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Show f VAST WORK AHEAD I OF A MODERN PONTIff IiLor.O. n Catholic Times, July 17.) r;jC rxpiv!;ni-n of the passing of a great -Pope Aoinihi' spK-mKd viie of his earthly labors brings the iid. ,vl!l' ;1 '-"'''!t'u snock t0 the contemplation of ,,f vii-t wrk whivh it falls to a Pops to do. Spread .wniifrl)""' ili'- world, stronger here, weaker there, the pan;1pnK!.i ..f ecdo-iastical affairs for the whole !(:llirdi K-i:is ;i burden too great for one man to bear. ! dicii ih"- aiiairs are not simply ecclesiastical but ..'.litioal : vli" ' -"ft'cient for such a task? " A giant ,.,lUld he euu-.-Mt d under it. Yet all the interests of the jj.Jiful in ili'' crnors of the earth must be the daily l.ljfilU'lo every l'Pe- Tj0k at Europe alone; there ;r;iJv ii !!' ii'' li:is to face problems that, so far from !,,,j,jnr. arc ""' 11101-0 insistent than in 1S70 even; his j.ffiir"'"''"'- ' 'v'' "1:jrr'a?(' educational arrangements, ijiflr jiro-.TiiiiiMio. with the endless matters of eecle-.jacal eecle-.jacal rule France, once the firmest supporter of the p.iiucy. i- "w 111 ivbcllion against it, utterly eontemp-tu,.u eontemp-tu,.u af every wi-vh 1 hat the Pope may express. His (aiiiolK- children tuni to him for guidance, and, rc-(,;vii!ir rc-(,;vii!ir it as lively as not suffer it to remain neglected! (i -rniaip'. lerntied by the s)ectre of a social democracy ttiiidi ha ri-on uion it like a dread visitant from the iiki. demands' his earnest and far-seeing counsel. He j-ujt consider the personality of its impulsive emperor, k prot-peets of its powerful centre party,, a propamine pro-pamine which may bar further socialistic successes. Tine three countries, one would think, are of them-f them-f Ives enough to occupy any human mind. But Austria jt in difficulties, and ihe church there, politically and f,,'ia!ly disturbed, looks to him for direction aud ad-viir. ad-viir. Xay. not even in Spain can he. escape anxiety; tliS' Catlndio land sees its old traditional feudalism f2in? rapidly away under the pressure of modern iures. The apathy of Portugal alone keeps her quiet; kt problems of moment are not absent evoi here. Eng- ; k;:d with her educational troubles and the . evident k-skape from the church demands his. attention too; Ireland, Scotland, the eastern churches, foreign mis-f'i mis-f'i in every quarter of the globe, Ojina, India, Japan, the ila!il f the seas, where has not a Pope's eye to p-'I And then ilie great Catholic churches of North id Si 'ii t li America, Canada, Australia live mind pus mazed as it numbers, one after another, the parts "ftbt at organism which take their course from the j'jcut occupant of St. Peter's Chair. Who, indeed, is futneient for all these tinners I t And yet this enumeration gives not a tithe of the krkis which weigh upon the mind of a modern Pope, iicliiis troubles which far transcend any that are inci-inialt.i inci-inialt.i his routine of daily government. The world renewed itself like the eagle, and its changes of miiii-. and methods cannot fail to affect him. He must now problems bewildering in ibeir complexity. The pa-sijrc from 1 lie old to the modern has swept away !i.a:Ls and monuments which once seend a natural .fE'iirr of t!),. very landscape. What has hot been ques-':o:ied; ques-':o:ied; What is not denied? What - first principles, c;iirr of reasoning or of belief, does our modern world ,-(.pt : In tlicdogy, in philosophy, in literature, in "Mwii criiicim. in science, in history one finds no 'H'lhe it ,,f pnddems to the solutions of which a i-o eannot be indifferent. He, the infallible teacher, he ever , ;,,iy to provide an answer for troubled "-'J. lie -ani...t afford to let things slide, for so great ;h? nioDK-ntum of modern times that it sweeps .even Ull'Uvl" e:i:ig faithful along the stream of accepted j '.i'.M ,,j t;.tjyi,t. An accurate observer, indeed, will 'Ve eau-.- lhinking that, so fast is the progress of "''"'fa men';, activities, only by superhuman effort !s 8 man :!- U-up affected, by it. If he moves he danger of being carried off his feet; if he stands is l.-ft b'diind, high and dry on the shore. Who-"J Who-"J rots. ,1,,. v ,,j., (oes not jt3 jn;I1( js ceaselessly j":ro,a:,'! 1" products of its buy brain are scattered hy t;,,. jrii.ting jiress with even greater security "u rfc'nl:v :V :i ,, pro(iucts 0f its busy hands by aIi p or railway train. And to meet and Ui i'-'' a-ing production of material, most Vli"'H i- i".vo;-M- to his own sublime teachings, what ' " f,in ; L" id achieve success in provinces of la-; la-; nt!ic;i'- ,l.y are varied? Contrast the duties r!: !';' with those which came before one of j , ' 'i!"v- i'"i ees-ors, and the comparison shows at j K'd:"'f' !l"Vi " ; ' Mly the burdens have increased, in our ?- r 1: : v '-- rules in Peter's place. The old world j J1' ;- u ideas, are breaking; up, and out of ,Un,!t'-: i confusion a new world, to which the '!..n'l,M ; ' 1- i- being formed under his eyes. '"V'; i.i '. And how shall he who has set on "u,''!' ' burden of rule and guidance amid the .jj ,''! . ' nfusion direct himself to the task? , advice, as they always are. IJrcjk ;!- !' -'. throw vourseif headlong into the ' ' 'i'lrthe stream, not. even deigning to 0'I1' '1'' :n " - ' 'he objects on the banks this coun-i;;irjT coun-i;;irjT ;' rive. And the voice of their counsel ,V;;ili"'1 w'.x-ii. in words of serious warning, is".,' ,' :,J,''II', loosen a single strand or the whole . 11 l--p firm to the past; change neither! ii..",, .'i r : ''" ""thing or everything is undone, j v; ' ' " in the matters of this world and of the fv o''' !;' iv" '-"unsel wliether it be invited or not. , ''' !" 1ms experienced it, every futurc Pope j Kob.ddy .v,.ry future Pope will do as every ( listen, think, follow his own mind, J (; 1,1 llN l-r.sonal sense of what is right and fitting, :, n","1 l'v ,lu' auraiH-e lhat strength will not ;v.- 1."M '"la from above. This assurance is not his ,,.'r N also. The vast multitude of the faithful, ' ir,un iV''r Mars tlu'' hve, look up for guidance in 'jj""'ii!i"ns of modem intellectual ,move- (Continucd on Page Tvro.) TfiEVMWOIfflD OF A MODERN POiiinFf (Continued from Page One;) ments to the august occupant of St. Peter's chair. When they hear his voice they heed it. ". When they hear ! It ncft, they are content to wait. Lilus ! sailors in a storm, they know the weather must break, and meanwhile, i calm in their very confidence, trust their pilot's never failing tact and skill. They have been in storms before, and he has brought them safely through. It Is this feeling of security, this loyalty of behavior, which soothes the weary cares of him who is called to bear tha burden of a rule which reaches to thrt farthest ends of the earth, those "nam-mantia "nam-mantia moenia . mundi," as Lucretius called them. And, like-the Greek of whom Lucretius wrote, confident in his cause, Ihe pope "divulges of things the hidden mysteries, laying quite bare What can and cannot be." It is ever thus. One pope passes away, another comes. Each does his work in his time, and to each the faithful render , that hearty obdlence and assured reverence which is not more his consolation than their own safety. The children of the housefdld of the faith, becavse of their faith, trust even where they cannot see. They know that God in the future, fu-ture, as in the past, will protect His church, and, let the world and the worldlings charm never so wiseJy, shut their minds and hearts to the fascinations fascina-tions of novelty and stand firm on the truths once delivered to the saints. |
