Henceforth, the latter is the unique center, the sole surviving head
of the Church, inseparable from it because he is naturally its head
and because it is naturally his body; and all the more because this
mutual tie has been strengthened by trials. Head and body have been
struck together, by the same hands, and each on the other's account.
The Pope has suffered like the Church, along with and for it. Pius
VI., dethroned and borne off by the Directory, died in prison at
Valence; Pius VII., dethroned and carried off by Napoleon, is
confined, sequestered and outraged for four years in France, while all
generous hearts take sides with the oppressed against his oppressors.
Moreover, his dispossession adds to his prestige: it can no longer be
claimed that territorial interests prevail with him over Catholic
interests; therefore, according as his temporal power diminishes his
spiritual power expands, to such an extent that, in the end, after
three-quarters of a century, just at the moment when the former is to
fall to the ground the latter is to rise above the clouds; through the
effacement of his human character his superhuman character becomes
declared; the more the sovereign prince disappears, the more does the
sovereign pontiff assert himself.
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