Evening star., 1939-02-10
trail beauty OF divine truth to which
ic inn 1ifo uyo NoIirotol

tral beauty Of divine truth to which
his inner life was dedicated.
If the most notable public achieve
ment of Plus XII in the field Of
diplomacy was the solution of the
vexing Roman question by the treaty
with Mussolini which assured the
sovereignty of the Vatican State,
there were other important and sig
niflcant contributions to the inter-
national relations of the Catholic
Church. The early conservation Of
six Chinese ecclesiastics to the epis-
copacy marked the consummation
of his desire to see native bishops
presiding over dioceses that previous
ly had been ruled by foreign ap-
pointees. The reorganization and
strengthening of the Oriental In
stitute raised the study of Eastern
churches to the level of an organ
lied and progressive university cur
riculum. The foundation of Rus
sian Seminary for the training of
future apostolic workers among the
Russian people and the opening of
an impressive church in Rome dedi-
Gated to the Oriental rite evidenced
the confident vision he entertained
OF the eventual restoration of re-
ligion in a land still suffering the
brutal persecution of an atheistic
government And it required a
courageous sense of the universality
of the Catholic Church to elevate a
prelate of the Oriental rite from
Asia Minor to the purple OF the
cardinalate.
Saw Communist Peril Early.
Plus XI, obviously, will take his
place in history as the Pope of the
Cancellation. He will likewise be dis
tinguished as the Pope OF Catholic
Action and of great Encyclicals
such as Quadragesimo Ammo. But in
the opinion of the present writer,
his early recognition of the danger
to the world inherent in Com
munism and Bolshevism will assure
him high place among the greatest
of Popes. AS early as 1922 His
Holiness took a definite stand by
presenting to the powers assembled
at the Genoa Conference a men,
orandum on the menace to human
liberty in Soviet Russia together
with petition for guarantees from
the Russian government. Had the
statesmen of Europe then needed
the warning and shown the same
prudent foresight manifested by
Plus XII, they would not have been
faced for 20 years by the ominous
specter of Communism endangering
the peace of the world AS the states
man who shelved the proposal is
still alive. I omit his name. Yet
moral indignation at the brutal ex-
cesses of the Soviet government did
not obscure the dictates of Plus XI's
charity to the Russian people. AS
almoner of His Holiness in the
famine regions during the somber
days of 1922 and 1923, the di actor
general of papal mission was beset
| by great dilemma. The persecu-
ton of religion reached it's climax
in the trials of Catholic priests and
prelates in 1923, when executions,
exiling and imprisonment were the
order of the day. Great pressure
was brought to bear on the Holy See
to withdraw the Papal Relief Mis-
sion and cease the distribution OF
food, clothes and medicine which
had been supplied to the value of
several millions of dollars by the
Catholic world Recalled to Rome
for the important decision, I found
opinion divided. The Sovereign
Pontiff put to me the question:
How many people are we feeding
now?"
"One hundred and sixty thousand
per day." I replied.
What will happen if we close our
feeding stations?"
| After some reflection, replied:
''They will probably perish in un-
determined numbers
will you take the responsibility
of liquidating our mission and with
drawing entirely?"
Charity prevailed, and I returned
to Russia where the feeding con-
tinued for another year.
Continued His Warnings.
Nevertheless, with the inspired
persistency of a prophet, the pom
tiff continued his warning ito all
nations and particularly to rulers
of the people" December 18, 1920
against "a veritable conspiracy OF
silence" December "a, 1920 ;
against "sacrilegious impiety =
moral and material ruin agi-
tation as sterile as inhumane"
February 2, 1890; against dis
astrous PHILOSOPHERS, deplorable
weaknesses and still more deplor-
able connivances" December "a,
1890; against ''merciless class war
fare and complete abolition of pri-
vate ownership heedlessness
of those who seem to make light Of
these imminent dangers" MAY Is,
I 1000