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Show j PLAIN TALK. I The Citizen is assured from many quarters that it has made out a verv strong case ?n the memorial on "the neglec'ed Italians," published in our last isue. What will be the result? Our esteem es-teem for the zeal of the Propaganda as a missionary arm of the Church will be increased or depressed according as the crying needs of the dispersed flocks of Italy are met or ignored. Many years ago, Cardinal Newman said in a letter: j "The Church has sustained a severe j loss as well as the English and Ger man nationalities themselves, by their elimination from it; not the least of the evil being that in consequence, the Latin element, which is in the ascendant, as-cendant, does not, cannot know, how great the loss is. This is an evil which the present disestablishment everywhere going on may at length correct. Influential portions of the Latin races may fall off; and if popes are chosen from other nationalities other ideals will circulate among us and gradually gain influence. At present the Catholic Church is encumbered en-cumbered by its connection with moribund mori-bund nations, and so far, Keble's application ap-plication of the 'Mortua quinetian' et. may be transferred to it." This quotation will certainly appear ap-pear applicable if "tie? Latin element," therein referred to, does not ci-n ap- pear io realize its own losses and " to the extent of neglecting its own emigrants. emi-grants. We are not in sympathy with drastic or revolutionary propositions as to Church government. We have a natural preference for what time and tradition sanctions. But certainly, current- impatience in Anglo-American circles which the articles of Dr. Barry, for instance, symbolize will be further augmented if we have this spectacle continued here in America of the apparent ap-parent callousness of the Italian Church to the spiritual welfare of its migrating brethren. The Catholic Citizen. We referred last week to the zeal of our contemporary, the Citizen, in behalf oF the Italians in this country. Our intimate knowledge of the manner in which the spiritual welfare of the Italians, in some of the western states, is looked after by some of the Bishops, made us loath to accept the plan of the Citizen. We recognize the forceful zeal of our contemporary, but a more critical ex- i animation of its plan of appealing direct di-rect to the Propaganda leads us to the conviction that the course which it pursues is. not the wisest. "What will be the result of its efforts?" ef-forts?" the Citizen asks. We think we can give a fairly accurate forecast of what the result will be. If, after investigation, Rome is satisfied that The Citizen has published a correct report re-port of the spiritual status of " the Italians in America, the whole matter will be referred to the American Episcopate. Epis-copate. But can the Bishops and the Priests of the country do more for the Italians than they are now doing? We think not. Can Rome itself do more than the American hierarchy is doing? Again, we think not. Perhaps the Citizen would have the i whole matter placed under the jurisdiction juris-diction of a special Episcopate wholly independent of "the Episcopate which now governs the Church. This is one result which is among the probabilities of the Citizen's crusade.' Has our contemporary thought out some of the possible results of its own action? Altogether wc feel tfiat the Citizen is on dangerous ground. |
