Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-01-24
BELGIUMS SACRIFICE is HER GREATEST GLORY, @4 s.
CARDINAL MERCER TELLS POPE BENEDICT X

letter of June 18th said thot in Dhat con,..
church Interests would alaoays take into cons;Ja
tioh the requests made to me. On the strenoth of M
assertion you ask me to WithdruW orders in ;os; we.
,Ohich certain of my subordinaee are alleoed n %
been guilty of unjusifably tampe,ing auith ,nottono
concerning the internal economy of the church
To this charge uenture to answer that:
First No German authority has "constyoino,r,
the superoress of the Poor Servants of Marv Isa
ulate to pay 5000 marks for the maintenance of o.
ter Celine at the Ursuline Convent at Haecbt onJ -
such an order had really been made ,voud boctou
to aoithdraw 1t. But your Eui,,ence has been NV.
informed, and cannot regard purely ecclesast;c
the fact that three French nuns haze bee, ,,,n;I
for possessing and propagatng noncensored pubIcn
tons and also for huuing insulted the Germans o.
fenses against the aaU committed bu ecceo
astics fall euerywhere Uitkin the competence of tb
ordinary courts.
Second. As to the of the t,vo priests von
Roy and Vun Bergen, Who are exercising their min.
istry in German interm,tent camps uour E,uiueucs
having entered into negotiations vith the Gey,uo,
ecclesiastical authorities, haze ubstui,ed entireL
fcn, interfering IN this cdnoncal dispute and ,vn
accept aUithout question: far as l am personolL,
concerned Vhuteuer decisions may be come to,
On this occasion your Ensinence again enpresa,
the Wish to obtain Leave for the bishops to send Bel
gidn priests into Gerntany an, reudy as mn nred
ecessor tcus to do aohat IN this 1Uoy but the de-
cision IN this matter rests ith the Berlin 1vor Office
to ioich is ntusted the supreme control of all intern
n,ent camps.
offer to your Ensinemce the expression of INV
sincere esteem.
ISigned) Won FALKENHA USEN,
Lieutenant General
ShoDs Abuses of Pouer
Archbishops House. Malines
August /, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron Won Falkenhausen, Governor
General.
Sr-ln your esteemed letter of the 26th ult. YOU
are good enough to renew the expression of your
desire not to tolerate abuses of power which would
encroach upon the prerogatves of religious authority
and according to the Interpretation you give the
facts have called to your attention to the occupying
power has no cause to reproach itself with any un-
warrantable interference. This Interpretation needs
to be clearly defined:
First. According to your Excellency, the supe-
rioress of the Poor Servants of Mary immaculate has
not been constrained (gezwungen) to pay pension
of 1000 marks to the superoress of the Ursunes at
Haecht for the maintenance of Sister Cene / con-
clude that in your Excellencys judgment, in real
ity, the arranging of the pension for passing
from convent to another is domestic concern,
pertaining exclusively to the management Of reli-
gious communities. Moreover, l conclude that the
diocesan authority has full freedom determine it
likes the amount of pension to be paid to the supe-
rioress of Haecht for the said nun. If have mis-
understood you, I beg you to put me right
Second. 1t goes without saying that German JUS
tice would not summon to its tribunal and
denim them without seeking to justify its interference
sonal conversations offensive to Germans. At this
rate there is not single Belgian family the
bers of which not liable to arrest.
The fact against which must continue to pro-
test is quite simple. German nun, instead of bring
ing her complaints, if she had any worthy of consid
GRAFTON, about petty domestic squabbles to the notice
of the diocesan authorities addresses herself to
incompetent tribunal merely to annoy her supe
riors and sisters in religion
The former, instead of referring the plaintiff
to her ecclesiastical superiors nervenes, judges and
condemns I hold that this is abuse of authority
such that no pretext can rob it of name which out
of regard for your feeling refrain from uttering,
Third. AS regards the sending of priests speaking
our two national languages to interned Begans,
beg your Excellency to obtain for definite
swer, a plain yes or no.
Urges Liberty of Conscience
During three years have pleaded the exercise
of liberty of conscience for these unfortunate men,
condemned to confess to priest who if he were
saint, brings back to their minds the memory of an
enemy. The Holy See has degned to take my appeal
under his august protection AS matter of fact the
representatives of the empire invariably meet our
every effort with the answer that they going to
take steps, Schrtte unternehmen. Mean
while we are no better off than we were before
CONTINUED Monday
Copyright 1920. By Public ledger Co.
Copyright, Cdnoda 1920. By Public Ledger Co
International Copyright, 1920. By Public Ledger Co.