GERMAN PERSECUTION—WHY ?

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 40, 31 January 1874, Page 6

GERMAN PERSECUTION— WHY ?

Most people were lost in amazement at finding at the end of the Franco-German war that one of the first acts of the new German empire was to inaugurate a fierce persecution of the Catholic Church.' During the war none had fought more bravely against the French than the Catholics of every part of Germany ; and amongst the best and bravest, and most enthusiastic for German unity were to be seen the leading Catholics. Not, indeed, that there were wanting many amongst them who had sore misgivings as to the ultimate result ; but a sense of duty and the old Catholic principle of loyalty carried even these over the dead point, and scut them forth to do what they conceived to be a present duty, under the strong faith that Providence would provide for the future. On the battle-field, too, priests and nuns freely exposed themselves to all the dangers of such a place in the performance of the duties of humanity and Christian charity. And amongst these none were more devoted than the heroic sons of Ignatius of Loyola.

But no sooner was the war at an end, and the victorious regiments recalled, than the Government of the new empire forgot all the great services of her Catholic subjects, and began to treat them as enemies And yet in the meantime the Catholics had done nothing to msrit such ingratitude and injustice. It was said, indeed, ns common decency demanded some sort of exeusp, that Catholics, after having fought so well for their country, had, on the morrow of her triumph, suddenly became dissatisfied and disloyal. The statement is intrinsically improbable, and in support of it there is not a tittle of external evidence. Catholics in Germany challenged the Government to piost-cutfc the disloyal and such as were guilty of treasonable projects. Cut the challenge was not taken up. Can any stronger proof be given of the utter groundlessness of the charges brought against Catholics and their Church ? That Catholics had in nothing violated the laws of their country is evident from the fact that the laws existing at the time when peace was made by France and Germany did not authorise or enable the Government to banish Catholics from their native country, or impede the ordinary action of the government of the Catholic Church. In order to a legal persecution, it was necessary to enact a new code, to create and define new crimes, to arm the Executive with new powers. Up to this moment the Catholics had not given even | passive resistance to any law whatever of the State. They were generally satisfied with their position under the constitution, and were living in harmony with their fellow- i citizens of other denominations under the protection of the i constitution of the country, and equ J laws, to which they could submit without any violation of their duty to God and His church. We do not; say they had nothing to complain of, bat they had not much to complain of, which they could rot comply with consistently with the obligations of their con-cience. Suddenly, however, a mighty charge takes place. Prince Bismarck finds it necessary, he says, for the good of the new empiic, to banish the Jesuits and kindred order-;, to turn all fie Christian brothers and nuns out of Catholic sschouls, to withdraw these from the contiol of the Church, to punish bhhups for censuring heretical and immoral < ccLsiastics, and to p; event the authorities of the Church from exercising the functions of their spiritual office. JNew law followed new hrn in this dircclii a till the state has in leality decreed that the Catholic Chui\h shall no longer exist on German soil. Legally, the Church has at this moment no existence in Germany. The faithful are reduced very nearly to the state to which our forefathers were reduced by the tyrannical Elizabeth, of England, and canting Cromwell of infamous memory. To amve at this state of things, it was necessary to violate the constitution, and, as has been comically said, ■amend ifc. The constitution under which the people lived — tho pact by virtue of which citizens had agreed to constitute a nation — had to be violated in order to enact these iniquitous

measures. And what renders the injustice and tyranny more striking is, that this pact was broken in spite of and in defiance of the protest and determined arid unanimous resistance of one of the contracting parties. It is a case .of " might versus right." * • ' But why is this ? Such a line of proceeding cannot but weaken the empire. It is most dangerous to the peace and well-being of the country to alienate the affections of fourteen millions of men, and by injustice supply them with strong motives for desiring the defeat and humiliation of the Government of their native land, and bitterly regretting .thetriumphs of their country. So it is, however. German Catholics do sincerely regret the triumph of Prussia over France, and would now rejoice to see the order of event 3 reversed. Prussian statesmen are well aware of this ; and no man knows better than Prince Bismarck that his persecution of the Catholic Church is a source of weakness to Prussia. Why, then, it may be asked, does he persevere in this course of insanity? Tliere is but one way of accounting for hi 3 madness : and it is that epoken of in the extracts which we publish elsewhere from the London c Tablet's' German correspondent. The impression amongst German Catholics is, that Bismarck, in order to aggrandise his native Prussia, struck a bargain with the Freemasons of the Continent of Europe, and that this w.is the bargain : " Help me to break the power of Austria and France, and I will help you to destroy the Catholic Church." Prussia has succeeded so far in humbling both Austria and France, and now the Freemasons press for the fulfilment of the promise made to them in consideration of their support of Bismarck's policy. It is to please the Freemasons, therefore, as German Catholics believe, that Prussian statesmen are now persecuting the Catholic Church.