17. RELIGION IN ITALY. To repre sent the present state and condition of religious life in Italy is a difficult matter on account of historical and ethnological considerations, and those who have tried to explain this religious life have given expression to the most varied and opposite opinions on the subject. There some who say that in Italy there is not now and never has been a true religious spirit, but on the contrary a constant and universal indifference; that the official religion and the rites of the Roman Catholic Church are nothing but a travesty of pagan ceremonies; that every thing in worship is external and superficial and is a reflection of the sentiment of classic art. and of the political traditions of the Latin races. They say that the Church is a Christian embodiment of the Roman Empire, and of that instinct of government and of domination which Virgil immortalized in a memorable verse.
On the other hand, some maintain that there has always been a current of mystical inspira tion through the ages of Italian history, to gether with the official religion; that evolution ary Catholicism has in Italy as large a follow ing as elsewhere. This is evidenced by the in terest aroused by the condemnation of Loisy, Bonomelli and Fogazzaro; and that Christian Democracy, notwithstanding its recent condem nation by the Pope, still retains the same vitality as was shown during the pontificate of Leo XIII.
The famous formula of Cavour seems to necessitate the absolute divorce of Church and State ; and the indifference of the State to all that concerns the religious conscience of the Italian people is undoubted.
In France the rupture of the concordat and the subsequent anti-religious proceedings of the government threatened to lead to an open con flict between the Church, jealous of her pre rogative, and a government which was not only secular but even hostile to religion. In Italy, on the other hand, the secular sentiment of the government is indifference to all that concerns religion. Religious neutrality has been con verted into religious annihilation.
This attitude of careless indifference induces political weakness, and is the cause of serious difficulties for the government, as well as for the Italian people.
The problem of divorce is one of many questions in regard to which the instability of our ecclesiastical polity is a source of danger to the country. There are also serious difficul ties in Italy's international relations, especially with the heads of Catholic governments. Not withstanding the Law of Guaranty the rela tions between Church and State still remain indefinite on many points. The responsibility of the ecclesiastical authorities for the care and protection of the works of art which every where adorn the churches has never been de fined by law; religious instruction is imparted in the schools in some communities, while in others it is excluded. This confusion will re sult in obliging the State to take charge of the primary schools, owing to the fact that the government never took a firm stand on this problem.
The danger to public morals and to the family life of the citizens is still greater, on account of the uncertain relationship between civil and ecclesiastical marriages; and although there was a discussion in the Senate a few years ago about the draft of a law advocating the precedence of civil marriages, matters re mained as they were before, the Senate relying on the old maxim, "Let sleeping dogs lie." But in this case there can be no rest. As the clergy frequently perform the religious ceremony of marriage when there are previous obligations and liaisons, cases of civil concubi nage are frequent, and there is no way of pre venting eventual desertion. This deplorable state of affairs, equally lamented by both parties, can only be remedied by conquering the hostility to civil marriage; an unjustifiable hos tility because in its religious aspect the sacra ment with its solemn character would give the final sanction to a contract founded chiefly on personal interest.