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Show I Mn Individual Opinion l I . - On -Cbtircb Eoofitig ;j i (Written for the Intermour.tain Catholic by T. St. John Gaffney.) NeAv York, Jan. 13, 1900. For some time past a section of the Catholic press of America has beeru.en-gaged beeru.en-gaged in attacking the policy of the administration in the Philippine Islands. Is-lands. Very few of these papers, however, how-ever, have the approval of the Church authorities, and the majority of them are mere political organs published in the interest of political parties. Had these papers discussed the subject with any degree of fairness and intelligence, intelli-gence, if they had appealed to the rea- son of their readers and not to their i prejudices; in fact, if they had not been i guilty of the grossest and most scan- ' dalotis misrepresentation. I would not . have deemed it worth my while to in- , terfere. But there are, unfortunately. people in this world so emotional and so credulous that they receive as gos- pel truth the most palpable falsehoods, j particularly if they see them in the ! alleged religious journal which reaches j the innermost family circle. These papers pa-pers have not only been guilty of reproducing re-producing in their columns lies which have been frequently exposed, but they have been equally guilty of suppression of the truth. Of late these papers have been violently vio-lently agitated by the alleged desecration desecra-tion of the religious edifices in the Philippines, but they have not mentioned men-tioned the utterances of those distinguished distin-guished and patriotic ecclesiastics who gave thanks to God that the churches had afforded shelter from the rain and the heat to our tired and wounded soldiers, sol-diers, who otherwise would have slept in the rice swamps of Luzon. Nor have they informed their readers that these churches had previously been occupied as military barracks at different times, both by the Spanish forces and the insurgents. in-surgents. But why discuss a matter which the hierarchy does not consider worthy, of consideration? At the recent re-cent meeting of the Archbishops at WastiinDrtnn the subiect wns not even alluded to. All true Catholics share the view of the reverend editor of the Western Watchman, the well known Catholic paper in the west, who says: "Some papers, to prove that our American troops, in the Philippines desecrated des-ecrated Catholic churches there, print photographs of the interior of those churches, showing them filled with sol-I sol-I diers. Now, if the only desecration j those churches receive is sheltering our I poor soldiers from the killing Philip-i Philip-i pine sun, a very few drops of holy water wa-ter will reconcile them." Monseigneur Martinelli, the apostolic delegate to this country, has denned the position of the church upon this question in the following language: "There can be no legitimate complaint com-plaint over the occupation of churches by troops in time of war. According to the canons of the church, we do not hold that such quartering forms what we call desecration." Another ridiculous argument which the editors of these newspapers advance is that the administration is carrying out a policy in the interest of England in the east, and that it will lead to an alliance with that power. No one has been more vigorous in his hostility to the suggested Anglo-American alliance than I have been, and I think it extremely ex-tremely irreconcilable and illogical that the allies of these journals in their op-, position to American sovereignty in the Philippines, should be the strongest advocates and approvers of that project. proj-ect. The anti-imperialistic movement originated in Massachusetts, the cita- , del of Anglican knownothingism ana mugwumpery. Most of its leaders have the taint of that intolerant spirit in their blood. They were the chief promoters pro-moters of the defunct British arbitia-tion arbitia-tion treaty. Mr. Boutwell, the chairman chair-man of the Anti-imperiaiistic League, attriDutes our success in tne war with Spain to British support. Quite recently re-cently the editor of one of these papers pa-pers under discussion confessed to me in a burst of confidence that the Catholic Cath-olic anti-expansionists in New England were never in such poor company as at the present time. While these ' alleged Catholic journalists jour-nalists are engaged in giving aid and comfort to Aguinaldo and maligning the American army, the priests, friars and nuns in the Philippines are enduring en-during untold misery from the brutality of the insurgents. - If the American army had withdrawn at the conclusion of the war, the blood of these religious missionaries would have been immediately immedi-ately shed and left the brand of shame upon the honor of our flag. Within a few months the Archbishop of Manila communicated to General Otis the discovery dis-covery of a plot on the part of Aguinaldo Aguin-aldo and his brigands to assassinate himself and the United States commander. com-mander. Before such wretches who would dare to haul down the American flag! The Catholic chaplains who have been with the army in the Philippine.! have all favored the policy of the administration, ad-ministration, not alone in the interest of the church and civilization, but for the purpose of extending the blessings of American rule throughout the archipelago. archi-pelago. Archbishop Chappelle, who is the Pope's representative in the Philippines, Philip-pines, in answer to the charge that the inhabitants of Luzon are completely com-pletely under the church, has said: "Now, I would ask, How can this be possible when every priest (with the exception of a few natives) in the island is-land of Luzon outside of the walled city of Manila is a prisoner of the insurgents? insur-gents? For the last eighteen months this state of affairs has existed, and during all this period more than 350 friars have been undergoing unheard of tortures in insurgent dungeons. I know it to be a fact, from other reliable sources, that the insurgents represent only one tribe out of the eighty-five tribes peopling the archipelago, so the: sentiments voiced by the insurgents about the ' friars and Church property cannot be taken as the sentiments of the great body of the natives, any more than they can be taken as the senti ments of the natives toward our people peo-ple and go-ernment. Now, what are the views of the Sovereign Sov-ereign Pontiff in regard to the pacification pacifica-tion of the islands? On Oct. 11 Archbishop Arch-bishop Keane, who had arrived a few days before direct from the Vatican; authorized an interview which appeared in all the newspapers, and from which I quote the following extract: "The Pope has accepted the result of the war between the United States and Spain, and has determined that the priests in the islands that passed from Spain to America shall support the American government in all things. He has no sympathy with the insurgents insur-gents in the islands, and they iill receive re-ceive no support from the Church, any more than they would have been encouraged en-couraged by the priests in their revolution revo-lution against Spain. On this subject the Pope is very firm." Archbishop Ireland, while sitting on the right hand of the President of the United States, addressed 3,500 persons at the dinner of the Marquette Club at Chicago on Oct. 7. He declared in no equivocal manner the duty of Americans Amer-icans in the present crisis, and glorified the army and the flag in the following j language: "And surely there has been in America Amer-ica no lowering of the highest standard of patriotism. Where is the country at whose call for heroes, citizens with such speed, with such forgetfulness of self and in such numbers rally round the flag? Soldiers ready to sacrifice life for country are never wanting in America; Amer-ica; no conscription is needed to fill the ranks of army or navy. And with what valor and what skill American soldiers i give battle! Defeat is unknown in America; defeat is impossible in America. j "The American renublic! She lives i and liberty lives with her. The flag of i the American republic means liberty. Vherever it goes liberty goes with it. With an aching- and throbbing heart we await today the journeying of the Hag of safety and its honor; we proclaim that in Asia as in America it means liberty and ell the blessings that go' with liberty. Some say it means in Asia the suppression of liberty. Gcd forbid! It means in Asia the institution of civil order. So that America, to whom the fates of war have brought the unsought duty of maintaining order in thoss isles, may see and know who are the people of the Philippines, who there have the right to speak for the people, what the people desire and for what the people are fitted. Civil orclir restored and it must be restored the flag of America may be trusted to be for Philippines the harbinger and guardian of the liberty and the rights of the people. "Ihe American republic' She will i live, and with her liberty will live." The Rev. Father McKinnon, chaplain of the First California regiment, who with his regiment, has the following to say of General Luna, who was killed by Aguinaldo's orderly while trying to break into the insurgent leader's quarters: quar-ters: "He was the most brilliant man in. the insurgent army, and he was a murderer. He murdered his wife and mother-in-law in Paris and fled to the Philippines. General Pio del Pilar," continued Father McKinnon, "who is said to have applied for a bribe, is a horse thief and convict and an ail-around ail-around outcast. One by one the in-; in-; yurgents' leaders are slipping away, and all their strength is concentrated in one man. Aguinaldo. Of the original number of leaders, but one of importance import-ance remains Mabino, the hunchback lawyer. Mabino is not much over four feet in height. He has an unenviable record, and is as great a villain as the others." Father McKinnon- declared the insurrection insur-rection would have ended in April but for the encouragement given to the rebels by the anti-expansionists. The wcrst of the war was over, though there would be guerilla warfare for some time to come. ) When asked concerning the stories of church desecration in the Philippines, Father McKinnon said that the stories attributing this to American soldiers were entirely unfounded. "It is true." he said, "that a great many churches have been looted and stripped, but this has been the work of Chinamen in nearly every case. The i looting has usually been between the j evacuation of a town by the rebels and the entry 0f the American forces." The Rev. Father Reany, chaplain of I the Olympia, in denying' the charges j of vandalism, said in his speech to the 'Catholic club in New York: The speaker said tha't the American solciiers serving in the Philippines had been unjustly accused of vandalism, of ruffianism, and of desecrating sacred things. On his honor as a priest he could say that no such offense had been committed by the American soldiers. On the other hand. American soldiers had riven out men who sought to desecrate dese-crate churches and chapels. The most worthy use to which American soldiers had put churches in the Philippines had been as hospitals and asylums for the weak and needy. Mr. Bolton Hall, the chief organizer of the opposition to the- administration in New York, invited the co-operation of the distinguished editor of the Catholic Cath-olic World, the Rev. Father Doyle, in his anti-imperialistic movement, and very promptly received the following response from that patriotic citizen and priest: "Bolton Hall: "My Dear Sir Please do not use my name in any such list as you propose. or ior any sucn purpose, i consider that while our country is at war and American Ameri-can soldiers are being shot down in the Philippines, to institute any such league as you propose is constructive treason. Sincerely your.-s, A. P. DOYLE, "The Catholic Magazine." "New York. Sept. 14." Upon the occasion of the presentation of the sword to Admiral Dewey by the president of the United States, Cardinal Gibons, after the close of his benediction, benedic-tion, turned to Admiral Dewey, who ex- I tended his right hand, and said: I "Admiral, I cannot let this opportunity oppor-tunity pass without congratulating you on your magnificent victory which has adrJed renown to tle American name throughout the world. I hope you will live many years to enjoy your honors, the fruits of your splendid achievement. achieve-ment. Permit me. admiral, to thank you for your kindness to the chaplain of the Olympia. Father Reany, who is a priest of my diocese. I hope that the benediction of 77,000. COO of peonle will make your remaining years exceedingly happy. I rejoice to be present on this eventful occasion. Admiral Dewey responded : "I thank you sincerely, your eminence, for your gracious and complimentary words. I appreciate the honor of having you present on this?" the happiest moment of my life." I do not think it'probable that Cardinal Card-inal Gibbons would invoke the benediction benedic-tion cf 77,000,000 millions of people upon the head of Admiral Dewey unless he or.torsed his views in the present emergency. emer-gency. In conclusion I quote the most recent and authoritative statement on this subject from no less a personage than the apostolic delegate: The anti-imperialists of this country who go to the extreme of advising that America should retire from the Philippines Philip-pines at thir time are devoid of a conception con-ception of the actual meaning; of the expression "national honor." To retire under fire is un-American and absolutely o'ut of the question. There may be even now an honest difference of opinion as to the good judgment displayed at the time by the adoption of the clause providing for the retention of the Philippines, but there can be no doubt as to our duty now. I do not' believe that the work of the peace commission was unwisely done. If we had not taken the Philippines Philip-pines Spain would certainly have sold the islands to some other power. America Amer-ica should hold them rather than some other power. We have a large Pacific coast; therefore, there-fore, we should have strategic positions in the Pacific. The islands are very-valuable very-valuable commercially, 'and, above all things, they furnish the key to the trade with China. I firmly favor their retention by the United States their retention permanently, perma-nently, if that should be the best advice ad-vice derived from future events. They should be ours on moral, legal, commercial, com-mercial, socioligical and religious grounds. As a Catholic citizen of the United States, I protest against the attitude which these editors have adopted. I am glad to be in accord With the true leaders of my church upon the Philippine Philip-pine question, and I have no doubt that the disloyal ami unpatriotic course of these newspapers will before long meet a salutary and summary condemnation from the proper authorities. T. ST. JOHN GAFFNEY. ' New York. |