HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20800, 20 August 1929, Page 13

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

LECTURE BY THE REV. DR MORKANE.’ * , There was a large audience in Begg’a salon last evening to hear the i Rev. Dr Morkane lecture on "The Holy See and the Italian Government Since 1870.” The chair was occupied by Dr J. R. Elder, who briefly, introduced the speaker.: < Dr Morkane said, that thoroughly to understand,the historical background of the so-called .“ Roman .Question;” and .to appreciate rightly, the . immense significance of the recent agreement' between Italy and the Holy See—perhaps ■ the most important event in recent history—it was necessary to realise .the nature of I the Papacy. ■ This venerable and unique ecclesiastical and religious institution had two complementary, if not contradictory, aspects. _ Qn the l one hand it was the Bishopric of Rome, the , office of-successor of St. Peter. For nearly 1900 years the mass of Christian Romans had v looked upon the Pope as their immediate bishop. other ■ hand, the Papacy was regarded by the majority of Christiana throughout the world as the divinely appointed agency for the interpretation of faith and ,morals. _ The Papacy waa - at' once a institution’ and'an'-interna-tional institution. ' And.in this ambiguous character of the Papacy resided a latent, source of difficulty for the Papacy, £2l y », and. for the- world at. large, ihe transference of the seat of • Imperial Government from. the Tiber to the Bosphorus in the fourth century marked the b ®s«uning of a new . epoch in the history of the Papacy and its temporal power. The Romans naturally looked to the Pope, rather than to the:Emperor,- for leadership m temporal, as well as in spiritual, matters. This leadership became the .natural when ; Teutonic barbarians settled ■in Italy, and the Empire dwindled in size .and-migtt. . In the eighth century lope Stephen 11, was compelled to seek ™, e ," d . ?the. .Franks -under -'Pepin. Tepin,- in 756, solemnly re-established the Tope as the temporal sovereign of Rome and of adjacent lands in Central Italy. Eater bequests added to the - Papal. doinimons,' and- by the ■; sixteenth • century Papal rule was - firmly , established- over that compact - block of territory known m- modern- times' as the' " States' of the Churchy The .last addition to the Papal territories was in- 1631. .when Urbmo- reverted’ to. the . Pope, However, in the - eighteenth century, the temporal J"? e L was , alr ® ad y beginning to’crumble, £? ward . s -^ e . end pf; that century—with_the entrance into- Italy ofrevolutionary.France—there fell upon the temporal power the- first-V of . those blows- under w /fich it was .finally to -succumb'. -In- view of .the growihg spirit of natiohalism and “f for /constitutional goverament, ioHowing ■ the French Revoiution it was evident that'the parcelling pL^ Iy ’r? r? o Dg 5 d at ,Vienna, could hot endure. Umfication.of the, Italian peninsula became the ideal* of the more ad-Lrhift-rt* 5 ’'specially in Piedmont; The pf- urer then explained - the -aims of ‘1? d i^ a^ yarious schemes siig■'transformed the of L Sardinia-unto the Kingdom • a^, ~.® d Victor Emmanuel- was nroof ,I fc aiy at Turin -in 1861. C I I <W°T ' n^ Ved and’ in 1870 to Rome was opened by the On W Wa k° f o^ e 5111311 F«n C h garrison. Italfan 2 + an , a ™y o f ,the Rational Pia JL en J eCed K ? me by the Ponta -Panaev ' ‘ te “P? Fal , Power of the ■'riwn,, to : an ' abrupt end. . J- e ? om an ? QuestiOh .had-begun Extraordinarly , cHfficult ■ questions were posed , for the Papacy, an“ fot the world at large._ The questions - raised by the Pope and by, Italy were different fSSf u*® Central "Roman t Quested 1870° h tni a w n® 41 Italy and tbe world V’ • of this year. c i? -tope claimed that- Rome was rightfully, his; tW Italians insisted that Rome was theirs. The Law of Guarantees: (1871 J promised the Pop" almost which he was to secure Sea* h T ty ° fl929 ’ it was not a treaty between equals. It was ignored and repudiated by - the Pope. The leeturer explained the reasons'of the Popeb athtude, and that of all succeeding Popes V ll *be present day In 1874 the famous decree non expedit, was issued by the Pope against Catholic participation in the electrons. In the’’eighties came the first !L BnB TT of . a possible reconciliation between the Holy See and the Italian Monarchy. Ti’ < lo S il e - aker ‘■ben outlined the. relations, Ita*’ ?£ 0n R g man Question, of Italy and j the Holy See with France. Russia,_and the Central Powers. In 1905, nder pius X, the Vatican made the momentous announcement of a change of pqtaw-'in.-l&e modification of the "non dlt .. J. A t ?ow spirit of nationalism developed m Italy in the. second decade of this century, and there took place a raarkedumproyement m-the relations between the Clerical Party and the Liberals. The influence of the World Wat was- tremendously: felt in Italy. All manner of Italians were newly :knit together in.a common ■ cause. Many influential patriota clearly saw. that Italy could not-really be one and indivisible until a great remaining source of national disunity should be removed, >nd. a .permanent settlement should supplant the . modus yivendi ' between Church and State. Of this number was Benito Mussolini. The speaker Then detailed, the steps leading UP to v the agreement reached this year. Ib®. three documents of the settlement ' were - then explained—the treaty, ,the, concordat, and the financial convention. On- February II 0 f this year these, three' documents; were- signed m the Lateran Palace and "oh June 7 there took plkce in the Vatican the formal exchange of ratifications. The reverend lecturer, then-dealt with some implications and misconceptions of the agreement, and gave a, summary of the ' settlement. There was, first," a recognition of the sovereignity of the Pope over the socalled “City, of the Vatican" Then there was the recognition »’ of Vatican City as - territory independent of Italy. Finally, there was the abolition of the Law of Guarantees on the part of Italy, and the declaration by.the Pope-that by the present, treaty the. Roman Question was finally and irrevocably settled.-? The Pope recognised the Kingdoms of Italy under the dynasty of Savoy, until Rome was its capital. ' . In concluding, the speaker pointed out the . significance of the. settlement. Italy had .at last completed her., national unification. It was apparent, tod, that nationalism, could make terms -with internationalism—a ; hopeful - sign for the future peace of the world. The Pope again had clearly shown his appreciation of the modern changed conditions of politics,, economics, culture, and society, end that he insisted on only such temporal sovereignity as was necessary -for the faithful discharge of his spiritual mis-sion.--Nor was there any indication of undue reliance of the Pope, or of the Church, or Fascism. By, the treaty, the Pope was definitely put outside of Italy, outside of Fascist Italy. The speaker said the, agreement, excluded the Holy See from, the League of Nations, and from . any conference of Powers, or nationsthat was discussing purely .international matters'of State. , A : .hearty vote of thanks was passed to Dr Morkane. at the conclusion- oi; hia address; - - ..