| OCR Text |
Show INTRIGUING PRIESTS. The news of the contentions and intrigues going go-ing on among the cardinals in the Vatican, even when the "best loved" pope was dying, in a struggle for the mantle that was falling from tho shoulders of tho dying pontiff, is 'another notice that the United States government was wisely framed, especially when there was a complete separation enjoined between Church and State. No church has any business with the politics of the nation, save indirectly to train children to be God-fearing and good citizens. When political power is sought by priests it is at the expense of their religion, when it is gained it is at the expense of the people. It is a double injustice. To tho timid it gives H an idea of a power which is incomprehensible, to H the worldly minded it gives a contempt for re- ( H ligion, for when men see a priesthood struggling H ior prestige and place, their instant conclusion H is that religion is but another game through which H to bunco the ignorant and the superstitious. H Tho motto of men under a free Governmont ' H should be "The State must never trench upon any 1 prerogative of religion: Religious Priests must H never stain their hands or their lives, by seeking H to trench upon the prerogatives of the State." H It is a far more serious matter in a republic H than in a monarchy. For an intriguing Priest to H dare to influence men in the casting of a frco H ballot is a crime. H |
