STRENUOUS LIFE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20728, 11 February 1939, Page 9

STRENUOUS LIFE

BRILLIANT BCHOLAR AND LINGUIST SOME IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS. Pius XI., who was Gardinal Achille Ratti before his election as Pope, was horn in the diocese of Milan, at Desio, where his father was manager of a silk factory. He studied at the Lombard Coliege, Rome, and at the Gregorian University he obtained the triple doctorate in philosophy, theology and , law. From 1882 to 1886 he taught theology in Milan and was later Prelect of the famous Abrosian Library there. He gained distinction as an authority on mediaeval books and was subsequently called to Rome, where he undertook the practical administration of the Vatican library. Before hio appointment to the Vatican library Don Ratti was well known as a mountaineer and alpinist. He participated in some notable expeditions in the Italian Alps and was the first to climb the formidable Monte Rosa from the Italian side, keeping entirely on Italian soil. There was a path up, which passed across a corner of the Austrian territory, but the enterprising priest would have none of that and with two companions he cut a path Italian all the way to the summit. It is still known as the Ratti path. He was a member of the Italian Alpine ! Club and was the author of an interesting book on alping climbing in which he related his experiences on the Monte It »sa climb and other expeditions. After the war he was sent as Apostolic Visitor to Poland and when the country secured its independence he was appointed Apostolic Delegate to the new Republic. To lend dignity to his office he xvas, in 1919, made titular Archbishop of Lepanto. The Archbishop played an important part in the creation of the Republic and in its recognition by the Powers. His diplomatic ability was displayed there with extraordinary success and he was not only the doyen, but eminently the leader of the Diplomatic Corps in Warsaw, exercising great influence on internal and external affairs. He was responsible for bringing Poland back into the Catholic Church as a national unit. The “Roman Question” Settled. Monseigneur Ratti certainly proved himself a great diplomat in the exercise of his office in Poland. He displayed those qualities of patience and understanding which later enabled him to settle the “Roman Question.” In 1921 he was created Archbishop of Milan and on February 6, 1922, he was elected Pope in succession to Pope Benedict XV. He was solemnly installed in his new office on February 12 within a year of his creation as a Cardinal. His ability as a diplomat gave the Church new hope for a settlement of the breach between the Catholic Church and. the Italian State which had made the Pope a virtual prisoner in the Vatican for over 60 years. And the solution of the “Roman Question,” as it was called, was the outstanding diplomatic achievement of Pius XI. There was great rejoicing in Church and State when the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929, restoring the temporal power of the Papacy and establishing an understanding between the Church and the Italian Government. The Pope was no longer the prisoner of the Vatican and Pius XI was enthusiastically acclaimed by the people of Rome when he first went beyond the confines of the Vatican. The late Pope was a brilliant scholar and linguist and gave an impetus to the foreign missions and was known affectionately by his people as the “Pope of the Missions.” He opened the Russian, Ethiopian and Czechoslavakian colleges in Rome. In Ihose three countries he had cause for sorrow. The Church suffered severely in the Bolshevik revolution and many prelates, priests and religious were exiled or sent to Siberia where some died in prison. This had adways been one of his great sorrows and he wrote a letter to the faithful on the Soviet Campaign Against God. He was distressed by the conflict in which the Italian people were involved in Abyssinia while in Czechoslavakia moves were made for the expulsion of the Jesuits. During his Pontificate there was a remarkable expansion of the missionary fields of the Catholic Church. One of the greatest momenta for the missions was the consecration by the Pope himself of ten Chinese Bishops in Rome. Catholic Action. The late Pope was a prolific writer and his Encyclicals anti letters showed his wide knowledge of modern conditions which his Church had to meet. The most important of his writings were:—Christian Education of Youth. True Religious Unity, Christian Marriage. The Social Order, How the Roman Question was settled. Concerning Catholic Action, The Soviet Campaign Against God. 7n his last Encyclical Letter on Clean Motion Pictures he manifested a surprising knowledge of the motion piciure industry. One great movement which he fostered was what has come to be known as Catholic Action, which he defined as the participation of the laity in the hierarchical apostolate. “Cath- : olic Action aims at preparing men.” he wrote, “to act as good politicians ' and to work for the common good ac- ' -'orriing to right principles .... far I frntii preventing- individual Calh'olivs i fr «m engaging in political action Tor i the sake of the common good Catholic I Action imposes upon them the duty of j doing so. for it obliges them to’ intervene in polities with a more en- | lightened conscience and a clearer ; grasp of the issues at stake.’