A NON-ITALIAN POPE .
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] -
Sra,—A suggestive thought in connexion with the new Vatican State which I haVe not seen mentioned in the Public Press is that the grant of a modicum of territory to the' Papacy may some day render possible the election of a non-Italian Pope.
So long as-the Pope lived on Italian soil the delicate relations between the Vatican and the Italian Government, not to mention other obstacles, have prevented the election of any other than an Italian to the Papal chair. Now that the Vatican city is recognized by the Italian Governinent as a sovereign State, one hindrance at least to the election of a non- Italian as Pope is reMoved: The claim of the Roman Catholic Church to be a great international- body, though a true claini; has &ten a" little -stultified by the:fact that since Adrian VI.
(1522-4523)every single Pope has been an - It has been an international body with a national- head, for not only the Pope, but, I believe, a majority of tie Cardinals, has for centuries been Italian. . •
Since the Pope appoints the Cardinals and the Cardinals elect the Pope, the Vatican, in point of fact, is enclosed within a vicious circle : this, however, is a difficulty interior to itself. The external hindrance has now been removed by the recog- nition of the sovereign status of the Papacy. Will this step be followed by a greater one, the election of a non-Italian to the Papal throne ? -The accession of an enlightened American or German bishop might bring new vision into a place where it is
Previous page
