Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-14

1 the relation between the church and the
| state This has been done by abolish
| ing the concordat, or mutual agreement
| between the pope and the French nation
| under Napoleon in 1901. Was that action
| in violation of her faith? Was any inter-
| national obligation or agreement thereby
| repudiated? BY no means. 1t was not
| contract in perpetuity. Neither party was
| bound by 1t forever. 1t was, for instance
! expressly provided that If at any time the
| successor of Napoleon should not be
| Catholic there should be a new agreement.
| But has not the French government
committed an act of robbery in asserting
| it's title to the churches? 1t is enough to
| answer that legal authorities assure us
| that according to ancient French law, the
| title of the churches is vested in the COM
| mune and not in the ecclesiastical authori-
| ties. From the middle ages to the pres
| ent time the church fabrics have, as
| rule, not been under the full control OF
| the administrative officers of the church
who celebrated public worship in Them
| And in the concordat of 1901 the pope
| formally renowned, on behalf of the
church, the title to the property acquired
| by the nation in the French revolution
| In accordance with this principle of old
| French law. both Protestant and Roman
! Catholic churches belong to the French
| government.
| AsOoAAA AASAS Va SSoSS'
1T cannot. therefore, be truly said that
| the new law confiscates these buildings.
No it reafflrms the title Of the state which
was recognized by the pope in the con-
cordat But was the law intended to expel
the clergy and their people from their
churches and deprive them of the use Of
| the movable property therein? On the
contrary, the law provides that all re-
| ligious edifces in the land, cathedrals.
| r. hnrn hoG nd
| property therein, which belong to the state,
the departments or the communes. are left
gratuitously at the disposal of the asso-
| Citations to be formed under the act
! But what these associations? They
are corporations to be composed of resi-
| dents of the parishes, and these are over
whelmingly of the Roman Catholic falth,
| so that there could be no danger of the
| associations setting up schismatical wor-
| ship. Moreover. 1t is expressly provided In
| the law that the associations must con-
| form to the rules of the organization of
| that form of worship of which they pro-
pose to assure the continued exercise, and
| this provision was expressly INTENDED 10
| guarantee the impossbility of an associa-
| ton falling into the hands of a schismatic
| party, which might attempt to organize a
| religion Independent of the bishop and of
| the hierarchy of Rome.
What Law Really Involves.
I'm all this is there anything oppressive
or tyrannical, any spoliation or robbery,
any interference with the liberty of wor-
ship or with the rights of conscience? 1t
| may perhaps be urged that do not under
stand the law and have not, therefore.
| stated correctly what it really involves In
! reply / appeal to those eminent French
men bishops and lay members of the Ro-
| man Church, loyal to their church as we'll
as loyal to France, who have by their
words well as by their actions sustained
the view of the law which have here put
| forward. A large majority of the bishops
up to the hour when the pope gave orders
| to the contrary had approved the broad
| lines of the governments policy. Inc
| twenty-three eminent laymen of whom l
| have spoken pointed out in their address to
the bishops that the pope had the power to
outline the general laws of organization OF
! these associations They showed that the
| object of the law was to prevent non
religious associations from getting posses
| sion of the churches. They said, We are
| not hindered by the law of separation from
believing what we choose nor from prac-
| ticing what we believe, and they showed
| that If the law was accepted the churches
| would remain under the direction OF the
| bishops
'It may, therefore, be confidently stated,
| that had the action of the authorities of the
| Roman Catholic Church in Frence been
| governed by the Judgment OF the bishops
| and her most eminent laymen, not single
| church or chapel would have been closed by
| the civil authorities nor its usual rellg-
| ious services interfered with, nor its con-
| dangered.
Not Allowed to Control.
But the Judgment of the French Church
was not allowed to control the situation. 1t
was set aside by the edict of one man, and
| he a foreigner. The pope sitting in the
| Vatican in Rome, gave orders that the
French bishops should not accept the law.
| They were hidden to set at defiance the
law of France. They obeyed, and SO the
deplorable conflict between the church and
| state was precipitated.
| THE conclusion Is inevitable that the uti-
mate and responsible cause of the present
unhappy state of things in France is to be
| found in that papal absolutism, which was
riveted on the neck of the Roman Catholic
Church by the Vatican council of 1870. Thus
| behind the issue of the separation of church
and state lies another of paramount impor-
tance to Frenchmen. The action of the
| pope is, in effect, a denial Of the legislative
independence of France law touching
only the tenure of property and the rights
| of public meetings, and not at al the rights
| of conscience, or mans allegiance to God, is
declared null and void by foreign poten-
tate, and the French episcopate and the
| French clergy are called upon to assent to
| this notification of the laws of their coun-
try
rs it any wonder that the great ma jority
| Of the French electorate refuse to submit to
! this edict, and support the action Of their
| government? We have nothing but SYM
pathy for the sufferings of the clergy of
| France, who, because of this preposterous
claim of the Roman court, are plunged into
this unequal strife with the government Of
| France. Nor have We anything but con-
| domination for any unnecessary harshness
on the part of the authorities in the exc
| cution of the law. On the other hand, we
DO deplore the evident animus of some of
| the rulers of France against religion itself.
France Within Rights.
But all this cannot blind us to the fact
| that France is entirely within her rights In
| repeating the concordat, and thus wholly
| terminating the connection between the
! Roman Church and the French state, and
that the ultimate cause of the present de-
| plorable and unhappy state of things in
| France is to be found, have said. In
| the wholly unwarranted attempt of the
Roman pontif to nullify the laws of the
| French nation.
This Is not protestant opinion. 1t is
the opinion of a large body of intelligent
| Roman Catholics in France and elsewhere
| may here remark that the thing which the
| government of France has now done was
| done by the Legislature of Virginia in l776
| when the Episcopal Church was disestab-
i lhN