The Growth of Catholicism in France
A WRITER in the New York Independent gives these facts relative to the growth of Catholicism in France: “One hundred years ago the French Revolutionists had closed the convents, dispersed the monks and nuns, and confiscated the possessions of the church. There were then about 60,000 monks and nuns in France, and the ecclesiastical wealth was about $800,000,000. To-day, altho the population of France has not doubled, there are more than 180,000 monks and nuns connected with 1,468 orders. Their known wealth amounts to $2,000,000,000, to say nothing of unregistered property. The influence of these religious orders over the masses of the people is immense, as they hold in their power the parochial clergy, public instruction, an important part of industry, almost all the press, and absolutely all the command of the army and navy.”