A Significant Appointment by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 10, 1914

A Significant Appointment

By F. M. W.

For many years, we believe since the days of Henry VIII, the British government has had no official envoy at the Vatican court. There has been for the most part an unbroken line of representatives from the Catholic powers of Europe, and one by one the Protestant states have come to recognize the “political necessity” of having their interests represented at the Holy See. Great Britain has resisted this pressure for many years, but now comes the report that she has joined with the other nations of Europe in the appointment of a duly accredited representative to the papal court. According to the Washington Times, Sir Henry Howard, at one time an attaché of the British legation in Washington, D. C., has been assigned to this post. Regarding this appointment the Brooklyn Eagle says:—

The reported determination of the British government to send a properly accredited envoy to the Holy See will, we imagine, give no offense to the house of Savoy, though Britain's former neglect to be represented at the Vatican was regarded as a courtesy to Italy. The Quirinal will realize that in the present war, relations with the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church are virtually based on his spiritual primacy over a large part of Christendom, not on his remaining temporal powers, or his function as a temporal ruler. Germany has an envoy. Austria has an envoy. Great Britain seeks to have her views represented and understood.

The Pope is still a temporal sovereign in the eyes of the Italian monarchy, sovereign of the Vatican, the Lateran, and the Castel Gandolfo, with their gardens. Italy offers tribute to him, 3,225,000 francs a year, which no pope has accepted. Italian administration and policing power stop with the borders of the pontiff's small domain. Within that domain he is an absolute monarch.

No reasons are assigned for the appointment of this envoy. Doubtless motives of expediency and political interests prompted the appointment at this time. It is possible that the government saw that in the settlement of the terms of final peace between the belligerents in the great European conflict the Pope of Rome would play no unimportant part. Benedict XV has already indicated his determination to bring the contending nations to some basis of settlement if possible. This motive is suggested by the editor of the Eagle, who adds to the quotation above:—

It is entirely possible that when the time comes for a move toward ending the war, the Pope may be induced to make it. That is, perhaps, the main reason why English policy seeks representation at the Vatican at the present time.

By Catholic writers England and the United States have been recognized as the great pillars of the Protestant cause, and Romanists have felt that if they succeeded in their efforts to make Catholicism dominant throughout the world, these main supports of the opposition must be taken away. This accounts for their active propaganda in both these countries during the last few years. The Missionary (Roman Catholic), published in Washington, D. C., in its issue for May, 1914, quotes with approval this extract from a letter from one of its correspondents:—

It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England. . . . If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the whole world to the true faith. . . . A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition. . . . In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and antiquarian, along with Arianism.

That the Roman pontiff will not be slow to turn to his own account this concession on the part of this great Protestant nation of Europe we may be assured. The propaganda which has been carried on for years to bring England back to the fold of the mother church will increase its activity. Rome stands ready to turn every occasion of political necessity to her own advantage.

That the nations of earth will seek in the midst of their political difficulties counsel and relief from the papal power the Scriptures of Truth clearly indicate. One has only to read the thirteenth and seventeenth chapters of the Revelation to realize that the Papacy will be a dominating influence in the political affairs of the nations in the last days.

The shaping of conditions in the world which make for the restoration of papal domination are significant signs of fulfilling prophecy. Let us heed their portent, and prepare for the things which are soon coming upon the earth.

F. M. W.