b) THE HISTORICAL REASONS BEHIND THE ROMAN QUESTION

"The 25th anniversary of the occupation of Rome is at hand"

The 25th anniversary of the occupation of Rome will soon be here.  At variance with the better judgment of wise statesmen who view them as something in bad taste, plans are under way for ostentatious festivities to celebrate an event that brought so much evil to Italy and sadness to the Catholic world.

As Catholics and Italians, we consider them unwise and harmful for the same reason that everything causing discord, fomenting partisan anger, exacerbating the harmful conflict between Church and State, or dividing the people of our country is unwise and harmful.

Think of the Pope's sufferings in all this!

Shall we not try to soothe this bitter sorrow of the Pope?  Are we not members of the great family of which he is the Head?  Is he not the father of our souls?  Do we not owe him everything we are and have in

the spiritual order?  Besides, when we think about it, do we not owe him very much also in the material order?  Woe to society, woe to us if there were no Pope in the midst of this chaos of ideas and of this upheaval in the social order!

As Catholics and Italians, we cannot and must not remain on the sidelines nonchalantly watching the war that is being waged against him and, in his person, against everything that is glorious, noble, and great in our motherland.  What an honor it is to stand up for him, to fight with him, especially now when the Pope is Leo XIII.

So, let us be more and more devoted to him.  And since what is uppermost in his mind is the allegiance of all peoples to his Throne, wanted by God as the center of truth on earth, we too should work toward this end by being the first ones to offer him the obedience he is fully entitled to on account of his supreme authority and infallible magisterium.  Let us offer him an obedience that is prompt, cheerful, and generous, an obedience suffused with love, the only one worthy of great and noble souls; an absolute obedience that unites the faithful with their pastor; the faithful and their pastor with their bishop; the faithful, the pastor, and the bishop with the supreme Shepherd.⁹

"A horrible crime"

I am referring to the horrible crime which sullied our country on the infamous night of last July 13.  Was there a decent person that was not overwhelmed with horror and shame?

At once a cry of indignation burst forth from the hearts of millions and millions of people in every comer of the world!  As a bishop and an Italian, I too deemed it my duty to make my protest known to our common Father, and I did it in the certainty of interpreting your feelings as well, Venerable Brothers and beloved children, who have always been so devoted to the immortal Pius IX and to his worthy successor!

I exhort you to give yourselves no rest but to stir up in yourselves more and more such spirit of action and sacrifice, of zeal and courage as is necessary in our days for the defense of the sacred rights of the Church and her august Head.

We must not fool ourselves.  A speculative or intellectual Catholicism, a religious neutrality are not enough.  This is no longer possible in our present society and in the present state of affairs.  We have to

come out of our anonymity and openly declare who we are, namely, proud, unabashed, unmitigated Catholics.  Why be so afraid, why so worried about what others think? (...).

All of us have the duty to oppose publicity for what is evil with a fruitful, wholesome, and holy publicity for what is good.¹⁰

"Freedom: this is all the Church asks for"

The Church accepts and blesses all forms of government because all of them, from absolute monarchy to pure democracy, are in themselves equally legitimate.  She knows only too well that peace and harmony in a country and the true well-being of people depend not so much on the form of government as on the quality of people called upon to govern. She considers first the man, then the citizen; the man in the hands of God, the citizen in those of the State.

As a heaven-bound pilgrim, she not only accepts all kinds of civil and earthly arrangements but also welcomes them and works with them as long they do not obstruct her way to heaven.  She does not want to be the judge in matters peculiar to any social system but demands that her laws not be violated, her teaching authority not trampled underfoot, and people not think they can live without God, because without him we would be left with just arbitrary rule and arrogant power.

The Church would actually infringe on the rights of the State if she were to meddle in alliances she thinks might best be suited to this or that country or interfere in such things as the armed forces, commerce, taxes, or finances; in a word, in what has to do with the economy, defense, industry, or commerce.  But when the Church looks at all political, economical, and administrative questions from the moral point of view and judges that certain alliances made to deny the rights of others or to oppress the weak are unjust; that partisanship, favoritism, and corruption in the administration of justice are an iniquity; that teaching errors and unwholesome doctrines to young people is a betrayal; that overtaxing commerce, industry, labor, and property does serious harm to people; that perjury and revolt are horrendous crimes; that working and doing business on Sundays and holy days

are reprehensible scandals; that the so-called civil marriage is a shameful concubinage; that divorce is invalid and despicable ‑- and the same for other depravities ‑- the Church is keeping within the strictly religious field.  In so doing, she does not exceed her rights.  She is simply performing her solemn duty (...).

The Church, of course, does not encompass all knowledge, all human progress, or all political life, but she is always able to contribute a seed and a breath of life that can bear fruit in all things human.  He who rejects her rejects life (...).

Freedom: this is all the Church asks for; the freedom with which her divine Spouse endowed her; that noble freedom that is her natural daughter; that legitimate and holy freedom for which millions of her sons and daughters did not hesitate to give up their lives.  Yes, this is the freedom the Church is asking for!  Freedom for her altars and her holy days, that is to say, freedom to offer God the supreme worship due to him, not just within the church walls but also out in the open; freedom of the ministry and of the Gospel word, that is to say, freedom to teach truth and virtue to the world and watch over people's integrity and purity; freedom of the holy hierarchy, that is to say, freedom of vocation for her priests and of the necessary interchange between the bishops and their supreme Head; freedom to tend to perfection and live common life; freedom of ownership, that is to say, freedom to own and administer what the faithful generously contribute ‑- which constitutes her legitimate patrimony; finally, the great, fruitful freedom of Christian education and instruction.¹¹

"Freedom and independence for the Roman Pontiff"

Finally, you must proudly declare that you too want the well-being of your country and that, for this very reason, you passionately desire a quick reconciliation of the State with the Church and her Supreme Head because the years of greatest faith have always been for Italy the years of her greatest glory.  In the same way, Italy's freedom and independence have always gone hand in hand with the freedom and independence of the Roman Pontiff.¹²

There is no bishop who does not bitterly deplore the intolerable conditions the august Head of three hundred million Catholics is forced to endure; no bishop who does not join him in frequent and

most formal protests against every ancient and modern assault against the Pope; no bishop who does not proclaim with him that it is impossible for Italy to prosper unless, as common sense demands, provision is made for the dignity of the Roman See, for the freedom and independence of the Roman Pontiff.¹³

"Italy's independence is something wanted by divine Providence"

Italy's independence is not only something consecrated by the will of the people and by the inevitable course of history but also something wanted by divine Providence.  I know of no bishop who contests the legitimacy of this solemn birth of the nation of Italy.  Resolve the Roman Question and you will have a clergy that will be a model of devotion to the institutions of the country... ). The Church has never condemned these sentiments.  By virtue of her divine Constitution and the admirable equanimity that characterizes it, the Church has always been open to all sources of historic changes, changes that come to rest and find discipline within her.  The Church has always followed the unbroken evolution of civilization step by step and become its secure repository and strongest bulwark.  The Holy See is not an institution that can ignore the need and the beauty of a reborn Italy.  She very well knows that Italy's right as a nation expressed through plebiscites and actual exercise of power is not something to be easily undermined and invalidated.¹⁴

"The Church has not placed its trust in kingly thrones"

The Church's mission is to lead people to the highest degree of moral perfection possible.  Hence, everything having to do with religion and morality is necessarily part and parcel of her domain.  For what purpose?  The Church, a modem apologist writes, avails herself also of kingly thrones for the freedom and independence she needs but does not put her trust in kingly thrones and in their poor claims.  She has a much more noble mission than that of earthly authorities, a much more sublime power than theirs.  She distributes riches and treasures not of this world.  She dispenses diadems and

crowns that are imperishable and eternal.  Of the things of this world she wants only what is necessary or useful to further the dissemination of heavenly goods with freedom and independence.¹⁵