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Show POPE READS PRESS CLIPPINGS. Pius X Thus Keeps Tab on Church Doings Lax Bishops Confronted With Newspapers. Pius X. is proving to be a practical, democratic pontiff.. His activity does not lie in the same channels chan-nels as that of his predecessor, Leo XIII. Intellectually, Intel-lectually, temperamentally and by training, birth and environment, he is eminently practical. ' He has very definite ideas as to certain reforms and proceeds in a practical way to see that these, reforms re-forms are carried out. He is taking up those questions ques-tions which enter into the every day life of the priests, people and parishes. And when Pius X. sets a certain movement on foot, he sees' that his ideas are carried into effect. . Some time ago His Holiness issued a letter setting set-ting forth certain reforms which he wished carried out in church music. The reforms were far-reaching and in some places difficult to be carried out. A period of inaction followed. The pope then made it known that his orders must be obeyed. Likewise, his regulations regarding the elimination elimina-tion of the ornate sermon and the substitution of the plain, practical sermon that will. appeal to the people. Nor does the pope depend on the ordinary channels chan-nels to discover whether his orders are carried out. Jt has just been discovered that one way in which Pius X. obtains information about the doings in the Italian churches and sometimes also in the : churches abroad is through the reading of the daily' j papers, of which an enormous quantity is sent to I the Vatican every day from all over the world. Private secretaries, who understand several ! languages, cut out the items which the pope especi-I especi-I ally desires to see and these are pasted on scrap books and sent to the papal apartments with a translation if required. Thus the pope is enabled to find out many things which would never be reported re-ported to him in the natural course of events. Ever since the issuance of the decree reforming church music, Pius X. has been keen on the lookout look-out for possible violations of the rules laid down by him. A few weeks ago he ordered his secretaries to send him the newspaper clippings giving the account ac-count of church festivals celebrated in many places in Italy and gTeat was his personal astonishment to see that the very music and instruments he had ordered excluded from the churches were still in use in several prominent dioceses. He sent immediately for the bishops concerned -and-confronted every one of them with the clippings clip-pings of newspaper describing the unritual solemnities, solemni-ties, warning them to introduce as soon as possible the reforms he had proposed so long ago about church music. Even more particular is the pope in finding out worthy sacred orators and all accounts of sermons preached in Italy which are printed in the daily papers are forwarded to him. He insists that sacred orators shall preach the doctrines of the church in a way which is intelligible to their hearers and only recently having seen a newspaper news-paper that gave the account of a sermon interpolated inter-polated with many Latin terms'from St. Augustine and the church fathers, he sent for the erudite preacher and advised him to preach and quote texts in his native language only. Italian bishops are said to have become impressed im-pressed at the unusual severity recently displayed by Pius X. toward several members of the hierarchy. Since the apostolic visitation was concluded in every diocese of Italy by prelates especially appointed ap-pointed for the purpose, by the pope, and as the reports -of the conditions of each diocese had been examined by Pius X., several Italian bishops have been severely dealt with by the pope because of alleged al-leged neglet or mistakes in their pastoral administration. admin-istration. The archbishops of Montreal and Syracuse Syra-cuse in Sicily were suspended by Pius X. from the right of administering holy orders, and an investigation investi-gation ordered into the affairs of the archdiocese of Florence. |