, 1875-06-06
GERMAN INFLUENCE ON RELIGION.

|
GERaAN INFLUENCE on RELIGION.
Germany wns the cradle Of the Reforma
ton, and its influence ever since has been il
! the way Of iberalizirg sectarian traditions
doctrinsry forms, and dog2natjc prejudices
| The German mind seems to hava been pccu
| liar1y constituted for this work. 1t accepts
nothing on trust. 1t is phlcgmatic, analytic
exact, and suspicious of impostions. It wa.
on account of this national trait, perhaps, that
tbs Reformation spread SO rapidly aud effect
! lively among the Germanic peoples. Il
! swept ever Germany, and took il
Holland, England, and Scandinavia, with
thoir Germanic traditions and afinitcs
It made some neadway in Austria
under the influence of HUss and was firmly
rooted in largo part Of Switzerland unde>
! the lead Of CALVIN. But the Latin and Gn11ic
races were generally steadfast to the forms
and faith Of the Church. SAvoNARoLA made
q heroic effort in Northern Italy, and the
Hnguenots Of France were conspicuous in
their devotion to the cause of individual
udgment; but they wers crushed out by su.
perior numbers and the stronger sentiment
in favor of imposing ceremonies and ancient
traditions, held the French, Spaniards,
Belgians, and Italians to the old reg ime.
There is no middle ground in those coun-
tries between religious devotion and
religious anarchy. Germany, on the
contrary, is free-thinking, scrutinizing.
The Germans refuse to be carried away by
the beliefs or superstition Of the past or the
novelties Of the present, or the vagaries Of
the future As people, they lack the gift
OF faith, which must come by nature if at
all and, on this account, they should not,
perhaps, be held so strictly to responsibility
for their iconoclastic tendencies Ms another
race Of people under the same circumstances.
As the Germanic people of old fought po-
htical Rome with the sword, so their de-
scendants of to-dny are waging an intellect
ual war with clerical Rome. with the old pug
nacity and obstinacy. The present contest may
be said to have begun with the promrlgation
Of Papal infalliblity as dogma The Ger
man Bishops were nearly unanimously op-
posed to this new element Of faith when
there were already so many other elements
that were constantly exciting doubts and mis-
giyings among their people. This opposition
was BY no means unimportnnt, as it repre-
sented 14,000.ON0 of the $4,000, 900 in the
German Empire; but it was overcome. It then
became necessary to acquiesce in the dogma or
leave the Church. That good many people
have chosen tho latter is evident from the re-
e+n ~
Catholic organization,- is, the organ
ization Of thoss. who claim to cher
ish aud represent the purity Of the
Catholic Church, and reject the later
innovations. This organization now ex-
tends throughout Prussia, Baden, Bavaria,
Wurtemberg, Heese, and also Switzerland.
In sone parishes it includes a majority Of
the Catholics and Il control of the churches
and beue6ces Altogether it numbers about
10000 active members, and probably ten
times as many inactive ones, and its strength
is constantly growing. Tie Church has never
found better way than that of the ballot
for determining its dognas. for which it Ger
tainly has the distinguished precedent Of ths
Jews and the early Christians. But as the
dogma which hes received majority of votes
in the Council Of Bishops leaves
no alternative but that of credence
or secession from the Church, it mny natu-
rally be expected that the Old Catholics will
continue to recruit from the ranks Of those
Germans who gave tacit acquiescenca to the
doctrine Of infalhbility, not becs 80 they
rcally believed it, but bec4- -n+; readed
and procrastinated departure from thu W.
cient Church Of their fathars aud at their
life association
The widespread opposition Of the German
Catholics to tie dogma Of infalibiGty does
not warrant tho assumption that the mere
fact Of being outvoted in the Council wrought
sudden conversion among them on this
point The fact is that the ecquiescence
Of those Germans who did not leave
tho Church has been more formal than
genuine. The Catholic Bishops admitted as
much in their recent address to the German
Emperor. This is probably one of the rea~
sons why there has been SO littla active op-
position among the German laymen Of the
Catholic Church to the so-called FA1o1 laws
and to the wen-anown hostility of tbs Gov
ernment under the lead of BISMARCK. It is
certain that all the prosecutions against
ecclesihstics in Germany have been taken
very quietly md endured vary calmly
by tho German Catholic laity. The pro-
tests have como from the clergy; the
laity have remained passive. The de-
bates in the National Legislature are
not more violent than in our own Congress
over some question of party politics The :
Church laws have excited no more popu-
lar opposition among The Catholics Of the
Empire than political nct of the Repubh-
cans or Democrats Of this country e1cites
among their opponents. The German Catho-
lies seem to appreciate as much as the Ger
man Protestants TINT tie struggle is between
loyalty TO the Empire aud allegiance to the
Italian priesthood So long as it is confined
to this issue, we need not expect any popular
uprisings or religious civil war. So long as
BISMARCK does not interfere with tho right Of
tie German Catholic to subscribe to any
dogma he mey See fit to credit, the war
against the Jesuits, propagandists, and Ultra
may be carried on without encount-