Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-10-05
The Recent Onslaught on the Church.

Meanwhile the Holy Father had
given careful and deliberate con-
sideration to the 'Law of Separa-
ton, and to the proposed civil as
sociations under whose authority
religious worship and rites were to
be conducted.
The French Bishops were con-
suited. The result was not doubt
fuI or uncertain. The Pope decided
that the new law could not be ac-
cepted; that the conditions were
contrary to the constitution of the
Church and to the authority OF the
episcopate.
When this decision was made
known IN France the unanimous
adhesion OF the Bishops was given
70 1t. There was happily no divi-
sion, no dissent, Very well; the
next act in the nefarious programme
OF the government was the arrest of
the secretary of the late PapaI
zegate at Paris, and the seizure of
the archives and papers of the en-
bassy. This was only another of
the high handed and outrageous
violations Of personal rights and the
privileges of an ambassador-which
must have startled the diplomatic
crops throughout Europe. But the
final and GROWING exposure of the
hypocrisy of the French authorities
has Just been made plain in the
seizure of the church edifces
throughout France, together with
the colleges and seminaries which
!aad hitherto escaped, as also the
residences of al ecclesiastics from
ehat Of the Cardinal Arch bishop Of
Paris, down to tnat of the bumblest
Cure. the work Uf spoustion is
well nigh completed. Schools,
colleges and seminaries closed;
churches seized, ecclesiastics turned
out On the highways further
high handed proceeding remains
possible to the infide1 French lead
ers2 Only one and thisis threatened.
All bishops and priests who adj
here to the Pope are to be treated as
no longer French citizens The
Pope is foreigner" so all who
obey him shall be treated as
foreigners and expelled from
france this at least was the threat
lately made by the radical chief.
VIII he attempt TO carry it into
effect!
Then indeed we shall see of what
stuff the Catholics of France are
madei The conditions of the Church
in France at present are indeed
d6plorable-though by no means
hopeless.
The Catholics are united-as never
before. Archbishops, bishops, priests
and laity stand together SIS unit in
loyalty and obedience to the Holy
See. No sign of detection is visible.
The French radical element may
be bold and defantl insthreats, but
It is impossible that they can long
resist the overwhelming influence
Of the public opinion of Catholic
France Of Europe-Of the world.
In the United StatesSpo werful pro-
tests and remOnstrances have
already gone forth exposing the in
justice, the iniquity,and the hypo-
~crisy of the so-called law of separa-
ton. The American gpublic are
made familiar, as never before,
with the true situation5 in France.
Every fair minded person must seq
that the policies ssbegun by the
French radicals and consistently fol-
lowed out aim Sat- not alone the
destruction of the Catholic Church
In France, but the overthrow, were
1t possible, of Christianity. God
must be dethroned, and, as in the
evil days of the revolution, new
deity substituted. History tells us
the character of the worship, and
the orgies that defiled the venerable
. Cathedral of Notre Dame a century
ago! That Observation-Disclosures we
NAV hope will not be repeated in
our day.
The Church OF France has trium'
0hed over assaults as furious and g
persecution more unrelentng thar
the present.
Assailed by scoffers and regicides
1y RE furies of the. conventions anC
ehe assassins of. the Commune, hel
priests and nuns gulllotined and