This was the law, variously called the Brodkorbgesetz, the Sperrgesetz and the like, which was passed on April 22, 1875, with the hope thereby of starving the priesthood of Germany into submission.
On May 13, 1875, the minister Falk brought forth another law placing under the power of the State all sales and alienations of ecclesiastical properties and of pious foundations. A law of June 20 gave to the State the temporal administration of Catholic parishes; it was a law very much like that of the present French regime which would impose associations cultuelles upon the French churches. On July 4 came a still more iniquitous ordinance, regulating "the rights of the Old Catholics to the property of the churches." Thereby these sectaries were authorized to claim a part of the usufruct of parochial properties, and to employ in their services the use of Catholic churches and vestments.
If a pastor or curate should apostatize to this sect he might claim possession of the rectory and church, which at his death would pass into the hands of the Old Catholics, should they be in the majority. In fact, in some places, such as Bochum and Wiesbaden, the Catholics were expelled from their Church by a very small minority of the sectaries.
On February 18, 1876, the priest was deprived of the right of directing Catholic instruction in the primary schools. On June 7, of the same year, the State claimed formally the right of surveillance over the administration of the property of the Catholic Church.
There was little more that the State could now do to subjugate Catholic faith short of absolute murder. The Kulturkampf had reached its most critical stage. It was, indeed, a moment when the human pride of the persecutors impelled them to boast of their crimes, and promise, if it were possible, greater exactitude in the future. The Chancellor could declare, in 1877, that the Kulturkampf was then at its zenith. In consequence it was time to look for that civilization which Virchow had prophesied as its ultimate result. Its real fruits were not what Bismarck or his Protestant clientele would have wished.
A new order had arisen in Germany, an order of unrest and anarchy which manifested its existence in a manner not at all to the liking of the ruling powers. Thus, on May 11, 1878, the Socialist Hoedel attempted the life of the Emperor, and the crime was repeated by Nobiling a few weeks after, on June 2. Even Protestantism felt the destructive force of the blow aimed at Catholicity. There were hardly any more marriages performed by Protestant ministers; their temples were deserted; their pastors openly attacked the divinity of Christ, while everywhere like a shadow of death a reign of crime and immorality rested upon the population.
TURN OF THE TIDE.
The country at length began to awaken to a sense of the criminality of those laws which it had imposed upon an inoffensive people. Even the Gazette of the Cross, the organ of the orthodox conservatives, could say: "It is through the Kulturkampf that we have encountered our moral and material miseries, miseries that are evident in every part of the German Empire. It is only by renouncing the Kulturkampf, and the ideas which brought it forth, that we can hope to escape from our embarrassments. Such is our opinion, and it is becoming more general every day. Where there is a will there is a way." The Gazette but echoed the sentiments of nearly all the German Protestants who had retained anything of Christian faith, and in consequence a demand was sounded throughout the Empire for a cessation of the persecution.
Bismarck, himself, though still wedded to his hope of dominating the spiritual life of the Church, saw clearly that his methods had proven abortive. Hence, from 1878 onward, the trend of governmental action proceeded slowly but surely towards a reconciliation with the Catholic elements in the nation. Moreover, it was becoming more and more evident that the Government needed the co-operation of the Catholics in curbing the spirit of revolution now making itself heard above the clamor of intrigue and oppression.
It was not surprising, therefore, that Prince Bismarck should turn to the Holy See for succor in his difficulty. Mgr. Masella, the papal nuncio at Munich, afterwards Cardinal, was therefore invited to Berlin to confer upon matters touching the relations of Church and State. Such a visit, however, was entirely out of the question as long as the laws against Catholics continued in vigor. The Chancellor contrived nevertheless to arrange a meeting at the baths of Kissingen, but without arriving at any satisfactory agreement. The Prince then sent his representative, Count Hübner, to Vienna to confer with the papal nuncio at that Court, Mgr. Jacobini. Again negotiations were opened at Gastein in the duchy of Salzburg, but like the others came to naught, as the papal representative refused conciliation as long as the May Laws should continue.