The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1903. THE PAPAL SEE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 170, 22 July 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1903. THE PAPAL SEE

The dea'h of Leo XIII after an unusually prolonged life, marked in every stage with that vigour, z al and courtlicess which have so greatly distinguished his career and proved of sucb service in advarcing the ephrre and itfluence of the Latin Church, natu rally concentrates attention on the high and sacred office which he filhd with such distinction, The title cf Pope (father) now l.eld by the heed of the Roman Catholic hierarchy was originally bestowed on ecclesiastic* generally. In the oaily Westeri. Church it was bestowed on the matropolitan bishops, but in the struggle foi pre-eminenoa tha claim to be recognised ss the only Pope was enforced by thi Bishops of Rsme, founded on th> belif, supported by the early traditions of the church, thut the Apostle Peter pV.nted a church in R-rne and died there as a martyr. This came to be regarded as sufficient reason for the primacy of the Bishops of Rome in t v e church ; consequently from the end of - the 4th century the Bishop of Rome wag the first among the five patriarchs or superior bishrps of Christendom, and a decree of Valentian 111. (445) acknowledged the Bishop nf Rime as primage, Leo the Great (440-461) was the first to base his cl«ima to the primacy on divine authority. Th< Eastern Ohurcb, however, always re fisted the See of Romp, and thi? mainly occasioned the schism that in 1054 divided Christendom into the Greek and Roman Churches In 1059 the dignity and independence of the ' papal chair was heightened by the constitution of Nicho'as 11. placing the right of election of the Pops in the hands of the Cardinals, and in 1073 Gregory VII. at a Roman Council formally prohibited the use of the title of Pope by any other ecclesiastic than the Bishop of Rome. Ho also enforced a celiba*e life on th 9 e'erg? and prohibited lay inves'iture. The reign of Innocent 111. (1198-1216) raised the papal 83e to the h'ghest degree of power and digr i'y ; and having glided almost unlimited spiritual dominion the Popes row began to extend their temporal power at the expense of thf Empire of Borne, the pawcr of the Emperors of Rome over the Pope than coming to an r,r.d. So large had the pswers of the Pope become that Inno-: cent 111. tojk upon himself to depre and proclaim Kings, and he put both Franco and Eoghnd under an interdict, Fi-anea alore successfully r sis'ing the Popes. In 1378 two rival Popes appeared, Urban VI. and Clemen* VII. causing a schism and scandal io the church for 38 years, lessening the influence of the Popes, and being fol'owfct by a still greater blow (1513 - 1525) in 'he R?formstioD,andf.-om thi« time neither the support of the Jesuis nor the policy of the Popes could restore the old authori'y of the pip.-tl thronn Pius VI. (1775 98) witnessed <ho ro-volu-ion, which cot only too from him (he Fm-ch Church, but ev*n dop ivad him of his d minions. Pius Vil. lot big liberty una possessions, and owed his retorah'on (1814) to a c.-alition of tfmp-jrnl pri.oc.-s, r.rnong whom wore < wo heretics and » schismatic. He not ->f:ly_ iearned the Irqui-iion, the Jesuits, ard other ouLrp, but, advanced claim'and prir.sipl-s entirely opp.wd to the ideas and resolutions of his liberators. Ilis successors took the saaie cousse until Gregojy XVI. by his opposition to all r.forms io thcivil relations cf the papal dominio s, greatly contributed to tha revolution which compelled his succ Sfor Pius IX, jto fle- from Rome. The power of t l »< p pney wa" r u'tlier wenkened by the wants of 1859, 1860, and 18G6, md >.ft>r the wi Mm-,- .1 of *■.!;<> Frereh from I*a!v in 1870 King Victor Einmrnuel tsok pessessi jh ji

of Borne-, and s : nce that time the Pops fins livei iu sedus : on at the VaticaD.! Dy the dfcri.es of the Vaticau Cojneil )f 1870, the Pope has supreme power in matters of discipline and faith over all he pastors and of the fiitLful, snd tint when, in virtue of tf"n nps'olic iffice, tie defines a doctiino of f;ith and mor= Is he is dclared to be it fallible. He may coiwl- ma or prohibit book-, liter the rites of the ohu.'ch, and resirve to h msjif the righ'i of canonizaion of s.in'.s, It will ba sen tkat 'he iowers and of the Pope, thougL reatly curtailed, are even now of vast extent, and that the welfare of the !hu ch of Romedepjndslargely on the occupant of the Pap il chair. In the a'e Pope the church had a Pontiff mho vas unwearying iu his efforts in extending the sphere and work of tbr :hurch over whkh ho ruled with sue; succats for over a quarter of a century, lurirg which many impirtant even'shave happened, and mtny changes take; place. Th.it he will be missed U cer aio, for his 1 )r-s haves the Church and the wo.ld the poorer, and the greases' •iyrapithy will bo felt foi tl*e member f the Roman Church at the loss of •uch a revered ruler.