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Show i THE CHURCH IN FRANCE I AMD THE BR1AND BILL 1 - j The Terms of the Napoleonic Concordat t-i v and the New Relations of the Republic j with the Church. J . 1 I I (Manuel Do Moroira in ihe Catholic World.) I France is once more making frantic efforts to I root out of 1 lie country ihat religion which for oon- turios has hern a legacy from the noble and great I of ihe past. Ahout a year ago they succeeded in 1 expelling from their native land men ahd women whoso praises were sung, in every eounlry. The :irmv. inactive thanks to a prolonged peace, was .-rilled to enforce the new law. and we, in this home j of freedom, read in our daily paper the venture-- 1 Mime ded -of Figure sending one or two battal- i ions .f infantry and cavalry to evict eight or ten I jiuns. and'a whole regiment, hacked up by cannon, I to expel a few peaceful monks, who had devoted j ilifir lives 1o the doing of good, and who had suo- . ceded iii relieving the country for miles around of I poverty and suffering. j Hut that was a year ago. Since then they have f -fried incessantly to plan a last move, which, while I in iheory and under American conditions would 1 mean the removal of heavy chains, still under j French custom means impoverishment and suffer- 1 ipg for the French clergy. The plan of this gov- v.iii cental campaign, which is to result in the sep- juY.iion of ihc Church and State, has been eham- ) pinucl by M. Aristide Briand, a man well known ji.r his haired of religion and of matters of cc- I. -insiical. The bill makes French Catholics ask: 'lie plan of the great Xapoleon to he shattered? 1 f 1- i he dream of the infidel to be realized? Are the I French clerics to be deprived of their lawful sup- port Free-thinkers, on the other hand, boast that I the day of liberty is about to dawn, and that the 1 rule of the cassock is to be ignominiously broken. 2 To understand clearly the present situation wc I must keep before our minds the terms of tiie ton--I cordat. a-cording to which the relations between ; Church and Slate are now regulated. It will be rc-. rc-. viemborod that the Concordat 'is the famous docn-- h Lent drawn up between Xapoleon the Great and I 7'ias VJI, while the IV.pc was still more or less a- ; prisoner at Fonfaiuebleau. Xapoleon had come to ihe conclusion that a country withont a definite re-j re-j ligion could not last, and that a merely national f cliurch was, under ihe circumstances, an impossi-I impossi-I bility. lie resolved, therefore. 1o make ihe best of ihc situation, by comjM-Jling the pope to agree to f , riaiu plans which would give the emperor a lead- in- influence in church matters. The extent of ) ilii- influence will be best gathered from the fol-1 fol-1 "v.i'.ig articles of the Concordat, which we outline in -'lbstarico : Anielc . The Iioman Catholic and Apostolic ! 3l liu-i"ii shall be freely practiced in France. Its , wevsh, sludl be imblic; subject, liowever, to those "V.ei. ri-LMilations which ihe government may judge 'cssiiry in preserve order and peace. ' Art. II. ew boundaries will be made for all !ieees,. 7"li"se boundaries will be aVranged by Imc giivenniient in concert with the Holy See. ; Ait. III. The first consul shall name within ihree in. mills th,. candidates for archbishoprics and l'isln.j.n'cs ,,f ilu. now lioeeses. His Holiness shall j cwnfer canonical institution according to previous ciiitoiu. ! Art. IV. The nomination to vacant bishoprics si ; II al. he made by the first consul, and the j -:M!'itii-;) 1 institution will be conferred according j 1" iiie preious article. Art. V. The bishops, after receiving canonical i!iMi;uiioii. shall take, in the presence of the first consul. i. onth of allegiance to the government. J Ait. VI. Diocesan, priests shall take the same J "'!!. in the in-esfiice of a magistrate approved by i!ir government. 1 Art. VII. At the end of the divine service the 3"!!..ing iirayer shall be recited in all the Cath-: Cath-: eliurchs in France: "Dominie, salvum fac - t- ihi.til.licjim; Dominic, salvos fac consules.'.'-: consules.'.'-: Art. VIII. The bishops can name for rectors of ! ! . lies only those persons who are acceptable to "Vernment. j ". IX. All metropolitan churches, cathedrals - " i 'l for divine worship, shall be put at the dis- J 1 - : ' !) of the bishops. ; An. X. The government will sanction any new " d ilution mad' bv persons in behalf of the V . h. ' q hon Xapoleon made known the articles of the ' "idat. he published simultaneously with it a 1 of Organic Taws, with, as it was supposed, t iew of rendering ihe acceptance of the Con-' Con-' ' : .t less objectionable to the Corps Legislatif. by v -i it was ratified April These laws are 1f -ni.si;iii,- as follows: o Lull, brief, rescript or mandate; no provision I : i:;:ctment of any kind svhatcver coming from '; ilolv S-e. even should these refer only to in-f in-f ; iu;d ;in.l single cases, shall be received or iub- i d or printed or carried into effect without ' 1 e f r tn the gov(M-nmcni. ie-liops shall be amenable for misdemranors to ' "uncil of State, which, if a case be made out :-iu-t the arraigned, shall be coni)etcnt to pqss a v .i, ,,f censure. N" synod may be held in France without leave l.e government. ()n the death of a bishop his see shall be ad-; ad-; i ::isii rcd by his metropolitan; or should he be I'1'1 mod from so doing, by the senior bishop of I'Tovince. I iejirs-goneral shall continue to exercise the I J"i -ions of their office after the death of the bish-"I1 bish-"I1 and uuiil his successor has been inducted. I'aiish priests shall give the marriage blessing '''' 1 those who can prove that the marriage cerc-'""n.v cerc-'""n.v has boon already performed before a civil I. 'agistrate. The parish register shall be A-alid evi- S n,.( as 1o ,j10 reC(.ption of the sacrament, but ."dl not be received as proof of what is purely a i cn'd matter. ( i '1' arrangements thus concluded between Ji. , - 1 (Continued on Fage 4.) THE CHIRCH IN I f RANCE AND THE BRIAND BILL (Continued from Page 1.) France and the Holy See have been the basis of all negotiations between the .two powers since that time; and although complete freedom for the Church was not had, still under fair minded statesmen states-men the. Church was not crippled in her work. Xow, however, M. Briand resolves to break utterly with the past, and to institute a new legislation which, while freeing the civil power of its obligations, will reduce churchmen to the position of peons, and the Church to a condition of abject vassalage. To understand the matter as it should be understood by those who keep themselves abreast of great historic his-toric chances, we must give the greater number of articles of the Briand bill: Article T. The Republic grants to all citizens freedom of conscience, and also freedom of religious reli-gious expression. It grants the free exercise of worship except under the following restriction: Art. II. The Republic will never protect nor subsidize, directly or indirectly, any form of worship. wor-ship. It will not recognize a minister of worship. It will not provide gratuitously any house for the exercise of worship or for the lodgment of any ministers. Art. III. The government will suppress the embassy em-bassy to the Holy See and the Ministry of Worship. Wor-ship. Art. IV. From the first of January following the acceptance of this bill, all public expenses for any worship, all salaries, indemnities, etc granted grant-ed to the department of worship will be suppressed. sup-pressed. - Art. V. From the same date the government will withdraw the free use of any religious building, build-ing, previously put at the disposition of the minister min-ister of worship by the state, the departments or the communes. Art. VI. Within six months of the acceptance of the present bill, all properties, either movable or immovable, belonging to any worship, proceeding proceed-ing exclusively from drifts or donations of the faithful, will be divided between the civil societies founded for the exercise and maintenance of worship. wor-ship. Any realty which has been a gift from the State will revert to it. Art. VII. A pension will be granted to any official of any church, from an archbishop to a professor of theology in a seminary, who, being over 45 years old, has received for twenty years a salary from the state. Art. VIII. This pension will be in proportion to the number of years of service, and will be no less than $120 nor more than $240. Art. IX. The buildings actually used for the exercise of worship, or as residence to its ministers, will remain"property of the state. Art. X.. In one year from the promulgation of this bill, any building that has been erected since the Concordat with the proceeds of collections or private donations can be reclaimed. Art. XL Buildings used for worship, and which are state property, must remain in the ownership of the state. Art. XII. The state will be obliged, for a period of ten years, to rent these buildings for the exercise exer-cise of worship. The rental cannot exceed 10 per cent of the income of said congregation. Art. XIII. Meetings for the celebration of worship will be under the same laws as any public meeting. .... Art. XIV. Xo political meeting can be held in buildings used for worship. Art. XV. A fine of $10 to $100, or imprisonment imprison-ment from fifteen days to three months, will be the penalty of those compelling others to attend, or to i contribute to the support of any worship, or obliging oblig-ing any one to close his store or factory or any religious re-ligious feast. . . Art. XVI. Any minister of worship who, in the exercise of his functions, will in reading pastoral instructions or in his sermons attack a member of the government, or any public official, will be punished with a fine of from $100 to $600, or imprisonment im-prisonment from a month to a year. Art. XVII. Processions, or any exterior manifestation man-ifestation of worship, can only take place with permission per-mission of the mayor. Art.. XIX. It is forbidden to cless or consecrate conse-crate by a religious ceremony a cemetery, or a portion por-tion of it containing more than one tomb. Art. XX. Ornaments and funereal inscriptions inscrip-tions are to be submitted beforehand to the municipal munici-pal authority. Art. XXL It is forbidden to assign any special spe-cial place in a cemetery for a suicide or a non-baptized non-baptized person. Art. XXII. Xo cross or any religious emblem can be erected, or stay erected, in a public place, except in the building reserved for the exercise of worship. Thse which exist can be taken off by the public authority, except in those cases where it Jias a historical character. A fine of from $20 to $400 will be inflicted on any one who builds one, or re-establishes one previously destroyed by order of the authorities. , While pretending to give the Church the common com-mon right, M. Aristide Briand, deputy of the Loire, draws up against the association of worship rules which do not allow the clergy of the different religions re-ligions to live with dignity and to fulfill with freedom free-dom their high and great mission. The injustice of this law is obvious. An ordinary or-dinary association can increase its property indefinitely indefi-nitely without being under the control of the state; the society which will supervise the celebration of worship is not allowed the same privilege. It seems that the new bill has for its object to present in the future the church from possessing property which will help it to defray the necessary expenses. It confiscates property belonging to the ecclesiastical ec-clesiastical authorities. It is true that one article grants to the Church properties which have been built with money received from the liberality of the faithful, but another article decides that realty proceeding from gifts of the state shall return to the state.- ' The Briand bill forbids any cross or religious emblem, and gives authority to public officials to remove all crosses or statues now in existence. These acts of revolutionary vandalism will only be prevented if the monument, has an historical interest. in-terest. After having proclaimed the free exercise of worship, Mr. Briand breaks at once the application applica-tion of this principle in placing in the same class 1 prayer meetings and political gatherings. In doing do-ing so he forces those who meet together for pious purposes to give notification thereof (according, to the law of June 30, 1S31) to the authorities before each meeting, and of going through other formalities formali-ties not at all in keeping with the celebration, of religious duties. It seems to me that the separation of the Church and State under such conditions would be, according to the perfect expression of Guizot, "but a coarse experiment which will lower ami weaken both under the pretext of freeing one from the other.". Wc naturally ask ourselves what would be the result to France if the. Church were to be separated sep-arated from the State? : If the French government were a liberal, unmed-dlesome unmed-dlesome power, like our own, then the separation would be something that every one would desire. On the part of the Church, there would be thexen-jbyment thexen-jbyment of that salutary liberty under which she can exercise her influence to the greatest advantage. The government would no longer have anything to Bay in the nomination of bishops, and the Church - would be able to present to the State a solid phalanx of independent prelates, flanked by battal-' ions of vigorous clerics. It is true that the Church would have to" forfeit the present means of subsistence, subsis-tence, and the clergy would have to depend on the , people for the ordinary necessari? of life. A. people have not been trained to'stmnort the p"ipt" it would be doubtful if they could be n'i;e,( upr,n't do so in a satisfactory manner at4c;i-r in the ginning. But matters would right tlieyiNeVt.-. ; time, and independence would atreTightenr.et f,nj',. the spiritual activity of the Church bit- i,.. ,1 financial condition. 4 SL , |
