THE AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE TO ROME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 73, 19 September 1874, Page 8

THE AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE TO ROME.

It would seem wonderful at any.,titne to, find nnmbers of men and ■women leaving their homes and occupations for weeks and months, merely to gratify a religious impulse. But it is especially extraordinary that when the temporal sovereignty of the Papacy has ceased, and apparently the great Powers have acquiesced in its cessation, Catholic* from every portion of the universe should flock to the feet of the Holy Father to manifest their sympathy with him in his misfortunes, nnd testify their Tinalterab'e devotion to the Chair of St. Peter. The conptant strenm of Catholic visitors to the Vatican forms, as it were, n visible condemnation of the policy which has despoiled Pius IX. of his dominions, nnd n living protest against tho infamous persecution to which the Catholic Church lms been exposed. The American was but one out of many pilgrimages ; yet, in some respects, it was the most remarkable of thorn all. The distance to be travelled wns immense, the fatigue to be enrtured^corresponded with the length of the journey, and the co.*t wa« an item of considerable inportance. The persona composing the pilgrimage wore not altogether of that class of society to which an expedition to Rome could be a mere pleasure toip. They were mostly persons engaged ia business avocation", who set about their pilgrimage in a Fortous and devout fashion, setting at nought all the rules usually followed by undertakers of holiday excursions. They, at first, intended to exclude ladies from their number, and only reluctantly admitted to companionship a few zealous women who would not be excluded. They chose for their Director on the way out a prave and pious prelate, Bishop Dwenger of Fovt Wayne, who labored indefatigably to supply during the •voyage from Few York to Havre, spiritual ministrations to his fellowtravellers. Masses were snid on board every duy, instructions were held twice n day, and a kind of spiritual retreat was practiced by the pilgrim?. It was not without difficulty that this part of the programme wns enrried out. The exclusive use of the second cabin of their stenmbnnt had been paid for ; but by some neglect this advantage was rot Qjijiijed, and some Frenchmen of tho Communist class gave the pilgrims considerable annoyance, jeeiing and insulting them v\hile eng«ped in their devotions. At Paris and Versailles the hotel and travelling arrangements were not made as skilfully as they might; have been, the pilgiims meeting with the ueunl experience of those who journey in sirans-e hinds without acquaintance with the language or habits of the inhabitants. Americans travel in their own country with compnrative comfort, and are accustomed to pay liberally. It seemed to them extraordi.-iary to be compelled to endure the discomforts of European railways and the extortions of French hotels, to which unwnry guests are inevitably exposed if they cannot make their wants understood. Once arrived at Rome the pilgrims were at case. They found a warm welcome, compatriots and friends. Dr Chatard, Hector of the American College at Rome, Monsignor Kirby, of the liish College, and Monsignor Stonor, who represented the Foreign Society for Catho'ic Interests, were untiring in efforts to do honor to the pilgrims. '1 he Pope gave them an carl ? audience, and a reception which impressed by its cordiality and solemnity tlie habitu6s of the "Vatican. His Holiness gave private audiences to several members of the pilgrimage, admitting all of them to the privilege of receiving from his sacred hands the Eucharis«tic Bread. The Romans took the visit of the Americans as one mado to themselves as well as to the Pope. Many Cardinals attended the American audience. The Roman Society for Catholic Interest?, of which the noblest princes form part, struck off a med:il specially for presentation to the Americans, and gave each of the pilgrims a diploma of honorary membership. Cardinal Borromen, on behalf of the some Society, opened his rooms in the Allieri Palace for the evening reception of the pilgrims. Mgr. de Merode invited them to hear Mass in the Basilica, or rather within the ruins of the Basilica of St. Petronilla, lately discovered on his property at Tor Mtiancia, The Mass was said by Cardinal Franchi, who administered Communion to the pilgrims, and addressed them from the centie of the apso, the spot where Gregoiy the G'eat preached centuries ago. After the sermon breakfast was served in a building on the farm, and after the breakfast Commendatore de Rossi, the archaeologist, gave in the Basilica an explanatory lecture upon the discovery of fhe Basilica and the monument of Nereus and Achilleus. Perhaps ilxia was the strangest of aIJ the experiences of the pilgrims. They c-iime from the New World to see the Chief and Head of modern Catholicity,- and now they stood face to face with the freshly exhumed monuments of the first a^e ot Christianity. The fragments of the Damasian insciiption to Nereus and AehiUeus, the maimed sarcophagus, the mutilated pillars, nnd the stone vase, once used to collect for pilgvini3 like themselves the drops of oil from tho lamps burning in honor of the n.artyrs — all must have brought up extraordinary as~eociations cf Chrisuun life as it was fourteen centuries ago. *Tho Ameiiean pilgrims return to their homes more than satisfied -with their journey. They expected civility aud respect. They received cordiality and niloction. From Pius IX. they had a truly fatherly welcome. The nobles and Catholics of Home took pains to express their grufitudo to tho Americana for their visit. The pilgrims were, indeed, made the subject of angry and insulting articles in the revolutionary journals, but this kind of persecution excited neither resentment nor Mirprifre. It is but natural that these pilgrimages and deputations ehouid irritate the men against whose policy they form a protest and and an appeal btfure tlie world. The bombardment of Rome and the dethronement of the Tope were either approved or condemned by all the Governments of the- earth. No sovereign raised his voice in deprecation of the most uncalled-for and most treacherous invasion of a peaceful and frienc'ly kingdom ever recorded in history. But the Ci tholic populations of till civilised emj ires are now doing what their rulei s failed to do. They are expressing their strong sympathy with the dethroned nnd afilieted Pius IX., and publishing to the universe the uiorul condemnation < f the perpetrators of his deprivation. The plunderers ol the Pope offered him a pension which he refused. Its a"i<eptance would have been a practical condonation of guilt, and Pius IX. would have been — if tlie phrase be allowable — an accessory a ter tlie fact to his own spoliation. TUo lino of conduct adopted by Hid

Holiness was followed by Catholics. Tho prisoner of the Vatican is to-day comparatively richer than his conqueror. The treasury of th» ijivnder is empty, and the king's civil li«t is, . bankrupt. The Parliament of United Italy declares itself incompetent to provide funds essential to the defence of the new kingdom. But the liberality of Catholics enables Pius IX. to maintain his small Court and dispense charity even to his enemies. He relieves much of the wretchedness and misery introduced into Rome since 1870 j and to many distressei servants of the n»w Government-, who apply to him for charity, he sends relief in the shape/ not of depreciated paper, but of sounding golden coin. Pius IX. will make ho compromise with his foes. They would gladly make him their tool. The Servus Servorum refuses, however, to follow the car of revolutionary triumph, or to be the willing slare of an earthly king. He acts, speaks, and suffers, not in his own name or jperspn, "but in the name and person of tho persecuted Church. Ilia passive resistance to overwhelming violence, and his constant protestation against the usurpers of his rights, are regarded with mingled feelings of disappoinoments and rage by tho enemies of Catholicity,, who vainly hoped to separate the cause of Pius IX. from that of the Church, and to make the downfall of the Pope an instrument for destroying Christianity. Tue judgment of the Catholic world is now plainly pronounced ; and the verdict of Catholic opinion in every portion of the globe is distinctly in favour of the present occupant of tkft PontiCcal throne. The Vicar of Christ is one with his flock. Shepherd and fold stand or fall together. Persecution may lead to the withdrawal of a few unfaithful and false members, but renders the faithful And true disciples more united and loving. The American pilgrims said to tho Pope : " We are come to prof ess our devotion and to offer to you ourselves, our property, and, if you require it, our lives." This message of American Catholics is identical with that of all Catholics. It is the great message with those already sent to the, Vatican from Great Britain and Ireland, from France, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Austria, and Australia. The persecuted Catholics of Germany and Switzerladd hold the same language of earnest attachment to the Head of the Charch, and firm resolution not to waver in allegiance to the Holy See. We believe these pilgrimages will continue and even lncrense in number. That they do immense good, we have no doubt. They afford consolation to the august Head of the Church, who" feela cheered and sustained by the devotion of Catholics. They eatisfy the inward aspirations of the pilgrims themselves, who finds their faith confirmed by intercourse with the Supreme Pontiff, and are impelled by an irresistible impulse to manifest their allegiance in person to* their spiritual Head. And these pilgrimages, form besides an outward testimony to the na+ions, and to the statesmen who rule the destinies- • of kingdoms, th&t the cuuse of Pius IX. is the cause of Catholicity, and that the policy of His Holiness is endorsed by the suffrages of Catholics in every part of the wbrld. These pilgrimages also furnish an unanswerable argument to thosa who assert tho decline of Catholicism and who affirm, ia spite of such evident proof to the contrary, the disinclination of the Catholic laity to embrace the cause of Pius IX. and to follow the decisions of the> Vatican Council. Infidels say that Christianity is effete and moribund, aud point mysteriously to some gospel of the future which will supersede that of Jesus Christ. These vapid assertions of unbelievers are contradicted by the experiences of every passing day. The Church ia America, at all events, shows no tokens of decay, and the pilgrimages to the Vatican arriving from various quarters of the globe pro»e that vigorous life still beats in the heart of the Catholic Catholic Church. If dangers threaten the faith in Europe we may remember Cardinal Castracani's saying, that the salvation of the Church will one day come from America. — ' London Tablet.'