ROME AND THE UNITED STATES.
By Editor
The Kölnische Zeitung, Cologne, in a long article, endeavors to demonstrate that the greatest danger that threatens the United States is the growing power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The writer deplores that many Americans regard their nation and country as altogether exceptional and therefore free from the influences which make themselves felt in other parts of the world. The article is so full of interesting details that we condense it rather than give verbal quotations. The article runs as follows:— 'Lafayette, the champion of personal freedom and Washington's companion in arms, said: 'If ever the freedom of the American people is destroyed, it will be at the hands of the Roman priesthood.' This priesthood of course denies the accusation that it wishes to influence the government; but it is well-known that the Papacy, from the date of its origin, has continually aimed to extend its influence at the expense of the secular authorities. The Papacy is ill-pleased if it has to share the rule over humanity with another power, and Catholics are everywhere taught that the commands of Rome must be obeyed before the laws of the country in which the Catholic lives. The United States is no exception to the rule. 'A canonic law issued in Baltimore in 1886 says: 'An oath need not be kept if it is pointed against the interests of the Roman Catholic Church. A promise of this kind is not to be considered as an oath.' Bishop Gilmour, of Cleveland, wrote in March, 1873: 'The nations must learn to subject themselves to the dictates of religion. We must learn to be Catholics first and citizens next.' 'Pius IX., in his syllabus of December 8, 1864, declares: 'It is a mistake to believe that, in a conflict between church and state, the decision can be given according to civil law.' 'Leo XIII., in his pastoral letter of January 10, 1890, addresses the American Catholics as follows: 'It is wrong to break the commandments of the church in order to obey the laws of the state. If there is a conflict between the rules of the state and those of the church, if the interests of the church are hurt or the authority of the Pope doubted, it is a duty to oppose the laws of the state, and sinful to submit to them.' 'Pope Leo also denies that the church is separate from politics, and the General-Vicar Preston said in 1888: 'American Catholics often think that the supremacy of the church is restricted to matters of faith. This is untrue and disloyal. You have no right to think as you please, you must think like Catholics. Whoever says: 'I will take my faith from St. Peter, but not my politics,' is not a true Catholic.' 'In a pastoral letter from Pope Leo, dated November 7, 1885, the American Catholics are urged 'to do everything in their power to change the constitution of these states in accordance with the principles of the true church.' 'Let us now examine into the means by which the church hopes to attain its cherished hopes, and what progress has been made. The machine at the command of the Pope is very formidable. No other machine can compare in organization with the Catholic hierarchy. The army of Rome in the United States consisted in 1895 of 16 archbishops, 70 bishops, 9,686 priests, and 2,122 theological students, which army attends to the spiritual wants of 9,410,790 Catholics. The church has 8,512 churches, 2,795 chapels, 1 university, 37 seminaries, 116 high schools, 637 academies, and 3,610 parochial schools with 768,498 pupils. At the head of this formidable array stands the Apostolic Ambassador, with the rank of a cardinal, whose power is set forth in the following papal decree: 'We command all whom this may concern to acknowledge you, our Apostolic Ambassador, as the supreme power. We command them to render you help, assistance, and obedience in all things, and to receive with due reverence your commands. Whatever sentence you may pronounce, whatever punishment you may inflict upon those who oppose your authority, will be confirmed by us according to the power God has conferred upon us, and we will use our authority to obtain obedience and satisfaction, tho it may cause a conflict with the constitutions, with apostolic precept, or any other rules.' 'In the face of this well-ordered and well-disciplined army the Protestants, divided into countless sects, are powerless, and must be swept away. Yet the non-Catholic American can not see this. He believes that the United States Constitution can not be overthrown, and thinks that his country is an exception to the general rule that religious freedom and a sovereign priesthood can not exist side by side. 'The writer endeavors to prove by figures that the time is not far distant when the Roman Catholic Church will make demands in America similar to those made by the Uitlanders in the Transvaal. The wealth in the possession of the church was over $1,000,000,000 in 1872. What must it be now? The Catholic editors are influenced entirely by the bishops, in accordance with Pope Leo's order of January, 1895. As for the non-sectarian public schools, they are as much an object of aversion to the Pope, tho they are in America, as elsewhere. As long ago as Feb. 13, 1873, Bishop McQuaid said in Boston that 'the state has no right to carry on the work of education; that right falls into the province of the church.' And the lower clergy continually describe the public schools as devilish, scandalous, sinful, godless, unlucky, damnable places, whence the most untrammeled immorality emanates, so that the blood of every Catholic boils.' Regarding the part played by the church in politics the writer says (we quote directly):— 'In many of the larger cities the Catholics already decide the elections, as in New York, where Tammany Hall is the gathering ground for the Catholic Irish. Claudio Jannet, Professor of Social Economy at the Catholic Institute of Paris, declares that the church has made itself felt as the balance of power to the American politician. He predicts that the church will be called to lead in the administration of the country during the twentieth century, at the instance of the people themselves. Those who doubt this need only glance at South America, where the United States of Colombia presents a case in point. Under the influence of his strictly Catholic wife President Urmez turned over all the schools, seminaries, all the charity organizations, hospitals, museums, and libraries of the country to the Catholic hierarchy. The liberals fought for their rights, but were beaten during the civil war, which lasted four years. 'The United States, too, will have to face the question whether Rome or Liberalism should rule. Who will be the victor it is impossible to determine. Thus much, however, is certain: the struggle will cost tremendous sacrifices and it will endanger the existence of the United States.'—Literary Digest, Sept. 5, 1896.