Cölestin Wolfsgruber

“ Every possible misuse of speech and writing was employed to rob Catholics of their confidence in their priests, of their attachment to the holy sacraments, and even to the Church. These ribald foes spread desolation over a good part of God's vineyard in Austria. The "Free from Rome" movement will remain a disgraceful stain, but not in the history of the Catholic Church. Filled with a sense of the sacredness of their duty as bishops and Austrians, the episcopacy warned the faithful in pastorals against the movement and its schemes (1899, 1901) . ”

“ The Rationalist writers of this period believed that by enlightenment, in their sense of the word, a cure could be found for the evils of the time, and a means of promoting the happiness of mankind. Men were led more and more away from the influence of the Church, the loftier aspirations of noble and pious souls were scorned, and only the claims of a refined sensuality deemed worthy of consideration. The new ideas made their way into Austria, and that country became the birthplace of Josephinism, so called from the Emperor Joseph II, whose policy and legislation embodied these ideas. ”

“ The bishops have the right to bring religious orders into their dioceses (Art. 28) . The estates which form the endowment fund for religious and educational foundations are the property of the Church and are managed in its name, the bishops having the supervision of affairs; the emperor is to aid in making up what is lacking in the fund (Art. 31) .
The Concordat was intended to be binding upon the entire monarchy, and to be carried out with uniformity in all parts. Thun, therefore, in the emperor's name, called the bishops of the entire empire to Vienna. ”

“ The Catholic Autonomy Association, consisting of the bishops, the abbots, and certain elected members, clerical and lay, exists to represent the Church in regard to the faithful, on the one hand, and the Government, on the other, in all questions of schools, of church property, and especially (since the minister of public worship might happen to be a non-Catholic) to advise the king in the exercise of his prerogative of nominating bishops. It is plain that the advantage or disadvantage to the Church of autonomy would depend on the composition of the commission. ”

“ But they had, for the time being, no redress except to appeal in individual cases to the indulgence of the emperor. When the bills reached the upper house the bishops defended themselves bravely. Rauscher closed his address of 10 April with these words: "So-called progress no longer considers it necessary to conceal its real aim, and has unmasked its hate against God and eternal truth. But Providence has set a natural limit to all things. The destruction of Christianity is impossible, but Austria may be destroyed if the war against religion is not checked in good time." ”

“ Upon this 5,000 students and the German professors withdrew and founded the University of Leipzig. The university was now simply a national one, and Hus without interference taught the following doctrines: the church consists only of the elect; no man is temporal ruler, no man is a bishop, if he be in mortal sin; the papal dignity is an outcome of the imperial power; obedience to the church is the invention of men. ”

“ The marriage law of 1783 runs: "Marriage in itself is regarded as a purely civil contract. Both this contract and the privileges and obligations arising from it are entirely dependent for their character and force on the secular laws of the land." In 1783, also, all schools, episcopal and monastic, for the training of the clergy were abolished, and general seminaries were founded at Vienna, Budapest, Pavia, and Louvain, with branches at Graz, Olmütz, Prague, Innsbruck, Freiburg, and Pressburg. ”

“ Goethe says that the subject of profoundest interest in the history of the world is the battle of disbelief against faith. This is still more true of the history of the Church. In 1860 Austria became a constitutional monarchy, and in the next year the foundations of a representative government were laid. The Imperial Parliament was to consist of a House of Peers, to which the archbishops and prince-bishop were to belong, and a House of Deputies. During the first session of the Parliament, Manger, a Protestant deputy, attacked the Concordat and demanded its revision. ”

“ Since 1851 all the provinces of the Austrian Crown have been under one uniform government. Since 1867, however, Hungary has been an independent part of the Hapsburg monarchy, enjoying equal rights with the rest. During the battle over the Concordat which raged in 1867, the Hungarian bishops did not appeal to the Concordat, for fear that the agitation might spread to Hungary. In point of fact, however, they held fast to the Concordat. John Simor, Primate of Hungary from 1866-91, preserved the peace of the Church in the kingdom. ”

“ The bishops select the books used by the catechist and instructors in religious doctrine. The third law grants everyone the right to choose his own religion on attaining the age of fourteen years, but a child between seven and fourteen years of age cannot change his or her religion even at the wish of the parents. As these laws infringed the Concordat in essentials, a secret consistory was held at Rome, 22 June, at which the pope declared: "Leges auctoritate Nostrâ apostolicâ reprobamus, damnamus et decreta ipsa irrita proursus nulliusque roboris fuisse ac fore declaramus." ”

“ The Elector Palatine Frederick V, the head of the Protestant League and of the German Calvinists, was elected King of Bohemia. The cathedral was altered to suit Calvinistic church services. The altars were demolished, the pictures destroyed, and Scultetus, the court preacher, arranged a church service. No ruler ever began to reign under more distressing conditions than Ferdinand II. The insurgents under Thurn stood before the gates of Vienna; those unfriendly to Catholicism within the city made common cause with the enemy. Ferdinand, however, never lost courage. ”

“ Veith was born at Kuttenplan, in Bohemia, and was of Jewish parentage. When he was nine years old his spiritual struggle began. In his twenty-first year, led by Father Hofbauer, he found peace in the Church. He faithfully kept the vow he had made: "I will devote my entire life to the only thing that is eternal, and therefore, the only thing that is important." Veith became a priest, preached for fourteen years in the Cathedral of St. Stephen at Vienna and died in 1876. ”

“ Surplus of money destined for pastoral salaries is not to be drawn upon for the pensions of retired clergymen. For retired curates the bishops suggested a minimum pension of 100 crowns for curates, and of 1,900 crowns ($380) for parish priests. In 1891 and 1894 the bishop requested from the Minister of Worship an exact list of all the debts due by the religious fund in the hands of the Government and of all pious foundations. ”

“ The Compacta provided: that in Bohemia everyone who demanded it should receive Holy Communmion under both kinds; mortal sins should be punished, but only by legal authorities; the Word of God should be freely expounded by clergy appointed for the purpose; ecclesiastics should manage their property according to the rules of the church. After this, Hussitism lived on in the "Bohemian Brethren", who elected a bishop at Lhota near Reichenau (1467) , and were finally carried into the current of the Reformation.
In Hungary Christian culture flourished during the reign of the House of Anjou. ”

“ Count Ferdinand Zichy formed the Catholic people's party in opposition to Banffy's aims; but without avail. The two bills became law. The Lutz amendment on pulpits could not be passed during the lifetime of the primate, Simor, but after his death it was adopted (1899) .
Article 26 of the Diet of 1790 guaranteed to the Protestants of Hungary the entire control of the affairs of their religion. The Government has hardly any power in regard to either their churches, their schools, or religious foundations. Since 1848 the Catholics have been endeavouring to obtain autonomy. ”

“ The bishops assembled again at Vienna and sent this statement to the Ministry and the Upper House: "We repeat that we are ready to agree to the demands which the State makes on us in the bill concerning the legal status of the Catholic Church as far as these demands are in harmony with the Concordat concerning these matters. We cannot and will not acquiesce in a proposition the consummation of which would endanger the welfare of the Church." ”

“ During the same period the dual constitution was sanctioned, by which the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy as it now exists, was formed "of two distinct co-ordinate States having the same constitutional, legal, and administrative rights". After a long struggle the emperor signed, 25 May, 1808, the laws concerning marriage, schools, and the status of the several denominations. The first of these laws declares marriage to be a civil contract, makes the civil marriage obligatory, and takes from the Church the judicial power pro foro externo in matrimonial suits. ”

“ In 1802, the emperor issued two circulars, the first on "the means of elevating the secular clergy" and the second on "the means of improving the regular clergy". To remedy the lack of priests, the first order increased the number of gymnasia, directed the establishment of a theological training school, with a seminary attached, for each diocese, and granted stipends to divinity students. Ecclesiastics belonging to an order were to wear the habit of their order, and must not live alone; a profession might be made in the twenty-first year, instead of the twenty-fifth. ”

“ On the 14th of September, 1852, the Emperor Francis Joseph empowered Prince-Bishop Rauscher to act as his representative in drawing up a Concordat, and Pope Pius IX named as his representative, Viale Prelá, the papal nuncio in Vienna. In important questions Rauscher was to consult with the committee on the Church. This committee was composed of Thun, Minister of Instruction; Buol Schauenstein, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Bach, Minister of the Interior; R. von Salvotti, Member of the Imperial Diet; and Freiherr von Kübeck, President of the Imperial Diet. ”

“ Khlesl was the child of Protestant parents; his father had been a baker in Vienna. He was converted by the court preacher, George Scherer. From the time of Scherer until the suspension of the order the court preachers were chosen in unbroken succession from the Jesuits. Khlesl became Provost of St. Stephen's, Chancellor of the university, and Bishop of Vienna. During the reigns of Ernst and his brother Matthias, Khlesl was all powerful. Rudolph II having shut himself up in Prague, the members of the Hapsburg family chose the Archduke Matthias to be their head. ”

“ We must go back five hundred years in the history of Austria to find another ruler who reigned fifty years. On the semi-centennial anniversary, 2 December, 1989, of the reign of the Emperor Francis Joseph, the bishops issued a joint pastoral and sent it with a dedication to the emperor. In the dedication they say: "The mysterious counsels of God have ordained that Your Majesty should spend this day in sorrow. [Empress Elizabeth was assassinated 10 September.] We all suffer with our gracious emperor and ruler. But our grief cannot silence our gratitude ”

“ But the Church cannot give to the claims of nationality the first place, they must always be for her a secondary interest. The theological faculty must impress this idea upon their pupils and must not, therefore, drive them apart. They should not deepen and embitter the national differences by a separation; they should strive rather to compose these differences. This duty is above all necessaryl among the various nationalities of Bohemia. In this country it is a special duty of the priesthood to seek to soothe and unify. ”