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Show I REVIEW OF EVENTS IN LIFE OF POPE LEO XIII, The long and glorious reign of Leo XIII is drawing to an end. He has not seen the days of Peter on the Pontifical throne. He has survived all the crowned heads, profound scholars, and wise statesmen of the last century. cen-tury. Highly respected by all, he has won their confidence and good will, and has been looked upon as the great central figure for restoring peace, paw and order when revolutions revolu-tions threatened to oisturb society. In him Protestant rulers, as well as Catholic, have had an abiding faith. Vincent Joachim, Raphael Louis Pecci, was born March 2, 1810 in the small town of Carpineto, which is situated sit-uated a short distance southeast of Rome. In his early life, and to the time he had reached his majority he was honored as a young man of great prudence and judgment, profound learning, and great devotion. His religious aspirations, aspira-tions, before he became a cleric, marked him, because of his great success is philosophy metaphysics and theology, as a future doctor of these branches. In 1837 he was summoned to Rome to aid in stemming the cholera epidemic epi-demic which then afflicted the Eternal City. On the last day of that year, after laboring arduously and successfully success-fully to restrain the terrible scourge caused by the cholera the holy unction unc-tion of the priesthood was conferred upon him. As a student he won the confidence of Gregory XVI, who testified testi-fied to his strong character and rare ability by appointing him domestic prelate before he was ordained to the priesthood. Less than two months after his ordination, February 13, 1838, he was selected by Gregory XVI to preside over the province of Bene-vento, Bene-vento, which had been an apanage of the Holy See since the eleventh century. cen-tury. His appointment came at troublous trou-blous times. The province was in-I in-I tested with outlaws mal, contests, counterfeiters and smugglers, who defied de-fied all local authority. The young ecclesiastic in assuming the reigns of government realized the difficulties which beset his path, and with an inflexible in-flexible will and indomitable intellect set to work in reforming abuses. The brigands, aided by provincial barons who shared in the smugglers' spoils, were his chief opponents. The masses of the people backed his policy, and his wise and prudent course established estab-lished law and order, where all was chaos before. In a letter written by the young prelate at the time he said, "The affairs of the province are In good order, and the opinion of the majority, ma-jority, I mean that of the people, Is favorable to me. Duty is the guide of my actions, with the constant rule of assuming no obligation towards anyone, and of being on my guard against cabals and subterfuges. These tactics scarcely please the aristocracy and those in favor of the opposite system; sys-tem; but they have won for me the title of friend of justice, and satisfy the public and my own conscience."! Both the Holy Father and the King of Naples complimented Mgr. Pecci on the great reforms he accomplished. In May, 1841, Gregory XVI recalled his faithful steward to Rome, promoted him to a still higher office by giving him charge of the delegation of Perugia, Per-ugia, which was one of the most important im-portant offices in the states of the church. Wisdom, prudence and justice jus-tice to all classes won for him the confidence of the people, who were imbued im-bued with a revolutionary spirit when he assumed the exalted position of Governor of the people. During his reign Gregory visited the Papal states, and so pleased was he with the recep- - ifi tion granted by Mgr. Pecci's reformed subjects that he declared publicly: "During my journey through the provinces, prov-inces, I have been received in some places like a monk, elsewhere like a cardinal, but at Anacona and Perugia really as a sovereign." To Mgr. Pecci Pec-ci His Holiness said, "When I return to Rome, I will remember you." This promise was fulfilled in January, 1843, when the young prelate, then 33 years, was appointed Papal Nuncio to Brussels. Brus-sels. In this delicate, yet exalted position po-sition he displayed great wisdom and prudence. In diplomacy he proved himself to be a thorough statesman. The King of the Belgians, at whose palace the Nuncio was a frequent visitor, vis-itor, once said to him, "You are, indeed, in-deed, as good a diplomatist as you are an excellent prelate." During the eighteen months that he acted as Papal Pa-pal Nuncio, he enjoyed the confidence : and good will of the King, a Lutheran, and Queen Louisa Maria, a devoted Catholic, the Belgian hierarchy, and the entire Catholic population whose interests he faithfully served. When the See of Perugia became vacant in April, 1845, petitions both from the clergy and laity were sent to the Holy See asking that their former apostolic delegate be appointed their bishop. The request was granted. After being notified of his appointment, appoint-ment, and relieved of his onerous duties, du-ties, he traveled through England and France, returning to Rome in May, idS4G. Less than a month after his arrival, June 12, 1846, Gregory XVI passed to his reward. He stayed in Rome till Gregory's sucessor, Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti, was elected by the College of Cardinals and crowned Pontiff Pon-tiff under the name of Pius IX. His success in the administration of the diocese of Perugia was unprecedented. His pastoral letters to the clergy and laity were masterpieces of Christian philosophy, social ameliaration and love and loyalty to all legitimate authority. au-thority. These pastorals and other good and pious works had attracted the attention of the Supreme Pontiff, who, at a consistory held December 19, 1853, made Mgr. Pecci a cardinal priest. His administration of that ancient an-cient diocese was in the stormy days of the usurpation that began in 1859. valiantly and bravely he fought for the rights of the church. It was an intellectual strife against physical force. He remonstrated, with unswerving un-swerving fidelity to the Holy See, against the pretensions and unjust claims of the Predmontest rule. When compulsory civil marriage became a part of the programme Cardinal Pecci Pec-ci wrote a personal letter to the King, September 25, 18C1. In this letter he defended the spiritual claims of the church against all encroachments of the temporal on the domain of religious relig-ious rights. His protest, which was unheeded by the King, was followed by a treatise entitled, "The Bill Concerning Con-cerning Civil Marriage, Examined from the Point of View of Religious Interests." This new treatise embraced em-braced all Catholic teaching, presented present-ed old truths in a new form that merited merit-ed for the future Pope the praise of the entire Catholic world. In 1887 Cardinal Pecci visited Rome to take part in the celebration of the golden jubilee of Pius IX. For many reasons, and especially for his loyalty to the Holy See, he had endearsd himself to the Supreme Pontiff. As an expression of Pious IX apreciation of Cardinal Pecci's Pec-ci's devotion and loyalty he appoint ed mm to the important office of Ca-merlingo. Ca-merlingo. As Cardinal Camerlengo on him devolved the temporal administration admin-istration of all the property of the Holy See. Cardinal Pecci returned to his charge in Perugia in September, Septem-ber, 1877. His return, after a long and glorious episcopate, was soon to be revived. On February 7, 1878, a hasty has-ty dispatch summoned him to Rome. He arrived in time to see his predecessor prede-cessor breathe his last. On February Febru-ary , the Cardinal Camerengo approached ap-proached the dead Pontiff's last resting rest-ing place and with a silver hammer three times gently taped the cold brow of the deceased, and called him three times by his baptismal name. The triple call received no answer, and Pius IX's death was oflJcially announced, an-nounced, and the Fisherman's ring was delivered to tne Cardinal Camer-Imgo. Camer-Imgo. King Humbert sought for honors at the funeral of the deceased and sent a special messenger asking that a' proper place be assigned him as a prince. The answer of the Cardinal Car-dinal Camerlingo was in accordance with the whole tenure of his life. He answered, "You may tell his Majesty that, in accordance with the ceremonial ceremon-ial regulating such an occasion, the first place is reserved for the Austrian ambassador, the. second for the French, and so on. Then come the foreign princes who may happen to be in Rome, and the King of Italy will be permitted to take his place amon" them." i Ten days after the death of Pius IX the Cardinals assembled in Conclave Con-clave to elect the future head of the church. The Sacred College at the time consisted of sixty-four cardinals. All but three, viz. Cardinal Cullen of Dublin, Cardinal Broussais of Rennes, and Cardinal McCloskey of New York were present. For the election a two-thirds two-thirds majority is needed. The sixty-one sixty-one Cardinals assembled in the Sis-tine Sis-tine chapel on Tuesday, February 19, 1878, and cast their first. Of the sixty-one votes Cardinal Pecci received I twenty-three. A second ballot cast the same day gave him thirty-eight votes. Seeing the turn of affairs, Cardinal Car-dinal Pecci became alarmed, and a3 reported by Cardinals de Bonnechose and Donnet, who occupied seats next to him in the Conclave, he said: "I can no longer contain myself; I feel it necessary to address the Sacred College and tell them I am afraid they will make a mistake. People think I am a scholar, a wise man, and I am not such. They suppose that I have the qualities necessary to be a Pope, and I have them not. That is what I would like to say to the Cardinals." To this humble, but honest and sincere sin-cere expression of the Cardinal Cam-erlingo's Cam-erlingo's heart, his companion, Cardinal Car-dinal de Bonnechose, made answer: "Is is not for you to judge of your knowledge, but for us. As for your Qualifications to be Pope, God know3 them; let His will be done." Next day, Wednesday, February 20, on the first ballot, forty-four of the sixty-one votes were cast for Cardinal Pecci. This made more than the necessary two-thirds two-thirds vote, and Peter's successor, the Prince of the Apostles, and visible head of the Catholic church was can-conically can-conically elected. Since that eventful day Cardinal Pecci has been known to the entire civilized world as Pope Leo XIII. His life has now passed with the historical records of the past, his works alone remain. During his long and brilliant reign his motto had been peace and good will to all men, yet with an inflexible will as bishop, caramal and Pope he maintained the independence of the Church in the government of her own spiritual subjects sub-jects in all spiritual matters. During f his Pontificate he addressed to the I Catholic world twenty-two Encyclical Letters which embraced all the most important events of the current topics of the times. Through these encyclicals, encycli-cals, many of which inveighed against the disturbing elemnts of modern society, so-ciety, Leo XIII won favor in all the courts of Europe. Kings and Emperors Emper-ors paid tribute to his Holiness. Ed- f ward VII, King of England, and Wil- f; liam II, of Germany, during their vis- it to Rome, were his honored gutfts. 3 During his present illness, as life is slowly ebbing away, the civilized i world has its eyes fixed on the Vatican, Vati-can, the press of the world i3 teeming teem-ing with eulogies of his peaceable yet successful reign, his last words and movements are sent with electric speed to every known quarter of the civilized globe. They bear the impress im-press of one who always loved justice and is parting this world with a clear conscience. On his sins and imperfections Infinite Justice will soon pass judgment, but the universal uni-versal verdict of human judgment is, that during his life time he bestowed many blessings on the human race, and that his services to the church and civilization are inestimable. This brief sketch of Pope Leo XIII's life may be fittingly wound up by one of his own chaste, Latin verses, which the spirit that animated him in life embraces not only his life, but the Justitiam colui; certamma longa, la-bores, la-bores, Ludibrria, insidias, aspera quaeque tuli; At fidei vindex non flectar; pro grege Christi Dulce pati, ipsoque in carcere dulce mori. I have loved Justice, Therefore have I borne Conflict and labor, plot and biting scorn. Guardian of the faith, for Christ's dear ; sake would I I Suffer with gladness and in prison I die! I |