Show Two wo Hundred and Sixty Popes Cardinal Achille of Milan was elected pope to succeed Pope XV The American cardinals cardin cardin- als did not arrive in Rome in timeto time to vote Hereafter more time lime will elapse between the death of the pope and the election or of his llis sor Cardinal chose choso Pius Plus XI as his title He se sett selected that title he siad because he was born under a Pius Plus and pus means peace Pope Pius Plus is th the tha pope in the nistor of the theRoman th Roman Catholic church Leo XIII considered that he was the tho d t d d but since his death five names have haro been discarded from the list owing to the doubt of their being The popes have sprung from trout all walks In life Sixtus V herded sheep Leo X came from a family who were masters of ot Florence because of or their riches Adrian VI was the son of a ship carpenter Paul V was a noble Sixtus IV was a waif wall and Pius X was wasa a peasant The reign of or Pius IX was the longest of an any pope and that of Boniface VI was the shortest The former ruled for over thirty-one thirty years and the latter but fifteen days Volumes have been written about the personalities and eccentricities of the popes Sixtus V was so Sd a ag aggressive aggressive ag- ag that he changed the face of Rome and the world in five years Pius Plus IX was such a chronic speechmaker speechmaker speech- speech I maker that he delivered addresses addresses addresses ad- ad dresses in a little more than four years years years-an an average of two a week Gregory XVI was headed hard-headed and opposed the construction of ot railways railways railways rail rail- ways because he believed that mechanIcal mechanical mechanical me me- industry would deprive many people of their means of live live- Macaulay says sas that Leo X i occupied himself with jewels I antiques and new ne sauces Nicolas V was toad fond of books an and had a n pa passion for building L Leo o I Xii was cold calculating and and accomplished accomplished accomplished ac ac- ac- ac much by has Lus masterful diplomacy The private chara character ter teror of or some of the popes l has been as assailed assailed as- as sailed particular fiat of Alexan Alean- Alexander der VI VI who was in poser Jowel io er when the news of Columbus Columbus' cisco ery ery of America reached Rome There TheVe are so man ninny many churches in Rome that to visit isit them at the ate of one a da day would require more than a years year's time These vary in size from the small chapel capable of ot accommodating only a few perI persons persons per per- I sons to great St. St Peters Peter's which is so large that once when the Roman army went there to attend mass the assembled rank and file fell so far short of filling the vast edifice that when the general genera arrived he be looked about him hastily and concluded concluded concluded con con- that the army was late There are persons in Rome who devote devote devote de de- de- de vote their whole time to ecclesiastical ecclesiastical ecclesiastical ecclesias ecclesias- matters St. St Peters Peter's not only dwarfs all ail the theother theother theother other churches of Rome but ranks as the giant edifice of ot the world A famous author likened the surprise occasioned by the first view of ot Its towering proportions to the feeling one would have if it he met a man manfort fort forty feet tall Figures and comparisons comparisons comparisons compa compa- can only partially portray the real magnitude of this colossus It covers six acres Its main aisle is an eighth of a mile long and its dome is a twelfth of a mile high If IC I St. St Peters Peter's was flooded the largest I Iship ship that sails the ocean could steam up the central aisle and its masts I would scarcely reach above the top of the high altar If Its capacity J were taxed to the utmost a congregation congregation congregation congre congre- gation of people might assemble as as- within its walls and more could wait waft outside within the enclosure of at the In Inthe Ini the lofty dome there Is a mosaic o of of St. St nuke fluke with a pen in his hand ham From the great leat height the pen seems of ordinary size but in reality It Is eight feet long On account of its age and because i it shelters the burial place of the apostle for whom it was named St. St Peters Peter's has been called the parent church of Christendom When Neros Nero's executioners led the old fisherman away to his death he was as so infirm that he could not carry his cross and they crucified him where he fell beneath beneath beneath be be- neath its weight The old chronicles chronicles chroni chroni- cles Iles state that a few weeping Christians Christ Christ- ians fans knelt there in the yellow sand that same night to pray and illen men have been going there to worship ever since First t a little chapel marked the spot then a larger structure covered It for 1100 years finally to give way to the present towering pile which was commenced years ago Great toil and great wealth were expended ei- ei In rearing this mighty cathedral and many of ot the earths earth's great dead are asleep in its friendly shelter It is hallowed b by such sacred associations that all who enter enter enter en en- ter instantly feel the spirit of r Its majestic solemnity The Th titanic proportions of everything and the long age-long story tory that is woven in the ver very roof of it appeal to the senses eg egin in a way that can neither be resist resist- resisted ed nor explained Vatican Has Rooms Adjoining St. St Peters Peter's Is the Vatican Vatican Vatican Vati- Vati Vati Vati- can the home of the popes and the largest palace In the world That this extraordinary structure i is a worthy neighbor of massive St. St Peters Peter's may be realized from the statement that it contains rooms has thirty magnificent halls nine galleries seven grand chapels twenty courts eight state staircases and smaller ones besides museum museum museum muse muse- um libraries and archives It Is indeed In Indeed Indeed In- In deed a treasury oo o ok art It is fa said that the contents of the Sistine chapel alone are worth a billion dol dol- lars Who could estimate tie the price that Michael Angelos Angelo's Last Ju Judgment Judg- Judg g- g ment meat or Raphael's Transfiguration tion would bring if the they we o offered of offered of- of for sale While no combination combination combination tion of circumstances can be conceived conceived conceived con con- that would lead to s such buch ch a possibility possibility pos pos- if the contents of the Vatican Vatican Vatican Vati Vati- can were over offered for sale there is not a fOI fortune tune in the woi WOL I l large enough to pay par the price they ther would command The tremendous extent of or the Val Var as well as the incomputable amount of treasure it contains gins is shown in the story about a room which for some reason was wai walled walled- up and became lost in the centuries After Arter a long search entrance to it was gained through a window o overlooking over overlooking over over- er- er looking the roof or the Sistine chapel and the rare decorations of its walls were again to light It is known that some valuable frescoes are hidden by wooden wodea wainscoting In another room once occupied by a luxurious cardinal and it is not unlikely that other art treasures have been lost entirely in its extent Upon leaving the visitor cannot help but turn for a last look upward to the window where the lonely old man of or the Vatican keeps his vigil What a big thing he represents Heis He Heis is virtually a prisoner in his huge palace yet all the world comes to see him He is without an army without territory and without a voice in the councils of ot the nations yet he rules approximately subjects with the gentle sway of ot spiritual sovereignty As you go away the bells of St. St Peters Peter's begin to and you realize that it Is the hour of vespers you realize that the message of those bells not only rolls across the fields beyond the yellow Tiber but reverberates around tl the e world |