The New York herald., 1871-09-10
THO Religious Reform DIovcmcnt In Ger
many.

| mination on their brows encourage us to be-
lieve that they mean to move on, and that they
mean to win. The Council of the Vatican
| promises to be as memorable as the famous
Council of Trent. The Council of Trent did
not begin the religious revolution of the six
teenth century, but it made Professionalism
TACT and gave sound historical basis to the
great Western schism. The Council of the
vatican has given birth to revolution; and
| from present appearances it is not too much
to say that unless the Council is again con-
vened and undoes what it has done, the reli-
| gious revolution Of the nineteenth century
may prove quite as disastrous to the Roman
| Church as was that of the sixteenth century.
Do!linger, il is true, is not Luther. He
is old Luther was young. He is cautious;
Luther was daring. But Luther alone
would not have defled the thunders of Rome
and wrenched the Western Church asunder.
He needed his Melancthon; he needed his
John of Saxony; he needed, above all, peo-
pie prepared and willing to follow. Let any
one compare the initial reform movements in
Germany in Lutber's time with the initial re-
form movements in Germany in these present
times, and he will be bold man who will say
that the success which attended the former
will not attend the latter. D6linger has his
Friedrich and his Huber; in the person Of the
young King of Bavaria he has good counter
part of Elector John, and we know for certain
that Catholic Germany is neither unprepared
nor unwilling to follow. Twenty thousand
MAJ nd IF thns tha hoe in Gor
many, have given in their adhesion to the
movement.
The events which have already taken place
leave us no room to doub. that the fight is real
| and earnest and that the men who have taken
| the lead mean to go on. AS our readers are
already aware, the action of DR.. D5linger has
| been approved by almost the entire body of
| his colleagues in the University of Munich,
the largest Catholic University in South
Germany. His election, few weeks
ago, to The Office of Rector, by an
almost unanimous vote was an indica-
ton Of the tone of public sentiment which
cannot be misnterprcted The funeral of DR..
Zenger who was denied the privileges of the
Church, was another unmistakable sign. The
Archbishop of Munich forbade that any priest
should lead over his remains the Church SER
vice, or that any church should be granted for
such a purpose. Zcngers one fault was that
he had signed the address Of sympathy to DR..
D5!inger. Dr. Friedrich, the young cham
pion OF the new movement, refused to be so
bound and he had daring enough to grant
his church for the forbidden purpose and to
perform over the remains of his friend the
funeral service Il was known that Friedrich
had before administered to the deceased Doc
tor The last sacrament in defiance of the man
dates of his ecclesiastical superior. The result
was that Munich turned out en- nadsse to the
funeral and the demonstration was such as
the Bayaran capital has not seen in many
day-another indication of the state Of feel
ing not difficult to comprehend Friedrich
had before been accommodated. He was
now by special order deprived of
all his benedces Friedrich is the
righthand man of D6llinger, and is
admitted to be one of the finest scholars
among the young Catholics of Germany. Dr.
Huber, the joint author of the famous "Roman
letters by Qulrinus, and also of the equally
celebrated work called Janus" although not
so daring as bis young friend, is man of
larger experience and of greater influence;
and he is body and soul devoted to the
'Alttatloliken" or old Catholic movement
But it is not ia Bavaria alone that the move
ment finds support. 1t is popular in the Ger
man provinces of Austria. 1t is popular in
e. =, Oh Ul =
intensely popular, as might be imagined, in
Prussia. And among the Catholic population
In the German provinces of Switzerland it has
many warm and even enthusiastic friends
Bishop Strossmayer, of Hungary, has never
given any sign that he will go back on what
he said at the Council when he was put down
almost by force Dr. Schultz, the celebrated
Professor of Canon Law in the University
of Prague, is named the Dollinger of Bohe-
mia and his Prince Bishop, Cardinal
| Schwartzenberg, very heartily supports him.
! Prussia, we know, has taken a stand in direct
opposition 20 the Vatican decrees and
has abolished the separate bureau for
the management of the affairs of
the Catholic Church. In at least one
instance it has disregarded the mandates
of Rome, and retained in Office a priest who
had been communicated and deprived of his
parish by his ecclesiastical superior. In an
interview with HERALD correspondent few
weeks since DR.. Friedrich stated that the
hope of the new movement centred in Prussia,
as the Bavarian government was undecided
and slow to act. Since then the Bavarian
Cabinet has been reconstructed, and it is now
matter of history that they have taken decided
action and sent to Rome representative who
is in perfect sympathy with the new move
ment What we now wait for is to learn
whether the State will, without its placet,
allow the bishops to promulgate and enforce