The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-08 00:00:00

CONCORDAT OF THE. NETHERLANDS

WITH THE HOLY SEE.

BRUSSELS, OCTOBER, 4.,
JOITICIAL. )

We, William,
On the report of the permanent committee or the
Cdi~nt it of State for the' Affairs of the Catholic
Worship;
We have decreed,
The Coni•cntion concluded on the 18th of June,
1827, between us and, the Pope, and ratified by us
on the 25th of July, 1827, shall be published and
promulgated, of which convention and ratification
the following is the tenour
We, William, by the grace of God, King of the
Netherlands, Prince of Orange Nassau, Grand Duke
of Luxemburg, &c., &c., having seen and examined
the Convention concluded and signed at Rome on
• the 18th of June, 1827, by Antony Philip Fiacre
Ghislain, Count de Celles, our Ambassador Ex-
traordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Holy See,
and by his Eminence Maurus Cappellari, Cardinal
of the Holy Roman Church, assisted, the first by
John Peter Ignatius Germain, Beferendary to the
Council of State, Counsellor of Legation, and the
second by Francis Capaccini, .substitute in office of
Secretary of Briefs, respectively appointed for this
effect, which convention is of the following tenour :
In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible
Trinity : •
CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY, WILLIAM 1., KING

01' TILE NETHERLANDS, AND HIS lIOLINESS LEO XII.

SOVEREIGN YONTIFF.
The preamble recites in the usual form the desire .
of the contracting parties to come to an arrangement,
and the nomination of the plenipotentiaries..
Art. 1. The concordat of 1801 between the
Sovereign Pontiff Pius VII. and the French Go-
vernment, in force in the southern provinces of the
kingdom of the Netherlands, shall be applied to the
northern provinces.
2. Each diocess shall have its chapel and its
seminary.
3. For the case provided for by article 17 of the
convention of 1801, it is determined,—Whenever
an archiepiscopal or episcopal see shall become
vacant, the chapters of the vacant churches shall
within the space of one month from the date of the
vacancy, take care to make known to his Majesty
the name of the candidates belonging to the clergy of
the kingdom of the Netherlands, whom they shall
have deemed worthy and capable of governing the ar-
chiepiscopal or episcopal church, and in whom they
shall have found the piety, doctrine, and prudence,
required in bishops by the laws of the church.
If by chance there should be among the candidates
any who were not eqUally agreeable to the King, the
chapters shall erase their names from the list, which,

however, must remain composed of a number of can•
didates sufficient for the election of the new Arch
bishop or Bishop to take place. Then the chapters
shall proceed to the canonical election of the Arch-
bishop or'Bishop, whom they shall choose according
to the usual canonical forms, among the candidates
whose names shall have been retained upon the list,
and in the course of a month they shall transmit to
his Holiness the authentic document of this election.
The Sovereign Pontiff, according to the instruc-
tions issued by order of the Pope Urban VIII. of
happy memory, shall give a commission to inquire
into the state of the church, and the qualifications of
the person to be presented to the archiepiscopal or
episcopal see ; and after having received the result of
this inquiry, if his Holiness judges that the qualifi-
cations required in a Bishop by the Canons are united
in the person elected, he shall give him canonical in-
stitution by apostolical letters in the established
form, and with the least possible delay.
If, on the contrary, the election should not have
been conducted in the canonical form, or if the can-
didate should not be judged by his Holiness to be
endowed with the specified qualifications, the So.!
vereign Pontiff, by especial favour, will grant to the
chapter the power to proceed to a new election as
above in the canonical forms. The ratifications of
, the present convention shall be exchanged at Rome
in the space of 60 days, or sooner if possible.
Done at Rome, June 18, 1827.
(L. S.) Count de CELLES.
(L. S.) GERMAINE.
(L.S4 D. MAURUS CARD. CAPELLARI.
(L.S.) FRANCISCUS CAPPACCINI.
We approve the above convention, and each of
the articles it contains ; declare that they are accept-
ed, ratified, and confirmed; and promise that they
shall be excuted and observed according to their
form and tenour.
In testimony whereof we have given these pre-
sents, signed with our hand, countersigned and
signed with our Royal seal, at Brussels, the 25th of
July, 1827, and the 14th year of our reign.
WILLIAM. '
(By the King.) ' J. G. DE MEY DE SHEEFKERK.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs,
VERSTOLK DE SOELEN.
(A true copy.) The Secretary to the Permanent Com-
mittee of the Council of State for the
Affairs of the Catholic Worship,
P. G. VAN GHERT.
We order these presents to be inserted in the official

Journal.
Given at Lacken, the 2d of October, 1827, and the 14th
year of our reign.

Leo Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei, ad per-
petuam rei memoriam.
We had long entertained the most ardent desire
duly to regulate the affairs of the church in the
kingdom of the Netherlands, and we now congratu-
late ourselves, with the aid of God, who is the father
of mercies, and the God of all consolation, this
arrangement is happily terminated. Certainly nothing
could happen more agreeable to us, since, in fact •
elevated as we are, notwithstanding the insufficiency
of our merits, to the supreme authority of the church,
the care which we bestow day and night on all the
churches was particularly excited by the great evils
which the immense calamities of latter times had
brought OA the authorities of a celebrated nation, so
extremely worthy of commendation for its constant
faith and attachment to the Apostolic See. This
salutary work, commenced by our predecessor Pius
VII. of happy memory, and which, following in his
footsteps we have just accomplished, has been nego-
tiated and perfected by the co-operation and munifi-
cence of the most Serene Prince William, King of
the Netherlands, whose favourable sentiments to-
wards the Catholics, great numbers of whom are
subject to him, will be always a subject of gratitude
to us.
Thus to the glory of God Almighty, and to the
honour of the Virgin Mary, mother of God, whom
the Belgians more particularly revere as their pa-
troness, and for the spiritual welfare of the same
Belgians, a convention has been duly concluded be-
tween us and the Apostolic See on the one hand,
and the most Serene King William on the other,
which convention consists of the three following
articles, and which we have thought fir to confirm
by these presents, by virtue of the Apostolical au-
thority with which we are invested. That is to say,
(Then follows the Convention, as above.)
To the convention is annexed the ratification at
length, in which his Holiness declares, that in addi-
tion to the Sees of Malines, Liege, Namur, TournaY,
and Ghent, which already exist, there shall be three
others, via. Bruges, Amsterdam, and Bois le Due,
of which Malines shall be the metropolitan church,
and the other seven the suffragans. His Holiness
has full confidence in the munificence of the King,
that the condition of those Sees will be duly im-
proved. Every archbishop or bishop of the king-
dom of the Netherlands, after receiving canonical
institution from the Apostolic See, shall, before he
enters on the exercise of his functions, take the oath
of allegiance to the most Serene King of the
Netherlands, as determined by the article 6 of the
Convention of the year 1801, and conceived in the
following terms
" I swear and promise, on the Holy Gospels, obe-
dience and fidelity to his. Majesty the King of the
Netherlands, my legitimate Sovereign. I promise
also not to have any communication, to assist at no
council, to maintain no suspicious correspondence,
within or withotit the kingdom, which may be