Year: 1875




His Holiness the Pope is reported as hav-
ing said, on recent occasion: n:-'Yast are
the compensations which God has in store
for the Church in the great nation on the
other side of the Atlantic" He strengthened
this observation by quoting the increase of
the number Of bishoprics and Of the BODY
of the faithful. We have had occasion
recently to call attention to the interest
shown by the Holy See in the United States,
not merely in the nomination of an honored
and illustrious prelate, American by birth
and q distinguished fellow citizen, to
the dignity of cardinal, but in the
expression of sympathy with republi-
can institutions The Pope sees that the
old fear generated by the French Revolu-
ton that liberty is incompatible with reli-
gious security is baseless. He sees that the
war upon religion which marked the French
Revolution was only form of the extraordi-
nary madness of that time. In republican
Peru his Church fourishes In republican
France it is an institution of the State. Only
the other day we had the President Of the
French Republic comforting the berrettd upon
a French prelate. In republican America
the Church is unchallenged and free. The
only troubles that ever have befallen it arise
from the folly or ignorance of fanatical and
overzealous members.


Now that the abolition of the temporal
power throws the Papacy upon the world for
its support, now that the open hostility of the
Italian kingdom makes tho Church almost
an alien influence in Rome it would be well
for the cardinals of the Holy See to throw
aside the influence of Italy and select
Pontiff from some other nation. There have
only been two Popes other than Italians
within four hundred years namely, Ales-
sandro VI, q Spaniard, who wore the tiara
i'll 1892, and Adriano VI, a Hollander, who
was Pope in 1922. OF the cardinals
who compose the Sacred College at
the latest report thirty were Italians, six
Frenchmen, seven Spaniards, three Ger
mans, two English, one Hungarian, one
Portuguese and one American. There have
been few appointments since this report,
but the proportion has been retained. Con-
sequently in any convocation of the Sacred
College to elect Pope the Italians would
largely outnumber all the other nation
alities combined This we think is mis-
take in the government of this great
Church. 1t would be much better for its
temporal as well as its spiritual influence if
a prelate like Cardinal McCloskey were
chosen Pope. Cardinal McCloskey has all
the qualities for Pope. He is still in the
vigor of life and among the youngest
of the cardinals, younger than any
one who would probably be elected to the
sacred Office. He is o prelate of far-seeing
mind, conversant with Italian, French, Ger
man, Latin and English, and belongs to the
most liberal element of the Church. To use
an American phrase, he is ''up to the times.
If elected Pope he would not be afraid of
Bismarck or Victor Emmanuel. He is
thorough believer in the rights of the people.
He would not be governed by any traditions
which bind this venerable and famous
Church to the interest of decaying monar-
chies and ambitious kings. Cardinal Nc
Closkey is evidently the man for this sacred
Office, and his election would be gratifying
to every American citizen without distinc-
ton of creed.