The plan for which Father Curci has, it is said,
been expelled the Order of Jesus was a broad one. He recommended the Pope, in a letter addressed personally to his Holiness, to reconcile him- self with Italy, on condition that Catholicism should be made the sole religion of the State ; that the King should be consecrated by the Pope, as receiving his power from God, and not from the people ; that the Pope should have power effectively to veto any law contrary, in his judgment, to religion or morality, and that the conditions of Rome should be so altered that he could reside there as a dignified Sovereign,—that is, as most persons interpret it, free of the rivalry of the secular Government. This letter was pronounced by the Pope "an impertinence," but it is more than. possible that the sentence was not written in consequence of the advice, Father Curci added comments on those who surround the Pope, and misuse his infallibility, which thus is reduced to a, deception. An infallible Pontiff, who is told that his infallibility is abused, is by implication told that he is not infallible,—which Pio Nono, like any other dignified clergyman of his years, does not like.
Previous page
