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Show The Church and Imperialism. 13 THE EMPEROR of Germany being drawn toward the Catholic church? Regarding such possible and not altogether al-together improbable event, the Deserct : News recently had something to say, basing its speculations upon informa- i tion obtained from Catholic newspapers, newspa-pers, although naming none from which it quotes. We have observed nothing in -the Catholic press holding out any such hope as the conversion of William of Germany, but perhaps our contemporary contem-porary has a larger Catholic exchange list. However, assuming that some Catholic Cath-olic newspapers have indulged in speculations specu-lations of this nature, upon what do they base their opinions? According to the News, the reason given by these journals for "the alleged friendliness of his majesty to Rome is principally that in the Catholic party he has found his main support. His views that royalty roy-alty is a divine institution which, by the way, obtains in all royal circles finds special encouragement among the "Catholics. It is, therefore, expected ex-pected that some day the emperor will appear, as the pillar of the Catholic church in Germany.." What portion of the above quotation is. inspired by the Catholic paper and what part is the real language of the News the reader is allowed to guess. It is of no consequence, however, so long as the statement stands that William Wil-liam may renounce the faith of Luther, so sacred to the Hohenzollerns, and espouse es-pouse 'the faith of the apostles, . because be-cause 1. It is from the Catholic party he has found his. main support; and 2. His views and the views of the Church are one, that royalty is a divine di-vine institution. Taking up the first proposition, it is not hard to discover the reason why the Catholic party of Germany should ally itself with the forces opposed to socialism, a party of considerable strength in the reichstag. Socialism in Germany means the subversion of the present political, economic and religious reli-gious systems. It gives an estimate of life and religion, which cripples morality, mo-rality, makes it well nigh impossible. Catholics are obedient to authority so long as it does not conflict with conscience. con-science. Authority has no place in the j faith or conscience of the socialist. Therefore, in the essence of things, the Catholic party and the socialist party Are irreconclliable. One stands for a system which has been natural to man from the beginning and can be made perfect, through Christian evolution, as laid down in the labor encyclical of Leo XIIl. The other would cut loose entirely from all tried methods, destroy the forces which create and maintain them, and ultimately drift into anarchy. an-archy. So it is that the Catholic party is on the side of the government in Germany, while the socialists are against it. At one time their positions posi-tions were reversed, and the socialists were on the side of the government and the Catholic party against it. This was while the Kulturkampf hung over the heads of Catholic Germans, during Bismarck's time and after. The Kulturkampf Kul-turkampf is responsible for the Catholic Catho-lic party. These causes for political alignments and party divisions in the German parliament par-liament excite the material rather than the spiritual nature of man; hence Emperor Em-peror WUliam would be the last person per-son in the world to seek a monastery for political advice. He may be erratic at times, but a fool never. To become a convert to the Church merely because be-cause of the attitude of the Catholic party, is no conversion at all. It would be no better than the pretended conversion con-version of the czarina of Russia to the Oreelr faith Wia ro1i-ion wnnlrt be only skin deep, and Catholics, as well as non-Catholics, would ever regard re-gard him with distrust. If the kaiser's conversion is ever brought about, as some think probable, such change of heart will not spring from motives of s.tate, but in spite of those motives. It can only come through the way that the humblest sinner is received into the true fold 2. "His (Emperor William's) views and the views of the church are one, that royalty is a divine institution." The church is not responsible for the views of Emperor William, and we doubt if he seriously entertains any such notion as the divinity of royalty. But granting for argument's sake that he does, is he justified in his convictions convic-tions by any act of the church as a teacher of doctrine and morals? Can he produce any encyclical from pontiff, any definition of creed from ecumenical ecumeni-cal council, teaching that God decreed obedience to law and authority but such command could only be reflected in the person of a monarch? What historical proof can the News or any other Protestant paper bring out to substantiate such a statement? The question is not answered by naming a score or more of bishops and cardinals who were courtiers rather than churchmen, church-men, and who condoned the evil acts of sovereigns so long as they were in the pay of the state. Such conduct only exhibited the human side of the church and is as far removed from the divine element as the pharisee is from the publican, related in Christ's par able. Catholics do not hold the doctrine of the divine right of kings, which was so strenuously, .advocated by James I of England, and which was so ably refuted re-futed by Bellarmine and Suarez, both Jesuits, and by Cardinal Duperrin in his masterly discourse in the assembly of the 'states-general of France in 1614. We' believe in the' divine origin of power, pow-er, but we do not believe that it ever becomes the private property or estate of any man, o& any family, or of any set or class of men. Let who will be invested with It, ' it is a trust, a trust from God for the nation, and, like all trusts, liable to be forfeited by abuse. This is the doctrine, says Brownson in his "Civilization," taught by all the great doctors of the church, and especially es-pecially by St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and the Jesuit Suarez. In none of the early Christian states formed by the northern tribes on the ruins of the Roman empire was the principle even of hereditary monarchy acknowledged. In all these states formed under the auspices of the church, riot excepting England and France, monarchy was elective, and whenever it has become hereditary from father to son, it has been by a slow and gradual usurpation. "But ' it is not impossible that he (Emperor William) may bring about a close alliance between the throne and Rome, since it must be evident to him that the ultimate goal of Protestantism must be papular government, while that of Catholicism can. be only Imperialism," Im-perialism," says the News, in concluding conclud-ing .this part of its editorial. Protestantism stands for popular government! gov-ernment! Catholicism can be only imperialism! im-perialism! This is not the first time such language has appeared in print as well as shouted from non-Catholic pulpits. All this, too, while the Latin races of America rise up in contradiction contradic-tion of such a wild statement. It was not so very many years ago that a revolution in Brazil exiled the last sovereign sov-ereign in the western hemisphere, and although we doubt if a change from the mild rule of Dom Pedro to a republican re-publican form of government has advanced ad-vanced the material interests of Brazil's Bra-zil's people, nevertheless the change exhibited the hostility of the Latin races of South America to what the News calls "imperialism." If our contemporary will look upon a map of Italy published before the king of Sardinia struck down all the independent kingdoms and principalities principali-ties of the peninsula, along with the states of the 'church, and united them into one kingdom ruled only by one king, he will perceive wedged in on the Adriatic boundary of the Papal states the republic of San Marino. It does not take up much area on the map of Italy, not any more than Salt Lake county occupies on the map of Utah. For years and years, long before the federation of the Swiss cantons, did this little republic flourish almost under un-der the shadow of St. Peter's ' dome, Its independence recognized, Its liberties liber-ties nourished and not strangled by the popes, whom we are told stand for imperialism and against popular government! gov-ernment! . "Oftentimes the News complains, and not without show of reason, that the doctrines and practices of the Mormon church are misconstrued to its disadvantage; disad-vantage; that those who assail it obtain ob-tain their knowledge- from prejudicial sources, and in' consequence of the circulation cir-culation of falsehood, intelligent people peo-ple are misled into an acceptance of fiction for truth. It does not occur to the editor of the News that the evil which he condemns in others might justly apply to himself when he treats Catholic subjects. He ought to be sure of his facts "before proceeding to their explication,- - The history of the church shows that while it has been on the side of the government to a certain" extent it has been against the people never. Two things are equally necessary authority author-ity and liberty. Authority may degenerate degen-erate into despotism and liberty into license. Two things are then to be maintained liberty and authority; two things are to be avoided or guarded against license and despotism. When authority tends to despotism the church opposes it and seeks to restrain it within its legitimate bounds; when liberty lib-erty tends to license. It opposes it, and seeks to restrain the people peo-ple in subjection to just authority. au-thority. As a matter of fact, says Brownson . again in "Civilization." the church did not oppose the French revolution revo-lution because it sought liberty or tended to democracy; it opposed it not in the beginning, and not at all till it transcended the civil order and invaded in-vaded the spiritual, and even then in the defense of the inalienable rights of conscience and individual freedom. Its league with monarchies against the people, imagined by the fanciful apostate apos-tate De La Mennals, is all in your eye. No such league exists, or ever existed. The truth is, the church, though she submits to all forms of . government, and leaves each nation free to establish estab-lish the form it chooses, is opposed to absolutism in the state, and inclines to an effective constitutional order, and would rather deal with the people than with kings. This much is certain, where she- has had a predominating voice in the founding of states, she has resisted the introduction of absolutism, and has given the constitution substantially substan-tially a republican character. It must not be forgotten that Pope Adrian I iitroduced and established, through his legatees,, the noble old institution of Saxon England, which, though suffering suffer-ing from the Norman kings, the Tu-dors, Tu-dors, and the Stuarts, to a great extent ex-tent still survives, and makes the glory of the Anglo-Saxon race in both hemispheres, hemis-pheres, and what is worthy of note survives sur-vives in greater purity and vigor with us Americans than it does in England. Let the Deseret News search history, and nowhere will. it . find the church leagued with tyrants and upholding despotism. The church has never accepted ac-cepted the doctrine of the Gallicans; nor is she to be held responsible for the political doctrines of Bossuet, who so often unhappily sank the Catholic bishop in the French courtier. Was the church leagued with tyrants when she thundered her anathemas against the cruel, bloodthirsty and tyrannical iconoclast emperors of Byzantium, when she withstood Henry IV, falsely called Emperor; Frederick Barbarossa, Frederick II of Germany. Louis of Bavaria, Ba-varia, Philip Augustus, Philip the Fair, Louis XIV and Napoleon I of France, William the Conqueror, Henry II, Edward Ed-ward III, Henry VIII and Elizabeth of England ingrained, tyrants all? Perhaps the News may insist upon a presentation of modern history rather than recitals from the middle ages. It many point to the world of today to substantiate its assertion that "Catholicism "Cath-olicism can be only imperialism." We point to the world of today in denial of such charge. We point to the Latin races of Mexico and South America and to France. All these republics do not live up to the spirit of popular government such as carried out in this ' country, but nobody can see any likeness like-ness to "imperialism" in any of them. And last, we point to the democratic pope who sits today in the chair of Peter. |
