The Pope’s Temporal Power
ITALY'S penal code as it now stands is far from pleasing to the friends of temporal power for the Pope. According to its provisions it is a misdemeanor for the Roman Catholic clergy to advocate either in or out of the pulpit the restoration of temporal power. This state of affairs is not at all to the liking of the ambitious Leo; indeed, the situation is well-nigh unendurable to him, and it is stated that he will shortly formally appeal to the powers of Europe to interfere in behalf of his temporal sovereignty. It seems scarcely probable that such an appeal would be heeded just at present, but it is not difficult to imagine a state of affairs which would make a majority of the great powers willing to favor the Pope in return for such favors as the Papacy could really bestow upon them. Such interference on the part of some of the powers is no more improbable now than was the repeal of the May laws by Germany only a few months before they were wiped from the statute book of that empire in deference to the wishes of Leo XIII.