Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1903 — DEATH OF POPE LEO. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH OF POPE LEO.

VENERABLE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD IS NO MORE. Statesman, Itnler, Diplomat, Author, Moralist, Priest, Bialiop, and fora Quarter of a Centnry the Spirit ial Head of 230,000,000 Catholics. Pope Leo XIII., for a quarter of a centnry the spiritual head of 250,000,000 Catholics, is dead. The pontiff was in his 04th year. As statesman, ruler, diplomat, author and moralist he was greatly beloved by his adherents, and the wide world, irrespective of creed, or race, or grade of civilization, expresses oorrowing sympathy. For three weeks the venerable pontiff, whose years spanned almost a century of time and whose great activity as ruler for a quarter of a century of the moral and religious forces pf the Catholic world has been the marvel of contemporaneous history, battled with pneumonia. He was taken with a chill while driving in the Vatican gardens and soon congestion of one of the lungs set in. Dr. Luigi Lapponi, the Pope’s personal physician, at once took the distinguished patient in charge and with the assistance of Dr. Gaetano Mazzoni, was in almost con-stant-attendance. The great age of the Pope and his enfeebled condition lent but little encouragement to t. e physicians in

their hope of successful treatment, and almost from .the beginning artificial means were employed—not so much to effect a cure as to temporarily prolong life.

Notwithstanding his physical sufferings the Pope’s mind remained active and brilliant almost to the last. lie appointed Mgr. Volponi to the vacant secretaryship of the Consitorial congregation, an appointment the importance of which is readily seen when it is considered that on the Pope’s death the duties of the secretary of state are immediately assumed by the secretary of the congregation. Thus with his eyes looking into the face of death he interested himself in guarding against any confusion consequent upon his passing away.

The Pope had no fear of the final dissolution. He spoke of life and death with equal serenity. “I atn ready to depart,” he said to a relative. Count Peeei, “having settled all my affairs. I feel I have done all in my power for the good of the church and of humauity.” And yet in Pope Leo as lie calmly faced the inevitable end there was much of the human side of our uature. He made eager inquiries as to the telegrams of sympathy and inquiry received from all over the world. These messages poured into the Vatican at the rate of 500 a day. In the death of the venerable pontiff the world has lost a grand and most attractive character. He was great not only as the spiritual head of 250,000,000 subjects, but great in the realms of diplomacy and statecraft, and above all in his broad love for mankind. The purity and simplicity of his life, his efforts, on behalf of social and religious improvement and his great, abidiug faith in humanity made him worthy of the title of Great. As a ruler he was remarkably successful. The condition in which he found the church, shorn of its temporal power at home and at variance with different governments abroad; the embarrassments under which he labored and the obstacles he had to overcome, measured beside its progress since he assumed sovereignty, in 1878. prove him to have been one of

the great masters of politics and diplomacy, as well as of religious propaganda. Few men had a keener appreciation of the political tendencies of the time and no leader of meu conformed more skillfully to the world’s advancement and the constant evolution of thought, discovery, commerce and government. He was the most liberal and democratic of all the pontiffs who have sat in the papal chair and his sympathies were with the party of progress everywhere. His Career. Pope Leo was born iu Carpineto, Italy, in 1810, the family name being Pecci. When S years old he entered the Jesuit college nt Viterbo and later the schools »f the Roman College, where he studied physics and mathematics. He next took up the study of theology, which ha completed in the Roman University, winning high honors in his classes. In 1857 he was ordained priest and was assigned to the governorship of Ben-

evento. The people there wefe heavily oppressed, by the officials and nobles and brigandage, encouraged by some of the higher classes, flourished with impunity. To redress these grievances the young priest immediately, addressed himself. From the peasants themselves ffe learned the story of their wrongs, and he promptly brought the nobles and officials to tark. The success of the young cleric in ridding Benevento of brigands earned him promotion to the more important post at Perugia, and here also he was uniformly successful. When he left Perugia there was not a single criminal in the entire population. In 1843 Father Pecci was made titular archbishop of Damietta and after his consecratiou was sent as nuncio, on a diplomatic mission to Belgium. His mission was entirely successful and in 1840 Bishop Pecci returned as archbishop of Perugia. During the thirty-two years of his administration there he, built thir-ty-six churches and restored and enlarged many others. Becomes Pope. In 1853 he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius IX. and in 1878 he succeeded that pontiff as the rqling head of the Catholic Church, taking the name of Leo, after Pope Leo XII., for whom he had a great veneration. The condition of the affairs of the church at the time was,far from satisfactory. In Italy there existed a rupture between the Vatican and the government of unified Italy, while there was hardly a single European power with which the Holy See was on anything like friendly terms. Many people in Italy thought that the new pontiff would modify the policy of Pius IX. and effect a reconciliation with the Quirinal, and thus his election was favorably received by all parties, a 3 all parties then wished to see an end to the war between church and state. But Leo XIII. doomed them to disappointment. In his first encyclical he adhered to the policy of his predecessor, and such was his course until the end. Several times during liis reign and as a result of the rupture between the Vatican and Quirinal Leo was almost constrained to remove the papal seat from Rome; but before final action was taken other counsels prevailed, nnd the official seat of the Catholic Church still remains in the Eternal City. Friend of Wor'king Classes. Throughout his entire life, but more especially during bis pontifical administration, Pope Leo was deeply interested in the welfare of the working classes and in several of his encyclicals, dealing with the labor question, he discussed labor matters with a clearness, a good judgment and a justice that won for him much commendation and praise. One of the great eveuts in his reign was the celebration of liis sacrcdokal jubilee in 1887. It afforded a striking proof of the large place the papacy holds ‘in the world. From all parts of the globe, even from China, Japan, Persia and Morocco, deputations pressed to the Vatican, bearing gifts to the distinguished pontiff. One of the .most acceptable of these gifts was a copy of the constitution of the United States presented by President Cleveland. Pope Leo was always of delicate appearance, and when he was elected in 1878 few thought that he would live many months. He was of a nervous temperament and years of fasting and privation gave him a leanness of figure that was phenomenal. But his capacity for work was remarkable and four secretaries of state died by his side.

Leo’s Personal Appearance. Years ago a writer, describing him, says: “In appearance’ the Pope is a very old man. His thiu and angular features, his alabaster complexion, the trembling of his hands, his bowed form, the almost diaphanous aspect of his entire figure would mark him as a man on the threshold of extreme old age. But when he speaks and becomes animated this impression immediately vanishes and one feels that there is beneath this fragile envelope a powerful life and that tha blade is infinitely superior to the sheath that covers it. His voice, especially when he speaks in public, has retained its ring, slightly nasal, by the way, and his eyes have lost none of their fire. Oh, the eyes of Leo XIII! When one has seen them they can never be forgotten. One would think they were two black diamonds so brilliant are they. They give an extraordinary vivacity to his expression and there is something inexpressibly piercing in their regard.” Some of Hia Labors. In Germany'Pope Leo found the Catholics oppressed, and he addressed himseif to the removal or modification of their grievances. For a long time correspondence was carried on between the Vatican and German government, and finally iu ISBG the Falk laws, of which Catholics complained so deply, were virtually abolished. He succeeded in obtaining fuller rights for Catholics in Russia and in the dominions of the Sultan, and he healed a schism which had broken out in Asia Minor. With Catholic France he was less successful, aud he was unable to prevent the suppression of religious societies iu that country. lie remained, however, on moderately friendly terms with the successive governments of the republic. In Switzerland he put an end to a body of laws which had existed for fifteen years and had borne heavily on the Catholics; and in Belgium he modified the action of the government and induced it. to receive a papal nuncio at Brussels. One of his memorable acts was the settlement of a dispute la-tween Spain and Germany over the Carolines. Ills decision as arbitrator was received by both sides with satisfaction, th<fitgb the decision was adverse to Germany. In the affairs of the American branch of the church Pope Leo always took the deepest interest. Under him the American college in Rome, for the training of Americans to the priesthood, was established, ns was also the Catholic University at Washington. In 1893 he completed the work of raising this country from the rank of « missionary district and in that year Mgr. Satolli was made apostolic delegate to the United States

Henry W. Warner was suspended from the New York Stock Exchange for one year. He was found guilty of taking and carrying the account of an employe of another meml>er of the exchange without consent of that member. Cashier F. M. Skinner of the defunct Indiahoma State Bank, accused of embeasleraent, and Cashier W. E. Leckle of the defunct Sterling State Bank, charged with alleged illegal banking, both in Ok* lahoma, were arrested.

MON S I GN ORE PIFFERI. [Pope Leo XIII’s confessor.