The Irish standard., 1906-12-29

agreement the Church relinQuished its;
just title to the conflscated endowlnents
and institutions that had bsen sold.
valued at 1000. 100000 francs, and /
granted a number Of privileges to the
state in matters Of the internal spirit
ual administration Of the Church. a
For instance, the government was
granted the right to nominate candf-
dates to the various bishopricx, WHO
were then to receive their full epist,o I
pal powers from the Pope; again
bishops might appoint such pasthrs9
only as were acceptable to the COVE, M
nont. t.., q
The government. on the other hand,
in return for these CONCESSIONS gaye 4
back to the Church the various build1a3
ings. such as churches, selninaries.
episcopal and parochial residences that
had not been sold and in lieu. Of the
confiscated cndowments the goHapn-
ment agreed to pay the salaxles Of the,
clergy. a total sum amounting to i per
cent interest OH tho original capital
seized by tho state.
Separation Law Called Unjust.
The so-called separation law, which:
discontinues the payment of these SAL /
aries without, however, returning to
the Church the original capital is
therefore the reputation of q national +
debt and consequently Il gross act OF
injustice, properly characterized az ,
robbery. And yet il the Church in
France were not now in addition to 4
this monstrous injustice robbed also Of !
her Church cdiflces; IL she were not !
bound hand and foot by odious 1awsh
that prevent even the exercise of di-i5
vino worship in accordance with this
Churchs laws, ana il. on the contrary.
she were granted the same liberty Of i
action in all matters spiritual enjoyed il
by every denomination in this, our
own free country, she would, indeed,
willingly forego this pittance Of state
allowance to tho clergy, which would y
be amply compensated for by the gem y
crous piety Of tho faithful.
Justice of United states in Like Case. n.
When after our war with Spain the.
Philippines, with Cuba and Porto Rico
came under the dominion Of our gov-81
ernlnent the separation Of Church an I
state was at once put in. force in ac"S
cordance with the principles Of. our
constitution. 81.
But while our government disoon-T N
tinucd the payment OF any furtNera.l
salaries to the clergy tho spirit Of nat
ural justice and fair play. led it to-
recognize the Church's ,rightful own
crship Of the various ecclesiastical edi-
fees and landed property and left It'll
absolutely free and unhampered to pur-S
sue it's divine mission. %
Now this is the very thing the inhdel
government Of France wishes to pre- 4
vent. The dechristianization Of the ma -Ss
ton is the motto inscribed upon its
banners and the ultimate destruction
of every last vestige Of religion in its
avowed purpose.
In pursuance Of this plan they abol-
ished public prayers at the opening OF
parliament and Of the assizes; they
suppressed the signs Of mourning ona
board ship of Good Friday: they BAN
ished from the court, the cemeteries,
the schools, the army, the navy. In aSl
word, from all public establishments.
all actions and emblems recalling thessl
idea of God and religion: they houidedss11
the various sisterhoods out Of the
schools and hospitals and other clar-4
table institutions: to destroy the v0-S
cations Of the priesthood they drove
.ns aenlinarians through the Sodom anda
Gonorrah Of the French barracks: thSv%
outraged the sanctity aand invtolabil
ity of Christian marriage by tniqui
tous legislation; they enaced the vefX
name Of God from the judicial oaftSS
they dispersed and robbed the religipi