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Show !il Diocese of Denver j j ELIZABETH KELLY, Correspondent -iVu ?:"" Intp mountain and Colorado ! V athollL Is placed on sale at the f ! t69 C,arke church gcods house. 627 - !ff ""!'5,t)et-l :Df"Ver- .c?': !: j STRICT RULES ON . MIXED MARRIAGES '.. In 1,1 'Hec-k the nun, her c.f ""xe'r' 'HHiriag.-H which thn.uirhout "'eUngth and breadth of the land is h,'inS decried by prHmes ,f the Ciith-uiy Ciith-uiy church. Bishop X. '. Matz issue-,! a rns.oral letter nn the FiibJeel which , i-ocd i every chur.-h in the li- (: ' !' "r Denver last Sundrtv. i f ;lorp xlrinent ml--R than were ever ! I -'ttempted by the church arc laid down 1 " l".e l1s"P f Denver. Jle orders ; i i-an, ,n future no Catholic man mav ; inairy a I'rotstant wimian in this lie- ; r J'"1 priests are forbidden to 9oli,iiz uch a inarriaec Absolutely n diip?iisatio:i i provided for. and i'f "uniaires are to take place tlu-v 1 I ",u'f"- !erformed outside the state of , J OlonoJ... if H ,M.i(,sl f ,.hlircll , 1 10 officiate. Tlie A-n(en pastoral cov- 5 er. fifteen pax', and was not written ! impulsively nor without iue thnuRht of ''cepinc- terms emj. loved in it. V.Mvnn Mat has be. n considering stris ' i '''ck the alartnins nunihei eif mixed ' I niiTiass for some months. In fact. 1 tiie idea came to him throURh the rad- M"1 viev.s of I'.jshop Scannell of Oma-n. Oma-n. whom he .neatly admires. It Mas R U hop Scannel who excommunicate 1 'he Cathidic participants in the Ar-Hi'.ur Ar-Hi'.ur wedding- at Uniuha. out of whicli sum? Prandal prew. The records of the cathedral parish t " !it .Denver show that the number of " ; marrlasres in whicji only one party was I ) , ! ,'atbolle outnumbered the thoro'ughlv ! I Catholic unions by a wide margin last I j ; year. Although the church shows her ' ; displeasure of such marriages bv for- i -J bidding them to be solemnized in the I ' hureh and will not allow the use of I r the sacred vestments nor the brstow.il 'i "f the. nnptial blessing, the continue in i favor with the young- per pie 4 i 1 , Trns orders of the bishop in this ro- i 'I Vect are explicit nnd will cause sorn" f radical ch.mges i!i the plans adopted ' by i great many younp people. The salient feature of the pastoral letter is the febs'vkne rule that no-Catholic , man may ni.t'-ry a Protestant woman nnd remain in ihe church. No priest may ofT.eiate. The idea of this order ' i is that the children of such a union ! t are invaajably lost to th" faith, as j ' shown, by.sUitisties- in iwssession of the I I church. Tlie Protestant mother h-is ' 'he raisins: of the children, argues Bishop Mats, and the father seldom in- I Hsis on thdr being brousht up in the j faith. Altho'.iKh a promise is exac ted of the f j non-Catholic patty to a mixed mar- I ! ria?e that the children shall be brought I up in Ttirr:TTTioni faith; ?f is generally i j ip noted, according; to F.ishop Matz. - ! In the case of a Catholic woman , ; marryjne a Protestant man. the man j must submit to a course of instruc- ilons before tlie priest will be permit- I ; ted to unite them in matrimony. The ; i lea of this is that the father may un- Jertitand what is exported of him and I comprehend the tenets of the church f in which his children are to be raised. ? r ilils instruction mrst cover ten days " of two weeks prior to the marriage. nV ' From ail parts of tlie country Bishop ;j f. Matz has been showered with congra- i j ti'latlons on the solid position he has i; 1 a ken' with regard, to mixed marriagea. V apt.il!ing populnrirj of the divorce I court is due. claim churchmen, to tlie i lax rules governing marriages between , Catholics and non-Catholics. When t two Catholics marry they understand I f 'bat it is ' for bettei or for worse." 1tl I ; V-'hore one of tlie contracting parties is I j vot of that faith the Indissolubility of ' 'lie tie is not tlmrouehlv oomprehend- i ed. i Statistics "show an astounding in- i rtMsc )n the number nf divorces rrnnted ib tliis country. In part, the Xrxt of the pastoral follows: "The baneful effects arising from profanation of matrimony could j "t be more powerfully Illustrated than f hy what we Ree Koine on In our( lmme- I, dia-.e surroundings. In ISB there were prnnted in the United States 2H.r.35 dl- t vorfep; iweniy yearp later, in lwifi. tins I pumber reached the enormous figrure of I . TO.OOO divorces granted last year in this j' I eonntry alone. This means T000 fam- 1 j I Hies wrecked. Now if we multiply by I I five, the average number of individuals ? I nllft'.ved per family, we have the enor- I if nious sum total of S.'iO.iX'O individuals I t v. hose exist ence is ruined by our sys- "i '.?mat?c profanation of this most sa- ,1. t red and fundamental institution of J I t matrimony. 'My tJod. what frightful abysses we j I are drifting- into! At the rate we are . going- with an ever-increasing momen- ! j ! turn, rc shall in a few years have 3 ; J reached the frightful figure of 100.000 I 1 ! j divorces granted annually in these ! i nnea Mates: meanine iuu."mh lamuies, i f r'to,ftoo individuals. sacrilic-cil every j voir to this fnfernal Moloclt of lust. ,' . See wli tt is coins: on in Wyoming. I "On Jan. L's, 170?. a bill called lln t Kinney bill, was introduced in the bouse. Proposing a trial marriage system sys-tem f five years, at the expiration of this term the parties may have five more to dpcide whether they will continue con-tinue t t live together or part forever, i . it is claimed for the proposed law that j it woulrt prove a great attraction for pec pie from all parts of tlie country to Immigrate to Wyoming. If this is not i!'e quintessence of cynicism and the pa i agon of blasphemy, then we don't I ' , know what to call it. ".No nation could long withstand j such n onslaught upon its must sacred ) I i nod fundamental institution: and If it I weye not for the tide of immigration into this country and its consequent I Infusion of new blood into, our arteries, the population of these United States would now lie on ti e verge of extinction. extinc-tion. "Mixed mai l lages marriages, namely, name-ly, of Catholics with person? not baptized bap-tized or baptized Protestants, consume consu-me one of the worst chains upon tlie hurch in tlie United States. Our numerical nu-merical strength in this country would be much creater only for those tmfor-n.nate tmfor-n.nate mixed marriages. Tlie United States c.-nsus reports are authority for ip.e statement that Cri per cent cf these marriages are lest to in- cnurcii. we know that Ml per cent is nenier the mith. Th.? reason for these losses will be found in the want of Catholic education edu-cation in mixed families, i "But ' when a Protestant father or j mother do all in tin it power I to misrepreKcnl Catholic tench- !D ings and orejudice their f children against the church: yea. v hen they go so far as to forbid them going to church, threatening and punishing them if they do: what then? Cases of this kind are not as rare as people are fipt to thiik. and our priests come in contact with them every day. How many a poor heartbroken mother have we not met reining with her tale of woe. unburdening her heart to her con-fessor. con-fessor. now when it is too late and she finds her children estranged from her , he art, her faith. Iter vCIod, and her con- ! science burdened with a most awful responsibility: the wls of these chil-' chil-' 14 ciren lost 1o the e-hurc and to God. - "During the torm.ef courtship sf!04 H i 7 1 y , ' was blind, as lovers usually are: she would not listen to priest or parent; she knew 'that in lesss than six months John would be a Catholic, he was so fair, so liberal, so good: has he not been going to church with her every Sunday? Sun-day? and during services he is so respectful, re-spectful, so devout that you could never tell he Is not a Catholic: and he spoke so nice to the priest: Poor girl! Before Be-fore the honeymoon is well on the wane her eyes will begin to open; as the years are rolling by and the children arc growing up she will realize her mistake and the terrible responsibility she assumed in attempting to raise a Catholic family alone and with no help from her non-Catholic husband: - yea, with all tlie odds against her. as we have seen above. Baneful Effscts. "Considering the baneful effects of mixed marriages and the constantly inei-euelncr ninnliw ..r .alia f..,. ,lici.n. sat Ions, we believe the time has come for the application of stringent regulations regula-tions calculated to chock this evil; save the church from the enormous losses incurred through mixed marriages and protect our Catholic men and women from suc h a galling yoke as that of all Indissoluble union with one who is not of tlie faith and who for this reason can never be one mind and one heart in that bond, ol all the most holy and most, intimate; union with God in the one true faith. Of ail tlie different states entering into the formation, government gov-ernment and maintenance of society, there is none which imposes greater sacrifices and demands greater graces than the state of matrimony. Countless are the sufferings and privations which follow in its train, and if the contracting contract-ing parties are not proof against them, by their patient forbearance supplied by the sacramental grace, their lives will not be happy. "The powers of dispensing in mixed gated faculties and can only be used according to the mind- of the c hurch. NOW THE CHUTICH GRANTS THESE DISPENSATIONS ONLY AFTER SAFEGUARDING ALI. THE BIGHTS OF THE CATHOLIC PARTY, PAR-TY, NAMELY: PERFECT LIBERTY TO PRACTICE HIS RELIGION. FREEDOM TO RAISE THE FAMILY IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH AND A SOLEMN PLEDGE ON THE PART OF THE NON-CATHOLIC TO PROVIDE PRO-VIDE A CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOR THE CHILDREN SHOULD THE CATHOLIC PARENT COME TO DIE. THESE PROMISES IN PRINTED FORM ARE TO BE SIGNED BY THE NON-CATHOLIC AND WILL BE KEPT IN THE ARCHIVES BY THE PRIEST FOR REFERENCE IN CASE OF NEED. "Catholics 'contemplating a mixed marriage should in time procure fi-om their pastor a copy of these promises to be presented to their Trotestant suitors suit-ors in the very beginning of their courtship. court-ship. When all preparations for the marriage have been made and the day for the ceremony has been selected there Is n time any more for adjusting these points, nor is it fair to present the promises at this juncture. "No bishop can grant a dispensation unless these promises are secured and we possess the assurance that they will be carried out. It Is clear from "what we have said before that a simple noninterference non-interference on the part of the non-Catholic non-Catholic cannot secure the raising nf the family in the Catholic faith; for this will require a positive co-operation with the Catholic father or mother, which co-operation in the event ef death shall have to be carried alone by the Protestant. But how can be assume as-sume such a responsibility unless he knows what, the Catholic church teaches? "THEREFORE WE DEMAND THAT EVERY PROTESTANT WISHING WISH-ING TO MARRY A CATHOLIC SUBMIT SUB-MIT TO A COURSE OF INSTRUCTIONS INSTRUC-TIONS TO PREPARE HIMSELF FOR THE DISCHARGE OF HIS DUTIES IN HELPING TO RAISE A CATHO LIC FAMILY. WE SHALL GRANT NO DISPENSATION UNLESS THIS REQUEST IS COMPLIED WITH AND WE MEAN TO WARN CATHOLICS CATHO-LICS TO TAKE UP THIS MATTER IN TIME WITH THEIR NON-CATH-OLTC SUITORS. "N. C. MATZ. Bishop of Denver." Good Shepherd Aid Society. At the e lection of officers for the Oood Shepherd Aid association, held last week at the house of the Good Shepherd, Shep-herd, the following ladies were chosen to conduct the affairs for the ensuing year. First vice president. Mrs. M. C. Harrington: second vice president. Miss Kate Flaherty; recording secretary. Miss Eugenia Allen: financial secretary. secre-tary. Miss McLaughlin; treasurer, Mrs. Nellie Hartley; auditors. Miss Joanna Brosnan, Mrs. Catherine MeCue and Mrs. F. N. Hess. A singular feature was that no president pres-ident was elected. Mrs. D. W. Mullen, who ha.s been at the head of the association asso-ciation for the past year, discharged the duties with such efliciencv and fidelity that she was urged to continue in office for another year. She pleaded, however, to be relieved of the great responsibility, re-sponsibility, ami it was finally decided to hold the matter in a.beyance until the next meeting, when it is hoped Mrs. Mullen will withdraw her objections and continue to conduct the affairs of the association with the great success that crowned hr last year's efforts. Knights of Columbus Delegation. A large delegation of Knights of Columbus Co-lumbus and their lady friends went to Boulder on Sunday. Feb. IT. to be present pres-ent at the Institution of a new council. Tlie ceremony v. as pe-normed by State Deputy John H. Reddin and staff, in the presence of perhaps .V0 knights from all over the state. Dr. Edward Delehanty of De u er presided as grand knight: L. F. MoLengue. deputy grand ! knight; John B. MoOanran. chancellor, and N. E. AYalsh as warden. First and second degrees were con-1 con-1 erred on a class of fifty-five. Tiie new council will lie known as Boulder council coun-cil No. 103. and has the following officers: offi-cers: Grand knight. C. J. O'Connor; deputy grand knight. F. J. Miles; chancellor. chan-cellor. H. A. Lennatz: financial secretary. secre-tary. Charles L. Ciark; corresponding secre tary. Frank A. Giaromlna: record er. Thomas Nolan: treasurer, John Casey; warden. Edward Heckler: advocate. advo-cate. Glen Carlin; inside guard. Joseph Murphy; outside guard. Frank .Taeck-els; .Taeck-els; trustees, James R. Lucas, Charles Smith and John Wiest. The visitors were royally entertained by the people of Boulder and returned on the 10:PiO o'clock train Sunday, night well pleased with tlie events of the day. Rev. M. W. Donovan of the cathedral parish was of tiie narty. A special excursion train left Denver Saturday night for the City of Mexico, the occasion being the Knights of Columbus Co-lumbus convention In that olty. Many took advantage of tlie low rate to visit our "sister republic." The knights and their friend'' were to be guests of President Pres-ident Diaz at a dinner on Washington's! birthday. |