p. 47 | RELIGIOUS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 21, 1892

RELIGIOUS.

—The Episcopal Church has opened a theological school for colored students in Washington City.

—At the cardinal consistory to be held December 10 it is expected that the pope will appoint 13 new cardinals. There are now 17 vacancies.

—The Canadian Church Magazine says that the cost of firing one shot from one of our largest cannon would support a missionary two years in Japan.

—The pope is said to be greatly pleased with the cordial receptions accorded to Mgr. Satolli, the papal delegate, at the World's Fair dedication ceremonies.

—It is said that not a single infidel book is published in the Welsh language. As a notable coincidence, very few policemen are required, one county having none at all.

—It is said that one denominational institution in New England has among its students a young man respectively from Kioto, Japan; Thessalonica, Greece, and Iceland.

—It is said by statistical experts that there are 140 distinct religious denominations in the United States. Of these there are 15 sects of Methodists, 14 of Baptists, and 12 of Presbyterians.

—The present week is being observed as a time of prayer for young men of all lands. The arrangement was made by the World Committee of the Y. M. C. A., which is located at Geneva, Switzerland.

—It is remarkable how many clergymen declare against a union of Church and State, and at the same time advocate religious legislation in the form of Sunday laws, which is a direct invocation of State support of the church.

—On Sunday, the 6th inst., over 25,000 devotees were on their knees in the various Catholic cemeteries about Cincinnati. The occasion was All-souls' day, which is devoted to the dead, and is observed by prayers for the release of their souls from purgatory.

—Harper's Weekly says: "There was a curious Moslem religious ceremony at the opening of the Jaffa and Jerusalem Railway for traffic. The Jerusalem terminus of the road was decorated with palms, and when the Mohammedan priest had offered prayer, three sheep with snow-white fleece and gilded horns were dragged upon the rails and slaughtered. They were left there until the blood had run from their veins and reddened the ties, and then the locomotive, freed by this sacrifice from the evil genii, went puffing out of the Holy City."

—The New York Churchman (Protestant Episcopal) says: "By all means let the Roman Church have fair play; let all its just demands be granted. If she can persuade Americans to accept her dogmas, submit to her authority, and recognize the pope as 'father of princes and kings, ruler of the world,' well and good. Then there will be an end of American institutions, but liberty has often committed suicide during the course of history." This expression shows that Adventists are not alone in their predictions that religious liberty in this country is in danger. The danger, however, comes not so much from the encroachments of the Papacy itself as from the disposition of professed Protestantism to imitate her methods.