The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-03-21
MONASTICISM In FRANCE
UNFAVORABLE INTL UENCES OF
THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
what They DO and DO Not DO.

1t is from the religious clergy of the
many monastic orders, and not from the
state, or secular, clergy, that the infiu-
ences most hostile to the present form
of government mainly proceed. The Or
ders do not officially form part OF the
Catholic church in France, ana the
quarrel for the present at least, Is not
one between church and state. In oc-
cordance with the Concordat of 1871 the
secular bishops are nominated by the
government, but must be approved by
the Pope before being instituted. me
cures, or parish priests, who form the
great body of the secular clergy, are
nominated by the bishops, but their
nomination must be sanctioned by the
government. The secular clergy take
an oath of fealty to the republic, the
bushops undertaking to permit nothing
in their dioceses contrary to public or
der or prejudicial to the state They
receive nearly two million pounds q
year from the government, but their
stipends may be withdrawn if they in
fringe any Of the provisions of the Con-
cordat. Even if the secular Catholic
clergy are not by temperament the most
that any inclination they may have to-
ward disaffection Is telerably we'll held
In check. The religious clergy, on the
other hand, are not under the control OF
the state at all The Concordat made
no mention of the monastic orders,
whether of men or women. 1t placed
no restrictions on them for they had
already been suppressed, and 1t gave
them no liberty to re-establlSh them-
selves. 1t is not in virtue Of the Con-
cordat therefore that they can claim
the right to-day to be-unltke the Cath
Ole church proper-independent Of state
control.
While the proposed restrictions on the
orders have assuredly not been con-
ceived in the interests of French Ca
tholicsm, there is a sense in which the
absence Of the congregations, or OF
some of them, might strengthen and
safeguard the Catholic church In
France. From the political standpoint
tbe secular clergy are comparatively
inoffensive. and they would be even
more so if they were not tempered with
bv the monks The separation OF
church and state might be preferable to
the present system but it is mistake
on the part of French Catholics-Who,
of course do not think SOTO make the
cause of the orders the cause OF the
church. At present every effort is be-
ing made to show how tremendously
the two clergies work together and how
necessary the orders are to the church.
The truth is that they are often COM
Detitors. and that the secular clergy are
disposed to regard the religious as IN
truders. In some towns the parish or
state supported churches are outnum-
bered by the churches and the chapels
Of the orders, and it is evident that the
interests of the two cannot be Identical
The average cure is no preacher, and
Catholicism cannot altogether dispense
with the sermon. During Advent and
Tent. or times of spiritual drOuth, the
Dominican, the Jesuit, the Franciscan
or the Oblate Is introduced to stir souls
with his eloquence He does not do so
for nothing. The cure is given a small
share of the profits, while the order that
hires out the preacher takes the bal
nnce which is often considerable. OF
course. it is the part played by the or
ders that prevents the development of
the preaching talent among the state
sermons in France, but they are usu-
ally preached by religious and not by
cures. The pulpit, while in the church,
is not the church itself, the the orders
Thus the church and the secular clergy
are compromised. They are used rather
than served by the monks,
The other occupations in which the
monastic orders take part are many
and varied. Monks and nuns conduct
colleges and elementary schools, beg on
behalf of the poor, manage orphanages,
asylums and hospitals, nurse the SICK,
publish newspapers, and manufacture
chocolate, liqueurs, elixirs of life, trous-
eeaus, layettes and barley sugar.
Doubtless much of their benevolent
work is done in spirit Of genuine de-
votion to humanity, but absurd preten-
sions are often made on behalf of it.
The nursing nun, it is held, can never
be satisfactorily replaced by profession
al nurses, but the assertion is not sup
ported by experience of lay nursing in
ather countries. The question, howev-
err opens up that of the employment of
women, and in this matter the interests
of the female orders and of French wo-
men at large are Numerically opposed.
Apart from the hospitals, moreover it
is a mistake to suppose that the nurs-
ing nuns work for nothing, though, of
course their earnings go to their order.
The professional or commercial spirit is
merely disguised.
In education it is somewhat more OBJ
vious. In the colleges of the orders
instruction is given to a certain extent
for its own sake, but it is at the same
time a toIerably profitable undertaking.
In the elementary schools it does not
appear to be given either for it's own
sake or the children's. Very little of it
is given at all, and in the really educa-
&onal part of their duties the teachers
cannot compare for zeal and efficiency
with the communal 'nstituteur." In
nine cases out of ten the enrichment
and ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the orders are
much more thought of than the inter
ests of those they are supposed to beue- |
fit. Several of their orphanages have |
been shown to be nothing but industri- |
al schools worked on the most iniqui- |
tous and selfish principles. If [ have |
heard good Catholics denounce the sell |
fish and grasping spirit of nuns once I |
have heard them do so hundred times. |