The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

170 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.1 Beneath the fierce waves of foreign invasion. TheCaptain, meantime, folded his arms, and abandonedthe ship to her fate ;and in the emergency the Popewas called to the helm, and saved the vessel fromshipwreck and the people from destruction. Hence,even the infidel Gibbon was forced to use the following language in discussing this "subject Their :(thePopes ) temporal dominion is now confirmed by thereverence of a thousand years, and their noblest titleb the free choice of a people whom they had redeemed from slavery."3. What is the use or advantage of the temporal power? This is well worth considering, asmany persons have erroneous notions on this subject.The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the Pope.He ascends the Papal chair generally an old man,when human passion and human ambition, if anydid exist, are on the wane. His personal expensesdo not exceed a few dollars a day. He eats aloneand very abstemiously. He has no wife or childrento enrich with the spoils of office, as he is an unmarried man. The Popedom is not hereditary,sovereignty of England, but elective, likeof our President, and he islike thethe officesucceeded by a Pontiffto whom he is bound by no familyties. What personal motive, therefore, can he have in desiring temporal sovereignty? I am sure, indeed, that if theHoly Father were to consult his own taste and feelings, he would much rather be free from the tram-