Note 186 — Front matter (continued 7)
Reading edition
During the progress of the Italian revolution, the present pope, Leo XIII, then Cardinal Pecci, wrote a pastoral letter "On the Temporal Dominion of the Popes," for the express purpose of maintaining that dominion. Referring to the period of its first introduction, he said it had been "consecrated by eleven centuries of time." Neither he nor Pius IX has been able to fix the time, except in general and indefinite terms, differing, as they do, several hundred years, yet both infallible! (Life of Leo XIII. By Bernard O'Reilly. Page 200.)