The Alaska daily empire., 1922-01-23

papal delegate to Washington, deliv- from the Pope in which he intimated that America might volunteer to conciliate the European belligerents. The note came at a time when the United States and Germany were in the midst of a diplomatic crisis and Mir. Wilson, in his reply, did not respond to the pontiff's suggestions for bringing about peace. The next eommuni cation from the Vatican 10 the White House came on January ,, 1917, and contained the approval cf the Presidents peace note. Three months later the United States her self had rsorted to the arbitrament of arms and entered the struggle on the side of the Allies.
 On August 8, 1y17, still hopeful of saving the world from veritable cataclysm, Pope Benedict issued in lis own handwriting his famous ap- peal to the nations, exhorting the belligerent rulers to end the war for ths sake of humanity.
 One passage read: "As to the damages to be repaired and as to the war expenses, we see no other means of solving the quc5,l)A than by submitting as a genera % tI3ipie complete and reciprocal ccndoaation, which would be justified, moreover. by the imm ,nse benefit t be de- rived from disarmament, 50 much so that no ono will understand inc con tinuaton of a similar carnage. solely fer reasons oi an economic order" The Pope, however, recommended tho evacuation of Belgium by the Ca, mans, self.determination and free. dom of small nations Earlier in that year G31O he had warned the German and Austrian rulei, that a ruthless" submarine policy would alienate the sympathy of all neutrals. When Berlin put out one of her in numerable peace "feelers," Benedict, in reply insisted Germany must stop her deportation of Belgian civilians and repP triate all exiles. In Septem DCi 1"Ao, ihC ithuiiy nounced it would take steps toward bringing about peace only when in vited to do so by both groups of bellgerents.
 Pained by the shei';ng oI Paris by the German long range guns in the spring of 1918, Pope Benedict sent d protest to Emperor Charles of Aus tria and to the Berlin government against what he characterized as "a wanton massacre"
 The Pope's qualification over the capture of Jerusalem by the Allies under the British General Allenby caused bitter comment in the German press. According to the Rome Mes sagero" oM ecember IS, 1917, few days after the fall of, the Holy City, he warned Christian states against aiding the Turks in recapturing it.
 Pope Benedict's attitude toward the Peace Conference of 1919 was said to have been one of fatherly solicitude. Early the previous De cember, in letter to President Will son, he pleaded for aid on behalf of oppressed nationalities and later committed the church of which he was the head to do all in it's power to support the decision of the dele. gates at Versailles" In all of his messages and addresses he expressed the hope that peace would be based ;r1o
 Observed War Rules.
 While the peoples of every land were suffering in some form the rig ors of war, the Pope personally ob- served all the rules for food conser- yation formulated by the Italian au- thorities and with his own hand or dered the Vatican on food card ra- tions which continued until the end of the conflict.
 Always abstemious in eating and Benedict XIV observed even greater simplicity at the table dur ing the troublous days of his pontifi- cate. Visitors have said that he lived as plainly as the poorest con tributors of Peters Pence.
 
 Born in 1854.
 Giacomo della Chiesa, the spiritual head of 100000, 900 Catholics, was born of noble line at Pegli. Italy, on November 21. 1854. His father was the Marchese della Chiesa (pro- nounced Keeaza} He received his at the Capronican College and later attended the Academy of Ecclesiastics. Ordained to the priesthood in 1878, he soon attracted the attention of Cardinal Rampolla who under Pope Leo XIII was the Papal Secretary of State. He accom- panied Rampolla to Madrid in 1883. when his patron was Nuncio, remain ing there until 1887, when he return ed to Rome upon the elevation of RampoHa to the Cardinalate
 In 1901. after having served four years as Secretary of the Nunciature in Spain. he was appointed Secretary