Church and State in France
REFERRING to a discussion of the results of the recent dissolution of church and state in France, a Catholic journal says:— More luminous far, however, than any a priori forecasts of the outcome is the actual attitude of the proletariat in France toward the nation since this irreligious campaign reached its climax. Posters have been placed in several instances adjacent to military barracks, urging soldiers to desert, and even to mutiny, in the event of war between France and some foreign nation. Patriotism, being a moral virtue, can no more exist, in the genuine sense of the word, apart from religion, than any other moral principle. The French republic has sown the wind; it may reap the whirlwind. This brief comment indicates clearly the real attitude of the Roman Catholic Church upon the question of the separation of the church and state. The divine principle, adopted by the founders of this republic, is tolerated by the papacy on the ground of expediency, but when the proper time comes, it will be openly repudiated.