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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THE HOLY OFFICE AND THE “Y”
You ask: “What grievance has the Catholic
Church against the Y. M. C. A.?” You should rather
ask: “What grievance has the Y. M. C. A. against the
Catholic Church?”
Hostility is all on the side of the “Y” towards the
Catholic Church and not vice versa. In a half cen
tury no official pronouncement was made by the Cath
olic Church against the “Y.” The latest criticism
was directed against their religious work among Cath
olics. The same letter contained praises of its benefi
cent work.
The Catholic .Church, the oldest and largest body
of Christians in the world, is not recognized as Chris
tian at all by the Y. M. C. A. Catholics will not be
accepted into membership of the “Y” on the same
footing with Protestants.
John R. Mott, head of the International Y. M. C. A.,
said two years ago:
“Prior to this evangelical work the Y. M. C. A.
had a few score of clergymen employed as secretaries,
Now we have over 3,000 ordained secretaries. . . .
In the Italian Army we have placed most dynamic
literature . . . and when the story of the war is
written, if the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. are
not on record as the identified Evangelical Church of
America, then I and many others will hand in our
resignations, for the ‘Y* will have lost its interest.”
William O. Easton, Executive Secretary of the “Y”
in Philadelphia, says:
“It must be clearly understood that Catholic boys
coming to the Y. M. C. A. should do so with a full
realization of the fact that the Protestant aspect of
the Christian religion is not soft-pedaled by the asso
ciation. The Y. M. C. A. stands squarely upon the
Protestant faith, and in all its religious activities def
initely presents the Protestant viewpoint. The or
ganization never made a secret of this; it proclaimed
and proclaims it freely and fully.”
H. W. Stone, chairman of the Educational Council
of Y. M. C. A. Schools, says:
“The activities of the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation embody Protestantism lived in every-day life."
(The Sunday Visitor.)
The translation of the decree follows:
‘‘The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinals who to
gether with the. undersigned are Inquisitors General in mat
ters of faith and morals, desire the Bishops to note with
vigilant attention the activity of certain newly-formed non-
Catholic organizations which, aided by their adherents in every
country, have for a long time been laying snares of a most
dangerous sort for our Catholic people and especially for our
Catholic youth. While they provide facilities of every kind
under the guise of physical training and of intellectual and
moral culture, m reality they shatter the integrity of Catholic
faith and wrest her children from the arms of Mother Church.
“Considering indeed that these associations are supported
by the good will, the resources and the active co-operation of
highly influential persons, and that they render efficient service
in various lines of beneficence, it is not surprising that they
deceive inexperienced minds who fail to detect their inward
nature and purpose. But their true character can no longer
be matter of doubt for any one who is well informed; their
aims, hitherto but gradually revealed, are now openly declared
in pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals which serve as their
means of publicity. Their avowed object is the intellectual
and moral culture of young men through educative processes;
and this culture, which for them is religion, they define as
unlimited freedom of thought quite apart from any form of
religion or denomination whatsoever. Thus, under the pretext
of enlightening youthful minds, they turn them away from
the teaching authority of the Church, the divinely established
beacon of truth, and persuade them to seek in the depths of
their own consciousness, and hence within the narrow range
of human reason, the light which is to guide them.
Students Chief Members.
“It is chiefly students—young men and young women—
who are drawn into such snares. They, above all others, need
help and direction in order to learn Christian truth and to
preserve the faith handed down from their forefathers. In
stead, they fall into the hands of men by whom they are rob
bed of their great inheritance and gradually led away until
they hesitate between opposing opinions, then come to doubt
about everything and finally content themselves with a vague
indefinite form of religion which is altogether different from
the religion preached by Jesus Christ.
“Far greater, however, is the harm done to those—too
many, alas!—who, through the neglect or ignorance of their
parents, have not received at home that earliest instruction
in the truths of faith which above all else the Christian needs.
In consequence, they forsake the Sacraments, give up the
practice of piety, grow accustomed to pass judgment with
absolute freedom upon all things even the most sacred, and
finally sink into religious indifferentism so-called which, re
peatedly condemned by the Church, involves denial of all re-
. ligion.
“Thus, in the flower of their youth, groping without a
guide amid the darkness and distress of doubt, they wither
away; the rejection of a single dogma is sufficient to make
shipwreck of faith. If, indeed, they still retain some vestige
of piety—a word upon their lips or a fading trace in their
hearts; if they show no little eagerness for doing good—this
is readily explained: it is the result of inveterate habit, of
kind and tender dispositions, or of a purely human and
natural virtue which of itself does not avail to the gaining of
eternal life.
Y. M. C. A. Named.
“Among these organizations it will suffice to mention one,
the parent of many others and the most widely known of all
(owing especially to its work in relieving large numbers of
those ,upon whom the war brought suffering) and the most
fully equipped with means—the organization known as the
Young Men’s Christian Association, or. in briefer form, the
Y. M. C. A. To this society, non-Catholics, acting in good
faith, unwittingly gave their co-operation, regarding it as
beneficial to all or at any rate as harmful to none; while
some Catholics of the more easy-going kind lend it their sup
port without knowing what it really is. This association, it
is true, professes a genuine love for young men as though it
had nothing more deeply at heart than to further their
physical and spiritual welfare. But at the same time it un
dermines their faith inasmuch as it claims to purify that faith
and to impart a better knowledge of true living “above every
church and independently of all denominational belief what
soever.’’ (See the pamphlet published by the Central Agency
of the Y. M. C. A. in Rome: ‘What the Y. M. C. A. Is,
What It Proposes to Do, Etc.’) And yet, what good can
be looked for from those who fling away their faith and, after
resting securely in the fold of Jesus Christ, wander afar'
whithersoever desire or temper may lead them.
“You, therefore, one and all, whom the Lord has charged
in a special manner with the government of His flock, are
urged by this Sacred Congregation to exert your utmost zeal
in preserving Catholic young men from the contagion spread
abroad by these organizations whose very benefactions, ex
tended in Christ’s name, endanger the Christian’s most price
less possessions, the grace of Christ. Warn the unwary;
steady those who are wavering in faith. Arm with Christian
spirit and vigor the societies of young men and young women
which are already established and organize others of the same
kind. And in order that they may have the means to coun
teract their opponents, appeal for aid to those among the
faithful who can and will give of their abundance. Exhort also
the pastors and the directors of your young men’s associations
to an energetic performance of their duties. In particular,
through, books and pamphlets, let them check the spread of
error, lay bare the schemes and wiles of their enemies and
furnish suitable aid to those who are zealous for the truth.
Episcopal Action Urged.
“It will be your duty, then, in your episcopal conferences
to deal with this matter as its seriousness demands and adopt
such measures as your united counsels may suggest. In this
connection the Sacred Congregation judges it opportune that
the Bishops in each country should state publicly that the
newspapers, periodicals, and other writings of the associa
tions in question which aim at spreading among our Catholic
people the errors of rationalism and religious indifferentism,
are expressly forbidden by the law of the Church. (See the
Code of Canon Law, Can. 1384, p. 2; 1399, p. 4.) Such pub
lications are, among others, ‘Fede et Vita’ (Faith and Life) a
monthly review of religious culture, organ of the Italian Fed
eration of Students for Religious Culture, San Remo ; Bilychuis,
a monthly review of religious studies, Rome; II Testimonioi
review of the Italian Baptist Churches, Rome.
“Metropolitans will see to it that whatever is decided upon
and put into effect in each Diocese as its conditions require,
shall be reported to the Apostolic See within six months.
“Given at the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome on the
•fifth day of November, 1920.
“R. CARD. MERRY DEL VAL,
“Secretary.’’