■icbe IRoraan datbolic dburcb 
 
 ■i at the fountain IHcaO 
 
 In the Light of the Fairbanks- 
 
 Roosevelt-Vatican 
 
 Incidents 
 
 Adna Wright Leonard
 
 W>. C!^ t.>:i..*^':..^ 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church 
 at the Fountain Head 
 
 3(n l\\t 1CtgI|t nf \^t 3FatrhattkH-KnoHrnplt- 
 Batiran ilnrtbrnta. 
 
 5p 
 
 ADNA WRIGHT LEONARD, D. D., 
 
 Pastor American Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 Rome, Italy. (1901-1903.) 
 
 Cincinnati : 
 PRESS OF JENNINGS AND GRAHAM.
 
 Copyright, 1910, 
 By Adna Wright Leonard.
 
 VRL 
 
 0^1 6 3 4 / 74 i' 
 
 To THB Memory of 
 
 Jig ^xA\tT 
 
 Who Like Monica of Old, 
 
 Directed My Youthful Steps, 
 
 AND Whose Protestantism without Bigotry 
 
 Inspires My Present Life in the Ministry of Truth.
 
 FOKEWORD. 
 
 This address was first delivered in the Wal- 
 nut Hills Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincin- 
 nati, O., of which the author has the honor 
 of being the pastor. At the conclusion of the 
 address the large congregation by a rising vote 
 requested that it be published. The address was 
 later delivered before an unusually representa- 
 tive gathering of the Cincinnati Methodist 
 Preachers' Meeting, and that body made a sim- 
 ilar request. In view of these requests the ad- 
 dress has been put in this permanent form. Be- 
 fore the manuscript was placed in the hands 
 of the publishers, it was submitted to Dr. Fred- 
 erick H. Wright, Superintendent of the Italian 
 Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 in this country, who gives it his hearty en- 
 dorsement, confirming the facts herein con- 
 5
 
 rOKEWOED 
 
 tained. It is with the sincere hope that this 
 may assist in promoting the cause of Chris- 
 tianity and of personal freedom that it is given 
 to a larger public. 
 
 The Authok.
 
 The Roman Catholic Church at the 
 Fountain Head. 
 
 It is safe to say that never before have two 
 private citizens of any country in visiting Rome 
 stood so completely in the limelight of political 
 and religious interest as have Mr. Theodore 
 Roosevelt and Mr. Charles 'N. Fairbanks in 
 their recent visits to the Eternal City. Mr. 
 Fairbanks, shortly after the expiration of his 
 term as Vice-President of the United States 
 of America, began a tour around the world. 
 In all the countries he visited, notably in Japan, 
 Korea, and China, he created great interest in 
 the Christian religion by his courageous and 
 direct testimony to his faith in it, and of what 
 it has meant to him personally. Wherever he 
 has gone he has been known as a Christian 
 and an American of the highest type. 
 7
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 In the early part of February Mr. Fairbanks 
 arrived in Rome, and as former Vice-President 
 of this IN'ation, he desired to pay his respects 
 to the king, the Pope, and the American Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church. Arrangements were 
 made for him to visit King Victor Emmanuel 
 on Saturday and the Pope on Monday. Ar- 
 rangements were also made for him to speak 
 in the American Methodist church on Sunday 
 afternoon. When it became known to the Vat- 
 ican authorities that Mr. Fairbanks was to de- 
 liver an address in the Methodist church, it 
 was suddenly announced that it would be im- 
 possible for the Pope to give audience to the 
 former Vice-President, if he carried out his 
 announced intention of speaking in that church, 
 because the Methodists had been active in prose- 
 lyting among the Catholics. 
 
 Mr. Fairbanks replied that while he would 
 be very glad to pay his respects to the head 
 of the Roman Catholic Church, whose followers 
 in America had rendered such splendid service 
 to the country, he could not withdraw from his 
 8
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIX HEAD 
 
 engagement to speak in the American Methodist 
 church. 
 
 At a dinner given in his honor by the rector 
 of the American Roman Catholic College, Mr. 
 Fairbanks gave a toast to the Christian Church. 
 In the course of his remarks he made no refer- 
 ence to denominations, but complimented the 
 Catholic Church upon the great things she had 
 accomplished for God and humanity. 
 
 In the course of his address before the Amer- 
 ican Methodists, he said: "It is impossible 
 to emphasize too strongly the good work the 
 Christian Church is doing in all lands and 
 amongst all nationalities. The agitation going 
 on in the political, social, and economic worlds 
 is due to Christianity breaking dovni the castes 
 and prejudices, and lifting mankind to a higher 
 plane. All Christian Churches are worthy of 
 support. They above all should be inspired by 
 a generous, tolerant spirit towards each other. 
 !N^othing is more unseemly than the narrow 
 jealousies which they occasionally manifest 
 toward each other. Let the Catholics and the 
 9
 
 THE KOMAE" CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 Protestants of all denominations vie in carry- 
 ing forward the work of the Master." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt, former President of this !N^a- 
 tion, arrived in Rome in the early part of 
 April, on his return trip to America from his 
 great hunting expedition in Africa. The eyes 
 of the world were upon him and his every 
 movement was observed with keenest interest. 
 His visit to the Eternal City and the events 
 which transpired while he was there are now 
 known the world over. The most concise and 
 authoritative statement we have seen of the 
 Roosevelt-Vatican incident appeared in The 
 Outlook, April 9, 1910. I quote verbatim from 
 that magazine: 
 
 "Naples, April 3, 1910. 
 
 "Deae De. Abbott: Through The OutlooJc 
 I wish to make a statement to my fellow- Amer- 
 icans regarding what has occurred in connection 
 with the Vatican. I am sure that the great 
 majority of my fellow-citizens, Catholics quite 
 as much as Protestants, will feel that I acted 
 in the only way possible for an American to 
 act, and because of this very fact I most ear- 
 10
 
 AT THE FOUXTAIX HEAD 
 
 nestly hope that the incident will be treated 
 in a matter-of-course way, as merely personal, 
 and, above all, as not warranting the slightest 
 exhibition of rancor or bitterness. Among my 
 best and closest friends are many Catholics. 
 The respect and regard of those of my fellow- 
 Americans who are Catholics are as dear to me 
 as the respect and regard of those who are Prot- 
 estants. On my journey through Africa I vis- 
 ited many Catholic, as well as many Protestant 
 missions, and I look forward to telling the 
 people at home all that has been done by Prot- 
 estants and Catholics alike, as I saw it, in the 
 field of missionary endeavor. It would cause 
 me a real pang to have anything said or done 
 that would hurt or give pain to my friends, 
 whatever their religious belief, but any merely 
 personal considerations are of no consequence 
 in this matter. The important consideration 
 is the avoidance of harsh and bitter comment 
 such as may excite mistrust and anger between 
 and among good men. The more an American 
 sees of other countries the more profound must 
 be his feelings of gratitude that in his own 
 land there is not merely complete toleration, 
 but the heartiest good-will and sympathy be- 
 ll
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 tween sincere and honest men of different faitli 
 — ^good-will and sympathy so complete that in 
 the inevitable daily relations of our American 
 life Catholics and Protestants meet together 
 and work together without the thought of dif- 
 ference of creed being even present in their 
 minds. This is a condition so vital to our 
 national well-being that nothing should be per- 
 mitted to jeopard it. Bitter comment and criti- 
 cism, acrimonious attack and defense, are not 
 only profitless, but harmful, and to seize upon 
 such an incident as this as an occasion for con- 
 troversy would be wholly indefensible and 
 should be frowned upon by Catholics and Prot- 
 estants alike. I very earaestly hope that what 
 I say will appeal to all good Americans. 
 "Faithfully yours, 
 
 "Theodoke Roosevelt. 
 "Lyman Abbott, 
 
 "Editor of The Outlooh." 
 
 THE FACTS OF THE VATICAN INCI- 
 DENT. 
 
 Cable advices from Lawrence F. Abbott, 
 president of The Outlook Company, received 
 on Sunday from Naples, bring the authoritative 
 12
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 story of the incident to which Mr. Roosevelt 
 refers in the above message to the American 
 people. While still in Africa, Mr. Roosevelt 
 wrote to Ambassador Leishman, at Rome, ask- 
 ing for an audience with the king of Italy, 
 and saying that he would be happy also to 
 be presented to the Pope. As the result, the fol- 
 lowing exchange of telegrams occurred: 
 
 Ambassador Leishman to Mr. Roosevelt, 
 March 23d: "The rector of the American 
 Catholic College, Monsignor Kennedy, in reply 
 to inquiry which I caused to be made, requests 
 that the following communication be trans- 
 mitted to you : The Holy Father will be de- 
 lighted to grant audience to Mr. Roosevelt on 
 April 5th, and hopes nothing will arise to 
 prevent it, such as the much-regretted incident 
 which made the reception of Mr. Fairbanks 
 impossible.' " 
 
 Ambassador Leishman's accompanying com- 
 ment: "I merely transmit this communication 
 without having committed you in any way to 
 accept the conditions imposed, as the form ap- 
 13
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 pears objectionable, clearly indicating that an 
 audience would be canceled in case you should 
 take any action while here that might be con- 
 strued as countenancing the Methodist Mission 
 work here, as in the case of Mr. Fairbanks. 
 Although fully aware of your intentions to con- 
 fine your visit to the king and Pope, the covert 
 threat in the Vatican's communication to you 
 is none the less objectionable, and one side or 
 the other is sure to make capital out of the 
 action you might take. The press is already 
 preparing for the struggle." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt to Ambassador Leishman, 
 March 25th: "Please present the following 
 through Monsignor Kennedy: "^It would be a 
 real pleasure to me to be presented to the Holy 
 Father, for whom I entertain a high respect, 
 both personally and as the head of a great 
 Church. I fully recognize his entire right to 
 receive or not to receive whomsoever he chooses 
 for any reason that seems good to him, and if 
 he does not receive me I shall not for a moment 
 question the propriety of his action. On the 
 14
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 other hand, I in my turn must decline to make 
 any stipulation, or submit to any conditions 
 which in any way limit my freedom of con- 
 duct. I trust on April 5th he will find it con- 
 venient to receive me.' " 
 
 Ambassador Leishman to Mr. Roosevelt, 
 March 28th, transmitting following message 
 from Monsignor Kennedy: "His Holiness will 
 be much pleased to grant an audience to Mr. 
 Roosevelt, for whom he entertains great esteem, 
 both personally and as President of the United 
 States. His Holiness quite recognizes Mr. 
 Roosevelt's entire right to freedom of conduct. 
 On the other hand, in view of the circumstances, 
 for which neither His Holiness nor Mr. Roose- 
 velt is responsible, an audience could not occur 
 except on the understanding expressed in the 
 former message." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt to Ambassador Leishman, 
 March 29th: "Proposed presentation is of 
 course now impossible." 
 
 The liberal Catholics in Rome, on their own 
 initiative, independently of Mr. Roosevelt, en- 
 15
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 deavored to persuade the Vatican to recede 
 from its position. If any doubt could be en- 
 tertained as to the significance of tbe condi- 
 tion attached by the Vatican to the reception 
 of Mr. Roosevelt, the meaning of that condition 
 was made entirely clear by Cardinal Merry del 
 Val, Pontifical Secretary of State, in his con- 
 versation with Mr. O'Laughlin, the correspond- 
 ent of the 'New York Times, in connection with 
 this endeavor of the liberal Catholics : 
 
 Cardinal Merry del Val to Mr. O'Laughlin: 
 "Can you guarantee that Mr. Roosevelt will 
 not visit the Methodists here ?" 
 
 Mr. O'Laughlin: "I can not. Indeed, I 
 believe that Mr. Roosevelt is just the man to 
 go there. He will do as he pleases." 
 
 The Outlook believes that this statement of 
 the correspondence gives the readers of The Out- 
 looJc all the essential facts in the case. It is 
 impossible for The Outlooh, as it certainly was 
 for Mr. Roosevelt, even to consider the ques- 
 tion whether there has been anything in the 
 course of the Methodist Church in Rome to 
 16
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 justify the feeling of hostility in the Vatican 
 to that Church. 
 
 In commenting upon this, Dr. Abbott very 
 truly says: "Mr. Roosevelt has rendered a 
 service to the country by his maintenance of 
 American principles in his correspondence with 
 the ^'^atican and by his Message of Peace to 
 the American people. He could not honorably 
 have done other than he did. An Ex-President 
 of the United States could not visit Rome and 
 fail to ask for an audience with the Pope with- 
 out a palpable slight to the Holy Father. He 
 could not accept the conditions imposed by the 
 Vatican without a violation of the essential 
 spirit of American brotherhood: that religious 
 differences must not affect social relations. 
 Catholics as well as Protestants in America will 
 agree with the judgment of Mr. John Callan 
 O'Laughlin, himself an American Catholic, who 
 was in Rome, in conference both with Mr. Roose- 
 velt and with the Vatican, and who cables to the 
 New York Times the judgment which he shares 
 
 with liberal Catholics in Italy: ^Familiar as 
 2 17
 
 THE koma:^ catholic church 
 
 I am with all the facts, and looking at his ac- 
 tion from the viewpoint of an American Cath- 
 olic, I personally feel that any other action 
 Colonel Roosevelt might have taken would have 
 resulted in the humiliation, not only of himself, 
 but of the American people, Catholic as well 
 as Protestant, and would have established an 
 unwise precedent of serious consequences in the 
 future.' " 
 
 In connection with these Vatican incidents 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church has been se- 
 verely criticised. Archbishop Ireland, in en- 
 deavoring to defend the Vatican, said of the 
 Eairbanks-Vatican incident: ''It was not a 
 question of Mr. Fairbanks being a Methodist 
 or going to a Methodist church in Rome for 
 Sunday devotions. It was a question of ap- 
 pearing to give the fullest approval to the work 
 of the Methodist Association in Rome. Amer- 
 ican Methodists in Rome are active, and, I 
 may readily say, pernicious proselyters." He 
 also declared that "The means employed are 
 18
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 by no means honorable. They take every ad- 
 vantage of the poverty of the poor of Rome." 
 Again, in the same interview, as reported by 
 the press, he stated that "The books circulated 
 and displayed in the windows of their book- 
 stores are slanders against the Catholic faith, 
 the Holy Pontiff at Rome, and a misrepresenta- 
 tion of the whole Catholic system." 
 
 In connection with the Roosevelt- Vatican in- 
 cident, Archbishop Ireland again gave a state- 
 ment to the press regarding the work of the 
 Methodist Church in Rome, which, in its tone 
 and spirit, was even more bitter and abusive 
 than was his statement in connection with the 
 Fairbanks incident. 
 
 Other prelates and dignitaries of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, both in Rome and in this 
 country, have made similar accusations against 
 the Methodists of Rome and the methods em- 
 ployed by them in their work in Italy. Such 
 statements are untrue, as will be shown later. 
 
 But, inasmuch as the methods employed by 
 the Methodists in Rome are being inquired into, 
 19
 
 THE eoma:n' catholic church 
 
 as the result of utterances like those of Arch- 
 bishop Ireland, may we not with propriety in- 
 quire into the methods the Roman Catholic 
 Church has adopted throughout all her history ? 
 
 An Irish bishop once said to the Rev. Alex- 
 ander Robertson, D. D., the pastor of the 
 Scotch Presbyterian Church in the city of 
 Venice, Italy: "I for one never desired the 
 
 fi 
 
 loverthrow of the Pope's temporal povv^er ; for as 
 
 jlong as that lasted, the world possessed in Italy 
 
 m object lesson of the degradation to which a 
 
 lominant Roman Catholic Church reduces a 
 
 [country and a people." "What Italy and other 
 
 Catholic countries have passed through at the 
 
 hands of the Roman Catholic Church would 
 
 be the experience of every other country that 
 
 would surrender to that Church the reins of 
 
 temporal government or that would allow itself 
 
 to be dominated by it. 
 
 Before the fall of the Pope's temporal power, 
 Italy was divided into a number of small States. 
 The ITorthern States were seven — Piedmont, 
 20
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 Lombardj, Venetia, Genoa, Parma, Modena, 
 and Tuscany. In the central part "were the 
 Papal States, composed of six Legations and 
 thirteen Delegations. In the south were Naples 
 and Sicily. 
 
 Of the northern division. Piedmont was a 
 kingdom, the rulers of which were members of 
 the ancient house of Savoy, and bore the title 
 of "Kings of Sardinia," after the acquisition of 
 that island in 1702. The other States of the 
 northern division were grand duchies and 
 duchies, ruled by princes and dukes. They 
 were independent of each other and were in a 
 constant state of jealousy. The rulers were ty- 
 rants, who kept their positions with the aid 
 of foreign soldiers whom they hired, and also 
 by the assistance of the powerful ecclesiastical 
 rulers of the Papal States. 
 
 The Papal States consisted of six Legations 
 and thirteen Delegations, ruled over by ecclesi- 
 astics of the Church of Rome. The Legations 
 were ruled by cardinals — the Delegations by 
 prelates. Within the Papal States the power 
 21
 
 THE EOMAK CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 of the Church of Eome was absolute, and with 
 the exception of Piedmont, the influence that 
 the Church exerted over the other States of 
 Italy was almost an equivalent of absolute 
 authority. 
 
 The southern division was composed of 
 JSTaples and Sicily, and was known as the King- 
 dom of the Two Sicilies. This kingdom was 
 ruled over by the members of the notorious 
 Bourbon family. 
 
 Under the Papal Government conditions were 
 at times unbearable. The poverty of the people 
 within the Papal States was frequently so ex- 
 treme that the Government was compelled to 
 dole out food from the doors of the monasteries 
 to prevent popular uprisings. The older 
 Italians, even to this day, speak of the three 
 P's of the Papal Government, by which is meant 
 the method employed by the Church for the 
 suppression of the uprisings of the people. The 
 three F's stands for "farina, festa, forche" — 
 food, amusements, and the hangman, or, to be 
 
 more literal, flour, festivals, and the gallows. 
 22
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 When food, such as it was — to say nothing of 
 the manner in which it was given — failed to 
 pacify the starving populace, amusements were 
 inaugurated so as to draw attention from the 
 serious side of life. People were then compelled 
 to attend the theaters, which were subsidized by 
 the Papal Government, in a manner similar to 
 that by which they were compelled to attend 
 mass. When, however, the doling out of food 
 and amusements failed to prevent uprisings 
 among the people, the soldiers and the gallows 
 did their deadly work. 
 
 The Pope's soldiers then, as now, were for- 
 eigners, and were gTanted the utmost freedom 
 in putting down the uprisings of the people. 
 Perugia is to this day a testimony to the cruelty 
 of the Pope's soldiers and to the Vatican's sanc- 
 tion of the same. In that city, in the year 1859, 
 there was an uprising of the people against the 
 Government. The Pope let loose his foreign 
 soldiers upon the inhabitants. They were privi- 
 leged to do as they pleased with their victims. 
 Houses were looted, and men, women, and chil- 
 23
 
 THE EOMAIST CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 dren were horribly massacred. Young girls 
 were first insulted by the soldiers and then 
 killed. The Pope was so well pleased with the 
 dastardly work of the soldiers that he sent for 
 the cruel leader, Captain Schmidt, and thanked 
 him personally, and then ordered a medal to 
 be struck to commemorate the event. The same 
 thing was done after the massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew. I have a facsimile of the very medal 
 which the Vatican had struck to commemorate 
 the St. Bartholomew massacre, and which is 
 sold by the Roman Catholic Church in Rome 
 to-day. Further reference will be made to the 
 Perugia disgrace when I speak of Leo XIII. 
 /^Oo h^i Be fore Gavazz i, the Barnabite friar, broke 
 *-*^ <n^/;«*<^^tirely with the papacy and became the pastor 
 itu 4M.^JuA, of a Protestant church, he would frequently use 
 'v^ "^^fSTword "Italy" in his sermons. This fact was 
 J .,\ „ made known to the Vatican authorities, and he 
 4, v^ lluW^^^^ forbidden ever to use that word again under 
 . 77-7 y the threat of severe punishment. Patriotic 
 songs were forbidden to be sung, and Italian 
 history was not permitted to be taught in the 
 24
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 schools. English newspapers were tabooed, lest 
 the people should become infected with the 
 spirit of freedom. Previous to 1846 there was 
 not one daily paper published in Rome. Tour- 
 ists from England or America were carefully 
 watched in order that they might not infect 
 the people with liberal ideas. At the time of 
 Bishop John H. Vincent's first visit to Rome, 
 a few years before the fall of the Pope's tem- 
 poral power, his baggage and clothing were 
 searched by regularly appointed officers of the 
 Pope's Government. They foimd a copy of the 
 New Testament which he was carrying in one 
 of his coat pockets. He was immediately told 
 that he could not have that. "Why," said the 
 Bishop, "I read that every morning and every 
 evening, and frequently during the day. I can 
 not get along without it. It is God's Word. 
 Why may I not have it ?" But the only answer 
 was that it was forbidden. A few years after 
 that Rome was opened to the world, and as 
 the soldiers passed through the entrance made 
 in the city wall a few feet from the gate of 
 25
 
 THE koma:n' catholic chukch 
 
 Porta Pia, there went with them a representa- 
 tive of the British Bible Society wheeling a 
 barrel of Bibles in a wheelbarrow. From that 
 day to this the residents of Rome have had the 
 privilege of reading God's Word as they chose. 
 The privileges of the police, "locusts of the 
 State," as the people called them, were almost 
 boundless. They could enter homes or places 
 of business at any time, day or night. A man 
 could be arrested without a warrant and im- 
 prisoned without a trial. If wills did not con- 
 tain a liberal legacy for the Church, they were 
 often invalidated. The prisons were called by 
 the people "gulfs of hell." Into these prisons 
 the victims of injustice and cruelty were thrown 
 or placed without regard to age or sex. The 
 world will never know how many people died 
 indescribable deaths in Papal prisons. Corrupt, 
 yicious, and scheming ecclesiastics were the 
 judges. Mr. W. J. Stillma n, author of "The 
 U nion of Italy, " states that "drugs which pro- 
 duced delirium in the patient" were used, and 
 
 that the "ravings were recorded as testimony 
 
 26
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 against him." There was scarcely any educa- 
 tion, either among the common priests or the 
 common people. Yet, education was in the 
 hands of the priests. There was no school for 
 girls. Trollope, in his " Liie of P ius Ninth," 
 is authority for the statement that it was feared 
 if a girl should learn to write she might be 
 found guilty some day of writing love letters. 
 There was no sanitation. Commerce and in- 
 dustry were not encouraged. In the Papal 
 States the measures, weights, and coins were 
 different. Heavy taxes were levied upon all 
 business, manufactories, and industries. The 
 drink-shops and lottery offices were the only ones 
 not compelled to close on certain saints' days 
 and festivals. There were few roads, and the 
 railways were forbidden. Agriculture was prac- 
 tically dead, and societies for the promotion of 
 agriculture were positively forbidden. The pic- 
 ture of the Papal States and of Italy during 
 the time of the Pope's temporal power is a dark 
 one indeed. Mr. Gladstone s aid of the system 
 of government that prevailed previous to the 
 27
 
 1 
 
 THE EOMAK CATHOLIC CHUECH 
 
 downfall of the Papacy's temporal power, it is 
 "an outrage upon religion, u]3on civilization, 
 upon humanity, and upon decency." Count 
 Cavour, one of Italy's most gallant sons, once 
 said of that Government, "Misrule crushed out 
 
 I every generous instinct as sacrilege or high 
 
 I treason." 
 
 The Castle of St. Angelo, situated on the 
 Tiber, and not far from St. Peter's and the 
 Vatican, was built originally by Hadrian in 
 136 A. D., as a tomb for himself and his suc- 
 cessors. Later it became an instrument of the 
 Inquisition and a treasure-house of the Vatican. 
 From it a secret passageway leads to St. Peter's. 
 It is now used as a fortress by the Italian Gov- 
 ernment. Gavazzi, one of the first to enter the 
 castle, in 1870, tells of that dimgeon of the 
 Inquisition and of what he saw. "Irons, hooks, 
 
 (chafing-pans, ropes, quicklime, trap-doors over 
 caverns and shafts, whilst the remains of the 
 human victims themselves, of all ages and of 
 both sexes, consisting of hair, bones, skulls, and 
 skeletons, were in dungeon, cellar, and shaft." 
 28
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 It was mj privilege, upon one occasion, to ac- 
 company the Rev. H. Grattan Guinness, the 
 eminent Baptist clergyman of England, upon 
 a visit to this historic building. He was so 
 impressed with what he saw that he returned 
 to his hotel and wrote the following poem: 
 
 THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO. 
 
 Within thy massive walla, O darksome tower 
 Are all the elements of gi'eed and power, 
 Of fear and crime, of cruelty and pride, 
 Closely compacted, standing side by side. 
 The dungeons black beneath, the pits profound, 
 For prisoners murdered, walls which stifled sound, 
 Chambers of horror where the rack, the fire. 
 Tortured the wretched, longing to expire; 
 Coffers for papal gold, enormous, deep. 
 Sheeted with iron, bound with bars to keep 
 Their priceless treasures from the pilfering hand ; 
 Chambers of luxury ; bastions which defy 
 Invasion ; while deep hid from every eye 
 A secret passage to St. Peter's leads 
 And the proud Vatican ! could the deeds 
 Be known which these strong walls have shut from 
 
 day, 
 An outraged world from Rome would turn away, 
 And call her Temple which the fool deceives 
 A house of merchandise, and den of thieves. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church can ill afford 
 to have the world reminded afresh of the 
 29
 
 THE EOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 methods it has employed to gain for itself 
 wealth, position, and temporal power. Never- 
 theless, this is one of the inevitable results of 
 the recent Fairbanks-Roosevelt- Vatican inci- 
 dents. 
 
 What of the priests of the Roman Catholic 
 Church in Italy? It was once considered a 
 great honor for a family to give a son to the 
 priesthood, but it is no longer regarded the 
 honor that it once was. The best families do 
 not give their sons to the Church as in former 
 years. The result is the Church is dependent 
 for her recruits for the priesthood upon the il- 
 literate classes of society, who are among the 
 least influential in the kingdom of Italy. The 
 majority of the Italian priests have not chosen 
 the priesthood as a profession. It has been 
 chosen for them. Placed in the Church schools 
 at the age of ten or twelve years, their young 
 minds are pressed into the molds prepared by 
 the Church in the Middle Ages. A person who 
 remains in Rome for any length of time can 
 30
 
 AT THE FOUI^TAIi^ HEAD 
 
 not fail to be impressed with the characterless 
 faces of the priests, who parade the streets in 
 such great numbers. One observes not only 
 sensuality and softness, but also the inevitable 
 results of that system which requires priests to 
 permit others to do their thinking for them. 
 Their faces do not show signs of intellectual 
 struggle. They seem to be content to lay aside 
 the problems of life and to be guided in their 
 thinking absolutely by those higher in authority. 
 They virtually cease to think along certain lines 
 or to grapple with some of the most profound 
 problems of life when they enter the priesthood. 
 As an example of the manner in which the 
 priests accept without any question the decision 
 of the Church, I cite the following incident : 
 
 According to one tradition of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, St. Paul's "own hired dwell- 
 ing" was located on the site that is now occupied 
 by the Church of St. Mary, corner of Via Lata 
 and Via del Corso. According to another tra- 
 dition, the site of the church known as "San 
 
 Paola alia Regola" is said to be the place where 
 31
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 Paul's hired dwelling stood. In connection 
 with this church there is a small chapel, which 
 is shown as the actual room where the apostle 
 to the Gentiles "called the chief of the Jews 
 together." When I asked the priest in charge 
 of the latter church to explain how there could 
 be two different sites for Paul's hired dwelling, 
 with a significant shrug of his shoulders, he 
 I replied, "The Church says it." Had it been a 
 question of more vital importance, the answer 
 would have been the same. 
 
 Gladstone once sa id, "The Roman Curia aims 
 at nothing so sedulously, prizes nothing so 
 highly, as the total removal of the clergy from 
 the general, open atmosphere of human life and 
 thought." A Government school inspector, who 
 examined some papal seminary boys, said that 
 
 )"not one of them was fit to pass an ordinary 
 examination in any national school." Father 
 Curci, one of Rome's most learned Jesuit teach- 
 ers, said a few years ago, "Young priests leave 
 I the seminaries, not only without the love and 
 ' habit of study, but even without the very idea 
 
 32
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 of it." A young man, who had been a priest, 
 but had left the priesthood and later became 
 a student in the Methodist theological school 
 of Rome, said to me: "You can have no idea 
 of what the Church requires of her priests. 
 Until I became a Protestant I did not know 
 what it was to think independently of the. 
 Church and for myself." Such a system im- 
 mans the man. The Missionary Review of the 
 World some time ago quoted from the "Church 
 Eclectic" regarding the number of Roman 
 clergy supported by the Church in Italy: 
 
 "Bishops, 272 ; clergy having some ecclesi-i 
 astical charge, 20,465. The cathedral at Naples I 
 has on its roll 112 priests ; the church of St. u 
 Nicholas, _at_Bari^ 100 priests ; St. Peter's, *'^ 
 Rome, 120 priests. 
 
 "This will give an idea of how many clergy 
 are only titularly employed in connection with 
 the sacred ministry, and yet, notwithstanding 
 this great nominal connection, there are over 
 
 (100,000 priests in Italy who have no cures or/ ' 
 any fixed employment. ;• 
 
 3 33
 
 THE KOMAN" CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 "It is not to be wondered, therefore, that the 
 traffic in masses continues to flourish so vigor- 
 ously, as it affords to many men the only means 
 of earning a trifle. Masses for the repose of 
 the dead and for 'intentions' are eagerly bought 
 at second hand from the sacristans, who, while 
 retaining the greater portion of the fee, are yet 
 able thus to furnish their poorer brethren with 
 some subsistence." 
 
 Now, if this army of priests were in any real 
 sense producers; if in things moral and spir- 
 itual they were a real asset to society, the moral 
 conditions of the people would be vastly dif- 
 ferent from what they now are. The truth of 
 the matter is, immoralities existing among the 
 priests of Italy are unspeakable. Monks and 
 priests who have left the Catholic Church have 
 told me of some of the immoral practices com- 
 mon to the Italian priests which dare not be 
 mentioned publicly or put into print. By this 
 statement I do not mean to say that every Italian 
 priest is morally unclean. There are undoubt- 
 edly some who are clean and godly men. How- 
 34
 
 AT THE FOUKTAi:^' HEAD 
 
 ever, after a residence for some time in Italy, 
 where I have been able to observe the lives of 
 the priests at close range, and after conversing 
 with men regarding this matter who were once . 
 priests and monks, I am convinced that the in- 
 fluence exerted by the average priest in Italy 
 is anything but ennobling or uplifting. Lest 
 I may seem to be prejudiced and unfair in 
 this statement, I quote the following from the 
 "Autobiography" of Guiseppe Maria Campa- 
 nella, the ex-monk and patriot chaplain to the 
 Neapolitan forces: "The enforced negation of 
 myself and the immense corruption of my as- 
 sociates did not conquer me." I also quote the" 
 following from Dr. Robertson's history of "The,- 
 R oman C atholic Church in Italy" as a further 
 proof that my charge against the priests of Italy 
 is not unfair : 
 
 "One day when I was walking near Arrone, 
 in Mubria, with an Italian evangelist, a priest 
 passed us on a black horse, when a boy, sitting 
 on a low wall, cried, 'Un prete del diavolo!' 
 
 (A priest of the devil.) I asked what the boy 
 35
 
 J 
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 meant. The priest, I was told, was such a 
 source of corruption in a certain village that 
 the men rose up against him. The Church 
 then had to take action, and it is only on such 
 occasions that it does. No matter how notori- 
 ously wicked the priest is, unless the people com- 
 plain, he is let alone. Its action in this case 
 was simply to transfer him to another parish, 
 thus really giving him a fresh field for the con- 
 tinuance of his evil ways." 
 
 The methods employed by the Roman Cath- 
 olic Church in Italy in securing recruits for the 
 priesthood, the training and education of the 
 priests, and the low standard of morals repre- 
 sented by them, are in marked contrast with 
 those of Protestantism, whose ministers choose 
 the ministry for themselves, whose education is 
 obtained in the free and open atmosphere of 
 human life and thought, and who as a class are 
 the very "salt of the earth." 
 
 Macaulay said: "The polity of the Church 
 of Rome is the very masterpiece of human wis- 
 36
 
 AT THE FOUXTAIX HEAD 
 
 dom. The experience of twelve hundred event- 
 ful years; the ingenuity and patient care of 
 forty generations of statesmen have improved 
 that polity to such perfection that, among the 
 contrivances which have been devised for de- 
 ceiving and controlling mankind, it occupies / 
 the highest place." Romanism is so vast in 
 its proportions and intricate in its organization 
 that any portrayal of it encounters two diffi- 
 culties. First, it requires a statement so ex- 
 tended that the public has neither the time 
 nor the patience to follow them to the end. Sec- 
 ond, it involves saying much that is harsh, if 
 indeed it be not harrowing to refined and cul- 
 tivated people. The references which I make, 
 therefore, to the history of the Church, includ- 
 ing the priests and the popes, are necessarily 
 brief and for the express purpose of reminding 
 you of the methods which the Roman Catholic 
 Church has adopted throughout her entire his- 
 tory. 
 
 After the death of Leo^III, one of the most 
 distinguished journalists of Italy exclaimed: 
 37
 
 THE KOMAl^ CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 i"What a remarkably theatrical death! Just 
 [what the Italians desired, and the Vatican has 
 'made much capital out of it." The service Leo 
 XIII rendered to the world has been greatly 
 overestimated. He was a shrewd and highly 
 educated man. Had he been living, no such 
 diplomatic blunders would have occurred as 
 have taken place in connection with the recent 
 visits of Mr. Eoosevelt and Mr. Fairbanks in 
 Rome. Pius X is not the man Leo XIII was, 
 either intellectually or diplomatically. His 
 reign will go down in history as a reign of 
 blunders. Leo XIII might have disturbed the 
 peace of nations more than he did, and can not, 
 therefore, be accused of the atrocious things 
 that some of his predecessors were accused of. 
 But Gioachimo Pecci (Leo XIII) maintained 
 popery from first to last, and as recent events 
 have proven, his successor is determined to do 
 the same. Instead of reforming the Church, of 
 which for more than twenty-five years he was 
 the head, he strengthened her in her practices 
 of the Middle Ages. He was incapable of break- 
 38
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 ing with the prejudices and errors of the past. 
 Dr. William (now Bishop) Burt, head of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Europe, is 
 authority for the following description of the 
 Perugia disgrace: 
 
 ''When Gioachimo Pecci was Archbishop of 
 Perugia, the people of the city, at the cry of 
 'Viva ritalia!' declared the whole province free 
 and Italian, and without any disorder whatever 
 elected a provisional government. When the 
 Swiss soldiers, under the command of Colonel 
 Schmidt, were marching upon Perugia with the 
 purpose of reducing it in subjection to the Pope, 
 the Provisional Government begged Cardinal 
 Pecci to prevent bloodshed. To Adamo Kossi, 
 a priest who besought him to stop the Swiss sol- 
 diers, the Cardinal replied : "Would you wish 
 me to prevent the Holy Father from reconquer- 
 ing his legitimate sovereignty? I am a prince 
 of the holy Catholic Church." He allowed the 
 hirelings to come on and carry out their brutal 
 orders. What followed is now a part of the 
 documented history of the struggle of Italy for 
 39
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 independence and liberty. ... In refer- 
 ence to these facts the distinguished historian, 
 Francesco Bertolini, says: 'Unhappy Perugia 
 was destined to be struck first. Like the other 
 papal cities, the capital of Umbria had pro- 
 claimed her liberty, invoking the dictatorship 
 of Victor Emmanuel II. The Pope sent to 
 Perugia Colonel Schmidt and his helpers with 
 decorations and promotions, and Cardinal Pecci, 
 later Leo XIII, ordered solemn funeral services 
 for his soldiers who had fallen in their efforts 
 to purify Perugia. On the catafalque card 
 Pecci placed the inscription, "Beati mortui qui 
 in Domino moriuntur," which, intended for 
 such -dead, under such circumstances, was an 
 insult to God.' Hon. Pasquale Vallari says in 
 his history : 'Thirty houses were devastated, in 
 which, Schmidt himself confessed, the women as 
 well as the men were massacred, and young girls 
 outraged. Then follows the honors and decora- 
 tions to Schmidt and his men, and the pompous 
 funeral services by Cardinal Pecci and the 
 Satanically provoked inscription, "Beati," etc' 
 40
 
 AT THE FOUNTAI]:^ HEAD 
 
 How is it that one guilty of such crimes should 
 now be regarded as a saint ? If his soldiers have 
 not devastated our homes and murdered our 
 children, it is because through God's good provi- 
 dence they could not. We must never forget, 
 in estimating the man and his work, that at the 
 age of eight years he was taken in hand by the 
 Jesuits, educated in their schools and trained by 
 their leaders, and was ever after their willing 
 and powerful servant." 
 
 To the day of his death he was the sworn 
 enemy of the Government of Italy and gave his 
 approval to any act or movement that tended to 
 weaken or destroy the prestige of the Govern- 
 ment. He did more than any other Pope to 
 strengthen the Church in her adoration of the 
 Virgin Mary and in the use of the rosary. He 
 published poem-prayers addressed to the most 
 blessed Virgin. In a letter to the Bishops of 
 Italy, September 20, 1887, he said: 
 
 "It is well known to you how much confi- 
 dence, in these calamitous times, we place in 
 the glorious Virgin of the rosary for the salva- 
 41
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHUECH 
 
 tion and prosperity of Christians and for the 
 peace of the Church. At other times we have 
 reminded you of the magnificent triumphs won 
 over the Albigenses and other powerful enemies 
 of the Catholic Church, glories and triumphs 
 which resulted, not only in profit to the Church, 
 but also in temporal prosperity to peoples and 
 nations. Why could not these marvels be re- 
 newed in our days through the power and good- 
 ness of the mighty Virgin ? In order, therefore, 
 to render more propitious this most powerful 
 queen of heaven, we intend to honor her more 
 through the invocation of the rosary. Hence, to 
 increase the worship of the holy Virgin we de- 
 cree, beginning with this year, that the solem- 
 nity of the rosary be elevated to the second class, 
 and we beseech all that, while making sweet 
 violence to the heart ti this mighty Virgin, they 
 pray for the exaltation of the Church and of 
 the Apostolic See and for the liberty of the vicar 
 of Christ on earth." 
 
 October 15, 1890, he addressed an encyclical 
 to the clergy and people of Italy complaining 
 42
 
 AT THE FOUXTAIX HEAD 
 
 of the atheistic spirit manifested in the pro- 
 posed law in favor of civil marriage, and in the 
 monimient unveiled to Giordano Bruno, the 
 Pope recommended all "to have as mediator 
 before God the most glorious Yirgin Mary, the 
 never-vanquished queen of the rosary, who has 
 infinite power over the infernal hosts, and who 
 has often expressed her special affection for 
 Italy." 
 
 Leo XIII and Pius X have given the greatest 
 possible encouragement to saint and relic wor- 
 ship. Pome contains "relics" of our Lord, ac- 
 cording to Romish tradition. In the Santa 
 Maria Maggiore is to be seen the cradle of our 
 Lord. His teeth and hair in Santa Groce, in 
 Gerusalemme. The table of the Last Supper 
 and the towel with which our Savior wiped the 
 feet of the disciples, in the San Giovanni, in 
 Lateranno. The iron bar of Hades is in a room 
 over the Santa Scala. In other Roman Catholic 
 churches are His swaddling clothes, specimens 
 of the bread and fish miraculously multiplied, 
 and the impression of His feet in stone. Ac- 
 43
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 cording to the Church of Rome, St. Peter has 
 three bodies — one in Rome, one in Constanti- 
 nople, and one in Cluny. St. Andrew has five 
 entire l)odies and one extra head. The sixth 
 head is in Rome. St. James has a still better 
 record. He has seven entire bodies and several 
 extra heads. The entire v^orld knows of the 
 black Madonna of the Church of St. Augustine, 
 and the Bambino in the Santa Maria in Ara- 
 coeli. To the enlightened Protestant world such 
 things are utterly abhorrent. 
 
 Many people do not understand what is meant 
 by the statement that the Pope is a prisoner in 
 the Vatican. At the time of the downfall of 
 the Pope's temporal power the Government of 
 Italy passed a law granting to the Roman Cath- 
 olic Church certain privileges. These privileges 
 are known as the "Papal Guarantees," and are 
 as follows: 
 
 U
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 PAPAL GUARANTEES. 
 
 Art. I. The person of tlie High Pontiff is 
 
 sacred and inviolable. 
 
 Art. II. Attempts against the person of the 
 High Pontiff, and any instigation 
 to such attempts, are punishable as 
 they would be if directed against 
 the person of the king. 
 
 Art. III. The Italian Government renders to 
 the High Pontiff, in the territory 
 of the kingdom, sovereign honors, 
 and accords him the power to main- 
 tain a certain number of guards for 
 his person and palaces. 
 
 Art. IV. There is set aside in favor of the 
 Holy See the endowment of an an- 
 nual income of 3,225,000 Italian 
 lire ($645,000), which is the sum 
 found inscribed in the Roman Bal- 
 ance Sheet, under the title : Sacred 
 Apostolic Palaces, Sacred College, 
 Ecclesiastical Congregations, Sec- 
 retary of State, and Foreign Diplo- 
 matic Office. 
 
 Art. V. The High Pontiff, besides the 
 above-mentioned endowment, will 
 45
 
 THE KOMAK CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 continue to enjoy tlie use of the 
 Apostolic Palaces and the Vatican 
 and the Lateran, with all the build- 
 ings, gardens, and grounds an- 
 nexed, besides the Villa Castel 
 Gandolfo and its grounds, free 
 from taxes. 
 
 Art. VI. During the vacancy of the pontif- 
 ical seat, no authority shall be al- 
 lowed to interfere with the free 
 action of the Cardinals. 
 
 Art. VII. "No public official or agent of police, 
 in the exercise of his duties, can 
 enter the residence of the High 
 Pontiff. 
 
 Art. VIII. It is forbidden to confiscate papers 
 in the offices and pontifical congre- 
 gations invested solely with spir- 
 itual attributes. 
 
 Art. IX. The High Pontiff is free to fulfill 
 all the functions of his spiritual 
 ministry. 
 
 Art. X. Ecclesiastics who, by reason of 
 their office, take part in publishing 
 in Rome the acts of the spiritual 
 46
 
 AT THE FOUi!^TAIX HEAD 
 
 minister of the Holy See, are not 
 on that account to be interfered 
 with by the public authorities. 
 
 Art. XI. The ambassadors or agents accred- 
 ited by foreign Governments to His 
 Holiness, enjoy in the kingdom 
 the prerogatives and immunities 
 accorded to diplomatic agents, ac- 
 cording to international right. 
 
 Art. XII. The High Pontiff can correspond 
 freely with the whole Catholic 
 world, and for this end he can es- 
 tablish post and telegraph oflSces, to 
 be worked by his own clerks; and 
 letters and telegrams to and from 
 the Pontiff shall be free from every 
 tax. 
 
 Art. XIII. In the city of Rome, and in the 
 six suburban sees, the seminaries, 
 academies, colleges, and other 
 Catholic institutions founded for 
 the education of ecclesiastics, shall 
 continue to depend only on the 
 Holy See, without being interfered 
 with by the scholastic authorities of 
 the kingdom. 
 47
 
 THE roma:n^ catholic church 
 
 While rejecting all of these guarantees, the 
 Pope accepts what he pleases. He is the tem- 
 poral ruler as well as the spiritual ruler of the 
 Vatican. Were he to venture beyond the limits 
 of the Vatican he would be subject to the laws 
 of the Government of Italy and under the rule 
 of King Victor Emmanuel III. This he posi- 
 tively declines to do. Leo XIII said: "We 
 I shall use our influence to maintain the authority 
 I and dignity of the Roman See and to reclaim 
 ; the territory and civil power which by right be- 
 ilong to us, for the temporal dominion of the 
 j Roman Pontiff means the salvation of the hu- 
 / man family. By these letters of ours we renew 
 h and confirm the declarations and protests which 
 jour predecessor, Pius IX, made against the occu- 
 Ipation of the Roman States and against the vio- 
 lation of the rights of the Church of Rome." In 
 another letter he says: "Let it be known that 
 )the affairs of Italy shall never prosper, nor shall 
 I there be peace, until provision shall have been 
 I made for the dignity of the Roman See and for 
 ^ the liberty of the Pontifex Maximus." 
 48
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 Prisoner indeed, but the world knows that the 
 Pope himself has closed the door and turned the 
 key from within. The present Pope, following 
 in the footsteps of his predecessor, has gone and 
 done likewise. But what of the prison? The 
 Vatican palace is one of the most magnificent 
 buildings in Kome. It is said to contain the 
 largest number of rooms of any one building in 
 the world. Many of the rooms are furnished 
 most elaborately. The gardens are both ex- 
 tensive and artistic. For his own protection 
 the Pope has six hundred gay ly iiress ed Swiss 
 guards and also what is known as the "Noble 
 Guard s." He has his own post and telegraph 
 equipments, and ambassadors are accredited to 
 him from Catholic powers. This "prison" story 
 is used to good advantage by the ecclesiastics 
 of the Church of Rome all over the world among 
 the believing poor and ignorant classes. Serv-J 
 ant girls have been known to cut off their hair/ 
 and sell it, that the money might relieve some! 
 of the wants of the prisoner, and priests have/ 
 
 49
 
 THE KOMAK CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 jfeold straw which, thej declared, the Pope slept 
 lupon on the floor of his dungeon. 
 
 I was present when Pope Leo made his ap- 
 pearance in St. Peter's at the beginning of his 
 silver jubilee. As early as seven o'clock in the 
 morning people turned their steps in the direc- 
 tion of the cathedral, and the number kept in- 
 creasing steadily until ten o'clock, when the 
 great bronze doors swung to, at which time it 
 is estimated that more than 40,000 people were 
 within the world-renowned structure. 
 
 It was a patient multitude that stood for 
 
 hours awaiting the appearance of him whose 
 
 twenty-fifth year as Pontifex Maximus the 
 
 Church of Rome was beginning to celebrate. 
 
 The air soon became foul, due to the immense 
 
 crowd of people, the many lighted candles, and 
 
 smoking censers. Long before the Pope and the 
 
 dignitaries of the Church made their appearance 
 
 many persons fainted, and were taken to the 
 
 numerous side chapels, that had been turned 
 
 into temporary hospitals. 
 
 At precisely eleven o'clock the silver trumpets 
 50
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 sounded the note of triumph, which was the 
 same as that which announced the coming of 
 Rome's emperors when Rome was the mistress 
 of the world. At the sounding of the trumpets 
 the curiosity of the crowd reached its highest 
 point, and the subdued voices of the more than 
 40,000 people sounded like the roar of many 
 waters. 
 
 The "Guarda_Nobile," or Noble Guard, com- 
 posed of five hundred well-drilled soldiers, and 
 supported entirely by the Pope's personal in- 
 come, was drawn up in double file on either 
 side of the wide passage that had been pre- 
 served through the central part of the nave. 
 Then followed the papal procession, headed by 
 the prelates of the Church, chief among whom 
 was the papal Secretary of State, Signor Ram- 
 polla, the most influential man in the Vatican 
 next to the Pope himself. Following these were 
 the heads of the various religious orders, the 
 cardinals, and the bishops. Gioachimo Pecci, or 
 Pope Leo XIII, came next, seated upon the 
 portable chair, which was carried upon the 
 51
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 shoulders of four members of the Swiss Guards. 
 The costumes worn by the guards were the same 
 as those worn upon such occasions previous to 
 the fall of the popes. 
 
 On each side of the chair, a short distance 
 behind the Pope, a member of the Noble Guard 
 carried a large fan made of ostrich feathers. 
 The appearance of the Pope was almost start- 
 ling, for he seemed to be more dead than alive, 
 and when sitting motionless he resembled a 
 statue of alabaster. His first effort to rise and 
 give the "apostolic blessing" was a pitiable fail- 
 ure, and he sank back into the chair exhausted. 
 
 The procession moved slowly, and after a few 
 minutes he again tried to gain his feet, and 
 this time was successful. He stood holding to 
 the chair with his left hand, while his right 
 was outstretched in blessing. For several ino- 
 ments he remained standing, and again fell into 
 the chair exhausted. After this three other un- 
 successful attempts to stand were made, but not 
 until within a few feet of the papal altar could 
 he muster enough strength to rise from the chair. 
 52
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 The celebration of the mass lasted for more 
 than an hour, at the close of which the Pontiff 
 commenced his slow and tedious journey back 
 to the Vatican, the order of the procession be- 
 ing the same as when he entered. 
 
 At the great altar under the dome the pro- 
 cession paused, while the Pope pronounced the 
 "apostolic benediction." This time, as before, 
 the soldiers prostrated themselves, with their 
 faces to the ground, as the Sovereign Pontiff 
 passed. The cry of "Viva il Papa!" "Viva 
 Leone XIII!" "Viva il Papa-Ke!" ("May the 
 Pope live!" "May Leo XIII live!" "May 
 the Pope-king live!") rent the air. It was no- 
 ticeable, however, that the noise was made 
 chiefly by the many hundred priests that were 
 present, the members of the clerical societies, 
 and by the comparatively few devout people. 
 The majority of that great crowd were mere 
 lookers-on, from whom no word of praise came, 
 and who took no part in the worship of the 
 occasion. 
 
 The Pope passed into the Vatican at 1.20 
 53
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 P. M., at which, time the huge bronze doors of 
 the cathedral again swung open, and in a little 
 while St. Peter's was once more empty and still. 
 While witnessing the elaborate pageantry of 
 the Pope and the Vatican upon this occasion, the 
 soldiers falling before his 'holiness" with their 
 faces to the pavement, the cry of "Viva il 
 Papa-Re!" ("Long live the Pope-king!") by 
 the clericals and others who had part in it, the 
 truth of Pasquino's "Contrast," which he fas- 
 tened to a column of the Orsini Palace in the 
 sixteenth century, was borne in upon my soul 
 with tremendous power: 
 
 PASQUINO'S CONTRAST. 
 
 Christ said : "My Kingdom is not of this world," 
 The Pope conquers cities by force. 
 
 Christ had a crown of thorns. 
 The Pope wears a triple diadem. 
 
 Christ washed the feet of His disciples. 
 The Pope has his kissed by kings. 
 
 Christ paid tribute. 
 The Pope takes it. 
 
 Christ fed the sheep. 
 The Pope shears them for his own profit. 
 54
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 Christ was poor. 
 
 The Pope wishes to be master of the world. 
 
 Christ carried on His shoulders the Cross. 
 The Pope is carried on the Bhoulders of his servants 
 in liveries of gold. 
 
 Christ despised riches. 
 
 The Pope has no other passion than for gold. 
 
 Christ drove out the merchants from the temple. 
 The Pope welcomes them. 
 
 Christ preached peace. 
 
 The Pope is the torch of war. 
 
 Christ was meekness. 
 
 The Pope is pride personified. 
 
 Christ promulgated the laws that the Pope tramples 
 under foot. 
 
 This contrast is only partly true to-day. 
 Thank God ! the Pope is not the power or per- 
 sonage he was in the sixteenth century. His 
 power and influence are still great, but not suf- 
 ficient to check the mighty progress of the na- 
 tions of the earth at the dawn of the twentieth 
 century. 
 
 The Methodist (Quarterly) Review for April, 
 
 edited by Dr. Grose Alexander, contains a very 
 
 strong article on ^'^The~ Crisis of Roman 
 
 Catholicism." The writer, who calls himself 
 
 55
 
 THE roma:n^ catholic church 
 
 "A Modernist," speaks the truth when he says : 
 "It is not very long, as history measures time, 
 since the Pope was the arbiter of Europe ; since 
 he mounted his horse while a royal hand held 
 the stirrup ; since he laid kingdoms under inter- 
 dict and led armies to mighty wars; since he 
 absolved nations from allegiance to their sover- 
 eigns and moved princes about at will ; since, in 
 a word, Europe was his; its kings little more 
 than, and often literally, his vassals; its popu- 
 lation his subjects; its gold flowing into his 
 treasury in a stream that never ceased. To-day 
 the most progressive nations of the earth ac- 
 knowledge him no longer, and feel in their blood 
 an instinctive distrust of him. He is one of 
 the great powers no more. He has been stripped 
 of his own principalities and is a 'prisoner' in 
 the Vatican." 
 
 The power and prestige of the Pope are wan- 
 ing, but popery is by no means dead. The 
 Roman Catholic Church is the same at heart 
 that she was in the Middle Ages. One infallible 
 
 Pope can not change the decree of another in- 
 56
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 fallible Pope. Therefore, the Church must re- 
 main "semper eadem." Until recently many 
 people believed that the Roman Catholic Church 
 was becoming more tolerant. But the refusal 
 of the Pope to give audience to Mr. Fairbanks 
 and Mr. Eoosevelt unless they should comply 
 with the conditions laid down by the Vatican, 
 which conditions, if complied with, would have 
 limited their freedom of action while in Rome, 
 is fresh evidence of the fact that Rome is no 
 more tolerant in spirit than she was in the time 
 of Martin Luther. 
 
 During my residence in Rome, an Irish Cath- VViAj iirtoftw 
 olic priest from America applied at our mission 
 building for assistance. He wanted the help of 
 some one who could speak both English and 
 Italian. According to his own statement, he had 
 had some trouble with his bishop in America. 
 He could not settle the matter and decided to go 
 to Rome, where he could see the "Holy Father." 
 He journeyed to Rome, and applied for the 
 privilege of an interview with the Pope. He 
 was told by the ecclesiastic to Avhom he made ap-
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 plication that it would be necessary for him to 
 apply at the office of the Propaganda. There 
 he was told to appoint a time when he could 
 appear before his bishop. He replied: "How 
 can I appear before my bishop ? He is in the 
 western part of the United States." He did, 
 however, set a time two or three weeks from 
 that particular day, never dreaming that he 
 would be present. But to his utter amazement, 
 on the day appointed, his bishop who had fol- 
 lowed him, appeared. As soon as the bishop 
 saw him, he said, "What are you here for?" 
 The priest replied, "!N^ot for the grace of God, 
 or I would n't have come here for it." His 
 bishop told him he would have to do a number 
 of weeks' penance in a certain monastery 
 for his misconduct. The priest, by way of ges- 
 ture, doubled his fist, and said, "I won't do 
 anything of the kind." Upon this statement 
 guards were summoned, who overpowered him 
 and later carried him to the place where he 
 was to do penance. A friend who had come to 
 
 Rome with him and who knew of the trouble 
 58
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 secured his release through the civil authorities. 
 He desired the services of a trustworthy inter- 
 preter to help him contest the matter in the civil 
 courts. That we were not warranted in doing. 
 His last words to us were, ^'I love the Church 
 and the Holy Father, but they have bottled him 
 up and I can't get at him." Other instances 
 could be cited showing clearly that the papacy 
 has not yet surrendered its foolish axiom, 
 "Rome never changes." 
 
 The Church of Rome has not only not en- 
 couraged, but has systematically discouraged 
 and even prohibited the general distribution of 
 the Scriptures among the people. Leo XIII dis- 
 couraged for as long a time as he could the 
 publication of the Bible in such form that the 
 common people could have access to it. It was 
 Protestantism in Italy that compelled him to 
 consent to the publication of the Scriptures so 
 that the people could afford to buy them. In 
 1902 "The Gospels and the Acts" were pub- 
 lished by the Society of St. Jerome, under the 
 69
 
 THE EOMAN CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 sanction of the Pope. The translation of the 
 
 text was fairly good. Copious notes accompany 
 
 the text which, of course, are in keeping with 
 
 the teaching and traditions of the Church. The 
 
 volume could he purchased for a lire, or twenty 
 
 cents, and was welcomed by Protestants in Italy 
 
 as well as by Catholics. The Protestants went 
 
 so far as to urge the people to buy this edition 
 
 of "The Acts and the Gospels." We furnished 
 
 our colporteurs with copies in as large numbers 
 
 as possible. But when it became known that 
 
 the Protestants were using them generally in 
 
 their work, they suddenly became very scarce, 
 
 and within a short time it was almost impossible 
 
 to secure one. It was evident that the Vatican 
 
 feared the general distribution of the Scriptures. 
 
 During the present year a priest said to a col- 
 
 I porteur : "Go on with your selling. Go on with 
 
 jr your Bible selling, and — we will go on with our 
 
 1 Bible burning." IsTow, these are the methods 
 
 employed by the Roman Catholic Church in 
 
 these days. The fact is, that since Pope ITicho- 
 
 las I pronounced against the general distribution 
 60
 
 AT THE FOUNTAII^ HEAD 
 
 of the Scriptures, the papal records show more 
 than a thousand years of unbroken hostility to 
 the Bible and to Bible readers. 
 
 Those who have lived in Rome know full well 
 that the Catholic Church does its utmost to win 
 converts to Catholicism from among the Prot- 
 estants who visit Italy. While a resident of 
 Rome, as the pastor of the American Methodist 
 Church, I frequently crossed the path of some 
 English, Irish, or American priest who was do- 
 ing his utmost to make the visit of some promi- 
 nent Protestant in Rome "a pleasant one." It 
 is in reality a part of a deep-laid and well- 
 wrought plan whereby the Catholic Church wins 
 converts. It is one of their methods of prose- 
 lyting. There is a class of specially trained 
 priests whose duty it is to come into contact 
 with travelers. These priests are to be found 
 in all the important towns frequented by tour- 
 ists, but in Rome they abound in large numbers. 
 The hotel registers with their lists of daily ar- 
 rivals are open to the inspection of any respect- 
 61
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 able person. It is, therefore, not difficult to 
 
 learn wlio the tourists are, especially when the 
 
 information is sought by men trained for that 
 
 purpose. !N'ot a few ''pensions" in Rome are 
 
 hotbeds of papal propaganda. Dr. Robertson, 
 
 in an article to the Qontinental Preesbyterian, 
 
 says : "To all visitors whom^lhe Church thinks 
 
 it worth while conciliating, attention is shown. 
 
 Tickets are sent them for Church festivals and 
 
 ceremonies. Good places at these "spectacula," 
 
 as the Italian calls them, are assigned them. 
 
 They are invited to special audiences of the 
 
 Pope, and English priests (and too many of the 
 
 young priests in Rome are English or Irish) 
 
 are toled off to show them the sights of Rome. 
 
 Italian priests offer their services as teachers of 
 
 the Italian language. Every year amongst my 
 
 own circle of friends there are those who are 
 
 thus made the objects of the Church's care." 
 
 From my experience in Rome, I can testify 
 
 to the truthfulness of the above statement. In 
 
 another part of the article already referred to, 
 
 the author says: "There came to Venice some 
 62
 
 AT THE FOUITTAIN HEAD 
 
 members of a wealthy and well-known philan- 
 thropic Paisley family. The mother told me 
 how she and her two daughters were shown per- 
 sistent kindness by an English priest. Very 
 often these priests do not mention the subject 
 of religion, but this priest did, and even after 
 they left Rome they received letters from him 
 on the subject as bulky as pamphlets. Two 
 young ladies, sisters, from Inverness, told me 
 that a priest had given them Italian lessons all 
 winter. He insisted on their accepting his serv- 
 ices, and, as they were desirous of learning the 
 language, they allowed him to teach them. The 
 daughter of one of our Scottish lairds, a member 
 of Parliament, meeting the Duke of ]!^orfolk, 
 told him that she was going to Italy, adding 
 jocularly, that she would like to see the Pope. 
 The Duke at once said that he could easily ar- 
 range that for her. Xothing more was said. 
 By and by the young lady went to Rome, and 
 what was her surprise to be called upon, almost 
 before she had got settled in her hotel, by a mon- 
 signore from the Vatican, who had come to con- 
 63
 
 THE EOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 duct her to a private audience of the Pope. 
 Leo XIII seemed to know all about her, and 
 received her with special attention, not even ob- 
 jecting to her Protestantism, which she courage- 
 ously avowed in his presence in answer to a ques- 
 tion put to her.* 
 
 Now, the Church, whose history and methods 
 have been such as I have very briefly described, 
 has recently condemned the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in Italy, calling the American Meth- 
 odists in Rome "pernicious proselyters." It has 
 also been stated that "the means employed are 
 by no means honorable. They take every ad- 
 vantage of the poverty of the poor of Rome," 
 and that "the books circulated and displayed in 
 the windows of their bookstores are slanders 
 against the Catholic faith, the Holy Pontiff in 
 Rome, and a misrepresentation of the whole 
 Catholic system." 
 
 The Methodists have a great work in Italy. 
 
 • See " The Jesuit " by Mrs. FeUcia Battz Olark, published 
 by Eaton & Mains, New York. A graphic and truthful por- 
 trayal of these methods. 
 
 64
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 To Bishop William Burt more than to any other 
 one man is the honor due for the development 
 of that work upon the present broad and com- 
 prehensive lines. The great central mission 
 building, located on the corner of Via Venti 
 Settembre and Via Firenze, is an honor, not 
 only to Methodism, but also to Protestantism. 
 In this building the World's Simday-school Con- 
 vention was held three years ago, v^ith delegates 
 from thirty-seven countries. The building is 
 estimated to be worth from $225,000 to $300,- 
 000. Eepeated efforts have been made by the 
 authorities of the Roman Catholic Church to 
 purchase this building. Sometimes these efforts 
 have been made openly, and sometimes under 
 cover. It contains a large auditorium for 
 Italian services, that will accommodate from 
 seven to nine himdred people. It also contains 
 for the use of the Italian work a Sunday-school 
 room, Epworth League parlors, offices, a book- 
 store, a printing plant, and recitation rooms and 
 dormitories for a theological school and boys' 
 school. 
 
 6 65
 
 THE roma:n" catholic church 
 
 Dr. N. Walling Clark, Superintendent of the 
 Mediterranean District of the Italy Conference, 
 which district includes Rome, Florence, Genoa, 
 and twenty-four smaller places, is also the presi- 
 dent of the theological school. Prof. E. B. T. 
 Spencer, formerly in charge of the Department 
 of Latin Language and Literature in Denver 
 University, is the president of the Methodist 
 college for boys. Dr. B. M. Tipple has been 
 since the fall of 1909 the pastor of the American 
 church. The building also includes an Amer- 
 ican church with a seating capacity of about 
 one hundred and fifty, and apartments for the 
 district superintendent, the pastor of the Italian 
 church, the pastor of the American church, the 
 editor of the ,Ev angelista, and the president of 
 the Methodist college. 
 
 The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 
 
 own and successfully operate the International 
 
 Institute or "Crandon Hall," and the Girls' 
 
 Home School. Miss Edith Burt, daughter of 
 
 Bishop William Burt, is at the head of the 
 
 "International Institute," which last year gave 
 66
 
 AT THE FOUXTAI^nT HEAD 
 
 instruction to two hundred and seventy girls. 
 The original property, which cost $55,000, has 
 been outgTo-\vn, and was last year sold for 
 $130,000. A new property has been purchased, 
 and during the present year three new buildings 
 will be erected, which will double the capacity 
 of the school. It has a twelve-year course, from 
 the kindergarten to the collegiate grade, and dur- 
 ing its brief history more than fourteen hundred 
 young Italian women have come under its in- 
 fluence. This school is patronized by some of 
 the most influential families in Rome and is 
 recognized by those high in authority as one of 
 the best schools for young women in Italy. 
 
 The Girls' Home School, in which there were 
 sixty-seven girls last year, is in charge of Miss 
 Italia Garibaldi, granddaughter of the great 
 Italian patriot. This school is rendering splen- 
 did service and is worthy of the hearty sup- 
 port of the Church. 
 
 The "Isabel Clark Creche," founded by Mrs. 
 
 Felicia Buttz Clark, in memory of her little 
 
 daughter, who died a few years ago, is under 
 67
 
 THE EOMAN CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 the direction of the Woman's Foreign Mission- 
 ary Society. More than one hundred babies are 
 left each day in this home by mothers who go 
 out to work. 
 
 In Florence there is a Methodist training- 
 school for teachers and evangelists. In Venice 
 is a boys' industrial school, where about fifty 
 boys are given instruction in the crafts. Two 
 years ago deaconess work was begun in Rome, 
 and since that time three trained deaconesses 
 have been engaged in visiting and nursing the 
 poor. During the recent earthquake in South- 
 ern Italy two of these deaconesses went to 
 !Naples and labored for seven weeks among the 
 sufferers. They knew no difference between 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics in the help 
 they gave and in the distribution of more than 
 $15^000 of Methodist money, which they dis- 
 tributed for the homeless and the suffering". It 
 is one thing to make a slanderous charge of 
 ''dishonorable methods" against the Methodists 
 of Rome, but it is quite another thing to prove 
 
 it. The charge is false that the methods adopted 
 68
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 by the Methodists in their work in Italy are not 
 honorable. Large numbers of Italy's inhabit- 
 ants have forsaken the Church altogether, many 
 of them going over to infidelity and atheism. 
 Some authorities assert that there are more than <> / 7 / 
 twenty million Italians in Italy who have sev- j /v 
 
 ered themselves entirely from the Roman Cath- 
 olic Church. If the Protestant Church does not 
 reach and save these people, what Church will ? 
 Our ministers are instructed to preach the gos- 
 pel to these people, and to help all who come 
 within the range of their influence. If Catholics 
 and non-Catholics attend our services and are 
 converted to Protestantism, where is there any- 
 thing dishonorable in that ? The Methodist 
 Church in Italy operates imder the privileges 
 granted to it or to any other denomination by 
 the laws of the kingdom of Italy. We know 
 that if the Church of Rome could have its way, 
 the Methodist Church would be banished from 
 Italy before the going down of another sun. 
 We are not there by the permission, not even 
 by the tolerance of that Church. Unlike it, we 
 69
 
 THE ROMAK CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 are as a Church loyal to the Government and 
 to the best interests of the people of Italy. The 
 king of Italy thinks so well of us that, a few 
 years ago, he called Dr. William (now Bishop) 
 iBurt to the royal palace and made him a mem- 
 ber of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, 
 the oldest and most respected order in Italy. 
 He also presented him with a medal in recogni- 
 tion of his work. In bestowing upon him these 
 favors, the king spoke in the highest terms of 
 the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 Italy. 
 
 The books published by our press in Rome 
 are chiefly historical works and defenses of Prot- 
 estantism from historical and doctrinal stand- 
 points. We print millions of pages of literature 
 every year for general distribution, and en- 
 deavor through this agency to make plain to the 
 people of Italy the truths of the Holy Scriptures 
 from the standpoint of evangelical Christianity. 
 Our literature is trenchant and vigorous, but 
 eminently truthful and logical. De Sanctus, the 
 70
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 great apologist for Protestantism thirty years 
 ago, himself at one time an influential priest, 
 has left tracts and books on the Mass, Confes- 
 sion, Mariolatry, Purgatory, etc., which are pub- 
 lished by the Waldensian Pu blishing House , and 
 are sold by our Church in Rome. In reply to 
 Archbishop Ireland's severe and unjust criticism 
 regarding the literature published b}' the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church in Eome, Dr. J. M. 
 Buckley says : 
 
 "This would be very difficult to prove. We 
 take, however, the testimony of Archbishop Ire- 
 land as to the fact that we are not secretly 
 circulating them, but publish them and place 
 them where the defenders of the Catholic faith 
 may see them. If he will produce a book circu- 
 lated by the authority of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church which slanders the Catholic faith, 
 slanders Pius X, and is a misrepresentation of 
 the whole Catholic system, we pledge him that 
 we will secure the withdrawal of such book from 
 circulation. But, having seen many of the 
 books sold there, and not having seen in them 
 71
 
 THE KOMAlsr CATHOLIC CHUKCH 
 
 anytliing fundamentally wrong as to the teach- 
 ings of the Catholic Church, we question the 
 accuracy of the Archbishop's representation. 
 However, in that case, it would not trouble us 
 to find among Roman Catholic books, in Italian, 
 German, Trench, Spanish, and English, gross 
 misrepresentations of the doctrines and practices 
 and spirit, not only of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, but of every Protestant communion. 
 Even those communions that came out bodily 
 from the Roman Catholic Church do not wholly 
 escape." 
 
 So far as I am informed the Archbishop has 
 not accepted Dr. Buckley's challenge. 
 
 We do help the poor to the limit of our ability, 
 regardless of whether they are Roman Catholics, 
 Jews, or Protestants. The undenominational 
 "Priests' Refuge Home" has given temporary 
 shelter to large numbers of priests and monks 
 who have left the Church. It is usually filled 
 to capacity. The Methodists have given every 
 possible and reasonable aid in support of this 
 72
 
 AT THE FOUNTAIN HEAD 
 
 work. Priests are not asked to leave the priest- 
 hood or the Church. They come of their o\ni 
 accord. The daily press of this country usually 
 gives large space and prominent place in report- 
 ing the case of any Protestant minister who goes 
 over to the Roman Catholic Church. If, how- 
 ever, a Catholic priest turns Protestant, too fre- 
 quently but little space, if any, is given to it. 
 We do not operate under cover. Archbishop 
 Ireland himself says: "The purpose of the 
 Methodist Association in Rome is confessed 
 openly." Are its methods, therefore, dishonor- 
 able if its purpose is ''confessed openly?" We 
 are doing in Italy what the Paulist fathers are 
 doing all over this country. They say they are 
 preaching the gospel to the "non-Catholics of 
 the United States." We are preaching the gos- 
 pel to the non-Catholics of Italy. It little mat- 
 ters whether they are Roman Catholics, infidels, 
 atheists, or Jews. They are welcome to attend 
 our preaching services, and if while there they 
 find Jesus Christ as their Divine Savior from 
 
 sin, we shall rejoice with them. 
 73
 
 THE roma:^ catholic church 
 
 That Methodism in Italy, which was not 
 begun until 18Y3, in the year 1910 is strong 
 enough to attract the attention of the Pope and 
 the Roman hierarchy, should be an encourage- 
 ment to Protestants throughout the world. It 
 is admitted the world over, by both Protestants 
 and Roman Catholics, that the Pope and the 
 Vatican authorities have made egregious blun- 
 ders in connection with the recent visits of Mr. 
 Fairbanks and Mr. Roosevelt in Rome. I re- 
 gard the whole matter as providential, for the 
 world has had fresh proof of the intolerant spirit 
 which has characterized the Church of Rome 
 throughout all her history. It does not concern 
 Methodism alone, but Protestantism. More 
 than that, the recent attitude of the Vatican 
 strikes at the very tap-root of personal liberty. 
 It is greatly to the credit of both Mr. Roosevelt 
 and Mr. Fairbanks that they were not swerved 
 from a loyal adherence to the cardinal principles 
 of American liberty, although as Ex-President 
 and Ex- Vice-President of this great ISTation, 
 they could not honorably have done other than 
 they did. 74
 
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