John Ronge; The Holy Coat of Treves; New German-Catholic Church

by Johannes Ronge; Anonymous

But by far the most important element in the movement, and, in fact, that which has determined its subsequent direction, has been the following letter of John Ronge, priest in Silesia, dated Laurahütte, 1st October 1844, and entitled, "Opinion of the Catholic Priest John Ronge, on the Holy Coat of Treves:"

Laurahütte, October 1st.

Opinion of a Catholic Priest in regard to the Holy Tunic at Treves.

"Christians of the nineteenth century,—you have heard—you know it—men of Germany—you know it—spiritual and temporal teachers of the German people, that what would once upon a time have sounded in our ears as a fable or a fiction—is neither a fiction nor a fable, but real truth and verity. Bishop Arnoldi of Treves has exhibited for the adoration and reverence of Christians, a garment called the Tunic of our Lord!

"According to the last account, five hundred thousand persons have already made a pilgrimage to see this relic, and every day fresh thousands flock to it, especially since the garment in question is found capable of curing diseases and working miracles.

"The news has spread among the people of all lands, while certain priests in France maintain that they alone possess the real tunic of Christ, and that the one at Treves is an imposture. Truly the saying here applies,—'He who can occupy his mind about such things without losing his reason, has none to lose.' Five hundred thousand men—five hundred thousand intelligent Germans have—already hastened to see or to adore a piece of dress at Treves! The greater number of these thousands are from the lower orders of the people, and, besides, in deepest poverty,—oppressed, uneducated, stupid, superstitious, and in part demoralized. They leave the cultivation of their fields, the labour of their workshops, the care of their households, the education of their children, to take part in a Heathen festival at Treves—a disgraceful spectacle, which the Romish Church displays before their eyes. Yes, it is a Heathen festival, for many thousands of the credulous multitude to render to a piece of dress,—the work of human hands,—that regard and adoration which are due to God alone. And what pernicious consequences must follow from these pilgrimages! Thousands of the pilgrims deprive themselves of the necessaries of life to raise the money for their journey, and the offering which they make to the Holy Tunic—that is, to the clergy. They purchase it by sacrifices of their comfort, or by begging—only to starve on their return; to suffer want, or to fall sick in consequence of the fatigues of the journey. If these external results are sufficiently melancholy, the moral consequences are far more so. Will not many of them, reduced to want by the expenses of their journey, endeavour to relieve themselves by unlawful means?

"Many wives and virgins sacrifice their purity of heart, their reputation, and their chastity, destroying thus the peace, the happiness, and comfort of their families.

"In fine, this most unchristian exhibition but creates an inlet for superstition, hypocrisy, and fanaticism, with all the vice that follows in their train. Such is the blessing spread abroad by the exhibition of the Holy Tunic, and it is a matter but of small moment whether it be genuine or false.

"And the man who publicly displays this piece of dress—the work of human hands—for reverent regard—who leads astray the religious feelings of the credulous, ignorant, or suffering people—giving thereby an impulse to vice and superstition—who wrings their substance from the poor and starving multitude—who entails on Germany the ridicule of other lands, and who draws more close together the heavy clouds which float already dark and dismally above our heads—this man is a bishop, a German bishop. It is Arnoldi, Bishop of Treves!

"Arnoldi, Bishop of Treves, I therefore turn to you, and demand, by authority of my office and calling as a priest and teacher of the German people—in the name of Christendom, in the name of the German nation, and in the name of its instructors—that you put an end to the unchristian spectacle of the exhibition of the Holy Tunic—and withdraw this garment, that the offence which it has given may not be still increased! For, do you not know—as bishop you ought to know—that the Founder of the Christian religion left to his disciples and his followers not his coat but his spirit?—his coat, Bishop Arnoldi of Treves, belongs to his executioners! Do you not know—as bishop you ought to know—that Jesus taught—'God is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth?' and He may be worshipped everywhere, not only in the temple at Jerusalem, on the Mount Gerizim, or at Treves, in presence of the holy tunic; do you not know—as bishop you ought to know—that the Gospel expressly forbids the adoration of every image and of every relic? that Christians in the Apostolic age, and in the three first centuries, suffered neither images nor relics in their churches (and they might have had plenty of them)? that the worship of images and relics is a Heathen custom, and that the Fathers in the first three centuries abused the Heathens on account of it? We read, for instance, (Div. inst. 11., c. 2,) 'Neither do these besotted men understand that if the images possessed life and motion, they would rather worship the man by whom they had been formed.' Lastly, do you not know—as bishop you ought to know this also—that the vigorous and healthy mind of the German people was first degraded to the worship of relics by the Crusades in the 13th and 14th centuries? when the exalted conception of the Godhead which Christianity inculcates, had been obscured by all the lying marvels brought from eastern lands? Hark ye! Bishop Arnoldi of Treves, you know all this, and better probably than I can tell it to you. You also know the effects which superstition and the idolatrous adoration of relics have worked among us, namely, the religious and political bondage of Germany; and yet, you can display your relics to the admiration of the multitude. And were it even possible you should be ignorant of all that I have told you,—that the salvation of souls was your sole aim in the exhibition of this Holy Tunic,—you would, notwithstanding, have two sins upon your conscience. In the first place, it is unpardonable, if the garment in question actually possess saving power, that you have withhold its benefits from suffering men until the present time. And, secondly, it is unpardonable that you accept the offerings of these countless multitudes. And is it not unpardonable that you, as bishop, should accept of money from our poor and starving people, especially when you have seen, not many weeks ago, that hundreds have been driven by necessity to mutiny, despair, and death? Do not allow yourself to be deceived by the influx of thousands upon thousands, but, believe me, that while hundreds of thousands of the German people hasten with holy fervour (?) to Treves, millions, like myself, are filled with horror and the deepest indignation by the disgraceful spectacle. And this indignation prevails not in individual ranks and parties, but among all classes—even in the Catholic priesthood. Judgment will overtake you, therefore, sooner than you think. Arnoldi! the historian is already seizing his pen, to submit your name to the contempt of your contemporaries and of posterity, and stigmatizes you as the Tetzel of the nineteenth century!