THE CATHOLIC CONGRESS IN MAYENCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 72, 12 September 1874, Page 9

THE CATHOLIC CONGRESS IN MAYENCE.

Thb Frankfort correspondent of the ♦ Mew York Herald' furnishes an interesting letter concerning the recent Catholic Congreso in Majence, from which we make the following extracts : Feankfobt, June 24, 1874.

The Rhine has recently been the scene of two important Congresses—of the old Catholics held at Bonn ; of the Union of German Catholics, just concluded at Mayence, the " Golden." The latter is the most signiGcent Catholic meeting held for some time in Germany ■ and the speeches there made and the resolutions adopted have created n» little stir in the German official, liberal and Protestant press. Telegrams were received from all parts of Germany, or despatches of reverence and loyalty sent to Borne. There were public and private assemblies of the membere, banquets, general communion in the Cathedral and divine service at all hours, and the conclusion was a pilgrimage of guests and members, led by Bishop Ketteler, to St. Rochus' chapel, near Bingen. A great numbor of prominent Catholics were there, among them Moufang, the deputy to the Reichstag, from Mayence. The resolutions adopted by the assembly embody paragraphs on the condition of the working men of Germany and on the present state of society and the Church. The Assembly believes that Germany, like all other European States, iB seriously threatened by the discontent existing among its labouring populations. The principal causes of this discontent are the decay of the petty branches of industrial life, the neglect of agriculture, the oppressive conditions made for manufactures, and the extravagant devolpment of speculation. The nearer and inner reason for this discontent is found by the Assembly to be in the weakening of Christian conviction and morals in the- higher and lower classes by modern rationalism and liberalism, whereby it has - been possible that a great portion of the working class would be led astray by the irreligious and revolutionary leaders. The means for curing this social disease, and bringing about a reconciliation of the various classes of society, are : — Legal protection against the plundering of the people by corporate and financial bodies ; the promulgation of laws providing for the welfare of the working classes ; the careful promotion of moral and religious life in the family of the workman, especially in keeping sacred the Sabbath day ; in a reduction of the hours of work by women and children, and in the free spreading of Christian charity. The resolutions referring to the Cliurch and State are of a more determined character, and hare created considerable discussion. They are as follows :

1. The Catholic Church is by divine ordinance an independent organization, which, as the one and universal Church of Jesus Christ, has the right in all lands publicly to exist, and which every Christian State has the duty to protect. 2. The politico-ecclesiastical system which the political parties are endeavouring to carry through is inreconcileable and indirect contradiction with the constitution of the Catholic Church, established by God, sanctified by centuries, acknowledged by the States and guaranteed by 'the law of nations.

3. The ecclesiastical, priestly and pastoral charge confided by Jesuit Christ to the Pope and the Bishops cannot be abolished or restricted by any law of the State. 4. Church and State are appointed by God to harmoniously work together. A separation of the two powers is to be lamented. If the hostility with which the modern States treats the Church renders this separation a necessity, the result will be more to the injury of the State than of the Church. Two resolutions are of an especially radical character. One on " the general condition of Christian society " says : " Modern ■civilization is incompatible with the Church. A consequence of the ■warfare against the Church is the dissolution of social and political ■order. Remedy, therefore, can only be expected when political independence and all traditional rights are again accorded to the Papal See." Other resolutions are directed against the German Empire, the national party, the Jesuit laws, militarism, the guidance of public instruction by the State, the liberal press and the Foreign policy of the German Empire, especially as towards the Vatican. The speeches made in support of those resolutions are full of enthusiasm on the one hand and condemnation of modern institutions on the other. One speaker, referring to Bismarck said :—": — " The man who is sailing unconcernedly, on in the ship of folly of the times is, perhaps, hardly able to grasp the helm. But he will be brought to a .-stop on the rock of the Church, and will cry out to the one who steers the ship with a safe hand ' Help ! Throw me the tow of salvation ! ' " The Bishop of Mayence uttered noteworthy words to the assembly at -St. Rochus chapel. He complimented the assembly about him by saying it was a picture of the spirit of Catholicism — one heart and one eoul. He spoke pleasantly about the Rhine, how it was a " German and a Catholic river," in whose flood so many glorious Catholic cathedrals were reflected, and how along its shores, from beginning to end, .protest had been made by its people against the absurd accusations that the Catholic Church is hostile to the German Empire.

The German liberal newspapers are of course violently abusive of the resolutions adopted by the Assembly. The Catholic journals, .however, speak in a different tone, and in the resolutions of the Oon.gress and the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Holy Father's rule, find ample texts for exultation. This latter event has been celebrated in all the large cities with considerable fervor and demonstration. In Mayence the assembly of Catholics gathered to a banquet in one of the hotels, when the American address to His Holiness, taken by the pilgrims to Rome, was exhibited. Ia Munich a monster procession went on the same day to the chapel at Berg-on-the-Laim. The -German Catholic bishops assemble to-day at Fulda, and anew pastoral letter may soon be expected. The State is particularly exasperated by the Mayence assembly. All the active members in the Mayence Committee have been summoned to appear before the Court at Aachen to ■answer charges of producing excitement against the powers tlut be.