New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-06-29

only damage the former. In the COun-
Gil itself it was believed that most
of the Anti-Infallibility Bishops were
simply reactionary partisans who opposed the
dogma on grounds of expediency, fearing that
it was too extravagant to be accepted by their
diocesans; and this impression is strengthened
by the fact that the Anti-Infallibility address
presented to the Council was drawn up by a
well-known UltramOntanist Cardinal Rauscher
of Vienna. But when the plans of the
Jesuits were consImmated, the German Bish-
ops began to fear that, from opposing an In
fallible Pope, the public might be led to attack
other institutions of the Church; and now
Prince Bismarck, in the opposition to the
Pope into which he has drifted, is entirely
without the support of the higher ecclesiasti-
cal authorities
The support which the Bishops have been
induced to lend to the will of the Pope places
the Government under the disadvantage of
apparently opposing the Church in the interest
of small body of schismatics. In this way
in two important cases the Government has
made direct attack upon the Church The
Bishop OF Ermeand having accommodated
a recalctrant clergyman, he was directed by
the Government to withdraw the order of ex-
communication. The spirit of antagOnism
which the Pope has lately displayed
toward Germany leaves little ground for
the belief that the Bishop of Ermeland will be
permitted to comply with the request. In
such an event it is improbable Ghat Bismarck
will allow the matter to rest. But the remedy
at his command appears inadequate to the
emergency. The second case to which we
have referred is similar in character. Accord
ing to q semi official statement IN the Evan
gelical garrison church Of St. Pantaleon at
Cologne, divine service, according to the forms
of the Catholic Church, has been performed
for twenty-fOur years with general satisfaction.
Some months ago request was made by the
Old Catholics of Cologne that the church
should be left free to them during certain
hours for the celebration of public worship;
this was granted with the consent of the
Prussian Minister of War. Notwithstanding
this permission, the Catholic feld-prOyOst,
Bishop NamszanOwski, without applying to the
Minister of War, prohibited the Catholic Chap
lain Linnemann from performing divine SER
vice any longer in the church. The Minister
of War demonstrated with the Bishop and
by his action, and notified to him that the
Catholic military service should continue to be
celebrated in the church so long as the Minis
ter of War had not decided 10 the contrary.
The Bishop at first did not persist
in his prohibition; but subsequently having
reported the circumstance to the Pope, and
his course having been approved, the Bishop
again forbade the priest Liinnemann from dis
charging any religious function whatever in |
the church of ST. Pantaleon until it had |
ceased to be likewise employed by the Old |
Catholics. In consequence of this procedure, |
which the Prussian Government maintained |
was not only an encrOachment on the rights |
of the State, but also a violation by the |
Bishop of his duties as field-pTOvOst and as |
an officer in the military service, the Govern |
ment felt itself obliged to order a disciplinary
investigation and the temporary suspension of
the field-prOvost from his office, as well as to
interdict to his vicar general the discharge of
all his functions.
Although these cases may be settled without |
a serious disturbance of the relations between |
the State and its Catholic subjects, they never
theless afford an, evidence of the bitter contest
which has already begun between the German
anu lIt rope anu NHlCu, tHCiO !
is every reason to believe, will soon extend to
the people. That the Pope is relentless in his
hostility to the Government is shown in the
support that he furnishes to the Bishops /
in their opposition to it. An unmistakable
evidence of this is the fact that the Pope
has conferred several marks Of his apprOba-
ton upon Bishop NamszanOwsh for his part
in the St. PantaleOn affair. Another sign of
the luminosity of the Pope is the acrimonious
language he used few days ago in addressing |
the German Literary Club Of Rome. "The
" persecution of Catholics" said the Holy |
Father, "has begun in Germany; but they
" display courage under affection, and we
" have informed the German Government that |
% the persecution of the Church is folly" |
"Let us pray to our Father that the stone |
"may fall that will complete the overthrow |
" of the Colossus" That Prince Bismarck, |
upon whom the Pope evidently designed to |
cast this stigma is fixed in his defiance of the
Pope, would appear from the energy ne has
displayed in pressing to its final passage the
bill depriving the Jesuits of the rights of citl-
zenship. An interesting problem will be
whether any considerable advantage can be
obtained by the State over the Church without
producing the disaifection to the State OF Its
loyal Catholic subjects, who, in Prussia for
example, compose one -third of the total num-
Der of inhabitants.
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