THE LATEST ENCYCLICAL : THE POPE AND ITALY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 20, 22 September 1898, Page 17

THE LATEST ENCYCLICAL : THE POPE AND ITALY.

§HE ZYraea was right when it said of the Pope's Encyclical of August 5, to the Italian clergy that « it will probably rank as one of the most forcible utterances of Leo XIII.' It is nothing new to learn that anything emanating from the gifted and highly-cultured Pontiff's hand would be 'unimpeachable in literary style.' That goes as a matter of course. But there is another feature of the Encyclical that will be welcomed by Catholic readers: the statement of the Times that it 'is marked by a vigour which men younger than the Pontiff might envy.' Ananias may well feel jealous of the enterprising cable-riggers who asked the wide world to believe that Leo was physically and mentally a wreck upon the verge of eternity ab the very time when the keen intellect of the aged Prisoner of the Vatican was engaged upon the two remarkable Encyclicals which he has just issued — the one to the Scottish, and the other to the Italian, clergy. The fires of his bodily life may burn low ; but the light of his intellect shines with undimmed flame. And there runs throughout the whole course of his Encyclical to the Italian clergy a mental grasp of the true inwardness of the situation in Italy, an uncompromising attitude of dignified protest, and a ringing call to action, which mark this latest Papal Document as one of singular vigour, and quite prepares us for the statement of the Times that it has made ' a notable impression ' both in and out of the Peninsula. * * * The Encyclical of August 5, which lies before us, is a strenuous protest ' against the acts designed for the detriment of the Church and of religion by those who, after the changes now so well known, are at the head of public affairs in Italy.' His Holiness refers to the suppression of so many Catholic institutions in various parts of the Peninsula — when, by violent and arbitrary action, ' several leading outspoken Catholic journals were suspended or suppressed^ diocesan and parochial committees proscribed ; the sittings of congresses disallowed ; some institutions rendered powerless and others menaced even amongst those whose only end and aim was the development of piety amongst the faithful, or public and private charity ; and, finally, when numerous inoffensive and useful societies were dissolved, to the destruction, in a few stormy days, of the patient and modest charitable work which had been accomplished durino- lon<v years by noble minds and generous hearts.' ° & * * # Many of the suppressed associations were precisely those which set themselves, in a spirit of patriotism and charity to grapple with the results of the shameful economic condition to which Masonic rule has reduced unhappy Italy. ' Hundreds of associations and committees,' says the Holy Father, ' arose in various parts of Italy, which by their zeal established rural banks, cheap bakeries, night shelters, clubs for recreation, and catechism classes, whilst others had for their object the visitation of the sick, the protection of widows and orphans. There were, besides, many other charitable institutions which were welcomed with gratitude and blessings by the people, and which received the praise they so well deserved even from the lips of men who belonged to the parties opposed to them. In displaying this praiseworthy Christian activity. Catholics, having nothing to conceal, worked, according to their custom, in the full light of day, and at the same time kept within the limits of the law.' The well-known and unchangeable principle of their holy religion forbade alike conspiracy or revolt against the public authority. They are the support and mainstay of public order. The real enemies of Italy are those who hold ded to where McKenzie's unblended HONDAI TEA is the beverage -not mixed for profit at your expense, but packed in Ceylon. eet, and all up-to date stores.

Catholic doctrines ana principles in abhorrence. These were the very men who were the authors and ringleaders of the recent riots — one of them the foul wretch whose dagger so lately left a whole nation in mourning. These Catholic social, charitable, and pious associations are a powerful conservative force that in Italy make for peace and order and prosperity amidst treachery, conspiracy, and national ruin. ' In other countries,' says the Holy Father, such associations * are allowed to exist peaceful and respected.' In Italy they were violently suppressed • without any proof of their guilt, without any previous examination, and without any documentary evidence which would show their participation in the disorder that had come about.' Moreover, they were suppressed merely for their attachment to ' the one religion which was ever the glory, the stay, and the strength of the Italian people.'

The Pope's letter is, in effect, a powerful plea for the right of "free association for social and religious well-doing. It is, moreover, a withering indictment of the anti-Catholic policy steadily pursued by successive Masonic Governments in Italy since that fateful day, September 20, 1870, when the Temporal Power passed temporarily away. The confiscation of ecclesiastical properties ; the paganising of public institutions ; the favour extended to dissident sects ; the license accorded to the Masonic and allied bodies ; the savage repression reserved for the one creed only — the Catholic Church ; the scattering broadcast of , the seeds of irreligion and immorality : all these and their outcrops of social, moral, and political evil, are passed in masterly review by the venerable Prisoner of the Vatican. There is the bold ring of the clarion-note in Leo's eaiphatic statement that ' the Catholics of Italy, for the very reason that they are Catholics, cannot renounce the desire to restore to their Supreme Head the necessary independence and the full and effective freedom which are an indispensable condition of the liberty and independence of the Catholic Church. On this point their sentiments are not to be changed either by threats or violence.' To his beloved Italian people he says : — ' If our sorrow is great, not less great is our courage, nor less firm our confidence in that Providence which governs the world, which so constantly and lovingly watches over the Church, and which indentifies itself with the Papacy, according to the beautiful words of St. Ambrose : Übi Pefrt/s, ibi Ercleaia (Where Peter is, there also is the Church). Both are divine institutions which have outlived every outrage and att iok, and which have seen the centuries go by, unshaken, drawing from their misfortunes fresh force, energy, and coustaivy.'