Show THE trie ROMAN CATHOLIC AGAINST CELIBACY lcy icy an extraordinary memorial has been addressed by austrian priests to the author of the concordat the cardinal prince archbishop of vienna in this document the I 1 lower ower C catholic ah t 0 I 1 ic c clergy le agy put forth their grievances in I 1 language u ag e the like ilke of which has not been heard since t the b lays days of the reformation the memorial begins wiell wit a rough onslaught on the absolutistic prerogatives of the episcopacy a cy 6 this concordat it says has conferred r d upon pori the bishops many new privileges and a large increase of power but the priest has to bear the whole odium of the indignation and of the moral which the hated conven tion has created among the people there ethere is no doubt the document continues in a sub sellent beu bew aeu ent paragraph but that our religion has become the object of universal derision the concordat has aroused the wrath of the most moderate men with respect to the antiquated mediaeval medieval media eval ordinances of or the church and the indignation against the executors of 0 those ordinances din ances becomes louder and more universal from day to day this sentiment is the more dangerous as it spreads among the main body of the people the memorial complains of the wretched pay sometimes less than that of a cab cabdriver driver of the lower clergy in consequence quence of which they are driven to the collection of fees and taxes which are the source of the most disgraceful ani ana disgusting conflicts with the people religion is thus made to appear in the light of an insufferable burden and agitators e increase the ill lil feeling g by directing attention not to the penury of the lower loiter clergy but to the luxury and abundance in which the bishops are re velling inthe in the nem next place lace the he petition petitioners ers lay bare tha the laziness of 0 b od and demand the abolition of ol these obese legi begging or orders ders and the appropriation of their re rev rei elgues to the maintenance of thermally the really working tig priests A more important demand follows it asfor the abolition ako abo lilion of celibacy on the ground aroun d that the impossibility of entering into the married state renders the priest a victim of suspicions of sneering arid and contempt and produces the clergy thus rendering them contributors tribu tors to the moral woral dissolution which is invading even the Io popular pular classes in sion the petit petition petitioners loners ers d demand that such should be introduced as to make the lower clergy no longer appear in the odious light of oppressors of the poorer classes and that the priests by the abolition of thelah of celibacy should be restored to the common ties of family and humin humanity ity it if this is not done dole they assert ali ail all call our influence will jen ibn entirely disappear the catholic religion will be despised hierarchy be totally overthrown and the state become the football of ceaseless attacks and complications 11 they express too tb the significant hope that they loay inay not be dr driven ilven to expect their safety from the revolution revolutionary amyy party arty N Y post sep 23 |