Many priests
fled before the German armies. But the pastoral letter of Cardinal
Mercier restored to the Church its old leadership. In him conquered
Belgium had found a voice.
On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read out the
Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers in the
churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to reach the ears
of the authorities, and the Germans were taken completely by surprise.
Immediately orders came from headquarters prohibiting further
circulation of the letter, and ordering that every copy should be
surrendered to the authorities. Soldiers at the bayonet's point extorted
the letter from the priests, and those who had read it were put under
arrest. Yet, somehow, copies of the letter were circulated throughout
Belgium, and every Belgian took new heart.
As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action was a very delicate
matter. They could not arrest and imprison so great a dignitary of the
Church for fear of the effect, not only upon the Catholics of the outer
world, but on the Catholics in their own empire. An officer was sent to
the Cardinal to demand that the letter be recalled. The Cardinal
refused. He was then notified that it was desired that he remain in his
palace for the present. His confinement lasted only for a day.
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