The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-04-05
EUROPE AFFECTED
By POPE ORDERS
He Will Allow No More Cou-
sin Marriages.
MORE WIVES ARE NEEDED
Family Must Come
Down to Get Them.
MORE WIVES ARE NEEDED

The Pope's circular note to the royal
courts of Europe announcing that he
marriages among cousins and other near
relatives has already resulted in one
broken engagement
Archducess Maria Annunciata of Aus
tria has given Duke Siegfried of Ba-
varia his dismissal about two weeks
after their engagement had been pub
lished.
The Austrian and Barvarian royal fami-
lies have intermarried so long and per-
sistently that it is almost Impossible to
fix the correct degree Of the relationship
the various members hold TO each other.
AS for the Archduchess, she was prob
ably right glad Of the excuse offered by
the Pope's breve. as she is a very relig-
ious woman. while Siegfried is known as
a heartbreaker and sportsman with
rather shabby record that made him inn
possible even on the turf OF Munich. his
home and the capital of the kingdom.
While the increase of insanity among
Austrian and Bavarian royalties-said to
be due to their consanguine marriages
may have prompted the publication of
Leo's breve at this particular moment,
1t is felt in Europe that the Holy Father s
action was directly provoked by the care
for his royal godson, the young King of
Spain.
OF course the Vatican desires and de-
mands that the King of Spain marry a
Catholic princess, but the Pope earnestly
hopes that the woman chosen to sit on
the throne OF Spain shall be neither Aus
trian nor Portuguese, neither of the Ger
man. nor the Italian, nor the French
blood royal
As ali Catholic royal families OF Europe
have intermarried a dozen or more times,
the only way to obtain for King Alphon-
SO wife outside the circle of his rela-
tives is to sanction his marriage with a
lady not of the blood royal, but an eligi-
bic royal consort nevertheless.
OF the thirty-seven reigning families of
Eurcpe nine are out -and-out Catholics.
namely. Austria, Bavaria. Belgium, royal
Saxony, Portugal. Spain, Italy, Monaco
and Liechtenstein, while the crown of
Wurtemberg is expected to pass to the
Catholic branch of the reigning family
after the demise of the present King.
who is childless.
Mecklenberg long a stronghold of the
Lutheran Church, gave one of her sons,
the brother of the Grand Duke of
Schwerin TO Catholicism OF late, and
Denmark followed the example when her
proud sailor prince. Waldemar. married
Marie of Orleans by promising that her
female issue should be brought up in the
Catholic faith. Princess Marie, who is
one of the most devoted daughters of the
church, bore her husband four sons in
succession all of whom were baptized
Lutherans Her fifth child, however. was
p girl. Princess Marguerite. and the Pope
sent a special envoy TO Copenhagen to re-
ceive the little one into the fold of the
mother church.
The heir presumptive to the crown of
wurtemberg. Duke Phillip. is the hus
band Of Archduchess Marie Terese. and
such is the scarcity of Catholic princesses
of the blood royal that Phillips son and
heir. Prince Albert. likewise welded an
Austrian. his mothers niece. while his
daughter. Marie, became the wife of
Prince John of Saxony, her mothers
nephew.
A similar state of things prevails in the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, formerly
attached to the Lutheran kingdom OF the
Netherlands and now ruled by the House
of Nassau whose head is a member Of
the Evangelical Church. as were his an
cestors for many hundreds of years.
The hereditary Grand Duke William,
while quite young. fell in love with a
Catholic princess Ann of Braganza, the
house that formerly reigned in Brazil and
Portugal But the Pope wouldn't sane
ton the marriage unless the Grand Duke
promised that the female issue should
embrace the Catholic Church. The pair
never had any boys. only three girls. who
were duly received In baptism by the
Church of Rome.
OF course the frequent marriages be-
tween Protestant princes and Catholic
princesses reduced the number OF avail
able royal women of that faith still more.
until now il has come to pass that there
are hardly enough OF them 10 so around
The Holy Father was therefore almost
compelled to take the step mentioned.
The interests Of the church demanded il
no less than the interests of the mon
erchical system.
The Vatican cannot afford to allow
q Catholic princess TO marry Protestants
simply because there are no eligible royal
girls belonging TO the Church OF Rome,
while. on the other hand. the royal fami-
lies Of Europe are plainly degenerating
for the want Of new blood. that is by
reason of their system Of intermarriage
between relatives
So the Pope. always wise and liberal.
resolved to shut down on cousin mar
riages once and for ali. and at the same
time advised the Catholic monarchs Of a
way out ~ the difficulty.
lie simply recalled TO them the almost
forgotten fact that the Vienna Congress
named some fifty-five princely families
whose sons and daughters are good
enough 10 marry any king or queen on
the face of the globe.
These families were sovereign in their
own right until the arrival of a certain
Napoleon Bonsparte. and many OF them
remained sovereigns (of the toy mon
arch variety until the year 1875 when
the Great Powers definitely annexed their
territories and reduced thei- aunndam
masters To the state OF mighty privileged