The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-07-05

ciples of Christian morality are maintained g
intact, principles which elevate man above G
all material interests. :, Let us, then, JOIN Q
with the faith of our forefathers the senti- /
ment of progress let us never separate our
love of God from the love of our country.
Thus we shall render ourselves less un- I
worthy of Divine protection, and be enabled
to march with head erect in the path OF {
duty through every obstacle Alter tnank-
pressed by his eminence for the empress
and the prince imperial, the emperor con
cluded with these words: The blessing
of the princes august godfather, Plus TX,
and the prayers OF the clergy OF =, france
cannot fail to insure his happiness" n
The great general council of the church
seems to be decisively fixed for the Decem-
Der of the present year-or else twelve
month later. Whether or not it is to be |
this year or next year, we shall not know
for certain till the feast of SS. Peter and
Paul, when it is thought the decree Of Con Coz
council, = said the 4rchbls6op Of Vest
Minister, at Bradford, twill mark an epoch
in the way Of reaction against the anti
Christian revolution in Europe" Not only
will it have religious, but likewise poll
Zeal, signifcation and influence. The
Papacy," he said, /" is the great break water
which has turned back the flood of revolu-
ton from the civil order of Europe. The
council will mark the epoch of q general
reaction"
THE AUSTRIAN CoxcoRDAT.-The Repub-
1icans, the German Unionists, the heretics,
the schismatics, and the other enemies of
the House Of Hapsburg and Of the Church,
are jubilant at the contamination Of their
revolutionary and anti Papal policy by the
scandalous treachery and contemplate cow
ardice Of him who once boosted with truth
of being the Kaiser. On the 2Sth Of May,
Francis Joseph gave his formal assent to
those educational and marriage bills, which
are q direct onslaught upon the Concordat,
which was freely entered into by himself
few years ago with the Holy See. Well may
a writer hostile to the Church exclaim ex-
ultingly, in referring to this act of imperial
tergiversation The Concordat exists no
longer.n 1t was treaty entered upon by
the Austrian sovereign with the visible
Head of the Church, and it has been shame
without the consent, but against the will Of
the Supreme Pontif1 What faith can his
subjects put in the pledges of q man who 30
lightly breaks faith with the Vicar of Christ,
and thinks so little of the obligations of
honore 1t is clear that the Emperor Fran
CHS Joseph holds fast to treaties only so long
as it may seem his interest to observe them,
or perilous to break through their stipula-
tons. Their moral force he despises. The
lesson will not be lost upon Prussia or upon
the Hungarians. The emperor's conduct
toward the Holy See is the more reprehen-
sible that it is a gratuitous insult, and an
uncalled-for perfidy. If there were stipula-
tions in the Concordat which the emperor
could not carry into effect without imperil-
, ing his throne risking civil war, Plus
TX is not the Pontiff who would stand mex
, orably on his bond, and involve a Catholic
monarch. in difficulties when there was a
E possibility of averting them. But there was
1 no such danger to be apprehended. The en-
q emies of the Concordat in the Austrian do
minions were numerous, energetic, and per-
+ severing, but they were a minority, and
= must have confined their hostility to words,
= if the government had been faithful to its
duty. We are not disposed to insist that
there were no stipulations in the Concordat
!. which, in the circumstances in which he is
!, placed, the emperor might not reasonably
ask the Holy Father to modify In an en-
y pire like Austria, composed of persons OF
=. various religious denominations, it would
not be unreasonable to desire q relaxation
- over marriages between parties who are not
- in communion with the Holy See. So again
u with regard to popular education. 1t would
III not, we are sure, be at all difficult to obtain
e the sanction of the Holy See to an arrange
IL ment by which the control of the Church
IL over the education of non Catholic children
would cease. But the new Austrian mar
70 rage law is an outrage upon the first prin.
l. ciples of the Catholic Church and of Chris
at tianity. 1t makes marriage legalized con
B. cubinage. 1t ignores sacramental matrimo
g. ny, and substitutes the civil officer for tn,
g. priest at the will of the contracting parties
l. The civil code is to be everything-the &c
c. clesiastical law nothing. The civil law is tt
n regulate divorces and separations. In case
ID of mixed marriages, the husband and wife
b. are to settle between them in what religion
at their offspring are to be brought up; wher'
n no such arrangement has been made, TIN
g. law says that the boys shall be brought nj