The Irish standard., 1909-06-05

The special correspondence of George
Metlake in the Catholic Standard and
Times, of Philadelphia, respecting the
fight for religion in France, makes in
teresting reading. He says in part:
Like so many others, I often won-
dered what was the present aspect Of
things ecclesiastico- political in France.
Was the Government enforcing the
separation law? What was being done
by Catholics to secure the freedom of
the Church? What to resist the in
the schools? Were they politically
active, organized or merely contenting
themselves with passive resistance
and waiting for something to turn
up?" A sojourn in Paris, long CONVEX
sations with prominent clergymen and
careful perusal Of the daily and
periodic press have thrown some light
on these questions.
France is at present under a radical
socialistics regime, which constant
foreign and domestic complications
enable M. Clemenceau to maintain. It
is a precarious existence, but alive
enough to harass the Church and de-
Christianize the people. The policy
used against the Church is one Of
starvation and exhaustion. The con-
fiscation Of Church property is going
on steadily and noiselessly, too, except
when cure in some provincial city or
village must be driven by force from
his presbytery, or litigation, the
munity for few weeks. The present
year marks the last stage in the
gradual abolition Of the salaries of the
clergy. A French parish priest still
receives the magnificent sum of 800
francs $500 per annum; next year he
will depend entirely on the generosity
cutie" The ecclesiastical buildings
are in the same predicament as the
ecclesiastics. Legally the faithful have
a right to use the churches, but it is
left entirely to the goodwill of the
city and borough councils to make the
necessary repairs or to let the vener-
able sanctuaries fall into decay.
Is there any hope of the Church's
position being legally defined and
regulated? None as yet. Plus X. in
sists on the demands made in the
encyclicals and apostolic letters on the
separation Of Church and State in
France-viz., that the Papal hierarchy
be acknowledged and the property OF
the Church be transferred definitely
and irrevocably to the control Of the
parishes. The Government refuses
point blank to accede to these just de-
mands. 1t was thought for some time
that the diocesan association founded
in Bordeaux by Cardinal Lecot previ-
GUS to the law of separation, and which
answered in every respect to the as
sociations law of 1901, could be made
the basis of an agreement with the
Government. But as soon as Cardinal
Andrieux, of Marseilles. was appointed
to the See of Bordeaux he called on
his diocesans to dissolve the associa-
ton, presumably because it resemble,l
tire condemned associations cul
tuelles," and might therefore be mis-
construed. It is supposed that Cardinal
Andrieux acted on advices from Rome,
The Catholics of Bordeaux obeyed un-
hesitatingly, thus setting praise wor-
thy example to the rest of France If
implicit confidence in Rome and their
new Archbishop.
What is the attitude Of the Catho-
lies in this unsettled state of affairs !?
They are by no means inactive, as it
is sometimes supposed, but the dig
f1cu1ties they have to contend with
are so great that years will be required
before very marked results Of their
agitation will be apparent. Before