The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-15
Foreign Cor. of the Boston Journal-l
Separation of Church and State in
Italy.
FLORENCE. Jan. q. 1867.

4
to affect not only the Italian people,
but the whole of Europe 1t is a
movement without precedent in the
worlds history, and which will claim
the attention of every civilized ma
ton. 1t is measure for the total
abolition of all relations existing
between Church and State-an over
| throwing of the main support of
the Roman Church. 1t is radical,
thorough revolutionary. 1t is, in brief,
a measure, tor the emancipation and
the regeneration of Italy. What it is
proposed to do | will endeavor to set
before your readers in this letter, and
[ am confident that they will accept
the information as Of vital Importance.
Before entering upon detailed
statement of the measure, it is neces-
sary for a complete understanding of
it to take a glance at what has already
been done. E 80 aaHH
: In 1855, Count Cavour started the
project of suppressing the monastic
orders in Piedmont and Sardinia.
Those orders held a large portion of
the productive lands of the country.
The people were poor, but the menas-
tic orders were rich. The monks con-
tributed nothing to, the wealth of the
State, butweIe ever subtracting from
it. They did not instruct the young;
they only muttered prayers getting
up at midnight to sing and pray to
Mary eating, drinking, praying, hold
ing fat livings, paying no taxes. lead
ing lives of idleness and vice. Where
the monks most swarmed, there was
| the most vice; there the most poverty
and wretchednesss among. the people.
The Prime Minister of Victor
Emanuel addressed himself to rid the
country of this burden Government
was building at that time the railroad
between Turin and Genoa-an expen-
sive undertaking. Money was needed.
The people of Piedmont wanted the
railroad Cavour determined to make
this necessity his opportunity for
dealing blow at the Monastries A
bill was passed by the Sandman Par
lament, which was signed by Victor
Emanuel con6scating about two
thirds of the religious houses. A
portion of the proceeds was set aside
for the support of the aged and infrm
monks, and the remainder went into
the railroad and into the public
school fund The ,confscatiens were
not madeall at5once, but by piece
meal. When the funds run low in the
construction of the tunnels of the
railroads, Cayour had recourse to the
convent lands, and so in course of
time the great national work carried
on to completion.
1t was this action of Victor Eman-
uel 3 which reused the wrath of the
Pope, and brought forth the. terrible
storm of maledictions from, the Pom
tiff, which many of your readers
doubtless remember.
In 1868 the law suppressing the re-
ligious houses in Piedmont was ex-
tended over the United Kingdom of
Italy There were atrthat time in the
Kingdom 1920 monks and nuns
possessed of property estimated at
forty million francs. The law of
Piedmont was found to be insufficient
for the purpose, and a new law was
passed in 1864 declaring that all the
houses of religious orders, all the
congregations, secular and regular,
SuOuiQ uU lODS0I NC 1OCOSulZ0u dS
such by the civil law. It also pro-
vided that all the members of the
suppressed corporations should ac-
quire civil and political rights from
the moment they left the cloister. The
monks and nuns were not turned out
of doors with nothing to live upon;
that would have been inhuman; to all
below the age of sixty, a yearly pen
sion of one hundred dollars was grant,
ed for life, and half of that sum was
given to every lay brother and sister,.
To aged monks, a larger sum was Civ
en-. Provision was also made for the
servants of the monks. By this meas
ure, about one-half of the monks and
nuns were suppressed. The law pro-
vides that there shall be no new ac-
cessions to the orders, so that in time
the race of monks will become wholly
extinct These measures prepared
the public mind for the greater one
now going on.
| SEPARATION OF THE ROMAN CHURCH
AND THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT.
Some months ago Baron. Ricasoli
addressed letter to Mr. Marsh, max
ing inquiries upon religious matters in
,America-how the Church was sus-
tanned, what were its relations to the
Government, &c. The desired infor-
nation was given by the able repre-
sentative of the United States at the
italian Court. No one, unless it was
Mr.. Marsh, understood the meaning
of those inquiries, but now the inten.
tions of Baron Ricasoli are manifest.
A few weeks ago that official address
ed letter to the Italian Bishop, in
which allusion was made to religious
matters in the United States. That
letter, which was well received by the
community, was but preliminary to
the bill for the separation of the
church and the State, which was in
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