The people of Alsace-Lorraine are naturally much offended with the
Bishop of Strasburg, Monsignor Riiss, for declaring in the German Reichstag at Bbrlin, whither he was sent as a represen- tative, that the Roman Catholics of these countries "have no wish to question the validity of a treaty concluded between two of the great Powers of Europe." Herr Pouget, another member for the annexed provinces, and a Catholic member, repudiated the following day the right of the Bishop to speak for the Roman. Catholics of his diocese, and • indeed the Bishop has since been called upon by his constituents to resign his place in the Reichstag for so completely misrepresenting their views. But- what could the Catholics expect, if they deputed a Bishop as their spokesman ? The Catholic Church has always recognised as binding the treaties of Sovereigns, without demanding that they- be ratified by plebiscites,• and the Catholic Church does not mix- itself up needlessly with politics, unless exclusively to promote its own interests. The personages of so great an institution make bad deputies. The deputy is sure to be lost in the ecclesiastic.
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