Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-08-28

Summoned to the conclaVe at
Rome, when he left Venice n blsz-
ing morning in July he was greeted
by the prophetic cry Of Long live the
Pope!" He did not for a moment be-
LeVe he would not return again.
His Election as Pope.
Il was no hight inheritance to suc-
coed such q ponti1 Is Leo XIII, for
in many ways Leo symbolized the old
order, incarnating. as he did, the aris-
tocratic ideal Of the scholar and the
diplomat.
There was q great difference Of
opinion as to the qualifications Of
Pope Plus x. for his ONCE. His cleo
ton, g compromise. was particularly
pleasing to Austria, Germany and
France, and in these countries, with
the exception Of France in recent
years, he was highly commended for
wisdom and strength.
That diplomacy found no place in
Plus mind is evidenced by many Of
his acts. His action toward the
French government was perfect in In
difference. Therefore France had all
the trouble and the pope was out Of 1t.
AS to Italy, he increased the cor
dial understanding between church
and state, which was not thought
wise by Italian churchmen. However,
his action resulted in an uplifting of
the church in Italy. The diocese had
been In a most deplorable condition
because of the long conflict between
church and state.
1t is much easier to face the rulers
Of Europe on a question than the car
dinals assembled in the Sistine chapel,
but Pope Plus did not quail or show
timidity when he informed the car
dinals as to his perseverance in the
lines he drew for himself. He was
firm, brief and unrufled, and made it
plain that he would not lean in either
direction to lend weight to favored
plans Of different cardinals or fac
tions.
When the trouble between the
church and state broke out in France
and the Concordat was dropped, the
world looked to the pope, specializing
as to what course he would take.
What he did seemed to be the only
right thing, according to the Ameri-
can idea. He ignored the nation.
One great reform Pope Plus assem-
plished, and 1t promises to be eve re-
membered in history. He proved that
diplomacy in church matters is a
thing of little Importance compared
with the direct teaching and preach
ing Of the gospel to the poor.
Compared with the policies of his
predecessors of recent times the lean
ing of Pope Plus X. has been held to
be ultra-orthodox in purely ecclesias-
teal principles and ultra-conservative
in temporal relations.
An instance of his uncompromising
attitude against advanced tendencies
was afforded in his opposition to
woman suffrage, as voiced by the pope
upon the occasion of his reception Of
a delegation of Italian Catholic ladies'.
Reforms in Church Government.
His now famous Apostolic constitu-
ton was considered as %embodying the
most sweeping reform ver attempted
by a Roman pontiff since the cele-
brated Council of Trent, in the years
from 1915 to 1863, in that 1t dismissed
the entire congregation Of the Jul
Gil, a committee of cardinals charged
with the Interpretation of the Coun-
Gil Of Trent, and placed all affairs In
the hands Of separate tribunals and
courts Of appeal.
BY virtue of one Of his documents,
known as the "Sapienti Consilio," the
congregations composing the Roman
Curia of the Catholic church have
been completely reformed and the
American hierarchy has been accord
ed a recognized voice In the govern
ment of the church. In fact, all Cath
olics outside Italy have been granted
a new political standing by the order,
~whereunder 200 bishops, $4,000 priests
and 30,000,000 Catholic laymen In the
English-speaking countries have their
affairs examined and passed upon &C.
cord1ng to the general law Of the
church and by ten different congre-
cations, instead Of one, as heretofore.
Another reform was that effected by
the papal bill requiring the return of
sacred music in use by the Roman
Catholic churches throughout the
world to its austere and suave purity.
And still another bore upon the revi-
sion of the catechism, a nov dear to
the heart Of the late Leo XIII, where
by instruction In the catechism Is no
longer regarded, as in years past, as
the adjunct Of a basically religious
education, but is now held to replace
everything-mother, the schoolmaster,
the general mental environment.
Pope Plus was in every respect a
man of peace, and the clerical trou-
bles in Spain and Portugal during the
latter years OF his life greatly affected
his health. When Spain and Portugal,
following the lead Of France, broke
away from the church, he refused to
take any decisive action against them.