Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-12-24

minion. The pope asserts divine
right for his claim of power. Just
now the logic of events is against both.
The kaiser is ''down and out y, and ii
is freely talked of that for the treach-
cry of the vatican to Italy. that long
suffering kingdom is expected to re-
claim the vatican and to turn the pope
out Of the country. AS to any fright -
of the pope to rule in Rome, tsr de-
mocfaeies of the world insist that the
% divine right" Of dominion over any
land is in the people who do its work
in an orderly, peaceable and beRficent
way. The people who will not seep
the peace" so far as their influence
goes, such persons lose the right of
4" dominion as with the forger and
the robbCr.
We have sought to unmask some of
the schemes of the Hun, and incident
ALLY have pointed out some who have
expected to profit from the kaiser g
brutality. 1t is unfortunate for Mr..
Buck that in seeking to excuse the
pope, he has made definite and posi-
tive assertions as to the personal and
moral character of the popes, and their
immunity from temptation, etc.
The Romanist laity seem to know so
little of the actual history of the popes
that most of them may honestly be-
heve that all of the popes have been
I,'holy" fathers. But in standard books
published with the-approval of the
popes themselves, very different
story is told. Every posted Romanist
priest knows of these books, and knows
that their teachings are utterly dis
creditable to his church. But l am re-
minded that one of the old cardinals,
writing of this matter, declared that
the very sins of popes and priests
prove the "church'' to be divine, for,
said he, "Otherwise these sins would
I'have destroyed it long ago."
Leo VIII did a thing that should get
him little credit, DR.. Ludwig Pastor
dug up from the vatican library and
other papal libraries, mass of origin
al records concerning the history of
the popes, and copied therefrom ac-
counts of some of their crimes. Pro
testants had long known the facts in
a general way, Though Rome has con-
stantly and vehemently denied them.
Leo however, knowing the facts, knew
of no way to explain the records. So
he approved of Pastors openly telling
some of the truth. PASTORS books are
accessible, and protestants are ac-
quainted with them. Alzog's Romanist
history is not 80 full. and is less def
mite, yet this work tells enough con.
corning papal crimes to damn the sys-
! tenn forever. John XII was a remark.
able pope. Elected in 955, he was his
own half brother, was the son of a
half brother, and his mother was his
grandmother Since his day about 13C
men have occupied the papal chair, OF
whom the papal writers say that thir
ty were vulgar murderers, and they
give the names of thirty six who were
lewd men.
We are told that the popes do not
marry, and have no family complies
tions. Yet there are thousands of pee
tple, living today who knew that Greg
ory XVI, elected in 1881, and Plus TX
elected in 1846, and Leo XIII, elected
in 1878, died in 1903, that these mer
were, all of them, men of family. A
son of pope Leo, a cardinal, was sent
by his father to this country as spe
cial representative, Thus during the q
lyears from the election of Gregory tC
the death of Leo, the papai chair wai