New-York tribune., 1901-01-13
FRENCH CHURCH ANDSTATE
THE CONCORDAT OF 1901 MAY BE DIS
SOLVED.
M wALDECK- -RoUssEAU's PROPOSED "AssoCIA
TIONS LAWS WOULD PRECIPITATE WAR
BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC AND
THE PAPACY.
THE PAPACY.


Briefly speaking concOrdat is agreement
between the Pope. representing the Roman
Catholic Church, and a temporal government for
the regulation Of ecclesiastical affairs within the
territory of the latter At one time the powers
of the Papacy were much greater than they are
now They included the right of absolving sub
jccts from their oaths of allegiance to their SOW
ereign and of collecting immense revenues. This
naturally resulted in an intolerable condition of
affairs which could only be settled by means of
an agreement between the Pontf and the SOW
ereign, whereby the rights and prerogatves of
each clearly defined. Such agreement
received the name of concOrlat. and it is the one
that has existed since 1S01 between France and
the Papacy which is now in danger of being
aLrogated.
To any fair minded foreigner who has studied
the situation it would appear that there are
grave faults both sides. ON the one hand.
there is doubt that certain Of the religious
orders in France have persistently devoted them
selves 10 political propaganda in favor of
monarchical restoration. and a majority of the
diocesans are imbued with spirit OF pro-
Ecunced hostility toward the republic. max
ing secret Of their longing for its
throw. ON the other hand. the Govern
m,ut with the object of curtailing the
power and influence Of these religious orders
enemies. has devised series of new laws of the
most arbitrary and deSpotic description which
would constitute iufracton Of the right of
~. citizen freedom of conscience. The only
r'Geemiug point about those proposed laws is
that they ar" likely To- restrict tho power of the
Religious orders To carry warfar, against the
duly constituted governors of thu land. other
v.s. thr hil to which the Government stands
committed is "a thoroughly bad onr. and. accord
ina t" English and American notions. entirely
at Variance with The doctrines Of a liberal. On
lrEten,d ami up date nation.
WOULD P.GUIATF RELIGIOUS ORDERS
The main point of the proposed laws against
m, religious orders is that 20 decree Of the
C.uncil Of STATE shall %, necessary for any ass5-
oation consisting of French and IF for,is, mem
hcrs." Now. an admiNtUrc Of native and for
'iru members is to h, found in nearly all the
religious orders notably among the Domiuicans.
III" J,suits, the Francisoans. etc. Then again
"a law shall be- necessary for all such .ssocia-
Il as have their headquarters out of France
ana whose members live in community" Nearly
every one knows that Rome is the centre of all
the great orders. with the exception of the
JtSuits who have their headquarters in Flor
ence The congregations and orders already
I'm existence will have obtain within the space
az six months the enactment OF special laws nee
essary for their remaining in France. Those
which at the end Of six months have either not
asked q obtained the enactment Of the laws
necessary for their continued abode in France
viii b. dissolved. further period "f six
months VIII hc allowed to them for tn" purpose
of recaiming and disposing Of their property
and after that time everything that remains in
their possession will bc forfeited To- the Govern
ment ard turned over 10y the latter to the pen
sion fund for poor working people The penal
ties provided for the infractiOn OF tho 81 laws
are severe. comprising heavy fines. imprison-
mcnt and cuniiscatiOn.
Another clause in the hiii forhids requests to
religious orders. Thus should a rich die
and leave his wealth a Dominican. Franciscan
or Jesuit institution the bequcst would be- in
valid and its execution would bc prevented by
the authorities These are the main features of
the so-called Associations Laws" which Prime
Minister Waldeck- Rousseau has submitted To
the Chamber. and which will probably bc passed.
IL may bc seen that they are principally aimed
al the Society Of Jesus of the chief mem
played a prominent Iart i'm the conspiracy
of the General STAFF AGAINST the Govern
ment at the time of the Drcyfus revision |
controversy. Moreover, there is no doubt that |
when drawing up the bin the Premier had
dl mind the documents discovered on the prem !
bes of the ultra -monarchical society of the !
Fathers of the AssumptiOn which went to show