DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



239 



Eome remained in no respect diminished by the 

 worldly prosperity of the Church on the Rhine, or 

 by the political and military successes of the govern- 

 ment at Berlin. The opinion of Prince Bismarck 

 has been made public that the Emperor of France 

 was forced into the great war of 1870-'71 by eccle- 

 siastical influences from Eome. The antagonism 

 found its natural expression in the legislation of 

 Prussia. 



On the 5th day of April, 1873, the fundamental 

 law of 1850 was amended, so as to give to the state 

 a supervisory control over the ecclesiastical organi- 

 zations. The right of the Evangelical, Koman Cath- 

 olic, and other religious organizations to manage 

 their own affairs was to remain, " but subject to the 

 laws of the state and to a legally organized state in- 

 spection " (aber den Staatsgesetzen und der gesetzlich- 

 geordneten Aufsicht des Staates imterworferi). 



The next law, passed upon the llth of May, 1873, 

 related to the education of priests and religious 

 teachers. It required all priests to be educated in 

 Germany, and it gave to the state authorities a power 

 of examination and rejection of unfit persons. It 

 also established at Berlin an ecclesiastical court for 

 the purpose of hearing and finally determining cases 

 arising under these ecclesiastical laws, or from vio- 

 lations thereof. This court was to consist of eleven 

 members, six of whom were required to be regular 

 judges ; and they were authorized to order, in cases 

 of adjudged violations of these laws, the several 

 measures of punishment provided by the laws. 



In the same session a law was passed limiting and 

 defining the measure of ecclesiastical punishments 

 within the religious orders, and also a law providing 

 a mode for leaving a church. 



In the session of 1874 there was still further legis- 

 lation. By the law of the 4th of May provision was 

 made in case of a vacant bishopric for authorizing a 

 person to perform the functions of the office, and 

 to administer the temporalities. The new bishop, 

 when appointed, was required to give the upper 

 president of the province notice of his appointment, 

 and to prove to the satisfaction of the proper officer 

 that he possessed the personal qualifications for the 

 office required by law ; and, further, to take an oath 

 of allegiance to the sovereign. In case of his rejec- 

 tion by the civil authorities, he had the right of ap- 

 peal to the ecclesiastical court at Berlin, whose de- 

 cision was to be final. If, however, he should under- 

 take to exercise his office without authority, he was 

 to be punished in the manner prescribed by the law. 

 > The same statute made provision for filling vacan- 

 cies. Upon a vacancy by judicial determination, 

 the upper president was to summon the cathedral 

 chapter, in order that the vacancy might be filled by 

 election ; and in case no election should be had. 

 then the minister for church-affairs was authorized 

 to appoint a commissioner to manage the real and 

 personal property. 



It was further provided that the same laws should 

 apply to bishoprics filled by bishops not recognized 

 by the state, and also to vacancies in bishoprics 

 which exist for more than a year. 



Provisions were also made for filling vacancies in 

 other orders of the priesthood. The persons ap- 

 pointed under the provisions of the law were author- 

 ized to cause this to be done by election by the con- 

 gregation, and provisions were made for holding 

 such elections, and for investing the persons elected 

 with the offices. 



On the 20th of the same May another law was 

 passed concerning the management of the vacated 

 Catholic bishoprics. 



These several laws gave great offense at Eome. 

 On the 5th day of February last the Pope issued 

 his encyclical letter, addressed to "his venerable 

 brothers the archbishops and bishops in Prussia," 

 in which, among other things, he said: 



In order to fulfill the duties of this apostolic seat, we declare 

 publicly by the present encyclical, to all whom it concerns, as 



well as to the entire Catholic world, that these laws are null, 

 because they are contrary to the divine constitution of the 

 Church ; for it is not to the powers of the earth that the Lord 

 has committed the bishops of his Church in what concerns 

 his sacred service, but to Peter, to whom he has committed 

 his lambs and his sheep. 



The gauntlet thus thrown down was taken up at 

 once at Berlin. Two bills are now pending in the 

 Landtag, and will undoubtedly become laws. The 

 first, ^which was introduced before the encyclical, in 

 anticipation of it, is a project of a law for the man- 

 agement of the property of the Catholic Church 

 (uber die Vermogensverwaltung in den kathoUschen 

 Kirchengemeinden,}. It provides for an election of 

 church-wardens in each parish by the congregation, 

 the number to be fixed by the bishop, in conjunc- 

 tion with the Government. This body can be called 

 together at any time, either by the bishop or by the 

 Landrath, or, in cities, by the mayor, or by one-half 

 of the board, or by the congregation, acting in the 

 manner indicated in the act. 



The second ace was introduced on the 3d of March, 

 and, like the former, bears the name of Dr. Falk. 

 It is entitled " An act concerning the suppression of 

 the payment of the state aid to the Eoman Catholic 

 bishops and clergy" (betreffend die JEinstellung der 

 Leistungen aus Staatsmitteln fur die rcmisch-Katho- 

 lischen MstTiumer und G-eistlicheri). It absolutely sus- 

 pends such payments, but the suspension is to be 

 removed so soon as the archbishop, or bishop, etc., 

 pledges himself in writing to obey the laws of the 

 state. The revocation of such a pfedge, once given, 

 is to involve dismissal from office by judicial sen- 

 tence, and incapacity for the exercise of office here- 

 after. 



< These various measures and proceedings have ex- 

 cited a deep interest. The subject has been dis- 

 cussed at length, not only in the journals of Berlin, 

 but in London and Paris. The Eoman Catholic 

 Church in Germany is divided. One branch sends 

 a deputation to the Pope with an address, in which 

 they 



Declare before you, most Holy Father, that no human force 

 shall separate us from our lawful Pope, for we remember that 

 it is an eternal truth that one of the conditions of salvation is 

 to be subject to the Pontiff of Kome. . . . Prostrate before 

 your feet, most Holy Father, we are your obedient children of 

 Germany. 



On the other hand, many Eoman Catholic mem- 

 bers of the Eeichstag and Landtag have joined in a 

 protest, in which it is said that 



We dispute in the most decided manner that the ecclesias- 

 tical laws of the German Empire and of the Prussian state 

 entirely overthrow the divine government of the Church, and 

 reduce to nothing the inviolable jurisdiction of the bishops ; 

 and we protest solemnly, first, against all principles set forth 

 in the Papal document, which are dangerous to the authority, 

 the constitution, and the existence of the state, and most es- 

 pecially, secondly, against the claim of the Pope to declare in- 

 valid state laws which have been enacted by constitutional 

 means. We are, moreover, of the opinion that the teaching 

 of the Catholic Church expressly commands every Catholic 

 to recognize as fully valid and binding all state laws enacted 

 in constitutional manner, and to give his obedience to them. 



As if to make the parallel between this contro- 

 versy and the one detailed by Mr. Wheaton more 

 complete, the very number of the London Times 

 which contains a translation of the proposed law for 

 the suspension of the state subsidies has another 

 telegram, in which it is stated that the Austrian 

 bishops are permitted, by the Pope to comply with 

 the terms of an Austrian law which compels them to 

 mention to the authorities the names of the priests 

 appointed to livings. And it is further said that the 

 concession to Austria is regarded as another proof 

 that the resistance to the laws of Prussia is prompt- 

 ed by political motives. 



I inclose copies of the several laws and projects 

 of laws referred to, together with other documents 

 and papers, and extracts from the press. 



And have, etc., J. C. B. DAVIS. 



