The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

176 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS.III.WHAT THE POPES HAVE DONE FOR ROME.Although the temporal power of the Pope is asubject which concerns the universal Church, thereis no people who have more reason to lament theloss of the Holy Father s Temporalities than theItalians themselves, and particularly the inhabitantsof Rome.It is the residence of the Popes in Rome thathas contributed to her material and religious grandeur. The Pontiffs have made her the Centre ofChristendom, the Queen of religion, the Mistress ofarts and sciences, the Depository of sacred learningBy their creative and conservative spirit, theyhave saved the illustrious monuments of the past;and side by side with these they have raised upChristian temples which surpass those of Pagan antiquity. In looking, to-day, at these old Romanmonuments, we know not which to admire more, thegenius of those who designed and erected them, orthe fostering care of the Popes who have preservedfrom destruction the venerable ruins. The residenceof the Popes in Rome has made her what she is trulycalled, the Eternal city.Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in fiveyears grass will be growing on its streets.Such was the case at the return of the Pope in1418 from Avignon, which had been the seat of theSovereign Pontiffs during the preceding century.On the Pope s return, the city of Rome had a popu-