Monday, Apr. 14, 1930

Disappointed Ruler

In crowning a Pope, the officiating cardinal deacon advances, supporting with outstretched arms a tall headdress of cloth-of-gold, sewn with precious stones, encircled with three coronets, surmounted by a cross, and says:

"Receive the Tiara adorned with three crowns, and know that thou art Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of our Savior Jesus Christ!"

As Father, as Ruler and as Vicar the present Pope Pius XI recently appealed to all Christendom (TIME, March 10), and later to the Most High (TIME, March 31) for action against the Soviet Government, whose anti-religious acts His Holiness called "horrible, sacrilegious iniquities."

At Rome last week, in an official Vatican communique to the World press, these points were made: first His Holiness is "highly pleased" that the Chairman of the U. S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, Senator William Edgar Borah (casual Presbyterian) made private protest anent the persecutions to Soviet Acting Commissar for Foreign Affairs Maximovitch Litvinov. The Vatican further intimated that Pope Pius is "deeply disappointed" because, despite his appeals, no Christian Government whatsoever has made any official, diplomatic protest to Moscow; third, the Vatican intimated that Pope Pius is particularly disappointed with the Government of the Irish Free State and with those of their Most Catholic Majesties, King Vittorio Emanuele of Italy, King Alfonso of Spain, King Albert of the Belgians.

In Dublin, opinion was current, last week, that only one thing prevents the Irish Free State Parliament from passing a resolution similar to that passed by the State of New York (TIME, March 10) deploring and condemning "Red Persecutions."

The One Thing: young Ireland feels that her new prosperity depends on top speed performance by Mr. Ford's immense new Irish factories (TIME, Oct. 28). As everyone knows, the Motor Man (Episcopalian) is the world's greatest exporter of motor thews and sinews to the growing young Russian Industrial Giant.

Thus far Catholic newspapers in Ireland have been silent on this issue, have not harried Irish Free State President Cosgrave with demands that he back up the Pope's appeal. But the Irish Times (Protestant) has denounced as "contemptible" the Government's "pusillanimous truckling to trade expediency."

In Moscow was published fortnight ago a manifesto signed by 25 Soviet scientists, declaring that they are not being persecuted, charging that "the Papacy throughout history has persecuted scientists, especially astronomers," coiMiuding with a demand that Pope Pius release from "the secret, inquisitorial archives of the Vatican" certain suppressed astronomical works of Renaissance Scientists Galileo and Copernicus.

The Papal daily L'Osservatore Romano replied last week: first that Pope Pius has never said that scientists are persecuted in Russia; second that Galileo was censured by the Church not as an astronomer or scientist per se, but because his teaching that the earth revolved instead of remaining stationary as the Church then taught was contrary to theology; third that the suppressed astronomical works in question have not been kept locked up in the secret archives of the Vatican since the 17th century but were "placed at the disposal of scholars more than 50 years ago."

News from Paris reached Pope Pius last week that the Academy of Moral and Political Science, a subsidiary of the French Institute, had before it a motion, expected soon to pass, conferring a seat upon the Supreme Pontif. If he accepts this seat in the Academy of Moral and Political Science, His Holiness will be invited to visit Paris in 1932, address the Academy during the celebration of its 100th anniversary.

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