THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 1918

New Zealand Tablet, 15 May 1919, Page 9

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 1918

(Concluded from last week.) , t It is impossible as yet to say how it may fare with the Church in France, Germany, and Italy as the result of the war. If there is but little sign in any of these countries of a great religious revival, neither is there any convincing indication of renewed hostility to religion. The French Government, mindful of the fact that General Foch and nearly all his prominent assistants were good practical Catholics, and that Catholics, both clergy and laity, offered the most convincing proofs of their patriotism in the dark days, when so many of the Freemason clique were traitors or weaklings, can hardly begin to signalise the well-deserved triumph of their country by another campaign against religion. There is one other consideration that must be kept carefully in mind by the French Government. AlsaceLorraine is likely to be restored to France. Whatever may be the views of the people of these two provinces about union with France or with Germany, there can be no room for doubt with regard to their attachment to religion. They are convinced and militant Catholics, who are not likely to submit to godless schools or the proscription of their clergy, even for the honor of becoming a department of France. It will be necessary, therefore, for the French Government to adopt a conciliatory attitude and to refrain, at least for a time, from religious persecution. As regards the course of affairs in Germany, sufficient information has not been allowed to come through to make it possible to arrive at an accurate conclusion, either as to what took place before or since the armistice or what is likely to take place in the future. That the position of affairs is exceedingly grave can hardly be denied, but in the circumstances it can hardly be wondered at that serious disturbance should have taken place. However gloomy the outlook may be at present, we may feel fairly certain that the good sense and natural conservatism of the Germans will make impossible a repetition of the scenes that disgraced the Russian revolution, and that the strong, well-organised Centre Party, which for years has championed the cause of religion and freedom, will once again rally its supporters to do battle against the forces of disorder. In such a crisis as Germany is passing through at present it is always the worst elements which come on top during the early stages of the revolution. We remember that when Belgium rose in revolt against Holland in 1830, though the country was then predominantly Catholic, Catholics were practically without . representation in the first provisional government, but once the people had time to consider the situation during the interval necessary. to prepare for the elections, the true spirit of the nation manifested itself, and when the votes were counted it was found that the National Assembly reflected the feelings of the majority of the Belgians. It may be that something similar will take place in Germany, if only the Ebert Government can preserve order until the National Assembly can be constituted. , After being held in bondage for more than four years, Belgium has once again recovered its freedom. Whatever differences of opinion there may be on other points connected with the war, few men, Catholic or Protestant, could fail to admire the heroic stand made by the Belgian soldiers in defence of the liberty of their country, and few could fail to rejoice with the Belgians on the triumphant return of their victorious army and king. Belgium has suffered terribly during four years of war and foreign domination, = but the damage, though great, is not irreparable. She has suffered, too, from the skilful accentuation of the longstanding animosity between the Flemish-speaking portion of her population and the Walloons, some going so far as to advocate union with Germany, others, equally extreme, supporting union with France. Time, it is hoped, and a spirit of mutual: forbearance and toleration, will heal these divisions and will •• serve : to draw all parties ■ together , restore Belgium to the proud position which she occupied in Europe for more

than, fifty .years. The state of affairs in Holland during the war has been at all times critical,' nor has the . situation been easedmuch by., the conclusion of the £ armistice. Bullied and .threatened by both parties, the Dutch Government . found it difficult * - to' maintain !i its neutrality during the ' wair,' and hbvv that hostilities & have been ended it finds it equally difficult to uphold ’ its : authority against the enemies jof the ; constitution.); Considering the fact that Holland was for centuries the stronghold of ' ; Calvinism, and that nothing was l left ' undone to ■ uproot the Catholic religion, it will ; come as a ; surprise to many that as a result of the 'elections •’ during the year, the Catholic r party found itself the : strongest fraction in the Chamber and that a Catholic s priest was called upon by" Queen Wilhelmina to take i up the reins of government. As things turned out, he found it impossible to form a Cabinet, but the very fact of such a selection will serve to indicate the marvellous progress madelby the Church since the days, not. sQ. long .distant, when a Catholic 'Bishop was not permitted to live within the confines of the kingdom. In the United States the entire energy of its Government and f of its . citizens ‘ seemed to have been directed towards a speedy and 1 successful termination of the struggle ;in Europe. k All, the., resources of the States in men and money and raw material were thrown into the scales against Germany, with what results the entire world can judge. From the very first moment when 'President Wilson felt it necessary to' declare war till the day when the armistice was accepted the Catholics of America, both clergy and laity, without distinction of race or class, responded nobly to the call of the President. - They placed themselves and whatever they controlled ; entirely iat his disposal, proving once, again, as. they had often proved before, that loyalty to the constitution was regarded by Catholics as a sacred duty. ’ Notwithstanding the heavy calls' made upon them by public authority, they raised immense sums to enable the Knights of Columbus to carry out their great labors of charity at the Front, and to more than hold their own . with the well-organised and wellequipped army of the Y.M.C.A. In the States- as elsewhere, the war has effected' radical changes, most of which are likely to remain even after the restoration of peace. Possibly ' the most remarkable of these, and certainly the most important in its consequences, is to be found in the field of temperance reform. Americans, it is said, do nothing by halves, and without doubt in this case the saying is amply verified. Before the war Total Prohibition, though adopted by many of the federal legislatures, was looked upon with suspicion by a large majority of the population. Since the outbreak of hostilities the movement has gone forward by leaps and bounds, so that at the present time everything seems to indicate that Prohibition will become the law throughout the entire country. Whether the results will justify the claims of its adherents it is impossible to predict, but with the new spirit that has manifested itself in America we may feel tolerably certain that the anti-Catholic bias of some of the prominent Prohibitionist leaders will not succeed in creating inconveniences or dangers for the Catholic Church. H In Great Britain the war has so occupied the public mind, -to the exclusion of nearly every other subject, that the passage of two great Education ’Acts, one for England and on© for Scotland, has not received the attention these measures deserve. From the point of view of education, it must be admitted that they * mark a considerable step-in,; advance, i and , the Minister ,. of Education ,is to be, congratulated on success of fi!! his efforts at a time when success seemed impossible. The aim bf the Catholics ( of - England throughout , the r . ... discussion of , the v , English Education- Act ...was to v en- , ? spre that in the main the principles of the settlement < arrived ■ at in .1902 ~ should be maintained. :?■ Though ; W failed to secure all the amendments they desired, w# they : gained ■ most of the essentials, though a: great deal will depend upon the spirit with which the Act ..Ms A; worked by the Local Education Authorities- and ■by the Central Council. -Here it wilt Heishfficient fp quote verdict of ; a Catholic -Manager who has evidently . made T it, close-studyiof'th^^ew^Aclß^ -■ i StsiSf t

a "5 - “The financial burthen (he writes ‘in the : Tablet 3 I September 28) , thrown on .Catholics Tin: providing fur- : ther , accommodation, no doubt will be heavy in many , cases. ~The provision of suitable teachers .fori advanced and continued classes : also presents a difficulty but' > suice the provided schools will have somewhat s.milar. > difficulties, we ma y trust the authorities will not be ; too exacting at first, and ■ time and opportunity' be given to meet them. K Tor my part, I look on the Act : ; as the charter of the, poor man's child, l and ;as such I welcome it, with all its difficulties'; and : I trust i; that , • uathohc managers, in conjunction with “ their r flocks, * will meet the local Education • Authorities with pru- * » k j dence and good; temper, and work the .Act for all it |iP . . worth in ..Jh e interests, , spiritual and temporal, of the ■ coming ■ generation.” ;, ’*-’”'* ; ' s;:aK ®^^ - ■■ ■ The main feature of the Scotch Act, so far as-the! Chinch is concerned, Ties in the fact that the Catholic schools may be transferred to the. Local - Education Authorities, upon 'whom will fall the cost of paying the necessary - staff ’ i : Care having been taken to , assure that Catholic teachers will be provided for Catholic schools. _ What holds true of schools in 'existence, at the.passing,of the Act will hold true also ofi those that may be provided 1 in the future. There) is no doubt : but that the Act will relieve the Catholics, .'of - a great and almost intolerable financial burthen, though at the same time the surrender of their schools and with the schools a great deal of their*.-authority ••••• to an outside body, may carry with it very serious inconveniences, . for some years a sharp division of opinion has manifested itself among the Catholics of Scotland as to the wisdom of standing out from or coming in- under a national system of education. And this division became more acute when the Bill was introduced. It was only when Rome had spoken that both sides agreed to sin.c their differences and to do what was possible to render smooth the working of the measure. For Ireland, the year 1918, marking definitely as it does a complete change of methods and a reversion o ie old demands, has been one of momentous, portanco. In 1917 England’s Prime Minister attempted to satisfy the public opinion of the world by nominating a Convention to settle the fate of. Ireland. What ii wealth of sarcasm and ridicule he would have lavished on such a proposal if it had eliminated from Austria about Bohemia or from Germany about Poland. Lest, however, in spile of all restrictions and wire-pulling the findings of the Convention might prove embarrassing, lie took care to shape its decisions by presenting what amounted to little less than an ultimatum. When at last the Convention had finished its labors, the Prime Minister had changed his mind’ Without waiting to consult the report he promptly consigned it to the waste-paper basket, and, determined to pacify Ireland not by Self-Government but by Conscription. Ireland, enslaved herself and without hope or promise of liberty, was to be forced to send her sons to die that Belgium, Poland, and Serbia > might be tree. Such a cynical proposal involving as it 5 did the flagrant violation of the elementary rights of' nation- * hood, demanded a defiant answer, and the answenswaa soon forthcoming. At once the country closed up its! j' ranks and declared with no uncertain voice that Irish--men would never consent to be driven into battle as conscript slaves. . g-;. %/ J A National- Committee was- summoned to meet a# the Mansion House on the very day that the : Bishops! : . ot Ireland had come together to decide one. of the most S ; important questions that ever the Bishops of a' nation® were called upon to discuss. By a happy thought a : deputation -. from : the Mansion House Conference wasl •despatched to Maynooth ito interview the > Bishops, antfl ' as a result of the combined ' deliberations, the ! people!? '■ weie \ called:;updii to pledge themselves to resist Con-i l'.‘ scription by the;most- effective .means at ■ their, rdisposal| ' Such a clear statement of policy-raised the Irish Ques|- - tion to a higher plane. It served, hot indeed-to still up the. country, for that was already done, - but ?td! convey a-solemn message to both The English Gg^nl:: g ment and the Irish people: to the one that thegdayl 1 tor negotiations aild compromise had passed, and 3 Td"th^ P

other that < in such a grave :i national , crisis calmness 7 and prudence were .no signs- of cowardice or submission.. | Never did a people more loyally follow the instructions of their leaders. In response to ' the . advice of their Bishops they sought strength I and light from God through her who had so often protected ’ and consoled their forefathers in the evil days fof persecution, and relying upon the justice of their cause, they calmly awaited the beginning of the conflict without shrinking. In face of such determined and united opposition even Mr. Lloyd George began to realise the magnitude of his blunder. Instead of dividing Ireland, he had united her; instead of making Irishmen slaves, he had taught them to speak and act as free men. To frighten the people, he appointed the ex-leader of the British Expeditionary Force as Military Dictator in Ireland, and when this did not succeed he had recourse to new weapons;‘ In the hope of breaking up the unity of the country, and of depriving Ireland of the sympathy of America pit was deemed necessary to discover a “German Plot.” Though the Head of the English Government in Ireland declared from his place in the House of Lords that Dublin Castle had no knowledge of such a. plot, and though- not a shred of incriminating • evidence was produced, great numbers of prominent Irishmen were seized-and hurried across to English gaols, where they remain till the present time without charge and without trial. Martial law, domiciliary visits by military and police, wholesale arrests, courtsmartial, and imprisonments have been the order of the day since then, until, one is inclined to ask where is the constitution about which we have heard so many boasts. In face of such prolonged and violent provocation the country has remained outwardly calm, but there can be no doubt about the strength of the current that flows beneath. Of this the elections of December afforded the most convincing proof. The issue submitted to the electors was intelligible to all. Should the principle of self-determination, as enunciated by the President of the United States and accepted by all the belligerents, be applied to Ireland in the same way as it was to be applied to other oppressed nationalities ; or should Ireland throw herself on the mercy of English statesmen. The results of the elections supply the verdict of the people.