PAPAL RECOGNITION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXVII, Issue 119, 3 June 1891, Page 2

PAPAL RECOGNITION.

4, The news cabled out to-day that the Pope has agreed to recognise the Italian sovereignty, marks a distant epoch m the history of the Church and State. It is the abandonment of the last vestige of a claim to temporal power by the "church of the ages," a recognition that the day has gone past when the people of any country will agree to receive its politics as well as its religion from the priesthood. There is nothing lowering m this step, it is but the inevitable result of that ever advancing flow of democratic thought which has been going on for centuries. True there are still those m the Roman Catholic Church who profess to believe that the time will yet come when the Pontiff from the Seven Hills will again rule the civilised world as a temporal monarch, but the step just taken by Leo XIII. effectually dispels any such notions, for if the Pope comes now to acknowledge the Kingship of Italy over his Papal state 3, it necessarily follows that he has renounced all claim to a return of the power formerly possessed. This action forms an interesting conclusion to a memorable' chapter m history. It takes us back to the time of Garibaldi, and the events which led up to the freeing of Italy. 1848 and 1849 were troublous times m Italy. Insurrections, capitulations, battles, the abdication of Charles Albert m favour of his son Victor Emmanuel, the escape of Pope Pius IX. from Rome to Gaeta, were the preliminaries which led to the formation of the Roman Republic m February, 1849, with Mazzini and Garibaldi at its hsad. French troops defended Rome which the Pope re-entered m 1850, and little by little affairs quietened down, to be rudely disturbed m 1859, when a general revolution took plaoe . 1861 saw Garibaldi so far successful that Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed Sovereign of a United Italy, excepting Rome and its vicinity. The Pope's temporal authority was maintained by French troops till 1866 against the protests of the Government who wished them withdrawn. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war m 1870 saw them re-called to France, and m September of that year the Italian Government, no longer able to resist popular opinion, annexed the Roman States, and deprived the Pope of his temporal powers. The law passed m 1871 determines the relation between Church and State. The person of the Pope is pronounced sacred and inviolable, and the Italian Government pays him sovereign honors, and guarantees him £129;000 a year. He also enjoys exemption from taxation, is perfectly free m the exercise of his spiritual functions, and has the entire right of nominating to all ecclesiastical offices and benefices. This guarantee-law, as it is callsd, which really determines the relation of Church and State, has never till now been recognised by any Pope, Pius IX. and Leo XIII. refusing to accept the dotation of the Italian Government. A change has now come over the scene, and for the first time m history, the successor of Peter stands before the world confessedly divested of temporal powers and authority. The recognition will no doubt smooth the path of the Vatican with the Italian authorities, and lead to more peaceful relations than have as yet existed between the King of Italy and the Pope.