It is reported from Rome that the Italian minister of justice has issued a secret circular to all the public prosecutors of Italy "in which they are warned that the laws of Italy do not allow members of the Jesuit order to reside there," and stating that "since the expulsion of the Jesuits from France many of them have settled in Italy."
The circular is thought to have been "necessitated by the insistence of the Masonic order and the liberal societies in Italy that the law be enforced."
It seems that the government has ignored the violation of this law heretofore. A few years ago the general of the Jesuits transferred his official residence to Rome, and tho this is in violation of the law, the government has taken no action regarding the matter, notwithstanding the fact that this violation of the law has been recently emphasized and made conspicuous by the open purchase, at enormous cost, by the Jesuits of buildings within a stone's throw of the residence of the dowager queen, for the residence of the new general and the executive offices of the order.
This proceeding, it is said, was perfectly known to the government officials. In the law of guaranties, through which the pope was allowed to provide out of the government funds for the support and maintenance of all the generals of religious orders in Rome, the head of the Jesuits was specifically excluded from such provision.