The Papacy and Sunday Laws.
In the final effort for Sunday laws, the Papacy will lead. It has been thought by many that Roman Catholics are indifferent as to Sunday observance, and many of the laity may be. But while the prelates do not believe in a Puritanical, Protestant Sunday, they do believe in the Catholic Sunday. For evidence of this take the following from the Montreal Witness of Jan. 29, 1899:— “The Semaine Religieuse reports that a French bishop having a short time ago complained to the pope of the increase of Sabbath desecration in his diocese, Leo XIII. said:— “Sabbath desecration is the presage of all kinds of calamities; it means the extinction of faith, the abandonment of prayer, the forgetting of eternity; it is a suppression of God in man's life. If a nation made common such desecration, it would be a nation without religion. Is France inclined to try such a terrible experience? Is it disposed to stand against common sense and the experience of forty centuries? Is it disposed to defy the justice of God?” “The Semaine Religieuse also quotes the following words from Pope Pius IX., on the same subject:— “Sunday desecration, when it becomes general in a nation, is a “national mortal sin,” which calls down the vengeance of God upon the whole country. A country where Sunday observance does not flourish, rapidly proceeds to ruin.” Archbishop Ireland said in Columbus, O., September 10, 1888, “The violator of Sunday law is the worst of criminals.” When the law and sentiment are sufficient, what would we naturally expect to see?