THE SEAT OF THE PAPACY.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 4043, 13 December 1881, Page 3

THE SEAT OF THE PAPACY.

The Daily Telegraph, in alluding to the circumstances attending the recent reception of Italian pilgrims at Rome by the Pope, and the address delivered by the Pontiff on that occasion, refers to the " ominous word exile," which fell from the lips of the Holy Father. "No doubt, as he said, there are writers and orators of an extreme faction who advocate measures which might compel him to leave the Vatican, but the Italians who desire it are a handful of fanatics. There must be very few Romans insensible to the glory that attaches to their city, as the seat of the only world-wide Empire of the present day —the only institution which recalls the dominion of the Cwsars over diverse races and many lands. Rome is the capital of Italy, but it is something still more im portant as the metropolis of the greatest spiritual Monarchy upon earth. The city, too, owes eternal gratitude to the Pontiffs who preserved it through the middle ages. Had it not become the seat of the Papacy it would have sunk back into the decay of a provincial city haunted by the ghosts of the past, while crushed beneath the memories and encumbered with the ruins of ancient Rome. The City also owes to the Pop< s palaces and churches of endless number and enduring grandeur, and, were the Papacy evicted, the equitable claim for ' unexhausted improvements' would beggar the Italian exchequer. The temptations to the Pope to remain in Rome spring from Jthe same range of -feelings and facts. Wherever he went he would be guest, not host, and have to ask hospitality and protection. Leo XIIL, no doubt, would be received with respect and welcome in many lands; but, a dependant on one nation, he would alienate the allegiance of others. Malta would be a safe refuge, but the aged Cardinals of the Continent would not like the necessity (jf'crossing the sea whenever they sought their chief. Monte Carlo has been suggested, and there would be something appropriate in a venerable priest chasing out of that natural temple the prodigal of Europe, and by vigorous fumigation enabling incense to ascend freely where the air is now redolent of vice. The decline, however, from Rome to Monaco —from the traditions of the Ceesars and the Leos to the associations of the Grimaldis and M. Blanc—would be ' not fall but catastrophe ;' and it is impossible to believe that Leo XIIL will, in unprovoked impatience, voluntarily incur so dire a calamity for his Church. There is no need for such a step. He and his dignity are now quite safe in the Vatican, even though around him rival fanatics rave and moan. Italy holding her own is willing and able to protect him, and to fulfil her voluntary law of Guarantees."