ROLE OF THE POPE
POSITION OP THE VATICAN
THE HONOUR OF NATIONS
An interesting in. the' "Dublin Review" is entitled. ."The' Guarantees of International Honour."- It. is to some extent a defence of tho attitude of tho .Vatican with regard t.o the war and a repudiation of tho charges of indifference, or of 'something worse than indifference, that havo been made against the Pope. 1 • The writer is Cardinal Gasquetj and he gives a brief summary of the part that the Papac.v played m the Middle Agcb in promoting tho resistance that saved European civilisation from the inroads of the Saracen. Ho refers'to a Jitimbcr of petitions that wore presented to the Vatican Council, '15 years ago' v to obtain : from the Pope, some official "declaration of the principles which should guide the nations of Europe as lo war. and restrain thenv amid tho passions likely to bo aroused in any conflict of nations. And ho argues that reliance on conventions that cannot 'bo enforced—iho Hague Convention, for instance^has proved itself a failure.
■ JSo outcome of the present conflict bf nations is more certain than the entire failure of these solemn conventions. Principles-of Christian- morality and civilisation have been simply swept aside, and the world ha? stood amazeil w seo reintroduced some of the worst horrors of savage and barbarous warfare, which it had fondly trusted' were things: of the past and which could never be known in our civilised .'day's.. At .first it was difficult even to credit reports of. .the repudiation by any one of the contracting parties of .the solemn engagements entered into .by the treaties and conventions to which their national word was pledged.
To-day there can be -no doubt -whatever; _aooufr'the utter failure of SUCiI treaties and conventions 1 when made tader the old system. When it does not suit the purposes of a contracting party, lis ive have seen; they become . mere
'."scraps .of paper;"' Not only does honour aiid the word of a nation apjiarently hi these days count for. nothing lii international polities,, but even neutral nations, who have given their adhesion to such restraints .of war and its horrors as are embodied in The Hague conventions, have' not thought themselves" morally called upon 'to protest to the world at the breaking of these laws, by other contracting parties. What . then is .the value: of : such agreements'! Is is not : a mere absolute farce for nations to. meet-in solemn. congresses and promise to respect the laws'of humanity, when directly tliey-are called upon to-put them into execution they refuse to be bouiid by them? This much at least is obvious; agreements and contracts of this, kind have at present no binding, force whatsoever. Tlie names "international law" have been shown to be a mere misnomer and misleading. . ■ :- Without some authoritative voice; and the power to enforce it,, Cardinal Gasqtiet goes on to say, both philosophy and common sense teach-that there can be no "Law," properly so-called; and ;of this one'-obvious result is that nations are,; badly handicapped which desire to abide by their pledges and are restrained-by plain'reasons of humanity and Christian -morality from themselves abandoning conventions which Iwere intended to give expression to them :— The use made in tho present war" of poison is a case in point. ; If one belligerent make's -use of .'such an inhuman method, it places othors in a false and perilous position." It is obviously almost impossible to expect soldiers to face the unequal combat, with their hand's tied by obligations which they have taken upon themselves, but which their adversaries, though equally plcdgW to their observance, have abandoned. , "Wtat is - true v to-day' of the failure of conventions must also be said of international guarantees intended to safeguard the existence of small nations and peoples. Where honour is disregarded when it suits the politics of any one of the contracting parties, there can bo no permanent safety in such guarantees. Tlie violation of the neutrality of Belgium has shown this to the world -quite conclusively. Even Germany confesses the injustice of which it: lias been guilty in regard to a small nation, which had done it no harm, which it had l solemnly pledged itself to safeguard, but which unfortunately stood in the way of its chosen plan, of attack upon France. The martyrdom of heroic Belgium to-day calls to heaven for vengeance, foryio attack could be more unjust. .Belgium has -been niada to suffer, as the child said, because,' being a nation, it refused to be considewSl merely 'a road' by one of the very Powers which had to protect its interests and existence." v
"To-day the world very generally looks to the Pope, as the natural defender of -Christian morality and justice and as the guardian of the rights of nations. It is indeed most remarkable-that, in tho appalling _ catastrophe which lias fallen on Europe.in tho past.moiiths, people .of all kinds—those who respect his spiritual authority quite as f much- as those , who acknowledge it—should he found claiming his judgment and guidance in matters so intimately connected with tho civilisation of Europe. They have even loudly blamed his silence in regard to many faofs which he could not justly determine without inquiry. This attitude is all-the more remarkable seeing that'the papacy was expressly excluded from participation in tho Congresses of the Hague-by the nations whiph took part ill them. It seems hardly £00 muea to say that by. this exclusion these conventions iii fact deprived themselves of the' very element of niorai authority which might liavo given them security, and permanence and saved thom from the failure which is now manifest to the world. ■ '
.' This much at least is obvious! Of all other powers in this world the Pope alone possesses soiiie international authority and influence.
"What was done by the Papacy in the past .to save Europe," Cardinal Gasqliet contends, "may be done in the future." ■ 1
The Pope, by his office, affords to'the' nations precisely that international principle of 'morality which the world seeks for to-day to save it from the horrors' which it has • witnessed in the past months, and which, unless the tendency to lawlessness be chocked, must result in a relapse) into barbarism and the triump ot the principles of paganism over those of Christianity. There is here no question of spiritual jurisdiction, but of authority to speak on questions of morality and justice, and of the right in God's name to protect the weak from the aggression of the powerful. No combination of nations, directed by'treaties and conventions, as has been abundantly proved of late, can secure this, for it lacks that international moral authority which the Papacy certainly possosso'j, Tlie office of the Pope in this regard would not, of course, supersede in any way the'armed forces of the nations, which would hepledgcd to support these principles of justice and humanity, hut it would afford them the moral sanction needed to mako theso powers irresistible ill maintaining the civilisation established under Christian teaching. We have, let ns hope, learnt from the present war the lesson that the world cannot without peril abandon the spiritual values of religion and morality. We have como .to see clearly that the" Ton Commandments of God,with all that they imply, must still rulo the world for the, world's sake, and that for nations as well as for individuals the same eternal principles of justice, and morality must be the'supreme law if civilisation as we know it-is to be saved for the coming ijenerattons.
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2654, 28 December 1915, Page 5
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1,251ROLE OF THE POPE Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2654, 28 December 1915, Page 5
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