New-York tribune., 1901-03-17
NiONASTICISM IN FRANCE
UNFAFORABLE INFLUENCES OF THE
RELIGIOUS ORDERS-WHAT THEY
DO AND DO NOT DO
UNFAFORABLE
From The London Post.


tted Inc orders do not officially form part of
The Catholic Church in France and tho auarreI
lot the present at least, is not one hetNeen
t~iiuicn ~ ana sllte. In accordance with the Con-
coFdat of 1901 the secular bishons are nom
!haled 10y the government, but must be apnroyed
10y tle rope before being instituted Th,. c,,rhc
or parish priests. who form the great body Of
the secular clefgS, are nominated by the hishOrc
nut their nomination must be sanctioned b, tbo
government The secular clergy take an aih of
leaIty TO the republic. the bishops undert king
10 permit nothing in their dioceses contrary 10
ruhllc order or prejudiciaI to the state They
receive nearly foN}uuu1 a wear fr,,-,, -. 60
eminent. but their stipends may lie withdrawn
II they infringe any OF the provisions of the
'ii'oi u'tt 1>Nei- II The secular Catholic Clergy
are not toy temperament the most ardent of re
pupilcahs, IL Is easy to that any inclinat lion
they may have toward disaffection is tolerahlv
Wei held in check. The religious clergy on the
ether hand, are not under the control of tho
stale at all. The Concordat made no mention of
Inc hloilastlc orders whether of men or women
III placed no restrictions on them for they had
already been suppressed. and it gave them no
Hberty to re-establish thenlSel Ives II is not in
tt!Ee q me tohcprdat IN erefcre that they
claim the right to-day to he-li,lIil,a the Catholic
onufch Pfopef-indepeadent Of state control.
W hlle the proposed restrictions the orders
have assuredly not been conceived in the inter
ests OF French Catholicism. 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 poit-
seal STANDPOINT the secular clergy conlpara-
lively InoTensiVe. and they would be even more
80 If they were not tampered with by the monks.
Tte separation Of church and might be
preferable to the present system but ii : a mis-
lake on the part of French Catholics-Who IF
course do not think SOTO make the cause of the
orters the cause Of the church. At present
every effort Is being made to show how har-
moniously the TWO clergies work toget her and
how necessary the orders the church
The truth is that they are often councillors
ard that the secular clergy are disposed To re-
gard the religious intruders. In S0me
towns the parish or state supported churches
are outnumbered by the churches and the
ch2pels of the orders and il is evident that the
interests OF the two cannot he Identical The
average cure is no preacher, and Catholicism
cannot altogether dispense with The sermon.
During Advent and Lent. times of spiritual
drouth the Dominican. the Jesuit the Fran
clScan or the Oblate is introduced to stir souls
with his eloIuence. He does not do for
nothing. The cure is given a small share of the
profits while the order that hires out the
preacher takes the balance which is 1fteJi n
siderable OF course il is the part played by
the orders that prevents the development Of the
PREACHING talent among the state clergy
may hear anti-republican sermons in France.
bat they usually preached by religious and
not by cures The pulpit. while in the church.
is not the church itself. but the orders. Thus
the church and the secular clergy are tonlpro-
missed They are used rather than serve! by the
monks.
THE ORDERS AND THEIR WORK.
the other occupations in which tin rnonasti..
orders take part many and varied Monks
and conduct colleges and elementary
schools beg on behalf of the poor, manage
crphanages. asylums and hospitals, nurse the
sick publish newspapers, and manufacture =
chocolate, NqueUrs. elixirs of life. trousseaus,
their benevolent work is done in d spirit Of
genuine devotion to humanity, but absurd pre-
tsnsicTs are often made behalf If it. The
LuiSlLS nun, II X heii, can never De S2tSfacio-
I'll: replaced ly pr fessi"naI nurses :'ut tn" as
scTtiOn Is not supported by experience If lay
nursing in other countries. The question. how
ever, OPENS ~ that Of the employment Of w0r1en,
@I-l IN this matter the interests Of the female
orders and II French women large di-
atretTica!ly opposed. Apart from the hospitals.
moreover. il is a mistake to suppose that the
nursing work for nothing. .houSh. Of
CauIs'.. their earnings go to their order Th-
professional commercial s. irit is merely dis
i-uised.
in education il is Som-W hat more obvious In
The colleges Of the orders instruction = given to
. certain extent for its sake. but il IS at
tn same time a toleraby profitable undertake
ing. in the elementary schools il does not ap-
io4r to be given either for its sake or the
okildrens. Very little Of IL is giv-a at al, and
in he really e1Uc4-iona part of their duties the
taar hers cannot compare Cor zeal and efficiency
with the communal ''instituteur" In nine cases
ont Of ten the enrichment and ACKNOWLEDGMENT
e he orders much NOR thought Of IN n the
ini rests Of these they supposed to benefit
!55seral Of their orphanages have been shown to
be nothing but industrial schools worked on the
Ihoet iniquit0us and selfish principles. ii haTe
Eeard good Catholics denOunce the selfish and
i1asping spirit Of L have heard them
10 so q hundred times. The perfunctory charity
Gf the convent door apart. have seldom heard
of nuns dJirg anything for anybody Tie rules
anG work Of their order apt to exclude from
their mimi all thought of duties that are re-
fa:ded as obvious and obligatory in the outside
void FoI the sake Il the bon D'ed they VIII