Public opinion throughout Norway is very favorable to Catholics and all the relations of the latter with the civil authorities are most cordial. The churches and schools are exempt from taxation, and this fact, which may seem quite insignificant to American readers, seems to us French the height of liberality. Another evidence of the good disposition of the nation was evidenced on the death of Leo XIII. The members of the government officially sent their sympathy to Bishop Falize and officially also, as a body, assisted at the funeral services held at Christiania. Moreover, in 1903, a zealous Catholic, prominent as a catechist, was elected deputy to the Storthing from the province of Nordland, and his colleagues in the House later nominated him as a member of the Committee of Public Worship.

The Norwegians, a sincere and loyal people, if there be such on earth, certainly accept their false religion in perfect good faith. How could they have been enlightened as to the falsity of the Lutheran doctrines which they hold since, for more than three centuries, not a single priest entered their country? They had come to believe that Catholicism, according to one of Luther's prophecies, had disappeared entirely from the face of the earth. No greater astonishment could be imagined than that shown by some peasants of Hitterdal when they learned that Catholics still existed, that there were even some at Christiania, with several priests and a bishop.

An incident that speaks strongly for the sincerity and good will of the Norwegians occurred a few years ago at Aalesund. Bishop Falize had sent there a priest who knew no one in the entire city. The priest inquired of the undermagistrate as to where he might hold a meeting and preach. The official received him cordially and introduced him to a Protestant pastor as one who would best advise him. The pastor likewise gave the Catholic priest a hearty welcome and said: "I will get for you the large meeting hall of the workingmen's union-but on one condition. Don't tell our people the things they have known a long time about Christianity in general, but explain the differences which separate us from Catholicism, so that once and for all their prejudice may die. You would scarcely believe what these good people think of Catholics; they will hardly admit that you are men like the rest of us. Show them that they are mistaken and you will

have done well." The magistrate, the Protestant pastor, and the Catholic priest then proceeded to arrange the programme for the meetings, and the programme was entirely Catholic. Announcements were made in the newspapers. On the evening that the instructions began, the magistrate and the pastor above mentioned occupied seats of honor, and an interested audience filled the large hall. These missionary meetings are not now unusual. They have been held also in Molde and at Kristiansund.

We wish, however, to avoid exaggeration. This goodnatured, honest curiosity did not effect a great number of conversions but, considering the short time that has elapsed since the revival of Catholicism and the minute carefulness with which Norwegians examine religious problems before giving a decision, it is cause for congratulation that the Church has progressed from absolutely nothing to the hopeful conditions that exist to-day. The character and stability, as well as the number, of conversions, must be considered, and when we learn that all are lasting, that many have been made in the families of Protestant ministers, as in 1903 in the case of two learned rectors, Krog Tonning and Sverensen, we have much reason to hope for the future. Even when no definite conversions are made, Catholic influence is of great service to religious progress. Already a change has been experienced in the manner of living, and in the Christian practices which have penetrated to the core of the Protestant churches and lead them little by little towards Catholicism after the manner of English ritualism.

A little less error, a little more devotion, instilled into our separated brethren, is in itself a good which cannot fail to move hearts truly attached to Christ. Catholicism, with all its blessings, will grow quickly in Norway when more missionaries and more money are available. What can twentyfive apostles accomplish in a country so extensive and so difficult to traverse? The number scarcely suffices to make the Church known in the principal cities. They cannot extend their labors to the remote, small towns, yet it is there that they might succeed best, since there a more fervent faith has been preserved. In the great centres of population, rationalism and indifference have already worked great harm; in the smaller communities, and especially in isolated farms, religion

and good morals have preserved the greater portion of their force, and Catholicism would find there a fertile soil for its growth.

I recall with emotion a Mass which I was called upon to celebrate one Sunday in Lærdalsören, at the foot of the Sognefjord, which marks one of the most magnificent scenic portions of all Norway. My joy on that occasion was extreme as I realized the honor that was mine thus to offer, in the land that had so long been ignorant of him, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ; but deep also was my grief as I thought that, for more than three centuries, these people about me had lost the blessing of the Real Presence, and that day I prayed: "Rogate ergo dominum messis ut mittat operarios in messem suam."

Sweden was first converted to Catholicism at about the same time as Norway, that is, the tenth and eleventh centuries. Through Catholicism came also civilization. The Benedictines of Citeaux contributed most to the progress of science, art, commerce, and agriculture. As centuries passed, however, the clergy and the monks became too influential and too wealthy. Too great a prosperity brings in its wake indolence, ignorance, and laxity. When Lutheran teachings were introduced, during the reign of Gustav Wasa, they found confederates even in the cloisters. It was the people who resisted most valiantly the spread of error. "We are astonished," said the king to the peasants in 1544, "at your attachment to your former prelates and your ancient customs. It is for us as a Christian king to be your teacher." This notion, that the people must accept the religion of the king, he sought to impress upon them. The doctrine, so offensive to our modern sentiments, was then widely prevalent. France, by a glorious privilege, was the one country of Europe which would not accept this odious maxim. When the law of inheritence brought a Protestant, Henry IV., to the throne, the French people, far from embracing his religion, forced him to adopt theirs-refused to acknowledge him until he became a Catholic. Swedish persecution finally conquered all resistance, and Catholicism was excluded entirely from the kingdom. Until 1815 there was a sentence of death against all Catholic priests found within the country.

Bernadotte's wife and daughter-in-law, who had remained Catholics, while he and his son embraced Lutheranism, eventually obtained permission for a priest to remain in the country, and for the erection of a chapel at Stockholm. However, the laws which punished with exile and confiscation of property all who left the established church, were not repealed until 1860. As late as 1858, six women, five of them mothers, were condemned to exile and deprived of all civil rights, because they embraced the Catholic faith. But this act of gross intolerance, condemned by all the world and even by the majority of the Protestants of Sweden, brought about the abolition of these unjust laws. The clergy and the nobility which had, up to that time, resisted the liberal measures proposed by the king and approved by the Lower House, yielded at last to the universal demand for a change.

The laws of persecution were only gradually abolished; changes for the better being made in 1860, '69, '70, and particularly in '73. To-day the Lutheran church is the established church, but a popular movement for its disestablishment has been on foot for some time. The liberalism of some and the religious indifference of others are furthering it; only the conservatives, as is the case in England, are opposed to it.

Dissenters may own the land occupied by their churches and cemeteries. When they wish to secure other property, or establish a new parish, they must appeal to the King and he may grant them the right. In fact, the King, since personally he is very liberal, invariably grants such permission, but it may readily be seen how arbitrary and uncertain such a system is. The law of 1873 left in force the interdict issued by former laws against all convents; nevertheless in several cities Catholic Sisters care for patients in their own homes and, by a tacit tolerance, Jesuits direct the three principal parishes of Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg. Norway, on the contrary, grants liberty to all religious orders. Its only law of exclusion is against the Jesuits, and this is not rigidly enforced.

In Sweden all dissenters enjoy liberty of education. The Catholics have profited by this to the full extent of their small means. They have now a boarding school and two orphan asylums for boys, and two schools and three orphan asylums for girls; one house of refuge and three hospitals.

But the little Swedish Church has very limited means, and

owes what it has principally to the voluntary contributions of the faithful and to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, from which it receives annually 14,000 francs ($2,800). In 1860 the Church in Sweden had one apostolic vicar, two missionaries, and one church building. To-day there are, according to the official statistics published in December, 1904, one apostolic vicar, Bishop Albertus Ritter, four native born priests, eleven foreign born missionaries, nine church buildings or chapels distributed through Stockholm, Malmö, Gothenburg, Gefle, Norrköping, Walttena, and Aameberg. The increase in the number of the faithful may be seen from the following table:

The increase is about fifty a year. This is but little in a population of 5,000,000. The slowness of growth must be attributed to the illiberal character of the laws, to the prejudice against the Catholic Church, carefully fostered by the press, and to the ultra conservative spirit of the people who, prone to preserve their customs and their institutions just as they are, are decidedly adverse to any modification. Catholicism prospers best in the most sincerely liberal and progressive countries. Is not this harmony of our faith with modern ideas and institutions most encouraging, and rich in promise for the future?