THE ROMAN CHURCH AND THE FUTURE.
By Editor
We well know that there are Protestants who believe that the power of the Roman Church is forever broken; that Protestantism is forever in the ascendancy. But neither the present progress of that church, nor the divine predictions of the Sacred Word do so forecast. We do not wish to present at this writing the evidence of the Word; that is left till a later time; but we wish to note some of the means by which Rome is regaining her lost prestige. In so doing we shall quote largely from an article in the Independent of May 16, by Henry A. Stimson, D.D., given first place by the Independent (Italics ours):— “The political and social evolution of the Church of Rome, or as it prefers to be called, the Catholic Church, is in some respects the most important event that marks the beginning of the twentieth century. The Church of Rome is the oldest political organization in existence—using the term political not as marking the purpose of the organization, but its actual history. It has been the fashion for it to assert that it never changes. But the notable fact is that it has ceased to be the cornerstone of the old conception of monarchy, itself an ambitious temporal power, and has become the ally and representative of the people. This change of front is not marked in America, which is still, to the church, missionary ground; but the policy the church is working out at home is its policy for the world. Many believe that its rupture with modern civilization is complete and irrevocable. But as a matter of fact, since the establishment of the French Republic, Rome and the democracy have embraced.” “The pontificate of Pius IX., lasting thirty-two years, the longest in the history of the church, was also the most important for the changes that it wrought. In the spiritual no less than in the temporal order, the church was entirely transformed, while at the same time Catholic unity was made more than ever a vital and powerful reality. This was accomplished by three principal agencies, the re-establishment of liturgical uniformity, the creation of numerous apostolic vicars in countries where previously the church had been left without any hierarchical connection with the Holy See, and the multiplication of the religious press, which has of late gained an influence not second to the episcopacy. The promulgation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and the dogmatic proclamation of the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff crowned this work. This occurred July 18, 1870, the day the war broke out which put an end to the temporal power of the pope. When Pius IX. died, in 1878, strained relations existed between the Papacy and all the cabinets of Europe; the distant Catholic communities in countries republican in principle, alone consoled the Papacy by their fidelity and love.” Mr. Stimson then notes the diplomatic policy of Leo. XIII., who, uniting with democracy, affirmed “that the church is as free to affiliate with the democracy as with the monarchy, provided that it takes equal care to maintain control. But a democracy controlled is no longer a democracy.” Mr. Stimson continues:— “The important fact is that Rome at last received suggestion from the newer lands and yielded to the new pressure. The movement is new, but sharply defined; and if the Papal See succeeds in the course upon which it has entered, the result will be that possessing itself of the direction of modern democracy, as in other times it did of the State of the Middle Ages, it will, in the face of the loss of temporal power, find itself invested in the twentieth century with the most formidable power that humanity has ever known. This is the aspect of the movement which concerns America and the world. For the world is rapidly being democratized under American leadership, and the Roman Church aims at nothing short of the control of this world-wide democracy. It is important to recognize that it demands to-day what it has always demanded, to teach—that is, to dominate humanity—as it puts it, to secure its safety. The Roman Papacy and the Society of the Jesuits, its particular agency, have never had any other view.” Then after discussing the relation of the Roman Church to social and labor questions, becoming ever more frequently thru her prelates the arbitrator of disputes, Dr. Stimson proceeds:— “The evolution of the church which claims never to change is the more striking when it is remembered that it is but twenty years since, in the loss of its temporal power, it had ceased to be absolute master of the things of earth, and now it is suddenly seen placing itself at the head of the numberless multitude of laborers in all lands. Whether this latest ambition of the church clutching after power will encounter a resistance greater than it has ever known, is the secret of the future. The fact alone that the Catholic Church, for motives which are not now under discussion, makes overtures to the universal democracy, suffices of itself to give to the beginning of the twentieth century a character and interest, an attractiveness and a historic relation, which henceforth challenge supreme attention.” “No one can doubt the tremendous influence this is having upon the other nations of Europe. It is translating the experience of America to European shores, and showing the tremendous potency of republican ideas and the efficiency of republican methods wherever they may be tried. The new attitude, therefore, of the Catholic Church toward democracy means the direction of this great political agency to the possession of the opportunities of modern society.” “That it is at heart and in aim Christian, no one who is free from bigotry can doubt; that it is reactionary, and, as M. Spuller terms it, adulterous, as a clericalism, which means the union of the Church and the State, no one with equal candor can question. Whether for good or for evil in the development of human civilization in the immediate future, remains to be seen, but for better or for worse, it is the great fact which thoughtful men will do well to ponder.” We merely remark in closing (1) that it by no means follows, as Dr. Stimson thinks, that temporal power will not be restored to the pope; (2) that movement is not “Christian,” whatever its aim, which seeks to unite Church and State, or makes the State a coercive power for the enforcement of religious dogmas; and (3) that this “change” of the Papacy does not in anywise controvert the averment that “Rome never changes;” for all this change is a matter of policy to accomplish certain ends, not a matter of principle as regards the end to be attained. Rome has ever changed her policy, shifted her sails to catch the political breezes, and ever will. But her principles, her object, is ever the same. And the work she is now doing with its outcome is indeed “most important.”