization of today -