Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/218

 FRANCE

178

FRANCE

Church and State, but in 1881 the method of stoppage of salary {suppression de tmitement) began to be em- ployed against priests whose political attitude was un- satisfactory to the Government, and the Law of 189.3, which subjected the financial administration of church property to the same rules as the civil establishments, occasioned lively concern to the clergy. As early as March, 1888, Leo XIII had written to President Grevy complaining of the anti-religious bitterness, and ex- pressing a hope that the eldest daughter of the Church would find it possible to abandon this struggle if she would not forfeit that unity and homogeneity among her citizens which had been the source of her own peculiar greatness, and thus oblige history to pro- claim that one inconsiderate day's work had destroyed in France the magnificent achievement of the ages. Jules Grevy replied that the religious feeling com- plained of was the outcome mainly of the hostile atti- tude of a section of the clergy towards the Republic. Some j^ears later (12 November, 1890), Cardinal Lavigerie, returning from Rome, and inspired by Leo XIII, delivered a speech in the presence of all the authorities, military and civil, of Algeria, in which he said: "When the will of a people as to the form of its government has been clearly affirmed, and when, to snatch a people from the abysses which threaten it, unreserved adhesion to this political form is necessary, then the moment has come to declare the test com- pleted, and it only remains to make all those sacrifices which conscience and honour permit us, and command us, to make for the good of our country." This speech, which caused a great commotion, was followed by a letter of Cardinal Rampolla, Secretary of State to Leo XIII, addressed to the Bishop of St-Flour, in which the cardinal exhorted Catholics to come forward and take part in public affairs, thus entering upon the readiest and surest path to the attainment of that noble aim, the good of religion and the salvation of souls. Lastly, a Brief of Leo XIII to Cardinal Lavi- gerie, in the early part of the year 1891, assured him that his zeal and activity answered perfectly to the needs of the age and the pope's expectations.

From those utterances dates the policy known in France as the "Ralliement", and as "Leo's Repub- lican Policy". At once the Archbishops of Tours, Rouen, Cambrai, the Bishops of Bayeux, Langres, Digne, Bayonne, and Grenoble declared their adhesion to the "Algiers Programme", and the Monarchical press accused them of " kissing the Republican feet of their executioners". On 16 January, 1892, a collec- tive letter was published by the five French cardinals, enumerating all the acts of oppression sanctioned by the Republic against the Church and concluding, in conformity with the wish of Rome, by announcing the following programme: Frank and loyal acceptance of political institutions; respect for the laws of the coun- try whenever they do not clash with conscientious obligations ; respect for the representatives of author- ity, combined with steady resistance to all encroach- ments on the spiritual domain.

Within a month seventy-five bishops subscribed to the above programme, and in the atmosphere thus prepared the voice of Pope Leo once more spoke out. In the Encyclical "Inter innumeras soUicitudines", dated 10 February, 1892, Leo XIII besought Catholics not to judge the Republic by the irreligious character of its government, and explained that a distinction must be drawn between the form of government, which ought to l)e accepted, and its laws, which ought to be improved. Thus was the policy of rallying to the Ilopul)lic precisely stated, as recommended to the Catholics of France, anfl expounded in the brochures, in Paris, of Cardinal Perraud and, at Rome, of Father Brandi, editor of the "(Jivilt^ (Jattolica". Anticleri- cals and Monarchists were alarmed. Tlie Monarchists protested against the interference of the pope in French politics, and the Anticlericals declared that the

Republic had no room for "Roman Republicans". Both parties asserted that it was impossible to distin- guish between the Republican form of government and the Republican laws. A trifling incident, arising out of a visit paid by some French pilgrims to the Pantheon in Rome, which contains the tomb of Victor Emmanuel, called forth from M. Fallieres, Minister of Justice, a circular against pilgrimages (October, 1891), and occasioned a lively debate in the French Chamber on the separation of Church and State. But in spite of these outbreaks of Anticlericalism, the political hori- zon, especially after the Encyclical of February, 1892, became more serene. The policy of combining the Re- publican forces by a fusion of Moderates and Radicals to support a common programme of Republican con- centration, which programme was incessantly develop- ing new anticlerical measures as concessions to the radicals — gradually went out of fashion. After the Oc- tober elections, in 1893, for the first time in many long years, a homogeneous ministry was formed, one minis- try composed exclusively of moderate Republica ns, and known as the Casimir Perier-Spuller Ministry. On 3 March, 1894, in a discussion in the Chamber on the prohibition of religious emblems by the Socialist Mayor of Saint-Denis, Spuller, the Minister of Public Worship, declared that it was time to make a stand against all fanaticisms whatsoever — against all sec- taries, regardless of the particular sect to which they might belong — and that the Chamber could rely at once on the vigilance of the Government to uphold the rights of the State, and on the new spirit (esprit nouveau) which animated the Government, and tended to reconcile all citizens and bring back all Frenchmen to the principles of common sense and justice, and of the charity necessary for every society that wishes to survive. Thus it seemed that there would be develop- ing, side by side with the policy of ralliement practised by the Church, a similar conciliatory pohcy on the part of the State.

A letter from Cardinal Rampolla, dated 30 January, 1895, to M. Auguste Roussel, formerly an editor of the "Univers", but who had become editor-in-chief of the " Verite ' ', foimd fault with the latter periodical for stir- ring up feeling against the Rejiublic, fostering in the minds of its readers the conviction that it was idle to hope for religious peace from such a form of govern- ment, creating an atmosphere of distrust and discour- agement, and thwarting the movement towards general good-feeling which the Holy See desired, especially in view of the elections. This letter created a great sensa- tion, and newspaper polemics contrasted the Catholics of the " Univers " and the " Croix "," docile towards Leo XIII", with the refractory Catholics of the " V6rit6". On 5 February, 1896, F^lix Faure wrote as follows to Pope Leo: "The President of the Republic cannot for- get the generous motives which prompted the advice given by Your Holiness to the Catholics of France, encouraging them to accept loyally the government of their country. Your Holiness regrets that these ap- peals for harmony and peace have not been every- where listened to ; and we join in those regrets. That enlightened advice given to the opponents of the Re- public, for whose consciences the authority of the Head of the Church is 'all-powerful', ought to have been followed by all. Nevertheless, we note at the present time, with regret, that there are men who, under the cloak of religion, foment a policy of discord and of strife. It would, however, be unju.st not to recognize that, while the sulutary instructions of Your Holiness have not produced all the effects that might Iiave been expected of tliem, very many loyal Catho- lics have bowed before thoni. At the same time, this manifestation of goodwill produced among those Re- publicans who were most firmly attached to the rights of the civil power a spirit of conciliation which has largely contributed to mitigate the conflict of passions which saddened us."