Pope Leo XIII (March 2, 1810-July 20, 1903) whose given name was Gioacchino Pecci, stated in his encyclical on the condition of labor, Rerum Novarum, May 15, 1891:
<Every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own.> 1810PL001
On June 7, 1827, in a Proclamation regarding Pope Leo XII (1760- 1829), President John Quincy Adams stated:
<Whereas satisfactory evidence was given to the President of the United States on the 30th day of May last by Count Lucchesi, consul-general of His Holiness the Pope, that all foreign and discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the dominions of His Holiness, so far as respected the vessels of the United States and the merchandise of their produce or manufacture imported in the same, were suspended and discontinued:
Now, therefore, I, John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, conformably to the fourth section of the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby proclaim and declare that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued as far as respects the vessels of the subjects of His Holiness the Pope and the merchandise of the produce or manufacture of his dominions imported into the United States in the same, the said suspension to take effect from the 30th of May aforesaid and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and merchandise as aforesaid therein laden shall be continued, and no longer.> 1810PL002
On February 25, 1858, in a Proclamation concerning Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), President James Buchanan stated:
<Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received from the Government of His Holiness the Pope, through an official communication addressed by Cardinal Antonelli, his secretary of state, to the minister resident of the United States at Rome, under date of the 7th day of December, 1857, that no discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the Pontifical States upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any foreign country:
Now, therefore, I, James Buchanan, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the subjects of His Holiness the Pope and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States in the same from the Pontifical States or from any of other country, the said suspension to take effect from the 7th day of December, 1857, above mentioned, and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes, as aforesaid, shall be continued and no longer. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 25th day of February, A.D. 1858, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-second. James Buchanan. By the President Lewis Cass, Secretary of State.> 1810PL003
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1810PL001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Pope Leo XIII, May 15, 1891, in his encyclical on the condition of labor, Rerum Novarum. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 537.
1810PL002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Pope Leo XII, June 7, 1827, Proclamation by President John Quincy Adams. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 2, p. 377.
1810PL003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Pope Pius IX, February 25, 1858, Proclamation by President James Buchanan. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 492.