ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



713 



filled with faith; have respect and entire docility 

 toward the Government not, however, toward laws 

 contrary to the Church. 



He had, on the 16th of the same month, in 

 a letter addressed to Cardinal Antonelli, pro- 

 tested against the proposed law of the Italian 

 Government for suppressing all houses of re- 

 ligious orders in Rome, and said : 



Who can deny that to suppress the religious or- 

 ders at Kome, or to limit, arbitrarily, their existence, 

 is not only to attack the liberty and independence 

 of the Roman Pontiff, but v to take out of his hands 

 one of the most powerful and effectual means for 

 the government of the Universal Church? 



Every one knows that, as the centre of Christen- 

 dom is at Kome, so the religious houses that have 

 been long established here are, so to say, the cen- 

 tres of all these orders and congregations respec- 

 tively, that are spread through the Catholic world. 

 They are like so many special seminaries built by 

 the indefatigable care of Koman Pontiffs, endowed by 

 the generosity of pious founders even foreigners 

 and governed by the supreme authority of the Sov- 

 ereign Pontiff, from whom they receive life, counsel, 

 and direction. These houses have been founded 

 with the purpose of furnishing laborers and mis- 

 sionaries for all parts of the world. Without re- 

 verting to history, it suffices, at this day, to run the 

 eye over the different countries of Europe and tho 

 farther and more inhospitable fields of Asia, Africa, 

 America, and Oceanica, to appreciate the advantages 

 for the Christian republic, and for the whole human 

 race, procured by these followers of the evangelical 

 counsels. In all those regions these zealous servants 

 of God are consecrating their strength, their health, 

 their very life, with an admirable self-denial, to the 

 good of -the people. 



But, with the religious orders suppressed at Rome, 

 or their existence in any manner hindered, the world 

 will no longer reap the advantages, as now, of these 

 pious and charitable institutions. For at Rome are 

 established, so to say, the principal novitiates for 

 furnishing fresh soldiers of the faith. It is to Rome 

 that the religious of every nation flock, to retemper 

 their dispositions, and to give account of their mis- 

 sions. It is at Rome that are discussed, under the 

 shadow of the Apostolic See, all the principal inter- 

 ests, even those of distant lands, belonging to these 

 communities of religious. It is at Rome that are 

 elected, in assemblies of religious of many nations, 

 the superiors-general, the dignitaries of the orders, 

 and the provincial heads. 



How, then, can it be expected that, without these 

 great centres, established as they now are, the life- 

 giving and beneficent work of these evangelical 

 laborers can be productive of the same results ? It 

 cannot be. To suppress the religious houses at 

 Rome is to leave .without life the communities of 

 religious scattered all over the world. And to rob 

 them of their properties at Rome, is to strip each 

 order throughout the world of its legitimate posses- 

 sions. 



Thus, then, the suppression, at Rome, of the re- 

 ligious orders is, not simply an open wrong done to 

 the well-deserving individuals of each ; out, much 

 more, it is a real attack on the international rights 

 of the whole Catholic world. It is, besides, a duty 

 of obligation for us to declare that the suppression 

 of religious houses at Rome might be, at given 

 times, very prejudicial to the Apostolic See ; for it 

 is among the more distinguished subjects of these 

 houses that useful collaborators are chosen for the 

 holy ministry, assistants of the different ecclesiastical 

 congregations, who serve the Church most usefully, 

 in giving information in regard to the different mis- 

 sions confided to their care, or in bestowing pro- 

 found study on refutations of error, or in rendering 

 wise advice on divers questions of discipline relating 

 to the various churches of the Catholic world, 



It is, then, manifest, cardinal, what is the object 

 sought by the usurping government, in its proposed 

 law preparing for the suppression of the religious 

 orders at Rome. Ay, it is but the continuation of 

 the injurious and revolutionary plan that has been 

 pursued, hypocritically, from the day of the forcible 

 occupation of Rome, and by means of which they 

 wish to attack not only our temporal authority, but 

 especially, and above all, our supreme Apostolate, for 

 the advantage of which, said they, the annexation 

 of the patrimony of the Church was made a pat- 

 rimony bestowed on the Roman Pontiff's by an ad- 

 mirable disposition of Divine Providence, and pos- 

 sessed by the Popes for more than eleven centuries, 

 by titles the most legitimate and sacred ; and for the 

 good of all. 



This letter defined his position, in regard to 

 the Italian Government, in these words : 



And how, in fact, since the new order of things, 

 can the Pope style himself free and independent? It 

 suffices not that he may, for the moment, call him- 

 self materially free as to his person ; he should be, 

 and should appear in the eyes of all, free and inde- 

 pendent in the exercise of his supreme authority. 

 Now, the Pope neither is, nor can be, free and inde- 

 pendent, so long as his supreme power is subjected 

 to the arrogance and caprice of an adverse power ; 

 so long as his elevated ministry is made a mark for 

 the influence and for the predominance of political 

 passions ; so long as his Jaws and his decrees cannot 

 pass exempt from suspicion of partiality or of offence 

 toward the respective nations. In the new condi- 

 tion of things, forced on the Pontificate since the 

 usurpation of the patrimony of the Church, conflict 

 between the two powers is inevitable ; concord and 

 harmony cannot depend upon the will of men ; rela- 

 tions between the two powers, based upon an absurd 

 system, can have no other effect save those naturally 

 resulting from opposing elements, which must neces- 

 sarily keep them in continuous and painful conten- 

 tion. 



History itself is filled with collisions between the 

 two authorities, and of examples of commotions 

 within the Christian family, every time the Roman 

 Pontiffs were even momentarily subordinated to the 

 authority of foreign power. The reason thereof is 

 but too clear. The world being subdivided into a 

 very considerable number of states, each indepen- 

 dent of the others, some strong and powerful, some 

 weak and small, peace and tranquillity could not ex- 

 ist in the consciences of the faithful, otherwise save 

 in proportion to their certainty and secure convic- 

 tion ot the entire impartiality of the common Father 

 of the faithful, and of the independence of his ac- 

 tions. Now, how could that be at present, if the 

 action of the Roman Pontiff be continually exposed 

 to party agitation, to governmental despotism, and 

 to the danger of finding, at every turn, his repose 

 disturbed, as also the tranquillity of his counsellors 

 and of his ministers themselves? 



Likewise the freedom of the sacred congregations, 

 whose duty it is to resolve questions, and to respond 

 to all the consultations of the Catholic world, is of 

 immense importance to the security of the Church, 

 and to the legitimate imperious needs of all Christian 

 nations. It is requisite, in short, that none, ever 

 upon earth, can doubt the liberty and independence 

 of the decisions and decrees emanated from the 

 common Father of the faithful. It is necessary that 

 no one be disturbed by the fear of extraneous press- 

 ure in Pontifical resolutions. It is incumbent that 

 the Pope, the congregations, the conclave itself, not 

 only be free in feet, but that said liberty appear 

 manifest and evident, and that neither doubt ^nor 

 suspicion arise in this respect. Now, the religious 

 liberty of Catholics having, as an indeclinable condi- 

 tion, the freedom of the Pope, it follows that, if the 

 Pope, supreme judge and living organ of the faith 

 and of the laws of Catholics, be not free, they oan 



