752 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



Cardinal Perrand on May 6 celebrated the 

 twenty-fifth anniversary of his episcopal conse- 

 cration at Autun. At the same time was cele- 

 brated the thirteenth centenary of the bestowal 

 of the pallium on the Bishops of Autun by St. 

 Gregory the Great, in consideration of the hos- 

 pitality and assistance afforded by St. Syragius 

 to St. Augustine and his companions on their 

 way to England. At the close of July was cele- 

 brated at Paderborn the eleven hundredth anni- 

 versary of the reception of Pope Leo III by 

 Charlemagne. The historical importance of the 

 event lay in the fact that at this meeting was 

 evolved the scheme of the creation of the Holy 

 Roman Empire and the consolidation of the tem- 

 poral power of the papacy, a scheme which was 

 carried into effect the following year (800), when 

 Leo solemnly crowned Charles at Rome. 



The French pilgrimage to the Holy See, which 

 consisted of more than 1.500 persons, arrived in 

 Rome in the middle of September. The pilgrims, 

 who were nearly all workingmen, were received in 

 special audience by the Pope, in spite of his ill 

 health. The ceremonies in connection with the 

 great national pilgrimage of men to Lourdes 

 opened at the Grotto on April 17, with 30,000 

 pilgrims in attendance. 



Mgr. Jean Emile Fonteneau, Archbishop of 

 Alby, died on March 31. aged seventy-four. 



Germany. The year 1890 was marked by a 

 further amelioration of the social and political 

 standing of the Catholics of the German Empire, 

 due partly to a policy of tolerance inaugurated by 

 the Emperor and partly to the possession in the 

 Reichstag of the balance of power by the center 

 or Catholic party, upon which the Emperor 

 counted most strongly for assistance in develop- 

 ing his imperialistic programme. In return for 

 support of the proposal for an increased naval 

 force the Emperor in many ways made the posi- 

 tion of Catholics more tolerable. The Jesuits, 

 though still legally exiled, returned in large num- 

 bers without opposition. The Emperor, posing 

 as the defender of Catholicity, extended during 

 the year the protection of Germany to Catholic 

 missions in China, and induced Mgr. Angro, 

 Vicar Apostolic of Southern Chan-Tung, to with- 

 draw from the supervision of the French protec- 

 torate. As other indications of his good will to- 

 ward the Catholics of the empire, the Kaiser made 

 them extensive presents in the course of the year. 

 In connection with his previous gift of the hal- 

 lowed piece of ground on Mount Sion, known for 

 centuries as " Our Lady's Rest," he defrayed the 

 expenses of extensive explorations of the site, 

 and contributed a considerable sum to the erec- 

 tion of a basilica there. This will be the fifth 

 to be erected on the site, and will replace the ones 

 successively destroyed in the fourth, eleventh, 

 thirteenth, and sixteenth centuries. As another 

 incident in the policy of conciliation, the Emperor 

 in March presented a high altar to the Abbey 

 Church of Maria Laach in the Rhineland. The 

 abbey, which was for seven hundred years a 

 home of the Benedictine friars, had been confis- 

 cated by the Government shortly after the Franco- 

 Prussian War. It was restored to the order by 

 the Emperor in 1892. 



Two of the most ancient and important archi- 

 episcopal sees in the empire, Cologne and Prague, 

 were made vacant in 1899 by the deaths of Car- 

 dinals Krementz and Schonborn. The latter see 

 is the only one in the world whose incumbent has 

 the title of prince. It was filled in September 

 by the appointment of Canon Skrbensky of Ol- 

 nitz. In the matter of a successor to Cardinal 

 Krementz, however, the Emperor was guilty of a 



grave affront to the Catholics of the Cologne 

 province. The cardinal died May 0, and the 

 metropolitan chapter, in accordance with the 

 German constitutional provision, within two 

 weeks sent up three names on approval to Berlin. 

 It was not, however, until five months afterward 

 that the Kaiser signified his willingness to allow 

 the election of an archbishop by the chapter to 

 proceed. In the meantime the suffragan bishop, 

 Dr. Schmitz, died also, leaving the archdiocese 

 without a head. The practical inconvenience <t 

 it in a province with a Catholic population ! 

 1.800,000, as well as the lack of courtesy shown, 

 went far to remove the impression of toleration 

 which the Kaiser earlier in the year had created. 



Russia. In spite of the disagreeable outcome 

 of the efforts of the Russian Government to -- 

 cure representation for the Holy See at the Pence 

 'Congress, the diplomatic relations between Koine 

 and St. Petersburg were in 1899 placed upon a 

 footing securer than any they had occupied >iin-e 

 the beginning of the century. It had been tin- 

 hope of both the Czar and the Vatican since the 

 coronation of Nicholas 111. in 1S94, to e-talli>h 

 a cordial diplomatic understanding between the 

 two courts, and when the programme of the con- 

 ference was presented to the Poi>e in January l.y 

 the Russian ambassador, it was felt that theestah- 

 lishment of a papal nunciature in St. Petersburg 

 might be looked for in the near future. Tin in- 

 cident was es|HH'ially significant in view of tin- 

 fact that the entire plan of the conference, includ- 

 ing the choice of The Hague as meeting place. \\as 

 formulated by the Pope, and by him sent to the 

 C'zar in 1894 with the proposal that a general in- 

 vitation to the conference be issued. The exclu- 

 sion of the Po|>e from the congress, hm\c\ci. ef- 

 fectually postponed the project of a papal nuncia- 

 ture at the Russian capital, although it did not 

 affect the accord l>etween it and the Vatican. 



Italy. No improvement marked the relations 

 of the Vatican to the Quirinal in ls'.!i. they being 

 made worse, if possible, by Italy's -in < -- in pre- 

 venting papal representation at* The Hague. I or 

 the first time since their institution the civic and 



imblic celebrations of the beginning of the ju- 

 tilee year were dispensed with, the I 'ope remain- 

 ing practically a prisoner in the Vatican. In a 

 circular letter issued March 28 the Roman rfef 

 riate prohibited the Italian clergy and laity from 

 introducing into the Church any kind of Hag-* 

 except such as belonged to ecclesiastical contra 

 ternities and such as had been ble>-ed. and in 

 other ways the general intent of the Vatic;m to 

 ignore the Quirinal as a legitimate government 

 was made manifest. On Oct. ii8 the < )--ri \atore 

 Romano was suppressed by the Italian Govern- 

 ment for publishing an article discussing tin 

 claims of tne Vatican to the sovereignty of tin- 

 papal states. 



Belgium. On Aug. 19 was celebrated the 

 five hundredth anniversary of the crowning <>t 

 Our Lady of Antwerp. The ceremony, which has 

 been performed annually since 1399, con -i -ted ..f 

 a solemn procession through the streets ot 74 

 guilds and societies, followed by the statue of the 

 Protectress of Antwerp. The statue before being 

 carried through the streets was solemnly crowned 

 in the cathedral by Cardinal Goo-en-. a--i-tc<l 

 by the Archbishop of Paris. The ceremonie- an- 

 arranged by a guild called the masters of the 

 chapel, organized in 1472, which provides the 

 crown used in the coronation, which in this in- 

 stance cost $50,000. 



Cardinal Goosens, Archbishop of Mechlin, on 

 March 10 presented to the Pope the sum of 4,- 

 000, the first installment of the subscription 



