OCR Text |
Show A FORGOTTEN CATSPAW. (From the New York Sun.) Within a few days the death has been announced of a man who. a quarter of a century ago, was among the famous ones of Europe. Paul Falk. Bismarck's stalking horse in his war with the Roman Ro-man Catholic Church in Prussia, minister min-ister of public worship in that kingdom king-dom when the laws called by his name were enacted to - oppress the Roman Catholic hierarchy there, died almost forgotten at his home in Westphalia where for several years he had been president of the higher tribunal of justice, jus-tice, and his death ends the last chapter chap-ter of an interesting volume of modern history. Within a short time after the French war, and the refounding o'f the German empire, Bismarck, Chancellor of the Empire and Prime Minister of Prussia, began to profess uneasiness at the growth of the Roman Church in Germany. Ger-many. Pope Pius' dogma, of infallibility infallibil-ity had been promulgated during the war, and its exact pontifical importance had not then been gauged. Gladstone in England, Richard Thompson in this country, and others elsewhere had put out, or were preparing, books protesting protest-ing against the dogma, and declaring it a menace to the world. Bismarck's contribution to the literature that grew up around the Vatican Counc il was the series of enactments against the Church of Rome in Prussia. In July 1 872. the Jesuits were ordered to leave the country. Then in -May, 1S73. came the laws that made Dr. Falk famous for a time: and with them began the so-called Kulturkampf. The laws required candidates for clerical office to undergo a certain amount of secular training at the German universities, univer-sities, and that appointments to ecclesiastical eccle-siastical posts be approved by the secular sec-ular authorities: they provided a royal tribunal for ecclesiastical matters, and imposed fines and other penalties on persons who did not obey them. Later, when it was found that the laws had no effect on the priests, who were urged and directed by Pope Pius IX to disregard disre-gard them, the "bread-basket" law was passed, stopping the stipends of all clergymen who did not obey the law. Archbishop Ledochowski of Posen was the first martyr of the laws named after Dr. Falk; in October, 1873, he- was fined for threatening to excommunicate a professor in a college in his dionese. He was imprisoned on Feb. 3, 1S74, deprived de-prived of his Archdiocese in April by the state, and released on Feb. 3. 187b', when he was created a Cardinal. Archbishop Arch-bishop Melchers was convicted of sedition sedi-tion in having instituted priests without with-out the permission of the government. In seven months four Archbishops, seven Bishops, 120 priests in the diocese dio-cese of Cologne alone, had been deprived de-prived or expelled; and the . parishes were plunged into chaos, especially in the diocese of Cologne. Newspapers were suppressed, theological professors were dismissed, religious services were interdicted, church revenues were im pounded, schools were shut, religious weddings were interrupted, as marriages mar-riages were legal only before civil officers; offi-cers; funerals were stopped. In seven dioceses there were 476 vacant parishes. The war lasted for some years. It reached its height about 1S76, when the Pope refused to receive Cardinal Ho-henlohe Ho-henlohe as German Ambassador at his Court. When he heard of this refusal, Bismarck uttered his famous threat. "We shall not go to Canossa," alluding allud-ing to the repentance and supplication of Henry IV, German Emperor, in 107(5, eight hundred years before, when he stood for three days in the snow before be-fore the Pope's door, begging forgiveness forgive-ness and peace from Gregory VII. In 187S died Pope Pius IX. and Leo XIII succeeded to the throne of the Fisherman. Within a short time unofficial unof-ficial negotiations were begun by both Bismarck and the Pope; but there was no visible reconciliation. On January 30. 1879, however. Dr. Falk resigned his place in the ministry; and on February 24, 1S80, Leo XIII wrote to the Archbishop Arch-bishop of Cologne, advising him to submit sub-mit to the government the names of priests whom he desired to institute. That same year the May -or Falk laws were partially suspended, and in 1SS1, with the approval of the Prussian government, gov-ernment, Dr. Felix Korum was apoint-ed apoint-ed Bishop of Treves. In 1SS2 diplomatic relations were renewed between the Vatican and Prussia. Meantime, Dr. Windhorst, a leader of the Clerical party, had become Minister Minis-ter of Public Worship, and in July ,1SS3, the obnoxious laws were tartly suspended. sus-pended. On December 3. 1884, certain caluses were repealed absolutely. The middle of summer, 1886, saw a convention conven-tion agreed on by Prussia and the Vatican, Vat-ican, and in March, 1S87, the entire series se-ries of laws was removed from the statute books, Bismarck had reached Canossa. He had gone there more in appearance appear-ance than in reality. The Falk laws had played their part, and the cause which called them into being no longer existed. ex-isted. No one in 1S87 considered the doctrine doc-trine of infallibility as of more- than ecclesiastical ec-clesiastical importance; the result of the war with France had destroyed its political force. None the less, however, the Prussian Prime Minister had gone to Canossa. ' Bismarck is dead, the Falk laws are forgotten; and now the catspaw, who did the work for the Man of Blood and Iron, has followed his old leader. The fame of twenty-five years ago has passed, pass-ed, and the sponsor for the famous laws dies almost unnoticed. |