THE GERMAN CATHOLIC CONGRESS

New Zealand Tablet, 16 October 1913, Page 9

THE GERMAN CATHOLIC CONGRESS

GREAT GATHERING AT METZ The sixtieth General Congress of the Catholics of Germany was opened on Sunday, August 17, at Metz under the most auspicious circumstances (writes the special correspondent of the Catholic Times). The people of the city worked heart and soul to ensure its success. The Municipal’ Council voted a subsidy of 15,000 francs, and the streets were handsomely decorated. A great hall which accommodates ten thousand persons was built on the site of the old railway station as a temporary meeting place, and everything possible was done to provide for the comfort of the numerous delegates who arrived from all parts of Germany and from many other lands. Address to the Holy Father. The local committee sent the Holy Father an address, signed by its leading members, in which his Apostolic Blessing was asked for the Congress. It was intended, the address stated, that the gathering should be specially devoted to the commemoration of the famous Edict of Milan, by which, sixteen hundred years ago, the Emperor Constantine the Great granted freedom to the Church commemoration so strongly recommended to the faithful throughout the world as a proof of gratitude for that great event. From the struggle of that period their thoughts would turn to the beloved Father and Shepherd of their souls, and they would unanimously demand that liberty suited to the sacredness of the office entrusted by .Christ to His Vicar on earth, and to the needs of Christianity, might be obtained for him who, to the great grief of all well-meaning people, had to suffer imprisonment in the Vatican, and that he might Be able to guide the Church without hindrance and to rule the faithful in independence as a good shepherd. They would thank God for having heard all their prayers and vouchsafed him recovery from the illness which had lately caused so much anxiety to Catholics. Further, the Congress would consider the condition of the religious Orders and Congregations who were bound by many fetters, which obstructed the free and unrestrained exercise of their fruitful activity in the vineyard of the Lord an,d in securing a rich harvest of souls. They would call for the removal of these fetters. A firm attitude would be taken up with regard to the rights of the Church in the public schools, from which godless men would banish religious teaching. Letter From the Pope. His Holiness replied to the address in the following letter: To his beloved sons President Xintzinger and Messrs. Ernest and Federspil and Secretary Guny, of the Metz local committee for preparing for the German Catholic Congress, Pope Pius X. sends greeting and the Apostolic Benediction. We thank you from our heart, beloved sons, for having in your own name and on, behalf of the others addressed to us a report which has given us great joy. Indeed, we were well aware how devoted you are to your holy religion and to the Apostolic See. Still your promise that you will open your meetings with a public profession of your

faith in Christ, the Divine Saviour, and of obedience to Christ’s Vicar, affords us great satisfaction. As jubilee feces are now being held throughout the world to celebrate the peace and freedom which were given to the Church by Divine Providence through Constantine, it is not surprising, considering your love for the Church, our Mother, that that memorable event should awaken an enthusiastic interest at. your meetings. Justly do you desire that this commemoration should not only be an occasion for thanksgiving, but. that it should lead your thoughts from the past to the present and stimulate your zeal in working for. the welfare of the Church. As, with all other Catholics, you deeply regret that the supreme Shepherd of your souls still finds himself in a position that is not befitting, you are determined to demand again impressively ; that to the Roman Pontiff shall at last be granted that complete freedom which is required by his high .dignity and his office as the father of Catholic peoples. It is, too, in consonance with your manly feeling that you should strive to free the Church from the fetters that bind her. We are especially pleased at your assurance that you will endeavor to procure for the religious Orders and Congregations, to the advantage of the Christian people, legal freedom to found houses and develop their activity, and that you will strive to prevent the violation of the natural and inalienable rights of the Church in the public schools. The banishment of religion from the schools in which the tender souls of the children of the Church are trained betrays a desperate and destructive heartlessness which must be firmly resisted. But not only on this point but in all other respects do we see you resolved to fight bravely for religion, for you are anxious that it should. not suffer at home, and that abroad its influence should be extended more and more through the work of the missions. For the rest, we trust that your Congress will bear the richest fruit for the Catholics of Germany owing to the love you all feel for the Church, the experience and wisdom of the earnest men who serve you and all the Catholics of Germany as leaders, and also owing to the zeal of the pious city in which the Congress is to take place, for the faith and piety of your citizens no one can forget who remembers .the Metz Eucharistic Congress. We pray God to grant you wisdom from on high and to assist you with the treasures of His graces. As an assurance of this and a pledge of our paternal good will we impart to you all, beloved sons, with cordial affection, the Apostolic Benediction. Given at St. Peter’s, Rome, on the 25th July, 1913, in the tenth year of our. Pontificate. PIUS X. POPE. The Arrangements. Special trains brought delegates on Sunday from all parts of Alsace-Lorraine, the Rhine province, the Grand Duchy of Baden, and from France and Belgium. Amongst the French visitors were a number of deputies. It was evident from the outset that the arrangement for the use of the French language as well as of German, gave much satisfaction. The episcopate was well represented at the Congress. Amongst those present, besides Bishop Benzler, of Metz, were the Bishops of Strasburg,. Speyer, Treves, and Luxemburg, the Assistant Bishop of Paderborn, Bishop Streiter, the Vicar-Apostolic of Daressalam, Bishop Allgeyer, of Zanzibar, and many other prelates. One of the most notable features of the Congresses 'is the public - procession on the opening 'day, and Metz certainly distinguished itself by the magnificence of the display. The working men’s societies were splendidly in evidence. The procession started at two o’clock, and then one could hardly move in the streets owing to the vast array. Masses of sightseers looked on the ranks of the processionists with wonder and admiration. There were over thirty thousand persons, including the members of four hundred associations, on the line of march. They presented a glorious spectacle. Needless to say that delegates from towns near and far vied with each other in making a brave show. The processionists took three hours in passing the spot where the bishops and other leaders were seated.

The first * closed * meeting was held in the great hall of the Terminus Hotel. There .was a crowded attendance. Prince Aloysius Lowenstein was enthusiastically chosen to preside over the Congress, with Herr Hoen, a member of the Prussian Landtag, and Herr Trunk, of Karlsruhe, to assist him as vice-presi-dents. The Holy Father’s letter was read and was received with great applause. Prince Lowenstein, in an address, ridiculed the fears. of frictions that had been expressed; It had been deemed advisable that the French language should be employed as well as the German, for many of the people of the town and neighborhood understood it better, but the gathering was none the less a Congress of the Catholics of Germany. They regarded the province as an Inseparable part of the German Fatherland, and its inhabitants who were present as true members of the general German Catholic Congress. Messages of Homage. ' -The following telegram was sent to the Holy Father: To his Holiness Pope Pius X., Rome. The Catholics of Germany, assembled in General Congress at Metz,. tender to you, Holy Father, the respectful expression of their ready obedience and unchangeable fidelity and love. During your illness they were filled with anxiety, and they return thanks to God for having preserved to the flock the true protector of pure doctrine, the fearless protagonist in the fight for the liberty of the Church. Bearing in mind the glorious deed of Constantine which gave freedom for development to the Church of Christ, and thereby provided in the highest degree for the welfare of men, the Catholics of Germany give utterance to the earnest wish that the fetters which are now imposed on the Church in so many ways may soon be removed, and they beg for the Vicar of Christ on earth full freedom in the exercise of his holy office, so fruitful in blessings. They, respectfully ask for the Apostolic Blessing on their discussion's.

To the Kaiser the following telegram was despatched :

Many thousand Catholic men assembled at Metz for the sixtieth General Congress of the Catholics of Germany offer your Majesty their homage and a pledge of their inviolable fidelity and attachment to the Emperor and the Empire. They thankfully rejoice in the peace which your Majesty, for twenty-six years, has, with strong and well-directed hand, preserved for the German Empire. They pray God, the King of Kings, to grant your Majesty many more years of a happy and blissful reign to the benefit of the Fatherland. c . At five o'clock- on Sunday evening there was a meeting for working men in the Congress Hall. It was large and inspiriting. Stirring speeches were delivered by Professor Kmtzinger, president of the local committee, Count Droste-Vischering, Prince Lowenstein, and Bishop Benzler, of Metz. Naturally the Bishop was very proud of the display made by the workers in the procession, and he gave enthusiastic expression to his joy. A paper on ' The Catholic Policy (' Weltans-

chauung ’) and the. Remedy for Social Evils,’ was read by Father Tilly, of Metz, who dwelt on the importance of close adhesion to Catholic principles. Another meeting was held the same evening for the purpose of tendering a formal welcome to the delegates, especially those from a distance. The speeches were most cordial. Amongst those who returned thanks were Count Galen, of Munster; M. Yerhulft, of Brussels and the Very Rev. Father Veiling, of South Shantung. ‘ , " ' The reply to the telegram sent to the Kaiser.was read at this meeting. His Majesty said he was grateful for their homage. His message was heartily cheered. The question of vigorously defending the denominational principle in education was fully dealt with at a meeting on Monday morning, over which Dr. Marx, of Dusseldorf, presided. Dr. Cuny (Montigny) read a paper entitled ‘ The Denominational School,’ and Bishop Benzler delivered a speech in which he strongly impressed on his hearers the necessity of perfecting the Catholic school organisation. " Dr. Schmitt, of Mainz, at the second ‘ closed * meeting, proposed a resolution demanding full and practical freedom for the Holy Father. The resolution also pledged the German Catholics to even. more generous support of the Peter Pence collections. The motion was adopted with acclamation. The law against the Jesuits engaged attention on Monday at the first public meeting, which was very largely attended. When Prince Lowenstein, who presided, declared with emphasis that the Catholic people demanded that the law must be repealed there was a storm of applause. The meeting vigorously endorsed the call for the repeal of the law, and the words of the different speakers with reference to the Jesuits and their good works were very warmly applauded. Speeches by Bishop Benzler and Bishop Faulhaber, of Speyer, who touched on various Catholic questions, were most sympathetically received. The Holy Father’s reply to the telegram despatched to him was received and read during the meeting. His Holiness, through Cardinal Merry del Val, thanked the Congress from his heart for the homage tendered to him, and again sent his Apostolic Blessing to the delegates. , The * People’s Association/, The annual meeting of the Volkeverein, or People’s Association,’ was held in the Congress Hall on Tuesday morning. The gathering was very large, and evidence that the deepest interest is taken in this fine organisation which has done so much to assert and protect Catholic rights was abundant. ; Herr Karl Trimborn, of Cologne, presided, in the absence through illness of Herr Brandts. The report, which was read by Dr-. Brauns, showed that during the past year there had been an increase of 47,240 members. In June last the total number of members was 776,090.. The association is strongest in the dioceses of Munster,- Paderborn, and Cologne. This year for the first time it enrolled women. The female members now number 26,786.