Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/816

Rh 756 O L D L D tion, and even bore a part. The subjects which chief! y occupied the consideration of the assembly were the insti tution of a synod as the legislative and executive organ of the church, and schemes of reunion with the Greek, the African, and the Protestant communions. The unanimity which prevailed was remarkable, and not less so were the indications that the breach between the Papacy and Old Catholicism had become decisive and final. On the 20th of September the election of Bishop Reinkens was formally recognized by the German Government, and on the 7th of October he took the oath of allegiance to the king. The following year (1874) was marked by the assembling of both a synod and a conference at Bonn, and of a congress at Freiburg in the Breisgau. The acts of the synod were mainly directed to modifications of the Roman discipline and the removal of prevalent abuses. At the congress Bishop Reinkens spoke in hopeful terms of the results of his observations during a recent missionary tour through out Germany. The conference, held on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of September, had for its special object the discussion of the early confessions as a basis of agreement, though not necessarily of fusion, between the different communions above-named. The meetings, presided over by Dr Dollinger with an ability and tact which excited general admiration, successively took into consideration the Filioqve, the sacra ments, the canon of Scripture, the episcopal succession in the English Church, the confessional, indulgences, prayers for the dead, and the eucharist. Some divergence of views inevitably disclosed itself in the course of the discussions, but the same conciliatory tone and feeling marked the close as well as the commencement of the proceedings, and by both the English and the Continental religious press the final results were hailed as eminently auspicious. As the direct results of these deliberations it has since been decided to abolish compulsory confession and fasting, to employ the vernacular in public worship, to recognize the marriage of priests as lawful, and to allow them to administer in their churches the communion in both kinds to members of the Anglican persuasion. Since 1874 Old Catholicism has found new adherents in other lands, in Austria, in Italy, and in Mexico ; but the controversial spirit which in past history has either broken up such organizations or largely impaired their efficiency has also marred the success of this interesting movement. In Switzerland, where important conferences were success ively convened (at Solothurn in 1871, at Olten in 1872, 1 8 7 3, and 1 87 4), the unanimity of the &quot; Christian Catholics, &quot; as they preferred to call themselves, seemed at one time in danger of being shipwrecked on the question of episco pacy. It was not until 18th September 1876 that the conflict of opinions was so far composed as to allow of the consecration of Bishop Herzog by Bishop Reinkens. The reforms introduced by M. Hyacinthe Loyson in his church at Geneva have received only a partial assent from the general body. Among the more practical results of his example is to be reckoned, however, the fact that in French Switzerland nearly all the clergy, in German Switzerland about one half, are now married men. But the congrega tions, which in 1876 had reached the number of fifty-five, have dwindled to thirty-five. The number of children in the different schools is stated to be somewhat under 4000 (Xippold, Handbuch der neuesten Kirchengeschichte. ii. 466- 478). In Germany, since the year 1878, the position of the Old Catholics has been one of considerable difficulty. While their representatives have scrupulously abstained from any course of action which could tend to embarrass the Government in its political contests, the most influential organs of that Government have systematically decried the movement and have undisguisedly aimed at its complete extinction. This change of policy is mainly due to the altered relations with the papal court. The present pontiff, skilfully ignoring the original and genuine causes in which Old Catholicism took its rise, has sought to represent its leaders as actuated by revolutionary designs and aiming at the subversion of existing institutions, while the Papacy itself has been described as the chief bulwark again.st social democracy and nihilistic tendencies. The Prussian Government has responded by a series of concessions to the Roman Catholic clergy, while the favour once shown to the seceding party is at an end. Bishop Reinkens himself, though he still receives a salary from the state, no longer draws it under the head of expenditure for Catholic worship. In Bavaria Professor Friedrich has been constrained to transfer his services from the theolo gical to the philosophical faculty at Munich, and the little Old Catholic congregation has been deprived of its church. Huber s valuable literary powers have been lost to the cause by his premature decease. In France the place of M. Michaud, who has been appointed professor in the university of Bern, is in some measure filled by the return of Father Hyacinthe from Geneva. Under such conditions the continued progress of the party and even its existence are obviously seriously imperilled. But, even if, like the Albigenses, the Lollards, and other similar movements to which the assumptions of the Papacy have at different times given rise, Old Catholicism should be destined to extinction, it will not the less have left on permanent record an ex ample of loyalty to conscientious convictions the influence of which will long survive. Authorities. The literature of the subject is now voluminous, but the following are among the best sources of information, (a) As regards the proceedings at the Vatican Council and the more immediate results of the decrees : Friedberg (Dr Emil), Sammlung dor Aktenstiicke sum ersten Vaticanischcn Condi mit einem Grundrisse dcr Gescliichte dcsselben, 1872 ; Friedrich (Dr J.), Tagebuch wdhrend des Vaticanischen Concils gefiihrt, 2d ed., 1873 ; Id., Le Concile du Vatican, Brussels, 1871 ; Id., Gesch. des Vatikanischen Konzils, vol.i., 1877; Frommaim (Theodor), Gesch. u, Kritik d. Vaticanischcn Concils Ton 1869 und 1870, Gotha, 1872 ; Janus, Der Pa2ist und das Condi, 1869 (a reprint of articles in the Augsburg Allgcm. Zeitung] ; An Inside View of the Vatican Council (Archbishop Kenrick s Speech, edited by L. &quot;W. Bacon), New York ; Catholic Reform, by Father Hyacinthe, with preface by Dean Stanley, 1874 ; Quirinus, Romische Brief e vom Condi, 1870, of which an English translation has also appeared ; Von Schulte (Dr J. F. ), Condlien, Pdpste, und Bischofe, 1871. (b) The proceedings of the successive congresses will be best studied in the Stenographisclier Berichte, published at Munich, Cologne, Constance, &c. ; those of the con gress of Constance were summarized in an English form, with other elucidatory matter, by Professor John Mayor, (c) For the questions involved in the consecration of Bishop Reinkens : Reehtsgutachten ilber die Frage der Anerkennung des altkatholischen Bischofe Dr Reinkens in Bayern, Munich, 1874 ; Friedberg (Dr Emil), Der Staat und d. Bischofswahlen in Deutschland, Leipsic, 1874 ; Von Sybel (F.), Das altkatholische Bisthum und das Vermbgen d. rbmisch- katholischcn Kirchengescllschaften in Preussen, Bonn, 1874. (d) Reinkens s own speeches and pastorals, some of which have been translated into English, give his personal views and experiences ; the Life of Huber has been written and published by Eberhard Stirngiebl ; and the persecutions to which the Old Catholic clergy have been exposed have been set forth in a pamphlet by Professor John Mayor, Facts and Documents, London, 1875. (e) An out line of the whole movement from its first commencement to the year 1875 will be found in The New Reformation, by &quot; Theodoras &quot; (J. Bass Mullingcr) ; and an excellent resume of the main facts in the history of the movement in each European country, as connected with other developments of liberal thought, and with political history, is given in the second volume of Dr F. Nippold s Handbuch der iicuesten Kirchengeschichte, vol. ii. , 1883. (/) The recognized organ of the movement, the Deutscher Merkur (formerly the Rhdnischer Merkur}, is still published weekly by P. Neusser of Bonn. (J. B. M.) OLDENBURG, a grand-duchy of Germany, with an area of 2480 square miles, consists of three widely separated portions of territory, (1) the duchy of Oldenburg, (2) the principality of Liibeck, and (3) the principality of Birken- feld. It ranks tenth amons; the states of the German