The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-09-02
GODDESS EDUCATIoN IN ITALY.
Iondon Tablet

manuel, which once made such fair and al
Turing promises and professions OF loyalty
| to the Catholic Church, has now become
| openly hostile, not only to the Court OF
| Rome but to the Catholic religion. When
the troops of his Majesty bombarded Rome
and seized the temporal possessions OF Plus
TX, the most solemn assurances were
| given to Europe that the spiritual inter
| eets of the Catholic Church would be un-
harmed, and it was even asserted that the
power and dignity of the Pontif would be
| largely benefited by the withdrawal of the
| TEN porai sovereignty. 1t is not worth
while to enquire whether any peIsous were
| deceived by those declarations. 1t is pos
sible that some few individuals were fool
ish enough to place faith in the assurances
of the ueurpers, and to believe that the
spiritual work of the Catholic Church
would be performed effectively without
the temporal power. But now there is no
longer room for deceit or dissimulation.
Plus TX from the first, was awake to the
bollowness of these professions and hypo-
crisy of his deepoiters, and refused firmly
to become party, by condonatiop, to the
wickedness which assailed not merely the
earthly but also the spiritual rights OF the
successor of St. Peter And now all the
world sees that Plus X. was correct in his
estimate of his invaders, and acted wisely
in shrinking from them ct dona ferentes.
He refused the splendid dotation of some
millions of lire annually, offered by hands
stained with perfidy and usurpatlon, hands
ready to strike again and to strike down
for ever, if they could, the Church which
would not consent to become the hand
from the face of the monarch led revolu
tion. The soft and hattering praises be-
slowed by the KiDg's advisers in 1870 and
1871 upon the Church which they piun-
dered, have been altogether omitted by the
Kings advisers in 1876 and 1877. The
atrin nf q
and goods to the sound OF sweet words
and honied compliments.
But the tone is changed, and the
Clerical Abuses Bill was introduced by a
preface Of insult and outrage under the
auspices of Siguor Mancini. There is no
longer shadow of set ming respect for the
Pope or for the Catholic religion. Minis
terial min nutes OF circulars, framed dellber
ately for the purpose of supPressing relig-
ious functions in towns and villages, were
issued to prefects and sub projects, forbid
ding all religious professions outside
press liceuse of the local agents of the
Home Office. These Ministerial min utes or
circulars have been long pronounced llle-
gal by the highest Courts of Appeal in
Italy, but, withstanding the legal de
csions of these tribunals, the Government
has issued flesh instructions to the projects
to carry out, by force, if necessary, the
injunctions of these illegal circulars. Thus
the present Ministers CT Victor Emmanuel
seem determined to over ride the Consti-
tuition, and usurp the function of the Leg
islature. Moreover, law, signed by the
King on the 23rd of June, in Turin, and
published in the Official Gazette of July 10,
announces another calamity to the Church
in Italy. The first article of this law en-
acts that " from the commencement of the
LIST of January, 1873, the office of the spir-
ltual director in the lyceums, the gymnasi-
q hn nJo foohn rbo ia al hnl
ished." The Offices of Chaplain IN the
Navy and Of Military Chaplain have been
already abolished. The allowances for
merly granted to the clergy for special
religious functions An towns and villages
have been long discontinued. The advo-
Gates of the new scheme for primary edu-
cation intend to make the instruction in
the schools lay and obligatory, 80 that in
short time religion will be formally ban
ished from all the Institutions under the
control of the State. Little remains for
the resent advisers of the Crown in Italy
to do against the Church, save 10 propose
the abolition OF the first article of The Con
stitutioD, which proclaims the Catholic
Apostolic aud Roman religion to be the
sole religion of the State" and thus leave
the State nominally as we'll as virtually
without any religion at all.
Cesare COTTeDte, the present Fist Sec
retary of the Order of SIS. Maurice and
Lazarus and Minister of Public lnetruc-
ton IN 1871, WAS the great advocate for
this suppression OF Catholic teaching in the
middle and higher schools. His alleged
motive WAS economy. He wanted TO i'm
prove the pay of teachers in the secondary
schools, and found nothing to cut down or
abolish except the espiritual directors The
present Minister of Public Instruction,
S,gnor Coppino, estimates the savings eff
fected by this law to be 1874 200 lire, or less
than five thousand a year Eoglsh. For
this pittance it is thought fitting to deprive
the Catholic youth of Italy of religious
supervision. Italians have demanded
remission or diminution of the tax on the
grinding of corn, bnt in vain. The salt
monopoly is another grievance to which
no remedy has been applied, and the in
come tax causes murmurs and protests to
which the Ministry turn a deaf ear. But
as compensation for the hardships of Ita-
ian taxation the present Ministry offers the
suppression of the Mass in colleges aud
schools, the abolition of religious iDstruc-
tion, and the abolition of the punishment
of DEATH
Signor Cesare Corrente, who was so anx-
ious to economise the resources of the State