THE RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT IN GERMANY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1171, 14 November 1871, Page 2

THE RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT IN GERMANY.

The Berlin correspondent of the London Daily News writes under date of August 6th r The movement among the Catholicsin the eastern half of the Prussian monarchy, against what they call "NeoCatholic," namely, the doctrine of Infallibility, goes on increasing from day to day. It has now reached the Polish speaking population of the Upper Silesia. A priest, whose name is Kaminski, has given the' signal of revolt near Katto-wifo That place is in the immediate neighborhood of the spot where the Ronge movement took its start twenty-five years ago,, which has cost the Catholic Church in Germany such a large number of adherents, and led to the establishment of the German Catholic Communities, and the free' religious Associations, which reject alldistinctive creeds and seek truths solely in science. The Bishop : had driven Kaminski from his Church,, liafr the latter has secured a chapel' close by,, which is described as ; being: thronged' whenever he preaches; The lay authorities have refused to disturb him or to prevent him calling himself the' legitimate Catholic parish priest. They treat him still as a man in holy orders, entitled to administer the sacraments; This looks \ery much like a mortal blow given to the neo-Catholics in that district, probably the most densely peopled* in Europe. The major excommunication- which the Bishop of Eriucland has hurled at Dr Wollman, at Braunsburg, implies the threat of the minor excommunication to the Catholics who continue to< keep up even merely social intercourse with the excommunicated person. It is now easy to see that this, which formerly was such a formidable we.ipon of the Church of Rome, in our time and in a country of mixed l creeds, has become a two-edged sword, as likely wound him who uses it as him against whom it is u«ed. Dr Wollman continuing to teach at the school, underlie protection of the civil power,, the boys at that school as well as their parents, who do not withdraw them,, are already liable to be excommunicated, and, as it would appear, have been made* to understand this. The head master the other other teachers at the school are in the same predicament. Sensible of this danger, for danger it is considered by many of them, they too, like the doctor himself, have begun to apply for help to the press and the civil power. One of ihem, in a letter containing much close reasoning, wants to know how the prohibition of all intercourse with a public officer, ted as such by the recognition of the authorities, agrees with the established law rendering the excitation to hatred and contempt of public functionaries in the discharge of their duties a penal offence. The New York correspondent of a San Francisco journal, writing on the 9 th September, says : A prominent citizen of Munich, jwfc arrived here from that city, where he has been in close relations with the heads of the Church party of Germany, states that the so-called Church reform movement in that country is greatly exaggerated; that the Congress occur* ring this month at the Munich will resulo in nothing; it is mainly made up of men who have hitherto had no status in the Catholic Church, and it can exert no interest on the great body of German Catholics, one way or other. Dollinger declined to attend it ana furthermore avowed his want of sympathy with the objects which it seeks. The Professor, who is now living in retirement at his country seat, near Munich, maintains that he is still within the pale of the Catholic Church, and declares that he has committed no act to place him in antagonistic position to her true interests. The Prime Minister of Bavaria, though anti infallibist himself, tvfuses to countenance any action aiming at Church division. In nearly all the large cities there are many rejectors of the doctrine ot infallibility, but in the main they are strongly averse to having the subject) in any way made a State issue. Besides, there is a strong feeling throughout the whole Empire that the Government can-

not at this junction afford to complicate itself in Chuich difficulties. While the great European Catholic countries are undisturbed by any symptoms of church dissensions, it would be unwise for Germany to become involved, single-handed, in an issue that would only serve to weaken her politically. The death of the Pope, however, at the present time, would be likely to cause a tremendous Church revolution, not only throughout Germany, but iu nearly all European Catholic States.