THE CHURCH IN FRANCE

New Zealand Tablet, 25 April 1912, Page 11

THE CHURCH IN FRANCE

PROGRESS OF A GREAT MOVEMENT Those who are able to follow the developments of the religious question in France from within are firmly convinced (writes the special correspondent of the Catholic Times) that, in spite of the crafty persecution directed against Catholics, of the evil influence of the lay schools, and other alarming symptoms, a decided religious revival is perceptible throughout the country. This is the case more especially in Paris and in other large towns, where, precisely because the enemies of the Church are more numerous and more powerful, the Catholics are stimulated to bolder efforts. Sympathy with the Church. . ' The causes of this religious revival would take long to explain; they are many and varied. Among them we may mention a certain feeling of sympathy for the Church, persecuted and poor as she is at present. When the Church was recognised by the State and her ministers were paid by Government this special feeling did not exist; it would seem as if the Separation, and the acts of robbery that attended it, had roused the dormant faith of many indifferent Catholics. ‘ Before the Separation, my husband never went to church,’ said the wife of a prosperous Parisian tradesman to the present writer; ‘ now he never misses his Mass on Sundays.’ The Church seems in many cases to have gained in independence and in popularity what she has lost in wealth. Another cause of the revival is that the Catholics of France have learnt from* the example of their adversaries the enormous use and value of common and united action. In this respect they have done wonders within the last few years, and the close banding together of the Catholic forces on the ground of justice and liberty is one of the most hopeful symptoms of the revival to which we allude. Frequent Communion. - A priest in whose presence these subjects were being discussed added his word to the discussion and

touched , a more, supernatural note. In his opinion, in France as elsewhere, the Holy Father’s instructions on the subject of frequent Communion have strengthened the hands of the Catholics,-and by - bringing them nearer to God, the practice of frequent Communion has braced them to greater activity in the good cause. • An example of this activity was afforded by the recent Congress, of the ‘ CEuvre des Catechismes ’ that was held in Paris, under the presidency of Cardinal Amette. The ; association numbers forty- thousand-, members, ladies and young girls_, who once or; twice a week, in Paris and in the provinces,*.^ devote themselves to teaching catechism to the children of the Government schools. They prepare these children to receive and understand the teaching of the overworked priests, who would be unable to cope with their tremendous task if the voluntary teachers did not pave the way. As a rule these children , are: utter: pagans; in the ; so-called neutral schools they are taught atheism, and in their families there is often no influence to, counteract this evil teaching. The ‘ dame catechiste ’by her kindness and gentleness can exercise a more personal influence than the priest, and we may safely say that it is generally owing to her tactful action that the pupils of the lay schools are led to make their . First Communion. . Lady Catechists. The ‘ CEuvre des Catechismes ’ was founded twentyfive years ago; there were then only two lady catechists,’ who between them had two hundred pupils. At the present time the work numbers over four thousand ‘ catechistes ’ in Paris alone, and thirty-two thousand in- the provinces; close on one hundred thousand children are evangelised by them; forty-four thousand in Paris and fifty thousand in the provinces. These figures have certain eloquence, but more striking still are the zeal, good temper, and real self-sacri-fice with which a hundred young and wealthy women have thrown themselves into the work. It . continually happens in Paris that young girls who are the brightest guests at a ball or garden party have spent their morning in some distant ‘ faubourg ’ where they sweetly and patiently instil the great truths of religion into the

minds of little savages to whom the mere name of God is unknown.;'.'■''.' ; " : . • •

Catholic Union of Railway Servants.

Another association that is daily gaining ground is the Catholic Union of Railway Servants, which numbers forty thousand members, who openly practise frequent Communion and whose annual public pilgrimage to Montmartre is a splendid testimony of fearless Catholicity.- Their meetings are not purely devotional; they also have lectures and banquets, where they can discuss the different questions affecting the interests of working men, and they now form a compact body of practical Catholics and excellent servants of the State. Their action is doubly useful at a. time when revolutionary " theories are rife among the railway men; insome of their meetings were organised for the express purpose of protesting against the revolutionary spirit of certain syndicates 'which,' they stated, ' are hurrying the country- to ruin, with the unacknowledged assistance of the Government.' This bold statement emphasises. the attitude of the.members of the ' Catholic Union.' ' They are in politics neither Royalists nor Imperialists—merely honest, patriotic, hard-working men, who in their lives put religion first, and who claim the right to practise it as they choose. Far from serving the State with less zeal because they are Catholics, they claim that their religious convictions stimulate their devotion to their professional duties. The very fact that in France at the present moment, when the practice of religion is often enough to handicap a man's career, forty thousand railway servants should make a public profession of their belief, is one of the striking features of a movement that is slowly, but surely, spreading throughout the country.

Successful Defence of the Nuns.

Another equally remarkable episode is the brave stand made by the Paris workmen in favor of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, when the Government was about to expel them. * Our readers know that these devoted women, whose Order was founded about forty years ago, are literally the general servants of the poor, and throughout • the Paris 'faubourgs' they are deservedly popular. Their Sisters at Lyons had •already been brutally expelled from houses that are their lawful property, and measures had been taken to send the Paris Communities adrift, when the workmen in the suburbs took up the matter.

The alarm was given last November, the day and hour of the expulsion were fixed, but, for the first time since the Government has openly persecuted the religious Orders, its hand was arrested by popular indignation. The workmen, whose prompt and energetic action in the matter is beyond all praise, have proved that they were not moved by a mere passing enthusiasm. For the last four months they have kept up an incessant agitation on behalf of the Sisters. Popular meetings have been organised, deputies enlisted in the cause, petitions and protestations placarded on the walls of the working suburbs, and, as the result of their spirited attitude, the Paris workmen have forced the Government to change its plans. The, Sisters have been informed from an official quarter that, for the present, they are safe.

Ex-Anarchist on the Good Sisters' Kindness.

It was our good fortune to assist at one of these meetings; it took place in a large room at the back of a wine-shop in the outlying suburb of Vaugirard. The organisers and speakers were workmen, the audience men and women from the busy suburb. It was interesting to hear these rough men speak of the Sisters' devotion; an ex-anarchist became almost eloquent when he told of their kindness to him and his family. When a few coins were all he possessed in the world the Little Sister appeared on the scene; she nursed his wife, washed and dressed his children, swept the rooms and cooked the dinner, and saved, instead of spending, his little store of ' sous.' The orators spoke from a standpoint, of justice and liberty rather than of religion, claiming their right as free citiezns to have sick-nurses whom they can trust. The Little Sisters generally

make good Catholics of their : client^ merely by their example and influence, but anti-clericals, freethinkers, and revolutionists have the same claim on their devotion. ■ .They go" wherever they are asked for, provided those who require their services are too poor to pay for them. 'Where,' observed the anarchist, ' shall we find conditions such as these: excellent and' devoted service, cheerfully bestowed free of cost? No, if the Government fishes to deprive us of our Little Sisters, it must trample upon our bodies before it reaches them.' Needless to say that the earnest speeches met with warm applause. On these occasions the Paris workman is at his best, and the steady perseverance with which the campaign on behalf of the'nuns has been conducted by their grateful clients has in this case commanded success. "" ' ' v --"■'"-.." ■