THE POPE AND IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 26 August 1920, Page 33

THE POPE AND IRELAND

'."-.• "..'"."-' _ - — r~i ——— •'' •_ ■'- -7 .Hf PRAYER FOR HELP. mighty that the Beatification of Oliver, Plunket occurred just in our days. In fact is not this an hour in which Ireland needs special help from above in order that she may obtain what she legitimately longs for without falling short in any way of her duties ? The Beatification of Oliver Plunket. comes opportunely, since it is to be hoped that Oliver, raised to glory and blessed, will become a more efficacious advocate of his compatriots." . So spoke his Holness Benedict XV. in his address to the Irish pilgrims. Could there be a happier omen for Ireland at a moment of resurgence than the Pope's assurance that the saints whom .-he has reared are advocating the success of her cause, and that the successor of Peter, to whom she has been so loyal as to earn the title of the most faithful nation, bids her hope for the rights which she most legitimately longs forthe right of emancipation from slavery, the right to determine what shall be her course as a nation. Other nations may sneer at this, may act as if they believed that God is not still in heaven, and that the intercession of the saints is a myth.

Powerful Advocacy.

But not so the people of Ireland. They rejoice to know that in their fight for freedom they have the powerful support of the great national saint, St. Patrick, of St. Columbkille, St. Columbanus, St. Malachy, the Blessed Oliver Plunket, and a host of other heavenly friends. And the kind. and encouraging words of the Holy Father sound as sweet music in their ears. Throughout their trials and sufferings the Popes have at all times been their comforters, and their response to the Papal sympathy has been constantly true. This connection between Ireland and the Holy See, lasting throughout many centuries without a break, is one of the most marvellous phenomena of history. When the Irish were driven to despair, the Irish' Catholics sent for aid to Pops Innocent X., and the Pontiff, impressed with the greatness of the struggle in which they were engaged, sent to their assistance John Baptist Rinnuccini, Archbishop of Fermo, to take the Place of Father Peter Scarampi, who had brought the good wishes of the Holy See, and after the battle of Benburb Rinnuccini , rejoiced with the people when the standards captured on that occasion were deposited 111 . the cathedral at Limerick. But the periods of rejoicing in the story of Ireland’s long struggle for her rights were cut short. There were long nights of sorrow, and then the stricken people sought and obtained consolation from the Holy Father. " The land was made desolate; properties were confiscated and given over to planters ; there were bitter penal enactments against those who professed the Catholic faith. The Penal Code was described by Edmund Burke as an elaborate and carefully devised instrument of oppression as well fitted lor the oppression, impoverishment, and degradation of a people as ever proceeded Irom the perverted ingenuity of man.

Union With Rome.

Though they had not leave to practise in their own land the ordinary methods of making a liviim and cou!d not be traders, merchants, or lawyers, the°Cathohes held fast to the tie which bound them to the centre of. Catholic unity; they knew that the day would come when Rome would triumph, and when they would triumph with Rome To-day Rome does triumph, for she is the centre of a peace movement which alms"at curing the world of its ills by adopting the Wes which President ■ Wilson proclaimed as necessary when ix« was maxing war on Germany. The so-called statesmen and diplomatists who then cheered the world with their cries of the good time that was coming have proved renegades and tricksters; but in the Eternal City there is a noble figure , that, during .the war and

since, has unceasingly preached the doctrine which will-: free the worlcK»from' wars—-the doctrine of universal fraternal "charity. The future will ' see a great struggle between this doctrine and the power of brute force but the "ideal of Christianity, as, represented by the teaching and exampleC of ’ the Holy Father, will win, and brute force and tyranny will be stigmatised by all men as an enemy of nations i and the cause of war. The present Government of Great Britain may think that they are all-powerful and H that, having poured thousands ,of troops into Ireland, they can do with her as they will, but that is a grave error. There are forces at work which are stronger than the latest military weapons. The.- Justice ..-of- God has not been banished from the world by cold steel. The? brotherhood of man is not a mere name p it ■is uniting the world, and by this unity the spirit of war will "be driven from the world. Ireland will once more find in the spmpathy of the Holy See a firm support which will sustain her in her hours of trial. 3 And the Pope’s promise that she will obtain her rights 'will be fully realised in spite of the military might of the oppressor.

A Good Time Coming, The golden age to which men have been looking forward, when’ might will cease to be identified with right, and the weak may count on the sympathy of the world, is not a dream; but is becoming a reality. The League of Nations may prove too servile an instrument of the strong to utter even a protest against their rapacity, but mankind will not be left without a guide to point out"the path of honor and duty. Tyranny will be banished from the world as the crime of the selfish and unprincipled, and the right of small nations to complete, autonomy will be generally recognised. * J ■ 0