CATHOLIC SENTIMENT IN REGARD TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDS.
By W. N. G.
THE New York Independent recently sent to various Catholic dignitaries the following letter:— DEAR SIR: In view of the interest taken by the public just now in reports that representatives of the Catholic Church propose to ask for a division of the public school fund in various States, will you be kind enough to inform me whether it is the policy of your church to obtain such a division, and whether you would give your countenance to a movement in your diocese with such an object in view? In the issue of January 11 there appear thirty-two different replies, thirty of which are from bishops and archbishops. In most of these replies there is special care not to commit the church to any sentiment held by the individual, but there are two pointed exceptions to the rule. Bishop Hennessy, of Wichita, Kansas, says: "I beg to assure you that the Catholic Church has no policy whatever as to obtaining or claiming a division of the public school funds. The question has never come before the church." On the other hand, Bishop Durier, of Natchitoches, La., says: "It is positively the aim—say the policy, if you will—of our church to obtain a division of the public school fund, as she is satisfied both that she has a right to it and she can prove her right." While there are a variety of ways of expressing the principle, and somewhat different ideas as to a "movement" to secure what is deemed justice, there is unanimity in the sentiment that Catholics ought not to be taxed for the support of schools in which their religion cannot be taught. Another idea seems quite general throughout the replies, namely, that the securing of what is deemed the rights of Catholics in this respect should be a movement originating with the State rather than with the church. In other words, it should be a political movement. A few expressions on this point will indicate the thought:— Whatever concessions we may at any time obtain must come from the consent of our fellow citizens, and by convincing them of the justice of what we ask.—Bishop Phelan, Pittsburg. We shall continue to pay for our own schools until we have convinced all lovers of fair play and all believers in religious truth that our position is correct, until the public indorse our views on education.—Bishop Maes, Covington. We hold that an equitable settlement of this question must come from the fair-mindedness of the American people themselves. Their intelligence must be enlightened and their conscience be pricked before they can be expected to move even in a question of elementary justice.—Bishop McQuaid, Rochester. I am entirely against any policy of obtaining a share of public school money, if the State will not give it of itself, on the principle of the true American spirit, in testimony of which facts do louder speak than words—"Be Americans."—Bishop Vertin, Marquette, Mich. Policy has dictated to them [Catholics] to submit to this injustice in the hope that time would dispel prejudice, disarm bigotry, enlighten ignorance, and bring American fair-mindedness to the surface to acknowledge and allow the justice of their claim.—Bishop Heslin, Natchez. We have often said, and we repeat, that the fair-mindedness of our American people and the religious convictions of so large a number of well-meaning American citizens, will sooner or later coincide with our views in this regard.—Bishop Ryan, Buffalo. I do not entertain the least doubt that, if the people were left to judge the case on its merits, they would in this, as in other matters of public honesty, be just to their Catholic fellow-citizens, and gladly give them what is theirs—a pro rata share of money collected for educational purposes to be devoted to the education of Catholic children.—Rt. Rev. Leo Haid, Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina. While these and other expressions show that the movement referred to should be on the part of the people in general, they also show that such a consummation is expected at some time. And no doubt their expectation will be realized. Bishop Marty, of Sioux Falls, is somewhat pessimistic in this regard, but he is an exception. He says: "As long as the majority of the nation is not Christian, we cannot hope for their cooperation to Christianize its schools. There are no more Christian nations, and therefore State schools are no longer Christian." The bishop evidently sees that it requires more than a court decision to make a nation Christian. But, from the standpoint of the "Christian nation" theorists—the Supreme Court decision to that effect being their basis—the Catholics have reason to expect the fulfillment of their desires, not only in regard to the school question, but as to every other question. In fact, Bishop Hennessy plainly says: "The religious conscience of our people is regarded and respected in every matter of public concern, with the single exception of education." From the standpoint of the Supreme Court decision, we repeat, the Catholics have reason to expect the State to encourage their every policy—this from the fact that the decision was in the main based upon Catholic documents and claims, and from the further fact that the Christian nation doctrine is a Church and State doctrine, and Church and State is emphatically Catholic in its origin, so far as it lays any claim to Christianity. The logic of Catholic expectation is thus stated by Bishop Hennessy:— If our country be Christian, and if our laws be based upon Christian principles, it seems to me to be a paradox that Christianity in any and every form should be excluded from the schools in which our children and future citizens receive their daily training. In some of the replies there are patronizing appeals to the sympathy of Protestant denominations through advocacy of the "denominational system," that is, a system by which all denominations could have their religion taught in State-supported schools. But experience has proved that Protestants invariably lose by falling into Catholic ideas; and every time they have done so, they have simply aided in the construction of the "image." This was well illustrated in the government support of denominational Indian schools, when in a short time the Catholics were drawing considerably more than all other denominations combined. There is now considerable clamor for the teaching of the Christian religion in public schools, and this clamor will become louder and louder as the Christian nation doctrine becomes more practically incorporated in the laws of the land. And when blinded and truculent Protestants shall have fully installed the Catholic idea, they will suddenly wake up to the fact that the Christianity of the nation and the Christianity taught in the public schools is Roman Catholic Christianity.