THERE is a tenseness in the religious situation such as has never before been experienced in the history of this country. For years there was, on the part of many Protestant individuals and Protestant periodicals, a spirit of taking Rome’s part, apologizing for her past and making promises for her future, while she herself would make no promises for herself.
Today a change seems to be coming over the country. What has brought it about, and whether it will continue for any length of time, it is difficult to state. It has seemed to the writer that God is permitting this Protestant revival, and is leading Protestant journals and Protestant pastors and lecturers to speak out to this generation in earnest protest, as a part of his last warning against that power which is finally to dominate the world and dictate its religion.
On the one hand, we see great organizations, still bearing the name Protestant, preparing to join forces with Rome for the accomplishment of certain specific objects; and, on the other hand, we hear Protestants of various denominations denouncing Rome and voicing earnest warnings against her purposes in America. It is a significant thing, and it portends a struggle of no mean proportions.
While there is in this particular a revival in Protestantism, the manifestation of that revival is creating a feeling of intense bitterness on the part of Catholics, and they are attempting to stem the tide of this revival by physical force and by repressive measures. It means a great deal to a single religious system in this country to have one paper alone that is opposing it reach a circulation of nearly a million and a half in less than three years. This means, as that system knows, that about five million persons in this country are reading each week from one journal alone scathing denunciations of the Roman Church. Then, too, the hierarchy knows that this is but one of a considerable number of journals that are opposing Rome. Not only so, but these journals that are the most outspoken carry advertisements of many books that expose Romanism, and are, through such advertising, going into the homes of thousands of the people.
Because of the effect that Rome knows these periodicals and books will have9upon the minds of the readers, she is planning to use obstructive tactics wherever possible to hinder their circulation. She has succeeded in closing the mails of Canada to one of these journals, and is using her utmost endeavors to close the mails of the United States to the same journal. She is also carrying on a campaign that is designed to exclude from the mails all journals that attack the Roman system and doctrines.
It will be of interest to the readers of the Review to see how some of the more conservative Protestant journals view the situation. The Pacific Christian Advocate (Methodist), of March 25, in a two-column editorial on "The Literacy Test" in the Burnett Immigration Bill, speaks as follows:—
It appears to us that the personnel of the opposition to the Immigration Bill should commend its immediate passage to every true American. We will name only two forces here which are arrayed against it. The first is the Roman Catholic Church, whose pernicious activities in all legislative bodies have become a serious menace. It is interesting to note that most of those who voted against this bill in the House of Representatives are members of the Knights of Columbus. If we are properly informed, no Knight of Columbus voted for the bill. Rather significant, is it not?
The second impediment the bill has is the forces which are trying to foreignize America—the great steamship companies; some large corporations desiring to flood the country with cheap labor; and the political bosses. The bill is recommended excellently because of the character of its enemies.
A very significant item recently appeared in the Baltimore News (a Roman Catholic organ), which says: "Dispatches from Rome say that the utmost indignation prevails in Vatican circles in Rome over the Burnett Immigration Bill. . . . Italian, Austrian, and Hungarian Catholic immigrants would be those mainly affected by the bill, it is stated, and at least fifty-five per cent of Italians would be excluded by the literacy test and forty per cent of Austro-Hungarians." Then the editor continues with these words: "There is reason to believe that the Vatican is exerting such influence as it commands at Washington to bring pressure to bear in the direction of annihilating the bill or the 'anti-Catholic' clause, as the literacy provision is termed."
Is Mr. Wilson dominated by this "influence"? We have hoped that our high-minded President would not be caught in the machinations of Rome. If he yields here, as he apparently has succumbed in other places, his future rightly will be as inglorious as that of his weak predecessor.
Why now, may we ask, should the Vatican exert such influence as it commands at Washington to defeat this measure? This frank Catholic editor has spoken freely of the Italian, Austrian, and Hungarian when he admits that one half will be excluded by such a law. Such superstitious illiterates are excellent tools in the hands of the Pope whether in America or their native lands. But must we go to Rome for permission to enact such laws as we want in this country? Is this a free land? or are we under the dominion of the Knights of Columbus and the man in the Vatican?
The city is the harvest field of the political boss. The larger the city, the more corrupt is the government, as a rule. In 1900 Chicago harbored ninety-one per cent of the Poles living in Illinois and eighty-four per cent of the Italians. New York City contained forty-seven per cent of the Poles of that State, with eighty per cent of the Italians and ninety-four per cent of the Russian Jews. These foreigners are certain to continue to congregate in the cities, where they will be dominated by the political boss and the Roman hierarchy. More than a generation ago an eminent man wrote, "I look upon the size of certain American cities, and especially upon the nature of their population, as a real danger which threatens the security of the democratic republics of the world." Did he have in mind, we wonder, the subtle, persistent activities of the man who wears the red cap, and his repeated orders to "make America Catholic" by pressing his illiterate subjects into our cities—or by any other method?
It is perfectly legitimate for any American to inquire what right any religious organization has to be exerting pressure upon our lawmakers and executives. These men are elected to represent the American people. He who would vote to enact a law or to repeal a law because of "pressure," or who, as an executive, would sign a bill because of "pressure" from any source, would be violating his oath of office.
The Christian Standard has a department devoted to "American Protestantism," and in that department, in its issue of March 21, are printed the two following articles:—
Precisely So
"The great convention of French Catholics which will be held in Paris on Saturday next (February 28) will have no official significance. It is being organized by Colonel Keller and other influential Catholics for the purpose of uniting, if possible, at the coming elections all Catholic voters, irrespective of their private political opinions, in order to elect to the new Chamber of Deputies representatives who will support Catholic institutions and principles—the object being, of course, to put an end to the Masonic domination that is ruining the country. Neither the French bishops nor the Holy See are officially connected with the project, but a movement to unite Catholics for the purpose of defending Catholic interests is in complete accordance with views often expressed by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X." — Church Progress.
Here is an avowal that the Romish church is in politics, and that for the express purpose of gaining advantages for "the church." The asseveration that the convention referred to has no "official significance," is a miserable and flimsy subterfuge. What boots it whether it is official or not, if the end in view is accomplished? That end is avowed to be to induce Catholic voters to disregard party lines, and elect to the French Chamber of Deputies men "who will support Catholic institutions and principles." There you have it in plain terms. Can it be reasonably supposed that Catholics are trying to do in France what they would not try to do in America? Rome is the same always and everywhere, and her adherents would not hesitate to put men in power who would favor "Catholic institutions and principles" the world over, if they could. The hierarchy never sleeps, and unless Protestants are upon the alert, and take steps to counteract the machinations of the triple-crowned magnate on the Tiber, they will some day find themselves in chains. Let it be noticed that what Catholics are trying to do in France "is in complete accordance with views often expressed by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius X." The popes mentioned simply gave expression to the spirit of Romanism, and it is at work everywhere to put men in power who will serve the purposes of the hierarchy. The Church Progress is a full-blooded Catholic journal, and not a rabid anti-Catholic sheet, and what it says is to be taken as the real sentiment of "the church."
It Ought to Pass
A bill has recently been introduced into the upper house of the Massachusetts Legislature providing for the State inspection of all public and private institutions, such as schools, nunneries, convents, charitable institutions, etc., and it ought to become a law, not only in Massachusetts, but also in every other State in the Union. There are various good reasons for the existence and operation of such a law. In the first place, it is worth while for the sake of sanitation. If such institutions are not kept in good sanitary condition, they may become disease centers. Then, again, it is believed that some of them are practically prisons in which people are retained against their will, and this should be looked into. The question of morals is involved in some of these institutions, and they ought to be investigated from this point of view.
A few years ago such articles as these were rare indeed; and that such a journal as the Christian Standard should have a department devoted to such topics is very significant. The Watchman-Examiner of March 26 has the following paragraph, which sounds very different from the tone of its declarations of a few years ago:—
There is now being considered by the Committee on Constitutional Amendments of the Massachusetts Legislature a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting sectarian appropriations. This amendment, if adopted, will absolutely prevent any appropriations of public money for parochial schools or other sectarian institutions, and will end all controversy concerning such grants of public money. The repeated public demands of representative societies of a certain religious body for public money for its institutions, together with the fact that only a few days ago a resolution was introduced in the city council of Newport, R. I., appropriating $11,000 for the support of three parochial schools in that city, should convince every thoughtful citizen that the time10has arrived to settle definitely this most important question. The success of the proposed amendment depends on the public interest shown in the matter. The Boston conferences of the Baptist, Congregational, and Methodist ministers have indorsed it, and it is desired that all churches should do the same.
From Zion's Herald of March 25 we clip the following:—
Religious Conditions in France
While Roman Catholicism complains bitterly over the action of France in the separation of church and state, the authorities of the church are doing little to make the new conditions what they should be. The questions of finance are among the most serious that confront the church. It appears that nothing is being done by the bishops to organize mutual insurance companies in behalf of the clergy, or to establish funds to take care of the superannuates. Neither is anything being done for the higher education of girls. There has been inaugurated, on the other hand, a bitter campaign against the government schools, which are accused of all manner of crime and iniquity. A writer in the Church Quarterly Review says concerning the Roman Catholic colleges of France: "They suffer less from the law of separation than from lack of scientific liberty. The Vatican has endeavored to introduce into our land the procedure of the Inquisition, repugnant to the French spirit, which is frank and loyal. Whilst Rome denies and casts forth all liberty of thought and action in the Catholic Church, the bishops favor with their imprimatur the most imbecile writings, and censure those who venture to say that Lazarus did not take boat at Jaffa for Marseilles, or who argue that the house of Loretto was not wafted on angels' wings through the air from Nazareth to Italy." These are the conditions which help to make the present the high hour for Protestantism in France. Through the colporteur system which has been introduced, Bible tracts are being distributed broadcast, and the masses are being reached, with wonderful results.
The World's Crisis of March 25 reprints entire the article which appeared in the Review of March 5, entitled "America's Representative to the Papal States," by C. E. Holmes.
The Religious Telescope of March 25 devotes its entire first page to the Bible-burning incident in the Philippines, from which we clip the following paragraphs:—
One has a right to think that the day of Bible burning has passed. But if one is confirmed in that belief, late news from the Philippine Islands will cause a sudden and a radical change of mind. . .
This Bible burning occurred on January 16—over two months ago. How many of our readers have heard of it? We venture not one in all the United States. Important events are generally telegraphed around the world and are in all the daily papers in less than thirty hours. Not so this time. The Associated Press is said to be under Roman control, and the spectacular affair was intended to cow Filipinos, not to supply interesting reading for people in the United States.
Why did not the American dailies of the Philippines carry an account of the article? Let them tell. Every one was silent—whether terrorized, let the reader judge. One American weekly protested later, but it was left to a Filipino daily paper, Renacimiento Filipino, to break the news to the world. This it did on February 3, with a triple-display head, five columns wide. The same issue contains a double-column editorial strongly denunciatory of the burning of the Bibles. The managing editor, the associate editor, and the business manager are Filipinos. The last paragraph rings as true as any word which could be spoken on this side of the sea:—
"It is sad to have to record that the act was ever done. It bespeaks a narrowness of vision that can be attributed only to the religious fanatic. It is an example of the lesson that the Catholic Church taught six centuries ago. It is a species of hollow reverence for the teachings of him who preached brotherly love. While the question involved is one that has taken up the time of humanity, arrested the attention of the greatest minds, and cast the lives of the most worthy men, it is a question which the Renacimiento is not afraid to touch upon. Independence of religious thought encourages it here to brand that scene as a remnant of religious barbarism; as one of the most iniquitous and uncalled-for acts ever done in the name of a world-wide religious belief. The Bibles could have been secured through the device mentioned in the front-page article of this paper, but to burn those books in public, in the presence of an invited and awe-struck populace, is the last word in intolerance in this age of religious enlightenment."
We might add that Rev. H. W. Widdows, superintendent of our mission work in the Philippines, was in Vigan a day or two after the burning, and that he verified everything by personal investigation.
"But that is in the Philippines," an apologist observes, "and an American Catholic would not think of such a thing." Hold on, Brother Apologist. The perpetrator of this act of bigotry was not a Filipino priest, nor yet a much-maligned Spanish friar, but an American Jesuit named Thompkins, who for several years has fought the Protestant missionaries with a fanatic zeal. It is an easy thing to ask what Padre Thompkins would do in his native America if he had the chance—and just as easy to answer. The matter was brought to the attention of the archbishop, who promised to mete out punishment; but one can imagine the severity of the punishment when he understands that an archbishop has no authority over a Jesuit.
What was done in Vigan on Jan. 16, 1914, is an index of what would be done the world over if power were possessed. The Inquisition might lose its place in history because of one even more bloody.
Will the authorities in Washington do anything?—They will do nothing. Too many "pan-American" masses have been celebrated on Thanksgiving to expect even a piping voice of protest. We doubt whether Washington would do anything if a Bible agent had been included with the Bibles.
The Christian Observer of March 25 contains a lengthy editorial review of the work entitled "Romanism—a Menace to the Nation," a striking work written by a former priest, Jeremiah J. Crowley. The Observer reviews the book approvingly, and says:—
The hierarchy is challenged to disprove the charges. There is much food for thought in Father Crowley's book. It is inconceivable that it should all be "a pack of lies." If true, or if one half of it is true, it is enough to point out the dangerous tendencies of the Roman hierarchy.
The Western Recorder (Baptist), in its issue of March 26, has this note and comment:—
Just So
In a recent issue of a Romanist publication there appears the following:—
"Non-Catholics judge our religion largely by the lives of Catholics whom they know. The inventions of lecturers and anti-Catholic publications do not deceive as many as we suppose."
Quite right; they do not deceive a great many, but, O! how many they do enlighten concerning Catholic capers. Yes, we do judge these people "by the lives of Catholics we know." For example, in our city, four fifths of all the saloons are run by Catholics, and these same Catholics are in good standing and full fellowship in the Roman Catholic denomination. We find, too, that from the Pope down, or rather up, the leaders of Romanism are opposed to the extinction of the liquor traffic. We find this same people opposing every moral reform; blocking every effort for the moral uplift of the people.
A few days ago, while in New Orleans, Cardinal Gibbons said: "While I am an ardent advocate of temperance, I am intuitively persuaded that prohibition cannot be enforced in this country. It is calculated to make hypocrites and tends to the manufacture of illicit whisky, replacing the good material with the bad, while at the same time robbing the government of the legitimate tax."
The good cardinal says he is "intuitively" opposed to prohibition. We do not know how much if any liquor is consumed by his eminence, but we do know that if he partakes as freely as many of his priests, he has personal grounds for his opposition to a law that is designed to abolish the greatest curse known by man.
It will be noted that several of these utterances indicate that their authors understand what is the purpose of the Roman hierarchy concerning America, and what the result would be should she accomplish her purpose. While Rome denies that she is in politics, some of these extracts prove that she is. In the issue of the Jesuit journal America of Dec. 20, 1913, there appeared this note:—
SPAIN.—The bishops of the province of Grenada have issued an appeal for the organized union of all Catholics of their dioceses in defense of the rights of the church in Spain, a union that is to comprehend Catholics of all political11parties; and is to make itself felt particularly in the polling booth.
This is certainly playing the game of politics, and doing it in such a way as to make the priest a political "boss" of the most pronounced type, who will hold over the heads of the voters the dreaded club of excommunication to compel them to vote as he directs. If Rome finds that expedient in Spain, have Americans any guaranty she will never attempt it here? "The Catholic Church gives no bonds for her good behavior," says "Father" Phelan, of the Western Watchman.
It should be stated that the above extracts are taken from only a portion of our exchanges of one week. Do they not indicate that the time is ripe for the warning of the people as to what these things mean?