WHY THE POPS WILL LEAVE HOME.

Evening Star, Issue 6624, 21 June 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHY THE POPS WILL LEAVE HOME.

The corresrondent of the ‘Times : at Paris writes : I have just received the following communication “ The Pope has notified to the Emperor of Austria, by an autograph letter, the reasons which induce him to leave Rome at a more or less early date. The Pope says in this letter : T am well aware that this decision may have serious consequences for Christendom, but I am bound to carry it out.’ ” The * Times’s ’ correspondent at Rome writes on this subject; “The reports reI garding the Pope’s possible departure from • Rome, which have found their way into the foreign newspapers, convey a very exaggerated impression as to the facts. There is no question of the Pope’s leaving Rome at this or any other fixed moment; but, on the other hand, it cannot be denied that the matter, as a possible eventuality, is again being seriously considered. The discussion of the question of removing tho scat of the central administration of the Propaganda to Malta has involved also that of the removal, in certain eventualities, of the Pope’s residence to that island. In declining to rece've Prince Leopold of Bavaria and his wife, Leo XIII. has distinctly indicated the line of action which ho will follow toward Catholic Sovereigns who, on coming _to Rome, do not pay their first visit to him. This can only lead to the comparative isolation of the King of Italy, by its becoming an impossibility for Catholic Sovereigns to visit him in his capital, or to the complete isolation of the Pope in the Vatican, should they set the.Pope’s’ decision at naught. The possibility of such a result presenting itself simultaneously with the consideration of the steps to be taken for carrying into practical effect the removal elsewhere of the central administrative seat of the Propaganda, has placed the Holy See under the necessity of reflecting on its position and future. That future includes the possibility of leaving Rome, and hence the rumor that the Pope’s departure is contemplated, This is not the first occasion on which the idea has been considered, Pius IX. entertained it for a brief period anterior to 1870, It came up again after the disturbance that attended the removal of his body to S. Lorenz. But, what is more important, it was seriously discussed at the first sitting of the last Conclave • and it was said that the Pope, then Cardinal Pecci, individually favored it. The decision then taken, however, was to wait until all means for the entertainment of a nnsaible situation-—a modus vivendi—vrere exhausted. It is now considered at the Vatican that not only has no progress been made to that end, but that events have demonstrated, instead, that the Pope, whether as regards his independence or his dignity, is in a worse position, and consequently the idea has again arisen that some extreme resolution, such as that of departure, is necessary.” ■ . ■ i