GLORY WITHOUT BLEMISH.

New Zealand Tablet, 29 April 1920, Page 35

GLORY WITHOUT BLEMISH.

Out of the burning cauldron of war emerged , the statesmen of the world bearing the scars of conflict Ifjrid of opposition .(says the ; Catholic Bulletin of St. P&ul, "U.5.A.).-- Those who' were not dethroned ; from their farmer positions trust and of power were made gets .of every- kind of attack. The mistakes, inevitabW : in human dealings, were attributed to weakness, ser*.vility, or downright; treachery.-; r Every statesman '-^^A carry to the grave the wounds received in the tdurnffiff merit of diplomatic lances. \ ; Kings 1 alone—those w£o ire*? main— .to have been to some extent immune^'/loir; kings ; to-day, 'are but mere ornaments on the trappings of government.:> : .--:■- . ■-::•■..,_■■•■'■. <: ■>■...,■.;•--..■ One man among the ;rulers of the earth has achieved added glory from the turmoil of war. He did not command armies or navies, neither did he sit in the councils of nations. His was to heal, not to destroy. . He hovered, through his faithful ministers, over' every field of battle, beside every broken body in the conflict. • He knew ' not national hate or ambition; he sought neither lands nor indemnities. His sole care and solicitude'were to raise men above the fury of partisan struggle to "the purer ; atmosphere where all men breathe the air of brotherly equality. " v r The London Nation, a journal not usually friendly to the Catholic Church, says: "The Pope stood . the, test of the war a good deal better than the secular statesmen. To begin with, he was fair. He. abstained from .pronouncing on matters where the facts were in dispute, he took every opportunity to recall men's minds to thoughts of peace and humanity. i? If he ; failed, fault was not his. "He was the zealous guardian of-the idea thWfc: the Church of Rome is an international body transcending| the conflict of -nations." 3 Gs~< zj%±i:f*' $2 i M'M Kl' - '■-'•• .; Thus has the stone rejected by the builders become the corner !of the new' temple of glory. V r . ; ; -•";' v ; :" r