The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-23

lative Assembly in the September OF three
years before. Mass was now said in nearly
10000 out OF the 10000 French parishes;
the Civil Constitution was set aside, n
the Bishops who had taken the oath de-
clared that they were willing 70 retire and
do all they could 70 promote religious peace.
The awakening religious feeling aroused
the apprehensions Of the Directorial Gov
ernment and led IL 70 begin new persecu-
tions. No fewer than a hundred churches
In Paris were sold and pulled down, and
the c~athredrals OF Blois and Chartres would
have suffered the same fate had they not
been bought by those who had taken the
oath. Many parsonages were likewise
put up for sale, and those which were not
sold were placed at the disposal OF the
municipalities as schools. The Directory
also annoyed priests and congregations
by f~orbidding the ringing of bells, by at
tempts Co hinder the keeping OF Sunday
sacred, and by demanding strict observance
Of the new revolutionary calendar. To
crown its ecclesiastical policy the new
Government gave the Church a second
rival in the so-called Observation-Disclosures.
the friends OF God and man, " whose apostle
was made a Director. By 1898, however,
Il hb1 QuIctly ulodP-
peared without leaving any visible traces
behind Il.
To what extent the Church had revived
in spite of these vexationsl and harassments
on the part Of the Directory can be Judged
from the Council which met in Paris in
August, 1877. onthe invitation Of six Bishops
who had taken the oath. When the Coun-
Gil was opened in the Cathedral Of Notre
Dame seventy-two representatives were
present from the whole Of France, and
among them no fewer than twenty-six
Bishops and a Bishop-elect. not yet con-
secrated-as many, in other words, as had
been present at the opening of the Council
of Trent. After having deliberated for
three months this Council agreed upon a
decree of peace which acknowledged the
Pope as the visible head of the Church by
divine right, but also demanded the mainte-
nance of the principles and liberties OF the
Gallican Church. lfthere were two Bishops
in one diocese the one who was elected and
consecrated before 1901 was to be the right
full Bisho p, but the other, elected and CON-
secrated after that year, was to be the
legitimate successor Of the former. The
same rule was to obtain In parishes which
had two priests. Only a minority Of the
Bishops and priests, however, who had
not taken the oath looked with sympathy
upon the Council Of 1871. It's Gallicanism
repealed many, and most Of those who had
refused to take the oath had thrown In their
lot with the Bourbonsto such IN extent that
they declined to stand on an equal footing
with the Bishops and priests OF the Revo-
luton, who had sworn not only fealty to the
Republic,but also hatred he monarchy.
After the coup d'etdt of the 18th Of Bru-
marie. by which Bonaparte became First
Consul, there was substituted for the former
oath, so irksome 20 many, a simple promise
Of loyalty TO the Constitution, and the
Moniteur explained that In this premise
there lay no declaration of determination to
maintain the Constitution, but only a prom
Use not 10 oppose IL. Those who had not
taken the oath could make such a promise
with a good conscience. and many nom
juring priests now returned. Those Bish-
ops, however, who had emigrated would
not acquiesce in even 80 light a reoo gnition
OF the Revolution as this; they hoped to
work for the restoration OF the old regime
by resisting at all points the new order OF
things in France. Thus it came 10 pass
that Bonaparte, when az First Consul he
took In hand the regulation OF ecclesiastical
affairs, encountered not only the old en-
sion between those who had aiken the oath
and those who had not, but even within
the ranks OF these last an antagonism be-
tween those who dreamed Of a restoration
OF the order Of things which preceded the
French Revolution and those who were
willing to make peace with the new order
provided only that the reconciliation were
sanctioned by the successor Of st. Peter.
VII.
Plus VII. wa crowned Pope at Venice
in March, 1900, and his attention was at once
to the ecclesiastical anarchy In
France, where apart from the broad schism
on the question Of submission TO the repub-
hcan Constitution discipline had been 80
far neglected that a large proportion of the
churches were closed, dioceses existed with
out Bishops or with more than one Bishop,
Jansenism and the violation Of the vow of
celibacy had crept into the ranks OF the
clergy, and indifference or hostility widely
prevailed among the people. TIL time was
now ripe for a Concordar. Soon after the
bat,Ia ~ MaranOo which occurred on lime