The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-24

the Church, new reformer has made his APP
pearsnce in a protest against the doctrines
and practices of Rome. Pere Hyaointhe, the
great Carmelite monk, the most eloquent
Frenchman of the day, whose broad and
LIBERAL views and fervent religious enthusiasm
have been the wonder and admiration of
the usands, and who wields more personal in
fiuence than any preacher in the ranks of the
Roman clergy, has written a letter in which
ne announces his abandonment of his con-
vent, and his determination no longer to
preach as heretofore in the Cathedral of Notre
Dame of Paris, giving as his reasons that he
cannot obey the orders of the Holy See, and
entering protest before the Pope and Coun-
Gil against the doctrines and practices of the
Roman Church, which he contends are not in
accordance with the principles of Chris
tianity.
The secession of such man as Pere Hya
clnthe is as heavy blow as the Church could
wen nave received at this iuncture, and it
Will be well for Catholicism if the great coun-
ell will candidly and dispassionately consider
the reasons for this detection Pere Hya-
clnthe is the epresentative-more advanced
In ms views, possibly, than the majority--of
very large class of French and German
Catholics, who are dissatisfied with having
the whole government of the Church at
Rome In the hands of the Italian clergy.
Men like Pere Hyacinthe mingle more with
the world tkan do their Italian brethren. and
they are able to study men as they exist in
the present age; they are familiar with the
currents of modern thought and ideas; and
they understand plainly enough that if the
church is to battle successfully with its anita
gonists, it will have to abandon some of its
obsolete ideas and practices, and bring itself
TO realizing sense of the fact that things
have changed since the time when the thun-
derbolts of Rome made thrones tremble.
The letter of Pere Hyacinthe has caused a
profound sensation in France, and it is taken
as sign of trouble to come when the council
commences its discussions. The secular
journals, for the most part, commend the
great preacher for his bold and fearless stand,
while the religious press laments his seces-
sion. One journal says, referring to his
letter, that mo such language has been heard
in the French Church since the middle ages,
which is true enough, but times have changed
greatly since the middle ages, and the Church
=" w ouppiOoo ouCu u IclOTmer dS
Pere Hyacinthe, who having now declared
himself plainly as opposed to the principles
and practices of the Church, will have less
hesitation than ever in attacking the evils
which he desires to see reformed The detection
of Pere Hyacinthe, as we understand it, does
not necessarily mean an abandonment of the
Catholic religion, but it is rather protest
against the abuses which have crept in, and
which are destroying the influence of the
Church. This was the attitude of the early
Reformers, and Protestanism, as we know it,
is rather the result of the infatuated action of
the Church itself than of any desire of the Re-
formers to separate themselves from its COM
munion. Pere Hyacinthe is the representa-
tive of the popular feeling in France, and he
is the opponent of the Ultramontanism which
is patronized by the Empress, and through
her by such of the aristocracy as profess to
have any religion at all. His protest is a
significant sign of the times, and it will be in.
teresting to note the effect it will produce in
the Church itself, and upon those branches of
it which are jealous of the preponderance of
Italian influence in its councils.