subdivided into titles and chapters, rendering the work of reference difficult except to the initiated, but, after the manner of modern codes, a single collection in which the canons are numbered consecutively throughout, while, by means of headings, the titles and chapters and the usual classification familiar to canonists have been main- tained. It is thus not a Corpus but distinctly a Codex of the Canon Law. The gain in clearness of presentment and simplicity of ref- erence is immense. The work has been not merely one of codifica- tion but in several ways, consistently with the immutability of faith and moral principle, and within the domain of methods, a modification and reconstruction of the laws of the Church to the new needs and conditions of the time. Thus in the rules of fasting, the reduction of holidays, the number of marriage impediments, the irremovability of parish priests, the election of bishops, the holding of conclaves, useful changes have been introduced. The treatment of the subject is a marvel of terseness and condensation, as the whole body of Canon Law, as far as the Church at large is concerned, is stated in 2,414 canons, and brought within the compass of a single volume of some 600 pages.
The Codex is the work of the best canonists and theologians in the Church, and occupied the Papal Commission for more than 13 years. Pius X., as he foretold, did not live to see its completion. It was promulgated by Benedict XV. in a con- stitution dated Pentecost 1917, to come into force on Pentecost of the following year. A permanent commission was created to deal with all questions affecting its interpretation. On June 28 1917, at a final meeting in the consistorial hall, a copy of the new Codex was solemnly presented to Benedict XV. who expressed the thanks of the whole Catholic Church to the com- mission, and especially to Cardinal Gasparri, Secretary of State, who from the outset had been the prime mover and chief agent in the work of codification. In the medal struck to com- memorate the occasion, the Cardinal stands prominent in the group of assistants that surround the person of the Pontiff.
The Church and Liturgy. One of the great measures which will make the pontificate of Pius X. memorable in the history of the Church is his reform of the Roman breviary. It altered and improved in many ways the Divine Office or chief prayer of the Church, the recitation of which occupies the clergy for about an hour and a half each day, and thus the change was one which affected the daily life of more than 200,000 secular priests, and of many religious, in every part of the Catholic world. While the main structure and composition of the Divine Office were preserved, the alterations were greater than had been made at any time since the pontificate of Pius V. and Clement VIII. in the i6th century. They went to secure the ancient practice of the Church, reaffirmed by the Councils of Trent and the Vatican, by which the Divine Office said by the clergy includes the recitation of the entire Psalter each week.
The new breviary was prepared by a commission of expert liturgical scholars whom some years previously the Hojy See had appointed for the purpose. The papal constitution (Divino Afflatu) which brought it into force throughout the Church was issued on Nov. I 1911. The wording of the constitution implied that further liturgical improvements in the breviary were likely to follow. The constitution for the improvement of Church music (Motu Proprio, Nov. 22 1903) had preceded the reform of the breviary.
A notable liturgical event was the solemn celebration of Mass according to the Greek rite in the papal chapel in presence of the Pope on the centenary of St. John Chrysostom on Feb. 12 1908.
The Church and the Eucharist. Amongst the acts of the Holy See during 1910-20 there were innumerable decrees and briefs, issued to encourage prayer and to foster the spiritual life of both clergy and people. The great movement known as the " Eucharistic Congress " was held each year with great success in one or other of the chief capitals of the world, and in centres like Paris, London, Madrid, Montreal and Jerusalem. To these the Holy See gave the highest sanction by sending a papal legate to preside over the solemnities.
The most noteworthy development in the matter of devotional practice was the decree of Pius X., Aug. 8 1910 (Quam singulari), ordering that little children from their seventh year should be ad- mitted to Holy Communion/ For this permission the Pope received the thanks of the clergy and of children and parents from every country throughout Catholic Christendom.
The Church and Scripture. During the same period the action of the Church in regard to Holy Scripture led to three important undertakings. In the earlier part of the pontificate
of Pius X. a standing commission had been organized at Rome, composed of leading biblical scholars, to deal with problems of biblical research. The commission has issued reports from time to time in the shape of conclusions on biblical questions of the day, and these are published by the Holy See for the information and guidance of Catholic professors of Scripture and of Catholics generally. In 1912 there was opened at Rome the Biblical Institute (founded by Pius X. in 1909). It was placed under the fathers of the Society of Jesus, and its object is to serve as a home of biblical research and as a training school for those who devote themselves to the study of the Bible. This project met with a cordial response, and one family alone contributed 200,000 (five million francs) towards its foundation. In Aug. 1916 Benedict XV. confirmed the act of foundation, and laid down rules for procedure.
In 1907 the Holy See undertook the great enterprise mooted by Sixtus V., to discover and determine the exact text of the Vulgate edition of the Bible, as it left the hands of St. Jerome. It involves the patient labour of many expert scholars, and research in many of the libraries of Europe, and the collation of their variant readings, so that long years and many lives will have to be spent before its aim can be accomplished. The work was confided to the Benedictine order, and was installed in the Palazzo di San Calisto, in Rome, being presided over by Cardinal Gasquet, Prefect of the Vatican Archives. On the centenary of St. Jerome, Benedict XV. issued a Bull of com- mendation, and in 1921, at the Catholic Biblical Congress held at Cambridge, in England, Cardinal Gasquet described the nature of the task, its importance to the Church and to European scholarship, and the progress made during the last 13 years. It may be added that Benedict XV. in Oct. 1914 issued a letter of approbation and encouragement in favour of the Society of St. Jerome, which has for its object the circulation of vernacular editions of the Gospels amongst the masses of the people.
The Church and the War. During the World War the attitude of the Catholic Church was both national and general. In each of the belligerent nations Catholics were free to give full expression to their patriotism, and to throw themselves cordially into the cause of their country, and under their bishops and clergy prayers were continually offered and services held in their churches in supplication or thanksgiving for victory. The Holy See itself, as super-national and having its spiritual subjects in all countries, was bound by its position to observe an attitude of neutrality in the sense of impartiality, and to confine its action to the promotion of peace and the alleviation of suffer- ing. Pius X. endeavoured up to the last moment to avert the outbreak of hostilities, and on Aug. 2 1914 caused prayers to be said in every parish throughout the whole Church for peace and good-will amongst the nations. A month after the declara- tion of war Sept. 8 1914 his successor, Benedict XV., made it the first act of his pontificate to issue an exhortation to Catholics throughout the world " to leave nothing undone to put an end to the calamity." In Nov. of the same year he addressed an Encyclical to the whole Catholic episcopate, com- manding them and their flocks to implore the Author of Peace to still the tempest. In Jan. 1915 the Pope composed and issued a form of prayer for peace "to be translated into all languages, and ordered that on Feb. 7 all Catholics in Europe, and on March 21, all outside of Europe, should assemble in their churches in a joint act of supplication. He himself, attended by his court, recited this peace prayer in St. Peter's with a congregation of 30,000 people. In 1915 the perpetual recitation of the Rosary was enjoined and all Catholic priests throughout the world were asked to offer mass for the same purpose.
In Dec. 1914 the Pope endeavoured to induce the belligerent Powers to consent to a truce at Christmas, but failed to obtain their assent. In his allocution of Jan. 22 1915 he pleaded especially against the devastation of the occupied territories. On May 26 1915, when the submarine and aeroplane terror had already commenced, he issued a letter deploring " the use on sea and land of methods of offence which are contrary to the laws of humanity and to international right," and imploring
