Villanova Digital Library - Published Article, "A Plea For the Seminaries of France" By: Elizabeth Sarah Kite, [n.d.].

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Full Title	Published Article, "A Plea For the Seminaries of France" By: Elizabeth Sarah Kite, [n.d.].
Author	Kite, Elizabeth Sarah, 1864-1954.
Date Added	9 January 2014
Format	Article
Language	English
Source	ACHS Elizabeth Sarah Kite.[Box 2, Folder 1, Item 29]
Topic	Theological seminaries > France. World War, 1914-1918 > Religious aspects. War > Religious aspects > Catholic Church.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR A PLEA FOR THE SEMINARIES OF FRANOE. We publish herewith an appeal which comes from a writer who was witness in France of the desolation in the parishes on the war line. The Clergy of France, with a certain national pride which calls for respect, have abstained from seeking aid abroad for the rebuilding of their broken homes and churches. But they plead for a filling-up of the ranks of their priesthood, the gaps caused by the loss of those who gave their lives in battle. To revive the religious fervor of that Church which once was proud to claim the title of First Daughter of Rome, a fresh impulse of the priestly apostolate is needed. Hence the plea of France for the reconstruction of its lost seminaries. One of the most touching incidents in this connexion during the war, and one which shows the beautiful spirit of Catholic and of priestly international brotherhood, was the action, amidst the bloody struggle, of the present Archbishop of Cologne, Dr. K. J. Schulte. As he visited the camps of the French prisoners on the Rhine to comfort them in their dis- tress and offer them spiritual as well as temporal aid, he found among the French captives a number of young soldiers who had been taken from the seminaries on the eve of their ordin- ation. Having ascertained their wish to be priests, he applied promptly to the French authorities, and simultaneously to the Holy Father, for permission to ordain the young candidates, in order that they might console and spiritually assist their countrymen in durance vile. He at the same time requested that they receive the military rank of officers in the French army, so as to strengthen their authority among those of their countrymen who might not otherwise recognize the value of the priestly dignity. . Thus the German Archbishop was the first to turn the fruits of the war to the spiritual advantage of its victims. We feel assured that the same noble motives which prompted the act of the Catholic prelate in behalf of the young candidates for the priesthood will second the appeal of the venerable Cardinal Archbishop of Rheims. In the light of these statements the following communication will be rightly appreciated by our readers, whatever their national allegiance, just as it has been in the case of the little children for whom the Holy Father