676 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



tion the Catholics being joined by the Social 

 Democrats, the Alsatians, Poles, and most of the 

 Liberals the first and crucial clause of the bill 

 was passed by a vote of 173 to 136. The Protes- 

 tant Conservatives deciding to reintroduce the 

 scholastic law in favor of Christian education, 

 the Catholics decided to support it, thus insuring 

 its passage. The Center party entered a protest 

 in the Reichstag against the inadequacy of Catho- 

 lic representation in public office, especially in 

 the Department of Worship, which is completely 

 in Protestant hands. Of 10 councilors in Prus- 

 sia, where the state nominates bishops and pas- 

 tors, controls the Church property, passing upon 

 the needs for new buildings and repairs for old 

 ones, but one is a Catholic, the great Protestant 

 military chaplain being chairman of the council. 



Russia. Official excesses marked the whole 

 year, notwithstanding the Czar's friendly assur- 

 ances to the Pope. Governors refuse to appoint 

 priests to vacant posts on the plea that they are 

 not wanted, with a view to eventually close the 

 churches and disperse the flocks. The seminaries 

 are threatened with civil inspection, the Bishop 

 of St. Petersburg is prohibited from visiting in 

 his diocese, and on April 8 Orzewski, one of the 

 new governor - generals, warned the priests 

 against intermeddling in politics, and, as a sort 

 of emphasis, immediately afterward banished 

 Father Zyworonck to Siberia for five years, and 

 Father Endryk to Astrakhan for six years. The 

 convent prison of Aglona. it is said, is full of ex- 

 iled priests. In November 22 priests were exiled 

 from the Vistula district, an attempt at rescue 

 on the part of their flocks resulting in a whole- 

 sale massacre by the Cossacks. Much indigna- 

 tion was manifested at the Vatican over the re- 

 port that the diplomatic negotiations between 

 Pope and Czar indicated an abandonment of Po- 

 lish national rights. Leo, in answer to the con- 

 gratulations of the Polish pilgrims, took occasion 

 to stigmatize these reports as mischievous. His 

 first concern in all his dealings with Russia was 

 for them. In July the Benedictine convent at 

 Krone, in Lithuania, was closed by the Govern- 

 ment, and the nuns carried off to a public insti- 

 tution in a neighboring city. The attempt to 

 close a Catholic chapel in the same place in De- 

 cember was coincident with fearful Cossack atro- 

 cities. Male and female worshipers were ridden 

 down, a score killed, 200 beaten to a jelly with 

 the knout, and the town sacked. Gov. Klinken- 

 burg, the responsible official, was transferred to 

 another province, and, without further reference 

 to the losses and injuries of the people, the con- 

 cern of the St. Petersburg government ceased. 

 The new orders of the Czar prohibit any bishop 

 from writing to Rome except through the inter- 

 mediary of the Imperial Chancellor, and any 

 priest baptizing the offspring of a mixed mar- 

 riage, or hearing the confession of a Uniate, is 

 exiled to Siberia. 



Turkey. According to the announcement of 

 Mgr. Azarian, Patriarch of the Armenian Catho- 

 lic's and ambassador extraordinary to the Pope 

 during the jubilee festivals, under date of April 

 2, religious liberty there is an assured fact. The 

 devotees of the Koran recognize Christianity as 

 a true safeguard of the principle of authority, 

 he says, and favor the spread of Catholicity in 

 the empire on that score. The bishops, the 15 



suffragans, of the patriarch, have civil jurisdic- 

 tion in all their districts, and all questions of 

 testaments, heritages, and contracts of marriage 

 are under the jurisdiction of their tribunal. Not 

 only is free exercise of religion guaranteed, but 

 exterior manifestations of worship are respected ; 

 the streets and highways are open to proces- 

 sions : the crowds give honor to the Blessed Sac- 

 rament; and the schools, works, missions, and 

 all religious institutions rise and prosper with 

 the sympathy of the Government. The person 

 of the Patriarch of Constantinople is surrounded 

 with attention, his word is listened to in the 

 most high places, and on more than one occa- 

 sion he has been sent on diplomatic missions by 

 the Sultan. Referring to all this, Leo XIII, on 

 Feb. 21, praised " the benevolence of the sover- 

 eign and the deference of the imperial authori- 

 ties, thanks to whom Catholics in Turkey owe 

 the exercise of their religion." Recognizing the 

 schismatic Armenians as also his children, the 

 Pope has interceded for the amelioration of the 

 civil conditions which make their lives a hard- 

 ship. As a result of this intercession, one con- 

 gregation of 10,000 souls has resumed its rela- 

 tions with Rome. 



Austria presented the same unfavorable atti- 

 tude as during the preceding year on the mar- 

 riage and baptismal laws. The hierarchy vig- 

 orously resisted the civil interference in these 

 matters. Advised by the Vatican,. the protest 

 promised to take the form of political opposition. 

 The tendency of Government, however, was to 

 insist upon its precedence over religious rights. 

 The vacancy in the see of Agram, caused by the 

 refusal of the Holy See to accept Mgr. Vaceticz, 

 Emperor Joseph's choice, after a three years' 

 dispute, has been finally settled by the surrender 

 of the Emperor and the selection of a bishop 

 acceptable to the Pope with an assurance of 

 royal love and loyalty. Cardinal Vasury, Pri- 

 mate of Hungary and leader in the opposition to 

 the Government, narrowly escaped assassination 

 April 10. The dagger intended for the Cardinal 

 was buried twice in his secretary. Great prepa- 

 rations were being made in the latter part of the 

 year for the first Catholic Congress in Hungary. 

 A meeting demanding the restoration of the 

 Pope's temporal power was held in Vienna in 

 February, and caused counter-demonstrations 

 by its Italian opponents against the triple alli- 

 ance. The feeling was allayed only by the Em- 

 peror sending the archduke as special envoy 

 from his household to the royal wedding festivi- 

 ties in Rome in April. 



Spain. The first Spanish Eucharistic Con- 

 gress was held at Valencia for four days, begin- 

 ing Nov. 20, attended by thousands and presided 

 over by Cardinal Sanz y Forres, Archbishop of 

 Seville. Its object was the revival of public 

 and private devotion to the Holy Sacrament, and 

 the encouragement of an eucharistic literature 

 and scholarship. The second Congress will be 

 held at Lugo, in 1897. 



The restoration of the Convent of La Rabida 

 and its return to the Franciscan order by the 

 Spanish Government in honor of the Columbian 

 celebration elicited a letter of thanks from the 

 Pope in May. 



Japan as a missionary field attracts the atten- 

 tion of the propaganda, and M. Corre, of the 



