The Church and State in France

New Zealand Tablet, 20 September 1906, Page 14

The Church and State in France

A French Lady, who has just come from France to New Zealand to settle, and who was interviewed by a representative of the Auckland ' Herald.' drew a most doleful picture of the internal affairs in her native land, consequent upon the action of the Government in regard to the Church. Speaking of the North- of France generally, and Roubaix in particular, she said, ' You cannot imagine what effect the Government's action has had upon the people. Catholics are placed at a serious disadvantage in everything with which the State has to do, and to be a Catholic is an almost certain disqualification for employment by the Government. Indeed, upon the examination of young men candidates for.employment in the Civil Service lads from the Lycee were given the preference over lads from the Church schools, notwithstanding that the latter secured the greater number of marks, but it was the practice to endorse their examination papers with the word "Catholic," as though some sort of stigma attached to it. It seems,' said the lady, ' that the Government is persecuting the Church for two reasons, one in order to make good (to a small extent, it is true) a decreasing revenue ; and 'the other in order to obliterate the Christian religion altogether in France. ' I myself was present at the attacks made on the churches at Roubaix. The Catholics were determined that profane hands should not be laid upon the sacred things consecrated to the worship of God. A barricade was erected in front of one church and electricity was employed in the defences. The door could not be opened by the military, and the clergy and laity refused to admit them, being determined to hold the position to the end, but the soldiers got in at the windows, which they smashed in with their rifles. ' One of the most pathetic sights in connection with this wretched business, was" the presence of the soldiers in the ohurch. They, poor fellows, were called upon to do duty which was manifestly lepugnant to their spirits. Some poor fellows, although! on duty, stood in the churches counting their beads, and some of them were in tears. It was most distasteful for them, good Catholics as they were, to have to take their horses into the churches. <r And what do you think will be the outcome of all this ?' the lady was asked. ' Already,' she replied, ' the poor, who derived so ' much benefit from the religious- communities of 'both sexes, are suffering acutely. The State does ' nothing for them, and yet it has closed the monasteries and convents, where they used to receive food and clothing and medical attention. The hospitals have 'been emptied of the devoted Sisters who did the work of mercy of nurses,, and the schools maintained by the religious have been appropriated by the State, with . no compensation. The- Benedictine and Carthusian ■ Fathers, " who built up an enormous .business in the vmanufacture of their liquers, have been driven from the country, the former to Switzerland, the 'latter to. Spain. France is the poorer for their departure- by many thousands of pounds, for the /monks devoted , their profits entirely to charitable and religious- purposes. ( As for the future, well, some trades are busy because they are unaffected by the change of front of the Gov- >' eminent towards the Ohurch ; but others, particularly the building trades, are suffering. Business men fear serious trouble originating out of the persecution of

the Church by the State. The people are disturbed from .one end of France to the other—in the north and south and from Brittany to Bescancon. Capital is "being taken out of . the country to England Bel--"aum, and Germany, or wherever the outlook appears mbre settled than it does in France, and the French rentes— an excellent political barometer— are most unstable. Admirable as vhe French foreign policy is the domestic policy is altogether wrong-, and must sooner or later result in very serious internal trouble. Who can tell, that the harsh treatment meted out to the churches may not be the spark that will set the whole of France in a blaze ? The situation is really very serious indeed, and no person by a mere perusal of the newspapers, either French or English can accurately- appreciate the true state of affairs One must be in the country to do this.'