Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 10, 18 March 1925, Page 55

Catholic World

Alsatian bishop's stern warning. In a letter to his clergy the Bishop of Strasbourg, Mgr. Ruch, declares that a war of extinction against the Church has been decided upon (says Catholic News Service, London, for January 19). The Bishop's letter, which has been printed in the Temps, contains these passages: The hour is grave, even critical, and great with peril. Catholic Alsace is in danger. Implacable adversaries have declared an inveterate war on it. They seek to destroy our holy religion. And to bring that about they have resolved to bring up the children, despite the wish of parents, in the godless school, and to pervert our young by immorality; they have decided to prohibit many religious Orders and refuse the right of teaching at all. They have sworn to replace a Concordat which has guaranteed religious peace for more than a century, by a system which condemns the Church to a precarious and miserable existence, paralyses its civilising activity, and prevents it doing its duty for the public good. France is in danger! Men, by no means few, who neither believe in God nor have respect for law, who know no other power than material force, announce that they intend to overturn society and destroy the whole of the" old Christian civilisation. These new barbarians, who work not at our doors but , outside the nation, declare that they will suppress everything that stands in their way: fortune, liberty, even private life. Neither the family nor morality will be spared. And it would be France that would become a barren land, poverty-stricken, the prey of the enemy, and. living inferno! Against these measures let the priests and Catholics of Alsace array themselves, with such energy, that their adversaries cannot but pause. The whole Catholic world will applaud and admire you. None better than your Bishop knows that, and with his whole heart, with confidence and assurance, he brings you the most cordial thanks of Holy Church. JOINT PASTORAL OF SLOVAK BISHOPS On the occasion of the Christmas festival the bishops of Slovakia published a, joint pastoral, under the title of "The Ministry of Souls and Anti-Christian Associations." The aim of the pastoral was to warn Catholics against taking any active part in the associations, organisations, or parties that are anti-Christian. The Socialist journals and the anti-clerical sheets, as might be expected, have seized upon this joint pastoral as an excuse for j working up a fresh propaganda against the ' gopular Party and the .Magyar Christian /Socialists. They accuse the bishops of havv ing given the signal for a religious" war, and j they demand that restrictions on preaching • should be extended to Slovakia and Car- | pathian and that priests who read the pasl toral from the pulpit shall be prosecuted. -I As to all this, it is an absurd agitation, manifestly worked up for purely sectarian ■\ purposes. There is nothing/ whatever in the

pastoral which affronts the Republic, nor anything detrimental to the peace of the country. The bishops assert that the unsettled state of the country has been utilised by interested persons to fish in troubled waters. They refer to the obvious attacks that have been, and still are, made on vital points of Christian ethics. And then, as pastors of souls, the bishops appeal to their people, following the example of the bishop's in Holland, Ger* many, and Switzerland. First of all, they forbid Catholic Christians to affiliate themselves with any antiChristian societies, no matter what their name. Secondly, if Catholics are allowed to belong .to professional societies that are not offensive to religion, they are obliged on the other hand to withdraw from anti-Christian professional associations.' The only conditions in which a Catholic may continue on the list of an anti-Christian organisation are: That he was listed in good faith before the interdiction; that he pays his dues only because it means safeguarding his employment, in which case he must pro" mise to avoid all active contact with the said society; and on condition that he gives neither his confidence nor his vote to the antiChristian parties. - In other words, the bishops permit membership of such societies only on a purely trade union basis; and all Catholics who refuse to submit to the episcopal ruling will be considered as renegades and deprived of .the rites of the Church. Whether the Catholics will be able to carry the day remains to be seen, but the opposition is formidable. It is not as if this were a Protestant country, far from it. The Catholics number from 75 to 80 per cent, of the population; their rights are guaranteed in the school law. Yet the departments concerned are manipulated by a handful of anti-clerical extremists, who are thus able to defy the law. One of this genre, during the Budget discussion, got up in his place in the Parliament and called for a general suppression of the Faculties of Theology and the Seminaries which, so he said, are supported out of the public funds. There is a sufficient smattering of truth in this to give it a color of fact. The State does pay the expenses of the seminaries; but not out of public funds. The money comes from the property of the confiscated religions houses; it costs the State nothing, i n fact there are very good pickings for the officials who administer the proceeds of these confiscated religious houses. But this is typical of the sort of thing used by the extremists to drive Catholicism out of the Republic. NOTES FROM ROME. The absurd rumor about the danger of St. Peter's dome having been disposed of, . a number of rumors have been spread to the effect that Rome cannot find room for all the pilgrims during the Holy Year, the idea being obviously to discourage pilgrims. The

Holy Year Committee has done its best to dispose of this rumor, and now the secular side has taken up the task. ■ The Italian Department of Railways dismisses all this talk about there being an insufficiency of accommodation. In the first place quite a number of pilgrims will not go to the hotels at all. , These will receive hospitality in the religious houses. As to tourists and other, travellers, it will be quite easy to put them up in the new first-class hotels which have been specially run up, as well as in the older hotels, which have plenty of room. As to prices, it is stated that charges will not be put up during 1925, and visitors are assured that they will find accommodation at quite reasonable. At the same time, it is hinted that those who propose to be in Rome for Easter will be wise to make their reservations in advance. !

Thanks to the courtesy of the Government, the celebrated Oratory of St. Philip Neri has •been able to recover the historic Sale Borromini. The taking over was the occasion of a very interesting fiesta, at which Cardinal Pompili and the Italian Home Secretary took part, with many other personages both political, artistic, and religious. The Oratory proposes to organise a course of lectures on Ecclesiastical History, which will take in a special course of lectures on Cardinal Consal vi, whose centenary is about due. Concerts of sacred music are also to be given. Cardinal Pompili made a short speech, in which he said that the ecclesiastical authorities were very pleased that the Borromini had been restored to its glorious Philipine traditions.

The solemn. Requiem for Cardinal Giorgi, • who died at the close of the year, was held at St. Augustine's, in the presence of 33 Cardinals in Curia, All the Diplomatic Corps was present, with the prelates and representatives of the religious congregations. The absolution over the coffin was pronounced by Cardinal Vannutelli, and after the requiem the body of Cardinal Giorgi was taken to his native Valmontone for burial.

The successful renewal of relations with Mexico is seen in the consecration of Father Cimini as titular Archbishop of Cvrrhus, who goes to Mexico as Apostolic Delegate. The function took place at Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, with Cardinal de Lai as consecrating prelate. Archbishop Cimini was at one time Minister General of the Franciscans. 5 News from Warsaw states that on New Year's Day the Nuncio, Mgr. Lauri, was received in private audience by the President of the Polish Republic. His Excellency delivered a papal letter conferring the Apostolic Benediction on the President, his family, and the whole Polish nation. After the audience the President invested Mgr. Lauri with the cordon of the order Polonia restituta. '• ■■.<•