Evening star., 1922-01-21

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cording to the Rome Messasero on
December Is. 1917. . few days after
the fall of the Holy City, he warned
Christian states against aiding the
Turks In recapturing 1t.
Pope Benedict's attitude toward the
peaeo conference Of 1919 was said to
have been one Of fatherly solicituds.
tsr to President Wilson. he pleaded for
aid on bahalf Of oppressed nationalities
and later committed tho church Of
which he was the head to do all In its
power to support the decisions Of the
delegates at Versailles" In all Of ais
messages and addresses he expressed
the hope that peace would be based
upon christian principles.
while the peoples Of every land were
suffering In some form the rigors Of
war. the pope personally observed all
the rules for food conservation formu-
lated by tho italian authorities and with
his own hand ordered tho Vatican on
iood card rations which continued un-
I'll the end Of the conflict.
Always abstemious in eating and
drinking. Benedict XIV observed even
the troublous days Of his pontihcate.
Visitors have said that he lived as
plainly as the poorest contributors Of
Peters pence.
Born November Fl. 1854.
. Gfacomo della Chiesa, the spiritual
head Of 300.0o0.000 Catholics, was born
OF noble line at Pegli. Italy, on No
vember II. 1854. His father was the
Marchese della Chiesa pronounced
Aeeaxa. He received his education at
tne Capronican College and later at
Ordained to tho priesthood in 1873, he
soon attracted the attention of Cardi-
ma! Rampolla, who, under Pope Leo
XIII. was the papai secretary of state.
He accompanied Rampolla to Madrid
In 1883. when his patron was nuncio,
remaining there until 1887, when he
returned to Rome upon the elevation
OF Rampolla to the cardinalate.
In 1901. after having served four
years as secretary Of the nunciature
IN spain. he was appointed secretary
OF the Cypher. This position gave its
incumbent considerable authority, and
the same year Mgr. della Chiesa was
named as consultor Of the holy Office.
A notable promotion came to him
on December 16. 1907, when Pope Plus
x appointed della Chiesa AS arch
bishop OF the important see Of Bologan
to succeed the late Cardinal Svampa
His administration Of this ONCE for
seven years was characterized. 1t Is
said. by prudence and diplomacy. HIS
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performed by Plus himself In the Sis
tine Chapel. an honor 50 unusual that
It attracted worldwide attention. Ar
chbishop della Chiesa was made q
cardinal In May. 1914. less than six
months before mounting the throne OF
St Peters.
pontiffs Of the church. who was porn
in Bologna on March 81, 1857. and
died on May 3. l75s.
Personal Appearance.
Benedict xv's personal appearance
has been described as follows: "A man
physically ill-favored but gifted with
great intelligence: short Of stature,
ascetfcally thin. with the right shoulder
raised above the left, and giving one
and weakness. But when he raised his
head the visitors instinctively felt that
they were in the presence Of man
equipped with exceptional Intellectual
powers and energy. He reminded one
Of the noted poet Leopard. With an
hair. black eyes. lively and penetrating:
4 large mouth with thin lips full Of ex-
preston. the Pope conveyed the I'M
preston Of q man of few friendships.
but these most sincere, devoted and
lasting"
Always Il 1ElenQ IN Hceu, AS q k0c1>
ate Of his church once said Of him. Pope
Benedict demonstrated his readiness to
avert hardship to poor people by ad-
vancing 1000. 900 to save financial in
stitutiofl Of Rome from bankruptcy in
the spring Of 1918. This was In keep
he was ordained a priest In 1873 to the
day of his death. When he was made
q cardinal 1t was with difficulty that he
was able to meet the expenses necessary
to one In such high ofYice. and this
was because up to that time he had
given his entire income to impoverished
An instance Of his generosity was
cited in connection with a ban he once
put upon tango dances. which were
such q vogue several years ago. Friends
Of a poor dancing master in Boloi "a.
bishop. appealed to della Chiesa In his
behalf The archbishop heard their
story with the greatest sympathy. but
refused to yield. Then he handed them
$40 as his donation to q subscription
for the dancing master to tide him over
Stood fer Justice and Right.
Pope Benedicts efferts toward peace
were thus summed up by Cardinal
effort was made to induce the Pope
to side with one belligerent or an
other. but he went straight as an ar
row. He made justice and right tri-
umph over oppression. There was not
one OF President Wilson's fourteen
points that was not included in the
Pontif's peace conditions"
The Pope was deeply grieved by the
conflict which resulted from efforts to
obtain Ireland's freedom. He was ap-
pealed to to intervene in behalf Of
the Irish republican movement, but
Hayes. on returning from
the Vatican in 1891. said that he was
following the policy of neutrality and
He condemned crime in
Ireland by either side, and repeatedly
expressed the hope that violence there
would end.
In . letter to Cardinal Loeue, the
Pope appealed to both English and
Irish to abandon violence. and pro-
posed that the Irish question be set
tied by a body selected by tae whole
Irish nation. When the Irish Ques-
ton was at last settled he expressed
great satisfaction, and sent a mes
sage to the dali eireann rejoicing over
the peace agreement which made Ire
land free state.
Against Religious Conference.
Pope Benedict declined, in May, 1919,
to authorize the Catholic Church to
In q world conference Of
religions, which had been proposed to
him by q group of bishops of the
Episcopal Church in the
United States. Cardinal Gasparri told
the bishops: Rather than q reunion
Of the Christian churches. the holy
see aims at the unity Of the church
which. in the opinion Of Rome, can
only occur by all returning to the
Catholic Church"
In December. 1920. the Vatican 1s-
sued decree requesting the Catholic
to pay vigilant attention to
such societies as the Young Mems
that they corrupted the faith of Cath
Vic youths. The Pope urged the
80 C~Y,,vssh,,. a.-.ho