Chapter 42
part three chapter eleven of garcia moreno by guston berth the statesman bishop perhaps garcia moreno would never have been so well known in europe had it not been for his energetic protest against the invasion of rome by the troops of victor emmanuel he had followed day by day the passion of pius the ninth the lamb struggling in vain against the wolves the crusade of the pontifical zuavis against these new saracens which had filled him with admiration when the crime was consummated and the papal encyclical protesting against it arrived at ecuador people on the following day read an energetic remonstrance in the official papers addressed to the minister of victor emmanuel against the iniquitous invasion of rome and the slavery of the roman pontiff in spite of insidious premises always violated and derisive guarantees of independence by which they hoped to disguise the ignominious servitude of the head of the church not content with his personal protest he sent copies to all the governments of america
exhorting them warmly to reprove with him the violent and unjust occupation of rome if the kings of the old world keep silent at least let victor emmanuel find in the new world the energetic reprobation of both people and governments alas no potentate echoed his words and he scarcely expected they would he only wished to accomplish his duty as a catholic and to render his protest as public as possible after all he added what does it signify god has no need of us nor of any thing to accomplish his promise and he will accomplish it in spite of hell and its satellites the freemasons who are more or less masters of modern governments but if kings and presidents were silent the effects of garcia moreno's protest on the people was immense and produced a real national manifestation in which clergy and laity were equally associated in the magnificent address to the apostolic delegate they wrote we can do nothing against these odious acts but we reprove and condemn them with all our hearts and we implore the god of nations and of armies to abridge these days the tribulation by giving back to the head of the church his liberty and independence the catholic world universally applauded the noble protest of the president
ecuador exclaimed the leading journal of bugato would do nothing without garcia moreno and this illustrious man in spite of his genius would be nothing without his intrepid defence of the roman church honouring glory to him who has dared to say a catholic people cannot socially deny jesus christ this man has saved the honour of our century and in the nimbus of glory which surrounds him one forgets the feebleness of the nation which has taken upon itself to speak in the name of all a spanish journal la cruz was still more enthusiastic and after stigmatising the shameful silence of european kings and governments turns to the little republic of ecuador small in a certain sense but great in her faith and adds honour and glory to its noble chief who as a faithful interpreter of its modern aspirations has known how to avenge the oppression of the church the outrage on religion and the sad spectacle of rome invaded by hordes of savages a thousand times more worthy of malediction than the hordes of attila the french catholic press was equally warm in its admiration of the action of the president and speaks of ecuador as the only catholic state which profiting by its rights as a free country has so nobly protested against this flagrant violation of the rights of nations
on reading garcia moreno's energetic reprobation of the sacrilegious acts of the piedmontese government pius the ninth exclaimed ah if he were but the king of a powerful nation the pope would have some one to support him in this world on march twenty first eighteen seventy one he sent him a brief of congratulation and of gratitude in which after dwelling on the important services he had always rendered to religion the pope added your energetic protest has been of supreme comfort to us in the midst of the afflictions which overwhelm us and we have resolved as a testimony of our affectionate benevolence to create you a knight of the first class of the order of pius the ninth admitted into this glorious corporation you can henceforth wear the great decoration of this order and enjoy all the distinctions and privileges with which we have enriched it garcia moreno was filled with joy at the thought that any act of his had consoled the sovereign pontiff and thanked him warmly for the great honour he had conferred upon him but of which he thought himself altogether unworthy having only as he expressed it fulfilled a simple duty he resolved on showing his gratitude by an act of spontaneous generosity of which the usurpation of the temporal power gave him the occasion the pope deprived of his estates and his revenues was reduced to baggery
to cover the expenses of his enormous ecclesiastical administration catholics have started the offering called peter's pence garcia moreno asked himself why catholic governments should not send their offering to the pope as well as families and individuals at the congress of eighteen seventy three after having shown the prosperous state of the finances he boldly brought forward his proposal as follows a special duty is laid upon us to succour our holy father the pope now deprived of his revenues you can appropriate to his use ten per cent of the tithe conceded to the state the offering will not be large but it will enable us to prove that we are loyal and affectionate sons of the common father of the faithful and we will continue it through the ephemeral triumph of the italian usurpation as we have the happiness to be catholics let us be so logically and openly in our public as well as in our private lives and let us confirm the truth of our words and feelings by the public testimony of our deeds carried away by the enthusiasm which his words had aroused the congress unanimously voted the sum of ten thousand piastres about fifty-two thousand francs or two thousand eighty pounds sterling
to the holy father as a national gift the humble offering of our little republic as the deputies express it to the apostolic delegate which we implore you to offer to the immortal pious the ninth on behalf of a people who revere his virtues and admire his grandeur cease to represent your republic as humble and small replied the papal delegate states who raise themselves by such acts of generosity cease to be small the good pope was deeply touched at this filial gift and wrote a beautiful letter to the president in which he enumerated one by one the great things he had effected in ecuador during so short a time while praising the prudence zeal and charity of which he had given so striking an example this warm and detailed praise of his acts by the highest authority on earth frightened the modesty of garstia moreno who answered the pope as follows most holy father i cannot express to you the profound gratitude i feel for your holiness's most paternal and affectionate letter the approbation which you have deigned to give to my humble efforts is the greatest reward i could wish for on earth but i consider it very much beyond my deserts i feel and confess that all is owing to god not only the growing prosperity of our little state but the means i have employed to develop it and the desire with which he has inspired me to labour for his glory
i do not then deserve any reward i have on the contrary more reason to fear that god will judge me as responsible for all the good i could have done with the help of his grace and did not do may your holiness then deign to implore him to pardon and save me in spite of my faults may he enlighten and direct me in all things and give me the grace to die in defence of the faith and of holy church with these feelings most holy father i implore once more a blessing for the republic for my family and for myself with your apostolic benediction i feel an increase of confidence in god the source of all strength and courage such were the mutual relations between pious the ninth and garcia moreno pious the ninth loved in garcia moreno the noble high-minded and just man who alone had the courage to resist the revolutionary spirit of the day on his side garcia moreno felt a passionate devotion towards the heroic pontiff who was always on the breach to defend the rights and interests of the church these two souls were as one in their love of truth pious the ninth preached it as the great bishop within the church
garcia moreno as the statesman bishop without was ever at hand to help him and to offer him if necessary the sacrifice of his life writing to one of his friends who had had an audience at the vatican he says i envy you the happiness of being able to kiss the feet of the vicar of jesus christ and to talk freely to him for i love him as a father and for his defence and his liberty i would give even the life of my son both pius the ninth and garcia moreno merited the supreme honour of sharing in the passion of jesus christ one was given up to the jailers of the revolution the other to its assassins and a part three chapter eleven
