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Show j "CATHOLIC" OB "ROMAN CATHOLIC." " '"Catholic"' or "Roman Catholic" was the subject, sub-ject, of a brief discussion "in the British house of commons the other day between the speaker and some of" the Irish members. One of the hitter, Mr. Del any. bad put on the notice paper of the house j a question'iehiting to a memorial from the Catholic I employes of a government department in Ireland for an increase of salary and when about to ask 1 his question in the usual course he found that, some official of the house had inserted the word "Roman" j before the word "Catholic,'-' whereupon the foilow-! foilow-! ing colloquy took place between Mr. Dclany rfr.d i Mr." John Redmond (the Irish loader) on one side ; the sqcaker on'lhe other : . j Mr. Dolany, in putting the question, said I have to draw your attention. Mr. Speaker, to the insertion of the word "Roman" before "Catholic" in the original copv. and 1 wish to know by whoso authority it was done ? . The Speaker I think it is well known to. most : honorable members that .the-word "Roman"" as such is not intended and never is supposed to be an offensive of-fensive observation or description. The 'word is on ethat is used, not for the purpose of creating, but avoiding r-jiy feeling of religious objection or animosity of any kind. It is not objected to. in this sense, and as the use of the word "Catholic" is one which is claimed by other churches as well, the insertion in-sertion of "Roman" is merely intended to avoid any dispute or difference or ambiguity .and for no otherpurpose is it used. It is always the practice to indicate. by the word "Roman" what church is meant. . Mr. J. Redmond May I ask, in view of the fact ihat the word "Roman" is regarded as'ffcrisivo to 'the Catholic community, and'mam'ue a's re. is-. never used by us, whether in these circumstances you will consider the- inserting of the word in these questions ques-tions against our wishes as inadvisable. The Speaker I am afraid if I adopted the suggestion sug-gestion it would only give rise to fresh disputes. Mr. Redmond It is an historic fact, and no one can dispute it, that the appellation is always regarded re-garded as offensive by the Catholics of Ireland. The Speaker I should be personally extrcmely anxious to avoid giving offense to any denomination. denomina-tion. Mr. Dclany I beg to give notice that I will put this question down for tomorrow in its original form. The fact here stated by Mr. Redmond that the word "Roman" in -reference to their church is always al-ways regarded as offensive by the Catholics of Ireland may be of interest to many Catholics of America, who not only have no objection to such application of the term, but make use of it themselves them-selves in the rule books of their societies. In Ireland' Ire-land' it is used only by Protestants and that in a sense that Catholics cannot accept, namely that thev (the Catholics) are only a branch of the Catholic church, to which litle, as the speaker of the huose of commons observed, other churclj make claim. The Irish view is that, admitting "Roman" Catholics as a correct designation would imply that there is naother Catholic church beside the Roman, which, of course, the Catholic church could not and does not allow. In commenting on the matter as raised in the house of commons the Dublin Freeman's Free-man's Journal cites as follows the authority of the eminent Protcstant historian Leeky as against the prefix "Roman." "The protest against the insertion by the Clerk at the Table of, the word 'Roman' before the word 'Catholic' in question placed by Irish members on the notice paper may render it of interest to know that the late Mr. Leeky. when taken to task for the use of the word 'Catholic' without the prefix 'Roman' in a letter which was published in the Times', said that in all his writings he had used the word 'Catholic' in the sense in which it was perfectly understood; that he had never qualified it in a manner which the professors of the Catholic faith would regard as offensive, and that he would never change what -had been his invariable practice prac-tice with regard to a word which had acquired a distinct dis-tinct meaning, both in the legious and political world. By way of illustration, he mentioned that the terms 'Catholic association,' 'Catholic disabilities,' disabili-ties,' 'Catholic emancipation' were all understood, and that the prefix before them would savor either of giotry or pedantry or both." It is hardly necessary to add that "Roman Catholic" is not to be found in the creeds of the church nor is it ever used in any of her official documents. docu-ments. The popular idea, too, is "Catholic" and not "Roman Catholic." .When a stranger wishes to know" the way to the Catholic church he does not need to say "Roman." The man in the street or the boy in the street will understand perfectly and at once what is wanted when "the Catholic church" is mentioned. X. Y. Frecdman's Journal. 1 |