The Catholic World, Vol. 27, April 1878 to September 1878Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 27, April 1878 to September 1878
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
The diocese of Paderborn is one of the largest in Germany. Its bishop,
Dr. Conrad Martin, has just published a little work[10] which may vie
with Silvio Pellico’s _Le mie Prigioni_, being an account of a three
years’ banishment from his see. It is not “poetry _and_ truth,” remarks
the writer of this pamphlet in his preface, “but only the truth which is
written down in these pages.”[11] And true to his statement, the bishop
tells us in dispassionate language of his captivity, of its joys and
sorrows, of the friends who were so true to him in his adversity, of the
whole Catholic Church, who shared his banishment in a measure, and of
that most august prisoner whose sympathy is so freely given to his
suffering brethren, and whose captivity is in itself, perhaps, a pledge
that they too must taste of his own chalice.
With the presentiment of future events, or rather of the storm which was
about to break over their pastor on account of the _Kulturkampf_, the
people of Paderborn came in large numbers in the spring of 1874 to
assure him of their love and devotion. The demonstration began on the
25th of March, when the train deposited five thousand pilgrims in the
ancient city of Paderborn. They repaired to the bishop’s house, and
terminated the meeting by simultaneously falling on their knees to
recite aloud the Apostles’ Creed. These deputations lasted for two
months, and on one occasion the number of deputies amounted to fifteen
thousand. It is not an insignificant fact to see how well and bravely
the flock stood by the pastor in his hour of need. But at last the cloud
burst. Repeated infringements of the May Laws were laid to the bishop’s
charge; and the fine in proportion rose to a sum altogether beyond his
means, and a corresponding term of imprisonment was the only
alternative. Here an unknown, and therefore doubly generous, benefactor
interposed, and paid the money required without the bishop’s knowledge.
But, to use his own simple language, Dr. Martin, “from higher
considerations, thought he could not accept the benefit,” and protested
against it,[12] whereas the local authority said that he could. At last
an answer came from Berlin deciding that he should submit himself to
imprisonment. As the bishop would not consent to that, force was used,
and on the 4th of August, 1874, he was taken from his house through a
dense crowd of sympathizers to his prison, where he was witness of a
scene “not to be described by words.” Bouquets of flowers fell at his
feet from all sides, and the steps leading up to the abode of his sorrow
were thick with them. Two works had been near his heart as a pastor—the
establishment of ecclesiastical institutions for the fitting education
of the clergy, and the labor of love which is expressed by the perpetual
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This touching devotion was therefore
one of the first-fruits of his own workings, and it has become widely
known through the world. But never before had the bishop of Paderborn
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