The Washington herald., 1908-02-02
HOPES FOB FRANCE
Pope Plus Confident for Fu-
tuPe Of { hurch.
CHAsTENED BY TRIBULATI0NS
Believes that the Country VIII Yet
Return to Its One-time Devotion.
Brought AbOut by the Efforts OF
Young Folk ia Cath0licism.

Brought About By the Efforts OF
Young Folk ia CathOlicism.
New York, Feb. I.-Pius = is fun Of
hope for the future Of the church in
France. Addressing a group of French
Catholics recently. be used these words.
u love France because the Lord loves
her. and He has shown this by the trials
He has permitted her To undergo The
faith was growing weak. morality was
compromised. God has deemed it neces-
sary that she should Doe brought back 80
Him through tribulati7n-for trBuauOu
r~yives the religious spirit rekfndIas the
faifh. and thus prepares the way for q
return to morality. Teit your country
men when you return that the Pope loves
France and rejoices in the fruits Of life
which God is producing m her through
trbulation.
in France itself the Bulletin dc Ia
semaine OF Paris begins the new year
with an article full of buoyant hope for
the year 1865, from which these extracts
are quoted.
Judging by the exterior, French
Catholicism seems indeed to He crushed
beneath the weight 0f its defeat 8 torn
treaty. a general spoliaiion taat respects
not even the viii Of the dead, a church
without legal standing. delivered up 10
the arbitrary VIII OF those VINO govern or
20 the tyranny Of the law religious peace
IE tile hands Of a majority without an
q
seems to inspire discourageueur and 20
announce decadeuce. But nevertheless 1T
Us look closer. French Catholicism gives
visible signs of its vitality. While every
thing falls TO pieces around il. an en-
cTgrtiC WoTk of reC0usIitUtiOu has begun
ana viii soon spread TO all parts.
Internal disscHsions were hoped for.
They have not appeared. The army has
maintained IT'S external and organic uuity
amid the supple diversity of individual
tendencies and methods More firmly
than ever are established the ties which
bind it to its chief And. il truth one
must Doe blind indeed. not 10 see that
which the prophets of Tiveuir predicted
three-quarters OF q century ago. that the
suppression Of the C0nc0rdat would tend
% unite the Church Of France mere
closely 10 Rome While from above arc
traced the limits which our activity must
not pass. from below this activity is
translated into creative initiatives.
The episc3p8,e has first of all felt
the need OF that internal government
which was so wanting TO Us. II has
asked for and been granted the questions
20 be submitted 60 the general assembly
OF council It is not Jess interesting To
behold those journals whose devotion 10
the Papacy and respect for authority are
above suspicion, asking in their turn
permanent commission. which assures sta
biIity of purpose with unity OF effort.
In each diocese are pTupagated little
by little committees or councils. Iu the
hands Of the bishop. more obeyed than
ever, are concentrated these works and
the general direction. Let us reflect upon
these facts. The Church Of France mas
understood the great power which asso-
citation and liberty combined can give,
Let us hail with joy these Initiatives
which are multiplying, they are a first
happy symptom. Let Us organize 70 live,
to act. 70 triumph.
"Rut there is another point Il might
have been asked with some uuelsIness.
What viii this church thus rec0Usututed
bee An Instrument of reaction or of
progress: of renaissance 0r of social stag
nation2 And here. again. IT seems indeed
that the facts Justify a little optimism,
and that those do not deceive them
selves VINO f0resee. who prepare an aIIi-
ance between the church and the people.
between Catholicism and the country.
Despite the impTudent CouDsels of some.
we can say that the error. of a Catholic
party is condemned beyond recovery
The energetic declarations Of the bishops
have disSipated al eluiv0CatiCn-
Religious liberty can be neither the
monopoly nor the exclusive programme of
a party. Factions pass away: the church
remains. She can and she ought e. adopt
herself q all the de fecto regimes which
pass before her, not 10 bind herself 10
any. Still less can she deliver 70 the
hazard OF electoral struggles what Is her
raiSon detre here below the salvation OF
souls and The triumph OF the eternal yeTi-
ties she guards
by the same stroke Catholicism is re-
stored 20 itself delivered from the yoke
Of politicians. of p5rty contingencies. and
combinations. IF all that dead weight of
abitions hatreds and egotisms which,
far from maintaining it. threatened to
sJife it But it is also social action sub
stituted for political action and all the
energies Of Catholicism applied 10 It's true
mission.
Upon this point there is no doubt We
need bat follow the tendencies of the
young people: their iabors ana their CON
crosses. sillons. circles Of study. assNcia-
tions or patronages. t0 take account of
.r a.r 81. -r--
look at tire good viii with which the
clergy. above all the young clergy. take
up the work Nothing is more remark
able than this sense. so new and SO fruit
ful. Of the aDoSt0late. The priest no long
er seeks merely to preserve the little
scattered flock which remains 20 him but
TO penetrate into the mass which is escap-
ing from him.
Then let us have confidence. A religion
which, amid its material ruins stands
erect, its discipline intact. energy and
good will awakened. a calm confidence in
the future: is this indeed what the au-
tBors of separation dreamed Of? And
who knows #, in the bottom Of their
hearts. they do not admire this vitality
of church. restored to It's purity by its
poverty. strong amid its weakness: ard
whether in the disquieted glance which
they sometimes cast toward the future,
they do not behold there that supreme
reserve whence. as in days of yore. the
French nation viii rehabiItate itself
To these two testimonies we add that or
the London Saturday Review, which de-
cIares that the true heart Of France
spoke in the local communes offering to
give 10 the priests of the church the free
uea of the presbyteTies from which they
had gone forth for the sake Of the faith.
and in the generous gifts that In every