"Napoleon III was forced to withdraw the French troops from Italy during the Franco-German war, Victor Emmanuel took advantage of this circumstance and on September 20, 1870, entered Rome and took possession of the palace. The pope was stripped of all direct temporal power. His influence in church matters was in no wise interfered with. Since then he has exercised much indirect political power."
"I am not in favor of the pope's exercising temporal power, and Catholics as a whole are not in favor of it. You see we only believe in the infallibility of the pope in religious matters," said McBryan.
"Well, if it is true that the Roman Catholics are not in favor of the pope's exercising temporal power certainly they should not object to the Klan's insisting on the continued separation of church and state. And while there may be some Catholics like yourself who would oppose the re-establishment of the direct temporal control of the pope, there are many who would welcome it and assist in bringing it about."
"You are mistaken. You see that we don't believe in the pope's infallibility in political affairs."
"While it is true that your church teaches that the pope is infallible only in spiritual matters, yet Catholics believe in his right and ability to rule in temporal affairs."
"How do you know they do?"
"Cardinal Manning, in his debate with Robert Ingersoll, declared, 'The greatest statesmen and rulers that the world has ever seen are the popes of Rome.' Cardinal Gibbons, in his book, 'The Faith of Our Fathers,' in the chapter headed 'Temporal Power of the Popes,' says:
"'The Papacy,' they say, 'is gone. Its glory vanished. Its sun is set. It is sunk below the horizon never to rise again.' Illboding prophet, will you never profit by the lessons of history? Have not numbers of popes before Pius IX been forcibly ejected from their See, and have they not been reinstated in their temporal authority? What has happened so often before may and will happen again.
"For our part we have every confidence that ere long the clouds which now overshadow the civil throne of the pope will be removed by the breath of a righteous God, and that his temporal power will be re-established on a more permanent basis than ever."
"Well, I guess everybody has a right to his own opinion," said McBryan.