INCREASE OF CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS IN FRANCE

New Zealand Tablet, 20 June 1912, Page 43

INCREASE OF CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS IN FRANCE

A recent visitor to France informs an English secular paper that tlie Separation Law has resulted in a beueliL w the Church, as the people are coining to reause their duty and responsibility in supporting the ciergy and maintaining Catholic scno'ols, Evidence in support of tins view has been offered by the Courtier dc Tournon, which gives facts and figures that are both interesting and significant. In the district of Tournon there are sixty-five State schools. Of these six have only nine scholars, three have eight, six have seven, nine have six, thirteen have five, seven have four, six have three, five have two, eight have one, and ten have no scholar at all. The Catholic schools in the same district also number sixty-five. Several of these have well over a hundred scholars, and the smallest school has thirteen scholars. Thus the sixty State schools, the total attendance at which is 255, have an average attendance of no more than four children. The Catholic schools, on the other hand, with a total attendance of 3602 children, have an average attendance of fifty-five scholars, which is more than twelve times that of the secular schools. Estimating the cost of these State institutions at the low figure of 3000 francs apiece, we get a total annual cost to the State and the communes of 195,000 francs, which works out at 765 francs per scholar, a cost which is higher than the charge for a boarder at a boarding school. Against this must be set the fact that the 3602 children in the Catholic schools do not cost the taxes or the rates a cent. The Catholic schools do not cost the public taxes a cent., but they cost the Catholics of Tournon a great deal. That they are willing to pay that cost sooner than send their children to Godless schools shows that there are yet in France good Catholics and plenty of them who will not allow their children to be robbed of their most precious inheritance Faith of their fathers. The * Eldest Daughter of the Church ’ -may yet retain her title to that honorable distinction. Then, again, owing to greater activity, closer union, and more thorough organisation, the Catholics are slowly but surely regaining influence in public affairs. A Paris correspondent states that a short time ago, a Radical and anti-clerical deputy let drop an avowal that should serve to encourage the French Catholics in what must ever be an arduous struggle. To an ecclesiastic, with whom he had to treat of business matters, he confessed that the men of his party were impressed by the new attitude of the Catholics. ‘ We thought that your party was dead/ he said, ‘ it gave no signs of life beyond fruitless lamentations, but now things are different. The Catholics, Ave discover to our surprise, are strongly banded together. They have adopted the modern methods of organisation. Their ‘syndicates, guilds, and associations are multiplying, and they evidently represent a strong force whose demands we shall have to consider in future.’ This impression was keenly felt by the Catholics themselves on the occasion of the last diocesan Congress in Paris. They then realised that, since the separation of Church and State, the beggared but enfranchised Church of France has made strides forward in the path of progress. One of the chief ecclesiastics of the diocese confirmed this impression in a conversation with a leading French journalist. He owned that the number of priests is less than it was twenty years ago, but there are more ecclesiastical vocations now than there were on the eve of the Separation. Many of these recruits are not young, unformed boys, but men in the prime of life, who, to enter the Church, sacrifice important and advantageous careers. Then also, within the last twelve years, fifty-four churches or chapels, twenty four of which are now parish churches, have sprung into existence in or around Paris, an Extraordinary and Significant Fact if we consider the heavy claims that are made upon the finances of the Catholics since the confiscation of

Church property by the Government. What is still more strndng than the mere creation of these religious centres, is tne fact that, at the, end of six months or a year, all the new churches, without exception, prove too small for their congregations. Yet in tlie parishes that already exist, the number of worshippers has not decreased. ' It has been estimated that, owing to the foundation of these new centres, the practice of their religion has been made possible for about 450,000 Catholics, who live in suburbs that are developing from day to day with extraordinary rapidity. The creation of parochial ‘ committees ’ is strongly advocated by the Car-dinal-Archbishop, and, owing in great measure to his encouragement, one hundred of tliese committees now exist. Their members are laymen of every rank and social standing, whose duty it is to support the action of the priests. The latter are naturally much absorbed by their ecclesiastical duties and it falls to the share of the laymen to create and organise the social associations that have become so prominent a feature of modern apostleship. The Laymen’s Mission. It is they whose mission it is to found savings banks, lending libraries, gymnastic societies, clubs, guilds, and syndicates. Their action is prompted by religious motives ; they endeavour to serve, not only the moral, but also the material interests of the workmen, and it is thus that they disarm their prejudices and win their confidence. These committees have another advantage : by grouping together men belonging to different social classes, who are united by the strong bond of religious convictions, they increase the general union of the Catholic body. This is doubly useful in a country where politics play an important part and have often contributed to spread dissensions in the ranks of the Catholic army. Another work of importance is the creation of ‘ high-class schools ‘ for the training of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses who, when they have passed the necessary examinations, will be qualified to compete with the Government school teachers. As for those directed by Catholic teachers, they have two thousand more pupils than they had two years ago. There is no doubt that, even among the working classes, there is an increasing conviction that the teaching of the Government schools is sadly deficient on many points. Many non-religious parents complain that their children are taught neither respect nor obedience, and these views have been considerably strengthened by the letter which was written by Tisseau, who. on the eve of his execution at Le Mans for murder, stated that the crime for which he was to die was the direct result of the. godless teaching given to him at a Government school, where he was taught that it was lawful for children to disobey and even to rob their parents. ,