The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-08-30
DECADE OF POPE Plus.

DECADE OF POPE Plus
Brief Summary Of Ten Years Of His
Labors.
On Tuesday. August 4. the nrst
decade Of the present Pontificate was
completed. When on that August
day, 1903, 1t was announced that thel
Sacred College had elected Cardinal
sarto as the successor Of Leo XIII
not much was known Of the latest
successor of st. Peter outside Of Rome
and Venice. Venetians who knew
him we'll, pitched their praises Of him
in the highest key. Today all Chris
tendon Is one with them in their esti-
nation of his noble character. Dur
ing the ten years just closed he has
discharged the duties Of his sublime
office in a manner which has won for
him the profoundest admiration. He
himself struck the keynote Of his
Pontificate in these simple but very
pregnant words: LET N restore all
things In Christ"
It was an exhortation that placed
before mankind the sublimest of
ideals, an ideal which. If realized to
any measurable extent, would revo-
lutionize the world. Through the
trials and tribulations Of the interven-
ing ten years. Plus x has ever kept
before him the lofty standard he HIM
self raised when he took up the great
burden OF which death had relieved
his immediate predecessor. The storm
that had been threatening the latter
broke in its full fury upon the head
of Plus x, head that never bent be-
fore it. Never Quailing, never COM
promising with wrong. and with PEN
etrating insight that made it impos-
sible for the enemies of the Church
to deceive him, he stood a. immovable
as Gibraltar in defence Of the right.
We all know how he bore himself
In the conflict between Church and
State precipitated In France by the
enemies of Christianity, whose hopes
of creating a schism in the Catholic
Church in France were foiled by the
unflinching attitude Of Plus x, who
could neither be coaxed nor ca3oled
nor bribed nor intimidated into Yield
Ing even so much az q title Of the
rights Of the Church. With the same
intrepidity he fronted and brought to
naught the heresy Of Modernism. The
havoc wrought in the Protestant sects
by the counterpart, yclept 'the higher
criticism" furnishes US with a mea-
sure of the service he rendered by
stamping out Modernism before it had
time to gain any Roadway in the
Church.
After exposing the true character
of Modernism. the Holy Father es-
tablished the Biblical Institute at
Rome, in which there will be trained
scholars equipped to defend the
Bible. The revision of the Latin vul-
gate under tho auspices Of the Holy
See. the codification Of the Canon
Law, the various Encyclicals having
bearing on Catholic life. the regula-
tions formulated for the better order.
ing of seminaries and the many other
reforms Plus x has instituted, bear
ample testimony to the fact that he
is loyal to the traditional policy
handed down through the ages by his
predecessors In the Chair Of Peter.
That policy Cardinal Newman graph
ically described when he wrote: AL
who take part with the Apostle, IL
on the winning side. He has long
since given warrant for The confidence
which he claims. From the first he
has looked through tho wide world,
Of which he has the burden: and, ac-
cording to the need Of the day. and
the inspiration Of his Lord, he has set
himself now to one thing, and now
to another: but to all in season. and
to nothing in vain."
In this manner Plus X, during the
last ten years, has gone about the
work of discharging his duties az
Father Of Christendom. Let us hope
that he will be spared for many years
to add new achievements to those
which already have made the Pontih-
cate Of Plus x 80 glorious.