Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1903 — DEATH OF POPE LEO. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH OF POPE LEO.

VENERABLE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD IS NO MORE. T" Statesman, Ruler, Diplomat, Author, Moralist, Priest, Bishop, and for a Quarter of a Century the Spiritual Head of 250,000,000 Catholics. , Rope Leo XIII., for a quarter of a century 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 r-orrow-iug sympathy. In the presence of Dr. Lapponi, Dr.

Mazzoni, Count Pccci, his nephew, and the high dignitaries of the church, the venerable pontiff has passed quietly away. Intense stillness pervaded the barely furnished bedroom in the Vatican at Rome, where the pontiff lay, broken only by the occasional sob that could not be restrained <by some one of those who surrounded the deathbed. This silence lasted even after all Avas over, and was broken only after the physicians had made the final examination and had announced the demise. The final illness of his holiness began with the fatigue of the drive he took in the Vatican gardens on Wednesday, July 3. His medical attendants, Drs. Lapponi and Mazzoni, advised against the taking of this drive, but the determination of the Pope to look over the gardens he had loved so long and so well could not be gainsaid. On his return from this drive of an hour and a half he showed signs of exhaustion. From this time his frail life had been ebbing like the passing of a low wind. By Friday morning his holiness had developed what his physicians described as senile pneumonia. It was the first time in the history of his long and eventful life that the breakdown of his wonderful system seemed imminent. His stomach refused to act. His luugs congested. Breathing seemed impossible. The most heroic restoratives were applied and brought some relief. The illness first described ns senile pneumonia soon developed into plcuro-pneumonia, the pleura, or'ftrembrane surrounding the lung, becoming inflamed. From the time this symptom developed his holiness lay hovering on the brink of eternity. Twice during his last illness it became necessary to perform operations on the Pope to give him After the second operation the Pope gradually gained strength until the following Sunday. By Saturday afternoon lie was so much better that many at the Vatican hoped for his recovery. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday he held conferences in his chamber with Cardinal Rampolla and other prelates regarding the affairs of the church, and on Saturday, with the permission of his physicians, he received a visit from two of his nieces.

On Monday night, July G, be sank so low that his physicians thought he was dying. He then received extreme unction, the last rite of tire church for the dying. The following Saturday and again Sunday he heard mars read. Thus bravely fighting to prolong his life of usefulness on earth and serenely awaiting the summons that should call him to eternity. Pope Leo XIII. sank peacefully into his long rest. Notwithstanding his physical sufferings the Pope's mind remained active and brilliant almost to the last. He appointed Mgr. Volponi to the vacant secretaryship of the Consitorial congregation, an appointment the importance of which is readily seen where it is considered that on the the duties of the secretary of state are immediately assumed by the secretary of the congregation. Thus with liis 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 nsd death with equal serenity. ‘'l am ready to depart,” he said to a relative, Count Pecci, “having settled all my affairs. I feel I ha,ve done-all in my power for the good of the church and of humanity.” And yet in Pope Leo ns he calmly faced the inevitable end there was much of the human side of our nature. He made eager inquiries ns to the telegrams of sympathy and inquiry received from

macy, as well as of religious propaganda. Few men had a keener appreciating: of the political tendencies of the time and no leader of men 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 Carper. Pope Leo was born in Carpineto, Italy, in 1810, the family name being Pecci.

When 8 years old he entered the Jesuit college at Viterbo 1 and later the schools of the Roman College, where he studied physics and mathematics. Keenest took up the study of theology, which he com-

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-sis churches and restored and enlarged many others. In 1853 he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius IX. and in 1878 he succeeded that pontiff as the ruling 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 front satisfactory. In Italy there existed a rapture 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, as all parties then wished to see on 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 predecessdf, and such was his course until theend. Several times during his reign and as a result of the rupture between the Vatican and Quirinal Leo was almost constrained to remove the papal neat from Rome; but before final action was taken other counsels prevailed, and the official seat of the Catholic Church still remains in the Eternal City. Working; Classes. Throughout his entire life, but more especially during his 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

MONSIGNORE PIFFERI. [Pope Leo XIII'S confessor.