THE KAISER AS A ROMAN CATHOLIC.

Evening Star, Issue 11830, 9 March 1903, Page 4

THE KAISER AS A ROMAN CATHOLIC.

The sympathies of the German Emperor are slowly >ut surely forming themselves in , the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, if we are to credit statements made in the leading organs of the Vatic*!? parly o* t£ Continent of Europe, Various are <pven for this. The principal one is the su£ port he has received from the Centre Tor Kcman Catholic party in his dominions." His imperial ambitions, liis purpose to build a mighty navy, his opposition to the SocialDemocratic party, and hjg view that Royalty rule 3 by right divine have been eneour«ed and s U pp or ted by the Centre. The vote? of that group have helped him in the Reichafcw when he. could get support Germania' (Berlin), the clerical organ, and the equally clerical "Kolmsohp Volkszeitung' have rallied to bis aid agauf and again, reflecting in this attitude that of theparty leaders. As a writer in the clerical '<3orresprudent' (Paris) says:—"Catholics exult, and their joy is the more intense in that Protectant bitterness is so keen. They dream of oreating a„ Roman Catholic Germany, of creating a new Catholicism, more solid and less destructible. It is a renaissance that will succeed an evangelical form. This is a sentiment common to many German Catholics. . . . But the Catholics wish to dominate the Protestants, to take away from them their preponderance." The instrument to this end must be the Centre party, now so potent in the Rechstag- It is pointed out that the organs of the Social-Democratic party, from ' Vorwarts' (Berlin) down, are attacking the Roman Catholic party as a force that menaces toa .democratic idea in Germany. The Centre however, is growing, thanks to the support o{ Emperor William himself;—" Thus aj Catholic movement is definitely shaping itself "in Germany. The Catholic Congress at Mannheim showed how strong a tie united the church's failthful in the four quarters of the .enpire. All, in the unity of their belief, despite differences of political opinion, hava grouped themselves about the Centre party, wbich lias placed itself at the head qf the rrcvement and has united elements hitherto, irreconcilable. And if the Contra has managed to effect! this difficult fusion, if it has succeeded in transforming into a veritable political demonstration a Congress in which religious interests only were to have been discussed, the credit is due to imperial policy and to the personal wishes of the Emperor." And WiEiam IL is going a great deal further than tliis, if the opinions freely expressed by one authority have any foundation in fact. His Imperial Majesty wi}l intensify the surprise with which he has filled the world by appearing in the new character of a pillar of tho 'Roman Catholic Church. Our authority quotes a Roman Catholic paper as follows: —"Emperor William has a lucid mind. He is perspicacious enough to be aware of the ever-divine and living power of the Catholic Church in the face of the impotence and weakness of Protestantism, which is dying of decay. There is every reason to believe that the Emperor has made or will make this observation, which is a thing self-evident, and that he will have the courage to give his support, in every German Protestant State, to the Catholic Church, and to bring all Germany back to the old mother church, that is,, to Catholicism. He would thus give to Germany a splendor and a power known to her only in the days of Charlemagne. The Emperor, as he says himself, wishes to maintain religion among the people. Now, that can. only be the Catholic religion. For Protestantism can be sustained no longer. It is suffer* ing from inward ruin, ?t J? stricken with consumption. Hence it can be said that the Emperor, in his speech at Aix-la-ChapeJle, spoke as a Catholic Emperor."—Translations mad* for the ' Literary Digest.'