HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

(1789-1908)

CHAPTER IX
* THE GERMAN STATES (1848-1870)

IN the different states of Germany the revolution of 1848 led to great constitutional developments. For years before, two tendencies had been at work, one in favour of liberty, the other in favour of a federal union of all the German states; and the news of the Paris revolution caused the supporters of both these movements to join their forces for a common attack on the absolute governments in German territory. The revolution began in Baden, and quickly spread through Hesse-Darmstadt, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Nassau, Hanover, Prussia, and Austria. The princes of the different states were obliged to promise representative constitutions, while a National Assembly met at Frankfort ( May, 1848) to draw up a constitution for a united Germany. The Frankfort Parliament drew up a constitution, but the rivalry between Prussia and Austria, and the violence of the republican and revolutionary party in the Assembly, destroyed its work, and led to its dissolution ( 1849.

The revolutions in the different states had, however, a great influence on the Catholic Church. The establishment of free constitutions required a corresponding change in the relations between Church and State, while the concession of freedom of the press, of meetings, and of associations, afforded the Catholics an opportunity of bringing their grievances under the notice of the different governments, and of uniting to demand redress. With 1848 opened a new era in the history of the Church in Germany. Catholic journals were

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* The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI., Chaps. VI., VII.

founded to support the Catholic demands; meetings were called to rouse the people and to fix public attention upon the state of bondage in which the Church was held; and associations were formed to demand that the rights of the Church should be respected. Lenning, a canon of Mayence, was the great leader in the revival. He founded the Piusverein at Mayence for the defence of Catholic interests, and the society soon spread through all the German states. To consolidate the work, representatives of the Catholic societies held a General Assembly in Mayence ( 3rd to 6th Oct., 1848), in which a scheme of federation was drawn up, and arrange­ ments were made for similar meetings in future. This was the beginning of the General Assemblies * of the German Catholics, which are such a notable feature of the Catholic organisation in that country till the present time. Twenty of the Catholic representatives at the Frankfort Parliament, headed by Dr. Döllinger, attended at Mayence, and gave great assistance in the deliberations. Addresses of loyalty were sent to the Pope and to the bishops.

Lenning pressed the bishops to take advantage of the liberty recently accorded them by holding a kind of national synod. Geissel, the archbishop of Cologne,† was favourable to the project, and letters were issued inviting the German bishops to meet at Würzburg in October, 1848. The meeting lasted from 23rd October till 16th November, and was attended not only by the bishops, but by a few distinguished priests, notably Dr. Döllinger, and by some laymen. The bishops issued an address to the different governments, stating the grievances of which they complained, and pastorals to the clergy and laity of Germany. In the demands which they formulated for the governments they asserted that they did not desire a separation of Church and State, but only freedom, that wherever concordats existed the terms of these concordats should be observed,

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* May, Geschichte der General Versammlungen der Katholiken Deutschlands, Cologne, 1904.
† Pfülf, Cardinal von Geissel, 2 Bde., Freiburg, 1895.

and where no concordats existed that the rights of the Church in education, especially in the education of the clergy, in administration, in the appointments to benefices, and in the management of ecclesiastical property should be respected. The assembly of the bishops of Germany, and the firm, yet moderate attitude adopted by them in a time of such great political disturbance, could not fail to make a great impression on the different governments, and on fair-minded men of all parties; while, at the same time, the programme they formulated served as a guide for the individual bishops in their relations to the authorities of the particular states in which their dioceses were situated. It will be necessary to follow the fortunes of the Church in the particular states.

(a) PRUSSIA

In addition to the works cited above, cf. :-- Brück, op. cit., Bd. III. Goyau, L'Allemagne Religieuse, Vol. IV. Bernstein, Revolutions und Reaktionsgeschichte Preussens, 3 Bde., Berlin, 1882- 1884. Die Lage der Katholiken in Preussen am Schlusse der III. Legislatur Periode Düsseldorf, 1855.

In March, 1848, the Revolution broke out in Prussia, and Frederick William IV. was powerless in the hands of the National Assembly. The majority of this body were liberal and radical, violent enemies alike of Church and throne, and as soon as an opportunity offered the king dissolved the Assembly (27th Nov.), and granted a free constitution ( 5th Dec., 1849). William IV. was friendly disposed towards the Catholic Church, and by permitting free intercourse with the Holy See, and the erection of a purely Catholic department in the Ministry of Worship ( 1841), he showed his desire of maintaining friendly relations between Church and State in Prussia. But the spirit of the government and of the officials re­ mained entirely Protestant, and they endeavoured to control every movement of the Catholic bishops and clergy. In the new constitution of 1848 an article was inserted guaranteeing to every religious body the right of managing its own affairs, and of administering its own property without the interference of the state. In the explanations of this paragraph given by the Minister of Worship in December, 1848, many conditions and limitations were imposed which considerably modified the value of the concession. The bishops of the Cologne province met at Cologne under the presidency of Archbishop von Geissel ( 6th to 9th March, 1849), and forwarded an address to the king, claiming the right of administering Church property, of superintending re­ ligious education, and of appointing to benefices. The elections of that year were not favourable to the Catholics, and the revised constitution, without any of the amendments proposed by the bishops, was adopted in January, 1850. All state officials were required to take the oath of loyalty to the constitution. Many of the clergy refused to do so except in so far as the constitu­ tion was not opposed to the Church. The government was unwilling to accept the restricted form of loyalty, and a serious situation might have been created had the bishops in their meeting at Cologne (16th to 18th April) not suggested a compromise, according to which the clergy, having made a declaration that by taking the oath they did not mean to abandon the rights of the Church, might comply with the orders of the government.

The position of the Church in Prussia was vastly improved after 1848. The state of tutelage in which she had been kept by the government was gradually abandoned, and though in regard to education the position was not satisfactory, on many other matters important concessions had been made. Free intercourse with, the Pope was guaranteed, the royal Placet on the letters of the bishops was withdrawn, the state control of the education of clerical students ceased, religious orders were permitted to settle in Prussian territory, and to conduct popular missions with the license of the bishops, and in the appointments to benefices, the erection and division of parishes, and administration of ecclesiastical property greater freedom was permitted. The bishops were not slow to avail themselves of the new spirit of liberty. They encouraged missions to the people, and retreats for the clergy, established religious confraternities, invited religious orders of both sexes to settle in their dioceses, and made new enactments about the administration of ecclesiastical property.

The activity of the Catholic Church and the conces­ sions that had been made to it excited the jealousy of the Prussian Protestants, who regarded Prussia as a distinctly Protestant state, where Catholics had no right to equality with the other citizens. They brought their influence to bear upon the Minister of Worship, and induced him to take measures against Catholic parochial missions, and against clerical students being sent to Rome ( 1852). But the Catholic party in the Landtag, under the leadership of Peter and August Reichensperger, brought the ministerial ordinance before the Parliament, and though their motion was defeated, the instructions of the Minister of Worship were no longer enforced. In other matters, especially in regard to finance, the Catholics were treated very differently from the Protestants, and though the Catholic deputies frequently raised the question in the debates on the budget, their remonstrances were unavailing.

In 1858, owing to the illness of Frederick William IV., his brother was appointed regent, and a Liberal ministry was installed in office. The new ministry was distinctly hostile to the Catholics, and on the formal accession of William I. ( 1861) a new era of persecution began for the Catholics Church in Prussia. In the elec­ tions of 1861 the Catholics were denounced as enemies of the state, and the authority of the Catholic depart­ ment in the Ministry of Worship was considerably lessened. The recognition of the new kingdom of Italy in 1862, against the protests of the Pope and the Prussian Catholics, helped to increase the irritation. In the same year, Bismarck became First Minister of Prussia. His previous interference in the ecclesiastical affairs of the Upper Rhine Provinces showed clearly that he was a strong enemy of the Catholic Church, but his political programme in Prussia prevented him for the time from engaging in an open anti-Catholic campaign.

Bismarck was resolved to unite the German states under the leadership of Prussia, and for this reason it was necessary to destroy the power of Austria. Hence, a new scheme of army organisation was introduced into Prussia, by which the Prussian army was brought to a state of great perfection. In the war against Denmark on the question of the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein in 1863, Prussia and Austria went hand in hand, but after their victory the administration of the conquered provinces led to continual friction between the two states. An alliance against Austria was concluded between Prussia and Italy, and in 1866 war was declared. The Prussians were ready for the campaign, and before the other confederate states of Germany could unite their forces, Saxony, Hanover, Hesse, and Bavaria were over- run by Prussian troops. The Austrians were obliged to fight both Italy and Prussia, and though they defeated the Italian army at Custozza, they themselves suffered a complete defeat at the hands of the Prussians at Sadowa ( 3rd July, 1866). By the Peace of Prague, Austria was driven out of the German Confederation, and in the Peace of Vienna with Italy Austria recog­ nised the kingdom of Italy, to which the Austrian pro­ vince of Venice had been conceded. The Iron Crown of Lombardy was handed over to Victor Emmanuel.

Prussia annexed Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort, thus increasing the population in Prussian territory from 19,000,000 to 25,000,000. A North German Confederation under the presidency of Prussia was organised, while the southern states of Germany were secured by an offensive and defensive alliance and by a tariff union. Furthermore, in case of war, it was provided that the southern states should take their commands from the king of Prussia. The new German Empire was all but completed, and in 1871, after the defeat of France, the plans of Bismarck were at last realised.

The victory of Prussia over Austria was hailed as a triumph of Protestantism, and the National Liberal Party in Prussia were anxious to open a campaign against the Catholic Church. But Bismarck was not inclined to yield to their demands. His political schemes required the co-operation of all Germans, both Catholics and Protestants, and, hence, he was not willing to under­ take a sectarian struggle at such a critical period. The German journalists, at their meeting in Vienna, 1869, demanded that all monasteries and convents should be suppressed, and that the Jesuits should be expelled. They called upon the Prussian government to do its duty in this regard. Addresses in favour of the abolition of the religious orders were presented to the Prussian government by the National Liberals, while counter- addresses poured in from all parts of Germany. The commission appointed by the Landtag to examine these petitions reported very unfavourably for the religious orders ( 1869), but the opposition of the Catholics, and the anxiety of the government to secure the union of all parties against France, prevented any measures being taken at that time to carry out the resolutions of the commission. Once France had been defeated and the German Empire securely established, Bismarck had his own plans for dealing with the religious orders and the Catholic Church.

(b) BAVARIA

In addition to the works cited above, cf. :-- Henner, Die Kath. Kirchen­ frage in Bayern, Würzburgr, 1854. Kirche u. Staat in Bayern unter dem Minister Abel und seinen Nachfolgern, Schaffhausen, 1849. Molitor, Cardinal Reisach, Würzburg, 1874.

The relations between Church and State in Bavaria had been clearly established by the concordat of 1818, but the royal declaration of Tegernsee in 1821 had gone far to annul many of the liberties granted in the con­ cordat. During the reign of Louis I. the friendly atti­ tude adopted by the king prevented a conflict, but after 1847 the king allowed his ministers to act as they pleased, and the Church in Bavaria was completely enslaved. During the revolution of 1848 the influence of the bishops and clergy had been entirely on the side of peace, and it was hoped that with the accession of Maximilian I. a new era might begin. In 1849 Reisach, the archbishop of Munich, forwarded a memorial to the king, in which he demanded that the terms of the con­ cordat should be fully observed. Unfortunately, his memorial was supported only by Weiss, the bishop of Spires, the other Bavarian bishops observing an abso­ lute silence. In 1850, Reisach summoned his colleagues to a meeting at Freising, and another memorial was drawn up, in which the bishops again demanded the observance of the concordat of 1818. The king was not unwilling to make some concessions, but his Liberal ministers were hostile to the Church, and hoped to stir up the lower clergy against the bishops.

In 1853, the Bavarian bishops met once more at Würzburg and addressed further remonstrances to the king, and in 1854 certain concessions were made to them especially in connection with the theological lyceums, but, at the same time, it was announced that the govern­ ment could not yield an inch further. The king blamed Reisach for having incited his colleagues to make war on the royal edict regarding religion, and insisted at Rome that the archbishop of Munich should be appointed a cardinal and should give up his see in order to reside at Rome. In December, 1855, Reisach was named cardinal, and was summoned to Rome. In his place the Benedictine, Scherr, was appointed archbishop of Munich.

The bishops continued to protest, especially in regard to the seminaries. The archbishop of Munich insisted on the right guaranteed to him by the concordat of appointing the professors in his seminary at Freising ( 1857), but the government refused to give way. The bishop of Eichstätt was offered a large grant for his seminary in 1861, but on condition that the government should have the right of appointing the professors, and the offer was promptly rejected. Weiss, the bishop of Spires, was anxious to establish a seminary in his diocese, but no heed was paid to his appeals for per­ mission to open such an institution. The government was strengthened in its opposition to the bishops by the Liberal Catholic professors of Munich, and by the com­ plete indifference of the vast body of the Catholic popu­ lation in Bavaria. While the Catholics in the other German states were active in defence of Church interests the Catholics of Bavaria took no steps to combat the influence of the false Liberalism then so strong in government circles. In 1864, Maximilian II. was succeeded by his son, Louis II. The bishops of Bavaria, alarmed at the dangers which threatened the religious character of the schools, determined, in accord­ ance with the policy that had been initiated by Reisach, to come together in conference at Bamberg ( 2nd July, 1864), and besought the king to safeguard the Christian character of the schools.

But Louis II., though personally a man of good education and ability, took no interest in the practical affairs of the country, and left the government entirely in the hands of his Liberal ministers. The bishop of Spires, who had no establishment for the education of his clergy, determined to erect a seminary, and notified the king of his intention. The government for­ bade him to proceed further with the project, but in October, 1864, the bishop opened his seminary, on the rolls of which six students subscribed their names. The police authorities interfered to prevent the lectures, and Louis II. personally intervened to request the bishop to abandon the seminary. In November, a police inspector notified the bishop that if the courses of lectures were not closed within six days, the government would expel the students by force, and close the establishment. It was only then that the bishop yielded under pro­ test, and the students departed for the university of Würzburg. The action of the bishop and the con­ troversies which followed helped to rouse the Catholics, while the protests of the bishops of Bavaria against the appointment of the Prussian Protestant, Giesebrecht, to one of the chairs of history in Munich, opened the eyes of the people to the fact that the enemies of the Catholic Church were also the enemies of Bavarian nationality, and the friends of the supremacy of Prussia.

The influence of the Liberal Catholic professors of Munich, and the success of Prussia in the war against Austria in 1866, strengthened the hands of the Liberal party in Germany. Hohenlohe,* who was remarkable for his hatred of the Jesuits and Ultramontanism, was appointed president of the Council in 1866, and almost immediately signified his intention of introducing a law in regard to primary schools which would go far to destroy the religious character of these establishments. The bishops issued a solemn protest in 1867, and the clergy gave them loyal support. The Catholic popula­ tion realised the serious nature of the crisis, and meet­ ings were held throughout Bavaria to protest against the proposed bill. All Catholic Bavaria was now thoroughly aroused to the dangers of Liberalism. The bill was carried in the Lower Chamber, in February, 1869, but the Second Chamber so changed the measure that the government was obliged to abandon it. The defeat only encouraged Hohenlohe in his struggle against Ultramontanism and against the approaching General Council, but, while he was wast­ ing his time in concerting schemes with Döllinger and his friends for the overthrow of the Jesuits, the elections took place in Bavaria ( May, 1869). The result of the elections was disastrous for his party. While the Liberals succeeded in returning 75 candidates, the national and Catholic party came back to the Chamber with 79 members. The Chamber was immediately dis­ solved, and new elections proclaimed. Hohenlohe and

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* Memoirs of Prince Hohenlohe, 2 vols., London, 1907.

his party spared no pains to blacken the character of their opponents, but the Catholics and patriots returned with 80, while Hohenlohe could count on the support of only 63 members. The Prime Minister could not sustain his position in such a hostile assembly, and in March, 1870, Hohenlohe tendered his resignation. The Catholics of Bavaria, by their action, declared their resolve to make war on the false Liberalism which for so long had held the Church of Bavaria in slavery.

(c) THE UPPER RHINE PROVINCES (1848-1870)

Brück, Die Oberrheinische Kirchenprovinz, Mayence, 1868. Maas, Geschichte der Kath. Kirche im Grosherzogthums Baden, Freiburg, 1891. Lauer, Gesch. der Kath. Kirche in Baden, 1908. Golther, Der Staat und die Kath. Kirche. in Württemberg, Stuttgart, 1874.

Nowhere in Germany was the Catholic Church held in such a wretched state of servitude as in the states of Baden, Hesse, Würtemberg and Nassau; and while in 1848, Austria and Prussia granted a large measure of freedom to the Church, the governments of these states still insisted on the absolute subjection of the Catholic Church to the civil control. Baden, where the revolu­ tion had been the worst, and where the only loyal sup­ porters of the Grand Duke in the stormy days of 1848 had been the archbishop of Freiburg and his clergy, took the lead in opposing the claims of the Church. In 1851 Herman von Vicari, Archbishop of Freiburg, called a meeting of his suffragans to formulate their demands to the various governments. The govern­ ments took no notice of these demands, and in 1853 a new conference of the bishops was held at Freiburg. A strong memorial was prepared. The bishops pointed out in this document that Prussia had already conceded these liberties, and they demanded that the agreements made by the states of the Upper Rhine with the Holy See should be reduced to practice. The archbishop of Freiburg was particularly active, but his representations to the Grand Duke of Baden were without effect. In 1852, a new subject of dissension between the archbishop and the government was introduced, when, on the death of the Grand Duke Leopold of Baden ( April, 1852), who was a Protestant, the civil authorities ordered that requiem masses should be celebrated. The archbishop refused to allow such masses to be celebrated, but ordered that appropriate funeral services should be held throughout his diocese. The government, on the other hand, forbade such services, but the vast body of the priests obeyed their archbishop. Those who did not obey were ordered to go to the seminary of St. Peter's for a spiritual retreat, and the government did not dare to interfere on their behalf. After the meeting of the bishops in Freiburg in 1853, and after the refusal of the government to meet his demands, the aged arch­ bishop determined to force a crisis. In place of the Catholic Ministry of Worship the government had appointed a High Church Consistory which sat at Carls­ rühe, and controlled every action of the archbishop. No step of any importance could be taken by him unless with the approval of this body of priests and laymen, nor could he issue any document regarding the administration of his diocese till it had been countersigned by these officials.

In 1853, he addressed a letter to the members of the High Consistory, requesting them to desist from inter­ fering in the administration of the diocese; and in Sep­ tember, 1853, he held the seminary concursus without the presence of a civil official, and appointed to benefices without any previous communication with the govern­ ment. In October, 1853, he announced to the High Consistory that if they did not resign their office within fourteen days he should be obliged to excommunicate them. The government of Baden sent an official to Freiburg to demand the withdrawal of this order, but the archbishop was firm in his refusal, and the chapter of Freiburg supported the archbishop. The government then appealed directly to the clergy, promising those who would disobey their bishop protection, and threatening the others with severe penalties. The archbishop, regardless of these threats, continued to appoint to vacant benefices, and on 15th November, 1853, the sen­ tence of excommunication against the members of the High Consistory was solemnly proclaimed in Freiburg and Carlsrühe.

The government press spared no pains to rouse the country against the archbishop. In consequence of their attacks he felt it necessary to issue a pastoral to his clergy and people in explanation of his conduct. The pastoral could not be printed in Baden owing to the watchfulness of the police, but it was printed at Mayence, and circulated secretly through the Grand Duchy. By a circular to the deans of his diocese the clergy were com­ manded to read the pastoral in their churches under pain of suspension; while, on the other hand, the government threatened severe penalties against any priest who would dare to publish it. The vast body of the priests obeyed the archbishop, and the very few who refused to comply with his commands were promptly suspended. Addresses of congratulation poured in on the archbishop from all parts of the Catholic world, and Pius IX. de­ livered an allocution ( Dec., 1853), in which he praised the courageous stand made by the archbishop of Frei­ burg in defence of the interests of the Church.

In 1854, it seemed as if peace were about to be made. Negotiations were opened up between the government of Baden and Bishop Ketteler of Mayence, as repre­ sentative of the archbishop of Freiburg; but as the government refused to abandon any of its claims the negotiations were broken off, and the conflict continued. The Prussian agents urged the government of Baden to refuse all concessions, in the hope that a great Protestant confederation under the presidency of Prussia might be organised to weaken the influence of Austria in the southern states. Bismarck was particularly active in urging Baden to continue the struggle. The govern­ ment refused to pay the clergy appointed by the arch­ bishop without the approval of the High Consistory, and declared that the latter body alone could permit clergymen not born in Baden to exercise functions there; but the archbishop replied to this circular by calling upon the people to support the clergy. He forbade the clergy to hold any communication with the High Con­ sistory in Carlsrühe, and in defiance of the government published regulations about the administration of ecclesiastical property. In May, 1854, the palace of the archbishop was surrounded by police, his papers were seized, and he himself held a prisoner. The news of his arrest created a great sensation not alone in Baden, but throughout Europe. His clergy and people remained loyal. The bells of the churches were not rung as a sign of mourning, no music was allowed at the religious ser­ vices, and public prayers were recited for the archbishop and for the Church. The government, fearing that the archbishop would publish a general interdict, and pos­ sibly, also, acting under the influence of advice from Austria, declared the arrest at an end (31st May).

But the struggle was not yet over. The government of Baden had only two courses of action, either to fight the battle to a finish, and nobody could foresee what the end might be, or to open up negotiations with Rome for a settlement of the question. The government wisely decided to adopt the latter course. In 1854, an agent was despatched to Rome to conclude a preliminary agree­ ment, and to prepare the way for a permanent conven­ tion. For five years, during which the position of the archbishop, whose hands were more or less tied, was exceedingly difficult, the negotiations continued, but at last, on 28th June, 1859, a convention was agreed upon between the Holy See and the Grand Duchy of Baden.* The Pope confirmed the convention by the Bull, Aeterni Patris (19th October), and the confirmation by the Grand Duke followed on the 5th December, 1859.

According to the terms of the convention the appoint­ ments to bishoprics and canonries should be made in future after the manner prescribed by Leo XII. ( Ad Dominici gregis custodiam

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* Nussi, Conventiones, XLIV.

Dominici gregis custodiam, 1827). The archbishop and clergy were, henceforth, obliged to take merely the oath of allegiance, and the archbishop was free to carry on his work according to canon law. Wherever there was no right of presentation the archbishop might appoint to benefices, but he could not appoint foreigners or persons who, for good solid reasons were objectionable to the government. The final judgment as to the grounds of objection was, however, reserved to the archbishop. The archbishop, too, was free to appoint his vicars general, the rector, and professors of his seminary, but, in such appointments, he should be mindful of the reasonable objection of the civil authorities. He might hold his seminary examinations and the concursus for parishes without the presence of government officials, summon synods, provincial or diocesan, issue censures, arrange for missions and for religious services, and, in consulta­ tion with the government, might allow religious orders to settle in his diocese. For the education of his clerical students he might establish either a seminary with com­ plete courses of theology, or a house of residence in con­ nection with the University of Freiburg. The ecclesias­ tical property was to be administered in the name of the Church and under the superintendence of the archbishop, but the government reserved to itself the right of inspec­ tion. In regard to marriages between Catholics the archbishop was the judge, but the government had the right of deciding about the civil effects of such contracts. The archbishop was also empowered to watch over religious education in all classes of schools. The theo­ logical faculty of Freiburg was placed under the inspec­ tion of the archbishop, who might also report to the government if any of the lay professors attacked the Catholic religion, and the government agreed to give him satisfaction. The primary schools remained state schools, but the Church was free to set up her own insti­ tutions. In the state schools the archbishop was charged with the inspection of religious education.

No sooner were the terms of the convention known than an outcry was raised against it by the Protestants, the Liberals and the professors of Freiburg. The defeat of Austria in the war of 1859 increased the confidence of the friends of Prussia and the enemies of the convention. The government did not show itself very anxious to uphold the terms of the agreement, and submitted it to the Chambers, where it was rejected ( March, 1860). As in Prussia, the Liberal party now came to the helm in Baden, and a new period of persecution was begun The Grand Duke issued a proclamation at Easter, 1860, announcing that though the convention was set aside, the independence of the Catholic Church should be secured; and, in accordance with this promise, a law regulating the relations between Church and State was introduced into the Chambers, and passed ( Oct., 1860). This law contained many of the stipulations of the con­ vention, and though far from satisfactory in every par­ ticular, it did much to put an end to state control of ecclesiastical affairs. In 1860, an arrangement was made between the government and the archbishop about the appointment to benefices, and most of the matters in dispute appeared to have reached, at least, a provisional settlement.

But soon the conflict began once more. The arch­ bishop tried to introduce very necessary reforms into the two great educational establishments for girls in Frei­ burg, the convents of the Ursulines and of the Domini­ can Sisters. The government objected to these reforms, and threatened to suppress these institutions if the arch­ bishop persisted. They even went so far as to appoint a prioress to the Dominican convent of Adelhausen in Freiburg in spite of the wishes of the archbishop and of the majority of the community. When, in 1867, the archbishop refused to be present at the reception of two novices in this house unless the prioress and the novices agreed to obey his instructions the convent was sup­ pressed, and its endowments handed over to the corpora­ tion of Freiburg for educational purposes. The school question soon raised another subject of discussion. In 1862 the Grand Duke appointed an undenominational Board of Education, to which he committed the duties hitherto performed by the denominational boards. The religious authorities might make representations to the new body, but only in regard to matters of religious in­ struction.

In 1864, a new law for primary schools was passed. The clerical inspectors were abolished to make room for lay inspectors; the Church might appoint religious in­ spectors; the control of the schools was handed over to local school boards, which in case of denominational schools must be denominational, in case of mixed schools should be mixed. The members of the school boards were elected, and the chairman was appointed by the government; and to these boards so constituted was given control of the endowments for primary education. The archbishop forbade his clergy to accept a seat on the local school boards, and the vast majority of the people refused to take part in the elections for these boards. Catholic meetings were held throughout Baden, which sometimes led to ugly conflicts. In 1866, just as an agreement was about being concluded, there was a change in the ministry, and a more Liberal body succeeded to power. A new School Law was proposed in 1868. It permitted and favoured the establishment of undenominational schools, in which religious education might be given three hours each week, and increased the difficulty for the Church of founding free schools. The archbishop protested against the law, but the government continued to urge the local boards to change the religious into undenominational schools. The endowments of the Catholic educational and charitable institutions were seized; and in 1867 a law was passed ordering a state examination for the Catholic students of theology so as to test their general scientific education. The arch­ bishop forbade any of his priests or students to submit themselves to such an examination ( 1867), and as a con­ sequence the government excluded them from holding any permanent ecclesiastical office in Baden.

The aged archbishop of Freiburg, Herman von Vicari, was anxious to secure the assistance of a co- adjutor, but no agreement could be arrived at between himself and the civil authorities. He determined, there­ fore, to content himself with an assistant bishop, but the government placed serious difficulties in the way. At last, in 1867, Kübel was appointed bishop, and was con­ secrated in 1868. The old leader, who for twenty-five years had defended the rights of the Church in Baden might now rest in peace. In March, 1868, at the age of ninety-five, he passed away. With good reason is Herman von Vicari styled by his admirers the Athan­ asius of Freiburg. For fourteen years, from 1868 till 1882, no election could be held, and Freiburg remained without an archbishop.

The government of Würtemberg imitated the con­ duct of Baden by refusing to reply to the demands of the bishop of Rottenburg. The bishop, Dr. Lipp, resolved to show that he was determined to assert the freedom of the Church by forbidding his clergy to take any part in the state concursus held for the appointments to benefices ( 1853). He also warned the members of the Church Consistory that unless they adopted a more obedient attitude he should be obliged to inflict upon them the censures of the Church. The government replied to this by announcing that the clergy, who refused to undergo the state examination, could not be appointed to benefices, and it seemed as if a conflict between the two powers must necessarily begin. But the government soon adopted a more conciliatory atti­ tude, and negotiations were opened up for a settlement of the difficulties. A convention consisting of twenty articles was agreed to in January, 1854, and forwarded to Rome for approval, but the Pope refused to sanction the terms.

It was necessary, then, for the king, William I., to enter into direct communication with Rome. An agent was despatched there in 1856, and the Pope appointed Cardinal Reisach as his plenipotentiary. In a short time an agreement was arrived at, and a convention consisting of thirteen articles was signed on the 8th April, 1857.* The Pope approved of it by the Bull, Cum in sublimi ( 22nd July, 1857), and the confirmation by the king followed in December. The terms of the convention with Würtemberg agreed practically with those conceded to Baden. The peace, thus concluded, did not last long. The opponents of the Church, notably the freemasons and Liberals, raised an outcry against the concessions that had been made to the Catholic Church, while, as in Baden, the defeat of Austria in 1859, and the rise of the party friendly to Prussia, were unfortunate for the success of the convention. The senate of Tübingen University excluded the theological faculty from the elec­ tion of rector in 1858, on the ground that as the bishop had a right of control over the lectures of the faculty, the teaching of the professors could not be regarded as truly scientific. The government was very tardy in redressing the grievances of the faculty of theology.

The question of the convention was introduced into the Chambers, and in 1861 the motion in favour of rejecting it entirely was carried by a large majority. The Catholics protested against this breach of faith, as did also the legal commission of the Second Chamber, but their protests were unavailing. The government, how­ ever, introduced a bill regulating the relations between the Church and State in Würtemberg in 1861, and this was accepted, and promulgated in January, 1862. In this law many of the articles of the convention were sub­ stantially incorporated, but the Liberal party had asserted the principle that the rights of the Church were guaran­ teed not by negotiations between two powers, Church and State, but by the laws of the State. Owing mainly to the conciliatory attitude adopted by the bishop of Rottenburg and by the king, a conflict in Würtemberg was avoided and a modus vivendi was arrived at, regard­ ing the education of the clergy, the theological faculty at Tübingen, and the denominational character of the primary and secondary schools.

____________________
* Nussi, Conventiones, XLIII.

The independence of the Church in Hesse was defended by two remarkable men, Lenning and Ketteler. Lenning, a canon of Mayence, was one of the great leaders of the Catholic revival in Germany in 1848.* To him mainly is to be attributed the foundation of the Pius­ verein and the beginning of the German Catholic Assemblies. Some of the other clergy of Mayence opposed his schemes, and sought, rather, to introduce very sweeping Liberal reforms. The bishop opposed their schemes, but on his death in 1849 some of the canons of the cathedral elected Schmid, a professor of theology in the university of Giessen. Though the latter was a man of blameless character, he was rightly sus­ pected of favouring the unsound philosophic views then current in Germany. Pius IX. besought Schmid to resign his claims to the appointment, but he was unwill­ ing to do so, and when the Pope ordered a new election the majority of the chapter refused to vote for any other candidate. Finally, in 1850, three names were again submitted to the Pope, and in March of the same year he appointed William Emmanuel von Ketteler bishop of Mayence. Ketteler was sprung from a noble family in Westphalia, and devoted himself mainly to the study of law. Having been appointed to a government position he resigned, and was ordained a priest in 1844. He was elected to the Frankfort Parliament in 1848, and made brilliant speeches in defence of religion and the throne. His fame as a preacher and as a friend of the labouring classes gave him immense influence in Germany. In Mayence, Ketteler set himself to put new life into the Catholic community, and his efforts were ably seconded by Lenning. The new bishop went through his diocese preaching and instructing the people. He established a seminary at Mayence for the education of the clerical students, founded religious associations, and ordered annual retreats for his clergy. For thirty years Bishop Ketteler was one of the greatest pillars of the Catholic Church, not alone in Mayence but throughout the entire German states.

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* Brück, Adam Frans Lenning, Mayence, 1870.

The government of Hesse sought to prevent a conflict by making a few paltry concessions, whilst still holding firmly to the absolute control of ecclesiastical affairs. The demands of the bishops of the Upper Rhine Pro­ vinces in 1853 showed that the superiors of the Catholic Church were determined to insist on freedom. Bishop Ketteler proceeded to hold the concursus for vacant parishes without any notification to the civil authorities ( 1853), and the ministers of the Grand Duke immediately made proposals for a conference. The conference took place in 1854, and a convention was agreed upon and signed in August of the same year. It was sent to Rome for approval, and the bishop went himself to explain his position. The terms of the agreement were never for­ mally approved at Rome, but in practice they served as a rule for the guidance of the bishop and of the govern­ ment. For six years very little opposition was offered to the convention, but, in 1860, with the rise of the National Liberal party, a motion in favour of the abolition of the convention was introduced, and was rejected by the Second Chamber. The opponents of the convention did not abandon their efforts. On the contrary, they Drganised addresses through the country to the Grand Duke begging him to revoke it, and the agitation became so widespread that the government was obliged to bring forward a measure determining the relations between Church and State ( 1863). The Lower House having cut out or amended all the clauses favourable to the Catholic Church accepted the bill, but the Second Chamber refused to give way, and threw it out by a large majority. The war of 1866 gave the enemies of the convention a better opportunity for succeeding in their designs, and Bishop Ketteler, in order to save the government from a difficult situation, agreed to give up the convention; while at the same time he expressed the hope that the rights of the Church would continue to be respected.

In Nassau the Catholic Church was at the mercy of the state till the Revolution in Germany. During the Revo­ lution the government appealed to Bishop Blum of Limburg to use his influence with the Catholics in the interests of peace, and the bishop issued a pastoral exhorting the Catholics to hold aloof from the rebellion. When the Revolution passed, the government refused to withdraw any of the restrictions on the liberty of the Catholic Church. The bishop proceeded to appoint to benefices in 1853 without any preliminary agreement with the civil authorities, and he was promptly cited before the criminal courts. The government declared the appointments invalid, and the bishop issued a pastoral and a solemn protest against the interference of the state in Catholic affairs. Bismarck urged the Grand Duke of Nassau to resist all demands, and to continue the struggle; but the Grand Duke, alarmed at the strong attitude taken up by his Catholic subjects, was not anxious to follow the counsels of Prussia. Against the wishes of his ministers, he interfered personally in the dispute, abolished the new regulations they had made, and opened negotiations with the Holy See for a settle­ ment of the controversy.

CHAPTER X
THE KULTURKAMPF IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE
AND LATER DEVELOPMENTS

(a) PRUSSIA

Brück, op. cit., Bde., IV. Majunke, Geschichte des Kulturkamfes in Preussen-Deutschland, Paderborn, 1882. Schulte, Geschichte des Kulturkampfes in Preussen, Essen, 1882. Spahn, Das Deutsche Centrum, Mayence, 1907. Pastor, August Reichensperger, Freiburg, 1899. Pfülf, Hermann von Mallinckrodt, 2 Auf., Freiburg, 1901. Hüsgen, Ludwig Windthorst, Cologne, 1907. Bazin, L'Allemagne Catholique au XIX^e Siècle. Windthorst, ses Alliés et ses Adversaires, Paris, 1896.

THE war with France in 1870 led to the establishment of the German Empire under the leadership of Prussia. The Empire was formally proclaimed at Versailles in January, 1871. All the states of Germany, Catholic as well as Protestant, had contributed their share to the victory in the war against France, but the Liberal party and press began to hail the success of Germany as a triumph of Protestantism over Catholicity, and the new Empire as the Protestant successor to the Catholic Empire of the Middle Ages. Bismarck himself was never friendly to the Catholic Church, as had been shown by his interference in the ecclesiastical conflicts in Southern Germany. Consequently, in 1870, the alarming Catholic revival and the determination of that body to insist on religious liberty filled him with fears about the future of German unity. Political union, he considered, could never be secure so long as the people were divided on religious issues; and, hence, Prince Bismarck per­ suaded himself that with the aid of the Liberal Catholic party, the opponents of the Vatican Council, he might be able to set up a German national Church that should be wide enough for Protestant and Catholic alike. By insisting on the Protestant character of the new Empire he hoped, too, to secure a confederation of the Protestant nations of Europe against the Latin countries.

The Catholics, alarmed at the attacks that were directed against them, resolved to organise their forces for the struggle. The Catholic party in Prussia, which, under the two Reichenspergers, had done such good work, was broken up, and the Catholic deputies were scattered amongst the different political groups. It was deter­ mined in 1870 to set up a new party, not a mere Catholic party, but a politico-religious one, which, while safe­ guarding Catholic interests, would devote its attention to social and political questions. At a meeting held in Berlin in December, 1870, the "Centre" party, consist­ ing at that period of 48 Members of the Prussian Land­ tag, was formally established, and the Germania was founded to voice the sentiments of the new group. The leaders in the movement were Mallinckrodt, Wind­ thorst, Reichensperger, and Bishop Ketteler of Mayence. In the elections held for the first Reichstag the Catholics of the Empire rallied to their support, and 67 Members were returned pledged to the Centre party.*

In the Reichstag the National Liberals were strong, and the campaign was soon begun against the Church. During the discussion of the new imperial constitution no guarantee for the freedom and independence of the Church was inserted, and the amendments of the Centre were rejected. The Catholic department in the Ministry of Worship, which had been established in 1841, and which had done so much to prevent religious conflicts in Prussia, was suppressed, and the manage­ ment of Catholic and Protestant religious affairs was handed over to a common Ministry of Worship manned in great measure by Protestant officials ( July, 1871). The Catholic clergy were accused of having in­ terfered in the elections on behalf of the Centre party, especially in Bavaria. To prevent any further such interference in politics a law was passed declaring that

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* Ketteler, Die Centrums-Fraction auf dem ersten Deutschen Reichs­ tage, Mayence, 1872.

whoever attacked the constitution of the Empire or of the Confederate states, the regulations about marriage, the family, or private property, should be punished by a long term of imprisonment or a heavy fine. The pro­ poser of the law was the Bavarian, von Lutz, and he declared that unless the measure were passed, the Catholic Church, and not the imperial government, would be supreme in the Empire. In spite of the able opposition of the Centre party the law was passed, and promulgated ( 10th Dec., 1871).

In 1872, Bismarck announced to the Papal Secretary of State that Cardinal Hohenlohe was being sent to Rome as the ambassador of Germany to the Holy See. Such a selection, so contrary to all usage, was evidently meant to embarrass the Pope. The cardinal was well known to have been the intimate friend of Döllinger and of the Liberal school of Munich, while, besides, his position as a member of the Pope's senate, made it im­ possible for him to act at the Papal court as the repre­ sentative of a foreign power. Pius IX. refused to accept the cardinal as the German ambassador, and the refusal was used to stir up greater bitterness against the Jesuits and "Ultramontanes." Since 1868 an army bishop had been officially recognised in Prussia, from whom all the army chaplains received their faculties. He protested against allowing the Old Catholics to use the garrison church of St. Pantaleon in Cologne, and, when his protests were unheeded, he forbade the Catholic chaplain to hold service there ( 1872). For this order he was charged with disobedience to army discipline, and in 1873 the office of army bishop was suppressed.

The policy of Bismarck was to divide the Catholic forces by favouring the Old Catholics and those Liberal Catholics who, though not unwilling to accept the Vatican decrees, were opposed to the Jesuits and "Ultramontanism." The Jesuits were particularly detested by this party and by the Protestants, and hence, Bismarck determined to expel them from the Empire. Petitions against them were carefully organ­ ised, and in June a law was introduced for the suppres­ sion of the Jesuits and the congregations that were con­ nected with them. The law was passed in both houses, and on the 4th July, 1872, it received the signature of the Emperor. Besides the Jesuits, the Redemptorists, the Lazarists, the Fathers of the Holy Ghost, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart were suppressed as being closely connected with the Jesuits ( 1873). About the same time the question of the use of the Polish language in the schools of Poland began to create trouble. William III. had guaranteed to the Poles in the Prussian province their religion and their language; and by a ministerial instruction, it was laid down that all teachers in the higher schools should be competent to teach both German and Polish, while the religious educa­ tion should be given in all cases in the mother tongue of the children ( 1842). Bismarck began to fear that the use of the Polish language was a barrier against the Germanisation of Poland, and in 1872 a new regulation was published, making the use of German, even in purely Polish schools, obligatory. The religious educa­ tion should be given also in German from Easter, 1873. The archbishop of Gnesen-Posen, Ledochowski, pro­ tested against this new regulation and in February, 1873, he issued a circular to the religious teachers in the higher schools ordering them to use only the Polish language in the lower classes, but permitting the use of German in the more advanced classes, until a more just procedure might be adopted by the government. The Prussian government requested the religious instructors to say whether they were resolved to obey the archbishop or the civil authorities. In case they declared their in­ tention of accepting the archiepiscopal instructions they were dismissed and their places filled by laymen. The archbishop refused to approve of these men, and threat­ ened them with excommunication in case they persisted in their disobedience. As a consequence, religious in­ struction was abandoned in many of the higher schools, and when the archbishop erected private religious schools to supply the want, the boys were forbidden to attend under threat of punishment. Finally, the religious schools were closed.

Bismarck now realised that his hopes of dividing the Catholics of Germany were groundless. The bishops were unanimous in accepting the Vatican decrees, and were it not for the number of professors who joined the Old Catholics, the movement would have been too insig­ nificant to attract attention. Hence, he determined to begin a regular campaign against the Catholic Church in order to subdue it. Dr. Falk was appointed Minister of Worship ( 1873), and to him was assigned the duty of formulating and defending the measures that were to be undertaken. In April, 1873, the constitu­ tion* of 1848, which guaranteed the independence of the Church in Prussia, was changed so as to permit the state to pass laws regulating education, the appointment and dismissal of the clergy, and to interfere in all eccle­ siastical affairs. This alteration of the constitution was necessary on account of a series of laws against the clergy which had already been introduced into the Landtag, and which were passed in the following month ( May, 1873). Hence, they are frequently referred to as the "May Laws."

The first of these laws dealt with the education of the Catholic clergy. It enacted that for the future no posi­ tion, whether permanent, or temporary, in the church could be given to any priest who had not been educated according to the terms of this law, or against whose appointment the government lodged an objection. The plan of education prescribed for ecclesiastics was a com­ plete course at a public gymnasium, three years' theo­ logy at a German university, and a successful examina­ tion before state inspectors preliminary to their ordina­ tion. The years spent at a seminary might be accepted as equivalent to those spent in a university, provided that the programme of the seminary studies had been approved by the Minister of Worship. The examina­

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* Paragraphs 15, 18.

tion at the end of the course was to refer chiefly to his­ tory, philosophy, the classics and the German language. The boys' seminaries, the houses of residence for clerical students at the university, and the theological semi­ naries were to be placed under state inspectors, and their rules to be submitted to the civil authorities for approval, while the professors in such establishments must them­ selves have obtained university degrees. In regard to the appointment of clergy to benefices it was laid down that the bishop must notify all such appointments to the civil authorities, to whom thirty days were allowed for for­ warding objections against the candidate. Such objec­ tions might be brought before the Ministry of Worship, which was empowered to decide the dispute, and all appointments made in face of such objections were de­ clared invalid. The bishop was bound to fill all vacant parishes within a year under pain of a heavy fine.

In the regulations about discipline it was ordained that the disciplinary power in the empire could be exercised only by German ecclesiastics, thus practically withdraw­ ing Germany from the jurisdiction of the Pope. The punishments inflicted on the clergy and the names of the priests so punished were to be submitted to the govern­ ment officials; and, in certain cases, an appeal was allowed to the civil courts from the sentence of the bishop. The government might cite the bishops or the clergy before the courts to procure their dismissal from office; and after such a sentence of dismissal had been obtained, the offender could no longer exercise his functions. The proclamation of any censure on account of duties performed in the service of the state, or against any public official was forbidden. The other law re­ ferred to the conditions which should be fulfilled before an individual might pass from one religion to another. The laws were proclaimed in May, 1873, and the enemies of the Catholic Church boasted that now, at last, the victory was ensured.*

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* Rintelin, Die Kirchenpolitischen Gesetze Deutschalands, Paderborn, 1887.

The bishops of Germany issued an announcement that they could never acknowledge such laws or assist in any way in their administration ( May, 1873); while, on the other hand, the government issued an instruction to its officials commanding them to see that the laws were duly enforced. The Kulturkampf was begun in real earnest. The bishops were ordered to submit the regulations of their seminaries for approval, and, as they refused, the seminaries at Treves, Gnesen-Posen, Hilde­ sheim, and Strassburg were ordered to be closed. The bishops continued to appoint to parishes without any notification to the civil authorities, and both bishops and priests were condemned to pay heavy fines. Several of the clergy were arrested and thrown into prison. But these measures only served to arouse the fighting spirit of the German Catholics. All classes were now united, except a few Liberal Catholics, who persisted in their support of the government. Large indignation meetings were held over the country; addresses of sympathy and congratulation were voted to those who had been tried or imprisoned; the Catholic press adopted a most defiant tone, and several new papers were founded to help in the defence of Catholic interests. The Centre party in the Landtag and Reichstag, though hopelessly out­ numbered, made a brave stand, and allowed no act of persecution to pass unnoticed. A new form of oath was prescribed for the bishops, obliging them to promise obedience to the "May" laws, and was passed ( Dec., 1873), but the bishops unanimously refused to take it. The Pope approved entirely of the attitude of the German Catholics ( 21st Nov., 1873), as did their co-religionists throughout the world; while, on the other hand, at a great Protestant meeting held in St. James' Hall, London, resolutions supporting the Emperor were passed with the greatest enthusiasm.

During 1874 the Kulturkampf was carried on with the greatest bitterness. Catholic societies were dissolved, newspapers opposing the government were the object of persecution, many of the clergy were condemned to imprisonment, and deprived of their office. The cam­ paign against the bishops was pursued with relentless vigour. Bishop Brinkman, of Münster, had been fined so often that nothing else was left him except his house­ hold furniture, and this was sold by the government agents.

Ledochowski, Archbishop of Gnesen-Posen, was re­ quested to resign his office, and on his refusal he was arrested in the early morning, and committed to prison. Eberhard, Bishop of Treves, was arrested, as was also Melchers, Archbishop of Cologne. These arrests only served to stir up the indignation of the Catholics in Poland and the Rhine Provinces, and to strengthen them in their opposition to the government. In March, 1874, the law regarding civil marriage was published, and in the same year a new measure was introduced to remove the loopholes for escape that had been detected by the judges in the May Laws. If a bishop were de­ clared to be deposed from his office by the civil courts, the chapter was to be ordered to elect a vicar-capitular. If the chapter refused, the president of the province was empowered to name a commissioner, to whom was given the administration of the diocese. In case any other person attempted to carry on the work of the diocese he was liable to very severe penalties. These new amend­ ing laws were all passed in May, 1874. But the chapters promptly announced their resolve never to elect vicars capitular so long as the lawful bishops lived.

The Prussian government resolved to appeal to the Reichstag for new weapons against the Catholic Church. In this assembly the Centre had then 94 members, who were determined to contest every inch of ground with Bismarck and his allies; but the union of nearly all parties against them left them in a great minority. A new law was introduced by which it was enacted that any clergyman who had been deposed from his office might be forbidden by the police to reside in any district, and if he refused, or if he continued to exercise the functions of his order, by celebrating Mass or administering the sacraments, he might be expelled from the Empire. Furthermore, a clergyman who had been declared to have lost his civil rights in one state was to be regarded as having lost his civil rights in the other states of the Empire. Such a proposal was received with astonish­ ment even by men hostile to the Catholic Church, but the majority of the Reichstag followed the lead of Bismarck, and the law of Expulsion was passed, and promulgated ( May, 1874).

The law was immediately enforced. The priests were arrested and sent out of the parishes, and hundreds of districts were left without any Catholic clergyman. In many cases no priests could be found to administer even the last sacraments to the dying. The people in some districts, deprived of their clergy, assembled on Sundays and holidays in their churches, and organised a lay re­ ligious service. Very few priests were found to accept office, and those who did were promptly excommunicated, and the Catholics refused to hold any communication with them. A number of the bishops were deprived of their office, including Ledochowski, Archbishop of Gnesen-Posen, but the chapters refused to elect vicars capitular, and the government of the dioceses was carried on by secret agents who, in spite of all the exer­ tions of the police, could not be discovered. An attempt made upon the life of Bismarck at Kissingen ( 1874) was used by him to stir up greater bitterness against the Catholics. The Catholic societies were suppressed, or held in check by numberless petty restrictions; the German embassy at the Vatican was withdrawn ( 1874); and the Civil Marriage Law was enforced in all parts of the Empire ( Feb., 1875).

This year, 1875, witnessed the most violent stage of the whole Kulturkampf. The bishop of Paderborn was arrested, deposed, and obliged to flee to Belgium. The prince bishop of Breslau and the bishop of Münster were thrown into prison; and several Catholic officials, who refused to carry out the instructions of the government, were dismissed from their office. Pius IX., who had already created Ledochowski a cardinal, addressed a letter to the German Catholics in February praising them for their constancy, and exhorting them to stand firm in face of persecution. A law was introduced in March, 1875, suppressing the payment of the clergy and bishops unless they accepted the May Laws. The bishops of Prussia met at Fulda ( 2nd April, 1875), and appealed to the king not to consent to such an unjust measure, but the king disregarded their appeal, and the law was proclaimed in April, 1875. The Jesuits and the religious congregations supposed to be closely con­ nected with their society had been already suppressed in the German Empire; and it was now resolved that all the religious orders in Prussia, except those engaged in the care of the sick, should meet a similar fate. A law for their suppression and expulsion was carried in May, 1875, and was enforced with great cruelty. Many of these laws were opposed to the terms of the Prussian constitution (Articles 15, 16, 18); and this opposition afforded the Catholics a reasonable ground for refusing to obey them. To get rid of this difficulty the articles of the constitution, securing religious liberty, were sup­ pressed ( June, 1875). In the same year a measure was passed taking away the administration of the Church property from the ecclesiastical authorities, and handing it over to elected committees ( June, 1875). But the bishops wisely determined to advise the Catholics to take part in the election of the committees, and the hopes of the government were disappointed.

During the years 1876 and 1877 the new Code was rigorously enforced. Nine of the episcopal sees were left vacant, three of the bishops having died, and the other six having been deposed. More than one thousand parishes had been deprived of their priests, and more than two thousand priests had been con­ demned to fines, imprisonment or expulsion. The semi­ naries were closed, and the young priests, who refused to undergo the state examination, were being hunted down by the police if they attempted to exercise their functions. Yet the general results were unfavourable to the government. Every new weapon of persecution only served to consolidate the Catholic forces. The Centre Party had increased rapidly since the persecu­ tion began, and under the leadership of Mallinkrocdt (+ 1874), Windthorst, August and Peter Reichen­ sperger, &c., had shown a bold front to Bismarck and his allies in the Prussian Landtag, and in the Reichstag. Hence, the government, in spite of the pledges of Bismarck against another Canossa, was not unwilling to come to terms, if only some suitable opportunity were offered.

This opportunity came with the election of Leo XIII. to the Chair of St. Peter ( Feb., 1878). The new Pope addressed a personal letter to the German Emperor on the day of his election, in which he expressed his sorrow at the strained relations existing between the German Empire and the Catholic Church. Two attempts made on the life of the Emperor (11th May, 2nd June), served to strengthen his conviction that without religion the very existence of order and government was en­ dangered. Personally he had never been thoroughly in sympathy with the May Laws, and now, in face of the rapid advances made by the Socialists, and the return of such a large number of Centre members to the Reichs­ tag, nothing remained but to open negotiations with the Holy See for an adjustment of the dispute. In June, 1878, Bismarck had several interviews in Kissingen with Cardinal Mazella, the Papal nuncio at Munich, but, as the chancellor still insisted upon the recognition of the recent Prussian and imperial legislation, the interviews were without result, and the persecution was continued. The discussions on the tariff laws, and the relations of the individual states to the Empire, led to a division between the Chancellor and the Liberal party ( 1879), and to a closer union between the Centre party and the Conservatives. Several of the Ministers resigned, amongst them Falk, the Minister of Worship, who was directly responsible for the whole anti-Catholic legisla­ tion. With his resignation the old policy of persecution was abandoned, and a more conciliatory, though still very unsatisfactory, attitude was adopted.

The negotiations between Prussia and Rome con­ tinued, but the aim of Bismarck was rather to create a division between the Holy See and the Centre party than to abolish the May Laws. Instead of withdrawing the new Penal Code, as Windthorst demanded, Bismarck resolved to establish a truce by having three laws passed giving the government discretionary power in the appli­ cation of the laws against the Catholic Church ( 1880, 1882, and 1883). By means of these laws the priests were permitted to return to their parishes, and pro­ visional appointments could be made to the vacant bene­ fices. The bishoprics were filled, Treves and Fulda in 1881, Osnabrück, Paderborn and Breslau in 1882. The bishop of Limburg returned to his diocese in 1883, and the bishop of Münster in 1884, but the government re­ fused to allow Cardinal Ledochowski to come back to Gnesen-Posen, or Melchers to Cologne. Both resigned their sees, and new archbishops were appointed to Cologne in 1885, and to Posen in 1886. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See were renewed in 1882. In 1885 the disputes between Germany and Spain about the possession of the Caroline Islands were referred, with the consent of both parties, to the mediation of Leo XIII., and both Germany and Spain accepted his decision ( 17th Dec., 1885).

In January, 1886, the Pope addressed a letter to the German bishops in which he laid down the points upon which the Church could never give way, and it only re­ mained for Bismarck, under the pressure of Windthorst and the Centre Party, to make the advance.* Mgr. Kopp, Bishop of Fulda, was called to the House of Peers, and a new law was proposed, abolishing the state exami­ nation for clerics, permitting the re-opening of the semi­ naries, suppressing the court for ecclesiastical affairs,

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* T'Serclaes, Léon XIII., Vol. I., pp. 409-39.

restoring to the bishops their disciplinary powers, and abandoning several of the senseless restrictions con­ tained in the May Laws. On the other hand, the government insisted that the bishops should be obliged to notify the names of the persons to be appointed to benefices before the appointment was actually made, so as to allow time for formulating objections. The Pope yielded on this point, and the measure was passed in May, 1886. In the next year, a new law was proposed which limited the notification of ecclesiastical appoint­ ments to the case of permanent appointments, and the grounds of objection to social or political faults. Many of the other restrictions on the bishops' powers were withdrawn, and the religious orders, which had come under the Law of 1875, were allowed to return. The Jesuits and the congregations supposed to be connected with them were not affected by the new proposal. The Centre was not completely satisfied with the measure, but, acting on the instructions of the Pope, they accepted it, and on the 27th April the Emperor sanctioned its promulgation. Many other outstanding difficulties were regulated by negotiations between Prussia and Rome, and in May, 1887, Leo XIII. was able to announce to the Cardinals that the Kulturkampf in Germany was at an end.

William I. died in March, 1888, and after the ninety- nine days' reign of his son, Frederick II., William II. was crowned Emperor ( June, 1888). He was friendly to the Catholics, and anxious to avail himself of the ser­ vices of the Centre party against the rising strength of Socialism. In spite of the attacks of the Protestant Alliance(Evangelische Bund), which had been founded to save the Empire from the attacks of Rome, the young Emperor made it clear that he was desirous of satisfying the reasonable wishes of his Catholic subjects. In 1890, the Catholic clergy were freed from the obligations of military service in times of peace, and in the same year, the great enemy of the Catholic Church, Prince Bismarck, lost his place as Imperial Chancellor. His great opponent, Windthorst, the able champion of Catholic interests, survived the fall of the Chancellor only one year. He died in March, 1891, and his death was mourned by the Catholics not alone of Germany but of the entire world. With O'Connell and Montalembert, Windthorst must be re­ garded as one of the great Catholic leaders of the nine­ teenth century. In 1893, William II. visited Rome, and was received with every mark of respect by the Pope; and in 1894, the Redemptorists and Fathers of the Holy Ghost were allowed to return to the Empire. In 1901, in order to win the sympathies of the Catholics of Alsace-Lorraine, the Emperor intervened personally, and appointed Dr. Martin Spahn, Professor of History in what had been hitherto the exclusively Protestant University of Strassburg, and in the following year a convention was concluded with the Holy See for the establishment of a Catholic faculty of theology in the same university. In March, 1904, the law of banish­ ment against the Jesuits was abolished. Count Bülow, who was not indisposed to follow the policy of Bismarck, was, like Bismarck, destined to yield before the strength of the Centre Party ( 1909). In the present Reichstag the party has 104 members, and is by far the strongest group in the Chamber.

(b) BADEN

After the death of Herman von Vicari ( 1868), the archbishopric of Freiburg remained vacant till 1882. The government either insisted on its own candidate, or placed such conditions on the future archbishop, that no appointment could be made. During the interregnum the diocese was administered by the assistant bishop, von Kübel. The Liberal party held undisputed sway in Baden, and the ministry of Jolly continued to be most hostile to the Church. In 1869, the Civil Marriage Law was sanctioned, in 1873, the Old Catholic bishop, Reinkens, was officially recognised by Baden; and although only six priests and 17,000 out of a total of nearly a million Catholics joined the new sect, several of the best churches in Baden, including the university chapel in Freiburg, were handed over for the Old Catholic worship.*

The Prussians found Baden thoroughly sympathetic during the stormy days of the Kulturkampf. In 1872, the members of religious orders were forbidden to give missions or spiritual aid in the Grand Duchy, as well as to engage in any educational work. The Liberals in­ sisted that the primary school system should be made thoroughly undenominational, but the Grand Duke resisted their demands for the abolition of religious teach­ ing. In the end, the Minister, Jolly, found a solution that went far to meet the wishes of the Liberals and of the Grand Duke. The schools were to become undenomi­ national, but in the appointment of teachers due regard was to be had for the religious beliefs of the population in the school areas. If they were entirely Catholic the teachers should be Catholic; if the population were mixed the head teacher should belong to the religion of the majority; and for the minority, if there was only one teacher in the school, a religious instructor might be brought to give religious education. The Grand Duke signed this measure in 1876, but on the next day he dis­ missed Jolly.

Nearly all the laws about the education of the clergy passed in Prussia were introduced into Baden. In 1874, the law ordering the state examination of the clerical students was passed. The preparatory seminary, and the house of residence for clerical students at Freiburg Uni­ versity were closed, a court for ecclesiastical affairs was instituted, and the priests, who might be dismissed from their office by its authority, were warned against exercis­ ing their functions under threats of very severe penal­ ties. The same scenes were witnessed in Baden as in Prussia. Parishes were left without pastors, the young

____________________
* Lauer, Gesch. der Kath. Kirche. im Grosherzogthum Baden, Frei­ burg, 1908.

priests, who had not undergone the prescribed examina­ tion, were arrested if they performed any of the duties of their office, and most of them were obliged to leave the country. The number of clerical students at the Uni­ versity of Freiburg, and at St. Peter's seminary fell rapidly, and the diocesan administrator was powerless to assist the poor people who appealed to him to send priests to their assistance.

As in Prussia, the government began to recognise that the persecution served only to strengthen and unite the Catholic body. A new political party had been organised for the defence of the Church in Baden, under the name Catholic People's Party ( Katholischen Volkspartei), and in the election of 1879 they were par­ ticularly successful. The law about the examination for the Catholic clergy was withdrawn in 1880, and after the death of Kübel ( Aug., 1881) better relations were established between the government and the Church. In 1882 the archbishopric of Freiburg was filled by the appointment of Mgr. Orbin; the Liberal majority in the Second Chamber was overthrown ( 1881); the house of residence for theological students at the University of Freiburg was re-opened ( 1889); preparatory seminaries were established in connection with the gymnasiums in Freiburg and Constance; the members of the religious orders were permitted to give missions and to assist in the care of souls ( 1894); and provision was made for courses of philosophy and history, acceptable to Catholics in the University of Freiburg. Those conces­ sions were due entirely to the strong Catholic organisa­ tions in Baden, and the maintenance of religious peace will depend entirely on the maintenance of a Catholic party in the Chambers.

(c) HESSE

The convention that had been concluded between Bishop von Ketteler and the government in 1854 con­ tinued to govern the relations between Church and State till 1866, when the convention was given up owing to the persistent attacks of the Liberals. The friendly relations were, however, unbroken up till 1870, mainly owing to the great personal influence of Ketteler. But with the outbreak of the conflict in Prussia the National Liberals of Hesse determined to make war upon the Church. The Jesuits were expelled ( 1872); the Old Catholic bishop was formally recognised ( 1873); a school law, aimed entirely at destroying the influence of the clergy in primary education, was passed in 1874; and in 1875 a series of laws, modelled to a great extent on the "May Laws," was passed. Bishop Ketteler died in 1877, and, owing to the difficulties raised by the government, the diocese of Mayence was left vacant till 1886. The seminary at Mayence and the preparatory seminaries were closed, the priests were deposed, their parishes left without pastors, and nothing was left un­ done to bring the Catholic Church into thorough subjec­ tion to the state. But the persecution, as elsewhere, only served to rouse the Catholics in Hesse, and in the end the government was obliged to open negotiations with the Holy See. A bishop was elected in Mayence, in 1886, the clergy were restored to their parishes, and the seminary in Mayence was re-opened.

(d) BAVARIA

The Liberal government of Bavaria, which had been so hostile to the Vatican Council, continued its policy by forbidding the bishops to publish the decrees until they had received the royal Placet; but the bishops paid little attention to such a prohibition, and published the decrees without seeking for any approval. The Minister, von Lutz, was the great enemy of the Catholic Church, and the strong supporter of Prussia in its anti- Catholic campaign. The Old Catholics were treated with special favour. Many churches were placed at their disposal, the Old Catholic professors were retained in their chairs, and the priests who had fallen away and were under sentence of excommunication were allowed to retain their houses together with the parochial pro­ perty. In September, 1872, the laws against the Jesuits and the religious congregations supposed to be con­ nected with them were proclaimed.

The majority of the Second Chamber was opposed to the policy of von Lutz, but in spite of the vote of want of confidence passed by them in 1875, Louis II. retained him in office. The Liberal party were strengthened by new appointments to the Upper House, but the Second Chamber continued hostile, and the Catholic and "Patriot" party steadily gained ground in the country. In 1886, Prince Leopold was appointed regent, and a brighter era opened for the Catholic Church. Owing to the assertion made by the regent to his ministers that the highest authorities in the Catholic Church had ex­ pressed their satisfaction with the condition of affairs in Bavaria, Leo XIII. found it necessary to address an Encyclical to the Bavarian bishops ( 22nd Dec., 1887), in which he laid down the points upon which the bishops should demand redress* In accordance with his advice the bishops met in 1888, and drew up a memo­ randum to be presented to the government. In this memorandum they referred principally to the Placet, the attitude of the government in regard to the Old Catholics, the increasing irreligion of the universities, and the religious education in the schools. A reply was issued in March, 1889, but, although some concessions were made, the main grievances of which the bishops complained remained untouched.

As the demands of the Catholic majority in the Lower House were disregarded, they determined to adopt the extreme measure of refusing to vote the supplies for the budget of worship ( 1889); and as a result, the ministry was obliged to give way on the question of the return of the Redemptorists to Bavaria, and to recognise that the Old Catholics no longer belonged to the Catholic

____________________
* T'Serclaes, op. cit., p. 485.

Church. The great enemy of the Catholic Church, von Lutz, died in 1890, and under the reign of the regent, who is himself a loyal Catholic, the relations between the government and the Church became more friendly. The Liberal party in Bavaria, however, has still the same ecclesiastical programme, but the united forces of the Bavarian Centre have proved too powerful for them in the political arena.

CHAPTER XI
EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS ORDERS, AND
CATHOLIC ORGANISATION IN GERMANY
(1848-1908)

In addition to the books on the general history, of Germany, cf.:-- Paulsen, The German Universities, London, 1905. Joos, Elementar- Unterricht, Heidelberg, 1902. Lossen, Der Anteil der Katholiken am Akademischen Lehramte in Preussen, Cologne, 1901. Rost, Die Katholiken im Kultur und Wirtschaftsleben der Gegenwart, Cologne, 1908. Krose, Kirchliches Hanbuch, I Bd., Freiburg, 1908. Jahrbuch der Zeit und Kultur Geschichte, 1907, 1908, Freiburg. Catholic Social Work, in Germany: Dublin Review, 1908, 1909.

IN the Prussian constitution of 1848 liberty of education was guaranteed. The primary schools were under the control of the state, but the influence of the Church was duly recognised, and the schools were strongly denomi­ national. But with the development of the Liberal party about 1860 a cry was raised against the religious character of the primary schools, and of the training colleges for teachers, but the wars of 1866 and 1870 pre­ vented any change being effected. The growing anti- Catholic spirit after the establishment of the empire led to a new attack being made in 1872, when Falk passed a law placing the public and private schools under state control, and assigned to the state the duty of appointing the local and district inspectors and of dismissing them. This latter clause was aimed at the Catholic clergy, who were in most Catholic districts the school inspec­ tors. Soon, numbers of priests were dismissed on account of their refusal to obey the "May laws," and in 1875 they were shut out in great measure even from the religious instruction in the schools. The religious instruction was confided entirely to the lay teachers, and, although the opinion of all classes in Prussia was against mixed primary education, some of the denominational schools lost their denominational character. But after the Kulturkampf this policy was abandoned, and the old relations between Church and State in regard to the schools were re-established. By the Law of 1906 it was recognised that the denominational school should be the rule in Prussia, and the mixed schools the exception. In case of mixed schools due provision was made for safe­ guarding the religion of the children by appointing to the staff teachers of the same religious persuasion as the minority of the children in attendance. Religious education is under the control of the Church.*

In Nassau the primary schools are undenominational,† In Baden, since the law of 1876, the schools are un­ denominational, but in the appointment of teachers regard must be had to the religious beliefs of the chil­ dren. The religious education is well looked after by the clergy, and the authorities endeavour by various regulations to minimise the dangers of the system. The training colleges for teachers are, however, denominational; but a measure was recently introduced by the National Liberals to abolish their religious char­ acter. The proposal was, however, rejected by the com­ bined votes of the Centre and Conservative parties ( May, 1908). In Bavaria the Liberals tried to drive the Church out of the primary schools and training colleges for teachers in 1848, but this policy was strongly resisted both by clergy and people. The influence of the un­ denominational tendencies of the government of Baden led to a new school struggle in Bavaria. A bill was in­ troduced in 1867 for excluding the clergy from the schools, but public opinion was strongly aroused against the anti-Catholic ministry, and the measure was defeated ( 1869). In the days of the Kulturkampf some

____________________
* Cf., I. E. R., January, 1907.
† Firnhaber, Die Nassauische Simultanvolkschule, Wiesbaden, 1881.

of the schools, especially in the Palatinate, were changed from denominational to mixed institutions; but the royal ordinance of 1883 proclaimed that the primary schools were to be, as a rule, denominational, and that only in extraordinary cases could the mixed schools be tolerated. Hence, nearly all the schools of Bavaria are denomi­ national, and the clergy are the local school inspectors. In Hesse the influence of the Church on the schools was greatly lessened by the law of 1874. In Würtem­ berg the schools are denominational, while in Saxony and in the overwhelmingly Protestant states the posi­ tion in the Catholics is extremely difficult.

In regard to secondary school the state in Prussia claimed to have full control over these institutions, and although up till 1872 some were recognised as distinctly Catholic, and some distinctly Protestant, yet since 1872 not a single gymnasium is recognised as completely Catholic, although in the Protestant provinces, e.g., Schleswig-Holstein, Pommern, Brandenburg, several exclusively Protestant gymnasia exist. Free secondary schools are not permitted. The gymnasia, it should be noted, are mere teaching establishments, and are non- resident. Owing, however, to the dangers which the government anticipated from the total separation of religion from education, due provision has been made for the appointment of religious teachers. who are recog­ nised as ordinary members of the staff. During the stormy days of the Kulturkampf restrictions were placed upon the religious teachers and upon the scholars to pre­ vent them from taking part officially in the processions and services of the church, but such a policy has been long since abandoned. In Bavaria most of the secon­ dary schools are used by all classes, though the schools in some cases are under the control of religious orders. The bishops of Bavaria addressed a memorial to the government in 1888, in which they requested that the name of the religious teachers in the secondary schools should be submitted to the local bishop before their appointments were confirmed, that the religious char­ acter of the institutions should be safeguarded as far as possible, that no professors should be appointed who were likely to offend against the religion or discipline of the Catholic Church, and that the students be obliged to attend daily Mass, and receive Holy Communion at least four times a year. The government went a good way to meet those demands. In Baden till the year 1870 the religion of the pupils was to be taken into account in the appointment of teachers, but in 1870 a change was introduced, according to which the professorships were thrown open to all candidates without regard to their religious beliefs. The exclusively Catholic funds could, however, be applied only to the payment of Catholic teachers. Religious education is provided for by the appointment of special religious professors.

The universities in Germany under the control of the state became undenominational, though in many of them, as in Bonn, Freiburg, Breslau, Würzburg, Tübingen, Munich, Catholic theological faculties are still retained. For Breslau and Bonn it was arranged ( 1811, 1818) that at least one Catholic professor of philo­ sophy should always be in residence, and in 1853 it was further guaranteed that a Catholic professor of history should be appointed to these two universities. This arrangement was also extended to Freiburg, Tübingen, Würzburg, Munich, and, more recently by the Emperor William II., to the university of Strassburg. The per­ centage of Catholic professors at the German univer­ sities is not in keeping with their numbers (pop. 34.5 per cent., prof., 13 per cent.). The causes assigned for this are, first, the relative poverty of the Catholic students, which prevents them from selecting a career which for many years cannot afford them the means of subsistence; second, the distrust which Catholic parents entertain for the universities; and third, the bitterness of the religious antagonism existing in government and university circles, especially since 1870. In Bavaria the position of the Catholics at the universities is much better, but even there the memorandum addressed by the bishops to the government in 1888 is sufficient to show that the situation is far from satisfactory.

Various efforts were made during the nineteenth cen­ tury to establish a free Catholic university in Germany on the model of Louvain. The project was first dis­ cussed by the bishops in 1848, but very little was done till 1862, when the Catholic Congress at Aachen deter­ mined to take up the work. But Catholics were not unanimous in support of such a project. Many, and amongst them such a thoroughly loyal son of the Church as Professor Hergenröther, thought that it would be a mistake to leave the state universities in the hands of the anti-Catholic party, and that the Church, therefore, should devote her energies to strengthen the position of the Catholics within these; institutions. In 1869 and 1870 large sums of money were collected, but the out­ break of the Kulturkampf, and the knowledge that the government would never grant a charter to the free university, put an end to the project. But if the plan for the establishment of a Catholic university has failed, two other projects which are of incalculable importance for the development of scientific studies amongst Catholics, have been initiated, namely, the Görresgesell­ schaft and the Albertus-Magnus Verein. The first was founded in 1876 to encourage scientific studies amongst Catholics especially in philosophy and history. Financial assistance is afforded by the society to deserving students to enable them to pursue their researches, and to defray the publication of their results. A German historical Institute was founded in Rome for the study of history ( 1888). Various invaluable works have been published in the domain of history and philosophy by the aid of the society, and their two publications, The Historical, and Philosophical Year Books, are reckoned as amongst the best of their kind.* The Albertus-

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* Herm. Cardauns, Die Görresgesellschaft, 1876- 1901, Cologne, 1901.

Magitus Verein was founded at Treves in 1897 in order to assist clever students to continue their university studies. It is spread over nearly all the dioceses of Germany, and its revenue in 1906 was £5,250. From this fund 548 students belonging to the Arts, Law, Medical, or Technical departments received assistance. Similar societies are in existence in Freiburg, Munich, Mayence, Metz, and Strassburg.*

The religious congregations suffered severely, not alone in Prussia but throughout the entire Empire, during the Kulturkampf. In 1872 and 1873 the Jesuits, Lazarists, Redemptorists, the Fathers of the Holy Ghost, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart were dis­ solved, and by the Law of 1875 the other institutions, not devoted to the care of the sick, were also suppressed. Since 1880, however, most of the congregations have returned, and in 1906 there were 2,049 houses of men and women, with a total of 29,796 members. In Bavaria the Kulturkampf was not so violent, though the Jesuits, and the other congregations supposed to be connected with them, were suppressed. In 1906 there were 1,219 houses, with 2,133 men, and 13,279 women. In Wür­ temberg the Sisters of Charity are widely spread, as also in Baden. In Alsace-Lorraine there were in 1906, 497 men, and 6,030 women belonging to religious congre­ gations. In Hesse and Saxony very few convents exist. The total number of religious houses in the German Empire at present is 5,010, and the total number of members belonging to the religious congregations is 58,452.† The orders or congregations represented are principally the Benedictines, the Cistercians, the Capuchins, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Sisters of Charity, of St. Elizabeth, of St. Charles Borromaeus, and the Franciscan Sisters.

Nowhere are the Catholics better organised than in Germany. The attitude assumed towards them by the

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* Krose, Kirchliches Handbuch, Bd. I., 1907-8. † Idem., Freiburg, 1908, p. 1 86).

government of the Empire and of the confederate states, the bitterness with which they were assailed by the Pro­ testant societies and press, and the alarming spread of Socialism among the non-Catholic working population, forced the Catholics to study carefully the problem of thorough organisation. Besides societies devoted to works of charity, such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, of St. Elizabeth, of the Holy Family, &c., which are all confederated in the Charitasverband, founded in 1897, the Catholics have been particularly busy in creat­ ing social organisations of all kinds. These are organ­ ised as a rule on the plan of grouping together in one body the members of a particular trade or profession. The earliest of these is the Gesellenverein, founded by Kolping in 1846 for the protection of journeymen trades­ men. Its branches spread rapidly into all parts of Ger­ many, so that at present it counts in all, journeymen and masters, about 193,000 members. The Lehrlingsverein, for the protection of Catholic apprentices, the asso­ ciations of Catholic merchants, teachers, students, workmen, servants, are all thoroughly organised to defend the interests of the classes they represent, and at the same time to safeguard their religious beliefs. Besides these professional organisations some general organisation was required in order to unify the efforts of the German Catholics. This want was satisfied in the foundation by Windthorst of the Volksverein for Catholic Germany at Cologne in 1890. Its aim was to combat social errors and to defend the Christian foun­ dations of society. It spread so rapidly that in the first year of its existence it counted 10,000 members, in 1903 300,000, and in 1908 over 600,000. It strives to attain its object by organising conferences, debates, lectures and regular courses of instruction, especially in the dangerous centres, by the publication of its own news­ paper, books, pamphlets, and by assisting the Catholic papers in furnishing them with suitable articles on social and religious subjects (about 400 articles weekly).

What the Volksverein does for men the Catholic Frauenbund, founded in 1903, seeks to do for women, and it has already attained a large measure of success (17,000 members). The annual Catholic Congress (Katholikentag), begun in 1848, serves as an opportu­ nity for an annual review of the organised Catholic forces, and for a complete and friendly discussion of the political and social programme, which their representa­ tives, the Centre party, should support in Parliament.*

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* Krose, Kirchliches Handbuch, 1908, pp. 212-281.

CHAPTER XII
THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE

(a) THE CHURCH IN AUSTRIA

Brück, op. cit. Rauscher, Uber die Stellung der Kath. Kirche in Österreich, Vienna, 1860. Jacobsen, Uber die Österreich Concordat, Leipzig, 1856. Wolfsgruber, Die Konferenzen der Bischöfe Österreichs, Linz, 1905. Kannengeiser, Juifs et Catholiques en Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1892. Fritsch, Unter dem Keichen des Los von Rom Bewegung, Münster, 1900.

THE Revolutionary storm of 1848 broke over the Austrian provinces with astonishing violence and rapidity. Vienna was in the hands of the rebels, the Italian provinces were in insurrection, and the Maygars of Hungary, under the leadership of Kossuth, demanded complete independence. The Emperor, Ferdinand I., abdicated, and was succeeded by his nephew, Francis Joseph I., then a boy of eighteen ( Dec., 1848). The Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and a constitution proclaimed. With the aid of Russia, Kossuth and his party were defeated, and the separate constitution for Hungary abolished ( 1849).

With the abolition of the old absolute rule, and the establishment of constitutional government, the enslave­ ment of the Church according to the principles of Joseph II. had to be abandoned, and the relations between Church and State remodelled. The bishops met in Vienna in 1840 under the presidency of Cardinal Schwarzenberg, prince bishop of Salzburg. The assembly lasted from the 30th April till the 17th June; and a series of demands was formulated regarding the freedom of the Church, the abolition of the Placet, educa­ tion, and the free exercise of the disciplinary powers of the Church against both clerics and laymen. Before separating, the bishops appointed a committee of five members to continue the negotiations with the govern­ ment. The Emperor and his ministers were decidedly friendly. The fearful character of the revolution in Austria, especially among the university students, opened the eyes of the government to the necessity of giving the Church a freer hand.

By a royal edict issued in 1850 a good beginning was made in the work of pulling down the regime of Josephism. The Placet for Papal letters, and for episcopal pastorals was withdrawn; the right of the bishops to inflict censures was recognised; nobody was to be appointed professor of theology in the universities without having got the approval of the bishop, who might withdraw such licence for just cause, or forbid his students to attend certain lectures at the university. In the examination for degrees in divinity the bishop might appoint half the examiners. Rauscher, prince bishop of Seckau, was particularly active in the negotiations with the Emperor, and in availing himself of the concessions that had been made The marriage laws, according to which Joseph II. arrogated to the state full control of the marriage contract, still remained, and were a constant source of friction between the clergy and the civil autho­ rities. Rauscher pressed upon the government the necessity for a change, and in Dec., 1851, by another royal patent, it was decreed that in case of Catholics the civil validity of the marriage was dependent upon its being recognised by the Church as a valid contract, and that in such matters the Church was to decide only according to her own code of laws.

It was felt, however, that for a complete adjustment of the religious difficulty it was necessary to open nego­ tiations with Rome for the conclusion of a concordat. Rauscher was appointed plenipotentiary for Austria, and was assisted by a body of statesmen ( 1852), while the Papal nuncio at Vienna represented the Pope. The negotiations were continued at Rome in 1854, and in August, 1855, the concordat was signed by the plenipo­ tentiaries of the Holy See and Austria. It was ratified by the Pope on the 3rd November, 1855, and two days later it was published by the Emperor.* By the con­ cordat it was provided that the Catholic Church in the Austrian Empire should be guaranteed the rights and privileges accorded to her by divine and canon law. The Placet on Papal documents was abolished; the bishops were to be permitted to administer their dioceses without hindrance, to appoint their vicars general, to select the candidates for the priesthood, to reject those whom they deemed unworthy of holy orders, to assemble in provin­ cial or diocesan synods, and to make fitting arrange­ ments for public prayers, processions, and funerals. In regard to education, it was provided that education in the public and private schools must be in accordance with Catholic doctrine, and that it was the duty of the bishops to take care that nothing was taught in the schools against faith or morals. Nobody was to give religious education without being empowered to do so by the local bishop, nor could any person be appointed professor of theology unless the bishop gave his approval. In Catholic secondary schools only Catholic professors could be appointed The teachers in the primary schools were placed under the inspection of the local clergy, and the diocesan inspectors appointed only on the nomination of the bishop.

To the bishops were also accorded the censorship of books, and the free exercise of their disciplinary powers. Any insult offered to the Catholic Church, its faith, or its worship was to be punished. The seminaries were to be maintained, and the appointment of the professors rested with the bishop. In the nomination to vacant sees the Emperor should, henceforth, consult the provincial bishops; and arrangements were made about the appointments to vacancies in the cathedral chapters.

____________________
* Nussi, Conventions XLI.

The religious orders were allowed to follow their rules and to communicate freely with their superiors in Rome; and the Church was free to secure property and to administer it through her own agents. The last article (36) provided for the suppression of all laws contrary to the terms of the concordat.

The concordat of 1855 was certainly a great boon to the Austrian Church. It showed that in official circles the old principles of Josephism and Febronianism were abandoned, and that a new era of liberty had begun. A meeting of the bishops of the Empirewas held at Vienna to make arrangements for the application of the terms of the concordat. All parts of the Empire, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, and the Italian provinces, were represented. Some objections were offered by the bishops of Hungary, but, in the end, a complete agree­ ment between the bishops themselves and between the bishops and the government, was arrived at, and the concordat was put into force. But, from the beginning, a violent attack had been carried on against the agree­ ment by the Liberal and Jewish press. It was de­ nounced as a return to the policy of the Middle Ages, and all the misfortunes which quickly fell upon the Em­ pire were attributed in some mysterious way to the in­ fluence of the Church. The disastrous war with France and Italy in 1859, and the attitude assumed by Hungary in its demands for a re-establishment of a separate con­ stitution only served to strengthen the enemies of the concordat, and to weaken the resistance of the Emperor and his ministers. Austria became a constitutional monarchy, with a House of Peers and a House of Deputies.

In deference to the organised attacks, the Emperor issued an Edict of Toleration in 1861, by which many valuable concessions were made to the non-Catholics.* The agitation continued in favour of a revision of the concordat, especially in regard to education and the mar­ riage laws, but the Emperor and his ministers resisted on

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* Pourbzky, Die Rechte der Protestanten in Österreich, Vienna, 1867.

the ground that no change should be made in such a convention unless with the consent of both contracting parties. But, at the same time, negotiations were opened in Rome to secure the approval of the Pope for certain changes which, it was believed, might satisfy the Liberal party. Fessler was despatched to Rome in 1863, and remained there till March, 1864. The Pope, however, refused to recognise the validity of mixed mar­ riages performed by Protestant clergymen, or to agree that in case no guarantees had been given about the off­ spring of such marriages, or that one of the parties re­ fused to carry out the terms, the boys might be reared in the religion of their father and the girls in the religion of their mother.

After the disastrous war with Prussia in 1866, when Austria was driven out of the German Confederation, the agitation against the concordat was carried on with great energy. Three measures were proposed in regard to marriage, education, and the relations between the different religious denominations ( 1867). The Chamber of Deputies supported these, but the Emperor and his ministers requested that these measures should not be pressed forward until further representations had been made to Rome. In the meantime, the fundamental laws, granting full freedom of faith and conscience, declaring that all jurisdiction in the state was exercised in the name of the Emperor, and obliging all officials to take an oath to the constitution, were sanctioned in December, 1867. Negotiations were carried on in Rome to secure the Pope's approval for a revision of the concordat, but with no better success. Without waiting for the consent of the Roman court, the imperial chancellor, Beust, in­ duced the Emperor to allow the discussions on the Mar­ riage law, the School law, and the law regulating the relations of the different religious bodies to one another, to proceed. They were passed in the Chamber of Deputies, and, after a long debate in the Chamber of Peers, the Emperor reluctantly signed them in May, 1868. The Marriage law declared marriage to be a civil contract, took away the judicial powers of the Church in matrimonial suits, and enforced civil marriage on all. The School law took away from the bishops and clergy the right of managing and overseeing the classes, and handed over these powers to local committees on which the clergy might have a seat. The control of the re­ ligious education and of the religious text-books was still left to the bishops. By the law regulating the legal position of the different denominations it was laid down that a person over fourteen years of age might change his religion, but under that age no change could be made even at the desire of the parents. The Pope protested against this violation of the concordat ( June, 1868), and the bishops of the Empire issued strong pastorals. The government suppressed the pastorals of the Bohemian bishops, and a prosecution was opened against Bishop Rudigier, of Linz. His pastoral was destroyed by order of the courts, and he himself was condemned to imprisonment, but the Emperor interfered and re­ mitted the sentence. Owing mainly to the exertions of Cardinals Rauscher and Schwarzenberg, the clergy took their places on the new school committees.

During the preparations for the Vatican Council, and during the period of its deliberations, the imperial chan­ cellor, Beust, though unwilling to follow the counsels of Bavaria, ostentatiously announced that Austria would know how to defend the rights of the state against the usurpations of the Catholic bishops. Hardly had the dogma of Infallibility been promulgated than it was an­ nounced that owing to the change introduced by the Council in the position of the Pope, by which he was made an absolute ruler, the concordat was no longer binding on the other contracting party, and was to be treated as lapsed ( 1870). Hence, it became necessary to prepare a new scheme of laws to regulate the relations between Church and State. The bishops, under the leadership of Cardinals Rauscher and Schwarzenberg, were extremely active and vigilant, but the Liberal ministry took little notice of their remonstrances. The long-threatened measures were at last introduced in January, 1814. They dealt with the legal position of the Catholic Church in Austria, the taxation of the wealthier benefices for the support of the Church, the monastic in­ stitutions, and the recognition of new religious congre­ gations. The agitation in the country against these measures was strong, but in the Chamber of Deputies, owing to the operation of the franchise, which gave the power principally to the cities and large towns, the Liberals were in a majority, and Beust had strengthened the Liberals in the House of Peers on two occasions by the creation of Liberal peers. In May, 1874, the laws regulating the relations of the Church to the State, and the taxation of ecclesiastical benefices, were passed.

By the first of these it was enacted that in order to hold an ecclesiastical office in Austria a person must have been observant of the civil law, the names of the priests about to be appointed to benefices must be submitted to the civil authorities, who were entitled to lodge objec­ tions within thirty days; the government might annul any ecclesiastical regulation regarding public worship, which it deemed inconsistent with the public peace or interest; the management of the Church funds was placed under the inspection of the Ministry of Worship; and this body was also charged with keeping a close watch on the ecclesiastical journals. The second law imposed a heavy tax on the priests holding the more wealthy benefices, and on the richer communities of regular clergy; and the amount received from this source was applied to the support of the Church, and more especially to the improvement of the salaries of the clergy in the poorer districts. The bishops met in Vienna to consider their attitude towards the new legis­ lation ( March, 1874). They protested against the abolition of the concordat, and against the principle of a state supremacy, by which the new legislation was in­ spired. The deliberations of the assembly were not published, but it was well known that the bishops were strongly divided in regard to the attitude which they should adopt towards the proposed laws. Some insisted that they should declare their inability to acknowledge them, and, thus, force the issues to a crisis. The more moderate party, under the advice of Cardinal Rauscher, opposed this policy, and their counsels were accepted. The law regarding the state recognition of monastic in­ stitutions was passed in May, 1874, but the measure recognising the Old Catholics as a legal religious body was rejected by the House of Peers in 1876. The bill proposed by the Minister of Worship against the monasteries was not sanctioned by the Emperor.

But the victorious Liberals carried their policy too far, and, as a result, a reaction in favour of a more Catholic policy began to manifest itself. In the elections of 1879 the Liberal majority in the Lower House was overturned, and the Conservatives came back to power. Since that time the Liberal party controlled to a great extent by Jewish capitalists, has been assailed both by the Socialists and the Catholics. The Catholics began to organise themselves after the model set by their German co-religionists, while, to combat the Socialists, the Christian Democratic party was formed. Under the leadership of Dr. Lueger the Christian Democrats and Catholics captured the Municipal Council of Vienna, and in the elections held in 1907 the Liberals were almost annihilated, while the Christian Democrats were repre­ sented by the largest party in the Chamber. The bishops of Austria have given a good lead to the people. Since 1891 a new scheme for their meetings, prepared by Leo XIII., has been in operation. They meet together once a year at Vienna for the discussion of the ecclesias­ tical affairs of the Empire; and, as a result, they act as one harmonious body. The most critical questions for the Catholics in Austria in recent times have been in regard to education and marriage. In 1877, a bill was introduced into the Chamber of Deputies permitting the clergy, regular or secular, to marry, and legalising divorce, but the measure was rejected by the House of Peers. In 1904, the agitation in favour of divorce was renewed. Societies were formed, and petitions forwarded to the Prime Minister, Dr. Körber, but he declined to take any action. A central committee was formed in Vienna to promote the project, and an address was issued to the people of the Empire ( 1905). The Catholic organi­ sations, on the other hand, were not idle. Petitions were drawn up and sent out for signature, and as a result the petition against divorce presented to the Reichsrath bore the signature of over four and a quarter millions, while the petitioners in favour of divorce could bring together only 40,000.

The racial differences within the Empire have increased the difficulties of the Church in Austria.* The political movement, known as Pan-Germanism, which aims at uniting many of the Austrian German-speaking pro­ vinces with the new German Empire, has given rise in recent years to a curious anti-Catholic movement, known as the Los-von-Rom ("Free-from-Rome") movement. The men who seek for a union of Bohemia and the other German provinces of Austria with the German Empire consider that this end could be attained best by winning the inhabitants of these provinces from the Catholic Church. The aim of the movement is, therefore, more political than religious, and it is this playing upon racial jealousies and pride that is largely accountable for its success. It is principally, though not entirely, confined to Bohemia, and the absence of Catholic churches and schools in certain districts of that country helped to promote its success. The Los-von-Rom movement began in Bohemia about 1897, when, the aid of German Protestant pastors, backed by large supplies of money collected in Germany, a regular campaign of proselytism was opened in Bohemia. New Protestant schools, charitable institutions, and churches were erected, lectures were held, pamphlets and newspapers attacking religion were scattered broadcast, and the hatred of the Austrian Germans for the other races of the Austrian Empire was utilised to win them for a united' Protestant Germany. Immense sums were contributed

____________________
* Auerbach, Les Races, et les Nationalités en Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1898.

by the Gustavus-Adolphus Society, and other German Protestant associations. From 1899 till 1903 considerable numbers of Catholics fell away from the Church in Bohemia and in Vienna. The Catholics recognised the dangerous character of this politico-religious campaign, and Prince Ferdinand, heir to the throne, denounced it as treason to the Empire. Resident priests were sent into the districts affected, Catholic schools and churches were erected, and every measure taken that the Catholics should be carefully organised. Since 1903 the number of conversions from Protestantism has considerably in­ creased, showing clearly that many of those who fell away are returning, while the number of those abandon­ ing the Catholic Church for Protestantism has notably decreased.*

(b) THE CHURCH IN HUNGARY

In addition to works cited above, cf.:-- Eisenmann, Le Compromis Austro-Hongrois, Paris, 1904. Vering, Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechts, Vienna, 1895. Jahrbuch der Zeit und Kultur Geschichte, 1907, 1908, Freiburg. Horn, Organisation Religieuse de la Hongrie, Paris.

The national spirit which had been growing steadily in Hungary, especially since 1825, asserted itself in 1848, when the Emperor, Ferdinand, was obliged to concede liberty of the press and the establishment of a respon­ sible Hungarian Ministry. Several projects regarding religion and education were submitted by Kossuth, but the necessity for defending the newly won liberty put an end to such discussion. Many of the bishops and clergy joined heartily in the war, and several of these were punished and thrown into prison, or deposed by the victorious Austrians in 1849. From 1855 till 1867 Hun­ gary formed province of Austria subject to Austrian legislation. Hence the concordat of 1855 was extended to Hungary against the wishes of some of the Hungarian bishops. They refused to allow the ecclesiastical affairs of

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* Rudolph Vrba, Oesterreichs Bedranger, Die Los-von-Rom Bewegung, Prague, 1903. Krose, Das Kirchliches Leben, Freiburg, 1908, pp. 307-16.

Hungary to be ruled from Vienna, and insisted that their communications with the Holy See should not be forwarded through Vienna. The Holy See approved of their attitude. During the long struggle between 1848 and 1866 the primate of Hungary, Cardinal Scitovsky, was the most ardent defender of the rights of the Church and of Hungary. In 1868 a law regulating the religion of children of mixed marriages was passed. It ordered that the boys should be educated in the religion of the father, and the girls in the religion of the mother, unless permission to act otherwise had been obtained from the proper authorities. Very often the children of such mar­ riages were brought to the Catholic priests for baptism, when, according to the law, they could not be reared as Catholics. Baptism was performed in all such cases, and although such an act was made illegal and punishable in 1879, the clergy continued the practice, and the courts refused to condemn them. By ministerial ordinances issued in 1884 and 1898 the Minister of Worship pre­ scribed that in those cases the Catholic clergy should notify the Protestant clergymen that such a baptism had been performed, but Rome forbade such an announce­ ment. In 1894, the law prescribing civil marriage, and regulating mixed marriages, was carried against the protests of the Catholics. In the following year the Jewish religion was recognised by the state as a legal religious body, and recognition was given to the smaller religious sects. At present a person is not obliged to belong to any religious body, but very few have taken advantage of this permission to renounce their religion. In 1896, a measure imposing severe penalties on clergy­ men who used their pulpits to criticise the policy of the state or to disturb the peace was rejected by the House of Peers, but it was re-introduced in 1899 in a modified form, and became law. It threatened with heavy penal­ ties all clergymen who sought to influence the electors assembled in a church or for religious purposes, as well as those who should employ religious emblems at an election meeting.

The Catholic Church has striven, especially since 1870, to secure the same autonomy as was guaranteed to the Protestants in the Diet of 1790. They desire the establishment of a Catholic Commission which might administer the temporalities of the Church, provide for schools and ecclesiastical buildings, and advise the king on the appointments of bishops, and the exercise of his rights of patronage. Several schemes and counter­ schemes have been proposed and rejected, and various commissions have been appointed to study the ques­ tion, but it is by no means easy to establish a board of this kind in such a manner as to safeguard the rights of patronage existing in regard to ecclesiastical benefices, and the rights of the bishops as the divinely appointed rulers of the Catholic Church. The Church in Hun­ gary has immense possessions, but, on the other hand, the limitations of the bishops' authority in the appoint­ ments to benefices, owing to the rights of the ecclesias­ tical patrons, is calculated to produce serious abuses.

(c) EDUCATION AND ORGANISATION IN THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE

Brück, op. cit. Zschokke, Die Theol. Studien und Anstalten der Kath. Kirche. in Österreich, Vienna, 1894. Krose, Kirchliches Handbuch, Bd. I., pp. 285-318. Jahrbuch der Zeit und Cultur Geschichte, 1907 1908, Freiburg.

According to the law of 1868 the primary schools of Austria were declared to be neutral, and no tests should be imposed upon the teachers. The consequence was that owing to the Liberalism then reigning in govern­ ment circles, in many districts Jewish and Protestant teachers were appointed to Catholic schools. But this law was modified in 1882, so as to insure that no person should be appointed as teacher who was not competent to instruct the majority of his scholars in their religion. The result of this amendment was that only Catholic teachers can be appointed to Catholic schools, and they are obliged to give religious instruction in the schools, to recite prayers before the classes, to conduct the chil­ dren to Mass on Sundays and holidays, and to see that those who have arrived at the age of discretion should go to Holy Communion at least three times a year. The selection of the books to be used in the religious classes, and the general superintendence of the religious instruc­ tion are in the hands of the clergy. But the Catholics have always maintained their right to have the schools denominational, and the attitude of the great body of the Austrian teachers has not been calculated to allay the suspicions of the Catholic population. Very few private schools exist except in the Protestant districts, where Catholics have made an effort to provide their own teach­ ing establishments. Out of the entire primary schools of Austria, 20,000 in all, only 1,000 are free schools. In order to combat the dangerous tendencies in the primary education system, a Catholic School Association (Schul­ verein) was formed in 1886, and has spread rapidly over the Empire. It counted 88,000 members in 1907, and has at its disposal an immense annual revenue. It has done good work in establishing free primary and ad­ vanced schools, especially in Protestant districts, by awakening a healthy public opinion on the necessity for religious education, and especially by founding training colleges for Catholic teachers in Vienna ( 1891), in Feldkirch, and a house of residence for Catholic teachers attending the normal school at Gratz. Owing to the fact that most of the training colleges are neutral a large percentage of the teachers are not remarkable for their friendliness to religion. But a Catholic Teachers' Association was formed in 1906, and has at present a membership of 5,302 male teachers.

The secondary schools of Austria were to a great ex­ tent in the hands of religious orders till 1870, when many of their gymnasia were laicised. The state gym­ nasia are open to all, but religious instruction is obli­ gatory, and an honest effort is made to preserve the faith and morals of the pupils. In the programme of the public examinations religious knowledge holds an honoured place, and clergymen are attached to all such establishments in order to instruct the pupils. Besides the state schools, many secondary schools under the charge of the bishops or of religious orders still exist, and are supported by the old foundations, increased sometimes by a subvention from the state.

In Austria there are eight universities, in each of which there is a theological faculty. As in Germany, the tone of the universities is strongly anti-Catholic. A movement in favour of establishing a free Catholic University was inaugurated in 1884, and an association formed to collect the necessary funds. The bishops issued an appeal on its behalf in 1891, and the amount collected in 1907 reached 2,856,501 crowns. But Catholic opinion in Austria is by no means unanimous on the wisdom of founding a separate Catholic Univer­ sity. As in Germany, many maintain that the Catholics should direct their efforts rather at increasing their hold on the state universities, than at founding a new estab­ lishment. The Catholic students in Austria are well organised, and the attacks constantly made upon these student societies serve to show that they must be doing good work in preserving the religion of their members.

In Hungary the primary schools belong to the state or to the different religious bodies. The state schools are under the inspection of the different religious bodies in regard to the religious instruction, as are also the schools supported by the communes. But the greater number of schools are still carried on by the different religious bodies principally by means of funds derived from wealthy foundations. The Catholic schools, numbering over 8,000, are most flourishing, mainly owing to the fact that their training colleges are kept well up to the standard of the state training colleges, and their teachers' certificates have the same value as those given in state institutions.

Great freedom in secondary education is given in Hun­ gary. By the law of 1883 it was arranged that only in schools supported by the state would the government insist on controlling the programme or the methods. The state schools are in the main practically Catholic. Besides the state schools there is another class of schools supported by religious bodies, by associations, and by the cities or communes, and these require merely recognition from the Minister of Instruction. Finally, a third class is entirely independent of the government, and supported from religious foundations. Catholic secondary education in Hungary is conducted to a great extent by the religious orders or congregations. There are three universities, Budapest, Zágráb, and Kolozs­ vár, in each of which is a theological faculty, but the vast majority of the clergy are educated in the private theolo­ gical colleges. There has been question of founding a free Catholic University at Pécs or at Kassa. Like the Görresgesselschaft, and the Leogesselschalt in Germany and Austria, the Society of St. Stephen in Hungary has established a literary and scientific section, which, especi­ ally in the field of historical research, has done good work. From the printing press of this society, the Stephaneum, is issued an incredible number of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly journals.

The tyrannical domination of the Liberal party in Austria forced the Catholics of Austria to imitate their co-religionists of Germany by organising their forces. On account of the different nationalities comprised in the Empire, and the sharp racial divisions existing between them, it was by no means easy to bring about a thorough organisation of the Catholic body. But since 1877 the work has been carried on steadily. In the social field the German method of organising according to trades and professions has been closely followed. Farmers' Leagues, Womens' Leagues, Journalists' Leagues, Teachers' Associations, &c., have been formed. In order to unify all these a Central Catholic Committee was formed at Vienna in 1906, and a great Catholic Congress was organised in 1907. In this Congress the Catholic organisation in every department was fully discussed, and attempts were made to reconcile the different in­ terests involved. The Piusverein has done good work in supporting the Catholic press. Two great Catholic papers, the Reichspost, and the Vaterland, have been enormously developed by the exertions of the society, and a multitude of provincial and local papers are being assisted. A central bureau has been established, with which nearly all the Catholic papers of Austria are in telegraphic or telephonic communication, and in this way the Catholic newspapers are no longer dependent upon the garbled reports of the Liberal newsagencies.

In Hungary the Catholic societies are well organised. Besides those formed for social reform, several flourish­ ing literary and charitable societies have been estab­ lished. The Catholic Circles, founded for the protec­ tion of apprentices and employees generally, provide means of instruction, recreation, and pecuniary assist­ ance.

CHAPTER XIII
THE CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND

Seippel, La Suisse, au XIXe Siècle, 3 vols., Lausanne, 1899- 1900. Büchi, Die Katholische Kirche in der Schweiz, Munich, 1902. Woeste, Histoire, du Culturkampf en Suisse, Brussels, 1887. Vautrey, Histoire de la persécution religieuse dans le Jura Bernois, 2 vols., Paris, 1877.

THE constitution of 1848, by transforming Switzerland from a loose confederation of practically independent cantons into a united nation, prepared the way for a period of great material prosperity. There were no longer civil wars between the different cantons, or, with some rare exceptions, between the rival factions in the mixed cantons. The grouping of political parties changed very much between 1848 and 1870. The Radical party, composed for the most part of Germans, adopted as their policy complete unification of the can­ tonal institutions under the control of a strong central power: while, on the other hand, the Liberal French cantons stood for the administrative autonomy of the cantons as against centralisation. The Catholics, too, were strongly opposed to granting further powers to the Federal Council; but, above all, they struggled to preserve the cantonal authority on the subject of religion and education.

In 1848, the Radicals had secured the control not alone in the Federal Council, but also in many of the individual cantons. The country was soon tired of Radical domination, and in the Protestant cantons the Radicals were opposed by the Conservatives and Liberals. In consequence of the coalition of these parties the Radicals were overthrown in many of the cantons. The Catholics retained their power in all the Catholic states, the only place where the Radicals secured a strong foothold being the canton of Ticino. The possession of the cantonal power was all-important for the Catholics, since to the government of the canton belonged the right of controlling the schools and of interfering in ecclesiastical affairs.

To many it seemed as if the war of the Sonderbund, and the complete annihilation of the Catholic forces, meant the destruction of the Catholic religion in Switzerland, but subsequent events have not justified such gloomy forebodings. The terrible defeat inflicted on them only served to strengthen the bond of union amongst the Catholics, and to preserve them from the spirit of a false Liberalism in religion that was so prevalent throughout Europe. Their bishops, notably Marilley, of Lausanne, and Greith of St. Gall, were thoroughly competent men, who by their action infused new confidence into the Catholic party. Abandoning the old aristocratic principles which had hampered their progress the Catholics suited themselves to the changed circumstances; and to the Radical theories, likely to gain ground amongst the artisans and peasantry, they opposed a thoroughly democratic programme. Besides, the constitution of 1848, by guaranteeing liberty of worship, and by permitting Catholics to settle in Protestant districts, opened the way to a Catholic immigration into Protestant territory. Large numbers of Catholics left their own bleak mountains to settle in places like Geneva, Basle, Zurich; while, in later years, thousands of Italian workmen poured across the Alps into those districts which formerly had been exclusively Protestant. The Catholic clergy hastened to erect churches, and to form communities in the Protestant cantons. Societies of all kinds, religious, political and social, were organised; and newspapers were established to defend Catholic interests.

The Liberals and Radicals were alarmed at the pro­ gress of the revival, and several measures were taken to maintain the Protestant ascendency. The law of 1850 on mixed marriages and on the religious educa­ tion of the children of such unions, gave rise to serious conflicts between the civil authorities of Aargau and the bishop of Basle. In St. Gall the attempt made by the Radicals to introduce the neutral schools was violently resisted by the Catholics. The seminary at Basle was suppressed in 1848, and for years the autho­ rities would not permit it to be re-opened. When, at last, it was re-opened in 1860 the delegates of the can­ tons, an almost exclusively Protestant body, insisted upon securing a large share of control in the appointment of professors, and in the selection of text-books. The use of Gury Moral Theology, for example, was forbidden.

The right of the cantonal rulers to interfere in ecclesiastical matters was a source of constant friction in the Protestant or mixed cantons. In some places the Catholic holidays were abolished against the protests of the Catholic people; and in Ticino, which was under the jurisdiction of the bishops of Milan and Como, the exercise of jurisdiction was forbidden to bishops not resident in Switzerland. Thus, without any consultation with the Pope, Ticino was deprived of its ecclesias­ tical government ( 1859). The Benedictine college in Ticino was closed ( 1852); in 1856, a Catholic college in St. Gall was suppressed; the old monastery of Rheinau was seized by Zurich in 1862, and its revenue appropriated to secular purposes; and in 1869, the canton of Thurgau closed the convent at Baden, the only establishment of the religious congregations in the district that had been left untouched hitherto.

These incidents were, however, only the precursors of the new era of persecution which opened for the Catholic Church after the promulgation of the Papal Infallibility. Though the Swiss Federal Council refused to interfere with the freedom of the Vatican Council, or to prevent the Swiss bishops from being present, yet, they were determined to utilise the agitation against Papal Infallibility in order to secure the long hoped for revision of the constitution. During the Council violent meetings were held in several cantons. The Jesuits were de­ nounced as enemies of progress; the Syllabus and the Papal Infallibility were held up as dangerous to all civil authority; and earnest appeals were made to the Catholics to sink their religious prejudices, and join hands with their fellow-countrymen in establishing a real National Church. Nor were some of the Catholics themselves unaffected by the writings of the German and French opponents of Infallibility. A few of the clergy, notably Herzog, afterwards the Old Catholic bishop of Switzerland, conducted a violent agitation and endeavoured to utilise the authority of Bishop Greith of St. Gall, who, alone amongst the Swiss bishops, opposed the opportuneness of the definition. Dr. Greith, however, refused to allow his name to be mixed up with such a campaign. By means of pamphlets and a newspaper the Catholic opponents of Infallibility in Switzerland had succeeded in shaking the faith of many of their co-religionists before the Council had concluded its work.

In the Protestant and mixed cantons every effort was made to prevent the publication of the decree on Infalli­ bility, and to assist the Old Catholic party. The prin­ cipal centres of agitation were the dioceses of Basle and Geneva. The diocese of Basle, as constituted in 1870, embraced the cantons of Lucerne, Berne, Solothurn, Zug, Aargau, Thurgau, portions of Basle, and Schaff­ hausen. The delegates of the Liberal cantons of the diocese of Basle issued a decree suppressing the semi­ nary at Basle, and forbidding the bishop, Lachat ( 1863- 85), to publish the decrees of the Vatican Council. The bishop, however, refused to acknowledge the authority of this prohibition, and issued a pastoral on Infallibility. Besides, he proceeded to take action against the priests who refused to accept the dogma, whereupon a meeting of the representatives of the cantons was called, and the majority voted for his immediate deposition ( 1873). The chapter of Basle was commanded to elect a successor, and on its refusal to do so was dissolved ( 1874). The bishop was driven from his residence in the city, and was obliged to flee into the cantons of Zug and Lucerne, which had voted against the decree of expulsion, and which remained faithful to him. He appealed to the Federal Council for protection, but the Federal Council decided that the cantons had not ex­ ceeded their legal rights

The clergy of Jura, in the canton of Berne, protested against the treatment meted out to their bishop by the government of Berne. They were deprived of their office of pastors, and finally expelled from the canton ( 1874). Their place was taken by a number of clergymen col­ lected from different parts of Switzerland and France, the majority of whom had already been suspended by their bishops. The people refused to accept their ministrations, and so violent was the agitation against them that the Federal Council was obliged to draft in troops to keep the peace. The exiled pastors were allowed to return in 1875, on account of the decision given by the Federal Council declaring their banish­ ment illegal, but they were not allowed to exercise the functions of their office. A law was passed in 1874 which practically imposed a new Civil Constitution upon the clergy. Henceforth they were to be elected and dismissed by the people.

The Old Catholics, on the other hand, received every assistance from the government. St. Peter's Church in Berne was handed over to them, and Herzog was appointed pastor of the city. An Old Catholic faculty of theology was set up at the University of Berne, in order to take the place of the seminary that had been suppressed. The Catholics in Berne held aloof at first from the elections for the committees, which, under the law of 1874, controlled the appointment of pastors, and the administration of ecclesiastical property; but after 1878 they changed their policy, drove the handful of Old Catholics who controlled these boards from office, took the management of affairs into their own hands, and practically killed the schism in Berne.

Geneva was another of the storm centres during these troubled times. It was the home of Calvin, and, as such, Catholics were not permitted to have any religious service there till the beginning of the nineteenth cen­ tury. At that time the total Catholic population of Geneva was about 300, but in 1870 the proportions had changed, and the Catholics stood at 47,859 as against­ 43,606 Protestants. Many of the Catholics were, how­­ ever, immigrants, and, consequently, were not per­­ mitted to exercise the franchise. Thus, the Protestant­ minority had control of the legislative and administra­­ tive machinery. In 1864 Pius IX. had appointed­ Caspar Mermillod,* rector of the Church of Notre Dame­ in Geneva, assistant bishop to the aged Marilley of­ Lausanne, and had assigned to him the care of the­ Catholic population of the canton of Geneva. For­ several years the civil authorities uttered no word of­ complaint, and Mermillod busied himself in introduc­­ ing religious congregations of both sexes into the schools,­ and in establishing Catholic institutions. But during the­ agitation against the Vatican Council the government of­ Geneva took action against the religious congregations.­ Their schools were closed, their houses suppressed, and­ only those engaged in the care of the sick were allowed­ to remain. Finally, in August, 1872, Mermillod was­ forbidden to exercise any episcopal office in Geneva, and in September of the same year he was solemnly­ deposed. Marilley immediately resigned all claims to­ jurisdiction over Geneva, and the Pope appointed­ Mermillod as apostolic administrator ( 1873). The brief­ of appointment, having been published without the­ sanction of the civil authorities, the canton of Geneva appealed to the Federal Council.

The Federal Council decided that the appointment of a bishop to Geneva was illegal, and that Mermillod should be banished from Swiss territory unless he agreed to abandon all claims to episcopal jurisdiction. Strengthened by this favourable decision, the authori­

____________________
* Belloc, Le Cardinal Mermillod, 1902.

ties of Geneva arrested the bishop, and conveyed him across the frontier into French territory, where he took up his residence, and continued to direct affairs in Geneva. A law was passed declaring that the pastors should be elected, that their office was revocable at the will of the electors, and obliging them to take an oath which no good Catholic could take. The priests. naturally, refused to subscribe to such an oath. They were deprived of their parishes, and their places were assigned to the Old Catholics. Père Hyacinth Loyson, the ex-Carmelite apostate, was brought to Geneva, and appointed rector of the beautiful church of Notre Dame. The Catholics in the country abstained from taking part in the elections for pastors, and as one-fourth of the electors was required for a valid election, no appoint­ ments could be made. The government, however, sup­ pressed the clause requiring one-fourth for a valid elec­ tion, and, as a consequence, several of the churches passed into the hands of the Old Catholics. In Basle, too, the Old Catholics received every assistance, and were recognised as the state Church.

The Radical party determined to utilise the religious. agitation in order to carry through their plans for a revision of the constitution. They aimed at strength­ ening the central government at the expense of the can­ tonal authorities, by placing in the hands of the central power the control of religious affairs, of education, of the law code, and of the army. Besides, they were determined to procure the insertion of the referendum in the new constitution. The Catholic cantons were opposed to such a revision on account of their religion and their schools, and the French Protestant cantons objected to it on account of their jealousy of the German cantons. The united forces of these bodies were suff­ cient to procure the rejection of the revision in 1872; but the French Protestant cantons were won over by stirring up religious bigotry, and by promising them certain concessions. Hence, in 1874, the Catholics found them­ selves alone in their opposition, and for the second time in the century suffered an ugly defeat. The new con­ stitution was triumphantly proclaimed.

Many clauses in the constitution were seriously detri­ mental to Catholic interests. To the Federal authority were assigned greater powers in the ecclesiastical affairs of the different cantons. No bishopric could be estab­ lished in Swiss territory without its consent; and to it, in conjunction with the cantonal authorities, was assigned the duty of preserving concord between the different religious persuasions and of protecting the state and the individual against the abuses of ecclesias­ tical authority; the Jesuits and all religious congrega­ tions "affiliated" with them were not to form commu­ nities in any district in Switzerland, and, even as indi­ viduals, were forbidden to engage in educational or missionary work. The primary schools were to be entirely under the control of the state, and were to be open to scholars and pupils regardless of their religious beliefs.

Pius IX. had been a careful spectator of the course of affairs in Switzerland; and, as Supreme Pastor, felt called upon to utter a solemn protest against the in­ justices done to the Church by the cantonal and federal governments. In November, 1873, he published the Encyclical, Etsi multa luctuosa, condemning the perse­ cution in Switzerland, and in January, 1874, the Papal representative in Lucerne was requested by the govern­ ment to leave the country. From that time till the death of Pius IX. all official relations between the Vatican and Switzerland were interrupted. Leo XIII. on the day of his election ( 20th Feb., 1878) despatched a letter to the president of the Swiss Confederation, announcing his elevation to the Papacy, and hoping that peace might be restored between the Catholic Church and the government of Switzerland, but the advances of the Pope were not reciprocated. The government still hoped that its campaign might be successful. In 1882, however, the Radical party met with a sharp reverse. A proposal was carried for the appointment of a Secretary of education, whose duty it would be to enforce the law of 1874 on primary educa­ tion, but a demand was made that the proposal should be submitted to a referendum, and, as a result, it was rejected by 316,000 against 175,000. Thus, the very instruments, by means of which the Radicals hoped to crush the Catholics and Conservatives, were effectively employed against themselves.

The result of this vote convinced the Federal govern­ ment that the vast body of the people were sick of reli­ gious persecution, and it left them more willing to follow the example of Prussia by opening negotiations with the Pope. The tension between both parties was greatly relieved by a step taken by Leo XIII. in 1883. He suppressed the vicariate apostolic of Geneva, and created the bishopric, Lausanne-Geneva, to which he appointed Mermillod. The Federal Council showed their appreciation of this conciliatory measure by with­ drawing the decree of banishment, and allowing Mer­ millod to return to Freiburg. The following year the Pope despatched Mgr. Ferrata, Papal nuncio at Paris, to negotiate with the Grand Council. The subjects of discussion were the position of Mgr. Lachat, who had been exiled, and the ecclesiastical government of Ticino, which had been cut off by the Swiss authorities from the dioceses of Milan and Como. It was agreed that Mgr. Lachat should resign the See of Basle, where he was replaced by Mgr. Fiala, and should be created arch­ bishop and apostolic administrator of Ticino. In 1888, another convention was negotiated, according to which the diocese of Lugano was erected for the canton of Ticino, and placed under the bishop of Basle. The affairs of the diocese were, however, to be managed by an apostolic administrator with episcopal orders.

The war begun against the Catholics in 1870, like that of 1848, served only to unite and to strengthen the Catholic forces. Societies of different kinds were estab­ lished on the lines of the German Catholic societies; a thoroughly democratic programme was adopted; and, under the leadership of M. Decurtins, a Catholic labour organisation was begun. But perhaps the most fruitful work undertaken by the Catholics at this period was the foundation of an International Catholic University at Freiburg. The Catholic cantons of Switzerland had long felt the need for such an institution, but the defeat of the Sonderbund, and the struggle which they had since been obliged to maintain, prevented them from undertaking such a gigantic experiment. In 1886, how­ ever, it was determined to begin the work. The govern­ ment of the canton lent to the university trustees a sum of two and a half million francs (£100,000). Steps were taken to secure competent professors in Switzer­ land, Austria, Germany, and France, and in 1889 two faculties, arts and law, were formally opened. The city of Freiburg provided 500,000 francs for the establish­ ment of a faculty of theology, which was confided to the Dominicans, and opened in 1890. Later on, the canton of Freiburg offered an annual grant of 130,000 francs for the establishment of a faculty of science. Money has also been voted for the foundation and up-keep of the university library. The faculty of medicine has not yet been founded. Though difficulties have arisen in connection with the university, especially owing to the rivalries between certain sections of the French and German professors, the number of students has steadily increased.* In 1907 the University of Freiburg was manned by a staff of seventy-three professors, and had 472 matriculated students. It has already done excel­ lent work in every department, and provides a centre of higher intellectual life for the Catholics of Switzerland.

The Catholic population of Switzerland has been steadily increasing during the nineteenth century. This increase is to be explained in part, at least, by immigra­ tion of Catholics from Italy and other neighbouring countries. In 1800 the total Catholic population amounted to about 422,000, while according to the census of 1900 the Catholics are returned as 1,379,664,

____________________
* L'Université de Fribourg en Suisse et ses Détracteurs, Fribourg, 1898.

as against a Protestant population of 1,916,157. In thirteen of the twenty-five cantons of Switzerland the Catholics have an absolute majority, and in the very city of Calvin, Geneva, the Protestants find themselves in a minority. But, as many of the Catholics are immi­ grants without the rights of citizenship, the voting strength of the Catholics is not in proportion to their numbers. In 1895 a Catholic, Dr. Zemp, held the posi­ tion of president of the Confederation.

Numbers were, however, unavailing unless they could be properly organised; and the rise of a Socialist party in Switzerland made it more necessary for the Catholics to strengthen their position by democratic associations. Socialism found a footing early in Switzerland on account of the freedom with which refugees were allowed to settle in the territory of the Confederation. But amongst the native workmen of Switzerland the Socialists found little support till after 1870. Since that time, though repressive measures have been taken by the government, the movement has continued to prosper, and in 1894, the Socialists felt strong enough to demand that a motion guaranteeing labour to all citizens who were prepared to work should be submitted to a referendum. The motion was defeated by 308,000 against 75,000. Since 1900 the Socialist organisation has undergone considerable change, and has secured strong political representation. The Catholics, too, were not idle in the field of social reform. To Bishop, afterwards Cardinal, Mermillod belongs in great measure the credit of laying the foundation of the Catholic democratic organisation in Switzerland; while the real organiser of the movement is Gaspard Decur­ tins. The latter established the Arbeiterbund in 1886. It is open to workmen of all religions, provided that they are willing to strive for reforms on Christian lines. Though many of the members are Protestants, the most friendly relations have been maintained between the different sections. The president, Decurtins, received the highest compliments from Leo XIII., and in 1893 the society thanked the Pope for his Encyclical on Labour, and determined to shape their programme according to the teaching of the Encyclical. The various distinctively Catholic Labour societies are affiliated with the Arbeiterbund, and are thus able to exercise a strong control. To unite all the Catholic societies in one common body a Federation of the different societies was effected in 1894. An annual Catholic Congress on the model of the German Congress has been organised since 1903.

The legal position of the Catholic Church in Switzer­ land should be considered both in its relations to the Federal government and to the governments of the various cantons. The Federal government guarantees the free exercise of religion in all portions of Swiss terri­ tory; and authorises the governments of the cantons to preserve peace between the different religious bodies. It forbids a bishopric to be erected in Switzerland with­ out permission having been obtained, and it ordains that no man should be obliged to pay for the maintenance of a religion to which he does not belong. In practice, how­ ever, this latter clause cannot always be carried out. The situation of the Church varies in the different cantons. In the Catholic cantons it is the official Church, and supported by the state. In the mixed cantons both the Catholic and Protestant Churches re­ ceive assistance; in others it is supported by its own foundation, and by taxes officially levied by the state upon Catholics, while in others, especially since the legislation introduced between 1873 and 1875 in favour of a national church, the Catholic Church has declined all state aid. This is true of Basle, Berne, and Geneva. Most of the churches, however, which were handed over to the Old Catholics during the agitation have been returned. At Berne and Geneva all processions are forbidden, but in most of the other cantons such a prohibition does not exist.

In educational matters it is laid down by the Federal government that the primary schools should be un­denominational, without any tests for teachers or pupils. But in practice, owing to the local circumstances, the schools are as a rule frequented only by members of one denomination. For the training of Catholic teachers there are maintained Catholic training colleges. The secondary education belongs to the cantonal authorities, and very flourishing Catholic lyceums and colleges are carried on by various religious congregations. In most of the dioceses of Switzerland there exist a preparatory and a theological seminary, while, besides, a great number of students attend the courses of the theological faculty in Freiburg University.

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For legal position of Church in Switzerland, cf. :-- Giobbio, Lezioni di Diplomazia Ecclesiastica, 2 vols., Rome, 1899- 1901. Girón y Arcas, La Situación Juridica de la Iglesia Catoólica, Madrid, 1901.

CHAPTER XIV
BELGIUM, HOLLAND AND LUXEMBURG

(a) BELGIUM

Seignobos, L'Europe Contemporaine, 1814- 1896, Chap. VIII. Claessens, La Belgique Chrétienne, 1794- 1886, 2 Vols., Brussels, 1883. Verhaegen , La Lutte Scolaire en Belgique, 2e éd., Ghent, 1905. Woeste, Vingt ans de Polémique, 3 Vols., Brussels, 1885. Gouvernement Catholique, Brussels, 1904. Laveleye, Le parti clerical en Belgique, Brussels, 1904 (Lib.).

SINCE 1847 the struggle in Belgium has been between the Catholic and Liberal parties, the Catholics insisting upon the independence of the Church, the Liberals upon the supremacy of the state. But during the nineteenth century the Liberal party in Belgium underwent many evolutions, and at each successive stage its opposition to the Catholic Church became more marked. The Austrian period of rule in Belgium created a faction which favoured the policy of Joseph II., namely, the domina­ tion of the civil authority even in ecclesiastical matters, while the Revolutionary and French regime helped to rouse up amongst a small circle a spirit of hostility to religion. During the rule of Holland, the division between the Catholics of Belgium, though still existent, was forgotten in the common struggle against the arbi­ trary rule of William I.; and, in drafting the new con­ stitution both parties agreed to make a compromise.

The Liberals felt, however, that the constitution was too favourable to the Church, and that the separation of Church and State was entirely to the advantage of the former. Hence, they claimed for the state supremacy in educational matters, in the control of charities, in the temporalities of the Church, and in the manage­ ment of seminaries. To support their views they founded the free University of Brussels ( 1834), while the Catholics founded Louvain ( 1835). But, at this stage, many of the leading Liberals were earnest practical Catholics, and had no desire of proclaiming war upon religion as such. Later on, the freemason lodges began to exercise their influence upon the younger section of the Liberal party, as did also some of the Protestant and infidel professors in the state universities; and, in 1841, under the inspiration of the freemasons, an association was formed under the title of L'Alliance, the nominal aim of which was electoral and fiscal reform, but its real object, the enslavement of the Church. Local branches of this society were established, and in 1846 a great congress was held at Brussels, attended by 320 dele­ gates. The congress approved of the demands already made by the freemason lodges for a system of purely secular education under the complete control of the state. But not all Liberals approved of such extreme measures; and in a short time it was evident that there were two sections in the Liberal party, one, the moderate section, styled Doctrinaires, the other, the extreme section, named Progressives or Radicals. Gradually, the Pro­ gressives got control of the party, and from 1878 onwards Liberals in Belgium practically meant enemies of the Catholic Church.

From 1831 till 1846 there were seven different ministries in Belgium, but in all of these the king took care that both parties should have due representation. The system of party rule was carefully avoided till 1846, when, owing to the aggressive attitude taken up by the Liberals, a Catholic ministry was appointed. A great agitation, however, was organised in the large cities against a proposal on secondary education put forward by the Cabinet, and the king, yielding to the popular tumult, dismissed his ministers, and called the Liberals to office. Since that time the power in Belgium has alternated between both parties. The Liberals have been in office three times ( 1847-1855, 1857-1870, 1878- 1884), while the Catholics have had the direction of affairs three times ( 1855-57, 1870-78, 1884-1909).

In the Liberal ministry of 1847 both sections of the Liberal party were represented, the old Unionist party led by Charles Rogier, and the younger section by Frère-Orban, deputy of Liège. The latter was the ablest man of his party, and decidedly hostile to the Catholic Church. This hostility was shown by the law on charitable bequests ( 1849), according to which such bequests could not be administered by private executors or administrators, but only by the state bureaus, and all charitable institutions were placed under the state control. The object of the measure, as was admitted at the time, was the secularisation of charity, and the centralisation of the public service. In educational matters the Liberals were dissatisfied with the law of 1842, and were determined to substitute a system of state schools for the free schools then in existence. Hence, a law on secondary schools was introduced in 1850. It ordered the erection of ten royal athenaeums, fifty secondary schools, and two normal schools. The direction of these establishments was to be placed entirely in the hands of the state, and the clergy were to be invited to give religious instruction to the pupils. Many of the older Liberals were entirely dissatisfied with such a measure, which was entirely opposed to the religious tradition of the Belgian people. Hence, a compromise known as the Convention of Antwerp, was agreed to between the bishops and the government. According to this convention the religious education was to be given by a clergyman belonging to the religion of the majority of the pupils, the religious books were to be selected by the bishop. The books used in the secular courses were not to be hostile to the Catholic religion, and the professors were to take care not to injure, but rather to strengthen, the religious beliefs of their students.* It is noteworthy that at this particular

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* Verhaegen, La Lutte Scolaire, p. 33.

period all parties professed their anxiety for a united religious and secular education.

In the elections of 1854 the Liberals were beaten, partly on account of their charitable and educational legislation, partly by reason of their budget proposals, and the Catholics succeeded to power ( 1855). A weak ministry was formed under the leadership of Decker, and in 1857 a bill was introduced to amend the Charitable Bequests Bill of 1849. It permitted private individuals to manage charitable foundations according to the wishes of the testator, but such management was subject to the inspection and control of the civil authority. The Liberals raised a cry about endowments of conventual institutions. Riots broke out in several cities, notably in Brussels, and the Prime Minister, frightened by such scenes, resigned office ( 1857). The Liberals returned to power, but their opinions had undergone a considerable evolution. Frère-Orban was now in reality the leading man in the party, and the Liberals of the old school were regarded with grave suspicion. During their tenure of office ( 1857-1870) they declared war upon what they were pleased to call clerical aggression. The Law of Charitable Endowments ( 1859) completed the secularisation and government control of charitable institutions; the decree of 12th June, 1804, which guaranteed the religious character of cemeteries, was declared illegal ( 1862); the scholarships that had been founded by generous benefactors for promoting Catholic education, were seized by the state in 1864 in open disregard of the wishes of the testators, and of the opposition of the Belgian bishops and of the Pope; while by the law of 1870 only the students of the Grands Seminaires were exempted from military service, no such exception being made in favour of the novices belonging to religious orders.

Outside the Chamber of Deputies a violent campaign was being carried on against religious education. The freemason lodges were busy drafting resolutions, and preparing the public mind for an attack against the law on primary schools passed in 1842. The society of the Solidaires ( 1862) bound its members to strike against the Catholic religion, and to refuse the ministrations of the clergy even at the hour of death. The Ligue d'Enseignment was formed to combat the influence of religion in the schools, and to found free schools where no priest should be allowed to enter. The secret societies endeavoured to capture the school teachers by the publication of educational newspapers attacking religion, and by promising the teachers an increase of salary under the secular regime. Those of the teachers who opposed the clergy received special marks of favour, and in all appointments to office adhesion to the Liberal party was an indispensable qualification for success.

The Catholics, who trusted to the justice of the govern­ ment, began to realise that a defensive league was an indispensable necessity, and that unless they were going to allow Belgium to be decatholicised they must make strenuous exertions. Under the leadership of Malou and Woeste an earnest effort was made to or­ ganise the Catholic forces. Catholic societies were established in many of the parishes, and, in imitation of the German Catholic congresses, Catholic congresses were held in Mechlin in 1863, 1864, and 1867. A new life was infused into the Catholics of Belgium, and, as a re­ sult, a Catholic majority was returned at the elections of 1870. But the new ministry was devoid of courage, and the king, alarmed by the riots organised once more by the Liberals, urged on the Cabinet the necessity of moderation. The result was that though some useful legislation was passed, notably that guaranteeing the official recognition of the Flemish language in the Flemish provinces, none of the Liberal measures against the Church were repealed. The weakness of the govern­ ment, and its inability to formulate a strong legislative programme disgusted the electors, and discouraged even the most advanced of the Catholic party.

During the years of opposition ( 1870-1878) the Liberal party underwent a radical transformation. The moderate section which opposed any change in the con­ stitution, and which was opposed to any attack upon religion as such, gradually disappeared, and the new Liberals put forward as their programme complete separation of Church and State, complete secularisation of education and of the cemeteries, and suppression of all exemptions from military service. The freedom of association guaranteed by the constitution of 1830, was too favourable to the religious congregations, and it was announced that some restrictive measures must be in­ troduced. In the elections of 1878 the Liberals secured a majority of ten votes in the Chamber of Deputies, and six votes in the Senate. M. Malou resigned, and was succeeded by M. Frère-Orban. A new ministry, formed from the most extreme sections of the Liberal party, was formed. The first measure undertaken was an election law, which was meant to strengthen the posi­ tion of the Liberal party in view of the attack which they were about to open upon the religious character of the primary schools.

The law of 1842 was a compromise, according to which the rights of both Church and State in the schools were recognised. The schools were placed under the control of the communes, religious education was obli­ gatory for Catholics, religious inspectors and secular inspectors superintended the teaching in the schools, the curés were free to visit the schools when they wished, and the clergy were strongly represented in the com­ missions appointed to regulate the books and the method of teaching. The free training colleges were empowered to issue certificates to teachers, while in the state training colleges chaplains were appointed to give religious instruction, and in the examinations for diplomas the fitness of the candidates to impart religious teaching was carefully tested. The Catholics readily accepted this compromise, and handed over the majority of their schools to the local authorities.

The king's speech at the opening of the Chamber of Deputies in 1878 announced that the public education ought to be subject exclusively to the civil power, and on the 21st January, 1879, the bill on primary educa­ tion was submitted to the Chamber. It was proposed that the primary schools should be strictly neutral, that the clergy should have no control, and should not be allowed even to enter the schools, that the school teachers should be subject to the central educational board rather than to the local managers, that a portion of the school should be set aside where the priests might give religious instruction, that the free schools should receive no public grants, and that the diplomas of the free training colleges for teachers should not be accepted as sufficient qualifications for candidates seeking posi­ tions in the public schools. The aim of the bill was to abolish religious instruction in the schools, but to deceive their more moderate supporters the Liberals laid great stress upon the facilities afforded for religious in­ struction With the teachers trained in the government normal schools by irreligious professors, and absolutely independent of the ecclesiastical authorities, the Liberals had no reason to fear the effect of a few hours' religious instruction.*

The introduction of the school law was sufficient to unite the Catholics, and to develop their powers of stubborn resistance. Clergy and laymen vied with one another in their denunciation of the measure. The Belgian bishops, under the leadership of Cardinal Dechamps, of Mechlin, gave an excellent lead to the movement. In their meetings ( 7th Dec., 1878, 21st Jan., 1879) they condemned the bill, and on the 31st January they issued a joint Lenten pastoral calling upon the people to offer the measure the most strenuous opposition. The Catholic Deputies, Malou, Beernaert, Woeste, &c., went through the country exposing the true nature of the scheme and rousing the enthusiasm of the Catholic masses. The Catholic societies (Cercles Catholiques), the electoral associations, the religious confraternities, and the workmen's associations, threw

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* Verhaegen, op. cit., Chap. II., III., IV.

themselves into the struggle. Committees to prepare resistance to the measure were established in every parish, and these were united under a central committee at work in Brussels. From all parts of the kingdom petitions began to pour in against the measure. The government tried to repress these manifestations by dismissing all officials who favoured opposition to the proposed bill, but each dismissal only tended to increase the volume of resistance. The Catholic newspapers did valuable work in unmasking the danger, and many able Catholic professors at Louvain and elsewhere took a leading part in defence of the educational liberty guar­ anteed by the constitution. By these measures the country was won over before the discussions opened in the Chamber of Deputies.

In the discussion in the Chamber of Deputies both sides put forward their most competent speakers, and the report of the debates on the School Law in Belgium furnishes the best expression of Catholic and Liberal principles of education that could be found. The Catholics contested every clause in the bill, but, as had been foreseen from the beginning, it was passed by a majority of six votes ( 6th June, 1879). The bishops re­ newed their condemnation of the proposals on the 12th June, and four days later the discussion opened in the Senate. The Catholic senators having declared their opposition to the measure, refused to take any further responsibility, and the bill was passed by a majority of two. On the 1st July the king signed the measure, and the "Law of Misfortune" (Loi de malheur), as the Catholics called it, was duly promulgated.

Both parties awaited with considerable anxiety the attitude which the bishops of Belgium would adopt towards the new law. Would they condemn it unre­ servedly, or would they accept it conditionally and under protest? The archbishop of Mechlin soon relieved the anxiety by declaring that he would have nothing to do with the execution of such a law, nor would he allow any of his clergy to afford the slightest co-operation.

His example was followed. by all the suffragan bishops. Later on (September) instructions were sent out to the clergy pointing out that no Catholic could be allowed to send his children to the state schools, to teach in them, or to act as inspector; and that, unless in certain special circumstances, any Catholic who continued to do so should be excluded from the sacraments. But negative measures were not enough. It was necessary to pro­ vide rival establishments where the secular training might be as good as in the state schools, and where the religion of the children would be perfectly secure. The creation of a rival school system was a gigantic task, but the issues at stake were of extreme importance, and the Catholics of Belgium resolved to undertake it. They had already in their hands considerably over 1,000 schools, and it was necessary to erect new schools in the parishes where only the state establishments existed. Rich and poor in Belgium hastened to subscribe accord­ ing to their means. Some of the Catholic noblemen established as many as one hundred schools out of their own resources, while the very poorest subscribed their mite to help on the work.

The greatest difficulty was to find teachers for the new establishments. In the case of the female schools the Sisters who had been in charge of the public schools since 1842 were at hand to supply the want, while, in addition, most of the female teachers resigned their places after the publication of the episcopal instructions, and were prepared to accept positions in the free schools. Many of the male teachers also resigned their places, and offered their services to the clergy. Seminarists volunteered to give up their studies, and take temporary charge of primary schools, and, in some places, where it was impossible to find suitable candidates, the clergy themselves conducted the classes.

After the vacation both systems of schools began work in October, but it was soon evident that the vast majority of the scholars had deserted the state schools. In many districts the teachers were left without any pupils, while in others, which formerly had a large attendance, only three or four presented themselves. In a short time 60 per cent. of the children had left the official establishments, and the percentage increased according as Catholic schools were established. In the Flemish provinces the free schools were very flourishing, whereas in the Liège and Hainaut districts the state schools retained the upper hand. M. Frère-Orban and his friends, fearing the opposition of the bishops and of the Belgian Catholics, determined to open negotiations with the Pope. The negotiations lasted from 1878 till 1880, and the subject-matter was the attitude of the Belgian episcopate towards the constitution and the school law. In regard to the first point the Pope had no difficulty about giving a re-assuring reply, especially as the bishops were taking their stand upon the liberties guaranteed by the constitution of 1830; but in case of the schools the matter was not free from serious diffi­ culties. The Pope was inclined to make some conces­ sions to the government inasmuch as he was opposed to a wholesale condemnation of the state schools, and would have preferred that the bishops should have con­ sidered each individual school on its merits. The bishops pointed out that such a course of action was certain to involve great difficulties, and, as a protest, would be practically useless. The Pope yielded to their counsels, and left the responsibility for the selection of a policy entirely on their own shoulders. M. Frère­ Orban accused Leo XIII. of double dealing, and re­ called the Belgian ambassador from the Vatican, while at the same time ( June, 1880) Mgr. Seraphino Vannu­ telli, Papal nuncio at Brussels, received his passports.*

The Catholic schools continued to multiply, and though the government increased the expenses of the public schools, and offered every inducement to both teachers and pupils, the vast majority of the children held aloof from the state schools. In revenge a new law was passed in 1881 on secondary schools; the pen­

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* T'Serclaes, Le Pape Léon XIII., Vol. I., Chap. X.

sions of the prominent clergy were suppressed, as were also the burses for ecclesiastical students in the semi­ naries; the exemption of the clergy from military ser­ vice was abolished in 1883, and a commission was appointed ( 1880) to take evidence on the state of the primary schools. The commissioners were invested with great powers, which they used to the fullest extent in harassing the clergy and the teachers in the free schools. A similar commission was appointed ( 1881) to examine the methods of teaching in the different schools, but the free schools refused to admit the com­ missioners. Finally, in 1884, it was proposed to estab­ lish a commission of inquiry into the houses of the re­ ligious congregations, and into their property and financial affairs, but such a measure was too advanced for some of the Liberal party, and the government found itself in a minority.

The Liberals had succeeded in maintaining themselves in office by a series of electoral laws restricting the voting powers of those likely to favour the Catholic party, and by extending the suffrage in the large cities where the Radicals were particularly strong. Between 1878 and 1884 six separate laws of this character were forced through the two Houses of Parliament. But not­ withstanding this artificial buttressing the voice of the country could not be stifled. The years of persecution had strengthened the organisation of the Catholic party, and had obliged them to formulate a definite election programme, namely, reform of the school law, reform of the electoral laws, and a greater autonomy in the admin­ istration of the districts and provinces. The elections for half the members of the Chamber of Deputies were held in June, 1884, and the result was disastrous to the Liberals. Nearly all their prominent leaders who pre­ sented themselves were defeated, and the Catholics re­ turned to the Chamber with a majority of thirty-two. The country, glad at having been freed from such an incubus, has maintained the Catholic party in power since 1884 till the present time.

As a result of the elections Leopold II. called upon Malou, the leader of the Catholic party, to form a Cabinet. The official relations with the Holy See were renewed, and the school law of 1879 was repealed. The government acted, however, with great moderation. Instead of reverting to the law of 1842, they merely took the control of the schools from the central authority, and placed them in the hands of the local boards. Each district should maintain a school, but it might select either a public school or a private religious one. Unless twenty heads of families demanded a public school the district or commune was not obliged to erect one, and if it consented to the erection it could insist upon re­ ligious instruction being given before and after the hours for secular education. The state schools and the free schools were to be treated equally in regard to re­ muneration, provided the free schools were willing to submit to state inspection. According to the law of 1895 the provinces and the Treasury contributed to the support of the primary schools. The Liberals resorted to the old trick of organising riots to show their dis­ approbation of such a measure, and proclaimed that the local elections of 1884 showed that the country dis­ approved of the Catholic policy. The king dismissed two of the prominent Catholic leaders, Woeste and Jacobs, whereupon Malou resigned office in favour of Beernaert, who devoted himself principally to social and industrial reform.

Such a policy had become an urgent necessity owing to the alarming spread of the Socialist movement amongst the workmen in the large industrial centres. While the Liberals and Catholics were engaged in a desperate struggle for the schools a Socialist party com­ mitted to the principles of Marx had been organised, and had succeeded in capturing from the Liberals a large section of the workmen and artisans who had hitherto supported them. The strikes and attempted revolutions of 1886 were a warning to Catholics that unless a programme of social reforms was put forward, and a Catholic working-men's organisation inaugurated, the Socialists would soon capture the machinery of govern­ ment.

But the work of winning over the Catholic party to a sufficient recognition of the importance of the Labour movement presented certain elements of difficulty. Its leaders were drawn for the most part from the upper or middle classes, whose interests were more or less opposed to those of the artisans, peasants, and work­ men; while in addition to this the co-operative societies which were such an important element in the Socialist propaganda, and which must be employed also by the Catholic democratic party, were extremely distasteful to the retailers and merchants, who formed such a strong body in the Catholic party. But in Liège, the revolu­ tionary centre of Belgium, where the danger was par­ ticularly pressing, the bishop, Mgr. Doutreloux, aided by one of the professors in his theological seminary, threw himself into the work of organising a Catholic democratic league. Congresses were held at Liège in 1886, 1887, 1889, the rules for the organisation were drafted, and the clergy were commanded by the bishop to take up the work with great earnestness. The Catholic Democratic League soon spread into all the large centres of industry, and became a most important factor in the political development of the country.*

The Catholic ministry set itself to the task of carrying through important social reforms, by appointing com­ petent commissions to study the grievances of the work­ ing classes. Legislation was introduced on the lines suggested by the commissioners. Councils of industry and labour were established ( 1887); Conciliation Boards were set up ( 1889), laws were passed regarding labourers' cottages ( 1889, 1897), the inspection of dan­ gerous factories ( 1888), the abolition of the truck system ( 1887), the work of women and children ( 1889), the estab­ lishment of Trades Unions ( 1898), the payment of Old Age Pensions ( 1900), Savings Banks ( 1902), Mutual Aid

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* Veggian, Il Movimento Sociale Cristiano, 4 ed., Vicenza, 1902, Chap. VI.

Societies ( 1894, 1898), and compensation for injuries ( 1903).*

The work of reconciling the interests of the different classes composing the Catholic party was beset with great difficulties, and at times it required no ordinary prudence to prevent a rupture between the conservative and democratic sections. This was especially true after 1893, when a revision of the electoral laws was carried through according to which the number of those having votes was increased from about 150,000 to 1,402,382. The Democratic League claimed a voice in the selection of the deputies and senators, while the Federation of Catholic Circles and the Conservative League wished to reserve to themselves the supreme control. In the diocese of Liège the bitterness between both sections was greatest. The bishop, Mgr. Doutreloux, issued a pastoral which was approved by the Pope and by the Belgian bishops. He pointed out that wherever it was not possible to organise mixed associations of em­ ployers and artisans, Trades Associations should be formed, and the clergy should take part in them. This declaration in favour of autonomy only increased the dissensions, and Leo XIII. was obliged to intervene in order to bring about peace ( 1895). Finally, a general conference of representatives of all sections was sum­ moned at Mechlin in 1896. Clergymen, capitalists, Trades Union organisers, politicians, and university professors took part in the discussions of the conference. Ten resolutions were agreed upon by all parties, and the bishops recommended these resolutions to the Catholic societies, both conservative and democratic. All parties yielded a ready obedience to the decisions of the confer­ ence, except a section of the Christian Democrats, led by the Abbé Daens, at that time the deputy representing Alost. His followers were excluded from the Belgian Democratic Federation in 1897, and he himself having refused to obey the warnings of his bishop, and of the Holy See, was suspended from his ecclesiastical office.

____________________
* Le Gouvernement Catholique, pp. 36-40.

Since that time the supporters of the Abbé Daens have allied themselves with the Liberals or Socialists against the Catholic party.*

The success of the Catholic party in developing the industries and agriculture of the country, in promoting education, in extending the franchise, and in ameliorat­ ing the condition of the working classes strengthened its position, and won for it the continued support of the Belgian electors. On the other hand, its opponents were divided into three warring sections, the Moderate Liberals (Doctrinaires), the Progressive or Radical party, and the Socialists. In 1902, the Socialists deter­ mined to overturn the government by force, and riots were organised on a large scale in all the great indus­ trial centres. The government was not, however, to be intimidated by such measures. The military were called out, and the disturbances were suppressed with a firm hand. Then a general strike was declared, but with no better result, and the strikers were obliged to return to their work in a few days. Nothing remained for the opponents of the Catholic party except to unite their forces, Liberal and Socialist, and to form a bloc on the model of the French bloc. This was done at the elec­ tion of 1906, but the Catholic majority was still retained.

The success of the Catholic Church in Belgium is largely due to the freedom guaranteed to it by the con­ stitution of 1831. This constitution ensured freedom of religious worship, freedom of association, and of educa­ tion. The state abandoned all claims to interfere in purely ecclesiastical affairs. The appointment of the bishops of Belgium rests entirely in the hands of the Pope, and when they are appointed they may hold synods, publish decrees and pastorals, appoint to bene­ fices or professorships in their seminaries without any consultations with the civil authorities. In the manage­ ment of the temporalities of the Church each parish has a board of administration to assist the clergy and

____________________
* Veggian, op. cit., Chap. XV.

bishops This board is recognised as a legal corpora­ tion, and since 1870 the government, if called upon, might insist upon examining the revenues and expendi­ ture of these boards. On the other hand, though the Church is independent, there is not an absolute separa­ tion between Church and State. An official representa­ tive is maintained at the Vatican, the state is represented at the great religious functions, the salaries of the clergy, at least in part, are paid from public funds, and assistance is given for erecting and repairing churches.

The liberty of association permitted religious congre­ gations to be founded in Belgium, and the number of these has considerably increased during the nineteenth century. The orders or congregations represented in Belgium include the Benedictines, the Premonstraten­ sians, the Capuchins, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, and numerous bodies of lay brothers engaged in educational or charitable institutions. The different congregations of nuns are engaged in the primary and secondary schools, the hospitals, and orphanages. Besides their labours in Belgium itself the congregations are doing good work in the foreign missions, especially in Africa and in India. The congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was founded in 1862 for the evangelisa­ tion [colonisation?] of the Congo and Mongolia.

In education the work of the Belgian Catholics has been most remarkable. Their struggle for the mainten­ ance of a religious system of education in the primary schools has been already described. Availing them­ selves to the fullest of the freedom allowed them by the constitution they have established a system of secondary schools, both male and female, that are in no way in­ ferior to the state establishments, and that are frequented by three-fourths of the Belgian students. Unlike the Liberals, who, with the exception of the foundation of the free university at Brussels, and a few primary schools, have done nothing, the Catholics can fairly claim to have made some sacrifices for their educational opinions.

But the most remarkable and the most successful of the works undertaken by Catholics in this direction is the University of Louvain.* The old university of Louvain was suppressed during the French occupation in 1797 as being out of harmony with republican prin­ ciples. Taking advantage of the liberty guaranteed by the constitution of 1831 the bishops of Belgium deter­ mined in 1833 to found a free Catholic University. Pope Gregory XVI. approved of their resolution in 1834, and the university was founded at first in Mechlin, but on the invitation of the municipal authorities of Louvain, who offered the use of the old university buildings, the new institution was transferred thither in 1835. Five faculties were established, namely, divinity, law, medicine, philosophy and letters, and science. The university opened with only 13 professors and 86 students, but it developed rapidly. In 1864, it had a staff of 60 professors, and the number of students amounted to 768; while at present it can boast of over 100 pro­ fessors, and over 2,000 students. Numerous institutions have been annexed to the several faculties, such as the Polytechnic School, to the Schools of Agriculture, of Poli­ tical and Social Sciences, of Commercial and Consular Sciences, and Institutes of Philosophy, of Experimental Psychology, of Biology, and of Bacteriology. Seven­ teen scientific reviews are published from Louvain.

The university is owned by the Catholic bishops of Belgium, and is supported by private subscriptions. Unfortunately, it is not recognised as a legal corpora­ tion, and the absence of such recognition often militates against donations to the university. The degrees at Louvain are of the same value in the eyes of the law as those of any other university. The possession of such a model institution has been of incalculable advantage to the Catholics of Belgium. It has furnished them with professors for their secondary schools, and has sup­ plied the leading men of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies for the last fifty years. Its students are to be

____________________
* L'Université de Louvain, 1425-1900, Brussels, 1900.

found in all departments of public life in Belgium, and the vast majority of them remain true to the principles they imbibed during their student days.

(b) HOLLAND

Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI., Chap. XXII. Albers, Geschiednis van het herstel der Hiërarchie in de, Nederlanden, 2 Vols., Utrecht, 1903-4. Albers-Hedde, Manuel d'Histoire Ecclésiastique, Paris, 1908, pp. 509-15. Nippold, Die Römische Kirche in Königreich der Niederlande, Leipzig, 1877.

William II. ( 1840-49) was of a conciliatory disposi­ tion, and did not wish to persecute any of his subjects. Owing, however, to the agitation that had been raised against the ministry on account of the marriage of William I. to a Catholic lady, the king was obliged to dismiss them from office. A little group of malcon­ tents, under the leadership of Thorbecke, began to de­ mand a revision of the constitution with the object of widening the suffrage, and restricting the power of the Crown. William II, steadily resisted such demands for revision till he was frightened into acquiescence by the news of the French Revolution ( 1848). The new con­ stitution was distinctly favourable to Catholics. Full freedom of religious worship, of education, and of asso­ ciation was guaranteed, while the exercise of the Placet on papal and ecclesiastical documents was abolished. The extreme Calvinist party was strongly opposed to such concessions, but the Catholics were numerous and determined; and their resistance was specially feared at a time of such great political disturbance in Europe. In another direction the fundamental law of 1848 was favourable to Catholics. It granted greater freedom to the provincial and district councils, and the Catholics, being grouped together for the most part in certain districts and provinces, were certain to have a majority upon the local councils in these portions of the country.

William II. died in 1849, and was succeeded by William III. ( 1849-1890). In the Chamber of Deputies there were three principal parties, the Orthodox party determined to support a Calvinist state with denomi­ national education, the Liberals anxious for neutral schools, and the Catholics, resolved to assert the inde­ pendence of their Church. The Catholic nobility of Holland, encouraged by the liberty guaranteed in the fundamental law, petitioned the Pope to re-establish the hierarchy in Holland. Similar petitions were forwarded to Rome by the vicars-apostolic, and by the Catholic members in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Pius IX., yielding to their request, published the Encyclical, Ex quo die arcano ( 4th March, 1853), by which he estab­ lished an archbishopric at Utrecht, with four suffragan sees at Breda, Haarlem, Bois-le-Duc, and Ruremonde. The publication of the Pope's Encyclical raised a veri­ table storm in Holland. The scenes that had already been witnessed in England on the occasion of the re-establishment of the hierarchy were renewed in Holland. The Calvinists declared that the state was in danger, and that the government should take energetic action against such aggression. But Thorbecke was not inclined to imitate Lord John Russell. He declared that the government had no power to prevent the Catholics from organising their body as they wished; and, as the king showed some sympathy with the "April Movement," the Liberals resigned office, and an Orthodox ministry was called upon to legislate for the country. The Catholics and Liberals formed a coalition to oppose the proposed penal legislation against the Catholic Church. In face of this coalition the Orthodox party were unable to carry out their programme. Laws were passed against bishops taking their titles from the sees of Utrecht and Haarlem, since these were already occupied by Jansenist bishops, forbidding any foreigner to accept any ecclesiastical office in Holland without the consent of the king, and prohibiting the use of ecclesi­ astical dress outside the churches, and public religious rites in case of Catholic funerals Nobody regarded such measures as of any importance, and on the return of the Liberal party to office most of them were quietly annulled.

For some time the alliance between the Liberals and Catholics continued, but it was broken up on the ques­ tion of the primary schools. The Liberals insisted upon a system of neutral public schools, and were anxious to make these compulsory, while the Orthodox party were anxious for denominational education. In 1857, the law on primary schools was passed. The public schools were to give no denominational education. Their object was "to develop the intellectual faculties of the children, and to bring them up in the practice of the Christian and social virtues." The teachers were forbidden to do or permit anything that might be contrary to the respect due to the religious sentiments of the children. The schools were placed under the local authorities, who were obliged to raise the cost by taxation, but who, in return for this, had the privilege of appointing the teachers and superintending the instruction. The law of 1857 did not forbid the erection and maintenance of free schools, and both parties, Catholic and Orthodox, con­ tinued to support their own establishments in many of the districts. Besides, in the provinces and communes, where the vast body of the people were Catholic or Orthodox Calvinist, the local authorities so used their right of appointing teachers, and of superintending the instructions as to transform the public schools into de­ nominational establishments in accordance with the wishes of the parents.

Meanwhile, the work of organising the Catholic Church in Holland was being pushed forward steadily. The dioceses were divided into regular parishes, and in accordance with the Papal instruction of 1858 cathedral chapters, consisting of a provost and eight canons, were established in the different dioceses. The canons were dispensed from residence at the cathedrals on account of the absence of prebends and the scarcity of clergy, but they were obliged to come together once a month to recite the divine office, and to assist the bishop by their advice. To the canons belonged the right of selecting the candidates to be recommended for appointments to vacant bishoprics. Ecclesiastical seminaries were erected in each of the dioceses according to the Triden­ tine regulations. But owing to the years of persecution, and the absence of an organised hierarchy, very many of the ecclesiastical decrees had been allowed to fall into disuse; and it became necessary for the bishops to summon a national council to lay down a new code of canon law for the church in Holland. The council met at Utrecht in 1865,* and was attended by the bishops of Holland and of some of the Dutch Colonies, by the representatives of the chapters, and by the superiors of the seminaries and religious congregations. The decrees were confirmed by the Pope in 1866, and became the standard code for the management of ecclesiastical affairs in Holland.

The education question was still the great subject of contention in the country. The Catholics joined forces with the remnants of the Orthodox party, who, having discarded much of their religious bigotry, were conser­ vative in their tendency, and both bodies were at one in denouncing the secular school system. A Catholic de­ partment was established in the Ministry of Worship, but the union of Catholics and Conservatives was un­ able to make any changes in primary education. The Liberals, having returned to power, succeeded in pass­ ing another school law in 1878, which increased the salaries of the teachers, and fixed the amount of contri­ bution to be paid by the state and the local authorities, but the principle of undenominationalism was still main­ tained. In 1889, however, a new arrangement was arrived at according to which the denominational schools which had a certain average, and which were open to state inspection, might receive financial assistance. The free schools and the public schools were placed upon

____________________
* Coll. Lacensis, Vol. V., pp. 725-931.

an equal footing. In addition the Catholics maintain their own training colleges for teachers.

The laws of Holland allow full liberty to the religious orders and congregations,* and the numbers of these bodies have been considerably increased by the exiles from Germany during the kulturkampf and by the monks and nuns expelled from France in recent years. The orders principally represented are the premonstraten­ sians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Trappists. Very flourishing secondary schools are conducted by some of the religious bodies, notably the Jesuits, while in 1894 a chair of Thomistic philosophy was established in the University of Amsterdam. Since the law of 1905 it is possible for the Catholics to establish a university with full powers of conferring degrees, and steps have been taken to avail themselves of this privilege.

The constitution permits the Catholics to organise themselves, and to conduct the affairs of the Church without any state interference. The appointment of bishops is made without any reference to the civil autho­ rities, and the bishops are free to appoint to all ecclesias­ tical offices. The clergy, recive their salaries, at least in part, from the state, and the parochial and diocesan pro­ perty is held by parochial or diocesan committees, each of which, according to the law of Holland, forms a legal corporation. The appointments to these committees rest with the bishop, who may revoke the appointment when he wishes.

The Catholics of Holland organised a strong Catholic part in the chamber of deputies and in the Senate. Their representatives, forming as they did about one­ third of the total number, were able to hold the balance between the Liberal and Conservative parties and to secure full liberty, for their co-religionists. But as in Belgium, the growth of the Socialist party has necessi­ tated a new grouping of the political sections. Socialism was introduced into Holland from Belgium and Ger­

____________________
* Girón y Arcas, La Situación. Juridica de la Iglesia Catolica, Madrid, 1905, 221 Sqq.

many, and found a capable leader in the person of Nieuwenhuis, a Lutheran pastor. By his exertions Socialist leagues were formed in nearly all the great in­ dustrial centres, and a congress of Socialist representa­ tives was held at Rotterdam in 1882. The movement was particularly violent, and the dreadful riots in Amsterdam in 1886 opened the eyes of the people to the dangers of the new party.

The Catholics were obliged to follow the example of their brethren in Germany and put forward a democratic programme. A confederation known as the Popular Catholic League of Holland was formed in 1889, and spread its branches throughout the Catholic districts. After the appearance of the Papal Encyclical on Labour, congress was held at Amsterdam in 1893 to determine programme which all classes of Catholics might accept. The object of the society was declared to be a defence of the working men against their three greatest enemies, materialism, individualism, and socialism.* A common programme was agreed to at the congress. The union of all Christian parties in Holland to oppose the Socialists has resulted in giving the Catholics a strong representation in the Conservative or Christian ministry. In the elections held in June, 1909, the com­ bination of Catholics and Conservatives scored a notable victory over their l,iberal and Socialist opponents.

The Jansenist sect still continues to exist in Holland. They have an archbishop at Utrecht, and bishops at Haarlem and Deventer. Their body amounted to 8,754 in 1899, with 27 clergymen and 26 churches. At the restoration of the hierarchy in Holland in 1853 the Jan­ senists united with the Calvinists in the agitation against the Catholic bishops. They refused to ace-ept the defi­ nition of the Immaculate Conception, as well as that of Papal Infallibility in 1870. During the Old Catholic troubles in Germany they played a prominent part in assisting the opponents of the Church, and encouraging them in their attacks upon the Pope.

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* Veggian, Il Movimento Sociale Cristiano, 4 ed., Vicenza, 1920. Chap. XV.

(c) LUXEMBURG

Ruppert, Les lois et règlements sur l' organisation . . . de, Luxembourg, Luxemburg, 1885. Eltz, Aus Luxemburgs l'ergangenheit und Gegen­ wart, Treves, 1891. Luxemburg in Kirchenlexikon. Anuaire Ponti­ fical Catholique, 1909, p. 458.

The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg has undergone many political changes during the last hundred years. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was united to France, and subject to the ecclesiastical rule of the bishop of Metz. At the Congress of Vienna it was handed over to the king of Holland as an indemnity to the House of Orange-Nassau for the loss of the German territory that had been seized by Prussia. But the Grand Duchy still remained a member of the Germanic Confederation and was united to Holland only by a per­ sonal union. In ecclesiastical affairs it was still subject to the bishop of Metz, but the people objected to foreign administration, and in 1822 the Grand Duchy of Luxeni­ burg was united to the diocese of Namur. In the Revo­ lution of 1830 the Belgian forces over-ran most of the country, but the capital was held for Holland by Prussian troops. A certain portion of it remained united to Belgium, but in 1839 the remainder was restored to Holland. As a result of this the portion placed under the rule of the king of Holland was sepa­ rated from the diocese of Namur, and was placed under the jurisdiction of a vicar apostolic. A seminary was established in 1845 for the education of priests for the Grand Duchy. After the dissolution of the Germanic Confederation the king of Holland was willing to dis­ pose of his rights over Luxemburg to France, but Prussia objected to such an increase of French territory, and an international conference decided that the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg was to be an independent neutral state ( 1867) under the personal rule of the king of Holland. On the death of William III. of Holland in 1890, and the succession of his daughter, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg passed under the rule of the nearest male relative of the late king, namely, the Duke of Nassau. A separate bishopric was created for Luxemburg in 1870. The establishment of the new see was approved by the chambers and the government in 1873. The total population of the Grand Duchy in 1900 was 236,543, of whom about 230,000 were Catholic. The bishop must be a native of Luxemburg, and his appoint­ ment must be approved by the government before he can begin to exercise his jurisdiction. The bishop, clergy, and seminary professors are paid by the state. The Catholics are particularly active and zealous, and in few states of Europe is the Catholic press so able and influential.

CHAPTER XV
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

(a) SPAIN

La España del Siglo XIX., 3 Vols., Madrid, 1886-8. Fuente, Historia Ecclesiástica de España, 2 Vols., Madrid, 1873-5. Knöpfler- Villaescusa , Manual de Historia Eclesiástica, Freiburg, 1908. Gams, Kirchengeschichte, von Spanien, Regensburg, 1879, III. Bd., II. Abt.

THE history of Spain during the nineteenth century is occupied principally with revolutions, civil wars between different factions, and changes both in the constitution and in the administration. Under Queen Isabella II. ( 1833-1868) there was a constant struggle between the Liberal party and the court favourites for possession of the supreme power in Spain. From 1850 till 1854 a moderate party held the reins of government, and to win over the Carlists, who were strongly Catholic in their tendencies, a policy of re-conciliation with the Pope and the Church was adopted. The concordat was concluded in 1851; and the bishops and clergy who had been in exile were allowed to return to Spain. As a result, many of the supporters of Don Carlos were induced to lend their support to the new regime. But the government, strengthened by the general reaction against revolution and liberalism, ventured too far when it proposed a revision of the constitution which would have deprived the Cortes of much of its power, reduced the number of its deputies, and erected the Senate into an hereditary chamber.

This policy led to a revolution ( 1854). The leaders of this movement were General O'Donnell, who was himself a moderate Liberal, and Espartero, the head of the Pro­ gressive party. The more extreme party, under Espartero, began an attack upon the Church, while the Carlists rose again "in defence of religion." The old scenes were in danger of being enacted once more, especially when Espartero proposed a law for the sale of the ecclesiastical property, including both that set aside for the support of charitable institutions, and for the maintenance of the clergy. The sums received from the sale were to be invested in three per cent. government stock, and the interest handed over to the former ecclesiastical owners or administrators. Naturally enough, the clergy protested against such confiscation, and the queen refused to give her sanction to the measure. In case Espartero persisted she threatened to resign the crown ( 1855). O'Donnell, who was already in conflict with the Progressive party, gradually strengthened his position by the appointment of moderates to all vacant positions, and in 1856 Queen Isabella dismissed Espartero, and called upon O'Donnell to form a ministry. But the Church property law was still a disturbing factor in Spanish politics. Narvaez, who succeeded O'Donnell, abolished this law, and re­ stored the constitution of 1845.

When O'Donnell returned to power in 1858 he tried to form a Cabinet representative of all sections. Nego­ tiations were opened with the Pope, who protested against the law on the confiscation of ecclesiastical pro­ perty as a violation of the concordat, and in 1859 an agreement arrived at between Spain and the Holy See was published.*

The Italian war, and the overthrow of the Temporal Power, had a deep interest for the Spanish nation, but the war in which Spain was herself involved with the Sultan of Morocco occupied the attention of the nation. The failure of the expedition to Mexico ( 1862) increased the difficulty of O'Donnell's position. He was anxious

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* Nussi, Conventiones XLV.

to recognise the new kingdom of Italy, but such a measure was in opposition to the feelings of the queen and of the vast majority of the nation, and in 1863 his resignation was tendered and accepted.

From 1863 till 1868 Spain was in a most disturbed con­ dition. The Conservatives were in power, but were attacked by a strong coalition, which stopped at nothing in order to secure the overthrow of the government. The ministers had recourse to desperate weapons, such as wholesale arrests of the leaders, followed by imprison­ ment or exile. But the death of O!Donnell in 1867, and of Narvaez in 1868 deprived the party of the only leaders who were capable of suppressing the rebellion that was being prepared. Liberals, Progressives and Radicals joined hands, and the army, roused by the arrest of its generals, agreed to support them. The rebellion broke out in September, 1868, and before the end of the month Madrid was in the hands of tile revolutionaries. Queen Isabella fled across the frontiers into French territory, where she was kindly received by Napoleon III.

A provisional government was formed at Madrid under the presidency of Marshal Serrano. In the notifi­ cation addressed to the governments of Europe the new rulers of Spain declared their intention to adopt as their principles the sovereignty of the people, the liberty of worship, of education, and of the press. The new Cortes met in January, 1869, and set itself to formulate a constitution. Liberty of worship was guaranteed, and civil marriage was legalised in spite of the protests of the ecclesiastical authorities. The Republican party, led by Castelar, proposed that Spain should be declared a republic, but the majority clung to the monarchical form of government. The difficulty was to find a suit­ able candidate for the throne. Alphonsus, the son of Isabella II., was ruled out as belonging to the Bourbon race. The King of Portugal, the Duke of Genoa, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe- Coburg refused to accept the proffered throne. Finally, the Duke of Aosta, the son of Victor Emmanuel, agreed to accept the title, and his appointment was carried in the Cortes by 191 votes against 120 ( 26th Nov., 1870). Such a selection showed the utter contempt of the new rulers for the feelings of the Catholics of Spain. The majority of the people, and the entire body of the clergy, resented the bestowal of the throne of Spain upon the son of the man who had been excommunicated for his attacks upon the Papal States, and who had so recently shocked the feelings of the Catholic world by his bombardment of Rome.

The new king, who assumed the name Amadeus I., arrived in Spain in December, 1870, but from the very beginning he was made to feel that his presence was re­ garded as an unwarrantable intrusion. The nobles and clergy held aloof; the moderate men formed a party in favour of Alphonsus, the son of the deposed queen; the Carlists rallied their forces on behalf of Charles VII., the grandson of the brother of Don Carlos; while the Radicals, who supported Amadeus, declared war upon the Church. Amadeus, tired of his unfortunate situa­ tion, and unwilling to resort to desperate methods for the defence of the throne, abdicated, and a republic was established ( 12th Feb., 1873). But those supporting the republican form of government were divided amongst themselves into warring sections, and the Carlists took up arms in support of religion and of their chief. In many of the provinces fearful struggles took place between the contending forces. The generals were tired of such a hopeless conflict, and they determined to offer the throne to Alphonsus XII. ( Dec., 1874). He re­ turned to Spain, and was welcomed by the majority of the people. The Carlists, however, refused to recog­ nise him, and continued the struggle until the presence of two overwhelming armies forced them to flee across the frontiers into France ( 1876). During these years of disturbance religion had suffered both from the hostility of the Radicals and from the alliance of a large portion of the clergy with the Carlist party.

Alphonsus XII. was anxious to adopt a policy of con­ ciliation. He endeavoured to fulfil the promises that had been made when the ecclesiastical property was seized by the state, closed the Protestant chapels and schools that had been opened, abolished civil marriage and opened negotiations with the Holy See in regard to the religious clauses which should be embodied in the new constitution. The Conservative party wished to return to the formula of 1845, when the Catholic religion was alone tolerated, while the Constitutional or Liberal party wished for full freedom of worship. In the end the Cortes adopted a compromise. It was declared that the Catholic religion was the religion of the state, and that the state was obliged to support its clergy; but, on the other hand, it was guaranteed that no man should be dis­ turbed on account of his religious opinions, or for the exercise of his worship. The public ceremonies or mani­ festations of any religion other than that of the state re­ ligion were forbidden ( 1876). Though the Pope and the bishops protested against a religious toleration that destroyed the absolutely Catholic nature of the Spanish kingdom, still the conciliatory policy of Alphonsus XII. succeeded in winning over to his side most of his old opponents. Two main political parties were formed, the Conservatives and the Liberals, who continue to dispute the power in Spain till the present time. The Republi­ cans and the Carlists succeeded in returning a few members to the Chamber.

The election of Leo XIII. was well received in Spain, where it was hoped that the new Pontiff might make peace between the contending parties. The Carlists were earnest Catholics, and put forward the maintenance of Catholic principles as one of the main planks in their programme. Hence, they secured the support of a large section of the clergy, and they tried to brand all their opponents as being enemies of the Catholic re­ ligion. Such a division was disastrous for Catholic in­ terests, especially at a time when Socialism was spread­ ing with alarming rapidity among the workmen in the large industrial cities of Spain. Leo XIII. was anxious to see peace restored to Spain, but he was still more anxious that religion should not be mixed up with purely political issues to the great detriment of the Church. In 1881, a great Spanish pilgrimage to Rome was organised in order to express sympathy with the Pope after the dis­ graceful scenes that had been witnessed at the funeral of Pius IX. One of the principal leaders in the movement was Nocedal, the editor of the Carlist paper, El Siglo Futuro. The pilgrimage was denounced as a Carlist demonstration, and the controversy grew so warm that the Pope was obliged to interfere, and to request the organisers to abandon the idea of one national pilgrim­ age, in favour of separate diocesan organisations. In his addresses to the pilgrims in 1882, Leo XIII. strongly insisted upon the necessity of union amongst all sections of Catholics, and the same idea was dominant in the Encyclical which he addressed to the Spanish Catholics in 1883. He warned them against the danger of con­ founding religion with political issues, and besought them to unite in defence of religion.

The policy of Leo XIII. in Spain was similar to that pursued by him in France. Without forcing Legitimists or Carlists to abandon their own political sympathies, he exhorted them to accept the established form of govern­ ment, so long as it had the support of the majority of the people, and in this way to put themselves in a position to defend the Church by constitutional weapons. But as in France, this policy met with bitter opposition. The Carlists refused to accept such directions, and a warm campaign was carried on by Nocedal in the El Siglo Futuro against the interference of Cardinal Rampolla, the Papal nuncio at the Court of Madrid. They contended that the functions of the nuncio were purely diplomatic, and that he had no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholics of the country. The Pope was con­ strained to express his condemnation of such views, and to justify the action of himself and his nuncio ( 1885). In the same year the mediation of the Pope in the dispute between Spain and Germany regarding the possession of the Caroline Islands, saved the honour of Spain, and prevented the revolutionary party from getting an oppor­ tunity to overthrow the government.*

The question of education in Spain gave rise to serious difficulties with the Holy See. According to the con­ cordat of 1851 the teaching in the primary and secondary schools and in the universities should be Catholic in tone, and the bishops were empowered to prevent any­ body from teaching anything contrary to Catholic doc­ trine. But during the revolution of 1868 liberty of edu­ cation as well as liberty of worship was promulgated. The new constitution restored the Catholic Church to the possession of the rights and privileges guaranteed in the concordat, but very little effort was made to secure the rights of the Church on education. In 1881, a circular was issued by the Minister of Education permitting professors and teachers to propound what they pleased without any other restriction than that imposed by their own conscience. The nuncio protested against these in­ structions, but could not secure their withdrawal. In 1885, a new decree was issued which placed the free schools established by the ecclesiastical authorities on the same level with the government schools, and, as a result, the number of free schools rapidly increased. In 1894, a project was submitted to make the schools purely secular institutions, but owing to the opposition of the Cortes the law was not passed, and a royal decree was issued, according to which every respect should be shown in the schools to the dogmas and moral teaching of Catholicism. The bishops opposed the change, and succeeded in restoring the religious instruction to the secondary schools.

In 1885, Alphonsus XII. died, and his wife, Maria Cristina, succeeded as regent for her daughter, and after­ wards for her son, who was born after his father's death. The Pope continued to show his interest in Spanish affairs by exhorting the clergy and bishops to rally round the reigning dynasty. In 1894, a great pilgrimage, composed for the greater part of Spanish workmen,

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* T'Serclaes, Le Pape, Léon XIII., Vol. I., Chap. XVII.

visited Rome. The Pope exhorted the bishops to estab­ lish Catholic workingmen's associations in every parish in Spain. The necessity of this advice had become urgent owing to the rapid growth of Socialism since 1868. Barcelona was a great centre of the Socialist movement, and owing to the repressive measures taken by the government a large section of the party had become pure anarchists, and boasted of their resolve to terrorise the government. The other section adopted the principles of Marx, cut off all connection with the anarchist party, and succeeded in securing a large measure of support amongst the artisan classes in the manufacturing centres.*

The Catholics, in obedience to the Pope's instructions, set about the work of organisation. Catholic congresses were held annually; associations of different kinds were organised; attempts were made to formulate a pro­ gramme of social reform, but owing to the political divisions and the difficulty of reconciling the different interests involved, the organisation is not effective.† As a result of the divisions amongst the Catholics the Liberal party was gradually strengthening itself in the country, and in the party itself the more radical element was acquiring a greater influence. The agitation against the Church was carried on mainly in regard to the multi­ plicity of religious orders and congregations existing in Spain. The concordat of 1851 guaranteed the full recog­ nition of only three orders, yet it was pointed out that many others were enjoying privileges similar to those enjoyed by the orders protected by the concordat. In response to the demands of the party a decree was issued in 1901, during the ministry of Senior Sagasta, com­ manding the religious congregations to submit to the Law of Associations passed in 1887. They should report themselves within six months to the chief civil authority of their district, and present him with a copy of their statutes and other necessary documents. The bishops

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* Winterer, Le Socialisme Contemporain, Paris, 1901, pp. 228-37.
† Veggian, II Movimento Sociale Cristiano, Chap. XX.

protested against such a decree as being opposed to the stipulations of the concordat, and negotiations were opened with Rome for a peaceable settlement of the difficulty. A preliminary agreement was arrived at in 1901.

In order to study the question of the religious orders, and the reduction of the budget of worship, rendered necessary in Spain by the crippled financial condition of the country, a mixed commission was appointed in 1902 by the Pope and the Spanish government, and as a result of that commission a new convention was con­ cluded between the representatives of Pius X. and of Alphonsus XIII. of Spain ( 19th June, 1904).* Accord­ ing to the terms of this convention it was agreed that the religious orders then existing in Spain should be recog­ nised as legal corporations by complying with certain simple conditions, while no religious institutions could be established in future without the consent of the government. The houses with communities of less than twelve members were to be suppressed, and no religious order or congregation as such should receive any support from the state. This convention was not approved by the Cortes.

The Liberals returned to power in 1905, and, owing to their divisions, could find only one subject on which the different sections were likely to be united, namely, an attack upon the religious congregations The Minister of Worship published a circular declaring that civil mar­ riage, even of Catholics, should be regarded as valid. This provoked the strong opposition of the bishops and clergy. In addition, a law against the religious congre­ gations was drafted upon the model of the French law of associations ( 1901). Spain was not, however, ready for such a policy. Indignation meetings were held over the country, protests were made from all sides against the proposed legislation, and in the elections of 1907 the Liberal party suffered a complete defeat.

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* Sévestre, Le Concordat de 1801, Appendix 673-75.

(b) PORTUGAL

Oliveira Martins, Historia de Portugal, 2 vols., 6th ed., Lisbon, 1906. Giedroyc, Résumé de l' Histoire du Portugal au XIXe Siecle, Paris, 1875. MacSwiney, Le Portugal et le Saint Siège, Paris, 1881-9. Conventiones de Rebus Ecclesiasticis, &c., Rome, 1893.

The history of the Catholic Church in Portugal during the nineteenth century forms a dark chapter in modern ecclesiastical history. Though the great body of the people remained strongly attached to their religion, the Church herself was enslaved, the religious congre­ gations suppressed, and the clergy left at the mercy of a hostile government. Many causes have contributed to bring about the downfall of the Catholic religion in Portugal, the most notable of which are the civil wars that followed one another with alarming rapidity during the nineteenth century, the power exercised by the free- mason lodges, especially amongst the higher classes, and in the government circles, and the complete subjection of the bishops, clergy, and church administration to the jurisdiction of the Crown. So long as every appoint­ ment in the Church is made by cabinet ministers, who are oftentimes prominent leaders in the freemason party, one can hardly hope for a resurrection of religion in Portugal.

Maria II. reigned from her restoration in 1834 till 1853, during which period the power was disputed between the Chartists, who wished to maintain the Charter of 1826, according to which all power was vested in the hands of the king, and the Septembrists, who desired the constitution of 1822, which acknowledged the sovereignty of the people. All attempts of the Pope to conclude a concordat proved useless owing to the un­ willingness of the government to make any concessions, and instead of negotiating terms of agreement with Rome, the civil authorities set themselves to legislate for the management of ecclesiastical affairs in Portugal.

The same condition of affairs has been maintained under Pedro V. ( 1853-1861), Louis I. ( 1861-1889), Carlos I. ( 1889-1908), and Manuel I. ( 1908). Pius IX. made many attempts to regulate ecclesiastical affairs in Portugal, but his overtures were rejected. In 1862, he invited the bishops of Portugal to visit Rome for the canonisation of the Japanese Martyrs, but they did not come, nor did they even forward an explanation. The Pope reproved them sharply for their attitude, and besought them to be zealous in discharging the duties of their sacred office, especially in instructing the youth, and in training the students who were to be the clergy of the country ( 1862). The exhortations of the Pope do not seem to have had much effect. Only two of the bishops of Portugal were present at the Vatican Council, though it must be admitted, on the other hand, that the university of Coimbra, where freemason influence so long prevailed, pronounced strongly in favour of the In­ fallibility of the Pope. Under Leo XIII. better relations existed between the Holy See and Portugal, and owing mainly to the exertions of the Pope and his nuncios a great improvement began to make itself felt, especially in the ranks of the clergy, during the last ten years of his Pontificate.

During the disastrous wars between Dom Miguel and Maria II. the ecclesiastical property was seized, the monasteries were suppressed, the bishops driven from their sees, and all the privileges and rights of the Church suspended. On the other side no concordat has been arranged by which new regulations could be established; and hence, to understand the state of affairs in Portugal, it is necessary to glance at the legal position of the Church, according to the civil code at present in force in the country.* By the decrees of 1833 and 1834 the re­ ligious orders of men were suppressed, not alone in

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* For legal position of Church in Portugal, cf.:-- Giobbio, Lezioni di Diplomazia Ecclesiastica, 2 vols., Rome, 1899- 1901. Girón y Arcas, La ituación Juridicade la Iglesia Católica, Madrid, 1905.

Portugal itself but in all the Portuguese possessions, and the property owned by these bodies was transferred to the state. The convents were not immediately sup­ pressed, but they were forbidden to receive novices, and the novices who had joined, and who had not yet made their vows, were sent away. In 1872, the government appeared to be anxious to give legal sanction to some religious congregations of women, but the conditions which were laid down were of such a kind as could not be accepted by the Holy See. But in reality religious bodies of both men and women did settle in Portugal and in the colonies, notably the Jesuits, the Lazarists, the Franciscans, and the Fathers of the Holy Ghost; and the government, pretending to be ignorant of their exist­ ence, took no steps to suppress them. The reason for this toleration is to be sought for mainly in the aid which the religious congregations afforded the government in their colonisation schemes, especially in Africa. By experience it was found that colonisation did not succeed without the presence of priests who were willing to accompany the colonists, and to risk all the dangers which the early settlers must be prepared to encounter. As a result the popular feeling was entirely on the side of the religious, who devoted themselves to works of charity, the care of the sick, and education.

But in 1901 an incident occurred that raised a new agitation against the religious orders. The daughter of the consul for Brazil wished to become a nun, but her father refused his consent. Notwithstanding this she sought and received admission into a convent, and the father appealed to the freemasons of the kingdom to aid him in recovering his daughter. Violent scenes took place in the capital, and though the ministers pointed out that the girl had attained her majority, and was free to select her own course, they yielded to the agitation. The government ordered the local authorities to suppress the contemplative orders, and to force the congregations taking part in education or charity to submit their statutes for approval within eight days. Besides, they were commanded to prevent such bodies from receiving any novices for the future. These decrees were issued without being submitted to the Chambers, and were re­ garded by many as entirely illegal. In practice the decrees have not been strictly enforced, though the posi­ tion of the religious congregations in Portugal is still very precarious, and the field of their activity very limited.

According to the concordat of 1773 great power was given to the Crown in the nomination of bishops and the appointments to benefices; but the Charter of 1826 went further and decreed that the right of nominating bishops and of appointing to ecclesiastical benefices rested with the Crown. Owing to the unfortunate civil war in Portugal, and the part taken by most of the bishops and clergy in favour of Dom Miguel, it was decreed in 1833 that to the government alone appertained the power of nominating to archbishoprics, bishoprics, priories, canonries, parishes and to every other species of ecclesi­ astical office. Notwithstanding all efforts to the contrary, the Crown exercises such a right till the present time; and, in consequence of this, no man need hope for pro­ motion unless he has satisfied a ministry, most of the members and officials of which are freemasons and enemies of the Catholic Church. When parishes become vacant the appointment is made either by concursus or by the Minister of Worship after due examination of the testimonials of the different candidates. If a concursus is decided upon the examination is conducted by synodal examiners in the name of the bishop, and the bishop forwards the result of the examination to the Minister of Worship, who makes the appointment. In these circum­ stances the wonder is, not that the Catholic religion has suffered much in Portugal, but rather that it has con­ tinued to exist. By the law of 1856 every bishop, before taking possession of his see, must swear allegiance, not alone to the king and constitution, but to the code of civil laws in vigour in the country.

The confiscation of the ecclesiastical property, and the suppression of the tithes and other sources of revenue ( 1832), by means of which the ecclesiastical institutions were supported, led to the destruction of the seminaries in Portugal. The next year a decree was issued per­ mitting the re-opening of a certain number of seminaries, but on account of the civil war then raging nothing was done till 1845. By the suppression and expulsion of the religious orders, and by the destruction of the semi­ naries, the number of clergy was so reduced that the people were left without the services of priests. In 1845, a law was passed regulating the establishment of seminaries for the education of the clergy. But the government reserved to itself control over the appoint­ ment of professors, the subjects to be studied, and the selection of the text-books. The students in such semi­ naries were obliged to make their preliminary studies at the state lyceums. In 1850, it was ordered that no student be admitted into the theological classes until he had received a certificate from one of the lyceums that he had read a satisfactory course in arts subjects. In 1883, when negotiations were going on with the Holy See about a new division of the Portuguese dioceses, the bishops protested against the undue influence of the government in the training of the clergy, and as a result the seminaries were placed under the authority of the bishops, but the preliminary studies at the state lyceums were still obligatory. Each of the Portuguese dioceses has a seminary. Besides the seminaries, there exists a theological faculty in the University of Coimbra, where many of the abler students pursue a higher course of studies, and since 1900 a Portuguese college has been founded in Rome. In recent years serious efforts have been made to re-organise the theological studies in the seminaries of Portugal, and to introduce into them text- books more adapted to modern requirements.

In 1848, a new arrangement of the dioceses of Portugal was agreed upon between Pius IX. and Maria II. But this decision was not carried into effect. By a decree issued in 1849 the Crown reserved to itself the right of arranging the number and boundaries of the dioceses in Portugal and in the colonies. Negotiations were opened up on this subject in 1882, and in 1883, a new division took place, according to which the number of dioceses was considerably reduced. The bishops and members of the chapter receive a very limited salary from the state, and the seminaries are also supported out of the public funds. But the clergy generally receive finan­ cial aid from the ecclesiastical revenues and the local authorities. The reduction of the revenues paid to the bishops and clergy has had the effect of stopping the competition amongst the sons of the nobility for these positions; and, as a result, the ranks of the higher clergy have been considerably purified, and a corresponding improvement has taken place among the people. Re­ ligious confraternities are not allowed, except with the approval of the king, and unless they are prepared to comply with the civil code of 1886, according to which the statutes, list of members, income and expenditure of such bodies are submitted to the inspection of the civil authorities.

By the law of 1845 the Church was deprived of all voice in education, primary, secondary, or university. The state arrogated to itself full control of the schools, but the school teachers in primary schools were obliged to instruct the children in the catechism. In that subject, however, as in all the others, they were responsible, not to the ecclesiastical authorities, but to the government. In the secondary schools or lyceums the ecclesiastical authorities have no control. But full permission is given to open private schools, both primary and secon­ dary. In recent years large numbers of such private schools have been established. For university education there exists the University of Coimbra, which was one of the great strongholds of Portuguese freemasonry. The theological faculty of the university consists of about eight professors, and the number of students in attendance at their lectures averages about fifty. In the civil code of 1867 it was proposed to make civil mar­ riage compulsory, but the proposal roused such a storm of opposition that its authors were obliged to withdraw it. It was then agreed that the marriages of Catholics should have no validity in the eyes of the law unless celebrated in accordance with the laws of the Church. Divorce is not permitted to Catholics or non-Catholics resident in Portugal, though a legal separation may be obtained for sufficient cause.

During the latter part of the reign of Leo XIII. the condition of the Portuguese Church was considerably improved. In 1886, owing to the personal representa­ tions of the Pope, the king, Louis I., consented to forego the rights that he claimed over the ecclesiastical appoint­ ments in the old Portuguese province of India, and the Pope was enabled to establish the hierarchy in India upon a proper footing. In the same year Leo XIII. addressed an Encyclical to the bishops of Portugal, in which he exhorted them to separate religion from purely political issues, to work for a union of all the Catholic forces in defence of religion, and to take measures for the establishment of newspapers devoted to the support of Catholic interests. The attempts made to propagate Socialism amongst the working classes, especially since 1871, forced the Catholics to turn their attention to social problems. In 1895 a great Catholic congress was held in Lisbon, which was attended by representatives from all parts of Portugal. Measures were taken to establish a Catholic organisation, and to formulate a programme of social reforms, but the old divisions were too strong for much practical work to be done.* In 1902, the Pope addressed a letter to the patriarch of Lisbon in defence of the religious orders which were being persecuted. He again urged upon the Catholics of Portugal the necessity for union, and in response to his appeal another con­

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* Veggian, op. cit., Chap. XX.

gress was held. The meeting was divided into parties, one of which desired the establishment of a purely Catholic organisation; the other defended the existence of the present political parties on condition that on Catholic questions politicians of all shades of opinion would unite; and in the end a compromise was effected. These events are a sign that some of the Catholics in Portugal are awakening to a sense of their duty, and afford some hope that a better time is coming for Catholic interests in Portugal.

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