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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
CATHOLIC EDUCATION.
To An Inquirer:
Dear Sir: Regarding the slogan of
the Catholic Educational Association
—“Every Catholic child in a Catholic
School,”—which you asked if we
endorse.
Yes, we endorse that, as we would
endorse a like slogan of any other
denomination, “Every Baptist child
in a Baptist School,” for example.
And I would endorse the slogan
“Baptist teachers in Baptist
Schools,” “Methodist teachers in
Methodist Schools” and the like.
But your slogan, “Non-Catholic
teachers in rion-Catholic schools,"
'—is not a logical apposite. What
you mean is “non-sectarian teachers
in non-sectarian schools.”
Y'ou wish to exclude Catholic
teachers from the public schools,
which you call “non-Catholic;” hut
the public schools are also, 11011-
Baptist, non-Methodist, etc., so in
order to he consistent, you must
include in your slogan the Baptist,
the Methodist, the Presbyterian and
all other teachers having denomin
ational beliefs, and exclude them
along with the Catholics from the
public schools.
At least, until Catholics no longer
help support the public schools as
a common institution. So long as
they do that it is truly religious
prejudice to wish to exclude Cath
olic teachers.
Do you not agree?
Very truly,
CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSO
CIATION OF GEORGIA.
I pm
► “THE POLICY OF ROME.”
To An Editor:
Dear Sir: In-your issue of last
week is a paragraph dealing with
“The Policy of Rome,” which reveals
n conception of the Catholic Church
that is a misconception. I say this
in the very best of feeling. It
would ill become me to write in any
other spirit, for the Catholic Lay
men's Association was formed to
help bring about a more friendly
relation between Catholics and their
separated brethren, and we fully
realize that the first step in this
direction is to cultivate on our part,
in spite of everything, the feeling
of friendship. When we invite a
reciprocation of this disposition on
your part, we know that there is
nothing in the way of your giving
it; that is, nothing except a buga
boo of one sort or another.
Now, your article on “The Policy
of Rome” suggests that one of these
phantom things has appeared to
you, and since it must he exposed
for what it is before we can expect
you to feel kindly toward us, as
we arc determined to feel toward
you, I wish to assemble a few facts
that have a direct hearing on this
matter of “The Policy of Rome,”
which you have ventured to say,
“must he consistently resisted in the
name of human, liberty.” Quoting
from an unnamed writer, you by en
dorsement say that the Catholic
^Church “aspires to seize the tem
poral government of the nations;”
that she “begins by asking liberty,
soon claims privilege and ends by
demanding submission;” that in her
view, “religious laws should form
the law of the state” and any
power that is not subordinate to
her “is an atheistic power.” Now,
I assure you, my dear sir, that not
one single item of this is true. You
will not accept my word, of course,
for you believe the man you quote
and he no doubt believes himself,
and it hoots nothing to set one
man's opinion against another’s.
But facts speak with trumpet
tongue; here are some that speak
to the point. There arc some 25
republics in the world; in all hut
two, the population is overwhelm
ingly Catholic; in most of them the
non-Catholic clement is so small
it is insignificant so far as politics
goes. In not a single one of them
do “religious laws form the law
of the state.” In not one is the
political power “subordinate to the
spiritual.” In not one is the
Church “demanding submission.”
Over 20 of these republic became
republics at a time when the Papacy
was recognized as one of the Pow
ers (because the Pope exercised
temporal sevcrcignty over the Papal
Slates, comprising a territory about
one-third the size of Georgia) and
the Pope was among the first to rec
ognize them. The very oldest of
these republics was caned out of
the Papal States themselves, fifty
years before our independence and
when the Pope’s sovereignty was
undisputed, even hv the people
forming that republic. And no
revolution preceded the establish
ment of San Marino; the Pope, as
their temporal sovereign, with his
authority as such of five hundred
years standing and still unques
tioned, of his own accord abdi
cated his sovereignty to allow the
people of that little territory to
set up a government of their own
choice. About seventy years ago,
Pius IX abdicated his sovereignty
to make ' a republic, of Rome,. and
did make one; he drew up a con
stitution (very similar to ours) and
submitted it to the people and
they adopted it; hut after a while
they abolished it and again confer
red temporal authority on the Pope.
And this was the second time
Rome had been a republic since
the Popes began to exercise tem
poral power; in both instances, the
Popes voluntarily submitted' to the
people whether they desired a re
public and in both, after they had
tried it awhile, the people them
selves abolished it, which, of course
is a right belonging to the people,
as no people is free unless they
are free to have any kind of gov
ernment they desire.
When James I proclaimed the doc
trine of the “divine right” of kings,
a doctrine that has been condemn
ed over. and over by the teachings
and writing of Catholic moralists,
it was a Catholic priest, a Jesuit,
if you please, Francis Suarez, who
challenged this pernicious principle
of government. The King address
ed an “Apology” to the rulers of the
world, giving his reasons for hold-
Suarez published a “Reply,” expos
ing the King’s fallacies and show
ing the evil of his new teachings
(new in the Christian world,) and
in this reply is set out the teach
ings of the church in regard to the
source of civil power, the immedi
ate source, of course, for God is
the ultimate source of al 1 power.
“Reason,” says Suarez, “dictates that
men, united in a moral whole, that
is, the community, or the multitude,
01- the whole collection of men,
shall themselves prescribe by ex
press or tacit consent, in what
manner and by whom their society
shall he governed.” Concilia’s dog
matic theology (used in Italy,) Buil-
lart’s moral theology (France,) Bus-
enbaum’s moral theology (Ger
man',) the Compendium Salamanca
(Spain), all teach this same princi
ple that “governments derive their
just (right) powers from the con
sent of the governed,” and those
texts were in use in the various
countries of Europe for generations
before our Declaration of Independ
ence set out the principle of self-
government, and it was on the
basis of this teaching that the re
publics of Venice, Florence, Genoa,
Pisa flourished under the very
shadows of the Vatican for cen
turies. And this is the teaching
of the church at this day, in every
country in the world, that “the
whole collection of men in a com
munity, shall themselves prescribe
by express or tacit consent, in what
manner and by whom society-shall
be governed.”
The Catholic Church would be
false to herself if “The Policy of
Rome” you conceive had any more
substance than a liugahoo.
Respectfully,
THE CATHOLIC LAYMENS
ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA.
him but once after our initial meet
ing, and then but for a moment.
From being a part of the line of
American divisions strung out be
fore Paris during June, we had
moved up toward the line at Chat
eau Thierry. The regiment was
scattered along a main highway, tak
ing advantage of the Marne for an
occasional swim.
From this position our men first
went into active service, some few
platoons being sent up at different
times for action with the French
line troops. It was here that we re
ceived orders to celebrate the Fourth
of July in fitting fashion.
“What can we do to Celebrate the
Fourth?” I asked the Adjutant.
“There isn’t a baseball, nor any
thing, in the whole regiment. About
all we can do is to have the hand
play all day.
So band concerts were arranged
in different places, hut our arrange
ments were brought to naught by an
order which pulled us out of our
sleep about eleven o’clock the night
before the fourth and started us on
a trip which kept us walking in a
circle for two days. It was hard
work rolling our packs in the dark
ness, and harder still sitting on the
ground waiting for orders to move.
For we waited till after daybreak
for the order, and it came just as we
were getting ready for breakfast,
which accordingly, never got any
further than the mental stage. That
was “some” Fourth of July. Some
one was worried lest the Germans
take advantage of our holiday to
start their long expected drive, and
we were shunted from one point to
another, expecting most any moment
to have to stop the whole German
Army. Wc never stopped hiking for
more than an hour, and the boys
didn’t stop swearing at all. The
only thing wc stopped was eating.
Toward nightfall wc moved into a
woods along the main road leading
to the front. It was here that Ser
geant Blank found me later in the
evening.
“Father,” he said, "my trcneli-
mortar platoon is going up to take
part in n little ‘show’ in the morn
ing with a French outfit. We’ve
been looking for you to get to Con-
fession before we start.”
“But all you boys received Holy
Communion the day before yester
day, didn’t you?” I asked him.
“Yes, we were all there, father,
lie answered, “hut we’ve been doing
a lot of swearing since then, and - , . . .
we would kind of like to go again . jn ^ M ^ 0pW War „ Whcn
an So a i y went across the road with ! « m , lle nion: than seven -Years ago
■ the heart of Plus \ broke at lore-
Benedict XV and the World War
By RT. REV. BENJAMIN J. KEII.EY.
Bishop of Savannah.
(From the Savannah Press).
Over 1,850 years ago a few poor
people bore from the Circus of Nero,
where he bad been put to death for
beloning to what was called the
Nazarenc Seel, the body of a Jewish
fisherman and buried just across the
way He had been condemned, to
death by crucifixion, but in his hu
mility he did not deem himself wor
thy of such a form of punishment,
for liis Master had so died and he at
last gained the consent of his mur
derers that he should he fastened to
the cross with his head downward.
So died Simon Peter. They buried
him there and when, three centuries
later, the Christians were permitted
tiie free exercise of their solemn
rites, they extended and rebuilt or
much enlarged flic oratory over Pet
er's grave.
Today the most superb church
ever built by man in honor of the
Tribune God stands an imperisable
monument to the Galilean fisherman
And there today, with all the sol
emn and venerable rites of the Ro
man church, the 2G0th successor of
Peter is being laid to rest to a
temporary sepulchre there to await
the death of liis successor, when he
will yield place to him and the last
he put in the sepulchre chosen by
the Pope himself.
On Sunday, January 22, while the
myraid hells of Rome were telling
of the accomplishment of the great
mystery of the Incarnation, his soul
left his body.
The inspired pages of Holy Writ
tell us that when Herod cast Simon
into prison to please the Jews,
ceaseless prayers were said by all
the church for him, and that same
night God sent an angel who freed
him: When the serious nature of the
sickness of Benedict became known
ceaseless prayers were said for his
recovery.
Divine Providence.
It pleased an omnipotent and mer
ciful God to hear the prayers which
the church said for Peter, and it
pleased God that the prayers for the
prolongation of the life of Benedict
should not he answered. No doubt
of His loving providence crosses
our mind. lit always does wisely
and well:
It is too soon to write the story
of Benedict XV. My sole purpose
in this paper is to vindicate the
memory by answering some of the
road with
him, to where his company was . . .
camped, and behind a tree I heard , s'ghtof the horrors ot the war
the confessions of the Catholic hoys ln " H Bpn ‘ ,rt,rt “.ok nossessmn of
who were to take part in the raid in
the morning. After they had all
been heard we talked together for a
few moments. 1 call see them yet
as they knelt there in the forest
asking my blessing before 1 left
them. There is something which
chills my heart, as 1 recall scenes
like this sending men to face death,
with a smile 011 their lips and a
and Benedict XV took possession of
Peter's chair, the sight confronting
him was enough to bring dismay to
the stoutest heart.
There could hardy he imagined a
more beautiful and restful scene
than the moving panaroma presented
to the eyes of the traveler as lie
was hurried through Europe from the
channel to the blue Mediterranean in
the train. On all sides he saw well
nigh every foot of ground utilized
hv hand of man and the harvest
laugh in their heart because they
were at peace in their souls with .
their God. Death held no terror for fe>ds were filled with eager groups
them. What a wonderful, truly di- i gathering the fruits of the soil. Hie
vine, quality there is in a religion filled with rows ot vines
which strengthens a man like this I
Confessions for our Catholic hoys
meant that God had .pardoned them
their sins, however great they had
been; and the pardon had been seal
My Little Black Book
No. Ill—A Glorious Fourth
By Charles C. Conaty
I fear greatly that I do not stand
very high in the estimation of the
good Italian priest whose name is
scribbled on the page of my little
hook open before me. The regiment
of Italian soldiers, whose chaplain
he was,- happened to be engaged, in
repairing a main road along which
wc were encamped in June of 1918.
He greeted us with joy when I made
myself known to him as lie was
lunching in the Italian style out
under tlic trees. Now lie would
learn to speak English. The gram
mar he had already mastered. An
hour or two a day practicing with
me and all would be well. But he
failed to take into account the fact
that no time for tutoring, and the
additional faet that we were nomads
—continually\on the go. So I saw
ed by Christ’s Body and Blood in
Holy Communion. His presence
dispelled all doubt, all dread. It was
hard, too, in cases such as this, in
which I could not go with my boys
into the line. It was harder to send
a man into danger than it was to
go with him.
Two days later, when we had re
turned from our wanderings and
were hack in the places wc had left
the night before the Foutli, this
platoon returned from the line—all
lmt three of them. Of those three,
killed in raid, two had stood beside
me behind that tree in the forest
and had received pardon of their
sins; now they were with their God.
And the sergeant, sitting by my side,
told me of his experience, his
thoughts during that first trick in
the line. He spoke of his fear, of
the ages of waiting for the word
of attack; of the rosaries he had said
over again; and of how, when tlic
order finally came to attack, he had
wound his rosary around his wrist
and had gone over and he told of
the men by his side who had been
killed, liis comrades; and liow he
had marvelled that he, had escaped;
and of how now that lie was hack
again, unhurt, he could think of 110
other explanation of the fact that
he had not been hit, save that it
was the Blessed Mother of God who
watched over him; and of how lie
was praying to, her now to watch
over his comrades who had fallen.
of lustrious grapes. At nearly every
mile little liamlets dotted tlie scene
contened faces of the villagers show
ed peace and prosperity. The little
hill of Calvary, where Christ died
for us, hardly deserves the name
of Mount Calvary,” and vet from
that little hill of Calvary He had
wonderful visions of all the world.
The Vatican
As you pass over the bridge of
San Angelo and walk to the piazza
of St. Peter’s and the Vatican one
hardly realizes that lie is going on
the Vatican Hill. The name is pro
phetically ominous. It was called
“Vatican” because a Pagan shrine
was once there and the devotees
thought that prophetic answers,
Vaticinea, they were called, were giv
en. The day came when the Pagan
temple was naught but a ruin and
a Christian temple rose where re
sided Hie Vicar of Christ, whose
voice when announcing the truth of
Christ to the world was, by Divine
assistance, free from possible error.
From the Vatican Benedict XV,
looking out into the world, witness
ed a sight which might have daunt
ed a less stout heart. In the early
days of liis Pontificate he saw all
of Central Europe turned into a vast
camp where millions of armed men
were gathered, hut awaiting the word
of an imperious master to launch
bloody campaign against a fair,
peaceful, prosperous land. The feet
of millions of men, the countless
gun carriages, the IrjtsuArol thousands
of horses soon made havoc of the
grownig crops, trampling them to
the ground.
The vine clad hills were woundei
and gashed and torn to pieces by
shrieking and death dealing shells.
The peaceful villages were now only
tenanted by ravenous dogs, vainly
seeking food, for blackened walls and
roofless ruins gave no protection
against the elements nor afforded
shelter. Men, women and little cliil- '
dren died of exposure and starva
tion. Like some besom of destruc
tion the Kaiser’s men swept through
beautiful Belgium and one could
trace their path by rows of ruined
homes, destroyed by shot and shell
and (he torch.
A Ruined Land
Where once a happy and pious
peasantry met each Sunday to wor
ship the good God and thank Him
for His goodness, now silence and
desolation reigned, for the -ruined
and blackened walls told how cruel
men had defaced and defiled God\s
temple, whose spires now stood
pointing Heavenward as though in
mute appeal to an avenging God.
But the picture was far from com
pleteness. Day liy day the German
papers told the story of a fresh vic
tory gained by German arms in
France and the people were trans
ported with joy and pride in the su
premacy and advance of German
civilization and over the ltliinc in
France with feverish anxiety and al
most indecent haste men were hid
ing in the breast of Mother Earth
tens of thousands of stark, bloody
dead bodies of men sacrificed to am
bition. The tide of battle surged and
fell to rise again and each turn of
the dreadful tide left stranded on
the field of battle the countless
thousands. Men, by almost devilish
ingenuity, were devising means of
slaughter which would kill their
thousands. Poison gases were float
ed across the battle grounds and
their withering fumes destroyed life,
or made men helpless and hopeless
creatures for Ihe rest of tlieir lives.
From the sky they rained down
death dealing bombs on quiet etiies
destroying homes and murdering
their inmates.
Long since had men crossed the
seas and giant ships had from safe
distance hurled missiles which
brought ruin and death; hut now un
derneath the calm and placid sur
face of the sea, lurked like unto
monsters of the deep, (lie sub
marines, and gallant merchantmen
and cargo laden boats were in a mo
ment submerged and without chance
as escape those on hoard went down
to death. This is hut a feeble pre
sentation of the picture which was
presented to the gaze of Benedict
XV as lie silt ill Peter’s cliair on
the atican Hill. No man knew bet
ter than Benedict XV that in such
a time and under such circum
stances it was well nigh a hopeless
venture to appeal to men that they
should forego hate, jealousy and am
bition and find means of settling
their difficulties besides the name
less horrors of battle; hut Benedict
XV knew that lie was the Vicar of
ihe Christ Whose advent was her
alded as the coming of the Prince
of Peace.
Thus, it was that from the very
first day of his Pontificate lie never
missed an opportunity by encyclicals,
addresses, letters and through or
dinary diplomatic channels to appeal
to the rulers and people of the war
ring nations to restore peace.
The almost brutal indifference of
some had caused any other man to
give up in despair, hut he never for
an instant ceased his efforts to end
the war. Side by side with these
unremitting efforls for peace were
liis activities in doing all that he
could to lessen some of war’s evils
and to ameliorate the sad condiliou
of its victims.
It was Benedict XV who secured
the release or exchange of soldiers
who were from wounds incapacitat
ed for further service.
lie implored, though his appeals
found deaf ears, that the nations
should at least proclaim a truce dur
ing he day when men were cele
brating the birth of Christ.
He established and maintained in
Italy, Germany and France bureaus
of information, where search was
made for missing men of both arm
ies and over one hundred thousand
people applied to these bureaus for
news of missing husbands, sons or
brothers, and in a vast majority of
cases the information sougfit was
secured and the anxiety of loved
ones relieved.
During the course of the World
War, Benedict XV was accused by
tlic Allies of favoring Germany and
in the latter country the charge
was freely made that he favored the
Allies.
(Continued on page 8.)
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