The Rome correspondent of the Daily Chronicle telegraphs that the
Pope has addressed a letter to the French Cardinals in which he explains and greatly strengthens the language of the recent Encyclical. His Holiness, it is affirmed, declares that the Papacy has the right of directing the political views of Catholics whenever politics and morale are bound up together, "as in the present case," and directs all French Catholics, as a religious duty, to adhere to the Republic. The writer of the telegram must have seriously misunderstood the letter, if any document of the kind has been forwarded. The Pope has, we presume, written that respect for the powers that be, when not acting in an un-Christian spirit, is an obligatory duty, and includes Republican Powers ; but to order all Catholics to abstain from seeking to introduce a different form of government is entirely contrary to all the traditions of Rome. The theory of the Catholic Church, though English- men seem unable to believe it, is that every form of govern- ment is lawful, but that every Government is bound to use its powers in accordance with the teachings of Christianity as explained by the Church. In Spanish America, which is Catholic, every Government is Republican.
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