Catholic Views on Immigration Restriction
A CATHOLIC priest of Connecticut has taken a public stand in favor of restricting immigration to this country because the Catholic Church is not able to take care, spiritually, of all the immigrants that come, and large numbers are annually lost from the communion of that church as a result. The Catholic position regarding immigration has been, heretofore, strongly against any restriction, because of the advantage that church derives from the constant incoming human tide from the shores of Europe, the greater part of which, especially of late years, has been from Catholic countries. But it seems that the Catholic immigration has now attained such proportions that in New York City, which is the goal of a large part of it, the facilities of the church are not adequate to the task of keeping it under Catholic influence and control and large numbers of these immigrants break away and come under Protestant supervision, or cease to affiliate with any church. The priest mentions in a communication on the subject to the New York Sun, that in this city, “five hundred children, ‘mostly Italian,’ are said to attend regularly one Baptist Sunday-school.” The Sun comments on this as being “an unusual position for a Catholic clergyman,” but one supported by “a striking argument,” the sum of which is that “legislative restriction on immigration would enable priests to ‘catch up with their work’ by reason of the lessening of the throngs received.” It would be an unusual use of the legislative power of this government, truly, if it were exercised to lessen immigration in order that the Catholic Church in any part of this country might catch up with its work, and not suffer any defection from its ranks. But when the Catholic Church is able to “muster a quorum in the House of Representatives,” in accordance with a recent boast of a Catholic orator in Washington, we shall no doubt see legislation directed toward ends no less strange and un-American than this would be.