RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Los von Bom
Helvetic, mainly the former, or the Old Catholic Church. Up to the end of 1908 over 51,000 had become Protestants and about 16,000 Old Catholics, besides a large number that worship in the Protestant churches who are prevented by fear of persecution from publicly enrolling themselves as Protestants. The conversions to Protestantism have during the past few years remained steadily about 4,500 annually, and the movement shows no sign of abating. See Austria.
In the German Empire (see Germany) there has
been a growing movement away from Rome for
many years while the conversions to Romanism
have shown very slight increase. In
3. Ger- the year 1890 3,105 Roman Catholics many and became Protestants, in 1895 3,895, in
France. 1900 6,143, in 1905 9,339; while in the same years the conversions to Romanism were respectively 554, 588, i"01, and 793. In the seventies the gains and losses of Protestantism were about equal. Mixed marriages, which at one time used in Germany and Austria to result almost invariably in gains to the Church of Rome, now generally mean gains to Protestantism. The losses in Germany from this cause alone for recent years have been estimated by a Roman Catholic authority as over 100,000, and the entire losses for the nineteenth century as at least a million. The revolt from Rome, though different in its nature, has been no less marked in France. It has there led to a considerable secession among the ranks of the priests. In 1895 Andre" Bourrier, an able priest in the south of France, abandoned the Roman Church, and became two years later minister of the Protestant Church of Sevres-Bellevue. He started a paper, Le Chretien Frangais, which soon obtained a large circulation among the French priests, and through it he became the leader of an extensive revolt of the priests of France, which is one of the most remarkable of recent religious movements. His aim at first was the formation of a National Catholic Church, free from the tyranny and superstitions of Rome. The course of events has convinced him of the futility of hoping for a reformed Roman Catholic Church, and he is now working not for the organization of such a national Church, but for the conversion of Roman Catholics to Protestantism. His paper has at the same time changed its title to Le Chretien. A somewhat similar work was carried on by another converted priest, Corneloup, in connection with his paper Le Pritre converti. When the Separation Act was passed (1905) M. Meillon, Corneloup 's successor, plunged into an agitation for the formation of " Associations cultuelles " by priests, and the consequent organization of an independent national Church, but the attempt failed. M. Meillon 's work has been taken up with more success by M. Revoyre and his paper Le ChrHien Libre. There are no authentic statistics of the secessions from the priesthood, but those who are well informed believe that they amount to over a thousand, perhaps not far short of 1,500. A large proportion of these have become Protestants and some of them are working as pastors and Evangelists. Many have lapsed from Christian belief, but felt unable to continue preaching a creed they had
ceased to hold, and have turned to civil life. The growth of Protestantism among the French people in numbers and influence has been considerable, but in the absence of religious statistics it can not be accurately estimated. Leading Roman Catholics are not blind to its reality, and have begun to speak in alarm of " the Protestant peril." This new movement from Rome, like that of the sixteenth century, has been closely associated with a fight with the monasteries. This struggle has reached a crisis first in France and has there issued in the dissolution of the greater number of them and the transfer of the education of the people to government schools. The attitude of the Church of Rome toward the monasteries and the schools convinced the leading French statesmen that it was necessary to disestablish that Church, and an act for that purpose was carried in 1905. It was thought that this act would lead to a secession of those priests and congregations who were restive under the spiritual tyranny of Rome, but the provision that the associations to which the Church property was transferred must be in connection with the general organization of the form of worship they propose to secure, prevented to a large extent the occurrence of a schism. The pope refused to allow the formation of the proposed associations for the management of the churches and other ecclesiastical property. Consequently the State seized the presbyteries, seminaries, and other buildings, and many of these have been put to secular uses. The Vatican apparently assumed that the government would also close the churches and thereby cause a reaction on the plea of religious persecution. But the government has not done so, and the priests have been allowed to continue their services, but the State endowments which were to have continued for four years have ceased on account of the refusal of the Church to accept the act. Some two or three hundred congregations have formed associations and have thereby set the papal decision at defiance. These may form the nucleus of a wider schism on those lines, but the outlook in that direction is not encouraging.
There is not space to follow the movement in detail through the different Roman Catholic countries. In Belgium there is a vigorous and growing mission church, almost exclusively 4. Other composed of converts from Roman- Countries, ism and their children. In Italy the last half-century has seen a great revival of the Waldensian Church and the spreading of its organization and activities all over the peninsula, as well as the prosecution of mission work by different English and American churches. In Spain there was a promising revolt against the Church of Rome immediately after the granting of liberty of worship in 1868, but it was soon arrested and since then the work of Protestantism has been the slow and often discouraging gathering of units. But during the last few years there have been frequent manifestations of dissatisfaction with the papal domination, and a growing agitation against the power of the monasteries. Even Portugal has begun to move; greater liberty has been granted, and a recent decision of the supreme court has al-
Los von Horn
Lots, Hebrew Use of