p. 6 | France Versus Rome

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 28, 1910

France Versus Rome

Once more there is open war between the clericals and the state in France. The Archbishop of Reims is being prosecuted for libel by the Teachers' Association of the department. The archbishop had accused them of “teaching atheism and immorality, and falsifying the history of France.” These words, of course, must be clerically interpreted and understood. Behind the accusation is the demand that the priest shall rule in the schools of the state. Already Romanist parents are invited to withdraw their children from the state schools, showing that the issues involved in this conflict are wide and deep. The ninety-seven thousand teachers are almost all against priestly interference. At present the religious education given in the state school is called “neutral.” The pity of it all is that France has nothing to offer the schoolchild between the bald negations of unbelief on the one hand, and the gross errors of Rome on the other. Will it ever seek a third measure? Who can tell? This may be God's method of introducing into France “a more excellent way.”—Missionary Review.