DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71133#0067
CHAPTER II.
The Holy Father—The Vatican Palace—Neigh-
bourhood of St. Peter’s.
24.—THE PRISONER OF THE VATICAN.
Standing near the obelisk in the piazza of St. Peter’s and
looking up at the windows of the Pope’s apartments, we may
recall the words of Louis Veuillot, “ Que de soucis derriere ces
7ji.tres/” There dwells the successor of St. Peter, the keeper of
the keys, the Vicar of God on earth—an old man, bent with the
weight of years and cares, yet full of mental vigour, and unyield-
ing in his resistance to the enemies of the Church.
In the London Daily Telegraph^- Pope Leo XIIl’s position
was thus described : “ The Pope is alone in the Vatican,
without a friend among the Governments of the world,
without territory, without treasure, without an army, without
power, without a voice in the senate of nations, a prisoner in
his own palace, begirt by the troops of a hostile king. His
visible sovereignty is indeed gone. Nevertheless his invisible
sovereignty was perhaps never stronger than to-day. . . . With
all the forces of the world against him, he has fought the fight
well and drawn tighter the bonds of respect and love and
obedience which knit the Roman Church into one harmonious
whole, its unity never more absolute, its purity never more
apparent, its authority never more loyally recognized.”
Pope Pius X, at the Consistory on November 9, 1903,
declared in presence of the Sacred College, that he was bound
by the nature of his office, by his oath, by the interests not only
of the Catholic Church, but of Christendom, to complain of the
“ most serious outrage {gravissima injuria\ which has been
inflicted and is still inflicted on the liberty of the Holy See.”
25.—st. peter’s successor.
There at the Vatican Peter still lives in his successor. The
power given to Peter, the Primacy vested in him, the promises
1 August 21, 1899.
The Holy Father—The Vatican Palace—Neigh-
bourhood of St. Peter’s.
24.—THE PRISONER OF THE VATICAN.
Standing near the obelisk in the piazza of St. Peter’s and
looking up at the windows of the Pope’s apartments, we may
recall the words of Louis Veuillot, “ Que de soucis derriere ces
7ji.tres/” There dwells the successor of St. Peter, the keeper of
the keys, the Vicar of God on earth—an old man, bent with the
weight of years and cares, yet full of mental vigour, and unyield-
ing in his resistance to the enemies of the Church.
In the London Daily Telegraph^- Pope Leo XIIl’s position
was thus described : “ The Pope is alone in the Vatican,
without a friend among the Governments of the world,
without territory, without treasure, without an army, without
power, without a voice in the senate of nations, a prisoner in
his own palace, begirt by the troops of a hostile king. His
visible sovereignty is indeed gone. Nevertheless his invisible
sovereignty was perhaps never stronger than to-day. . . . With
all the forces of the world against him, he has fought the fight
well and drawn tighter the bonds of respect and love and
obedience which knit the Roman Church into one harmonious
whole, its unity never more absolute, its purity never more
apparent, its authority never more loyally recognized.”
Pope Pius X, at the Consistory on November 9, 1903,
declared in presence of the Sacred College, that he was bound
by the nature of his office, by his oath, by the interests not only
of the Catholic Church, but of Christendom, to complain of the
“ most serious outrage {gravissima injuria\ which has been
inflicted and is still inflicted on the liberty of the Holy See.”
25.—st. peter’s successor.
There at the Vatican Peter still lives in his successor. The
power given to Peter, the Primacy vested in him, the promises
1 August 21, 1899.