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Show CATHOLIC CHUROUNAMA ; ;y Rev. Morgan Sheedy. h (Ddiv. nd at the Annual Banquet of ! ji)' ;laynooth Union, of Chicago.) i The ; lit me is an inspiring one. The j mii lor the Catholic people of ! (Minm a time of great responsibility. responsi-bility. We are now well over the pe-t pe-t ihmI 'f prophecy and speculation; we i in the time of results and ; I f r- i ' The past our fathers in S the laith wrought, and we know how : i 1 well they builded The fu- i of our making There is ; r.nuh n le done Great things for the - i (.., the welfare of our coun-i coun-i t-y. ai d The triumphs of religion are f ; tn If accomplished; it is ours to have -! i tnis work There are manv ! i n.l perplexing problems in ; ! tli1 siM-a:!. industrial and educational ii;p ! America to be solved; ours it ! is id hfip in their solution i e nave barely passed the first cen-, cen-, ;;;ry t ihe church in these United i Nau-s. It was. as you know, a cen-; cen-; lury ot beginnings, of trials, and heroic hero-ic struggles, yet a century of great proeivss and marvelous growth. From John Carroll, first Bishop of Baltimore, :he :i!y bishop in the vast territory between the Atlantic and Pacific, to Jane. Gibbons, the ninth bishop of that sec. the nrimate nf a rimwi, v, ec-w numbers one cardinal, almost one :u:i(!re,l bishops, over 12,000 priests and an estimated Catholic population of b'.iM.n.cnO souls what wondrous !ian-.s one hundred years have iroui-ht about! I speak with due caul :ien; 1 know of nothing to equal this century r f growth in the entire history of Christianity. The progress and expansion of our country has been marvelous. The Catholic church has more than kept I'a.e with the nation's development anii advancement. She has entered on this twentieth century in the United Unit-ed States under the most favorable c:rciiihs:ances. Never before was the cutlet k brighter and the field of her labors more inviting. The old preju-aices preju-aices apainst the church ar4e fast dis-aw-eai'iiig. if they have not alreadv s;e-J out. By these outside her pale she is re-?MtH.j re-?MtH.j as She never was before. Tnir.kiii- men are looking to the Cath-o.ic Cath-o.ic church for aid. They see that -e is a great constructive and con-'.vative con-'.vative power in society; that she an d and is doing a great deal in b'.;i;r:c to solve the social and indus-t.-'-i borblems of the age; her leaders "'ww the luminous guidance of the vuraWe Leo XIII. have sot them-s them-s ;" leeonciling labor and, eapi--t.-: churchmen like Cardinal Gib-!H,;S; Gib-!H,;S; Archlii'chP Ireland, Archbishop Vff ,1;iphP Spalding and others ve u.ade their powerful influence ie.t in tvf-ry great social an industri&l '!:al has arisen. The churcn, c)r- ;,. friend of the masses of the !.'','Vi:'!1 the Preaclier of the gospel J'-::-:,ee and fair play between man an Kan. is at the same time the owod fnemy of disorder and an-T&y; an-T&y; she is ever the promoter of 'e and t;f harmonious relations be-u'n be-u'n the clashing interests of soci-t soci-t can and dees effect much ..at legislation and force cannot ac-yompiish; ac-yompiish; she stands unflinchingly for ;:'e 'I0" '' and the integrity of the i'am- Hi KilOI't. Sr.P IS fiorrvmw nr. nnni. ,i. " - J J ilif, V 1 1A UX1UC1 V(-s of the American people jl ;'!:. -v h f-'reat religious, but a wide tjl v henevolent social work. v,"' h!'f,i-nt democracies perished," y"' a '-tinguished French writer, ;l!'!rn:.I';ion and cruel strife because not maintain a just social -'t.:;.;:-..,r. Modern democracy will n,f.!'' 1;,e perils if it succeeds in (Cr,'1'1" !tie ideals proposed by vJA" ,-':,:i''ic church, let it be known, ::;-'ovably for these ideals. J ar'- i" ' ' :D Ur OWD way the con" (V jil l-"--'-n of the frequent messages ' l1 Xlll. to this age. "Religion Jv,;L ' u nf Jesus Christ," the aged ""' ; " ps on reiterating, "can a;!'!'' our modern society; can a'ti! l' ''!e a just social order; can i (! Pcace contentment and l ' ' :' Peoples and nations." s'a-i : a lat v,e have passed the :hl V' ' ' 'v The aims an( Purposes of v't'.j, , ':!,:1"'-ic church w ere misunder-c:', misunder-c:', m'V' n'orir'a- Let me cite a not-n.,.. not-n.,.. 'h (" in support of this state- A wilfT. ,. fj,. 5 "me ago a prominent non-v'w'T. non-v'w'T. Allier'can addressed a re- ,:Uor to Pope Leo XIII. The :-d that he was "much inter-. inter-. success and growth of ?'a. . f'hurch in the United y ' 0r t-he following reasons: 'a-s . '!m tlie Catllo"'c church n '"t:ng in a way to secure s; ,. , ''"'r,';. good citizenship, a re-Mojiorty re-Mojiorty rights and the '' "th(-rs. ' !'-auRe of the firm faith ' ;';'.'dic church in God, in 1 r Christ, in the Bible and a firm acceptance accept-ance of the religion of the Savior without : which civilization mvzt. tually disappear. "I believe," this American went cn itQSay 'll iS almost necessary for PathS euf my COuntry that the Cathohc church shall grow to be strong here. Outside of the church I ulS1 f81 drifng into infidel-r infidel-r 6 iS being yarded as aplce." diSbeHef Spreadsl So we see-there are splendid oppor-1 tumties opening to the church in this land. The field is inviting for a display dis-play of her best energies. Eight or nine million Catholics in our new possessions pos-sessions need our spiritual care and attention. Alreay steps are being taken tak-en to train American priests for work in the Philippines. Only the other day two Americans were chosen as bishops to guide the flock in those new possessions. posses-sions. The Catholic church and the American Ameri-can civil authorities are anxious for peace in the islands, and they are hopeful of the settlement of all the j questions there to be met. The authorities author-ities at Rome have accepted loyally i and fully the policy of the United States, and are shaping all oh nrr-t-. matters in accordance with that pel-icy. pel-icy. American ideas are sure to prevail pre-vail in the church in the Philippines. Nor has the church in America neglected neg-lected "those outside her pale." She has instituted missions for non-Catholics begun by the Paulist Fathers and which have now spread all over the country. From 30,000 to 50,000 non-Catholics non-Catholics are yearly received into the church in the United States. Dr. H. K. Carroll, the superintendent of the religious census of the United States, in his last report states that while the increase of the population of the country coun-try was 2.1S per cent, the Catholic increase in-crease was 5.4 per cent. Of the 20,-I 20,-I 000.000 church members in the United States, he credits 9,000,000, or almost one-half, to the Catholic church. While doubt, infidelity and materialism material-ism are making great inroads among other religious bodies, the Catholic church alone is able to resist the attacks at-tacks of these enemies of religion. And this is due not only to the truth and 1 no i n nf -i r c-i-f t nr., - ojoccm, u ut lu luk care and sacrifices stfie makes in the Christian Chris-tian training of her children. Take this great city of Chicago and see what the church is doing for Christian education. What is being done here on so wide a scale and in so great a way is being done in every diocese all over the country. Over 1.000.000 future citizens are being trained for their responsibilities and duties. And this is done at the enormous enor-mous yearly outlay of an additional and self-imposed tax to Catholic citizens citi-zens cf over $20,000,000. From this rapid survey we can understand un-derstand how and why the great work and mission of the Catholic church grows apace in America. The future of religion in this land is hers. It is now generally admitted that within a very short time the United States will control the material the commercial world; it can. scarcely be less certain that the Catholic church will direct the spiritual the religious world. Let America and the Catho lic, church join hands for the uplifting and salvation of humanity. And may this Maynooth union live to see that day! The New World. |
