THE PONTIFICATE OF PITTS X.
[TO THE EDITOR OP TEE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Enelosed is a translated condensation of an article in the Corriere della Sera, one of the most thoughtful and influential of papers in Northern Italy. It has frequent and interesting papers on the ecclesiastical situation, written from the liberal-minded Roman Catholic point of view. As a constant reader for a number of years of the Spectator, it occurred to me that you might find the enclosed MS. of interest to your readers. May I beg your kindly considera- tion of it and the matter contained therein P—I am Sir, &c., M. FEEGUSON. HOW de la Reim, San Remo, Italy.
"After. a reign of six months it is permissible to make some appreciation of the work of the new Pope, and to trace the general lines of his policy. The idea that many formed of the successor of Leo XIII. was that of a religious rather than a political Pontiff, and this idea has been justified. The new Pope has renounced entirely the Pontifical Imperialism of Leo XIII. and Cardinal Rampolla. Leo's ideal was almost mediaeval. He desired to restore the old world-wide influence of the Holy See, and regarded it as a great political and diplomatic institution. And this was the reason that he never could reconcile himself to the loss of the temporal power, judging (wrongly undoubtedly) that the Papacy, despoiled of all territorial sovereignty, was without social and diplomatic prestige. For this reason he disliked the Triple Alli- ance, and had dealings with Republican France. The new Pope has renounced all this for two reasons : first, that he regards the Papacij as a purely ecclesiastical power ; and second, he loves
Perhaps he may never realise the beautiful dream of con- ciliation, but he will never do anything to embitter the relation- ship between the Papacy and the Monarchy.
Thus, considering the Papacy on its religious side principally,
Pins X. has initiated many reforms. He has removed abuses and sinecures, reduced salaries, restored discipline among the clergy, &c. This may seem a limited programme, but no Pope before has had the courage to execute it. For those who know the entourage of the Vatican, 'Reformer of Abuses' is the most glorious title that a Pope could seek, and it seems as though Pius X. is going to merit it.
If Pius confined himself to being a reforming Pope, and rela-
tively conciliatory towards the Italian Government, one might call him an ideal Pontiff, and it might be said that the last Con- clave was verily illuminated by the Holy Ghost in placing the tiara on Cardinal Sarto's head ; but there are other not less important questions that cannot be lost sight of. In an article in this paper on the day of the Papal election it was timidly hinted that the new Pontificate might inaugurate, intellectually and doctrinally, a reaction against the lifework of the late Pope. To-day, judging by recent acts of Pius X., we find our fear only too well founded. This reactionary and anti-progressive tendency constitutes the weak side of the new. Pontificate. The political and diplomatic programme of Leo XIII. had grave defects, but, intellectually, Leo was a great Pope. With his profound culture, and largeness of view in all questions not directly concerning dogma, and with his admirable comprehension of the modern spirit, he created in the intellectual world, even the non-Catholic, an atmosphere of sympathy for the Church. No one knew better than he how to value science and use it for the Church. Who- ever studies to-day the actual conditions of Catholicism in different countries will have noted a universal aspiration among intelligent and studious Catholics towards an intellectual and religious revival, towards a new adaptation of the doctrines of the Church to present needs.
Leo looked on these progressive tendencies with a certain sym- pathy which manifested itself in various fields—the social and political, the scientific and philosophic—and when, as in that of exegesis, he felt the necessity of repression,le.limited it to what was essential, and guarded himself well against confounding a movement of reform with the exaggerations incidental to it. Now we must face the fact that, if the new Pontificate, as we have reason to fear from certain indications, is going to fight against the intellectual conquests of Leo, it will be a veritable disaster for the Church. The Church will lose in a few months all the ground that Leo took years and years to conquer. To encourage an exaggerated indifference to science and culture, to crush all reforming tendencies, to make all liberal research impossible to scientific Catholics, to maintain the Church in an exploded traditionalism, to close all open doors under a vain pretext of defending orthodoxy,—this reactionary programme, which seems to be slowly unfolding, will mean for the Church a veritable intellectual decadence, and will cause all the other good actions of the Pope to be forgotten.
We know, from a trustworthy source, that in the Catholic world of letters and science, not only in Italy but in other lands, similar apprehensions begin to appear, so much the more as (according to certain information) the condemnation of Abbe Loisy is only the first step, and other condemnations, equally unjustifiable, will soon follow. Let us hope that in the entourage of the Vatican there are men-who, comprehending the situation and all its perils, have the courage to face it while there is yet time."
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