Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/42

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BRUS


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BRUSA


vision of the Government", that is to say, of the Lutheran church authorities. The Law of 1S4S brought little relief to the Catholics. No ecclesiasti- cal ordinance or pontifical constitution may be published without the government's placet; all Catho- lic congregations were incorporated in Protestant parishes. This last intolerable law was abolished in 1867 for three Catholic parishes, henceforth ' recognized as such by the State, viz., Brunswick, Wolfenbuttel, and Helmstedt, all the others re- maining parts of Protestant parishes. Catholic priests (with the three aforesaid exceptions) may not perform baptisms, marriages, or hold funeral services without giving previous notice to the Protes- tant pastor and obtaining his leave. And no priest, unless duly recognized by the State, may perform any ecclesiastical function without falling under the penalty of the law. Non-recognized priests are even fined for conferring baptism in case of necessity, and for administering the last sacraments. The same intolerance prevails with regard to schools and the education of children of mixed marriages. The State contributes nothing towards the support of Catholic worship. In the year 1864 a law was passed abolishing Stolgebilhren, i. e. all perquisites and fees received by the priest for certain ecclesias- tical functions, such as marriages and funerals, which had previously to be handed over to the Protestant pastor. The general statement, therefore, in the "Kirchenlexicon", that the law of 1S67 has rendered the condition of the Catholics in the Duchy of Brunswick "wholly satisfactory", needs recension; it must be restricted to the three above-named parishes; in the rest of the duchy the condition of Catholics is far from satisfactory. It is for this reason that the Centre Party in the Reichstag has brought in the Toleration Bill, which, if carried, would sweep away all Catholic disabilities through- out the empire, in Brunswick as well as in Meck- lenburg, and in the Kingdom of Saxony.

Iumkl, lluiulburh drr GriH/ruphie (5th ed., Leipzig). IV, , r ,t,s SJ; Brl-ck, Gefichichlr drr kutli. Kirchf in Druhrfdaiul

i?n 19. Jnhrh. (Mainz and Kirchheim), III; Woker in Kirrhm- lex., s. v.; Jansskn-I'astor, Grurh. des deutsch. Volkes (ISth ed., Freiburg), III. Bk. II, xvii; IV, Bk. II. viii. Bk. Ill, xi; StiHiislesikon (2nd ed.), I, s. v. KonversaHons-Lex. (3d ed., Freiburg), s. v. B GuLDNER

Brus, Anton, Archbishop of Prague, b. at Mtig- litz in Moravia, 13 February, 1518; d. 28 August, 1580. After receiving his education at Prague he joined the Knights of tlie Cross with the Red Star, an ecclesiastical order established in Bohemia in the thirteenth century. After his ordination to the priesthood Emperor Ferdinand appointed him chap- lain of the Austrian army, in which capacity he served during the Turkish war (1542-45). He was elected Grand Master General of his order in 1.552, when he was only 34 years of age. In 1558 he became Bishop of Vienna; in 1561 the emperor made him Archbishop of Prague, a see which had remained vacant since 1421 when Archbishop Conrad abandoned his flock and entered the Hussite camp. liming the intervening years the archdiocese was governed by administrators elected by the cathedral chapter. Before Archbishop Brus took possession of his see, Emperor Ferdinand I, who was also King of Bohemia, sent him as Bohemian legate to the Council of Trent (1562). Besides other ecclesias- tical reforms, he urged tin' archbishop to advocate ill-' expediency of permitting the Utraquists, or Calixtines, of Bohemia and adjoining countries to receive the Holy Eucharist under both species; he hoped that alter this concession many of the Utraquists would return to the Catholic Church. The archbishop was ably assisted in his endeavours

li.\ the imperial delegate from Hungary, Bishop

George Draskovich of Funfkirchen (Pecs), and by Baumgartner, the delegate of Duke Albrecht V of Ba-


varia. Brus could not be present at the twenty-first and the twenty-second sessions of the Council, during which this petition of the emperor was discussed. The majority of the fathers of Trent considered it be- yond their power to grant the privilege of lay com- munion under both kinds and referred the matter to Pope Pius IV, who, in a Brief dated 16 April, 1564, granted the petition, with certain restrictions, to the subjects of the emperor and of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria. The Archbishop of Prague was to empower certain priests to administer the Holy Eucharist in both kinds to such of the laity as de- sired it. The faithful who wished to take advantage of this privilege were obliged to profess their belief in the Real Presence of the whole Christ in each species, while the priest at the administration of each species pronounced the formula: "Corpus et sanguis Domini nostri Jesu Christ! custodiant animam tuam in vitam seternam. Amen. " in stead of the customary formula: "Corpus Domini nostri," etc.

The emperor and the archbishop expected great results from this papal concession. Thinking that the Utraquist consistory at Prague would at once accept all Catholic doctrine, the emperor put it under the jurisdiction of the archbishop. Both, however, were soon undeceived. The Utraquist consistory was ready to present its sacerdotal can- didates to the archbishop for ordination, but there his authority was to end. They refused to permit their candidates for the priesthood to undergo an examination on Catholic theology or to give proof of their orthodoxy, and complained to the emperor that the archbishop was infringing upon their rights.

Had Ferdinand not died at this critical moment, the papal concession would perhaps have produced some salutary effects, but under the weak rule of his son Maximilian, who became emperor in 1564, the gulf that separated the Catholics from the Utraquists was continually widening. In order to publish and put into execution the decrees of the Council of Trent, the archbishop intended to convene a provincial synod at Prague; but Maxi- milian, fearing to offend the Bohemian nobility, of whom the majority were Protestants, withheld his consent. Hampered on all sides, the archbishop and the small body of Catholic nobles, despite their almost superhuman efforts, could only postpone the impending crisis. The Utraquists no longer heeded the archbishop's commands, continued to administer the Holy Eucharist to infants, disre- garded many decrees of the Council of Trent, neg- lected sacramental confession — in a word, were steering straight towards Protestantism. After 1572, the archbishop refused to ordain Utraquist candidates, despite the expostulations of Emperor Maximilian. The death of Maximilian (12 October, 1576) brought no relief to the archbishop and his ever-decreasing flock of Catholics. His successor, Emperor Rudolph II. though a good Catholic at heart, was as weak as his predecessor. After the death of Brus the Catholics of Bohemia continued on their downward course until the victory of Ferdinand II over the Winterkonia Frederick V at the White Mountain near Prague (^ November, 1620).

Frind, Gtschichle drr BischBf / Brzbuchdfe mm Prag

(Prague, IS731. ISL' IS!>; ll.nn.wv m Kirrh.nhr.. ■. \ . raphy in Ornlrrrru hixche \ u rteljahrechrift fQr knth. '1 > (Vienna, 1S74). ,. -,

MICHAEL Ott.

Brusa, a titular see of Bithynia in Asia Minor. According to Strabo, XII, iv, the city was founded by King Prusias, who carried on war with Croesus; according to Stephanos Byzantius, by another Prusias. contemporary of Cyrus, so that it would have been

founded in the sixth century It. C. It is more proba- ble thai it was founded by, and was named after, Prusias, King of Bithynia and Hannibal's friend,

237-192 b.c. Situated in a beautiful, well watered,