The War Upon Religion / Being an Account of the Rise and Progress of Anti-Christianism in Europe

by Francis A. Cunningham

ISABEL II., QUEEN OF SPAIN.

At the same time certain deputies in the Chamber complained that the journal, "The Catholic", had dared to publish the Bull of Pius IX. on the Immaculate Conception without governmental permission. One of the ministers, Madoz, proposed restoring the ruined treasury by the sale of all ecclesiastical property without exception. Another deputy, Escosura, a furious and fanatic anti-Christian, insulted, in a session of the Chamber on March 24, 1855, the Bishop of Osma, whom he called a butcher because of his defence of the church property; the Minister of Grace and Justice, Aguirre, demanded the punishment of those bishops who dared to preach religious unity. For this "crime" the Bishop of Osma was exiled to the Canary Islands. The same Aguirre caused the Bishop of Barcelona to be exiled to Carthagena.

It was in vain that the Holy See strove to compose matters. Appeals to the ancient piety of Spain, and to the well known virtue of the nation were alike unheeded. It was not the nation that ruled, but a clique who had gained control by force of arms, and it was this clique that sent back the appeals of the Holy Father with contempt and derision. The Cortes was filled with irreligious enemies of the Catholic name; it was these who set aside the concordat, from its first article to the last. It was these who forbade bishops to ordain priests, who forbade monasteries of nuns to receive new novices; and who converted to State use all chapels and religious schools. In the deliberations of the Cortes, on January 12, 1855, it was determined that the seminaries might no longer teach philosophy and theology, and that all ordinations of the clergy should be suspended.

PROTESTS FROM THE HOLY SEE.

The Holy Father in the consistory of July 6, 1855, protested vigorously against the evils and spoliation of the Church in Spain. His words were useless, since Espartero and his followers continued in their way despite all claims of reason and right. They had driven the Bishop of Osma into exile, they had closed the Seminary of Toledo, they had forbidden the priests of Saragossa to leave the limits of their parish without governmental permission, they had dispersed the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, they had prevented the bishops from uniting in council, the Bishop of Urgel was exiled as a Carlist, the Bishop of Plasenza was persecuted because he had refused to give an inventory of church property, the Bishop of Avila would have been imprisoned but for fear of the people who threatened to intervene.

The persecutions became so rabid and frequent that Monsignor Franchi, the Papal Nuncio, left Madrid, and diplomatic relations were severed with the Holy See. Moreover, Zavala, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, dared to write to the various governments that the concordat was being faithfully executed, that the contract made with the Holy See was observed, and that the government was religious and pious. The Pontifical Allocution unmasked the falsehood, but did not change the condition of affairs.

ESPARTERO GOVERNMENT FALLS.

The government of Espartero, capable of every evil, incapable of good, finally fell into odium with the people. In 1856 Spain shook off the yoke imposed upon her by the rebels, who had enslaved the Queen and fettered the Church. On September 15, the country returned to its former government, and restored the Constitution of 1845. The new Minister of Grace and Justice recognized the necessity of restoring to honor a clergy vilified by the passions and impetuous discords of the times. The elections to churches were made according to the customs of Catholic Spain, and peace began to smile again upon the religious institutions of the land.

The appointment in October 1856, of Marshal Narvaez, to the presidency of the Council, was an act that promised the restoration of law and order. Narvaez, the Duke of Valencia, was one who knew the meaning of conspiracy, civil war, and revolution. He had seen with his own eyes the sad results of them, and how they impoverished, weakened, and strangled the State. A man of character and firm will, he knew how to form a a cabinet in harmony with his own ideas, and with them he set to work to re-establish order.