CARDINAL MERCIER

Evening Star, Issue 19197, 13 March 1926, Page 23

CARDINAL MERCIER

H!S STAND FOR HIS PEOPLE FACING THE GERMANS It is for his work in Belgium during the occupation that Cardinal Mercior will bo best remembered (writes a memoirist in ‘The Times’), for if revealed him, as it did, in a different sphere, King Albert, as one of the great men discovered by the war. In many ways his task was harder than the King’s; for, whereas after the fateful decision to resist the invader by force of arms King Albert’s_ duty as a soldier was comparatively simple, the cardinal had, on the one hand, to maintain by his patriotism the spirts of his stricken flock, and, on the other, to withstand by his Christian morality the injustice of the aggressor. This he did by a series of pastorals to his people and letters to the German authorities which have become classic for their lofty spirjt, their confidence in the ultimate triumph of Belgium’s cause, and their intellectual and moral supremacy over her adversaries. . As the cardinal’s mam contention was that “ occupied provinces are not conquered provinces,” and that, since the occupying Power had no legitimate authority, the faithful were not bound in soul or conscience to show it respect, loyalty, or obedience, it is not surprising that he soon reached a difficult position with the authorities. In a pastoral letter, ‘Patriotism and I'mdurance/ which he issued for reading in churches on January 1, 1910, ho took occasion, while counselling prayers for the army, patience under suffering, and forbearance towards the oppressor, to mention a few of the German outrages and to affirm that “The only lawful power in Belgium is that of our King, his Government, and the representatives of the nation. lor us he alone represents authority. He alone has a right to the affection of our hearts and to our submission. At 6.15 next morning Baron Von dor Lancken. head of the political department, and two other envoys of the Governor-General. Baron Von Bissing, presented themselves at the cardinal s house. They said that there were words in the letter tending to excite_ the people against the German authorities. Cardinal Mercier courteously explained that there were not, and that the letter was of a pacifying character. The Germans got no satisfaction out oi tno interview, and had to content themselves with fining tho printer £25 (ho was subsequently deported), and seizing ns manv copies of tbe letter as they could. Meanwhile the cardinal was begged to hold himself at tho disposal of tho Governor-General, and m the evenin" ho received a telegram requesting him not to go to Antwerp, where he’had intended to give Benediction on the following day. Tho cardinal icmained in Malines, and a day later iceeived a letter from Von Bissing which he spent tho whole day in answering, with Von Hissing's aide-de-camp waiting for the reply. This incident ga\e rise to a report that lie bad been arrested, which caused great excitement in the whole Catholic world. But, near as they camo to it sometimes, the Germans knew better than actually o arrest tbe cardinal, though they forbade him to visit other Belgian bishops and lied freely about most of the details of tbe affair, while doing their utmost to suppress the pastoral, which the cardinal positively refused to withdraW‘ FAITH IN VICTORY.

Such b°ino the relations between the Germans and the cardinal, it was perhaps natural that the former tried to interfere with his obeying a summons to Rome in January, 1910, and still more with his returning to Belgium. But the Dope insisted on tho cardinal s liberty of action, and the Germans were driven at length to invent the fiction that tho purpose of Ins visit was to be censured by the Pontiff- It need hardly be said that the Pope received him with open arms. The cardinal was back at Ins post m Malines at the end of February, and on March 7 issued a new pastoral letter .“ On our Return from Rome,” in which, among other things, be declared tho conviction of final victory to be more deeply rooted than ever m his heart. Ton Bissing was furious. He promptly deported the printer, and wrote aceusing the caidinal of indulging in “ political 'propaganda calculated to turn the heads of the mob,” and warning him henceforth to desist. Mercicr’s reply was one of his best efforts. It seems (ho said) that I have acted politically when “in contemplating tho result of the war I have sought to raise unfounded hopes contrary to the stern reality of facts.” . . . But what evil is there, pray,

in encouraging a suffering people? Should I better second the policy, of

the occupying Power if I drove the Belgians Into a state of discouragement and despair? Deep in my breast I confidently look for the success of our cause. This confidence is based on motives of the natural order, which in my pastoral 1 refrained from developing precisely to avoid the semblance of meddling with the calculations of politicians or the plans of headquarters. It .s bated besides on supernatural motives of which my conscience .is the sole judge. I cherish this confidence. It sustains ray courage, and because I love my faithful flock I desire to impart it to them. . . , I do not claim to hinder you from indulging opposite hopes, and when I rend the pastorals and discourses_ of German and Austrian cardinals it never occurred to me to impute_ as a crime to them their exhortations to patience and hope addressed to their flocks and your soldiers. Why is it that what is religion beyond the Rhine is on this side political med-

dlingP Von Bissing could only vent his rage on individual priests,_ of whom many were arrested. But. in his pig-headed unconsciouness of the hopelessness oi competing in controversy with the cardinal. ho was foolish enough, a few montns later, to ho “drawn” by an address at Ste. Gudule, in which the cardinal prophesied that “fourteen years hence on this very day [in other words, on the centenary of Belgian national independence] our cathedrals restored and our churches rebuilt will open wide their doors. The people will crowd them, and our King . Ibert, standing before his throne, will bow his unconquered head before the King of Kings.” (An enthusiastic demonstration which followed as the cardinal drove away incidentally cost Brussels a fine of £50,000.) Von Bissing sent him a report of the address, and the cardinal, who was never to bo caught on points of fact, showed from the original manuscript of the address that half the report was pure fiction, that of the rest scarcely one-fifth was correct, and that the remaining four-fifths mutilated the meaning and changed the order of his thoughts. Von Pissing was reduced to spluttering. A s the cardinal on one occasion wroteof the Belgian people to the Pope: “ We yield neither to cajolery nor to frightfulness. . . . It is precisely this calm selfpossession that the Prussian militarist fails to understand.”

Similarly, in the crime of the deportations, though it was probably commited against the advice and \ ishes of Von Bissing himself, the cardinal put the Governor-General on his defence, quoting against him. his own werds: “ I have come to Belgium with a mission to heal the country’s wounds.” Von Bissing quibbled miserably, declaring that the deportations were being “ carried out in the best interests of all,” and, driven from position to position by irresistible logic, cut altogether a pitiful and ignominious figure. Were it not for the grim background of a suffering people, some of the cardinal’s encounters w r ith the three barons would be the finest comedy. In the autumn of 1919 Cardinal Mercier made a tour of two and a-half months in the United otates and Canada, and was received with extraordinary enthusiasm. While passing through London on his return he gave a special interview to ‘The Times,’ in which ho thanked the British people for all they had done for the Belgian refugees during the war. He attended the Conclave of 1922 for the election of Pope Pins XI.

THE “CONVERSATIONS” AT MARINES. The “ Appeal to All Christian People ” adopted at the Lambeth Conference of 192 U led to what became known as the Malines “conversations,” held at Cardinal Mercior’s palace for the discussion of .outstanding and famiiair barriers between the Church of England and the_ Church of Homo. Three conferences in all were hold, the first and second between Cardinal Merrier, Monsignor Van Rocy, and the Abbe Portal on the one side, and the Dean of Wells, Dr Walter Frere (now Bishop of Truro), and Lord Halifax on the other. For the third conference, held at the end of 1923, Bishop Gere and Dr Kidd, warden of Keble. were added to the Anglican group, and Mon-sio-nor Batifl'ol and Abbe Heminer to tiro Roman Catholic. Protestant opinion in this country took alarm, but the Archbishop of Canterbury who accepted full persona] responsibility lor what was done, issued a full account in a letter addressed at Christmas,'l923, to the archbishops and metropolitans oi the Anglican communion. He explained, incidentally, that Cardinal Merrier had agreed with him hi e’esirmg that the third conference should concentrate on the great doctrinal and historical issues between the two churches rather than on possible administrative questions which might arise if and wjmu a measure of agreement was reached. Some of Cardinal Mercier’s own flock also took alarm, but he was able to reassure them in a pastoralj in which he expressed the

opinion that the “ effort ” should have remained secret. Whatever may be the ultimate effect of these informal “ conversations,” there can bo no d«.ubt about the impression which the cardinal’s- character and personality produced upon his English guests. In the spring of 1924 Cardinal Men*, cior celebrated the jubilee of his ordination, receiving numerous expressions of homage. A message Horn hie Pope contained the words: “ Those who shall have educated' the peoples in the respect of justice will shine like stirs in the firmament of future centuries.”