ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



725 



Imperial Prince addressed Pope Leo XIII. 

 The same year Prince Bismarck met at Kis- 

 singen Mgr. Masella, nuncio at Munich, but 

 would not consent to a revision of the May 

 laws. The next year he had interviews with 

 Cardinal Jacobini at Vienna and Gastein, and 

 Mr. Huebler was sent to Vienna to prepare for 

 negotiations. Early in 1880 the Pope, in a 

 letter to the Archbishop of Cologne, showed 

 a willingness, for the sake of delivering the 

 Catholics from their spiritual destitution, to do 

 anything not absolutely incompatible with the 

 discipline of the Church. Finally, in 1882, Mr. 

 Schlozer was sent to Rome as Prussian embas- 

 sador, and negotiations were begun, but little 

 progress was made. Leo XIII at last, in or- 

 der, if possible, to bring the matter to a definite 

 settlement, addressed the Emperor in person : 

 I. 



YOUR MAJESTY : At the last opening of the Prus- 

 sian Landtag your Imperial and Royal Majesty ex- 

 pressed to your people your heartfelt joy at the re- 

 establishment of friendly relations with the head of the 

 Catholic Church. Your utterances were so kind to- 

 ward us that they were exceedingly agreeable, and we 

 are forced to tender your Majesty our especial thanks. 

 We do so with heartfelt satisfaction. 



Since the beginning of our pontificate our confi- 

 dence in the noble and generous nature of your Maj- 

 esty has been so great, that we felt sure of the return 

 of religious peace and tranquillity of conscience to the 

 people under your powerful scepter ; and now the re- 

 establishment of diplomatic relations, and the interest 

 which your Majesty evinces, strengthen our hopes. 



Your Majesty's long experience and high good sense 

 teach you the necessity of the observance of religious 

 duties by the people for the fulfillment of those which 

 foil on them as citizens and subjects. This is espe- 

 cially the cas3 at present, when society is shaken to 

 its very basis. We can assure your Majesty that the 

 Cathol'ie Church is animated by a similar spirit, and, 

 unless obstructed, she has the will and the power to 

 extend it everywhere. It is our earnest desire to have 

 the holy influence of the Church used for the advan- 

 tage of both the people and the Government, and 

 for such a purpose to seal relations of friendship and 

 peace. 



If the imperious duties of the apostolic ministry, 

 filled with responsibility to both God and man, force 

 us to ask that the new ecclesiastical legislation of 

 Prussia at least in the points essential for the exist- 

 ence and life of the Catholic religion may be defini- 

 tively softened and improved, your Majesty j far from 

 ascribing it to a lack of conciliatory disposition, will 

 please acknowledge that we ask it in the interest of 

 peace, which could not be true and lasting were it_not 

 established on a solid foundation. This pacification, 

 while it will satisfy one of the most ardent desires of 

 our heart, and bind with stronger ties to the_throne 

 of your Majesty the souls of all your Catholic sub- 

 jects, will no doubt form the most beautiful and .pre- 

 cious crown of your long and glorious domination. 



With this hope we raise to Heaven the most fervid 

 supplications for the prosperity of your Majesty, and 

 of your imperial and royal family. 



From the Vatican, December 3, 1882. 

 To the Imperial and Royal Majesty of William I, Emperor 

 of Germany and King of Prussia. 



This elicited the following reply : 



BERLIN, December 22, 1882. 



I thank your Holiness for the letter which you ad- 

 dressed me on the 3d of this month, and I reciprocate 

 with all my heart the kindly feelings it manifests. 

 This letter confirms me in the hope that your Holi- 



ness will derive, from the satisfaction you share with 

 me at the restoration and activity of my legation, a 

 new motive for replying, by an equal advance, that of 

 my Government, which has rendered the occupation 

 of most of the episcopal sees possible. 



I am of opinion that such an advance, if made in 

 the matter of the designation of ecclesiastical nomi- 

 nations, would be more advantageous to the Church 

 than to the State, because it would open the possi- 

 bility of filling the ecclesiastical posts which have be- 

 come vacant. If, in consequence of an advance of 

 the clergy in this matter, I could feel assured that 

 the desire for an understanding is reciprocal, I might 

 lend my hand to the submission for a fresh examina- 

 tion by the Landtag of my monarchy of those Jaws 

 which were useful in the period of the struggle for 

 the defense of the contested rights of the State, with- 

 out their being necessary in a permanent manner for 

 pacific relations. 



It is with satisfaction that I avail myself of this oc- 

 casion to assure your Holiness once more of my de- 

 votedncss and personal veneration. 



(Signed) WILLIAM. 



Countersigned BISMARCK. 



II 



YOUR MAJESTY. The letter which your Imperial 

 and Eoyal Majesty sent us last December by the 

 hands of Signor Schlozer, Envoy Extraordinary and 

 Minister Plenipotentiary from Prussia to the Holy 

 See, has confirmed in us the hope, long time enter- 

 tained, of a complete settlement of the religious con- 

 troversies in the kingdom of Prussia. The readiness 

 of your Majesty to co-operate in a revision of ecclesi- 

 astical legislation, indicates the conclusion of a com- 

 Elete agreement at no distant date. For this favora- 

 le disposition of your Majesty we express our thanks 

 and satisfaction. 



We have directed our Cardinal Secretary of State 

 to write a note to Signor Schlozer, which note we be- 

 lieve has already been brought to the knowledge of 

 your Majesty's Government. In that note we desired 

 that the royal Government should be assured of our 

 will, manifested on many other occasions, to permit 

 the bishops to notify the Government of the candi- 

 dates selected for the pastoral benefices. And, in or- 

 der to get nearer to the views and wishes of your 

 Majesty, we have also made known our disposition, 

 after the requisite notification, to fill up the parishes 

 actually vacant, without awaiting the complete revis- 

 ion of the existing laws. 



We have, however, asked meantime that the meas- 

 ures now binding the exercise of the ecclesiastical 

 power and ministry in the instruction and education 

 of the clergy be modified, because a modification, we 

 believe, is indispensable to the very life of the Catho- 

 lic Church. 



She desires that her bishops shall have the power 

 to train and instruct her sacred ministers vigilantly, 

 and according to the spirit of the Church. The State 

 could not exact less than this for its own functiona- 

 ries. A reasonable freedom in the exercise of eccle- 

 siastical power, and in the ministry, for the welfare 

 of souls, is also an essential element of life in the 

 Church. It would be useless to nominate to parishes 

 new candidates, if they were forbidden to act in con- 

 formity with the duties imposed upon them by the 

 pastoral office. 



Once in accord on these points, it will be easy, with 

 a reciprocal good will, to come to an understanding 

 on other conditions necessary to insure a true and 

 lasting peace, the final aim of mutual wishes. 



Meantime we pray your Majesty to accept the re- 

 peated expression of the fervent supplications that we 

 do not cease to raise for the full prosperity of your 

 Majesty, and of the imperial and royal family. 



I/lX'. JT A. .A. Ill* 



From the Vatican, January 30. 1888. 



To his Majesty Imperial and Royal William I, Emperor of 

 Germany and King of Prussia. 



