The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1914. POPE PIUS X.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2234, 21 August 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1914. POPE PIUS X.

The news of the death of Pope Pius X will be received with a feeling of profound personal loss by Roman Catholics throughout the world, and they will have the respectful sympathy of their fellowcountrymen of other religious beliefs, However strongly some people may have differed from the theological point of view of Pius X, all will gladly admit his great personal goodness, and that he was always actuated by the highest of motives. He may not have been endowed with the far-seeing wisdom, the cautious statesmanship, and general breadth of outlook, of his predecessor Leo XIII; but he. was intensely in earnest, and full of zeal for reform and for the promotion of efficiency in the, t administration 6f the affairs of the Church. Above everything else Pius X placed tho pastoral aspect of his great office, and in this he put himself in vital touch with the spirit of the Papacy at its highest point. A distinguished modern German scholar, Professor. GusTAV Kruger, of the University of Giessen (who is not a Roman Catholic), commenting on those memorable words of the Founder of Christianity, "Feed My sheep; feed My lambs," tells us that "they reveal the inmost meaning of the history' of the Papacy. Every Pope who has taken his office seriously has looked upon it as the office of Pastor to the flock of the faithful entrusted to him by God, and His Anointed in the succession of St. Petek." Piu.S X" certainly felt the full responsibility of his unique position, and even where his policy and methods provoked the keenest criticism, it is impossible to doubt that his constant aim was tho promotion of what he believed to be the spiritual well-being of his people. It was because ho considered —rightly or wrongly—that Modernism was a danger to his flock that he took up such an uncompromising attitude towards this movement. A more Liberal Pope might have endeavoured to guide and control it; but Pius X did not interpret his great motto "to renew all things in Christ" in this spirit, and however much some people may sympathise with Loisy, Tyurell, and others who came under his ban, it must in fairness be admitted that it is doubtful whether the most liberal-minded Pope could have allowed their more extreme opinions to pass unchallenged, and certainly some of the results they reached in Biblical criticism meet with os much disapproval from • many members of other ■ . /

Christian Churches as they did from the late Pope. His strong and' simple faith could brook no compromise with "modern thought," and though, as Abbe Hotjtin states "a strong faith, an absolute confidence in the assistance of.tho Holy Spirit, the conviction of his own infallibility, may have their disadvantages," yet "they can also inspire a salutary sense of authority, and in dangerous times can carry through successfully difficult negotiations, avoiding the'rocks and triumphing in the storm." '. Within what' he regarded as the sphere of his pastoral office Pius X would brook no external interference. On what he considered questions of principle he was adamant, and he was prepared to take the consequences, though some of those consequences would have dismayed a more cautious or less' courageous man. Some people may have been inclined to, think that his courage was at times' greater than his wisdom; but it must be left for the impartial historian of the future, who will be able to see the events of to-day in their true perspective, to pass final judgment on his policy. It is possible that a little more of the spirit .of .diplomacy and give-and-take might have averted the complete and ruthless severance of Church and State in France, for -it was stated on good authority at the time that some of the French bishops thought a compromise could have been effected which might have at least partially saved the situation; but the Pope took his stand firmly o what he believed to be a great principle, and defied the consequences. Whatever may be thought of the wisdom ■of his French policy, all must admire his resolute courage and the tremendous sacrifice of material advantages which the French Church made when it arrived at the conclusion that a great spiritual principle was at stake. '' Leo XIII was an able diplomatist Ijli the best sense of the word, and his great object, according to Professor Kkuger, was to make a place- for the Church and the ' Pope in the midst of modern society and to break down prejudice. It was his endeavour to convince the different Governments of the necessity of joint action between Church and State, and he continually impressed on his people the need of obedience to State authorities as powers ordained of God. Without surrendering any of the historical claims of his office he endeavoured to reassure the States as regards the policy of the Vatican. In the realm of international diplomacy, Plus X proceeded on other lines. His mind was cast i-i a different mould, and time.alone can enable a just estimate to be niado of the permanent results of his pontificate as qoroparcd with that of his predecessor. As regards the internal administration of the affairs of the Koman Catholic Church, thoso who are able to speak with authority tell iis that Pius X has done much useful and lasting work for the Church. The Tablet (London) states that ! he "not only initiated the gigantic work of a new codification of the Canon Law, bnt achieved an adiriiable reconstruction , of the Roman Curia, involving changes in its constitution such as havo not been known since the days of Sixtus V." English-speaking Roman Catholics have especial cause for satisfaction inasmuch as part of this great reform was to raise them from the ranks of "mere missonary Churches under Propaganda and enable them to take their place constitutionally and juridically side by side with the Churches of the historic Catholic countries." Pius X will also be known as a reformer of church music, and he has tho honour of having inaugurated the great task of producing a rovised edition of St. Jerome's text of the Vulgate, thus fulfilling a real need which has been felt ever since the .days of the Council of Tront. This work, ' which promises to bo very thoroughly done, has been entrusted to a distinguished English Benedictine. Pius X never forgot that. he was the head of a historic institution which, as Macaulay reminds us, 'carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre; but in these modern days there is a ruthless spirit abroad from which nothing, however venerable, is sacred, and in recent times the Roman Catholic Church has suffered severe blows in Italy, France, and Portugal. Against, these reverses, however, must be placed a wonderful recovery in somo of the most progressive nations of the world—in Germany, the United States, and within the British Empire; and much heroic and successful work in the mission field has also been done.