Caesar Alloquitur: Germany

Remember when Germania was this awesome? The Kaiser remembers.

Germany was once the heartland of the Holy Roman Empire, the successor-state of the Carolingian Empire that laid the foundation for what would become Christendom.

I posted an article on the Facebook page recently. After going through and reading it thoroughly, the closing remarks are what interested me most.

The bishops have repeatedly complained of the loss of membership and blame the Church’s refusal to change teachings such as that on divorce, the reservation of priestly ordination to men and clerical celibacy. The German media, however, has pointed to the clerical sex abuse scandals as a major motivator for the refusal of Catholics to continue paying the tax levy. In 2011, 126,488 Catholics asked to be removed from registers.

What is this tax levy they're talking about, you ask? Well, the German Church has a rather efficient way of obtaining tithes from members. On their tax forms, German citizens identify with a certain church. They pay a tax of sorts that goes to that church. It's a rather effective system, if you ask me. How on earth the Catholic Church got that kind of voice after the Kulturkampf of Bismarck which effectively De-Catholicized the country, I don't know, aside from a miracle of God.

"Between Berlin and Rome", with Bismarck on the left and the Pope on the right Kladderadatsch, 1875

In any case, this highlights something very interesting for me. I'm a very, "read between the lines" sort of individual. I don't take things at face value, and I don't automatically assume that any action is completely isolated from affecting things other than what it was originally aimed at. For example, one can note simply from meditation and observation the temporal benefits of a society which abides by the teaching of the Church, even if some of those temporal benefits were not expressly spoken of when the teaching was proclaimed.

In other words, Cardinal Walter Kaspar - a very big proponent of this change - isn't suggesting we re-instate divorced and re-married Catholics into the Church and allow them to participate in the Sacraments simply because he's all magnanimous and an enemy of those meany-head Authentic Catholics and all their rules. He's concerned about his bottom line.

Doubtless, every church needs to function, and it's a big problem if they don't have the funds to keep churches open. But this isn't the way to solve the problem. Are we so quick to forget the story of how Christ always provided for the Apostles? He obtained them money to pay taxes, food to feed themselves, even when any pencil-pushing accountant would've said their books were all out of whack and they needed to seriously re-asses themselves. But the Apostles kept the faith, and as long as they did when they were with Christ, everything was taken care of. It was hardly glamorous, but hey, they lived. They saved souls. That's about all that matters, right?

The Apostles could make one sermon and with that one sermon three thousand converts. We can preach three thousand sermons and not make a single convert. Why do you suppose that is? I think it's got something to do with how we go about it. I saw a video recently of a poet speaking one of his poems at a poetry club. In essence, the whole point of it was that we as a society have lost our eloquence and conviction when we speak. We don't say anything with certainty; we avoid declarative statements. I think that's a problem a lot of Church men have; they are afraid of being labeled this or that or the other. The Apostles didn't fear that. The Prophets didn't fear that. Christ didn't fear that. I will beg the Churchmen of today to stop dishonoring your fore-bearers. Stand for truth. I'm sure there are millions around the world who would donate to the German Church, if it's struggling that much to make ends meet to where you'd be willing to do your job poorly in order to get it.

I beseech the Imperials to say a prayer for the German Church, that it might return to tradition and strive to be authentic in its Catholic Faith. I know at times for men like us we're used to being told, "Shut up and go pray about it, why don't you?" It riles the blood, because we want to do more than pray. I too struggle sometimes with the very action of prayer, as my soul and heart is imbued with the desire to do more than be on my knees. But as soldiers in the foxholes eager to shoot back at the enemy, we must wait for the word from On High before we let them have it. Say your rosaries, go to Mass, pray for the Church. Donate to your local parish, and keep the Faith alive.


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Methniks Germania is in need of a Saint Boniface right now. It might be a wise idea to say a prayer to him for Germany.