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not only made no protest, but showed himself, on the other hand, rather conciliatory. He did not wish to stir up bad feelings in France; he feared lest his own international influence might be endangered by the grave consequences which would inevitably follow any rupture with the "Eldest Daughter of the Church."

Leo XIII. has shown himself also notably conciliatory with England. While his While his predecessor, Pius IX., never made a secret of his own sympathies for the success of the Nationalist movement in Ireland, Leo endeavored to induce the Irish Bishops, whom he frequently called to Rome, to abstain from a hopeless contest. When these councils were not sufficient, the Pope did not hesitate to publish a decree of excommunication against those belonging to the Irish National Leagues, against authors of boycotts, and against any one who became a member of any secret society. By this policy the Pope hoped to arrive at an end which would redound to the glory of the Church, namely, the establishment of a concordat, providing for the resumption of diplomatic relations with Great Britain. The British Government, however, while not refusing to consider such a proposal, declared that, as a Pontifical Nuncio could not find his posi

MARIANO RAMPOLLA DEL TINDARO

tion an agreeable one in London, being accredited to a Protestant court, so an English Ambassador could hardly find a post at the Vatican a proper one. This check, nevertheless, made no difference in the unceasing efforts of the Pope to maintain the best possible relations with England, even though he had to stand by his guns when the question of a tentative union between the High Church and Ritualistic party of the Anglican Church with the Roman Communion came up. The great ability manifest in every line of his letter "Ad Anglos" will not be forgotten.

The same conciliatory policy was also shown to the Austro-Hungarian Government. When the Hungarian Chamber of Deputies approved certain laws, among them those providing for purely civil marriages, the Hungarian Bishops began a violent contest with the Government. In principle the Pope sustained them, but when they endeavored to extend their fight, even to the breaking off of diplomatic relations, he checked them, and counseled rather a temporary submission to hostile laws which had received the sanction of the Government. In the end this conciliatory policy brought its own reward.

With Spain, Leo XIII. adopted pre

cisely the same course, recommending to the Bishops and to the faithful an entire abstinence from participating in any Carlist or revolutionary movement whatever. Even with Russia the Pope came to a good understanding. The Polish language and the Roman Catholic clergy in Poland are, of course, symbols of nationality. They were sacrificed to political exigencies. Nevertheless, the Pope did not succeed in inducing the Czar's Peace Conference to receive a Papal representative, nor was he able to induce the Czar to receive an Apostolic Nuncio at St. Petersburg.

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Leo XIII's reign has been distinguished by the establishment and maintenance of good and cordial relations

with all the Powers, Roman Catholic or not. On

which would have been and which are incompatible with the political programme of Italian Liberals.

Who will be the next Pope, and what will be his policy? Here are two questions which do not lack a certain interest.

At present the Sacred College is composed of fifty-nine Cardinals. The full membership is seventy, hence the vacant posts number eleven. Only three of the Cardinals created by Pius IX. are now in

JEROME MARIA GOTTI

the other hand, it has been distinguished by a persistent fight with the Italian Government. The Pope never loses an occasion to repeat the time-worn lamentations on the changed conditions of the Church and of the Vatican in Italy. Even so late as the proclamation of Holy Year, 1900, he alluded to the sad conditions still imposed upon the Vatican by the new régime in Italy. It is true that several times there have been tentative efforts toward conciliation between the Vatican and the Italian Government. Any conciliation was impossible, however, since the Pope persisted in his claims for temporal power. In this, Leo XIII. continued the policy of his predecessor. The Vatican did not abate one bit of its claims for concessions

the Sacred College. They are Cardinal Oreglia, the Dean of the Sacred College; Cardinal Parocchi, SubDean and also Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church; and

Cardinal Ledo

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Papal undertakings. These Cardinals are divided into three distinct parties. The first, and the party largest in number, desires the election of a Pope who will continue the policy of Leo XIII. The second party is composed of those who would like to see the new Pontifex interested less in the burdens of State and more in those of religion, pure and simple. The third party is composed of those who wish to introduce such reforms into the government of the Church as shall lead the Church and the Papacy back again to the purer sources of inspiration. These three

JOSEPH PRISCO

FRANCIS SATOLLI

ANDREA FERRARI

diverse tendencies will seek each one to prevail at the Conclave which will choose Leo XIII.'s successor.

In addition to the Cardinals of the Curia, there are the "foreign" Cardinals to be considered, and the latter are so numerous that they may turn the balance in favor of any one of the three parties which they favor. It is believed, however, that the foreign Cardinals are at one in regard to the propriety of electing an Italian Pope. Perhaps, following the example of the election of Cardinal Pecci (Leo XIII.), they may propose a Cardinal who is not a member of the actual Curia.

Among the prelates outside of the Curia, those who have been spoken of as possible candidates of the Papacy are Cardinal Celesia, Archbishop of Palermo; Cardinal Capecelatro, Archbishop of Capua; Cardinal Sarto, Patriarch of Venice; Cardinal Prisco, Archbishop of Naples; Cardinal Ferrari, Archbishop of Milan, and Cardinal Svampa, Archbishop of Bologna.

It is believed that the advanced age of Cardinal Celesia may prevent consideration of his name.

Cardinal Capecelatro is of a mild and conciliatory disposition, and hence is not looked upon favorably by either the party of Intransigents or by that of the Idealists. Since his own ideals are not those which to-day prevail in the policy of the Vatican (that is to say, they are better and more independent than those ideals-see Outlook for 10th March, 1900), he may fail in his candidacy.

Cardinals Sarto and Svampa seem to have a greater chance.

Opinions concerning Cardinal Ferrari have somewhat changed since his article was published against the State and the monarchy. The Cardinal certainly represents the militant party with a vengeance.

To return to the Cardinals of the Curia, those who have hitherto been considered more probable candidates for the Papal succession than have any prelates outside of the Curia are Cardinals Oreglia, Parocchi, Vannutelli, Rampolla, Satolli, Gotti, Agliardi, and Di Pietro.

Cardinal Parocchi is much esteemed by the foreign Cardinals, and it is believed that they consider him quite worthy to ascend the throne of St. Peter.

Cardinal Vannutelli comes from the diplomatic service, and is looked upon with a favorable eye by the governing cliques at the Vatican. They judge him to be one who would not disturb the present situation.

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Cardinal Rampolla, the author of the present hostile policy toward Italy, will seek the ascendency of his own ideas and aspirations toward a condition of affairs which will continue indefinitely the present state of things.

Cardinal Satolli recently completed a special mission as Delegate Apostolic to the United States of America with great distinction. He is a disciple of Leo XIII., and was much esteemed by him. Cardinal Satolli would undoubtedly continue the conciliatory policy of his master, who in 1900 raised him to the important dignity of Prefect of the Propaganda Fide.

A description of the other and less probable candidates may be omitted in order to focus our attention upon one who is deservedly the subject of much talk, namely, Cardinal Gotti. It has been long and persistently rumored, nor is the rumor contradicted, that Leo XIII. had a preference for this prelate as his successor. Cardinal Gotti has a sympathetic countenance; one recognizes that it is the outward sign of a high spirit, of exalted character, and of a reflective mind. In the Congregation to which he belongs he seeks the ascendency of the right at all times, without ever allowing himself to be swayed by any political passion. These eminent qualities have fastened upon him the attention of those Cardinals who do not find their own candidatures gaining in strength, and, with their united support, Cardinal Gotti may become himself the most serious candidate. He was born at Genoa on the 28th of March, 1834, and he was created a Cardinal at the Consistory of the 29th of November, 1895. He belongs to the Order of the Carmelites. After having been a lecturer in philosophy, he taught mathematics and the natural sciences until 1869. He took part in the Council of the Vatican in the following year in his title of theologian. In 1871 he was nominated Procurator-General of the Carmelite Order, and he fulfilled the duties of this order for a decade. In 1881 he was elected General of the order. He was also made a consulting member of various Congregations. In 1892 the Pope sent him on a mission to Brazil, giving him the nominal title of Archbishop of Petra and of Nuncio at Rio Janeiro. The success of this mission is well known, and at its close he was made Cardinal.

We believe that it will be almost impossible to make prophecies as to the choice of the next Pope. Anyway, if we look back over the history of such elections, we see that the strangest prophecies have been verified. It is

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possible that, in case of a deadlock among the Cardinals, some one may be nominated of whose Papal probabilities no one had thought, as happened in the election of Pius IX.

One thing is certain. Whoever is elected as successor of Leo XIII., the Vatican policy must needs remain practically the same. The next Pope will have to continue the line of conduct of his predecessor, seeking to maintain himself in good relations with all the Powers, Catholic or non-Catholic, with the exception, naturally, of Italy. It is true that in not a few States laws have been introduced which have caused alarm in Vatican circles and have even evoked a policy of resistance. But under Leo XIII. nothing of the sort has happened. Roman Catholic nations, like France and Austria-Hungary, have not felt themselves called upon long to insist upon laws which were in absolute opposition with the spirit and with the tendencies of the Church. Leo XIII. has done much to this end, far more than did his predecessor, who apparently limited himself to protesting with a weak voice and to shaking his head at deeds done in dissonance with his policy. Evidently Leo XIII. did not believe that it was to the interest of the Church and of the Papacy to enter upon an obstinate fight with Catholic countries. The Church, already grievously wounded

during the nineteenth century, has through him avoided a combative policy. In another respect the future Papal policy must follow that of the present Pope, who has worked hard to attract the Oriental Catholic Church to the Roman Catholic, and from this, as a standing-ground, hoped to regain the Anglican Church. While his efforts in these directions have not meet with hoped-for success, the next Pope must seek to reunite these churches in the interests of the Roman Catholic communion; his scope must be the same, namely, to absorb the churches separated from Rome with Rome.

The Roman Catholic Church stands in absolute contradiction with the movements of modern thought, and hence, also, with Protestantism, which has found and which follows an entire union and an entire reconciliation between religion and liberty, between faith and science. The election of a new Pope will have, therefore, for the Protestant Church, importance, but now only a relative importance. Henceforth Protestantism is strong enough to hold its head up against the aggressions of Roman Catholicism in every field of social activity. During the nineteenth century the Roman Church has lost ground, while, on the other hand, Protestantism has been continually developing even in Roman Catholic countries.

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