ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



general congregation. The choice devolved 

 on Father Anderledy, who had for a time been 

 a missionary in the United States. 



No new promotions of cardinals were made 

 during 1883, and several members of the Sa- 

 cred College died: Cardinal Ignatius Moraes 

 Cardoso, Patriarch of Lisbon (Feb. 24) ; Cardi- 

 nal Deschamps, Archbishop of Mechlin (Sept. 

 29) ; Cardinal Henry Mary Gaston de Bonne- 

 chose, Archbishop of Rouen (Oct. 28). 



Ireland. On the first day of the year 1883 

 Pope Leo XIII addressed to Cardinal McCabe, 

 Archbishop of Dublin, an important brief in 

 regard to the agitation in Ireland, in which he 

 said: 



The adherents of evil societies, as we have been 

 grieved to observe during the past months, do not 

 cease to put their trust in deeds of crime to excite the 

 isious of the people, and, by seeking remedies 

 rse than the disease, to adopt a course calculated 

 lead their fellow-countrymen, not to safety, but to 

 .^truction. Hence the faithful people should be 

 rrnly persuaded, as we have already reminded them, 

 lat the standard of utility and honesty is one and the 

 ne ; that the national cause should be kept distinct 

 m the aims, purposes, and deeds of unhallowed as- 

 ciations ; that while it is just and lawful for those 

 _jffering oppression to seek their rights by lawful 

 means, it is not allowable to make use of the protec- 

 tion which crime affords ; and that Divine Providence 

 allots to the virtuous the enjoyments of the fruits of 

 patience and well -doing, but subjects the evil-disposed, 

 after their fruitless labors, to heavy punishment from 

 God and men. While we thus speak from our ear- 

 nest desire for the relief, peace, and happiness of Ire- 

 land, we have no doubt that you, our beloved son, and 

 your venerable colleagues in united counsels and 

 brotherly love, will continue to keep your faithful peo- 



Ele entirely apart from those who, led away blindly 

 y their own passions, think that they can serve their 

 country by steeping themselves in crime, by drawing 

 others into tbe same depraved courses, and imprinting 

 a foul stain upon their country's cause. We rejoice, 

 beloved son, that you have lately so effectively dis- 

 charged this priestly zeal when, in view of the snares 

 and dangers prepared for the Catholic youth of Ire- 

 land, you issued a pastoral letter in which you pub- 

 licly denounced these dangers, stirred up the faithful 

 to vigilant care, and consulted at once for their salva- 

 tion and for the interests of religion and your country. 

 These grave duties of the pastoral office and the pub- 

 lic interests of the Irish people imperatively demand 

 that the clergy should give every assistance to their 

 bishops, in calming the passions of their countrymen 

 and checking public disturbances. 



For the proper exercise of this salutary influence of 

 the sacred ministry especially when the question of 

 popular meetings "in whi.h affairs are very warmly 

 discussed and dissensions arise we deem it a wise 

 plan if, adhering strictly to the decrees you have al- 

 ready made regarding the junior clergy, you would 

 give leave to attend such meetings only to those eccle- 

 siastics in whose wisdom you have special confidence, 

 whose mature age and experience have rendered them 

 conspicuous for prudence, wisdom : and weight, and 

 who are, therefore, best able to guide an excited as- 

 sembly to what is right and honest, to meet the falla- 

 cies of the evil-disposed, to guard the cause of justice, 

 and be the best defender of the most judicious courses. 



The exhortations of the Holy See were re- 

 newed by the Archbishop of Tuam and other 

 members of the Irish hierarchy in their pasto- 

 ral letters. In the course of time the Parnell 

 testimonial fund was started, and collections 

 were made in some parts of Ireland in the 



Catholic churches. This elicited from Cardi- 

 nal Simeoni a circular letter to the bishops, in 

 which he said : 



It is not forbidden to collect money to better the 

 condition of the Irish people, but, according to the 

 apostolic commands, conections are to be p" 

 condemned which are avowedly intended to inflame 

 still more the passions of men, so that leaden* may 

 easily abuse them to form wild plots against the lawn. 

 But most especially are they to keep aloof fi 

 movements, when it distinctly appears that tl 

 to excite hatred, to assail the character of eminent men, 

 and utter no condemnation of crimes and a.-:i.-<-iiia- 

 tions with which wicked men dishonor thorn 

 and most of all when it is put forth that real love or 

 country is to be gauged by tbe amount of money con- 

 tributed or refused, so that men are driven by a kind 

 of force or fear to take part in them. 



Germany. The situation of the Catholic 

 Church in Germany began to improve during 

 1883. Negotiations were carried on at Rome, 

 and some concessions were made. A Catholic 

 relief act, mitigating to some extent the sever- 

 ity of the Falk laws, passed the lower house 

 of the Prussian Parliament, June 25, and be- 

 came a law July 17. The condition of the 

 Church had by this time become one of great 

 distress: 8,000 priests were in exile; in the 

 archdiocese of Posen, 171 parishes, contain- 

 ing 300,000 Catholics, were without parish 

 priests, and 135 of them without clergy of any 

 kind ; in the archdiocese of Cologne, 286 par- 

 ishes out of 813 were deprived of priests; in 

 the diocese of Miinster, 137 were vacant. 



The Relief Act enabled bishops to perform 

 episcopal acts, even out of their own dioceses, 

 and to appoint vicars, chaplains, etc., in vacant 

 parishes. The celebration of mass by priests 

 not authorized by tbe Government was no 

 longer a criminal offense, and the right of ap- 

 peal to the Minister of Public Worship was 

 granted. 



The organization of the Catholics m Germa- 

 ny, called forth by the oppressive acts of the 

 Government, continued active, as was shown 

 by a general meeting of delegates at Dussel- 

 dorf, in Prussian Rhineland, in September. 



France. The course of the Government of 

 the French Republic during 1883 was hostile 

 to the Catholic Church, which was that of the 

 vast majority of its citizens. Seminarians in 

 their theological course were made subject to 

 conscription, and compelled to serve in the 

 ranks; clergy were made subject to be de- 

 prived of their stipends at will ; religions in- 

 structions and emblems were removed from 

 the schools, and books of morality, written by 

 avowed infidels, were introduced. . In the 

 same spirit the Municipal Council in Pans ^up- 

 pressed the chaplaincies in the hospitals, closed 

 the chapels, and forbade visits by the clergy, 

 unless in cases where they were specially sum- 

 moned by the patients. This, was done against 

 the protest of the Archbishop of Pans. In 

 June Pope Leo XIII addressed a letter to 

 President Grevy, personally urging him t 

 exert his influence to secure a more just and 

 equitable policy. The French Cabinet decided 



