ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



617 



question was one partly of educational methods, 

 but more largely of national sentiment, since such 

 a faculty at a thoroughly German university like 

 Strasburg would be a powerful agent in German- 

 izing the clergy of the two dissident provinces. 

 Counter-petitions were addressed to the Holy See 

 by the Bishops of Strasburg and Metz on the one 

 hand anil the Catholic press and clergy of Alsace- 

 Lorraine on the other. At last accounts the ad- 

 vantage was with the German element, represented 

 by the bishops. 



The eight hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 

 the translation of the relics of St. Quirtnua to 

 Neuss, in the diocese of Cologne, was celebrated 

 with great pomp and enthusiasm by the inhabit- 

 ants of the town for a week in the middle of May. 

 St. Quirinus is represented as the Roman tribune 

 to whose care the Pope and other Christian cap- 

 tives were intrusted by Hadrian in 119 A. D., and 

 who- was converted by the Pope and died in mar- 

 tyrdom with him. 



The dancing pilgrims of Echternach this year 

 celebrated their pilgrimage to the shrine of St. 

 Willibrod on Whit-Tuesday. Although the dis- 

 tance traversed was no more than a mile, it took 

 three hours for any part of the troop of over 50,000 

 persons to traverse it. They dance to music, five 

 steps forward and three back, which considerably 

 lengthens their journey. 



The Prussian Minister of Cult in February re- 

 fused to recognize attendance at Fribourg, in 

 Switzerland, as equal to attendance at. German 

 universities a privilege theretofore accorded all 

 German universities. The discrimination was pub- 

 licly declared to have been made because Fribourg 

 wa-3 under Dominican control. 



The forty-seventh annual Catholic Congress of 

 Germany met at Bonn in September, and drew up 

 a number of resolutions, under eight different 

 heads, as the outcome of its discussions. Of these 

 the most important were that calling for the free- 

 dom of the Holy See and that outlining a plan for 

 denominational education. 



The statistics of the Catholic population of the 

 empire, published in August, showed a falling off 

 of more than 6 per cent, in Baden, about 3 per cent, 

 in Prussia, and a less fraction in the other duchies. 



Italy. Although the feeling between Church 

 and state was not at all modified by any events 

 of the year, the two moved together throughout 

 twelve months with comparatively little friction. 

 The stoppage of a French pilgrimage from Mar- 

 seilles, ostensibly for quarantine purposes, was 

 probably as much a national demonstration as a 

 religious one. His Holiness, in an informal man- 

 ner, sent to Queen Margherita the expression of 

 his sympathy and regret at the death of King 

 Humbert, the Queen sent to Mgr. Bonamelli, 

 Bishop of Cremona, a prayer for which she sought 

 ecclesiastical approbation. It was refused, how- 

 ever, on account of its form. 



Fn a letter to the Cardinal Vicar of Rome the 

 Pope protested in August against the proselytiz- 

 ing being carried on in the Holy City by Ameri- 

 can missionary societies. Although as a reprisal 

 the Liberals proposed removing police protection 

 from occasions of military and official celebra- 

 tion in St. Peter's, the new King promptly pre- 

 vented any such unwise measure. His Majesty, 

 however, even in his accession proclamation de- 

 clared his intention of continuing his father's 

 policy of ROIIKI Tntin/i/ihile, or the preservation of 

 the city from the aspirations of the papal see. 



Austria-Hungary. The evil of dueling in 

 the Austrian army was accentuated in August by 

 the trial and dismissal from the army of Marquis 



Koli for refusing to fight a duel. The marquis 



had occasion to protest against the utterances of 

 a slanderer, whom military etiquette required 

 him to challenge. He refused to do HO on the 

 ground that he as a Catholic objected on principle 

 to dueling. The officers' court of honor there- 

 upon convicted him of cowardice, and the Minis- 

 try of War canceled his commission. It devel- 

 oped on the inquiry that another officer had 

 written to the marquis commending his stand. 

 The writer, who turned out to be Captain Ledo- 

 diowski, a young headquarters officer of distinc- 

 tion, and a nephew of the cardinal prefect of the 

 Propaganda, was also dismissed from the army. 

 The investigation of a second letter of congratu- 

 lation to the marquis disclosed the fact that it 

 was written by the Infant Don Alfonso de Bour- 

 bon. There was no talk of dismissing him from 

 the army, and under the stimulus of his advice 

 and the influence of the personages affected by 

 the two dismissals a movement began for the 

 abolition of compulsory dueling. 



Under the direction of Countess Maria Teresa 

 Ledochowski an antislavery congress was held 

 in Vienna, Nov. 22 to 27. 



Pope Leo XIII in September addressed a letter 

 to the Archbishop of Salzburg warmly encour- 

 aging the project of a Catholic university at that 

 place. Of the 9,000,000 kronen needed for its 

 maintenance 1,000,000 was subscribed during the 

 year, and it was expected that the balance would 

 be. raised within five years. 



The nine hundredth anniversary of the Church 

 in Hungary was celebrated in August in the 

 Cathedral of Grau, where St. Stephen was bap- 

 tized and crowned King with a crown sent him by 

 the Pope. The celebration was attended by the 

 Hungarian Premier and all his Cabinet. 



Archbishop Julian Kinlowski, Uniate Greek 

 Metropolitan of Lemberg, died May 4, aged sev- 

 enty-four years. 



Belgium. On Sunday, May 25, the new sys- 

 tem of elections in Belgium received a fair trial, 

 and resulted in a Catholic majority of 18 mem- 

 bers in the Chamber of Representatives and a 

 substantial majority in the Senate. The result in 

 the Chamber represented a decrease from a pre- 

 vious majority of 72, but the better tone preva- 

 lent among the minority more than made up for 

 the forfeiture of additional strength by the 

 Catholic party, and justified the workings of the 

 new law. 



The Belgian Chamber in April began work on 

 its project for raising the salaries of ecclesiastics 

 of all ranks. The scale proposed ranged from 

 $100 to $420 per annum, conditioned on length 

 of service. 



The Catholic family of Aremberg, the most 

 illustrious in Belgium, removed entirely during 

 the year to Germany, where it has extended pos- . 

 sessions. Its residence in Brussels, the ducal pal- 

 ace built in 1548, where Count Egmont once re- 

 sided, was sold to the Government. The family 

 is descended from Jean de Ligne (1442). and the 

 heads of it have been coimts of the Holy Roman 

 Empire since 1549. 



A committee formed in Belgium in November 

 presented an appeal to the Holy Father to con- 

 demn anti-Semitism, and especially to dispel the 

 legend of the practice of ritual murders. 



Holland. In the face of a promise of a Gov- 

 ernment subsidy to Catholic schools, the Liberals 

 refused to allow any appropriation for. the pur- 

 pose, declaring the promise not binding. Mgr. 

 Schaepman, the leader of the Catholic party. wa< 

 induced by the promise to join the Liberals 

 on the question of compulsory education, and 

 owing to his defection the compulsory school 



