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ROMANISM
A Menace to the Nation
(A new and original work)
Together with my former book
The Parochial School, a Curse to the Church,
a Menace to the Nation"
(TWO BOOKS IN ONE)
A Searchlight on the Papal System
Startling Charges Against Individuals in the Hierarchy
Made and Filed by the Author and a Score of Prominent
Priests With Photographic Proofs and Illustrations
BY
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS
Author of " The Pope Chief of White Slavers, High Priest of Intrigue
FIFTIETH THOUSAND
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY
WHEATON, ILLINOIS
U. S. A.
COPYRIGHT
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS,
IN THE YEAR 1912,
BY JEREMIAH J. CROWLET,
IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON.
Also copyrighted by the Author, in 1912, in England,
and copyright protection thereby secured not only in the United
Kingdom and throughout the British Dominions,
but also in all countries signatory
to the Berne Convention.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANS-
LATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
Price, $1.50 net, postpaid to any address.
Liberal terms to agents.
FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS, ADDRESS
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY
AUTHOR, LECTURER, AND PUBLISHER
WHEATON, ILLINOIS. U. S. A.
Cable Address: Crowley, Wheaton, Illinois
"THE POPE CHIEF OF WHITE SLAVERS, HIGH PRIEST OF INTRIGUE,"
AND " ROMANISM A MENACE TO THE NATIONS,"
ARE THE SAME SIZE, CROWN OCTAVO.
Same price, $1.50 net, postpaid.
Dedication
To the lovers of liberty,
enlightenment and progress
throughout the world, I dedicate
this volume.
Challenge to Rome
I retired voluntarily, gladly, from the priesthood of
Rome, after a vain attempt, in combination with other
priests, to secure a reform of Humanistic abuses from
within (see "Romanism A Menace to the Nation"). This
failing, no other course was open but to quit the accursed
System forever.
I will give TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to any person
who can prove that I was EXCOMMUNICATED and that the
STATEMENTS and CHARGES against priests, prelates, and
popes, in my books, "THE POPE-CHIEF OF WHITE
SLAVERS, HIGH PRIEST OF INTRIGUE," and
"ROMANISM A MENACE TO THE NATION," are
untrue; and, furthermore, I will agree to hand over the
plates of these books and stop their publication forever.
Will Rome accept this Challenge?
If not, Why not?
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY,
A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS,
AUTHOR, LECTURER, AND PUBLICIST.
The obstinate refusal of Rome, for several
years, to accept my challenge, is proof, positive
and irrefutable, that its cowardly, wine-soaked,
Venus-worshipping, and grafting prelates, priests
and editors have no other reply for adversary,
but vituperation and assassination.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Author Frontispiece
My Unaccepted Challenges 4, 30
A Medal for Papal Pastime "The Slaughter of the Huguenots" 32
The American River Ganges The Roman Catholic Hierarchy 34
The Roman Catholic "University," Washington, D. C 37
Roman Catholic Schools Directed by a Libertine 41
A Rev. "Sherlock Holmes" 55
One of Our First Posters Covering My Parish, Ogle County, 111.. 59
A Good (?) Shepherd Convent Directed by a Fallen Priest 61
The Coming "American" Pope 65
The Papal Secret Service Bureau at Washington, D. C., U. S. A. 66
A Cablegram Stolen from the Files of the W. U. Telegraph Co.. 67
The Palace and Stable of an "Alter Christus" Another Christ 69
The Mausoleum for the Roman Catholic Prelates of Chicago 70
One of Countless Homes Invaded and Ruined Through the Con-
fessional 72
A Purgatorial Liberator 75
An Indecent Assault in the Confessional 78
Papal Recruiting for Pupils and Prospective Nuns 79
The Delivery Wagon of an "Alter Christus" Another Christ... 81
Roman Catholic Church Property Saloons and Damnation ! 83
Roman Catholic Church Property "The End Justifies the Means" 84
Papal Profits from Liquor and Lust
Papal Profits from Liquor and Lust (Continued) 87
Holy Priests Doing Penance
Roman Churches Partly Built and Maintained by Liquor and
Gambling
Roman Churches Partly Built and Maintained by Liquor and
Gambling (Continued)
"Old Glory" The Famous Dark Brew Saloons and Salvation ! . . 97
A "Knocked-out" Paulist Father "Converting" Non-Catholics..
A Recent Secret Papal Letter "Make America Dominantly Cath-
olic"
Litany for "Converting" America Approved by Cardinal Gib-
bons 114 - 115
Catholics Must "Put Up and Shut Up" or be Excommunicated. .
Muscular Christianity
5
6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Paulist Father Peter J. O'Callaghan Arrested 333
Paulist Fathers' Fortune-telling Only Twenty-five Cents 121
"The Federation of [Protestant] Churches" Jesuitized 132
"The Federation of [Protestant] Churches" Jesuitized (Cont'd). 133
Plates of Part II. Mysteriously Disappear. 135
"Come into My Parlor, Said the Spider to the Fly" 156
Columbus Day, October 12, to be Made a Papal National Holiday. 159
Memorial to Christopher Columbus, a Jew 161
Archbishop Ireland A Papal Politician 164
Archbishop Glennon A "Ne Temere" Champion 177
Romanism and Despotism are "One and Inseparable" 182
The President and Politicians a Party to Jesuitizing America.... 188
The President and Politicians a Party to Jesuitizing the Army
and Navy 190
A Jesuit "Lady-turner" 192
"Three of a Kind" 198
Bill re Memorial to a Lover of Plutus, Bacchus and Venus 202
A Slight Token of Esteem from Patriotic Politicians 204
A Jesuitical Concoction A Lie 206
The New Head of the Papal Secret Service Bureau in the U. S. A. 208
Cardinal Martinelli, Promoter of Immoral Ecclesiastics 257
The Whitewashing Apology Demanded by Archbishop Quigley... 265
Letter from the Coming "American" Pope 267
Rome Religion Riots ! 383
An Alleged "Converted" Heretic Or Perverted, Which? 387
The Papal Burden 388
Public Funds for Papal Schools 399
"Rev. No. I, A Forger," and His Church 413
The Rev. Forger's Parochial School 414
Saving Homeless Children "There's Millions in It" 435
Saving Homeless Children "There's Millions in It" (Continued) 436
An "Alter Christus" Illegitimately Replenishing the Earth 439
The Same Later "Converting" Non-Catholics 440
A Devoted (?) Roman Catholic School Principal 45i
Nun-Recruiting in Europe for Religious Slavery in America.... 458
Saving Souls by Mail "There's Millions in It" 473
St. Anthony's Mule Miracle 487
St. Anthony's Fish Miracle 488
For God and His Church 529
Cardinal Satolli, A Natural Son of Pope Leo XIII 569
Monsignor Sbarretti, Ex-Go-Between for Rome and Canada.... 626
Romanism or Liberty, Which ? 701
Pope Pius X. Vicar of Christ, King of Heaven, Earth, and Hell 702
ENDORSEMENT BY PROMINENT MEN
JAMAICA, N. Y.,
August 22, 1911.
It has been my privilege to know J. J. Crowley for a number of
years. I knew him when he was a priest in the Catholic Church and
was known as Father Crowley. I have heard him speak with great
passion concerning his desire to help the Church of which he was for
years a member. I have in a number of instances proved his state-
ments to be true. I have therefore the strongest reasons for accepting
all the statements he makes concerning the condition of the Church
and those who ought to influence her for better and higher things.
Some one ought to speak; no one is better qualified than my
friend; some message telling the true state of affairs should be given
to the world, and J. J. Crowley is fitted by temperament and by edu-
cation to send this message forth.
I commend it to the people and hope that it may have a wide
circulation in order that thereby wrongs may be righted, and the sad
condition of affairs so plainly stated in the book be overcome by those
who would like to see the Church stand for righteousness and for
God in all things.
J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D. D.,
The Evangelistic Leader of the Presbyterian Church.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.,
November 15, 1910.
DEAR BROTHER CROWLEY:
Much thinking on the facts you gave me has deepened my con-
viction that you should get them before the American public. When
the people awake their wrath against the Romish hierarchy will shake
this land. You are called to be the defender of our institutions
against mercenary and ungodly foes of this Republic. You have the
exact inside knowledge and none can gainsay you. Strike and spare
not. The time needs another Luther, a later Savonarola. Uncover
the plotters. Unmask the enemies of our nation. May God speed you.
ROBERT MC!NTYRE,
One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
FUNCHAL, MADEIRA ISLANDS,
December 8, 1906.
If ever the well-known immoralities and administrative corrup-
tions, which now prevail among a very large proportion of the 1
Catholic clergy, from Pope in Rome to country parish pn
8 ENDORSEMENT BY PROMINENT MEN
over, are exposed fully and eradicated, it will be under the leadership
of good and brave Roman Catholic priests and laymen.
Incidentally the work of such leaders will open the eyes of the
Protestant world to the Jesuitical, political intrigues going on in every
capital of the world, especially just now in London and Washington.
It will, also convince Protestant leaders that religious and civil liberty
is stifled or threatened, and the sanctity of the home endangered, in
proportion as the Church of Rome, as at present organized and ad-
ministered, has sway.
One of the ablest and bravest, and thus far most successful, of
such leaders in our day, is the Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley, of Chicago.
He speaks from personal knowledge, gives names and dates and cir-
cumstances, and demands investigation, in book and pamphlet, and
by word of mouth, from platform and in private conversation. He
is an accredited priest and not a few fellow-priests endorse him and
his crusade. His method is world-wide publicity. He has the con-
fidence and unqualified endorsement of many leaders among Prot-
estant clergymen and laymen.
I gladly add my word of cheer and commendation to this modern
crusader against sin and corruption, in the heart of the great church
to which he belongs and seeks to help purify.
J. C. HARTZELL,
Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church for Africa.
NEW YORK CITY,
November 25, 1910.
There never was a period in our history when the American
public more needed to be instructed in regard to the machinations of
Romanism than now. Many generous-minded, kind-hearted people be-
lieve that in Roman Catholicism we have simply to do with one of
the Christian denominations, but history demonstrates that Romanism
is first and last political. Many also believe that the Romish Church
in America is totally different from what it is in Italy, Spain or South
America, and that the evils so. evident there can never come to our
own dear land. Rome, however, boasts that she is ever and every-
where the same.
The man with the message for the hour is the Rev. J. J. Crowley,
author of the book, "The Parochial School, A Curse to the Church,
A Menace to the Nation." I trust that Christian people of every
name will rally to his moral and material support in order that he
may get his message before all the people East, West, North and
South. He has knowledge, experience and courage and all he wants
is our loyal support. Let us all give it generously!
WILLIAM BURT,
One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
PREFACE TO THIS VOLUME
Seven years ago I published my work entitled "The
Parochial School, A Curse to the Church, A Menace to the
Nation," which now forms Part II. of this volume.
Four years later, in 1908, I voluntarily withdrew from
the priesthood and the Roman Catholic Church. This step
enabled me to say things which I could not say with propriety
during my priesthood and while acting as a mere reformer
within the Church.
The contents of Part I., which is a large addition of new
matter, will be read eagerly by all who are familiar with my
first work; because it is the key and explanation of what I
had already said, and throws upon it the light necessary for
its full and complete understanding and appreciation.
Part I. will give a clearer and more complete view and
be a more graphic and exhaustive exposure of the intrigues
and the corrupt practices of the Vatican system, both at
Rome and throughout the world, than it was possible for me
to state when I first undertook, together with other priests
and prelates, to contribute what little I could to bring about a
reform in the Roman Catholic priesthood.
"They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think."
To every one who loves humanity it must be a thing of
profoundest import to learn whether or not the laws and doc-
10 PREFACE TO THIS VOLUME
trines of the Roman Catholic Church are so framed as, of
very necessity, to work injustice, to encourage vice, to punish
the innocent, and to protect the guilty.
The questions raised in various forms in the ensuing
volume concern the very perpetuity of free institutions. They
are all questions which no liberty-loving soul can ignore.
That it should be possible in this enlightened age that
such questions should be seriously raised is the wonder and
the shame of it all.
It is in darkness, that evil men love rather than the light,
that such things flourish.
I give this volume to the light of day to enlighten and
aid the people, whose supreme right and duty it is to defend
their liberties.
In the words of the Messenger in Antigone, I can say, in
part, "I saw," and in whole :
"I will speak and hold back
No syllable of truth. Why should we soothe
Your ears with stories, only to appear
Liars thereafter? Truth is always right."
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY.
CINCINNATI, O., June, 1912.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I.
PAGE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5
ENDORSEMENT BY PROMINENT MEN 7
PREFACE TO THIS VOLUME 9
CHAPTER I.
WHY I WITHDREW FROM ROMANISM 29
CHAPTER II.
CELIBACY AND CONFESSIONAL 71
CHAPTER III.
ROME, RUM, RUIN 80
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONFESSION OF A "CONVERT" TO ROMANISM 89
CHAPTER V.
ARCHBISHOP QUIGLEY COWED BY A FEARLESS WOMAN 100
CHAPTER VI.
NEW "GET-RICH-QUICK" SCHEMES 104
CHAPTER VII.
THE POPES AND THE BIBLE 109
CHAPTER VIII.
PAPAL DESPOTISM 122
CHAPTER IX.
ROME THE MOTHER AND MISTRESS OF CRIME 131
CHAPTER X.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS A JEW 145
CHAPTER XL
ROME, EVER AND EVERYWHERE THE SAME 163
CHAPTER XII.
ROME AND AMERICA 187
CHAPTER XIII.
ROMANIZING NON-CATHOLIC COUNTRIES 197
11
TABLE OF CONTENTS PART II.
PAGE
MY UNACCEPTED CHALLENGE IN FORMER EDITIONS OF PART II 211
ENDORSEMENT BY PROMINENT MEN (CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC). 212
PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF PART II 214
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The Scope of This Chapter 221
THE BOOK.
Catholic Priests and Prelates Determined to Destroy the Public
School 221
Parochial School Considered as It Is 221
Sources of My Information 222
Attitude of Bishop McFaul, Archbishop Quigley and Cardinal
Gibbons 222
A Hurricane of Hate 222
Plain Speech Necessary and Commended by the Church 222
Precedents 223
Conservative in Statements 224
Devotees of Plutus, Bacchus, Venus and Graft 224
Some Classes Who Are Especially Informed about Clerical Sinners. 225
Other Dioceses Compared with Chicago 225
A Warning Against the Catholic Press 226
No Attack on the Church 226
Priestly Corruption Only Attacked 226
No Attack on Christian Education 226
The False Cry of "Scandal" 227
Why Did Not Arraigned Priests Demand an Investigation? 227
To the Pope Shall Be Sent a Copy of This Book 227
THE AUTHOR.
Writes in Obedience to Insistence of Friends and Advisers 227
Arrested and Begging Priests Representing Themselves as Father
Crowley 228
12
TABLE OF CONTENTS 13
Personal Description 228
Parentage 228
Nativity 228
Dedicated to the Catholic Priesthood at Birth 228
Early Training and Education 228
Ordination to the Priesthood 228
First Ministerial Labor in Ireland 229
First Ministerial Labor in America 229
Commendatory Letters 230
Commendatory Editorials 231
Return to Ireland 233
Ministerial Labor in Ireland 233
Defends a Helpless Protestant 233
Arrested, "Tried" and Convicted 235
Excerpts from Editorials 235
Jail Treatment 240
Case Debated in British Parliament 241
Released from Jail 241
Excerpts from the Press 241
Triumphal Return Home 241
Address of Welcome from Schull and Ballydehob Branch of the
Irish National League 244
Address from Parishioners at Goleen 246
Return to America 249
Commendatory Letters 249
Adopted into the Archdiocese of Chicago 251
Appointments 251
The Famous Chicago Controversy
Sued at Oregon, 111., in Name of Archbishop Feehan
Threatens to Publish a Full Account of the Sad Conditions Pre-
vailing in the Archdiocese of Chicago
Excommunicated Unjustly and Invalidly by Cardinal Martinelli..
The Ban of Excommunication Removed Without Any Apology
Being Made to Accused Priests, and Without Any Promise to
Refrain from Issuing Publication
Celebret Issued by Bishop' Scannell, Agent of Cardinal Martinelli.. 258
14 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Celebret Issued by Archbishop Feehan 256
Celebrates Solemn High Mass 256
Cardinal Martinelli's Promises Broken 256
Press Notices of the "Chicago Controversy" :
Leslie's Weekly 258
The Ram's Horn 259
The St. Louis Republic 260
The Interior 263
The Ram's Horn 264
Archbishop Feehan's Death 264
Archbishop Quigley Appointed to Chicago 264
Archbishop Quigley Demands that an Apology be Signed 264
Singled Out for Persecution 266
"Celebret" Defined 266
Refuses to Sign a Lie 266
Archbishop Falconio Succeeds Cardinal Martinelli as Papal Dele-
gate 266
The Reply to a Letter from Archbishop Falconio 268
Archbishop Falconio and Archbishop Quigley Meet in Allegheny,
Pa 268
Archbishop Falconio Exhibits a Petition of Accused Priests, Be-
seeching to be "Whitewashed" * 269
An Interviey with Archbishop Falconio at Milwaukee 269
Archbishop Falconio States that the Charges of the Twenty-five
Protesting Priests Were Duly Considered by Being Thrown
into a Wastebasket 269
Confidence in Pius X 269
Loves Ireland 270
A Naturalized Citizen of the United States 270
Delights in American History 270
Glories in American Citizenship 270
Happy in Vocation to the Priesthood 270
In the Catholic Church I Was Born, in the Catholic Church I Have
Lived, in the Catholic Church I Will Die 270
Not Unmindful of Seriousness of Position Taken in Openly Ex-
posing Parochial School j 270
TABLE OF CONTENTS 15
Champions of Parochial School Have Wealth, Power and Prestige. 270
Relies Solely on God and Approbation of Decent Men 271
"Simple Duty Hath No Place for Fear" 271
CHAPTER II.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AND CATHOLIC CLERICAL HOSTILITY TOWARD
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
HISTORIC STATEMENT.
Its Origin Explained by Bishop Spalding 272
The Real Reasons for Its Establishment 273
CLERICAL COERCION OF CATHOLICS.
Threatened with Hell-fire 274
Jesuits Particularly Vicious 274
Refused the Sacraments 274
Archbishop Elder's Letter 275
Dire Predictions 279
Coercion by a Sodomite 279
Not Five Per Cent, of Catholic Men Favor Parochial School 281
CATHOLIC HOSTILITY TOWARD THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Annihilation of the Public School the Object 282
Destructive Clerical Tactics 282
The State 'Must Not Educate the Child 283
Minority Rights 284
A Division of the Public-school Funds 285
Abuse of the Public School 287
Charged with Being Godless 289
Charged with Frivolity and Depravity 290
Charged with Breeding Socialism 292
Charged with Causing Lynchings 293
Scheme to Deteriorate the Public School by the Destruction and
Prevention of Normal Schools 294
Attacks on Public School Veiled and Open 296
A Simulated Liberality 297
On the Eve of an Aggressive Clericalism 298
16 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER III.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SYSTEM.
What and Who 299
VATICAN HISTORY.
Taken Exclusively from Works of Renowned Catholic Historians.. 300
General Immorality 301
Unchastity and Simony 302
Papal and Clerical Immorality 302
Prostitution, Sodomy and Murders in Churches 302
Gross Liberties by Artists 303
Immoral Religious 303
The Church Between the Ninth and Tenth Centuries 305
Morals of the Clergy, A. D. 1303-1517 305
Graft at the Papal Court 306
Popes Influenced by Astrology 307
The Plain Catholic People Saved the Church 307
CORRUPTION IN THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS.
Graft, Immorality, Cruelty, Worldliness, etc 308
INCIDENTS IN THE LIVES OF THE POPES.
Pope John XL, A. D. 931-936.
Made Pope by His Infamous Mother 308
Pope John XII., A. D. 955-964.
A Profligate. Indicted for Incest, etc 309
Pope Benedict IX., A. D. 1033-1044.
A Profligate. Gets Married 310
Pope John XXIL, A. D. 1316-1334.
A Multimillionaire 311
Pope Urban V., A. D. 1362-1370.
Indescribable Immorality 312
Pope Gregory XL, A. D. 1370-1378.
States of the Church Revolt 312
St. Catherine Denounces the Papal Court 313
A Two-headed Papacy 313
Pope Pius II., A. D. 1458-1464.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 17
The Father of Several Children 315
The Writer of Erotic Literature 316
Pope Innocent VIII., A. D. 1484-1492.
Formerly Cardinal Cibo 316
Buys His Election 317
The Father of Two Children 318
His Coronation 318
Marries His Son in the Vatican; also Two Other Relatives 318
A Sumptuous Wedding Banquet 320
Reform 320
Forged Bulls 320
Clerical Sports 321
Simony 322
A Fourteen-year-old Cardinal 322
New Means to Extort Money 323
Pope Alexander VI., A. D. 1492-1503.
The Most Infamous of the Iniquitous Popes 323
His Memory Rots 324
His Character 324
Grossly Immoral 325
Has Four Children 325
Luxury 326
Buys the Papacy 327
One of His Mistresses 329
Has a Son Born while Pope and Legitimates Him 329
Makes His Daughter, Lucretia Borgia, Regent 330
A Pointed Poem
Forever Infamous 3
Muzzled the Press
Energetically Repressed Immoral Heretics 331
Pope Julius II., A. D. 1503-1513.
The War Pope 332
ooo
Formerly Giuliano della Rovere-
009
Made a Cardinal in Youth
Table Bill $4,600 to $6,900 Monthly
ooo
Objectionable Ways to Raise Money
18 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Bribery in the Roman Court 333
Had Three Natural Daughters 333
Accused of Sodomy 333
Pope Leo X., A. D. '1513-1521.
Made Cardinal when Fourteen Years Old 333
Lavishly Extravagant 334
Least Fitted to Push Reforms 334
Religion Secondary 334
Table Bill over $16,000 Monthly 335
Indulgences.
One Explanation of Decay of Spiritual Life 335
In Connection with Jubilees 336
In Relation to Pope Nicholas V 336
Gold the Inspiration 337
In Relation to Alexander VI. Gold Again 341
Indulgence, Graft and Luther 341
Pope Hadrian VI., A. D. 1523-1534.
The Reverse of Leo X 348
Sincerely Religious 348
Admits Corruption of Priests, Prelates and Popes 348
Inaugurates Reforms 348
Assails Luther 349
German States List 101 Grievances Against Rome 349
Attempts to Economize 349
Poisoned ? 350
Pope Paul III., A. D. 1534-1549.
Trafficked in His Sister's Shame 350
Excommunicated Henry the Eighth, King of England 350
Pope Innocent X., A. D. 1644-1655.
Lady Olympia 351
Pope Alexander VII., A. D. 1655-1667.
Nepotism 351
Extravagance 351
Pope Alexander VIII., A. D. 1689-1691.
Nepotism 351
Pope Benedict XIIL, A. D. 1724-1730.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 19
A Reforming Pope 352
Clerical Corruption 353
Pope Benedict XIV., A. D. 1740-1758.
Disordered Finances 352
Pope Pius IX., A. D. 1846-1878.
An Infidel Secretary of State 352
Pope Pius X., 1903.
The Cardinals 352
THE VATICAN ASSAILS AMERICANISM.
The Issue Stated 354
AMERICANISMS.
Human Equality 355
Sovereignty of the People 356
Freedom of Conscience, Speech and Press 356
History of the Establishment of Freedom of Conscience in
America 357
AMERICANISMS ENUNCIATED BY AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.
George Washington : Resist Any Innovation upon American Prin-
ciples 358
John Adams : Venerates the Constitution 358
Thomas Jefferson : Freedom of Conscience and of the Press 359
James Madison : Free Conscience and Free Press 359
James Monroe : Equality. Sovereignty of the People 359
John Quincy Adams : No Union of Church and State 360
Andrew Jackson : Free Conscience and Free Press 360
Martin Van Buren : The People the Source of Power. Church and
State 360
William Henry Harrison: No Government by Divine Right. Free
Conscience, Speech and Press
John Tyler : Popular Sovereignty. Foreigners Must Be American-
ized. Personal Liberties 361
James K. Polk : Equality. Freedom of Conscience. A Treason to
Mankind
Zachariah Taylor: Most Stable Government on Earth 363
Millard Fillmore: Common Schools. Constitution the Best Ever
Formed . 36S
20 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Franklin Pierce : America, a Beacon Light to the World 363
James Buchanan : Richest Political Blessings Heaven ever Be-
stowed 364
Abraham Lincoln : America's Free Institutions 364
Andrew Johnson: God's Hand in the Framing and Adopting of
the Constitution. Equality. Education. Free Speech. Re-
ligion. Popular Sovereignty 366
Ulysses S. Grant : Personal Liberties. Free Pulpit, Press and
School. The States of the Church. Education 367
Rutherford B. Hayes : Education. Separation of Church and State. 367
James A. Garfield : The Constitution 368
Chester A. Arthur : Popular Government 368
Grover Cleveland: Popular Government. The Constitution 369
Benjamin Harrison: American Liberties, Blessings and Duties 370
William McKinley: Popular Government. Six Free Things. Edu-
cation. The Constitution. Fruits of American Sovereignty.
The Step of the Republic. The Nation's Hope is in the Public
School and University 371
Theodore Roosevelt : Free Schools. No Public Money for Parochial
Schools. Full Religious Toleration. Separation of Church and
State. Immigrants Must Revere Our Flag. The Church which
Remains Foreign is Doomed 372
VATICANISMS.
Against Equality, Freedom of Thought, Sovereignty of the People,
Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the
Press and Separation of Church and State. Catholic Church
Should be Supreme in the State 374
Laments the Lack of Ecclesiastical Authority in the Public Schools. 377
When Church and State Conflict, Obedience to the State Becomes
a Crime 377
Church and State Can Not Be Separated 379
Separation of Church and State an Absurdity. Sometimes It Is
Worthy of Toleration when Situation Practically Might Be
Worse in the United States, for Instance 379
Confirms and Renews All Censures of His Predecessors 381
Not in America is Found the Most Desirable Status of the Church. 381
TABLE OF CONTENTS 21
Sighs for the Favor of the Laws and the Patronage of the Public
Authority 381
Any Civilization Conflicting with Holy Church is a Meaningless
Name 382
A QUESTION.
Does the Parochial School Teach Americanisms or Vaticanisms?.. 383
CHAPTER IV.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
Who and What 384
Two Illustrations of the Selection of Parochial School Superin-
tendents 386
Unworthy Parochial School Principals and Assistant Principals
Shielded ; 386
Moral Inconsistencies of Superintendents 396
Thorough Supervision of Parochial School Practically Impossible. 396
Superintendents Are Not Answerable to the American People .... 398
A Pertinent Question 399
CHAPTER V.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS.
Who and What 400
Parochial School Principals Shield Each Other 404
Cheap Politicians 405
"Get-rich-quick" Investors 405
Liberal Patrons of the Arts and Sciences at World's Fairs 406
Nautical Clerics 410
Dealers in Smut 410
Brazen Hyporcrites 4
MALODOROUS PEDAGOGIC SAMPLES.
Explanatory
Rev. No. 1. A Forger
Rev. No. 2. A National Rounder
Rev. No. 3. A Lover of Fast Horses and Fast Women..
Rev. No. 4. A Grocer
Rev. No. 5. A Pugilist
Rev. No. 6. A Fiend
Rev. No. 7. A Doctor of Medicine 420
22 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rev. No. 8. A Sot 421
Rev. No. 9. A Gospel Pitcher 423
Rev. No. 10. A Wounded Veteran 424
Rev. No. 11. A Hat-band Lover 424
Rev. No. 12. A Wolf in Priest's Clothing 425
Rev. No. 13. A Ballad Singer 427
Rev. No. 14. Celibacy Inexpedient 428
Rev. No. 15. A Festive Fellow 429
Rev. No. 16. An Equestrian Hero 430
Rev. No. 17. A Cuspidore Martyr 430
Rev. No. 18. A Deadbeat 431
Rev. No. 19. A Brewer 431
Rev. No. 20. A Sodomist 433
Rev. No. 21. A Philanthropist 433
Rev. No. 22. A Seductionist 437
Rev. No. 23. A Debauchee 441
Rev. No. 24. An Admirer of Little Egypt 443
Rev. No. 25. A Ground-hog 444
Rev. No. 26. A Monstrosity 445
Rev. No. 27. A Preference for Black 449
Rev. No. 28, Plus Scores and Scores. Devotees of Plutus, Bac-
chus, Venus, Graft and Gambling 450
"The Gates of Hell".. . 452
CHAPTER VI.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL TEACHERS.
Who and What 453
Pedagogic and Other Handicaps 455
CHAPTER VII.
GRAFT.
Parochial School Officers are Grafters 459
Holy Orders Graft -460
Promotion Graft 461
Vacation Graft 462
Anniversary Graft 462
Baptismal Graft 463
Penance Graft. . . 464
TABLE OF CONTENTS 23
First Communion Graft 465
Confirmation Graft 465
Matrimonial Graft 466
Extreme Unction Graft 468
Last Will and Testament Graft 468
Funeral Graft 469
Cemetery Graft 472
Purgatorial Graft 472
Building Graft 474
Incendiary Graft 475
Sanitary Graft 476
Corner-stone Graft 476
Dedication Graft 477
Consecration Graft 477
Mass Graft 478
Church Fair Graft 479
The Paulist Fathers' Fair 482
Poor Box Graft 483
St. Anthony Graft 484
Relic Graft 490
Charm Graft 494
Grotto Graft 494
Holy Thursday Graft 495
Good Friday or Holy Land Graft 496
Holy Saturday Graft 496
Easter and Christmas Graft. ; 497
Mission Graft 498
Revolving Candlestick Graft 503
Candlemas Day Graft 504
Indulgence Graft 505
Special Collection Graft 505
Peter's Pence Graft 506
Catholic University Graft 507
Sodality and Lodge Graft 508
Advertising Graft 509
Sacramental Graft 509
Savings Bank Graft
Eleemosynary Graft
Undertaking Graft
Employment Graft 511
24 TABLE OF CONTENTS
"Pull" Graft 511
School Procession Graft t . . . 512
Commencement Day Graft 512
Tuition Graft 513
School Book Graft 513
Accident Suit Graft 514
Testimony Graft 514
Naturalization Graft 515
Janitor Graft 515
Assembly Hall Graft 515
Miracle Working Graft 515
The Last Straw 516
The Handling and Investing of Graft 517
A Suggestion in Arithmetic 518
Annual Income of Pastor of Small City Parish, $10,000 519
Annual Income of Pastor of Large City Parish, $100,000.. 519
Conclusion . 520
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PUPILS.
Inadequately Instructed Secularly 523
Irreligious Instruction 524
Demoralized . 526
CHAPTER IX.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AND THE Loss OF THIRTY MILLION CATHOLICS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
A Statistical Argument by a Catholic Authority 532
Admitted by Bishop McFaul, of Trenton, New Jersey, U. S. A 534
Admitted by Official Organ of Cardinal Gibbons 535
Placing the Blame 535
CHAPTER X.
APAISM.
Historical Statement 544
A Catholic Cannot Become President of the United States 547
History of the Catholic Church in America 548
TABLE OF CONTENTS 25
THE CAUSES OF APAISM AND THE CURE.
The Parochial School Its Chief Cause 552
The Federation of Catholic Societies 553
Temporal Power 560
A Nuncio at Washington 563
Blatant Boasting 572
The Cure for Apaism 577
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMANCIPATION OF THE CATHOLIC LAITY.
The Laity Must Control Temporalities 582
Laymen Were Formerly Trustees 591
Laymen Ceased to Be Trustees Because They Interfered with
Priestly Drunkenness, Immorality and Graft 597
An Impending Explosion 598
Catholics Should Study the Catholic Bible, Particularly the Four
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles : Commended ( ?) by Leo
XIII 598
These Last-named Books Give the Very Words and Deeds of
Jesus Christ 599
The Acts of the Apostles Gives the Early History of the Catholic
Church 599
The Simplicity, Frugality, Unselfishness and Purity of the First
Hierarchy , 599
The Fathers of the Church Did Not Occupy Palaces, Wear
Princely Clothes and Receive Royal Incomes 599
Laity Should Scrutinize the Confessional 600
Punishment of Drunken and Immoral Priests
Prescribed by the Council of Trent
Clerical Excuses for Priestly Misconduct
Judas
St. Peter
St. Augustine
The Catholic People Should Forsake Drunken, Grafting and Im-
moral Priests
607
26 TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Decree of the Church to This Effect 608
"Ecclesiastical Power, When It Destroys the Church, is Infernal
Power." . . 609
CHAPTER XII.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Historical 610
An Absolutely Necessary Institution 610
The Safeguard of Freedom of Conscience, Free Speech and Free
Press 612
Prevents National Stagnation 614
APPRECIATION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL BY DISTINGUISHED CATHOLICS.
Bishop John Lancaster Spalding 615
Hon. John F. Finerty 616
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
Religious Teaching in the Public School 616
A Suggested Religious and Ethical Parliament 617
A Sectarian Minority Dog-in-the-manger 617
RECOMMENDATIONS.
A Warning to the Critical Friends of the Public School 618
Non-Catholic Friends of the Public School Should Withdraw All
Support from Catholic Institutions 618
Catholic Public-school Teachers Should Unite in Defense of the
Public School 620
An Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Orig-
inally Proposed by President U. S. Grant) 623
CONCLUSION.
The American People Should Treat as a Deadly Eenemy of the
Nation Any Sect that Attempts to Undermine the Public
School, or that Tries to Get Public Funds 625
The Parochial School A Curse to the Church, a Menace to the
Nation 625
The Appalling Exposures in This Book a Labor of Sorrow, and
Made in Obedience to Duty to Country, Church and God.... 625
APPENDIX
WHICH DEALS WITH THE
SEPARATE OR PAROCHIAL SCHOOL IN CANADA.
Historical 627
Separate or Parochial Schools Maintained at the Expense of the
Public 631
The Separate School in Ontario 631
The Sturgeon Falls Case 632
A Priest Appears on the Scene 633
War is Proclaimed 634
The Bishop Forces the Legislature 635
An Appeal to the Civil Courts 636
Mr. Craig's Statement 637
Capitalists Intimidated 638
Increase of Separate Schools 638
The Bellrock Case 639
The Bishop Active 640
People Leave the District '. 641
An Independent Catholic 642
The Curran Case 642
Building of First School 643
Machinery of Law Defective 644
An Ardent Ultramontane Priest 644
.Children Expelled from the School 645
Mr. Presley's Statement 645
Another Testimony 646
Conspiracy Exposed
A Weak Judge 648
The Downey ville Case *>
A Canadian Winter Experience 651
Secret Machinations
A Bulldozing Priest
The School is Transferred
Inspector Knight's Report
Priest Applies the Closure
Interview with Father Bretherton
The Fight Goes On
27
28 TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Sensational Scene in Church 656
An Injunction Served 657
Bishop Compels Submission 658
A Remedy Needed 660
Public Men Indifferent 660
The Famous Christian Brothers Case 661
Teaching without Certificates 661
Terms of Contract 662
Purpose of the Christian Brothers 663
Mr. J. David Gratton Takes Action 665
The Judge's Decision 666
Regulations Are Evaded 666
Appeal Court Delivers Judgment 667
A Summing Up 668
Laity Should Unite 669
Attempt to Capture Canadian West 670
How Manitoba Stands 670
Monsignor Sbarretti's Interference 671
Monsignor Falconio Shows Anger 672
The Canadian Premier Fails to Clear Himself 673
Manitoba Hemmed In 673
How Was Sir Wilfrid Laurier Influenced 674
Sir Wilfrid Slanders America 675
The Slander Answered . 675
Education Clauses of the Autonomy Measure 677
Hon. F. W. G. Haultain Remonstrates 678
Cabinet is Not Consulted 680
Mr. Christopher Robinson's Opinion 680
Sir Wilfrid Laurier an Apt Scholar 681
Unjustifiable to Coerce the Northwest 681
Disastrous Effects of the Separate School 682
Immigration 682
Interference by the Vatican 683
Educational Standard Lowered 684
Increase of Crime 686
Denationalization : . . . 687
Civil War 689
An Appeal to Canadians 689
A Warning to Americans 690
COMMENDATORY LETTERS 693
PRESS COMMENT ON PART II 697
RESOLUTIONS ENDORSING MY CRUSADE.. . 700
PART I.
ROMANISM
A MENACE TO THE NATION
CHAPTER I.
WHY I WITHDREW FROM ROMANISM.
I was born and reared in the Roman Catholic Church;
trained in her doctrines and polity; and ordained a priest in
1886. I was a priest in good standing up to 1907 (twenty-one
years), when I retired voluntarily from the priesthood. For
six years previous to my retirement I waged a crusade against
the evils of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and while thus
engaged challenged publicly, in speech and print, this Hier-
archy to disprove the charges in Part II. of this volume, and
also to prove that I was not, during that time, a priest in
good standing. A copy of the challenge appears at the very
beginning of Part II. * That challenge was never accepted.
I now reiterate the challenge made in former editions of
Part II. and else where, as to the truth of the facts there
stated. If the additional facts stated in Part I. are also true,
the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is doubly condemned and will
be so judged and denounced by all right-minded men. If any
of my alleged facts are proven false, I am ready to abide the
consequences.
Every person interested in the welfare of humanity should
demand the severest investigation of the charges made by me
and my associates, both lay and clerical. The names of some
of my clerical associates and some of their work will appear in
the sequel.
29
****%,
Jlllifli
S 5 t M-O 5 2
30
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 31
The Vatican method "the conspiracy of silence" should
not be permitted to shield any one affected by the charges made
in this book. Silence may sometimes be golden, but in this in-
stance it indicates guilt.
I want my readers to understand that I am not assailing the
plain Roman Catholic people. They are the victims of a re-
ligious system, foisted upon them by the accident of birth.
They are living up to the light they have. God grant that the
sunlight of truth may soon flood their pathway! I sympathize
with them, I admire them, and I love them.
When I wrote Part II. I was a loyal son of the Roman
Catholic Church. At that time I would gladly have died for
her. I wrote it to save, if I could, the Roman Catholic Church
and to protect the Public School. My facts were carefully
weighed and my arguments were prayerfully presented. The
protestations of fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church which
are contained in Part II. and in my other writings were made
in good faith. I now unreservedly withdraw them.
I wrote Part II. with the further object of inaugurating
a crusade for the emancipation of the Roman Catholic people by
purifying the Roman Catholic priesthood. I have reason to be-
lieve that my book has emancipated thousands of Roman Cath-
olics. I know that it has emancipated me I am no longer a
Roman Catholic. For its preparation I was compelled to study
thoroughly the history of the Roman Catholic Church, a subject
which is purposely neglected in Roman Catholic schools. An
extensive reading of secular history naturally followed. The
age-long story of papal, prelatical and priestly corruption as-
tounded and confounded me. I began to see the papacy in a
new light. The question of Dr. John Lord haunted me, "Was
there ever such a mystery, so occult are its arts, so subtle
its policy, so plausible its pretensions, so certain its shafts?"
(Beacon Lights of History, Vol. V., p. 99.) I gradually awak-
ened to the fact that I was believing in unscriptural doctrines
and championing a religious system which was anything but the
holy and true church of Jesus Christ.
32
ROMANISM
By courtesy of The Protestant Magazine.
THE PAPAL MEDAL.
This is a facsimile of both sides of the medal struck by Gregory
XIII. in commemoration of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. On
the obverse is the head of the Pope, with the Latin inscription read-
ing, "Gregory XIII., Pontifex Maximus, the First Year." On the
reverse is a representation of the killing of heretics by an angel who
holds in one hand a sword and in the other a crucifix. The Latin
inscription reads, "The Slaughter of the Huguenots, 1572."
Rome claims that she did not approve of the massacre of the
seventy thousand Huguenots. Why, then, did the bells of the papal
churches in Rome peal out joyfully when the news of the slaughter
was received by Pope Gregory XIII.? Why did he have the above
medal struck to commemorate the event, and why did he order Te
Deums to be sung in the churches instead of Misereres or de Pro-
fundis? Why did not the Cardinal of Lorraine, who was at Cath-
erine's court, raise a voice of protest against the crime? No, Rome
can not exculpate herself from this, one of the greatest crimes that
ever stained the records of sinful humanity.
Fear not that the tyrants shall rule forever,
Or the priests of the bloody faith ;
They stand on the brink of the mighty river,
Whose waves they have tainted with death :
It is fed from the depths of a thousand dells,
Around them it foams, and rages, and swells,
And their swords and their scepters I floating see,
Like wrecks on the surge of eternity. Shelley.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 33
The gruesome history of the Roman Catholic Church in
general, and of the archdiocese of Chicago in particular, "the
conspiracy of silence," the threats of excommunication issued
against Revs. Cashman, Hodnett and myself, threats and at-
tempts to murder me, the continued neglect of the pope to
answer my letter to him as set forth in the preface to Part II.
(in which letter I asked for an opportunity to give names of
clerical offenders and the proof of their misconduct), the re-
fusal of the pope to pay any attention to the petitions and
charges which had been sent to Rome by myself and a score of
the prominent priests of the archdiocese of Chicago, touching
the immoralities of the clergy all these combined to undermine
my loyalty to the papacy, and were large factors in causing my
ultimate utter loss of confidence in the integrity of the pope and
his cabinet. It was only a step from loss of faith in the authori-
ties of the Church to loss of faith in her unscriptural doctrines.
In the summer of 1907 I found myself in such a state of
mind regarding the Vatican system, and so out of sympathy
with the unscriptural doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church,
that there was nothing for me to do but to withdraw from
my crusade and await the end of the revolution which was
going on in my soul. Shortly thereafter I closed my office
in Chicago and went to the Pacific Coast, where I engaged in
business. In a few months my mind was at rest. Romanism
had sloughed from me just as completely as it had from
the Very Rev. Father Slattery and from the Caldwell
sisters, founders of the Roman Catholic University, Wash-
ington, D. C.
During the past two years I have been urged to republish
Part II. of this volume in the interests of patriotism and en-
lightenment. I now feel that the time is ripe to yield to this
demand. I realize as never before the danger to which civil
and religious liberties are exposed from Vatican machinations.
That danger is not chimerical; it is actual and pressing.
Among other things, the Hierarchy is determined to move ag-
gressively to secure public money for the support of
34
ROMANISM
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 35
Roman Catholic schools. According to the press reports, the
Rev. Thomas F. Coakley, secretary to Bishop Canevin, of
Pittsburg, Pa., addressing two thousand delegates at the con-
vention of the American Federation of Roman Catholic So-
cieties, in August, 1910, demanded that the Roman Catholic
Church be granted by the State the sum of thirty-six million
dollars a year for the education of Roman Catholics.
Since I have abjured Romanism, it may seem to some that
Part II. should be revised. But I deem it better to let it re-
main as it is, because in this shape the public will have the
benefit of the work as it was written by a Roman Catholic
priest in good standing, which I was at that time, and, indeed,
up to the time of my voluntary retirement from the priesthood.
And further, this present volume containing Parts I. and II.
will give the public some conception of the successive stages
of that mysterious, tumultuous and painful experience by
which I have been led by Providence from Romanism to Chris-
tianity, from the prayer-book to the Bible, from the pope to
Christ.
In the good providence of God I read very carefully the
Gospels, and pondered prayerfully the words and the deeds of
our Lord. I also studied that wonderful book of the New
Testament, the Acts of the Apostles. I found that it con-
tains the history of the first thirty years of the Christian
church, that it is the only inspired church history which Chris-
tians have, and that the first Christians knew nothing of the
sacrifice of the mass, the confessional, prayers to the Virgin
and to the saints, purgatory, indulgences, priestly celibacy, or
the primacy of St. Peter. Indeed, I learned in the Sacred
Scriptures that whatever power and authority was given by
our Lord to Peter was given equally to the other eleven
Apostles, that Peter himself had a wife (Matthew viii. 14),
and that even Paul asked if he had not the right to have a
wife as did the other missionaries of the cross (I. Corinthians
ix. 5) ; also that a bishop should have only one wife (I. Tim-
othy iii. 2).
36 ROMANISM
While I was engaged in the crusade against the corrupt
Hierarchy alluded to in the opening paragraph, my friend, the
Very Rev. John R. Slattery, President of St. Joseph's Sem-
inary for Colored Missions, Baltimore, Md., U. S. A., who had
been chosen by Cardinal Satolli to edit his volume of sermons
and addresses, and who had been most highly spoken of by
Cardinal Gibbons, renounced his priesthood. He wrote an
article entitled "How My Priesthood Dropped from Me,"
which appeared in The Independent (a weekly magazine pub-
lished in New York City) of September 6, 1906, p. 565. In
it he said:
"In almost every case of a contested point be-
tween Catholics and Protestants, the latter are right
and the former wrong."
This article deeply affected me. Later, I had a number
of interviews with Father Slattery in which I received cor-
roborative evidence of the corruptions of the Hierarchy. I
also received a number of important letters from him, one of
which appears at the end of this volume.
I became acquainted with the late Baroness von Zed-
twitz, who, with her sister, the late Marquise des Monstiers-
Meronville, had founded the Roman Catholic University at
Washington, D. C. These ladies were born in the State of
Kentucky. Their maiden name was Caldwell. They re-
nounced Romanism during my crusade. On page 694 of this
volume the reader will find a full account of the renunciation
of the Roman Catholic faith by the Marquise. The Baroness
published in 1906 a booklet entitled "The Double Doctrine of
the Church of Rome." In it she states:
"It is generally admitted that an ecclesiastical
student when he leaves Rome [graduates at Rome],
carries away with him little else than the papal ban-
ner, and has laid his primitive moral code at the feet
of the infallible successor of St. Peter."
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
37
Kn TO NcKBna
1 Caktwell IlaD
2 McMahon Hall
3 Albert Hall
4 Engineering BuiMinj
5 Athletic Field
6 Gymnasium
7 Residence
8 Observatory
9 St Thomas College
IB Apostolic Mission House
11 Marisi CoHege
12 Holy Cn Couege
13 Immaculate Conception College
14 University B & R R Station
15 Residence
16 Carpenter Shop
17 Tennis Courts
18 Handball Courts
19 Golf Course
20 'St Austin's College
21 College of the Holy Land
22 Trinity College
l\\\ 23 Greenhouse
lttk.24 Stables _
lB \Ba AthleticFieid
'28 Maria Seminary
27 SL Joiia Kaodui PoUsh Co)lte
LOCATION Of BmUDiNCS
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON O C
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC "UNIVERSITY,"
WASHINGTON, D. C.
The Roman Catholic "University"-the papal
where papal politics, philosophy and theology are the . chiei
It is closely allied with the White House ^and Capito
is to "make America dominantly Catholic.
38 ROMANISM
This lady has been an honored visitor at the Vatican itself;
and her words greatly impressed me. I had the honor qf
meeting her in New York, and she astounded me with circum-
stantial accounts of prelatical duplicity and depravity which
had come under her observation in the high places in the
Hierarchy in Rome itself. From the Marquise I received the
following withering letter concerning no less a personage than
the Most Rev. John Lancaster Spalding, then Bishop of
Peoria, 111., U. S. A., and now Titular Archbishop of Scitop-
olis, in partibus infidelium [in infidel parts], a warm friend of
ex-President Roosevelt and President Taft, a Roman Catholic
dignitary of international fame and an ecclesiastic for whom
I had entertained profound respect when I first published
Part II. :
"HOTEL SUISSE, ROME,
"April 11, 1907.
"DEAR FATHER CROWLEY: I have just received
your book [Part II.] and pamphlets, for which I
thank you. I had seen and read the book last year in
New York, and I shall have much pleasure in reading
the brochures this summer. May Heaven reward you
for your noble work in showing up the awful de-
pravity of the Roman Church.
"If you ever have the opportunity to undeceive
the world about that Svhited sepulchre,' Spalding, of
Peoria, I beg that you will do so in the sacred cause
of truth. No greater liar and hypocrite walks the
earth to-day. He is a very atheist and infidel, and I,
who used to know him intimately, ASSERT IT. If to-
day my sister and I are in open revolt against the
Roman Church, it is chiefly due to the depravity of
Bishop Spalding. Would that you could let his
priests know that his asceticism is all bombast! A
more sensual hypocrite never trod the earth.
"A letter to this address will always reach me.
"Yours sincerely,
"[Signed] THE MARQUISE DES MONSTIERS."
In the spring of 1907 the Baroness von Zedtwitz sent the
following cablegram from Europe to Bishop Spalding:
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 39
"Bisaor SPALDING,
"PEORIA, ILLINOIS, U. S. A.
"Am aware of your efforts to shield yourself
from exposure. When Catholics know the history of
your hidden vices, as I do, you must flee Peoria.
This I shall accomplish.
"[Signed] BARONESS VON ZEDTWITZ."
Rome, fearing exposure from the letters and charges of
the Caldwell sisters, prevailed upon Bishop Spalding to resign
the bishopric of Peoria, which he did in September, 1908.
Rome, pursuing her usual policy in such cases, immediately
promoted him to a nominal archbishopric which gives him the
honor of the title without any subjects ; so that in case of ex-
posure it could not be alleged that he is in actual charge of a
diocese. However, he is still in politics, entertaining President
Taft and ex-President Roosevelt at his home in Peoria, and
belittling Governor Woodrow Wilson as a "schoolmaster" and
therefore unfit to be President of the United States.
The abjuration of Roman Catholicism by these eminent
women, and their charges against Archbishop Spalding, who
had been their professed friend and trusted adviser, in whom
they placed unbounded confidence, aroused my deepest horror
and indignation. I kept saying to myself, "If such a prelate,
the idol of American Catholicism and of liberal Protestantism,
is an 'atheist and infidel, a liar and sensual hypocrite/ is not
the Vatican clerical system rotten, root and branch ?' :
My reading, observation, meditation and experience
gradually forced me to doubt the possibility of purifying the
Roman Catholic priesthood, and ultimately led me to agree
with the words written me by the Baroness von Zedtwitz :
"There is not, and never can be, modern Cathol-
icism, and should ever the political necessity arise for
purifying all religion, Catholicity would then and
there be wiped off the face of the earth."
40 ROMANISM
During die crusade above mentioned, many priests of the
Roman Catholic Church talked with me about the futility of
ray efforts, saying in substance :
"Father Crowley, you are wasting your time and
money in trying to purify the priesthood. The sys-
tem stands for power and pelf. It can not be
changed. Christ Himself, if there is a Christ, could
not purify it."
Rev. Thomas F. Cashman, the prominent pastor of St.
Jarlath's parish, Chicago, the bosom friend and confidential
agent of Archbishop Ireland, said to me repeatedly:
"The more I see and read of monks, nuns,
priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes the
less am I a priest, and indeed the less am I a Roman
Catholic."
He also made this statement:
"While I believe the Roman Catholic Church will
live forever, I believe the devil has his knee on its
neck in this propaganda. I am prepared to prove all
that I state, and if I can not prove it my proper home
is the penitentiary."
He frequently exclaimed :
"Oh, if the Roman Catholic Church would only
uncover her scandals !"
Early in our crusade, in the first week of January, 1901,
Revs. Cashman and Hodnett, representing a score or more of
the prominent priests of Chicago, went to Washington, D. C.,
and personally filed charges of priestly corruption and crime
against brother priests, including Rev. Peter J. Muldoon, with
Papal Delegate Martinelli. Copies of charges had already
been sent by registered mail to the Vatican. Rev. Cashman
called to the attention of the Delegate several grave charges
of clerical immorality. The pope's representative shrugged
his shoulders, smiled, and said: "The Vatican pays no at
Rev. Cashman's residence, school, nunnery, and amusement hall,
in which his assistant, Rev. Byrnes, "Rev. No. 7, A Doctor of Medi-
cine," [see Part II.] took immoral and indecent liberties with the
school children, which fact was known to his superiors.
The Blessed Sacrament Church, residence, school, and nunnery
now directed by that licentious priest Byrnes, who was promoted from
St. Jarlath's (Cashman's) parish, notwithstanding the crimes whicl
committed there.
42 ROMANISM
tention whatever to such charges." Rev. Hodnett staggered
back in blank amazement, and, making the sign of the cross,
said: "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, protect us! Mother of God,
save the church!" Rev. Cashman then asked: "Should not
the standard for a Christian bishop be at least the equal of
that for Caesar's wife, above suspicion?" His Excellency
Martinelli replied, with a cynical shrug: "Not necessarily; by
no means." Rev. Hodnett then fairly screamed : "Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph, protect us! Mother of Purity, save the church!
Tom [Rev. Cashman], get your hat, let us get out of here!
They are going to burst the Catholic Church in America!"
The last word of Revs. Cashman and Hodnett to Mon-
signor Martinelli was this: "If Muldoon is foisted upon the
archdiocese of Chicago, look out for scandal!" Monsignor
Martinelli replied: "That is a threat." Rev. Cashman re-
sponded: "It is simply telling you what is going to happen."
Monsignor Martinelli then asked: "Will you stand by the
written charges?" Revs. Cashman and Hodnett answered in
one voice: "Quod scripsi, scripsi." [What I have written, I
have written.]
Notwithstanding these charges, Cardinal Martinelli came
to Chicago to consecrate Rev. Muldoon, and in an interview
which appeared in The Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1901, he said
in part as follows :
" 'Officially I have heard absolutely nothing of
this opposition [to Rev. Muldoon]. I am told that
the newspapers are much concerned about the mat-
ter. Am I right?' And the Italian laughed softly
and allowed his eyes to twinkle with subdued merri-
ment."
The charges were unheeded, and the candidate, Rev. Mul-
doon, was duly elevated and consecrated, the Papal Delegate,
Cardinal Martinelli himself, acting as consecrator.
What induced the pope to override the protests? What
caused Cardinal Martinelli to "laugh softly?" Was it "the
cash in his fob?"
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 43
The arbitrary course of the Vatican and Cardinal Martin-
elli in forcing Rev. Muldoon on the archdiocese of Chicago as
auxiliary bishop, awakened into activity the fine aesthetic sense
of the Rev. Cashman, and he penned, in his own handwriting,
the following deeply significant lampoon, which he handed me
for publication :
"WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.
(To a Popular Tune.)
I.
There is a bum bishop 1 in Chicago,
Who looked for a character to Paul Lowe, 3
But Paul is so low his word wouldn't go,
And now the bum bishop's at zero.
II.
And how did the bum become prelate?
Ask Slippery Jim 3 and his valet."
That platter face Gaul, 'twas he did it all,
And that's how the bum became prelate.
III.
And hadn't the Dago 5 a hand in the job?
Sure, and now he has the cash in his fob.
And Rooker 6 and Ned 7 and silly pinhead,"
And that's what they did, by Gob.
1 Bishop Peter J. Muldoon.
2 One of Cashman's parishioners.
3 His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons' name among priests.
* Very Rev. Dr. Magnien, President, St. Mary's Seminary, Balti-
more.
5 His Eminence Cardinal Martinelli.
'Right Rev. Monsignor Rooker, Secretary. Apostolic Delegation.
7 Rev. E. A. Kelly, Chicago.
* Rev. P. M. Flannigan, Chicago.
44 ROMANISM
IV.
And now what will they do with the villain?
Don't know ; go ask Miss McG ;'
For unless Kittie Aroon will squeal on Muldoon
The mitre will stay on the villain."
I have in my possession other "poems" from the fertile
brain of Rev. Cashman relative to the Muldoon scandal, in
which the poet (Cashman) does not spare cardinal, arch-
bishop, bishop or priest, paying his special regards to "Slip-
pery Jim" (Cardinal Gibbons) and "the Dago" (Papal
Delegate Cardinal Martinelli).
I publish these "poems" with the necessary explanations
of time, place and circumstance, as the full understanding of
them may require.
After conferring the Pallium on Archbishop John J. Keane
at Dubuque, Iowa, in the spring of 1901, Cardinal Gibbons, ac-
companied by the Very Rev. Dr. Magnien and Rev. E. A. Kelly,
visited the home of Archbishop Feehan at Chicago in con-
nection with the appointment of Rev. Muldoon to the Auxiliary
Bishopric of Chicago. Soon thereafter Gibbons went to Rome,
and Pope Leo XIII. , through Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect
of the Propaganda, caused to be issued Bulls for the pro-
motion of Muldoon. This, in brief, is the story that led up to
the writing of the following "poem" by Rev. Cashman.
"THE DIRGE OF THE LOST CAUSE.
(Air: Yankee Doodle.)
I.
Jimmie Gibbons 10 came to town,
Along with Eddie Kelly ;"
They called at Paddy Feehan's 1 * house
And Jim rubbed Paddy's belly.
8 One of the women in the case.
10 His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
"Rev. E. A. Kelly, Chicago.
M Archbishop Feehan, of Chicago.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 45
CHORUS.
O, to hear old Paddy moan !
O, to see him a-crying!
O, to hear his ullagone !
Faith, it was a-trying!
II.
Now, Jim, says Pat, I'm so distressed,
They will not give me Peter,
So go to Rome and fix the job,
And surely I'll feel better.
III.
So Jim goes off to Dago town, 18
And says to Ledochowski, 14
Feehan's lad is not so bad,
The boy is only frisky.
IV.
And thus it was that Peter 15 got
The Bishop's hat upon him ;
But Pat is dead and Jim has said,
Bad luck to Kelly and Magnien !"
The death of Archbishop Feehan of Chicago, July 12,
1902, created an enviable vacancy controlling some fifty mil-
lion dollars. During the latter years of Feehan's reign, the
Muldoonites had control of the archdiocese and its funds,
owing to the disability of the Archbishop, which was caused
by excessive drink. Instead of taking steps to keep the Arch-
bishop in a normal state, his close "friends" among the Mul-
doonites actually encouraged him in his unfortunate weak-
ness. Hence on his death they found themselves practically
masters of the situation. Caucuses were held by day and night ;
13 Rome.
"His Eminence Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect of the Propa-
ganda (the red pope), Rome.
"Bishop Peter J. Muldoon.
46 ROMANISM
representatives were sent to Rome with unlimited funds
some for the pope as "Peter's pence," and some for the cardi-
nals as "honorariums" for masses for the living and the dead,
not forgetting a special memento that the Holy Ghost might
direct them in their selection of a successor to Archbishop Fee-
han. The pope and cardinals, in accordance with their usual
custom, kept this profitable archdiocese vacant for several
months in order to give other aspiring candidates a chance to
"come and see them" also.
The only obstacle to the complete fulfillment of the sin-
ister designs of the Muldoonites was the publicity given at
home and abroad to the charges made and filed by some twenty
pastors and myself against Muldoon and his clerical supporters,
including Papal Delegate Martinelli, Cardinal Gibbons, and
other members of the Sacred College of Cardinals. At this
very time our charges were being aired in the public press.
Typewritten copies of Cashman's "poems" were freely circu-
lated and mailed to the pope and his cabinet, the Sacred Col-
lege of Cardinals, including "Slippery Jim" and "the Dago."
Rome knew full well that Cashman received his inspiration
from Archbishop Ireland and his "gang" of ecclesiastics, who
hoped to see Archbishop Ireland landed Archbishop of
Chicago as the preliminary step to a "red hat." She feared
further exposures, and even a schism, of which, indeed, Arch-
bishop Katzer, of Milwaukee, warned Leo XIII. if he dared
promote Muldoon to the archbishopric of Chicago.
Under the circumstances, the pope and his cabinet, not-
withstanding the liberal "honorariums" which they had re-
ceived, did not dare to hand over a graft of some fifty million
dollars to Muldoon and his supporters.
This is the story in brief on which the following "poems"
of Revs. Cashman and O'Brien were based, and is the principal
reason why Archbishop Ireland was not among the recent
"American" cardinals.
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
"MOW UP-TO-DATE BISHOPS ARE MADE.
I.
He is dead, Pete 18 is ahead!
Were the words of the vile McCann; 17
We've got the votes, and by our oaths
We'll have no other man.
II.
Kelly, 18 call in your sleek henchmen,
And bid them to their work ;
Fill them with fear or lager beer,
They've got the souls of a Turk!
III.
What care we for law, when to fill our maw
We've power and place and pelf?
So vote for Petie 19 and his darling Kittie, 20
And you can all have a girl for yourself.
IV.
Call in your moakes and let us coax
Those Micks" that block our game,
With empty words and fake rewards.
What matter ? it's all the same !
V.
Sure Pete will throw his vote below,
Where 'twill do the greatest good,
While McGavick 22 and Lange 23 and the rest of the gang,
And Barry, 24 what he would!
"Bishop Peter. J. Muldoon.
"Rev. John J. McCann.
"Rev. E. A. Kelly.
"Bishop Peter J. Muldoon.
20 One of the women in the case.
81 Irish priests.
22 Bishop McGavick.
23 Rev. Francis Lange.
54 Rev. F. J. Barry, Chancellor of the Archdiocese.
48 ROMANISM
VI.
And O'Flaherty's* drake and Gavin*" the snake,
And Fitz 27 of colorless fame,
With the giant Slav, 28 and Mooney 28 suave,
Who sponsored Peter's name !
VII.
The vote was cast, but the game was lost,
Muldoon was turned down ;
The Angels' Church left Pete in the lurch
And the gang 30 must quit the town. 31 "
THE PATIENCE OF GOD.
(Air: St. Patrick's Day.)
I.
Nowhere in history is there such mystery
As the patience of God with the folly of men ;
Who gambled for croziers as though they were oziers
And played the vile game of old Magus again.
II.
But just as their scheme was about to obtain,
By corruption and fraud, a mitre to win,
A voice from old Rome cried, "Avaunt, Muldoon."
You're a foul, a nasty, a lecherous thing.
Out, out from my altar, like Judas get a halter,
And rid the fair earth of your putrid being."
25 Rev. J. J. Flaherty.
""Rev. E. W. Gavin, Rural Dean, Waukegan.
'"Rev. M. J. Fitzsimmons, Vicar General.
M Rev. Joseph Molitor.
"Rev. Nick Mooney.
38 Muldoonites.
31 Chicago.
32 Bishop Peter J. Muldoon.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 49
III.
And now exit Muldoon,
He's gone to the land of gloom,
With Kitty's 33 harlot petticoat upon him.
His boodle would not go,
Nor the vagaries of Lowe, 34
Or the silly tales of Hearst 35 or Lawson. 38
IV.
For the Lord in His power struck the fatal hour,
And the wrath of heaven was splendid.
Of his comic opera bouffe the people had enough,
And now the melodrama is ended."
The muse of Rev. Michael O'Brien, Rector of St. Syl-
vester's parish, Chicago, was also awakened, as will be seen by
the following copy of some lines in his own handwriting, which
he handed me for publication, telling me at the same time that
he was assisted in composing them by the Very Rev. Michael
O'Sullivan, Permanent Rector of St. Bridget's parish, Chicago.
"ODE ON PETE. 37
I.
Bishops now are easy made,
At man's caprice or whim :
Martinelli 38 his hands on Pete he laid,
For some American tin.
II.
And when Pete was mitred,
He swore he would have revenge
On the men that did oppose him
Unto the bitter end.
33 One of the women in the case.
94 Paul A. Lowe.
"Mr. Hearst, proprietor, Chicago American and Examiner.
38 Mr. Lawson, proprietor, Chicago Daily News.
37 Bishop Peter J. Muldoon.
38 His Eminence Cardinal Martinelli.
SO ROMANISM
III.
But his enemies said, 'No, Pete,
By Jove, you will never succeed;
Paddy's 39 throne it is too big for you,
On it you will never take your seat.
IV.
Moreover, you're a stammerer,
And an awful baboon;
The rules of grammar are foreign to you ;
Why, you're a stuttering buffoon.
V.
And now, Pete, where are you?
Where but in the mud?
There are moths in your mitre,
There are wrinkles in your hood.
VI.
And, Pete, where is your Diocese?
It is up in the moon.
And where are you yourself, Pete?
Up in a balloon,
And you will topple down very soon.
VII.
You were consecrated under fire,
Guarded by police ;
You have been in the fire ever since,
You will never have a day's peace.
VIII.
Peeler McCarthy, 40 did you take
Into the Holy Name, 41
Where Martinelli did you make
A Bishop just the same.
38 Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan, Chicago.
40 Policeman McCarthy.
"The Cathedral, Chicago.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 51
IX.
And, now, Pete, you have it,
God knows by what fraud ;
You will never get a Diocese, Pete,
Rome knows your bad record.' "
Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, Permanent Rector of St. Mary's
parish, Evanston, Illinois, and one of the treasurers of our
crusade fund, wrote me, in part, as follows :
"Our great trouble in Chicago is that our arch-
diocese, the greatest in the world, is governed, not by
an Archbishop, or Bishop, but by one ["Rev. No. 14,
Celibacy Inexpedient"] who would like to be one or
the other, or both ; one who has too many irons in
th.e fire ; one who controls both Church and State ;
one who suspends priests to-day and policemen to-
morrow; one who alternately distributes parishes to
aspiring pastors and boodle to hungry politicians ;
one who can give Chicago a mayor or a bishop, and
secures uniformity of action by holding both under
his thumb. This is our Pooh-Bah, our factotum, our
power behind the throne. No wonder, then, that
City Hall methods dominate our ecclesiastical admin-
istration. In Chicago we have not one City Hall, but
two, both adopting the same standard of morality,
both applying the same system of rewarding friends
and punishing enemies, and both holding in like con-
tempt every principle of morality and justice."
The suspension of policemen has particular reference to
the summary dismissal of Officer Neilan from the Chicago
police force, because he stated that he had frequently found
priests in houses of prostitution, and that of the many he
found there, "Rev. No. 14, Celibacy Inexpedient," and his boon
clerical companion, Rev. Flannigan, were the worst offenders.
Concerning them Neilan exclaimed, "I know that they are a
pair of pimps, and Father Crowley is telling the truth,"
was not the only Catholic policeman who had honestly and
openly expressed himself concerning the immorality of the
52 ROMANISM
priests, but an example must be made of some one, and he w6
the victim. The lecherous ecclesiastics of Chicago were com-
pelled to have recourse to this summary method of punishment
in order to warn and silence a large body of men, who, in the
discharge of their duties, frequently found priests in brothels,
and sometimes in such a state of drunkenness that they had to
lock them up over night or send them home in carriages. Why
were they not booked, tried and punished like other American
citizens guilty of similar misconduct?
Some days after his dismissal Neilan was found dead
with a gun beside him. He was supposed to have committed
suicide brooding over his dismissal, and the priests declared it
was a "visitation of Divine Providence" for his having dared to
expose "Ambassadors of Christ." Did he commit suicide, or
was that fearless and outspoken officer of the peace murdered
in order to seal his lips ? Officer Neilan is not the only person
who met with sudden and mysterious death during the crusade.
A woman of Cashman's parish was supposed to have
poisoned herself. She had supplied Cashman with important
information concerning the proposals made to her in the con-
fessional. Rev. Cashman named the person by whom he said
"her mysterious death could be explained;" and Bishop Mul-
doon in a recent interview named to me the person "to be
blamed for her death."
The Very Rev. Daniel M. J. Dowling, Vicar General of
the archdiocese of Chicago, died suddenly and mysteriously
June 26, 1900, a few hours after a reunion dinner with brother
clergymen. His sudden but timely removal was strikingly in
accordance with the murderous methods of Pope Alexander
VI. [Rodrigo Borgia], and other "Vicars of Christ." Dow-
ling's death removed a serious obstacle to the promotion of
certain Chicago Borgias. The press said he "quietly passed
away from heart disease." Bishop Muldoon, in my interview
with him, last referred to above, told me that Dowling died
from diphtheria. Was he poisoned at that reunion dinner at
the Holy Name Cathedral?
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 53
Why was there not a thorough post-mortem investigation
of these sudden and mysterious deaths? Rome does not be-
lieve in ante or post mortem investigations.
Other deaths have been unaccounted for in the arch-
diocese of Chicago, and the history of the Catholic Church
there is a blot on civilization and Christianity. Still Arch-
bishop Quigley endeavors to placate the Catholic people of
Chicago by declaring that the priests and prelates of New
York are fifty per cent, worse than those of Chicago ! ! ! This
high standard of priestly corruption and crime in the arch-
diocese of New York may explain Archbishop Farley's recent
promotion to the Cardinalate, ranking him with Princes and
Kings, and consequently placing him above plebeian Prime
Ministers and Presidents ! ! !
Among the many affidavits filed at Washington and Rome
against Bishop Peter J. Muldoon and other members of the
Hierarchy, was one by Rev. Daniel Croke, then Rector of
St. Mary's parish, Freeport, Illinois, and since promoted to St.
Cecilia's parish, Chicago, charging Bishop Muldoon with gross
immorality. This affidavit was placed in the hands of the
Right Rev. James Ryan, Bishop of Alton, Illinois, and mailed
by him to the Vatican. The Vatican ignored it because moral
delinquencies are no bar to ecclesiastical preferment in the
Roman Catholic Church ; indeed, they are a necessity and an
advantage.
During the crusade we also filed with the proper ecclesi-
astical authorities an expose consisting of 198 pages of printed
matter, including Court Records and charges against Arch-
bishop Feehan, Bishop Muldoon. and other Catholic Church
dignitaries. This was but one installment of what was filed
by the protesting priests. It was edited by Revs. Cashman,
Hodnett, Galligan and Smyth, prominent pastors of the arch-
diocese of Chicago, and myself, and its cost was met by my
Roman Catholic clerical supporters. Among those who co-
operated are the following priests :
54 ROMANISM
SOME OF MY ECCLESIASTICAL CO-OPERATORS IN THE CRUSADE,
Very Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, permanent rector,
St. Mary's parish, Evanston, Illinois.
Very Rev. Hugh McGuire, permanent rector, St.
James' parish, Chicago, and Consultor of the Arch-
diocese.
Very Rev. Michael O'Sullivan, permanent rector,
St. Bridget's parish, Chicago.
Very Rev. Thomas F. Galligan, permanent
rector, St. Patrick's parish, Chicago.
Rev. Thomas F. Cashman, rector, St. Jarlath's
parish, Chicago.
Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett, rector, Immaculate
Conception parish, Chicago.
Rev. Michael Bonfield, rector, St. Agatha's
' parish, Chicago.
Rev. Michael O'Brien, rector, St. Sylvester's
parish, Chicago.
Rev. William S. Hennessy, rector, St. Ailbe's
parish, Chicago.
Rev. John H. Crowe, rector, St. Ita's parish,
Chicago.
Rev. Andrew Croke, rector, St. Andrew's parish,
Chicago.
Rev. Daniel Croke, rector, St. Mary's parish,
Freeport, Illinois.
Rev. Michael Foley, rector, St. Patrick's parish,
Dixon, Illinois.
Rev. William J. McNamee, rector, St. Patrick's
parish, Joliet, Illinois.
One of the charges in the above-mentioned expose is as
follows :
"Is Your Eminence aware that within the past
few months [July 8-12, 1901], in this archdiocese
[Chicago], there was held what in this country is
denominated a spiritual Retreat, being an occasion
REV. WILLIAM J. McNAMEE.
Rev. McNamee, during our crusade, labored day and night pro-
curing affidavits against lecherous priests and prelates and photo-
graphs of them when they were not saying their prayers. The picture
of a prominent Chicago priest, "Rev. No. 13, A Ballad Singer," with
one of his best girls, on page 451, was obtained by McNamee. Among
other incriminating documents procured by this clerical "Sherlock
Holmes" were most shocking affidavits made by respectable Catholic
women against Rev. C. P. Foster, "Rev. No. 23, A Debauchee."
These affidavits, together with others, were filed with the pope and
Cardinals Martinelli and Gibbons. Rev. McNamee placed certified
copies of same in the hands of Archbishop Quigley, soon after the
latter's promotion to the archbishopric of Chicago, with the result
that the debauchee priest was promoted by Cardinal "in petto" Quigley.
Archbishop Quigley when recently promoting this Rev. "Sherlock
Holmes," says in his papal organ, The New World, of October 15,
1911 :
"We heartily congratulate Rev. Father McNamee on his appoint-
ment as memorable [ ?] rector of St. Patrick's Church in this city
[Chicago]. The magnificent farewell reception and presentation of a
purse tendered to Father McNamee by the parishioners of St. Mary's
Church and the citizens of Joliet evidence the high esteem in which
Father McNamee is held by the people of Joliet."
Was this promotion of Rev. McNamee the price of his good (?)
will and silence? Bishop Muldoon calls him the "sleuth of the Crow-
ley crusade."
Since their conversion to Muldoonism, Rev. McNamee and his
ehum, Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, have been qualifying for mitres under
the areful supervision !' Archbishop Quigley.
56 ROMANISM
especially set apart for the assembling of the priests
of the Diocese for holy meditation, religious lectures,
and acts of devotion; that these exercises were held
in St. Viateur's College (the only diocesan seminary),
located at Bourbonnais' Grove, Kankakee, Illinois, un-
der the personal supervision of the Archbishop's Vicar
General and in the presence of Bishop-Elect Mul-
doon ; that all throughout the period of retreat, which
lasted four days and nights, in the college building
where the exercises were held, there were kept for
sale, and sold, day and night, to the priests present,
barrels of beer and whiskey, which in open and no-
torious fashion, to the scandal of all devout men,
were served out in the same manner as I am told is
common in ordinary bar-rooms, by the religious
brothers of the college, some of whom were in train-
ing for the holy priesthood ; that shameful scenes of
intemperance resulted, even to the point of intoxica-
tion among a number of those who were actually
participating in the holy services. To such outrageous
lengths did this unseemly conduct prevail that the
temperate and devout were actually kept in fear of
bodily injury and compelled to secure themselves at
night behind bolted doors. Is the scandal thus
wrought against God's Church chargeable to him
who exposes it or to those who, having the power
and being charged with the duty of correcting it,
nevertheless encourage and wink at the iniquity and
make their choice of associates among the evil-doers?
The like scenes have occurred repeatedly in previous
years during the presence and supervision of the
Archbishop himself. Is it conceivable, Your Emi-
nence, that such things shall be permitted in silence
and no voice raised in protest?
"Since when, Your Eminence, has it become a
crime against the Church to expose men who are
violating her sanctuary ? By what authority has it
been proclaimed an offense for a priest, a pastor of
Christ's flock, to employ all the strength that God has
given him to protect that flock from ravening wolves ?
Shall I see the priest's gown cloak a lecherous
drunkard and not seek to tear away that sacred garb,
and save it from such vile uses? If an exalted pre-
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 57
late, my ecclesiastical superior, charged with even
graver responsibilities in that behalf than an humble
priest, halts in duty, shall I shelter myself behind
such excuse and hesitate to do my part in the cleans-
ing work? When has the Church of the living God,
the God of truth and justice and purity, ever suffered
when her sons have spoken truth, wrought justice and
denounced impurity? The blood of John the Baptist
was surely shed in vain if a priest of God must keep
silence when lust and intrigue find favor in high
places, and when to the drunkard's hands are left the
ministrations of the Holy of Holies."
A score or more of the prominent priests of the arch-
diocese of Chicago jointly and severally filed at Washington
and Rome at least one hundred documents containing grave
charges against many of the leading members of the Chicago
Hierarchy. Some of these documents were sworn to, but the
Vatican paid no attention to them. We filed grave charges
our opponents filed great checks I mean bank checks.
This explains why Rome remained silent and why we
felt constrained to gain publicity for our cause through the
press; but in this we were sadly disappointed for the time
being, as the press was muzzled on Saturday, July 20, 1901.
We realized then that some extreme measure must be adopted
in order to unmuzzle the press, and consequently we had re-
course to the following fearless and open method, which
proved quite effective in removing the papal muzzle.
In a few hours we had printed several thousand large
placards on which appeared in large type the following words :
"The blasphemy of the twentieth century will be
hurled in the face of God Almighty and the Catholic
people of the archdiocese of Chicago when Muldoon
is made bishop on next Thursday.
"Read Father J. J. Crowley's letter of resigna-
tion and his exposure of Archbishop Feehan and his
demoralized clergy."
58 ROMANISM
Professional bill posters rode around in open carriages
putting up these placards on the outside walls of nearly every
Catholic Church in the city of Chicago between the hours of
three and six o'clock Sunday morning, July 21, 1901.
On the same morning a leaflet hurriedly set up, consisting
of four printed pages, making specific charges, with names,
against eighteen of the leading members of the Hierarchy of
the archdiocese of Chicago, were scattered among the Catholic
people, already stunned by the posters, as they were leaving
their churches. Some of those who were not fortunate enough
to secure a copy offered as high as five dollars for same. On
Monday, July 22, 1901, the press of Chicago and of the
country told the story in brief.
These posters and leaflets, while they appeared over my
name, were prepared and dictated to me in Cashman's home
by Revs. Cashman and Hodnett in behalf of the score of
priests. The expense of printing and posting was met by Rev.
Cashman, who became one of the treasurers of the crusade
fund.
Notwithstanding the political power of Rome over poli-
ticians and press, the latter is and will be insuppressible and
ever ready to do its duty, if the people will only do theirs.
But as long as the people remain indifferent and allow them-
selves to be muzzled by Rome, they should not expect the press
to fight their battle.
Let the non-Catholic people awake and do their duty in
defense of liberty, enlightenment and progress, and the press
will be ready and willing to join in the battle against the com-
mon foe Romanism.
Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett said repeatedly:
"The charges we filed at the office of the Apos-
tolic Delegate in Washington, and at the Vatican, I
am prepared to swear, on my bended knees before the
Blessed Sacrament, are true, and if our request for a
canonical investigation is granted, we will prove them
up to the hilt."
TI ill WHIM IT MAT CINCDH
I. the undersigned, beg to inform the public that I
am still PASTOR of OREGON, POLO and BYRON,
ILLINOIS, and that whoever represents himself as my
successor or one temporarily in charge, is an INTERLOPER
without/ANY. (AUTHORITY, except that which he himself
assumes. That man FINN who attempted to officiate at
OREGON on SUNDAY. JULY 28th. 1901, has had no
charge in the Archdiocese of Chicago for the past five
years, and belongs to that category of unworthy priests
whom I have already exposed on account of their SCAN-
DALOUS LIVES and who now stand CONVICTED before
the whole world by their silence. And if I did not advert
to FINN in my exposure of unworthy priests, it was
because he was so absolutely disreputable that 1 did not
suppose he would ever be heard of again. But if he should
ever again obtrude his unsavory presence on the PEOPLE
OF OREGON or elsewhere in these Missions I WILL A
TALE UNFOLTT
Jeremiah J. Crowley,
Having withdrawn my resignation. I beg to inform
the public that I am stm Pastor of Oregon, Polo and
Byron, Illinois.
OUR OGLE COUNTY POSTER.
The placard, of which this is a photographic copy, was posted
throughout my parish August i, 1001, and several thousand copie
the four-page leaflet, already referred to in the context, were scat-
tered broadcast at the same time. The only reply from the
astical authorities was a temporary injunction to restrain me
officiating as pastor of my parish. Priest Finn has s
moted by Quigley. >
60 ROMANISM
I quote a few lines from a letter written me April 8,
1904, by a prominent Roman Catholic lawyer of New York
City, a graduate of Georgetown (Jesuit) "University" at
Washington, D. C. :
"Mv DEAR FATHER CROWLEY :
"Father Unan, of the Paulists, told me plainly
you were not a bit out about the condition of the
Archdiocese of Chicago; he says every one knows its
condition. I fear you are much misinformed as to the
attitude of a great many people towards you. You
have more friends and believers in your cause than
you imagine. The condition in the Church in your
city [Chicago] is beyond description, more than one
has told me."
A prominent nun of the Convent of the Good (?) Shep-
herd, Chi'cago, said to a Roman Catholic lady :
"We have reason to know that Father Crowley
is right. Many of the fallen women and wayward
girls in this institution were led into sin and shame
by priests."
In passing, let me state that the Convents or Houses of
the Good (?) Shepherd, numerous in non-Catholic countries,
are Roman Catholic prisons, maintained partially by public
tax, but without Federal or State supervision, where the Ro-
man Catholic Hierarchy may confine their victims or other
unfortunates, and where cruel punishments can be inflicted
upon the inmates generally with impunity. In all so-called
Religious Houses, male and female, there is no accounting for
the sufferings of the inmates, their illness or their death. If
not requested, no coroner's inquest is held. The inmates are
utterly shut out from light and life, and generally from the
protection of the law. The masses of the people do not know
that these things are taking place. If they did, there would
be an awakening of indignation and action which would
speedily put an end to such horrors.
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
61
CONVENT OF THE GOOD (?) SHEPHERD,
PORTLAND, OREGON.
This pontifical institution for fallen women and wayward girls had
as its Chaplain, Confessor, and Spiritual Director, Rev. E. Donnelly,
himself a fallen priest and the father of several illegitimate children,
which fact was known to Archbishop Christie and his predecessor.
Archbishop Gross.
These female papal corporations through pull, and sometimes
through intimidation, secure large laundry contracts from railroads,
hotels, and private families. The work is done by the poor, un-
fortunate inmates without any remuneration whatever, while the
profits of their labors go to enrich the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
Some of this very money is spent in debauching future inmates of
such institutions.
62 ROMANISM
Archbishop Quigley, of Chicago, said to me, in one of my
interviews with him, substantially the following:
"Father Crowley, the Roman Catholic Church
would never permit an investigation of its priests and
bishops ; an honest investigation would burst the
Church. The priesthood is so rotten we would knock
the bottom out of the Church if we made the least
effort to discipline the priests as you demand. I must
admit that there are bad priests in Chicago, .but I can
assure you that the priests in New York are fifty per
cent, worse."
Archbishop Quigley made similar admissions to Roman
Catholic people who appealed to him for protection from bad
priests and bishops; and yet with full knowledge of their vil-
lainy he has promoted many of. these wicked ecclesiastics, and,
in order to do so with impunity, declared he would muzzle the
secular press and intimidate the non-Catholic press.
During our crusade a strong Roman Catholic Laymen's
Association was established in Chicago for the protection of
women from licentious priests ; but the Vatican refused point-
blank to take any notice of their charges and appeals. (See
pp. 390-394.) The Chicago Hierarchy also refused to heed
a petition signed by fifteen hundred Roman Catholic women,
praying for protection from drunken and lecherous priests.
The following is a copy of their petition :
"CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
"JUNE, 1903.
"THE MOST REV'D JAMES E. QUIGLEY,
"Archbishop of Chicago.
"Most Rev'd Sir: We, the undersigned Catholic
women, members of different parishes in this Arch-
diocese, respectfully call your attention to conditions
prevailing in many of the parishes of which some of
us are members, conditions so notorious that they
have been the subject of newspaper comment and are
still the subject of comment and criticism, both among
Catholic and non-Catholic people. On your advent to
your present high office in early March of this year
the fervent hope was frequently expressed in public
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 63
and private that you would rectify the flagrant abuses
which are a scandal to our beloved Church.
"As one of our daily papers editorially expressed
it : 'It is idle to mince the matter, for, as every Cath-
olic layman knows, the great trouble in the Chicago
church has been caused by the clergy.' [Quotation
from an editorial in the Chicago Daily Journal, March
u, 1903, the day after Archbishop Quigley assumed
charge of the archdiocese of Chicago.]
"If this were known to Catholic laymen, surely
the women of our Church could not be in ignorance.
"The priests who are evidently referred to in the
above paragraph are still serving at our altars and
performing all the sacred offices of our religion, un-
rebuked and undisciplined, so far as we know.
"We humbly and respectfully look to you for
protection and redress.
"Obediently yours."
Archbishop Quigley has neither rebuked nor disciplined
his priests, but, on the contrary, he has followed the policy of
popes, cardinals and bishops in promoting some of the very
worst among them: for examples, Revs. No. 9, 10, n, 12, 14,
17, 22, 23 and 24. Though affidavits and abundant proofs were
placed in his hands, charging "Rev. Xo. 12, A Wolf in Priest's
Clothing," with an unmentionable criminal assault on a thir-
teen-year-old motherless girl at the very time she was receiving
instructions for First Confession and Holy Communion, yet he
(Quigley) forthwith promoted, and has lately repromoted, this
clerical monster. By thus condoning the crimes and sacrileges
of his conscienceless clergy Archbishop Quigley may become
the next American Cardinal.
The latest information is that the pope has created an-
other cardinal "in pectorc" or "in petto;" that is. in secret. I
would not be surprised if it were the Czar of the Middle West,
Archbishop Quigley, who, by condoning the crimes and sacri-
leges of his conscienceless clergy, is fully qualified to become
a "Prince of the Church." a "member of the Roman Curia, the
official family of the pope."
64 ROMANISM
The Continent, a leading Presbyterian paper published in
Chicago, in its issue of August 24, 1911, corroborates my
statements as to Quigley's qualifications :
"American Catholics are saying that the long-
waited second American cardinal will be Archbishop
Quigley, of Chicago. If Quigley is really the se-
lection of the Vatican for the honor, the choice
throws another deep shadow on the religious honesty
of the cardinals at Rome. If their zeal was in the
least for spiritual religion, Quigley is about the last
American that they would desire to have as their as-
sociate in what they are pleased to call the 'Sacred
College.' How religious the Archbishop of Chicago
may be in his private life, The Continent would by no
means presume to judge. But the whole tone of his
public activity is the tone of political bossism and ec-
clesiastical tyranny. His administration of his arch-
diocese has exhibited a minimum of care for either
public or private righteousness, and a maximum of
determination to grip his own power and the power
of his satellites on the life of Chicago and its en-
virons. The appointment of Quigley as a cardinal
means what has long been suspected, that the Vatican
does not want an American cardinal not even as
moderate an one as Archbishop Ireland but wants
simply a Roman cardinal in America. That Quigley
will be to the finish."
The political power of the Roman Catholic Church in
America was proclaimed to the non-Catholic politicians, in
a speech delivered by Archbishop Quigley, May 4th, 1903, at
the Holy Name Roman Catholic school, Chicago, and which
appeared in part in The Chicago Tribune, May 5th, 1903 :
"In fifty years Chicago will be exclusively Cath-
olic. The same may be said of Greater New York,
and the chain of big cities stretching across the con-
tinent to San Francisco. . . . Nothing can stand
against the Church. I'd like to see the politician
who would try to rule against the Church in Chicago.
His reign would be short indeed."
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
65
V,*
CARDINAL FALCONIO THE COMING "AMERICAN" POPE.
Cardinal Falconio, an Italian, Rome's late chief secret service agent
in the United States, has been recalled and rewarded for "signal
service." He is now Chief of the Secret Service Bureau at the
Vatican, Dean of the "American" cardinals, and quasi American Am-
bassador to the Vatican. This Italian Franciscan monk claims Amer-
ican citizenship; and consequently Jesuitical expediency and hypocrisy
not the Holy Ghost will inspire the Sacred College of Cardinals
to elect Falconio the next pope an "American" pope ! ! ! This is a
part of the plot and plan to capture America, and through America,
to regain Temporal Power, not only in Italy, but throughout the
world.
It is easy to see that we have a hard fight before us, and we should
remember the advice : "The other fellow [the pope] is only a man,
just as you are. Don't let his spectacular displays and theatrical per-
formances frighten you,"
66
ROMANISM
THE PAPAL SECRET SERVICE BUREAU AT WASHINGTON.
This pontifical institution is in direct and constant communication
with the leaders of the American Hierarchy, the White House and
the Capitol. In a word, it is the headquarters of the Papal Nuncio to
the United States Government under the pretext and name of "Papal
Delegate to the Catholic Church in the United States."
TWO AMERICAN CABLE* TftOW NEW 1 YORK TO GREAT B
CONNECTS uxi - FIVE ANCLO-AMEBICjW ONE DIRECT U.S. A
DIRECT CASCE COMMUNICATION WITH GERMANY AND
CABLS_CORISCCTION_-_;-5OBA : . .WE/TJNOl| 8, MEXICO t"." C - EMTR AL "" SOU'fM AMERICA
i^^
~
A STOLEN CABLEGRAM-
The above is a photographic copy of a cablegram which was stolen
from the files of the Western Union Telegraph Co. by the Roman
Catholic Hierarchy of Chicago and photographed by them. The
original message was handed in by Rev. Hodnett, acting for the pro-
testing priests. The Statutes of Illinois, I understand, declare such
theft a criminal offense punishable by seven years in the penitentiary
and $1,000.00 fine. Bishop Muldoon admitted to me as late as October
/, 191 1, that he knew who stole the original message from the files of
the Telegraph Co. and its present whereabouts. The following is a
translation of the stolen cablegram : "Yesterday we sent letters with
specific charges against candidate named for Auxiliary Bishop."
Our mail to Rome was also tampered with until Rev Hodnett and
myself, in behalf of the protesting priests, threatened the Post-office
Department with exposure. After that Postmaster Coyne of Chicago
caused a tracer to be put on our mail. Nothing is safe or secret from
the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. Its agents are everywhere.
67
68 ROMANISM
This proclamation of Spiritual and Temporal Power by
Archbishop Quigley, and his threat of political assassination,
created a sensation throughout the country. The more Jesu-
itical members of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, considering
his announcement premature, set telephone and telegraph
wires in action to hush up the scare, fearing it might arouse
and enlighten the sleeping non-Catholics.
Subjoined are photographs of Archbishop Quigley 's
palace, conservatory and stable, the stable alone costing the
archdiocese $80,000, according to Revs. Cashman, Smyth and
Hodnett. It is rather more elaborate than the stable of Beth-
lehem in which the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born.
Cardinal Martinelli, ex-papal delegate to the Roman Cath-
olic Church in America, in 1902 said to me in substance, at the
Apostolic Delegation Office, Washington, D. C. :
"We know there are many immoral priests and
bishops, but still the laity have no right to interfere
with the clergy; if the laity understand they have any
rights, they will do in America as they once did in
France during the Revolution, they will murder the
clergy. In this independent country it would not be
wise to let the laity understand they have any right to
interfere in church matters ; and one of the principal
things we have against you, Father Crowley, is that
you are enlightening the Catholic laity of this country
as to their rights ; the laity have no right to expose
their clergy, no matter how immoral they may be ; the
laity must be ignored; they must be crushed!"
Cardinal Falconio, late papal delegate, in 1903 said to me
in the home of Archbishop Katzer at Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
"Father Crowley, the Roman Catholic Church is
divine, notwithstanding the fact that there are bad
priests, bishops, and popes, and I beseech you, for the
sake of our Holy Mother Church, to sign that apology
drawn up by Archbishop Quigley, whitewashing those
whom you have exposed."
Is it any wonder that I withdrew from Romanism?
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
69
REAR VIEW OF ARCHBISHOP QUIGLEY'S PALACE,
SHOWING CONSERVATORY.
The valuable and spacious grounds are 292.5x255 feet.
QUIGLEY'S STABLE IX FOREGROUND, AND ADJOINING
HOMES OF MILLIONAIRES.
CHAPTER II.
CELIBACY AND CONFESSIONAL.
Why this rank, rampant immorality among the Roman
Catholic Hierarchy? Priestly Celibacy and Auricular Con-
fession, I assert, are chiefly responsible. Priestly celibacy and
auricular confession ever have been, and are now, prolific
sources of crime and licentiousness. Pope Gregory VII., in the
eleventh century, imposed the unnatural law of priestly
celibacy, notwithstanding the vehement protests of the priests,
the vast majority of whom had wives and legitimate children.
This decree, making priestly marriage a wrong and priestly
celibacy a virtue, has honeycombed the Roman Catholic Church
with corruption. The advantage to the Vatican system of
having all ecclesiastics wholly separated from all legitimate
connections with their native soil and natural interests, and
the fixture in every kingdom of large bodies of men wholly de-
voted to the objects of the papacy, overpowered the voices alike
of nature and of God.
Pope Gregory VII., and his infallible successors, in im-
posing priestly celibacy, were actuated by political rather than
virtuous motives. This was generally admitted. Pope Pius
II., himself the father of several children (see pp. 315, 316),
once wrote these words : "Marriage has been forbidden to
priests for good reasons, but there are better ones for per-
mitting it to them." Pope Leo XIII. was the father of several
children, one of them being the eminent Cardinal Satolli, a
man of conspicuous immorality. Bishop O'Connell, of Rich-
mond, Virginia, is considered a reliable authority on the pon-
tifical paternity of Cardinal Satolli.
71
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 73
In 1907 three thousand French priests signed and sent a
petition to Pope Pius X., praying for the abolition of priestly
celibacy. All of these priests were past the marrying age
themselves, but were speaking from the weight of responsi-
bility thrust upon them by confessions. This appeal was con-
signed to the papal wastebasket.
Dr. Robert E. Speer, the noted secretary of the Presby-
terian Board of Missions, recently wrote :
"The celibacy of the priesthood had seemed to
me a monstrous and wicked theory, but I had believed
that men who took that vow were true to it, and that,
while the Church lost by it irreparably and infinitely
more than she gained, she did gain, nevertheless, a
pure and devoted, even if a narrow and impoverished,
service. But the deadly evidence spread out all over
South America, confronting one in every district to
which he goes ; evidence legally convincing, morally
sickening, proves to him that, whatever may be the
case in other lands, in South America the stream of
the Church is polluted at its fountains."
Rome is ever and everywhere the same. She prefers
priestly celibacy with concubinage to priestly marriage. How-
ever, the day is near when the enlightenment of the people
through the Public School and the advancement of woman-
hood, will sound the death-knell of priestly celibacy and
auricular confession. Papal intriguing and Hierarchical plot-
ting against the Public School and Woman's Suffrage are not
riddles to those who understand the power of liberal education
and emancipated womanhood.
Auricular confession as an absolute essential for eternal
salvation is inculcated in the minds of the pupils of the Roman
Catholic schools. This doctrine actually increases crime and
debauchery by freeing the mind of remorse and by substi-
tuting absolution for repentance. It was established, as a por-
tion of the acknowledged system of Rome, scarcely before
the thirteenth century ; and history attests the fact that it
originated in the licentiousness of the Roman clergy in the
74 ROMANISM
ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, and assumed the
form of canon law at the Fourth Council of Lateran under
Pope Innocent III., A. D. 1215, being confirmed by the Council
of Trent, Session XIV.
Moral Theology of the Roman Catholic Church, printed
in Latin, a dead language, containing instructions for auricular
confession, is so viciously obscene that it could not be trans-
mitted through the mails were it printed in a living language ;
neither would priests and bishops dare to propound said ob-
scene matter in the form of questions to female penitents if
their fathers, husbands and brothers were cognizant of the
Satanic evils lurking therein; in fact, they would cause the
suppression of auricular confession by penal enactments.
The Supreme Court of Leipzig, Germany, has recently
condemned as immoral the teachings of the Roman Catholic
Church regarding auricular confession as taught in the
writings of St. Alphonsus De Liguori; and the civil author-
ities of the city of Sienna, Italy, lately forbade within its juris-
diction the sale of his vile writings on the same subject.
The governments of the most Catholic countries are com-
pelled to curb that license which the Court of Rome allows,
and to put down those atrocities which have received the
patronage and blessing of the most celebrated Pontiffs.
Why, then, do the governments of non-Catholic countries
permit the wholesale transmission through the mails of the
immoral theology of St. Liguori, Dens, Kenrick, and others,
to be retailed by bachelor priests and prelates in live languages
to young girls and women in lecherous whispers in the Confes-
sional? By so doing these governments co-operate in the
moral assassination of females from the time they prepare to
make their first confession (which, according to a recent de-
cree of Pope Pius X., "is about the seventh year, more or
less") till they enter the gates of Purgatory that inexhaust-
ible Klondike of the Roman Catholic clergy.
Confessors search the secrets of the home, and so are
worshiped there, and feared for what they know.
Sf, Patrick's Church,
A. }. DSBXLBX. Pu
Neola,
A PURGATORIAL LIBERATOR.
The above is a photographic copy of a letter found m the pos-
session of this "Ambassador of Christ" while he was visiting houses
of prostitution in Chicago. Pity the donors, not the souls in purgatory!
75
76 ROMANISM
If it is the purpose of a state or government to prevent
crime and eradicate its causes, the whole of this diabolical sys-
tem called the Confessional, which is known to worm out the
secrets of families, the weaknesses of public men, and thereby
get them under control to either silence them or make them
active agents in the Roman Catholic cause above all, the de-
bauching of maids and matrons by means of vile interroga-
tories prescribed by Liguori, and sanctioned by the Church
should be abrogated by a national law in every civilized country
on the globe.
At the request of a score of prominent priests, associated
with me in the crusade, I presented the facts and proofs against
a prominent Muldoonite, "Rev. No. 12, A Wolf in Priest's
Clothing," to the State's Attorney of Illinois. He looked
into some law-books and stated that said crime was a capital
offense in the Carolinas, and in other States it was punishable
by several years' imprisonment. He spoke of the great polit-
ical influence of the Catholic Church, and refused to prosecute,
fearing, I presume, that the influence of the Jesuitical Hier-
archy would interfere with his political prospects. Soon there-
after he became Governor of his State. Though this Jesuitical
influence in politics protects thousands of guilty priests and
prelates in America and other non-Catholic countries, yet some
of them, through fear of bodily harm, are compelled to flee
their dioceses, and resume elsewhere their "sacred labors," or
travel incognito on pension from the pope. Among those who
have been compelled to flee to escape chastisement, or perhaps
death, from outraged husbands, fathers, brothers, or lynching
by the community at large, are :
The Most Rev. Bertram Orth, lately Archbishop
of Victoria, British Columbia.
The Right Rev. Thomas F. Brennan, formerly
Bishop of Dallas, Texas.
The Right Rev. Timothy O'Mahony, late Auxil-
iary Bishop of Toronto, Canada, formerly of Aus-
tralia, and Cork, Ireland.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 77
The Right Rev. Monsignor Capel, formerly of
England.
The Right Rev. Monsignor Fowler, formerly of
Sioux City, Iowa, and Philippine Islands.
Rev. W. R. Thompson, formerly of Portland,
Oregon.
Rev. Lawrence Erhardt, formerly of Chicago.
Rev. F. J . Knipper, formerly of Troy, Ohio.
Rev. Levis T. McGinn, formerly of Brooklyn,
New York.
Some of these were guilty of the crime of sodomy a
crime, alas ! to which monks, priests, prelates, and even popes,
the "Vicars of Christ," are not strangers.
The number of similar offenders is legion, and no wonder!
The vast majority of priests, prelates and other members of the
Hierarchy are driven into immorality by priestly celibacy and
auricular confession. This wholesale demoralization was one
of the principal motives for instituting celibacy and auricular
confession. The result accomplished is just what the Vatican
machine wanted. This demoralization compels wicked priests,
prelates and other members of the Hierarchy, of both sexes, to
stand by each other and for the Vatican system, their axiom
being "Standum est pro auctoritate per fas out nefas" (Stand
by authority, right or wrong). It is the same principle as is
found among corrupt politicians, who, for their own protection,
are compelled to stand by each other and for their political
machine.
Rome, thoroughly aware of its diabolical crimes, for its
own protection promotes the shrewdest of her demoralized
ecclesiastics to the very highest offices, as will be seen in
Part II. She appoints them as members of her Boards of Edu-
cation, and makes them Superintendents, Principals, Assistant
Principals and Teachers of her schools. The nun teachers in
the Roman Catholic schools are grossly incompetent, to say the
least.
175 >
ous supporter of Bishop Muldoon. no attention was
paid to the affidavit of the accusing party. In this con-
nection we have omitted the name, as the name was
already given in the affidavit forwarded to the Sacred
Congregation.
STATE OF ILLINOIS, )
COUNTY OF COOK. ) ss '
M. M., , on oath, deposes and says:
My name is M. M. . I am nineteen
years old. As well as I can remember, about the end of
November, i9oi__
Father Byrnes, one of the assistants at St. Jarlath's
Church, came to administer the last Sacrament to me as
I was despaired of by the three doctors who were then
attending on me. Father Byrnes, on that "occasion, told
me that he was a doctor as well as a priest; spoke about
the female formation and sexual matters. He soon after
placed his hand upon my private parts and greatly dis-
turbed me I was filled with shame and. resentment and
desired him to desist and leave me alone. As soon as'
Father Byrnes left I told this to my mother and others,
namely, my aunts. Physician N N.
then went to the priest's house and told Father Byrnes
never to visit me again.
I make this statement under oath of my own free wilL
M*M
Subscribed and sworn to before me this?, second ,day
of April, A. D. 1902..
N. N, -r-.
[NOTARY'S SEAL.] Afofory 1 jPullic.
This is a photographic copy of p. 175 of the 198 printed pages
of expose filed with the proper ecclesiastical authorities, which had
the usual result promotion of the guilty ecclesiastics. Physician
N. N., brother-in-law of the young lady, personally appealed to Arch-
bishop Quigley, who scornfully dismissed him with his usual reply,
"That is ancient history."
The said original affidavit was procured by Rev. Cashman.
78
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
79
An honest, patriotic Catholic editor of a prominent Roman
Catholic weekly paper in this country, recently exclaimed :
"Oh, for another Luther, another Savonarola!
The time was never so ripe as the present for such
an one. If only the true condition of affairs were
known, he would not be long in coming to the front.
The Roman Catholic school is a curse to the nation,
and it is pitiable to think that the education of so
many thousands of our boys and girls is in the hands
of ignorant, bigoted, superstitious monks and nuns,
the vast majority of whom are foreigners many of
them driven from their own countries."
Is it any wonder that Romanism is a menace to the nation ?
I
Jig
EDUCATIONAL.
.heir de-
THE SCHOOL FOR
upt ele-
voters.
ter are
YOUR DAUGHTER
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A REPRESENTATIVE OF
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help the
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ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, INDIANA,
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for appointment or call between 12.00
Cinci
by the
vote of
noon and 2 p m at the Sinton Hotel.
Illustrated Catalogue on Request.
^
PAPAL RECRUITING FOR PUPILS AND PROSPECTIVE NUNS.
Catholics and non-Catholics, beware! Read this volume before
you select a school and probably a nunnery for your daughter.
CHAPTER III.
ROME, RUM, RUIN.
Since the spirituous Retreat, above referred to, St
Viateur's College was destroyed by fire, and for its rebuilding
$800,000 must be collected from Catholics and non-Catholics,
particularly the latter, if they are in business or politics. Mr.
Andrew Carnegie was "held up" for $32,000 toward the resus-
citation of this noted spirituous seat of learning, which insti-
tution evidently is not in favor of Prohibition. As a rule, the
Faculty of Roman Catholic schools, colleges and universities
worships at the shrines of Plutus, Bacchus and Venus. Popes,
prelates, priests and monks may preach temperance along with
"poverty, chastity and obedience," but rarely ever practice it.
Many distinguished priests and prelates have been and
are directly or indirectly interested in the liquor traffic. The
Rev. Francis E. Craig, S. T. B. (Bachelor of Sacred The-
ology), the bosom friend of Jesuits, Papal Delegates, and Car-
dinal Gibbons, Treasurer of St. John's Ecclesiasical Seminary,
Boston, Mass., before his ordination, was an active partner
in the firm of Ray & Craig. They were engaged in retailing
groceries, and they also held a wholesale liquor license,
and their place of business was situated at the northeast
corner of M and Potomac Streets, Georgetown, D. C. The
first floor was used as a grocery store ; on the second floor was a
"speak-easy," whose location and existence was known to the
initiated. A "speak-easy" is a place where intoxicating liquors
are sold in violation of law. The third floor served for a
gambling-den. Craig boasted that his share of the profits was
more than $50,000 a year. Owing to certain legal proceedings,
business drooped and was running stale when Craig saw a new
opening. There were certain relations between Craig and the
80
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
81
The above is a photograph of a delivery wagon used under the
firm name of Ray & Craig when Rev. Craig was "operating" as a
priest in Cardinal Gibbons' archdiocese.
Jesuits at Washington, D. C, which warranted a closer inti-
macy. To make a long story short, he entered St. Mary's
Ecclesiastical Seminary, Baltimore, Md., and studied for the
priesthood. At this time he was about forty years of age.
About ten years ago he was ordained a priest of the arch-
diocese of Baltimore, and officiated under Cardinal Gibbons.
His financial capacity was justly appreciated by the Cardinal,
who loaned him to St. John's Seminary, Boston, Mass., to act
as its Treasurer. He is now a member of the Faculty and
Bachelor of Sacred Theology, which title imports that he is
profoundly versed in Church History and Sacred Theology
with the necessary accompanying accomplishments. He is on
the high road to yet loftier promotion, and it is quite within
82 ROMANISM
the range f probability that he will succeed his friend and
patron, Cardinal Gibbons. He will certainly reach this post
if he lives and if the Papal Czar of New England, Cardinal
O'Connell, lends his powerful influence with the pope.
Archbishop Quigley, of Chicago, a corporation s6le, con-
trols some fifty millions worth of property, some of which is
used for questionable purposes. In one of his buildings, which
covers 99.2x100 feet, in the heart of Chicago, there are
three saloons. This is a five-story building; the upper four
stories being used as a bunk-house, I5c, 2oc and 25 c a
night. This property was leased by Archbishop Quigley for
99 years and 9 months, commencing August i, 1910; rental for
the first nine months, $4,500; next 10 years at $17,000 per
year; next 14 years at $22,000 per year; next 26 years at
$24,000 per year, and balance of term at $26,000 per year.
To the knowledge of the Archbishop of Chicago these
saloons were in existence under the old lease which expired
August i, 1910, yet this great advocate of Total Abstinence
and Roman Catholic Education re-leased the property at an
increased rental varying from 300 per cent, to 433 1-3 per cent,
on the rental under the old lease. Why this exorbitant in-
crease in rent? Is it on account of the desirability of the
location, for just such saloons and their upstairs adjuncts, to-
gether with the immunity which the building enjoys from any
municipal, state or federal interference, through the political
pull of its ecclesiastical landlord?
This building, which is located in the First Ward, through
its pro tern, occupants, plays an important part in the famous
First Ward elections of Chicago, and also in state and federal
elections.
The accompanying photographs, showing different views
of the above building, were taken recently by me. It was my
first experiment with a camera, and consequently the photo-
graphs are not works of art, but will give the reader some
idea of the commercial enterprise of pronounced Roman Cath-
olic advocates of Total Abstinence and Catholic Education.
ir.
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A MENACE TO THE NATION. 85
The last picture is of a building covering 40x172 feet, in
which there is a combination saloon and restaurant, and until
recently there was a palm-garden in the rear where young
children and cheap actors were engaged to amuse the patrons.
On pages 86 and 87 are photographs of a check for a
month's rent paid to Archbishop Feehan, Quigley's prede-
cessor, for these premises. For the sake of his family I have
concealed the signature of the tenant who signed this check.
On the back of said check appears the signature of the
Catholic Bishop of Chicago, P. A. Feehan.
I have it on indisputable authority that this house had a
most disreputable name until recently. At present the ground
floor is used for a combination saloon and restaurant. As to
the second floor the reader will have to inquire of the priests
and prelates of Chicago.
This building is leased by the Archbishop of Chicago for
fifteen years, commencing May i, 1901, at $210 per month for
the first 5 years, $250 per month for the next 5 years, and
$271 per month for balance of term, leasehold assigned for
value received to Pabst Brewing Co., 354 North Desplaines
Street, Chicago.
These buildings, located in the heart of Chicago, are in
the Paulist Fathers' parish, and convenient to the exquisite
offices of the Roman Catholic Church Extension Society of
America, whose motto is, "We come not to conquer, but to
win. Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic."
While not engaged in running church fairs with their usual
attachments of gambling, lottery, prize-fighting, fortune-telling,
etc., the Paulist Fathers devote the remnant of their energies
to giving missions to non-Catholics. The conversion of
heretics non-Catholics is their specialty, and in 1908 at the
"American Catholic Missionary Congress," held at Chicago,
they boasted 25,055 "converts." Their church is located in the
tenderloin or white-slave district of the South Side, Chicago.
Gamblers, saloon-keepers and white-slave-keepers have been
generous toward it, and particularly so as a result of the work
00 ROMANISM
of the Vice Commission recently held in that city. I have
it on the very best authority authority that can not be dis-
puted that this Commission was manipulated and controlled
by the Roman priests. It serves to furnish them with most
valuable information which they could not obtain through
the Confessional or otherwise. Such information in the hands
of the Roman Hierarchy affords a new and rich species of
graft Vice Commission Graft. The Vatican system thrives
on ignorance, vice and crime. No wonder the priests and
prelates hope to establish similar Vice Commissions in the
large cities throughout the country.
Why did the Postoffice Department hold up the report of
that Commission for several weeks? Was it inspired by the
Roman Hierarchy in order to establish a precedent for hold-
ing up and destroying "matter offensive to the Church?"
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONFESSION OF A "CONVERT" TO ROMANISM.
Attorney C. C. Copeland, of the archdiocese of Chicago,
a prominent, wealthy "convert" to Romanism, protested against
priestly crime and corruption in an appeal which he wrote and
sent to The New World, the papal organ, for publication.
This appeal was refused insertion and ignored.
"LlBERTYVJLLE, ILLINOIS,
"Oct. 19, '01.
"REV. J. J. CROWLEY,
"DEAR SIR:
"Enclosed I send you that paper to read and
be returned to me. If you may want to use it, I may
revise it some, as I have thought of doing, and then
let you have it. I could add a good supplement under
head of "After Two Years," or something of the
kind. My intention is to revise it and put it in some
unique shape and scatter it through the Hierarchy.
I have some notes already on a revision.
"Yours very respectfully,
"[Signed] C. C. COPELAND."
The following is the original confession:
"Rev. Dr. Dunne [now Bishop Dunne, of Peoria, Illinois],
in closing his discourse on the life and character of Very Rev.
Thomas Burke, which was no overdrawn picture of that great
priest, as every one can testify who knew him well, said:
'Learn, then, to respect the dignity of the priest, and to ap-
90
ROMANISM
HOLY MONKS DOING PENANCE.
Poor, obedient, temperate, holy monks doing penance for the
greater glory of God and the suffering souls in purgatory.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 91
preciate the good that he is called upon to perform in the
exercise of his ministry. Allow no man or woman to wantonly
assail his character in your presence, for, believe me, in pro-
portion as his reputation is lessened in the eyes of the com-
munity, his influence for good is weakened. Respect the priest
as the Ambassador of your Divine Redeemer. Honor him as
the minister of God. Love him as a friend, as a brother, as a
father, who has nothing so much at heart as your eternal wel-
fare.'
All this will every good Catholic do, and love to do and
more, to a priest who himself respects the dignity of the posi-
tion he occupies among men and the obligation which he in-
curred when he accepted the sacred mission to 'Go forth and
teach all nations,' and who appreciates himself the good he
is called upon to perform and the life he ought to lead in the
exercise of that mission ; so that the estimation in which he
is held, the amount of good he may do, the freedom from as-
sault in which he may live, the influence for good he may
exercise, the respect and honor he will receive, as the Ambas-
sador of our Divine Redeemer, and the minister of God, the
love and obedience that will go out to him as a friend, as a
brother, as a father, who has nothing so much at heart as our
eternal welfare, depend upon himself.
a Kempis says: 'Great is the dignity of priests to whom
that is given which is not granted to angels.' 'The priest
indeed is the minister of God.' 'Take heed to thyself and
see what kind of ministry has been delivered to thee by the
imposition of the bishop's hands.' 'Thou hast not lightened
thy burdens, but art now bound with a stricter band of disci-
pline, and art obliged to a greater perfection of sanctity.' 'A
priest ought to be adorned with all virtues and to give example
of a good life to others. His conversation should not be with
the vulgar and common ways of men.'
Now, if, instead of being this kind of a man, or of at-
tempting to lead this kind of a life, or of fulfilling this kind
of a mission, one who accepts the office of priest is a miser,
92 ROMANISM
and puts forth all his energies and improves every opportunity
to enrich himself and hoard money, or is a drunkard, or
gives his life to the enjoyment of sensual, worldly things, or
is otherwise decidedly self-indulgent, unpriestly, or grossly neg-
lects the duties which that mission imposes upon him, and dis-
regards that sacred office, can and ought a good Catholic to
respect him or defend his character? He certainly can not
respect him. Unworthy priests weaken the influence, to a
greater or less extent, of the whole priesthood; dishearten
zealous bishops, priests and laymen and drive large numbers
of their fellow-Catholics into doubt and infidelity. It is largely
to them we may attribute the loss of two or three times as
many members of the Church as we claim to have now, and
in a great measure because of them that the Church is being
rapidly depleted at this time, and unless their baneful influence
is removed, is there not reason to fear that it has reached its
zenith in this country? It looks this way to any one who
travels much and is very observing and deeply interested.
But are there many unworthy, self-indulgent, bad priests
in the United States? Too many, far too many, everywhere.
The harvest is just now full and ripe in this land which is ours
by discovery and settlement, and by the libation of the blood of
martyrs, but too many of the reapers are blind, or perverse,
and are not only going about destroying the golden grain, but
are preventing the good, zealous reapers from gathering it in.
Has the Church no discipline left? Can it not remove
these scandals, this hindrance to the working of the Spirit of
Truth ; prevent further depletion, and bring back the lost sheep
to the true fold ?
Could not ( i ) more care be taken in sending young men
to Seminaries, (2) in ordaining priests, (3) and in weeding
out those who have been ordained and tried, and are found
unworthy ?
A mission once a year is far better than sending a disedi-
fying, disorderly, scandalous priest to take charge of a parish.
Is there not too much of the spirit of the world in some of
ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, NEW YORK CITY.
"A National Temple of Roman Catholic Devotion," partly built and
maintained by liquor and gambling. It cost four million dollars.
94 ROMANISM
our young men, who are being ordained and put in charge of
parishes these days? Many of them seem to want a parish
'for what there is in it for themselves.' The people to whom
they are sent are intelligent, observing, and becoming more en-
lightened, and when they see this lack of spirituality in the life
of the priest, his influence for good is lost. It is the intelli-
gent, well-to-do members who are leaving us. They cannot
endure that they themselves or their families shall be led and
directed by a man whose sensibility has been blunted and
whose passions have been aroused by intoxicants, or who de-
means himself in an unpriestly manner, more like a loafer, or
a sport, or a dude, or a miser, than like a gentleman. They de-
mand that their priest shall be priestly, and unless the Hier-
archy in the United States manages to meet this demand, can
it be expected that the Church will grow in numbers and im-
prove in the character of its members? Can one born in the
Church well imagine the shock an intelligent convert receives
when he first meets a drunken priest, or sees one drinking in a
saloon, or sitting on a beer-keg at its door, or sees one at the
altar celebrating mass after a night's carouse, or learns that
the result of years of earnest appeals from the pulpit for the
orphans and the hospitals and the schools and the Pope has
been the accumulation of a large fortune by the pastor, or sees
a priest smitten of a woman and running after her, to the
amusement of Protestants and humiliation of Catholics, or sees
him in the company of women of not known unblemished
reputation in unseemly places, or learns of the drinking, ca-
rousing and gambling of priests at their places of rendezvous,
and of other still more unpriestly conduct, all of which he
may but too often see and know of a truth in this land conse-
crated to the One who was 'full of grace?' Will it suffice to
say that there was one Judas among the twelve, or that the
majority of the clergy are self-sacrificing, zealous men and
rest there? If there is even one such, should he be let to
remain to disgrace the whole order? If a Catholic travels
much and observes closely, he will be disposed to shun priests
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 95
whom he does not know to be priestly, rather than seek them
out as most agreeable, proper, profitable company. This is
the case with not only some converts, but some who were
reared Catholics. Laymen want protection for themselves and
their families.
An exemplary convert, who was cashier in a bank in one
of our large cities, told the writer with an aching heart how
mortified he had often been at seeing priests coming there
under the influence of liquor where he was the only Catholic,
and having the clerks looking sneeringly at him, and how many
have told him of similar and much worse experiences. When
fathers know those conditions exist, how can they urge their
children, who know them also, to go to their religious duties?
'When the man is gone, what becomes of the priest?'
And is this the condition and this the conduct and this
the character of many of the priests in our country? Of far
too many, and the proportion of such is not diminishing. Have
not Catholics been told too often and too long to hide these
things out of charity? Was it ever the proper use of charity
to overlook or hide such conduct in a priest? Simply for the
man, and were he only concerned and affected, it might do for
awhile, a Kempis says : 'Admonish thy neighbor twice or
thrice.' Here is a mature man, ordained of God, who, by the
simple fact of ordination, is supposed to be intelligent, and
to understand the duties of his sacred office, scandalizing
whole communities. It is not the man we are considering, but
the communities and the effects of his life on them and on
the work the Church is trying to accomplish. Has not the
mantle of charity for this purpose been stretched till it is all
in shreds and hides no one ? Under circumstances where some
have said that a priest was sick or had fits, would it not be
better not to tell a lie and to say that he was drunk? Is not
the truth always best? Does not hiding such depravity only
nourish and encourage it? If some of our priests are of a low,
depraved order of men, which is a fact, would it not be wiser
to expose them and silence them ? Is not such recklessness and
JOHN H. MAGRTJDJER )
-
. i :< >l, !:<. VL.E AJ"1>
FINE GROCERIES, WINES
MINERAL WATERS, ALES, BROWN STOUTS
IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC CIGARS
TABLE LUXURIES
TODD'S CELEBRATED SMITHFIELD HAMS
COR, CONNECTICUT AVENUE AND K ST.. N. W. j
J
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, RECTORY, NUNNERY AND
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C.
This church has been made the national church at the capital of
our nation. On Thanksgiving Day, 1909, 1910 and 1911, President
Taft, his Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court, Ambassadors and
Ministers to Washington, members of the House and Senate, and
other politicians of lesser rank, attended Solemn High Mass in this
church to pay homage to "Our Lord God the Pope," Papal Nuncio
Falconio, Cardinal Gibbons, Monsignor Russell, and other papal
satellites.
In a profusely illustrated Memorial Calendar of the noth anniver-
sary of said church there appears on the upper half of the first page
an advertisement for intoxicating liquors, etc., and of which the above
is a photographic copy; and on the lower half of the same page ap-
pears the picture of the church.
90
Wisinston's leading Beer is "UtU GLORr
TttE FAMOUS DARK BftEW
OF TM
ABNER-DRliRV BREWING CO.
Strongly Recommended by Prominent Physicians as a Great Tonic,
Both in Strength and Purity * *
SALOONS AND SALVATION!
The above are photographic copies of advertisements appearing on
other pages of said Calendar. The Cross with the first letters of the
sacred inscription, "lesus Hojiiimtiii Salvator," Jesus Saviour of Men,
appears on that part of the back cover which partly overlaps the front.
Among those who took part in the solemn memorial services were
Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishops Ireland and Keane, Bishop Spakling,
the then President Theodore Roosevelt, Hon. Henry B. F. Macfar-
land. Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and the Hon. William
T. Harris, Commissioner of Education. The memorial services cov-
ered seven days and nights.
I presume these distinguished divines, advocates of Total Ab-
stinence, and the politicians, appreciated the artistic skill displayed in
the Calendar and sampled the famous brews and choice liquors recom-
mended therein under the Sign of the Cross the emblem of salvation.
The then pastor, Rev. Dennis J. Stafford, has since died from
sampling famous brews, choice liquors, etc., and was succeeded by
Rev. Russell, who, on January 28, 1911. assured me that no man could
be a loyal American citizen unless he be first a loyal Roman Catholic.
Russell is qualifying for papal honors.
98 ROMANISM
depravity contagious? and if not treated heroically and in
season, will it not spread like blood poisoning from a scratch
and direful consequences follow ? Can there be too much vig-
ilance and severity in discipline in this matter, since the abuse
has gone so far already?
Should any priest who is worthy of that highest title
which any man can bear on this earth a priest of the Catholic
Church blame you, Mr. Editor, for publishing this letter, or
me for writing it? Ought not he to thank us rather? It is
in defense of the most holy priesthood and for the purpose of
protecting it against its very worst enemies that it is written.
Observing, thinking laymen from the Atlantic to the
Pacific are aroused at the number and increase of these burn-
ing, depleting scandals, and unless something is done soon to
stop them, these laymen will make themselves heard at Rome.
The Church was instituted for the people, and the bishops and
priests are sent forth to instruct and elevate the people, and
the people have a right to demand that they do it faithfully,
and Rome will see to it that justice is done to the people.
Our grand ceremonies and towering cathedrals are well
enough, but will they supply the needs and make converts and
save souls in parishes that are much worse off than without a
priest? If the outlook for the future of the Church in the
United States in this respect were not so saddening, so heart-
breaking, so discouraging, one might enjoy those ceremonies
and grand churches, and such like things, more. Statistics have
been taken in many parishes in the West of Catholics who do
and those who do not attend Mass, and the figures are appall-
ing. As are the priests who are sent out, so will be the greater
number of the people. 'By their fruits shall they be known.'
They are wonder-workers for good or wonder-workers for
evil. The writer of this letter, who thought when he became
a Catholic that all priests must be intelligent, good, self -sacri-
ficing, humble, pious men, will die before he will be able to
understand how they can be otherwise. Oh, how his heart has
ached when he found any of them otherwise ! And, oh ! how
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 99
discouraging and almost hopeless the effort to try to do good
has been through all these long years when he will realize that
just one unfit, unworthy priest was doing more harm than a
hundred or more zealous, well-directed laymen could do good.
Is it not better to seek the truth, to find the truth, to proclaim
the truth, to stand by the truth, to trust in the truth ? Is it not
said that 'The truth shall make us free?'
To save Christianity to the people of the United States of
America, and save them for Christianity, and to build up a
civilization worthy of the name, is the work of the Catholic
Church through its priests. If they are indifferent, incompe-
tent, self-indulgent, worldly men, the work will not be done.
Where rests the responsibility right now for the present and
for the future ? May God have mercy on us ; may the Blessed
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Saints pray for us ;
may the bishops and priests of the Church work for us!"
I expect Mr. Copeland's revision and supplement of
"After Two Years," plus eleven years which have elapsed since
the writing of his letter, would make a good-sized volume.
Rome's silent contempt for the appeals and charges made by
the Laymen's Association of the archdiocese of Chicago against
the Hierarchy, no doubt enlightened Mr. Copeland as to
Rome's real attitude toward clerical crime and corruption, and
he is now, I believe, a sadder but wiser man.
Of late years, Mr. Copeland has been devoting his time
and means in an effort to convert priests and prelates by scat-
tering broadcast among them copies of the "Imitation of
Christ," by a Kempis.
I wonder if he has succeeded in converting "Rev. No. 9.
A Gospel Pitcher," who was his pastor and spiritual director
for several years.
CHAPTER V.
ARCHBISHOP QUIGLEY COWED BY A FEARLESS WOMAN.
On the 1 5th of June, 1903, Archbishop Quigley, of
Chicago, had an interview with a lady by appointment to hear
her complaints about certain bad priests. He met her, holding
in his hand a bundle of papers which included an affidavit she
had made against "Rev. No. 23, A Debauchee" Rev. C. P.
Foster, Rector, Sacred Heart parish, Joliet, Illinois. He
looked savagely at her, seated himself at the table, laid the
papers to one side and commenced to pound the table with his
fists.
"Don't you know," he cried, "that it is excommunication
for a lay person to make affidavit against a priest?"
"Why, no," she said, "I do not."
"Well," he said, "I tell you it is," and His Grace kept
pounding the table.
The lady, not at all terrified, drew her chair up to the table,
and began to beat time with her hands upon it, saying : "Arch-
bishop, I did not come here to be bullied ; I came by appoint-
ment to tell you certain things about your bad priests, and I
am going to tell them to you! If you persist in pounding the
table and yelling, I will pound the table too and scream ! You
shall listen to me, and you had better be a gentleman!"
The Archbishop subsided gracefully, and the good woman
told him her tale of truth, made up of experiences with the
Catholic priesthood of the Archdiocese of Chicago running
through a period of thirty years.
She said: "Don't think, Your Grace, that the Catholic
people are to be scared by threats of excommunication; we
100
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 101
have become too wise for that ; the so-called excommunication
of Father Crowley opened our eyes."
He said, "Did Father Crowley get you to make this affi-
davit ?"
She said: "He did not; but so far as Father Crowley is
concerned, I say, God bless Father Crowley! he is a credit to
our Church, and the Catholic people are proud of him! he is
not like a great many others of your clergy here ; for instance,
he is not like Leyden!" [See "Rev. No. 22, A Seductionist."]
"O my God," said the Archbishop, throwing up his hands,
"don't mention his name ; I've Leyden on the brain !"
"Very well, then, Your Grace, I will put some more of
them on your brain !" and the brave woman called the attention
ol her Archbishop to certain sinning priests by name.
The Archbishop said, "Oh, that is ancient history ! give me
something modern!"
She said : "Is it ancient history when priests are getting
drunk in this city every day, misconducting themselves in every
shape and form and going under assumed names dressed as
laymen ?"
"Well," he said, "you may think things are bad here,
but they are worse elsewhere ; they are worse in Buffalo and
many times worse in New York."
She said: "If that is so, that is no justification for our
putting up with bad priests in Chicago ; we Catholic women
have actually built the Catholic churches here, and we are en-
titled to protection."
He said: "It is the bounden duty of good Catholics to
cover up the guilt of their clergy, just as it is their duty to
hide the guilt of their parents !"
She said: "What? do you tell me that if my parents got
drunk every day and were dragged out of disreputable places,
having their faces battered and heads broken so they needed
surgical care, and taken to police stations and kept there
102 ROMANISM
several days and every one knowing it, it would be my duty
to try to make people believe that my parents were saints ?"
"Yes, it is," he said.
"You can't make me believe that," she answered.
She said : "Don't you know, Archbishop, that there are
bad priests here?"
"Well, yes," he said, counting upon his fingers, "there
are five six seven bad priests !"
She said : "You have been here but three months and you
have found out seven ; when you have been here six months
you will probably find out that there are seventy-seven, and
more."
She then asked him how he could reconcile his unkind
and unjust treatment of Father Crowley with his treatment of
those seven bad priests, leaving them in the enjoyment of their
rich parishes with full power to offer up the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass, to hear confessions, and to have the care of souls.
He said: "Well, we must all admit that Father Crowley
is a good priest, morally and otherwise, but he has given
scandal by exposing the guilt of his brother priests."
She said : "I am positive he has not, because we knew all
about those priests before ever Father Crowley came here ;
to my knowledge a few of the good priests, for many years
back, tried to stop priestly misconduct in this archdiocese, but
they failed, and nothing was done until Father Crowley joined
them in their efforts."
He said : "Well, I personally have nothing against Father
Crowley ! I am ready and willing to give him the very best
parish in the archdiocese ; his case is now in the hands of the
Papal Delegate [Archbishop Falconio], and if the Papal Del-
egate writes me to appoint Father Crowley to the Holy Name
Cathedral, I will do it with as little hesitation as if he were
my own brother !"
He then complimented her upon her courage, saying,
"You are the nerviest woman I have ever met in my life!"
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 103
She said: "I am speaking for at least one thousand
Roman Catholic women, and when I come here again I will be
speaking for at least five thousand."
The Archbishop, with great gallantry, opened the door
for her, and he bade her good-day with a cordial clasp of the
hand. This lady was one of the best workers in the Catholic
Church in Chicago, having labored day and night in its in-
terests, spending her strength and her means without limit.
She has especially endeared herself to the poor and to the
suffering.
CHAPTER VI.
NEW "GET-RICH-QUICK" SCHEMES.
The papal organ of the archdiocese of Chicago, The Nezv
World, in its issue of March 9, 1912, over the signature of the
Archbishop of Milwaukee, makes a two-column statement to
the Catholic public, under the heading "The Catholic Coloniza-
tion Society." I give a few excerpts :
"The Catholic Colonization Society, U. S. A., is
a properly chartered corporation under the laws of
the State of Illinois, having been incorporated in
July, 1911. It has succeeded to and taken the place
of a former Illinois corporation of exactly the same
name, which, having surrendered its charter, has no
longer any legal existence. The present C. C. S. is
truly national, inasmuch as its operations are not con-
fined to any one section of the United States, and its
membership comprises men representative of different
races or nationalities : Belgian, Bohemian, German,
Irish, Italian, Polish, though all American citizens.
Among its members and directors it counts arch-
bishops, bishops, priests and laymen. Being a Cath-
olic organization established for the protection and
promotion of Catholic interests through Catholic
colonization, our society is naturally subject to the
rules and laws of the Catholic Church, and will in
all its dealings and undertakings seek the advice of
the prelates of the hierarchy interested or concerned
in the work of Catholic colonization.
"A special feature of the C. C. S. that we desire
to develop on safe and expedient lines is the affiliation
with it of other Catholic colonization societies. In
view of the continuous influx of different races from
the old country, the C. C. S. strongly encourages the
104
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 105
formation of racial colonization societies, which may
become affiliated with it and work under its guidance
and with its assistance. This will facilitate the estab-
lishing of racial colonies for Bohemians, Italians,
Polish, Slavs, etc. However much we may desire the
quick and full amalgamation and merging of such
races in the American nation, it can not possibly be
denied that for a time racial settlement and colonies
are necessary, if these newcomers to our shores are to
keep the Catholic faith themselves and help to build
up a glorious future of the Church in America.
Where diocesan or state colonization societies are
formed, these may also become affiliated with our
society and thus profit by its larger experience and
greater influence. Other Catholic colonization so-
cieties, although not affiliated with us, may yet work
hand in hand with the C. C. S., where they will
always find cordial and serious consideration. In this
way the C. C. S. will become a great central bureau
or agency where the work of Catholic colonization all
over the United States can be concentrated and sys-
tematized so as to render it more successful and to
offer the colonist more safety and security. Catholic
colonization will then command the attention of all
American citizens and do away with the old reproach
that so much of this so-called Catholic colonization
business is simply a fool's play, if not downright
swindle. . . .
"The C. C. S. may be called another Church Ex-
tension Society which furnishes not money, altar
and vestments, but the people, the priest and the
church. . . .
"It will arrange with the land company for the
reservation of such tracts of land or such .a number
of acres or farms as will be necessary to locate and
develop thereon a well-sized colony ; then it will settle
and fix the most favorable prices and terms for which
the land will be sold to Catholic settlers. Here it may
be stated at once that our society does not look for
the cheapest land. The cheapest is never the best.
106 ROMANISM
We look more for good and productive land at
reasonable, although somewhat higher, prices. Be-
sides all this the C. C. S. will arrange with the land
company for the building of an appropriate church
and school and parsonage to be erected within a cer-
tain time or as soon as a given number of Catholic
families shall have settled there. The land company
must, moreover, guarantee the salary of a priest for
a certain time to be agreed upon. None of these ar-
rangements will be made without the previous con-
sent of the Bishop of the diocese in which the colony
is located. . . .
"In view of the great field lying before us with
all its magnificent opportunities for a most useful,
widely beneficial and, in fact, positively necessary
Catholic colonization movement, it is to be hoped that
the C. C. S. will find on the part of American Cath-
olics all the support and help it deserves and a cordial
co-operation all along the line. It is the only Ameri-
can national colonization society that enjoys the great
honor of having received the hearty recommendation
and encouragement of the Archbishops of America,
assembled at their annual meeting. Friends of Cath-
olic colonization can greatly help the C. C. S. by
bringing its work to the attention of prospective Cath-
olic colonists of their neighborhood or acquaintance,
by sending useful and reliable information concerning
large tracts of land available for farming settlements
and obtainable at moderate prices, by warning us of
fraudulent or suspicious colonization schemes, and in
many other ways. Yet all this valuable help will not
accomplish much without financial backing. In an
undertaking of this kind it is money that counts. The
future usefulness of the C. C. S. must depend largely
on the financial support that it will get. Rich Cath-
olics of noble hearts find here another splendid op-
portunity of showing their love for Holy Church
and their brethren of the Faith. For Catholic coloni-
zation, as we propose it, is but another manifestation
of the great missionary spirit that has, in our days,
been wonderfully awakened in the Catholic Church of
the United States.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 107
"In conclusion I may say that the C. C. S. is con-
trolled by a board of twelve directors, its operations
are managed by an executive committee of five mem-
bers, and its actual work is carried on by the follow-
ing officers : Director general, Most Reverend Arch-
bishop Glennon, St. Louis ; president, Rev. J. De Vos,
Chicago ; vice president, Right Rev. Mgr. McMahon,
New York; secretary, Very Rev. E. Vattmann, Wil-
mette, 111. ; treasurer, Rev. A. Spetz, C. R., Chicago.
The office of the C. C. S. is located in The Temple,
Chicago, 111. S. G. MESSMER,
"Archbishop.
"MILWAUKEE, Wis., Feb. 26, 1912."
It is evident that The Catholic Colonisation Society is
not advantageous to the general public, but detrimental to the
public welfare.
Land owners, non-Catholic merchants, labor organizations
and all other citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, whose
interests and rights are endangered by this Society, ought to
wake up before it is too late. Congress of the United States
ought to be called upon to investigate The Catholic Coloniza-
tion Society, as well as the many Roman Catholic boycotting
organizations, monopolies and trusts, which have been estab-
lished in this country chiefly in the interests of a foreign
potentate the pope of Rome.
PAPAL LIFE INSURANCE.
Another of Rome's latest gct-rich-quick schemes is the
establishment of "The New World Life Insurance Co." Ac-
cording to its prospectus, it is strictly a Roman Catholic or-
ganization, and its papal organizers have their eye on the
"$78,000,000 of Catholic money in the shape of premium on
policies, which is being paid annually to American life in-
surance companies."
The prospectus of this Roman company explains why
the "American life insurance companies" ought not to be
patronized by Roman Catholics, and indirectly suggests a boy-
108 ROMANISM
cott of them. In the no distant future priests, prelates and
lay leaders of the "American Federation of Catholic So-
cieties" will find sufficient grounds for issuing a most severe
boycott against "American life insurance companies'' and thus
corral the $78,000,000 or more annually.
This papal insurance company will afford a fruitful
source of graft to the Roman Hierarchy and its lay agents.
On the maturing of policies or on the death of policy holders,
a large percentage of the moneys due will be expected for
masses for the relief of the suffering souls of the deceased
policy holders, as well as other large sums to "make America
dominantly Catholic."
The banking, colonization, loans and. insurance schemes
of the Church of Rome in America and elsewhere, which are
carried on under the guise of religion, have not been a "fool's
play," but "downright swindle." The papal land swindle in
Minnesota is fresh in our memory. The many papal swindles
in loans and insurance companies within recent years are not
forgotten. The swindle in Archbishop Purcell's bank in Cin-
cinnati, which deprived several thousand people of their hard
earnings, and other such swindles too numerous to mention,
ought to be a warning not only to the Roman Catholic people,
but also to tolerant, gullible non-Catholics.
One of the saddest scenes which I ever witnessed was
while I was a member of the Roman Hierarchy that of an
old maiden lady in Manchester, N. H., who died in 1886, curs-
ing Archbishop Purcell and the pope of Rome for having
swindled her out of her hard earnings-
Why are not these Roman clerical bankers, colonizers,
etc., prosecuted and punished according to law ?
American citizens, we are facing a crisis : \Yholesale
papal swindles, boycotts and persecutions are rapidly increas-
ing a twentieth century papal inquisition will be the reward
of our apathy, our cowardice.
CHAPTER VII.
THE POPES AND THE BIBLE.
It would require a large volume to contain even part of
the evidence manifested, both by declarations and by acts, of
Rome's persistent policy to suppress all knowledge of the
Sacred Scriptures. In the early centuries, and long before
printing was invented, all manuscripts containing any trans-
lation into the vernacular from the original tongues was pro-
hibited under the severest penalties. As. early as 860 A. D.
Pope Nicholas I. put Bible reading under the ban. Gregory
VII., known in history as Hildebrand, in 1073 continued the
ban, and Innocent III., in 1198, issued a decree that all who
read the Bible should be put to death. In 1229 the great
Council of Toulouse passed a decree forbidding either the
possession or the reading of the Bible ; and the famous Council
of Trent, 1545-63, did the same. In England, in the fourteenth
century, any one who was found with Wycliffe's Bible, that
"organ of the devil," incurred the penalty of death. In the
reign of the "Bloody Mary" tons of Bibles were used as fuel
to burn the martyrs, and it was said that "no burnt offerings
could be more pleasing to Almighty God." Pius VII. in 1816
denounced Bibles as "pestilences;" and Leo XII. in 1825 as
"traps and pitfalls." Pius VIII. in 1830 declared printing-
presses from which Bibles were struck as "centers of pestif-
erous infection;" Gregory XVI. in 1844 condemned Bible
Societies, and ordered the priests to tear up all they could lay
their hands on. Pius IX. surpassed all his predecessors in
the employment of abusive language to vilify Bible Societies,
and under his authority many were banished from Tuscany
109
110
ROMANISM
Faith
New York
o 5.30 P M.
anil the former
agnificent field,
s were planted,
n going far to
e purchased,
n on scien-
bricks were
infinite pa-
mgregatlon
Tathered to-
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is Erected;
s were also
o manhood,
they had
ed and bap-
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xtended, and
to settle at
's must be
deemed
of nuns
as built,
w at the
e^Hs Sn a
MISSION TO INDIANA NON-CATHOLICS
A most successful mission to non-Cath-
olics has just been given by the Paulist
Father, the Rev. Bertrand L Conway, at
Torre Haute, Indiana, under the auspices
of the Knights of Columbus of that city.
Father Hilary Hemmer, O. M C., of St.
Benedict's church, is chaplain of the Ter-
re Haute Council, and a most energetic
and zealous furtherer of the order's best
interests He felt certain that a mission
to non-Catholics in the K. of C auditori-
umwhich seats 1.500 would be largely
attended by the most prominent outsiders,
many of whom would hardly dare enter a
Catholic church.
No lecture course was ever advertised to
better advantage The pastors of the four
churches wrote commendatory letters of
the apostolate to non-Catholics, and an-
hpunced the lectures in their several
churches. Every Catholic about 8,000
received an invitation with four an-
nouncement cards as lie left church on
Sunday morning. The daily papers print-
ed advance notices, as did also the K. of
C. bulletin for two months prior to the
lectures. Every important store had a
large placard in its Window giving the
subjects and dates of t' * various dis-
courses.
As a result, the auditorium was packed,
hundreds of extra chairs being procured
to- accommodate the crowds. As many as
150 non-Catholics were present of an eve-
ning out of an audience of 1,8<)0 by actual
count
A "KNOCKED-OUT" PAULTST FATHER
NON-CATHOLICS.
'CONVERTING"
The above Paulist Father, Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, was "knocked
out" by Rev. John J. McCann, "Rev. No. 5, A Pugilist," rector of St.
Mary'v Church, Elgin, Illinois. (See page 416, Part II.)
A MENACE TO THE NATION. Ill
for reading the Bible. It was also during his pontificate that
Francesco Madai and his wife were imprisoned for ten months
and then sent to the galleys for reading the Bible.
Coming down to our own generation, Leo XIII., an astute
politician, having to play the game in England and America,
Italy being lost, was well aware that he could not afford to
defy Protestant opinion openly and publicly. And so he
issued an encyclical which seemed to reverse the policy of his
predecessors by permitting the laity to read the Bible. But
every one knew, who had the necessary nieans of information,
that this encyclical was insincere and hypocritical. For im-
mediately on its issue secret instructions were given to all
the priests to do all in their power to prevent the sale and
distribution of the Bible. And so all other decrees, edicts,
statements and permissions to the same -effect which have
been issued since have been equally treacherous and insincere.
To sum it all up in one word, I may give the statement of a
distinguished priest who said : "The day in which the priests
and Catholic believers give themselves to the reading and study
of the Brble, that day will be the last for the Roman Church,
for the priests, for the monsignors and for the papacy."
The Paulist Fathers is an Order well known in the
United States. Its special mission is to convert Protestants to
Romanism and they boast that they are making more than
35,000 converts a year.
The following letter will show who are the managers and
directors of this Order; what are its aims and purposes; what
it has already accomplished, and the final goal which the
Order proposes as the object of its endeavors ; namely, to
"make America dominantly Catholic." The letter reads as
follows and certainly requires no comment. It speaks for
itself; and speaks loudly and alarmingly. Here is the letter.
Read it and ponder it :
112 ROMANISM
DIRECTORS OF THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARY UNION.
MOST REV. J. M. FARLEY, D D., VERY REV. E. R. DYER, S. S.,
Archbishop of New York, President St. Mary's Seminary,
[Cardinal] PRESIDENT. Baltimore.
MOST REV. JOHN IRELAND, REV. MATTHEW A. TAYLOR.
Archbishop of St. Paul.
RT. REV. MATTHEW HARKINS, REV. WALTER ELLIOTT,
Bishop of Providence, R. 1. of the Paulist Fathers.
VERY REV. A. P. DOYLE,
Secretary-Treasurer.
Represented by :^THE CATHOLIC= Under Its Auspices The
The Missionary MISSIONARY UNION Apostolic Mission House
Incorporated under the laws of the State of New York.
"WASHINGTON, BROOKLAND STATION, D. C,
"Feb. 6, 1912.
"Mv DEAR FRIEND: How near at hand do you
think is the time when America will be dominantly
Catholic? Things move on with rapid strides
these days, and the recent creation of three American
Cardinals has brought the Church once more to the
forefront. The dominant note in the address of the
Holy Father as well as in the replies of the Cardinals
is the hope of wonderful progress among English
speaking peoples. They have all spoken of the 'era
of convert making.' All this indicates a marvelous
advance along the lines whereon the Missionaries of
the Apostolic Mission House have been working
these twenty years.
"If all the Priests and laity would turn their
faces to this one goal, what a tremendous impetus the
movement would get! One of our great leaders re-
cently said : and there is a burning truth in it 'We
must labor to gain the confidence, love and respect
of the American people. This once gained, the
Catholic Church in Her way to claim the American
heart, may carry a thousand dogmas on her back.'
"Last year our Missionaries gave hundreds of
Missions, and the record of convert-making is now
away beyond the Thirty-five Thousand mark each
year. Just think what this means! This estimate
says nothing of the thousands of fallen-away Cath-
olics that have been brought back to a good life.
"Come with us and share the glories of this
work! Sincerely yours in Xto.,
"CATHOLIC MISSIONARY UNION.
"A. P. Doyle, Treasurer."
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 113
itmtara at tip Catholic fflissinnary Entnn
011?? Catftaiir fliaBtotiar.n gtitott ^"SL'^T^
aahtngUm. Bnmkkai fctattnn. B. (tt^._r e i.'....?...f_ 9 A?;.__ 191
lly dear Friend:
How near at hand do you think to the time when America will
b dominant ly Catholiof Things move on with rapid strides these days, and
the recent creation of three American Cardinals has brought tho Clmroh
once more to tho forefront. The dominant note in the address of the
Holy rather as well as in the replies of the Cardinals lo tho hopo of
wonderful progress among Fnglish sneaking poo-loo. They have all spoken
of the "era of convert making". All this indicates a marvelous advance
along tho lineo whereon the Uioslonarioo of the Apostolic Mission House
have been mrHns these twenty yearo.
If all the Priosts and laity would turn their faces to this
one goal. what a tremendous inpetun the -.ovement would get 1 One of our
Croat leaders recently oaid'-cmd there is a burnins truth in lt-Ve nuot
labor to gain th confidence, lovo and respect of th- American people.
This once gained, the Catholic Churoh in Her way to olaln the Anerican
hirt,ny carry a thousand docnao on her back "
Last year our IJicoionaries gave hundreds of Uissions.and
the record of corvert-nnkins io now away beyond tho Thirty-five Thou-
sand mark each year. Just think what this neano! Thio eotinato says
nothinr o<- the thousands of fallen-aray Catholics that have been
brought back to a e d life-
Coran with un and share the glories of this work'
Sincerely yours in JCto.,
CATHOLIC UISSIOJ1ARY UNION
TEEASUTXn.
A RECENT SECRET PAPAL LETTER "MAKE AMERICA
DOMINANTLY CATHOLIC." '
114
ROMANISM
Pray for America.
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A MENACE TO THE NATION.
115
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116
ROMANISM
SIX INTERDICTED BY
Bishop Walsh, Head of Portland,
Me., Diocese, Punishes
Members.
CHANGE OF CHURCH CONTROL
They Favored Passage of Law
Placing Property in Hands of
a Board of Directors Un
preccdentod Action.
Biddeford Me May 14. Six prom-
inent members of Roman Catholic
churches In Biddeford and l^wlston
wore interdicted by 'Bishop Louis P.
Walsh, of the diocese of Portland, in a
general letter to the clergy read at
churches here and elscwricre In' the flto-
ceso to-day. The action, which Is with-
out precedent in the anpals of the
Church In this state, following the intro-
duction into the -last Legislature of a
bill providing for the abolition of the
corporation sol? of the Portland diocese,
by which- c.ontrol of all church! property
Is vested In the Bishop.
This bill, -which tvas backed fe> o r>ctl
tion signed bj nearly sfx hundred Ro-
man Catholics, sought to place the man-
agement of the propfrtj of the Churcii
In Maine In the hamls of a bourd of
Directors It was ad> ersely reported un
by the legislative comroltfe which con
sidered It. and was overwhelmingly de
feated In the House The men men-
tioned In the Bishop's decree signed the
petition as members of the executive
committee of the French American Ro-
man Catholic Church of Maine" They
are Godfrey S Dupre. attorney-at law
Dr George Precourt and Dr Albert C
Maynard. prominent physicians AltJert
J Deland and Alfred Bonneau. editor
and publisher- of a French-American
weekly newspaper all of Blddeford, and
John B Couture, of Lewlston
In the letter read In the churches to-
day It Is announced that these men
"have been Interdicted the rights and
privileges of the Church in reception of
the sacraments in the diocese of Port-,
land.' and that the Interdict has been
decreed because of the grave scandal
en by their various words and acts In
a recent attack on qhurch authority and
property and church law In the diocese
Portland This Interdict has been
duly made known to them and will hold
until due reparation is msrde.
Catholic societies are warnec^liA tlie "de-
cree "that If they co-opera^ \\ith the
above mentfoned parties under inter-
diction they w ill be deprived of their
rights and privileges as Catholic societies
n the diocese of Portland."
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Mrs. T
Hora'
dent,
Conn,"
rerni
ROMAN CATHOLICS MUST "PUT UP AND SHUT UP"
OR BE EXCOMMUNICATED,
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
117
03 I I
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118 ROMANISM
Let us follow up these Paulist Fathers a little closer and
see some of the other things which they have been doing.
It was a trifling matter that these Paulist Fathers had
prize-fights in the Paulist Church, Chicago, as one of their
Church Fair attractions. It is not of much importance to
mention that Rev. Peter J. O'Callaghan, head of the Paulist
Fathers in the Middle West, President of the Total Abstinence
Association of America, delegate appointed by President Taft
to the Anti- Alcohol Congress at The Hague in 1911, and Com-
mander of the Boy Scouts, was arrested on a charge of run-
ning gambling machines in his Church in Chicago for com-
mercial purposes.
Of vastly more importance and of deeper and far wider
reaching significance is what was done by the Romish priests
across the seas. In last January (1912) a letter was received
by a distinguished American lady from a friend in Italy,
which stated that in the Fall of 1911, in the town of Forano,
in Sabina, forty miles from Rome, the Romish priests col-
lected all the Bibles they could lay their hands upon, carried
them to the Public Square, piled them in a heap, saturated
them with coal oil, set fire to the pile and reduced the Bibles
to ashes.
It may be mentioned here that while the Romish priests
were burning Bibles in Forano, and converting and baptizing
35,000 Protestants a year in the United States, Roman Cath-
olic priests in South America were baptizing dogs at forty
cents a head.
To give a further idea of the attitude of priests and
prelates toward the Bible, as well as their influence over our
Government and its officials, even in the Philippine Islands, I
quote from Circular No. 32, S. 1908, issued by the Bureau of
Education, Manilla, March n, 1908, addressed to the Division
Superintendents of Schools, under the heading "Religious
Teaching Forbidden" :
"It is not for the teachers in public school in this
Catholic country, either to encourage the study of the
3 ffq S-
120 ROMANISM
Bible especially of the Protestant Bible among
their pupils, or to say to those pupils anything upon
the subject. ... In view of the intimate personal
relation of a teacher to his pupils, no religious in-
struction of any nature should be given by him at
any time, even outside the schoolroom." . . .
At the close of this circular, David P. Barrows, Director
of Bureau of Education, Manilla, P. I., says :
"It is not believed that anything further can be
added to make more clear the attitude of the depart-
ment and of the administration on this point."
Why did not the President recall this order as he did that
of Mr. Robert G. Valentine, Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
forbidding Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns, em-
ployed in Government schools for Indian children, to wear
their religious garb and insignia of their faith while engaged
in their duties within the schoolroom and in the grounds of
such institutions?
I would like to ask the Paulist Fathers why their dis-
tinguished Episcopalian convert, Rev. Dr. Lloyd, once Bishop
elect for Oregon, and his wife, returned to Protestantism not
long after their much heralded conversion to Romanism? Is
it not a fact that when the Paulist Fathers realized that Dr.
and Mrs. Lloyd were about to withdraw from Romanism, be-
ing thoroughly disgusted with it, he (Lloyd) was Jesuitically
placed in the Detention Hospital in Chicago, pending an order
from the court for his removal to the insane asylum at Elgin,
111. He would be there to-day were it not for the exposure
threatened by his noble wife, who, like him, had been scan-
dalously shocked by the actions of priests and prelates of the
Roman Catholic Church. The story as told by Rev. Dr. and
Mrs. Lloyd would startle the world and convince the public
that Rome is ever and everywhere the same.
I would also like to ask the Paulist Fathers how many
of their alleged thirty-five thousand converts a year return
A MENACE TO THE NATION 121
to their original faith as did Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Lloyd; how
many Paulist Fathers and Seminarians leave their Religious
(?) Congregation each year ; also how many nuns, monks and
priests, including the Jesuits, leave the Roman Catholic Hier-
archy; and how many of the Catholic laity leave the Roman
Catholic Church each year.
Jiff most rcmwrfeablr
of H|* present lime
FORTUNE-TELLING IN "THE HOUSE OF GOD."
The above is a photographic copy of one of thousands of tickets
sold broadcast by the Paulist Fathers. Their fortune-telling depart-
ment is an attraction for non-Catholic politicians, especially for pres-
idential candidates, who make it a point to visit these Fathers for
light and leading in their political campaigns. (See p. 482.)
These fortune-telling and gambling Fathers inspire and cause to
be circulated the impression that their Order or Congregation is made
up almost entirely of "converts," when in fact very few of them
are "converts," and those Protestants who join them generally with-
draw in disgust as soon as they discover the hollowness and sham
of their "divine mission for the conversion of heretics and pagans."
CHAPTER VIII.
PAPAL DESPOTISM.
Nothing more startling has ever been put before the
public than Rome's recent resolutions of boycott of the En-
cyclopedia Britannica, Watson's Magazine, the Protestant
Magazine, the Menace, etc., and her attitude as Censor of the
United States Mails. At the annual convention of the Amer-
ican Federation of Catholic Societies, held at New Orleans,
November 13-16, 1910, resolutions were passed calling for the
passage of Federal laws to prevent the transmission by the
United States mails of matter offensive to the Roman Cath-
olic Church. In these resolutions postoffice employes were
boklly called upon to destroy, without any warrant of law, any
such mail in transit. The leading ecclesiastic at this conven-
tion was Archbishop Falconio, Papal Delegate to the Roman
Catholic Church in America.
Archbishop Falconio had good reasons for tendering his
sincerest congratulations to the American Federation of Cath-
olic Societies at its convention held at Columbus, Ohio, August
20-24, 1911, for its "rapid progress" and "the effective good
work accomplished" by it. He was fully aware, I presume, of
the destruction of much printed "matter offensive to the
Church" in the postoffices of the United States of America
since their last reunion at New Orleans.
I know that several large parcels of printed matter
mailed at the General Postoffice in Chicago during the months
of December, 1910, and January and February, 1911, never
reached their destination. This destruction commenced imme-
diately after their New Orleans convention. On receipt of
numerous complaints from subscribers the sender called on
the post-office authorities for an explanation, but received no
satisfaction whatever. This party's mail continued to be
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 123
held up, and, surmising the cause, the sender threatened public
exposure of such unlawful action on the part of the Postoffice
Department. This threat of exposure scared Rome and her
Jesuitical agents, and since then the mail of said party has
been unmolested. Ah, Rome fears publicity!
Meanwhile, to divert attention from their own criminal
acts, they are loudly inveighing against the circulation of ob-
scene matter through the mails ; and by obscene matter they
mean all matter inimical to the Church of Rome. Non-
Catholics think they mean indecent and licentious matter.
The inconsistency of the private lives of popes, cardinals,
prelates, priests and monks as compared with the deference
exacted by them in public from Catholics and non-Catholics
alike, is, to say the least, ridiculous : for example, decollete
gowns and peek-a-boo waists are out of order at formal re-
ceptions for male members of the Hierarchy. Any one who
knows the kind of pictures and indecent realities that most de-
light the eyes of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy will not be
faked by any pretended shock that they may profess to ex-
perience on contemplation of the nude in art, much less
decollete gowns at formal functions.
As a satisfactory evidence of this fact it may be stated
that the telephone companies in different cities have threat-
ened to take away the phones from the residences of some
priests because their conversation was at times so vile that
the female operators refused to receive their messages and
threatened to resign if required to do so.
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy should be indicted for
illegally using the mails to operate confidence games, chainless
letters, etc., in the alleged behalf of ''the poor homeless chil-
dren," "the poor orphans," and "the poor suffering souls in
purgatory." No more shameless and outrageous system of
fraud was ever perpetrated by men.
The American Federation of Catholic Societies, which
embraces the numberless Associations, Societies, Clubs, Church
Confraternities, etc., as well as their widespread military or-
124 ROMANISM
ganizations, is a menace to our freedom and an injury to the
Catholic people whom it pretends to serve. It is a mighty
power for evil in the hands of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
At the Columbus convention, among other boycotts, a
boycott was declared against the Encyclopedia Britannica,
which boycott was soon after printed and circulated broadcast
throughout the English-speaking world.
The following additional proclamation of the same boy-
cott was issued and circulated with the endorsement of the
New York County Federation of Catholic Societies, of which
Cardinal Farley is the principal under the pope.
"No Catholic should purchase the eleventh
edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. No pur-
chaser of it is bound to keep or pay for a work which
falls so far short of the representation of the editors
and publishers. It should be debarred from our
public libraries, schools and other institutions. It
should be denounced everywhere, in season MK! out
of season, as a shameful attempt to perpetuate igno-
rance, bigotry and fanaticism in matters of religion."
Mr. Samuel Byrne, editor of the Pittsburgh Observer
(Roman Catholic), addressing the Catholic editors at the
Columbus convention, said in part :
"I have come here for the purpose of very briefly
suggesting one thing. It is, this: That the Catholic
editors of the country, concertedly and persistently,
urge their readers to notify the proprietors and mana-
gers of the daily papers that unless they use instead
of the European dispatches of the Associated Press,
those furnished by the newly established Catholic
International United Telegraph Agency, they will
withdraw their patronage from them, either as read-
ers or as advertisers, and will, moreover, boycott both
the offending newspapers and those who advertise in
them."
The boycott is the most powerful weapon and one in con-
stant use by the Roman Hierarchy. By intimidation, threats
and terror, they are able to suppress literature and destroy
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 125
private business, and they do it most effectually. Few and far
between are the newspapers who will dare to print anything
which would fall under the adverse criticism of a priest.
The owners of newspapers, and especially of the great
dailies which circulate in the large cities where there are many
Catholics, are notified that there will be a sudden drop in their
advertising patronage if they publish or refuse to publish cer-
tain matter condemned or approved by the Censor Bureau of
the Roman Catholic Church, which has its representatives in
numerous and extensive Catholic societies. Non-Catholics,
too, who receive from some source or other information that
the Roman Catholics are boycotting a particular paper, with-
draw their advertisements to gratify and retain Catholic cus-
tomers. The mere circulation of a city daily does not pay for
the paper on which it is printed ; the whole revenue is derived
from their advertisements thus the press is at the mercy of
the secret Roman boycott.
But the boycott is by no means confined to the press.
It reaches out and extends universally in all directions. Busi-
ness men and professional men of all kinds are at the mercy
of the boycott. From some mysterious cause, which they can
not comprehend, their patronage falls off, their receipts
diminish, and if they do not make terms when informed of
the cause of the falling off of business, bankruptcy stares them
in the face. In many instances where the Roman Catholic
Church possesses the influence, teachers, clerks, agents, and
the ten thousand individuals of humbler rank, are absolutely at
their disposal to be discharged from their places and turned
out upon the world without means of support. These boy-
cotts are rarely published as such. Sometimes, it is true, on
special occasions when big interests are involved, they do not
hesitate to have the boycott printed and circulated, but in the
vast majority of instances the Roman boycott gets in its deadly
work in the dark. And did anybody ever hear of an in-
junction being issued against a Roman boycotter, or any one
of these said boycotters ever being put in contempt of court?
126 ROMANISM
So far does the influence of Rome extend that even the courts
themselves, which are supposed to be the citadels of impar-
tiality and justice, are prostituted to serve the interests of the
Roman Hierarchy. The non-Catholic people should engrave it
on their memories and keep it forever fresh in their minds that
"eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Why prosecute and punish non-Catholic clergymen and
other citizens, while Roman Catholic priests and prelates
foes of the nation commit similar crimes, and worse, with
impunity ?
Why waste time and money in sham efforts to curb the
trusts, and at the same time permit, and even assist, that
trust of trusts the Vatican system to continue the even
tenor of its way?
If the governments of the United States and of the
British Empire had done their duty toward Catholics and non-
Catholics alike, whose interests have been injured, and some-
times wholly destroyed by Romanism, the majority of priests
and prelates who are "operating" under the protection of the
Stars and Stripes, and the Union Jack, would be behind the
bars not a few of them would have been rewarded with the
hempen tie or electric chair.
Furthermore, if the Government of the United States had
done its plain duty in protecting my rights and interests as an
American citizen during the past ten years, Cardinals Marti-
nelli and Falconio, Archbishop Quigley, Bishop Muldoon, and
many other Roman ecclesiastics, would now be wearing stripes
in penitentiaries as the guests of Uncle Sam, instead of purple
and gold in luxurious palaces as "Ambassadors of Christ."
ONE ATTACK UPON MY LIFE.
I will give one illustration of an attempt upon my life.
People who are powerful by position and means, but guilty of
crimes and about to be exposed, have no conscience to bother
them with scruples if they turn to violence to get out of the
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 127
way the object of their fear. The murder of Dr. Cronin in
Chicago a few years ago will illustrate vividly the truthful-
ness of this statement.
During the time which has elapsed since I entered into
this crusade for purity, truth and justice, attempts have been
made upon my life. I have frequently told my friends who
have expressed concern for my life that nothing better for my
cause could happen than my violent taking off; that it would
be the supreme emphasis upon my side of this controversy
and would be the final circumstance to overwhelmingly convict
the unholy priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. I put
my life in the especial keeping of God at the beginning of
this struggle. I have made my daily work the subject of
daily prayer, and whatever happens to me I must take as
God's way of bringing to pass that for which I am devoting
my time and for which I am willing to lay down my life. The
Rev. Thomas F. Cashman, of St. Jarlath's parish, Chicago,
found out a plot to kill me, for which murderous work' six
men had been selected. Henchmen who were ready to take
life for pay were constantly on my track.
Soon after I was served with Cardinal Martinelli's threat
of excommunication, I went on Sunday afternoon. October
the 20th, 1901, to see Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett. I visited with
him in his parochial residence until about six o'clock in the
evening, and then left his home to take the Northwestern
Elevated Railway car. When I left Father Hodnett's door I
noticed that I was being followed by a man who weighed over
two hundred pounds, about five feet eight inches in height, a
bullet-shaped head, clean shaven face which was very red.
He was a typical thug. He was the same man who followed
me to Evanston the night before when I went to confer with
the Very Rev. Hugh P. Smyth. I made a pretense of getting
aboard the elevated when it came, stepping on and then off.
This man stepped on and then off. I then stepped back again,
and he followed me. I stood on the car platform and this man
stood near me. He gave me several jabs in the side with his
128 ROMANISM
elbow, trying to provoke retaliation on my part so he could
have an excuse for assaulting me. I suspected at once what
the design of the fellow was. I saw that he hoped to embroil
me into an encounter and then he could stab or shoot me and
plead self-defense in the event of prosecution for murder or
assault to kill. I determined to go the limit of endurance to
avoid getting into a struggle with him, as I saw that even if
I came out of such an encounter without physical damage
my enemies would have me heralded throughout the country
as a common brawler. I made no reply to these rude attacks.
As soon as I reached Clark and Lake Streets I darted from
the car and rushed down the steps, my hotel being near. Just
then a westbound Lake Street trolley-car came by and I
boarded it to elude him. He followed me. The car was
crowded and we both were on the foot-board, he in front and
I behind. Suddenly I jumped off. He followed me. I hur-
ried to my hotel (Sherman House) and he followed me. I
stayed in my room about an hour and then went downstairs.
In the elevator I met a gentleman about fifty-five years
of age. He saluted me. He wanted to know my name and I
told him. Said he: "Are you the priest that is after these
bad Chicago priests?" I said: "Yes." When we left the ele-
vator he drew me to one side and said, "Father, I am a
Catholic," and he gave me his name and address ; "the Cath-
olic people of the country are with you ; they know you are
right ; they want this thing stopped ; I have been in the rail-
road service for thirty-five years and the toughest class I
meet is the Catholic clergy." I then noticed the thug with two
other suspicious-looking characters edging up towards us, and
I said to the gentleman: "You had better be careful! you had
better not be seen with me ! Those three men are bent on
dirty business from what I know of the conduct of one of
them within the past twenty- four hours." He said: "What do
you mean, Father?" I replied: "I believe those men are hired
to provoke a quarrel with me so they can have an excuse for
taking my life." He put his hand to his hip pocket and said:
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 129
"I'm from Kentucky ; I have a gun ; I'll blow their brains out."
I said : "For goodness' sake, mister, don't make any move ; that
is just what they want." Just then a friend of this gentleman
approached. We were introduced, and I then said "Good
evening" and left the hotel. After walking a few yards I saw
this thug on my trail. I turned back to the hotel, thinking I
could enter and leave by some other door and thus throw him
off the scent. I left by another door, but his accomplices evi-
dently told him where I had gone and he at once appeared
dogging me. I returned to the hotel forthwith and met the
two gentlemen with whom I had been conversing, and they
said : "Father, you had better look out ; your life is in danger."
I left the hotel again and walked south on Clark to Washing-
ton Street to take a car. I was closely followed by the thug.
My two friends followed me to see if I would need help. His
accomplices went as far as the corner of Claik and Randolph
Streets. I got onto a street-car and stood on the rear plat-
form. This thug got onto the car and stood close to me and
jabbed me in the side with his elbow. When we reached Van
Buren Street I sprang onto a west-bound Van Buren Street
car. He rushed after me, but missed the car, and I would have
eluded him if the car had not stopped at the Rock Island Rail-
way station. At this place he overtook the car, and, standing
close to me on the rear platform, said, "I came very near
losing you." I replied, "Who is paying you for this black-
guardism ?" He replied : "It is none of your d - business."
I said: "I should say it is my business to protect myself from
violence." He said: "I am earning my living, and it is none
of your business how I earn it." I said: "You remind me of
the Irishman who came to this country and put up at a cheap
hotel in New York City. In the morning his landlord asked
him how he liked the place. He replied that the food was
good enough, but the sleeping was bad ; there was something
the matter with his bed; he burned a box of matches to find
out, but could not. The landlord told him that the cause of his
sleeplessness was bugs. The Irishman had never heard of
130 ROMANISM
them. The landlord assured him that he would not mind them
after awhile, that he would get accustomed to them, that they
had to make their living the same as everybody else. The
Irishman replied: 'I don't object to their making a living, but
it is the d - way they make it that I object to.' " I con
tinued : "This may apply to you." He burst into a loud laugh.
He then said : "Father, I won't hurt you, though I expected to
have your block off before night. There is something about
you, Father, that has convinced me that you are O. K. and
the Muldoon gang are stiffs." I said : "What were your in-
structions ?" He said : "To follow you up and get you into a
fight and shoot your head off." I said: "If you had done that,
you would hang." He said: "They said that nothing would
happen to me ; they would employ the best lawyers and I would
get off on a plea of self-defense." I asked: "Who is paying
you?" "Well," he said, "the gang that you are after is put-
ting up the stuff." He finally said: "Father, I won't do you
any harm. I am going to throw up this job."
I afterwards learned from the two gentlemen whom I had
left at the hotel, that they followed me when I left the hotel
as far as the street corner, and the two accomplices to whom
I have referred turned upon them : "What are you doing here?
You are interfering in business you have no right to ; get off
the sidewalk !" A policeman was called and he took the names
of these toughs, who then were allowed to go. Soon after this
occurrence this railroad man attended High Mass at the Holy
Name Cathedral, Chicago, and as he was entering the church
he saw these identical toughs standing in the vestibule.
How fortunate I am that I live in the twentieth century
and not in the fifteenth. If this were that dreary time of
clerical supremacy, no doubt my body would be burned and
its ashes cast into the Chicago River as Savonarola's body was
burned and its ashes thrown into the A-rno River, but that
river ran to the sea, and so it came to pass that his ashes were
carried to every shore ; and now, wherever liberty is loved,
Savonarola has a shrine.
CHAPTER IX.
ROME THE MOTHER AXD MISTRESS OF CRIME.
The Roman Catholic Church has been, and is, the
mightiest and most dangerous trust in the world. In fact,
she is the mother of trusts, and influences many creeds and
cults. In them her Jesuitical agents are high in council: for
example, Eugene A. Philbin, ex-District Attorney of New
York City, Papal Knight and Attorney for Cardinal Farley,
is an active Director and Endowment Trustee of The Federa-
tion of [Protestant] Churches and [Protestant] Christian Or-
ganisations in New York City, and as such exercises an
influence, to say the least, favorable to Rome. This I know
from personal experience. Papal Knight Attorney Philbin,
though an active Director and Endoivment Trustee of The
Federation of [Protestant] Churches and Christian Organi-
zations in New York City is at the same time a leading light
in the New York County Federation of [Roman] Catholic
Societies, and the American Federation of Catholic Societies.
Rome could not expediently recognize this quasi religious Fed-
eration of [Protestant] Churches, and [Protestant] Christian
Organisations by publicly placing a "Prince of the Church,"
John Maria Farley alias John Murphy Farley, or any other
New York "alter Christ us," in a position so dangerous to "faith
and morals," as that assigned to heresy-and-immorality-proof
Philbin. And, again, it would give grave scandal to "the
faithful" if, forsooth, a cardinal, archbishop, bishop, priest or
monk united publicly in a quasi religious work with heretics,
clerical or lay, who are "illegitimate" by birth and living in
"concubinage" if married by a Protestant minister.
131
132
ROMANISM
omciM
~ Cljt jFeDeratum of Clnirdjes OBJECT ~ """" ~
M::'% c .".":"o" >,
CJmattan rgantjattons ".TJ."^:^r>.":.:'rr r
2..:r ~.r."iV ,
in jStto Sortt <Titp "!!".'^".!.'.rr~!!!r'."".''^lt
,*,,.!. ROOMS 1404-2. FIFTH AVCNUI BUILDING ......... o. ... l>i>.u . ..o
i.
-""--
,,..... CLERICAL COHFERENC2
,0^..CTO
Sixth Meeting.
"""""-""---
Tuesday, Deoen'oer 13, 1910, 4 P. M., at the Al-
dine Cluh, 200 Filth Avenue, tl V/. corner of 23rd Street
PnOGnA.iO?
Presiding Officer: The Rev Tunius B Remensnyder, D,D
iEHirE:?"." 00
Speaker of the Day; The Rev Leighton Williams, D. D
Subject "HOnERlTISM"
&
>iii.f '" |L ""==g~ s _
JO.. S ROO... l^j
CL... =.,.,. *
(Dr. Villiama has oorreoponded extensively with
tne leaders of this movement, an'a his paper will
be of deep interest, and not inappropriate, in
view of the great, but somewhat uneven, growth of
the Roaian Catholic Church in American cities as
shown on the reverse of this sheet).
THE FACT AND ONE EXPLANATION OF PROTESTANT DECLIHE IN
NEW YORK.
Ii fll *ciI <B1 T? T i
the ten years closing the last century, and all the aeven
other leading American cities named on the reverse of
this letter added but 2*0, 546 foreigners in the sane time
=""^"" !;
New York, of theae seven cities, was the only
city in which Protestantism 'claimed, Deceu'oer 31, 1906, a
smaller proportion of population than on June 1, 1890,
when the first succesaful national census of religion was
'
Of the seven leading Protestant cotununions in
Hew York, not one increased, 1890-1906, its hold upon the
city's population.
~*.~;...
Protestant gpiocopnl, declined froa 2.46;5 to 2.14;^ of the
city's population in these sixteen years, and of the
;; ';;;._ llo
snallest, the Congregational, froa 0.59/; to 0.41J2 in the
sajae period.
&
NOOWMCKT
as cownunl cants, only 8J5 persons in- every 10,000 persons
of this city in 1906. In 1890 there were 997 in every
10,000 of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx, and a yet larger
^proportion in (Jueeno and Richmond
THE FEDERATION OF [PROTESTANT] CHURCHES
JESUITIZED.
The above manipulation of statistics is a Jesuitical blow to Prot-
estantism and a "boost" for Romanism, which has lost thirty millions
of its followers in the U. S. A. (see p. 532), notwithstanding this
manipulation, and the erroneous diagram which appears on the back
of the above communication, and which is based on statistics Jesuit-
ically manufactured.
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
133
Cljr jFe&eratton of CljurcfjfB
Cljnstun Organisations
in Jlfto florh Citp
karch 3, 1911.
Dear Brother
Will you bring to the Clerical Conference at 4 P. It
Tuesday, "Jarch 14th, in the Aldine Associa-.ion ROMS, KlftH
Avenue Building, 200 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, suggestions
for gathering together the largest possible nunbe,r of
clergymen of all denominations, including Catholic priests
and rabbis of the entire City, at one of our Clerical Con-
ferences in the near future. Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt
has definitely consented to address us, the date to be de-
other eminent men for successive meetings. The utmost tact
and carefulness are necessary and ne greatly need your
counsel. Can you propose topics upon which representatives
tion of sone meeting'' Have you any particular work to
nuaber of your own deno.iinatipn to attend the Conference
whose study of the East. Side (_anhattan) has attracted wide
attention, will syeak on "Work for the Foreigner in New York
City." His address will likely be as suggestive as that of
ing of many who were present. The hour see:as auspicious for
s EJWASD Y0'j::c,
THE FEDERATION OF [PROTESTANT] CHURCHES
JESUITIZED.
Rome teaches that "outside of the Roman Catholic Church there
is no salvation," even in "the broadest and most substantial Church
Federation." Non-Catholic clergymen and laymen should awaken to
the situation, closely investigate their churches and organizations, and
beware of the politics, policies and practices of the Jesuits, who are
everywhere undermining civil and religious liberty.
134 ROMANISM
Did any one ever hear of a Protestant being a Director
or Endowment Trustee of the New York County Federation
of [Roman] Catholic Societies or the American Federation of
Catholic Societies?
Rome frequently and secretly places some of her ablest
Jesuitical agents, of either sex, even in menial positions in
non-Catholic homes and offices, both in church and state, in
order to find out domestic, church or state secrets. A few
years ago a prominent Jesuit in disguise took a position as
valet in the home of the Marquis of Salisbury, Premier of
England, and through his Jesuitical cunning so ingratiated
himself with the Premier that he gained access to state papers,
thus learning state secrets for his Church, which is ever on
the alert to plot and plan as it deems expedient. Suspecting
that his identity would become known through a lady guest
who recognized him as the prominent Jesuit in Rome, who
had once obtained for her a private audience with the pope,
he disappeared during the night.
Through politics and the political appointment of Public
School Boards, Superintendents, Principals and Teachers, the
Roman Catholic Church has a powerful influence in controll-
ing the Public Schools of the United States and Canada. A
ruse well understood by priests and politicians is to use the
public press to denounce alleged abuses and incompetencies
in the Public School system for the purpose of bringing the
system into general contempt. A notable instance of this is
the systematic use of a large part of the press by prelates,
priests and politicians to undermine the Public Schools under
the false pretext of a kindly regard for their welfare.
The Public School is the basis and bulwark of our free
Institutions. An enemy of these schools who would seek to
destroy them, or even to impair their usefulness, is a public
enemy, for he strikes at the very foundation of our system
of republican government, which supposes intelligence as well
as integrity in its citizens. Anarchists are not to be counted
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
519 West 134th Street,
Hew Yorl City,
Fob. 1st, 191R
. Lonfestfty,
Chioftfjo , 111 .
Hy Dear Friends--
I wowld feel extremely obliged to you if
you will ship by fa at freight to Cincinnati. Ohio the set
of electrotype platen of my book, which you have in yoixr
vaults. You will remomber ciy book and the plates you
made for me in 1904.
Whan calling on you a few months ago, you
asked me what disposition I wished made of them Will
you now ship then as quickly as possible addressed.
"Mr. J. J. Crowley,
Cincinnati, Ohio"
Please send the bill of lading to ne
c/o Kinton Hotel, Cincinnati.
Hoping your business and Washington
orchard are pronpering, and with best wishes, I am-
Vory sincerely yours.
PLATES OF PART II. MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEAR.
The reply to the above, stating, in part, that they had no record
of said plates, did not surprise me. The story of Rome's diabolical
efforts to prevent the publication of this volume and suppress me
would fill a oook.
136 ROMANISM
in it in comparison with the Roman Hierarchy, which is un-
ceasingly working to subvert our Public Schools.
Rome's Jesuitical emissaries, agents and missionaries are
everywhere. They have no conscience but the pope's dicta-
tion. They are allowed to assume whatever dress they please ;
for their better disguise, any occupations in church or state ;
they are in the highest and the lowest conditions, and have
been known to appear as active and zealous members in non-
Catholic associations and churches sometimes filling promi-
nent Protestant pulpits. They are on the Public School
Boards of Education ; some of them are Superintendents,
Principals and Teachers in the Public Schools ; they occupy
prominent positions in different societies and organizations.
Their object is to engender strife, to influence party spirit, to
produce faction, to counsel rebellion, to plot and plan assassi-
nations : for examples, Bruno, Savonarola, Burke, Lord Caven-
dish, Dr. Cronin, Ferrer, Parnell, Ireland's uncrowned king,
and others. They avail themselves of every facility, right or
wrong, to gain for the papacy, position and power. I need but
instance Ireland, where Rome's Jesuitical authority has borne
its fruits in rebellions, and the sad, the continued degradation
of the people. Is England at war with other nations? the
pope's aid may be solicited by them to create distractions in
Ireland. There is a sore that is never allowed to heal: it has
paralyzed, and still paralyzes, the power of England. Hence
it has been the arena of political warfare.
History shows that the woes of Ireland and the cares of
England began when Pope Adrian IV. sold Ireland to King
Henry II. for a penny a household, "Peter's pence," and ever
since then Rome has Jesuitically instigated ceaseless strife be-
tween Ireland and England, and she has an object in pro-
longing the agony. The honest and fearless Michael Davitt
declared that in Ireland's darkest hour Rome was her worst
enemy. The fact is, Rome is really opposed to Home Rule or
anything else that might benefit the Irish people and establish
peace between Ireland and England. She knows that Home
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 137
Rule would remove the bone of contention between these
countries.
I have heard many prominent members of the Roman
Catholic Hierarchy, both in Ireland and America, declare that
the pope, supported by bishops, priests and monks, would
avail of every opportunity to thwart the ambitions of the
Irish people and would fight to the last ditch to prevent Home
Rule for Ireland. We can not forget how they planned the
fall and brought about the sad death of that illustrious leader,
Charles Stuart Parnell. Before his death, and afterward,
prelates, priests and monks have been secretly enkindling
strife, not only between Ireland and England, but between
Catholics and non-Catholics, and even between the various
factions which make up the Irish Party in order to prevent
Home Rule, and thus retain the balance of power in the British
Parliament for the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, which prac-
tically controls the said so-called Irish Parliamentary Party.
The pope, bishops, priests and monks know that Home Rule
would kill Rome rule in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales ;
and, indeed, cripple the Vatican's political power in non-
Catholic countries, where she, for selfish motives, unites the
so-called Irish Catholics into organizations, spiritual ( ?) and
military, such as are to be found in the "American" Federation
of Catholic Societies, which Rome uses as a balance of power
in American and Canadian politics. The establishment of an
Irish Parliament would necessarily give rise to at least two
political parties inside of the Roman Catholic Church, where
at present all are united in a solid phalanx against England,
thus placing the balance of power in the hands of the heretics
the non-Catholics. Furthermore, a powerful support of the
Roman Catholic Church in England would be withdrawn by
the retirement of the Irish Parliamentary Party, the present
balance of power in the English Parliament.
What led Pope Leo XIII. to fall in line with Pope Adrian
IV. and Pope Pius VII. in an effort to help England at the
expense of Ireland, and thus keep up strife between both
138 ROMANISM
countries? Why did he issue Papal Rescripts against the
Parnell Testimonial and the Plan of Campaign? Irishmen,
let me ask you one question : Why has the Holy See never
issued any documents denouncing the terrible persecution of
the Irish people? I confidently expect that all honest Cath-
olics, without regard to race, will sympathize with me in my
effort to enlighten them on papal intrigue and priestly cor-
ruption. Naturally I turn to the Irish people for their un-
stinted sympathy and support. I am one of them. Ireland
was my cradle, and her sacred soil shelters the dust of my
ancestors. I feel that the sad treatment to which Ireland has
been subjected by Popes Adrian IV., Pius VII., Leo XIII.,
and other popes, should open the eyes of the Irish people, and
spur them to combat all forms of ecclesiastical tyranny and
corruption. The Irish people alone have it in their power to
overthrow the Vatican system, and emancipate not only their
race, but humanity.
Consider the tremendous words of an eminent Roman
Catholic representative of a Roman Catholic power, spoken
directly to the Hon. Andrew D. White, former Ambassador
to Germany, and the head of the American Delegation to the
first Peace Congress at The Hague. The following is an ex-
tract from Ambassador White's diary, August 5, 1899, giving
the Catholic representative's statement in opposition to the
claim of the pope in a message to the representative of the
Netherlands and read by him at the close of the Peace Con-
gress, in which the pope claimed that he was a peacemaker
on earth :
"This eminent diplomatist from one of the
strongest Catholic countries, and himself a Catholic,
spoke in substance as follows :
; 'The Vatican has always been, and is to-day, a
storm-center. The pope and his advisers have never
hesitated to urge on war, no matter how bloody,
when the slightest of their ordinary worldly purposes
could be served by it. The great religious wars of
Europe were entirely stirred up and egged on by
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 139
them ; and, as everybody knows, the pope did every-
thing to prevent the signing of the treaty of Munster,
which put an end to the dreadful Thirty Years' War,
even going so far as to declare the oaths taken by
the plenipotentiaries at that congress of no effect.
" 'All through the Middle Ages and at the
Renaissance period the popes kept Italy in turmoil
and bloodshed for their own family and territorial
advantages, and they kept all Europe in turmoil, for
two centuries after the Reformation, in fact, just
as long as they could, in the wars of religion. They
did everything they could to stir up a war between
Austria and Prussia in 1866, thinking that Austria,
a Catholic power, was sure to win ; and then every-
thing possible to stir up the war of France against
Prussia in 1870 in order to accomplish the same pur-
pose of checking German Protestantism; and now
they are doing all they can to arouse hatred, even to
deluge Italy in blood, in the vain attempt to recover
the temporal power, though they must know they
could not hold it for any length of time, even if they
should obtain it.
: 'They pretend to be anxious to "save souls," and
especially to love Poland and Ireland ; but they have
for years used those countries as mere pawns in their
game with Russia and Great Britain, and would sell
every Catholic soul they contain to the Greek and
English Churches if they should thereby secure the
active aid of these two governments against Italy.
They have obliged the Italian youth to choose be-
tween patriotism and Christianity, and the result is
that the best of these have become atheists. Their
whole policy is based on stirring up hatred and
promoting conflicts from which they hope to draw
worldly advantage.
" 'In view of all this, one stands amazed at the
cool statement of the Vatican letter.' >: Pp. 350-351,
Vol. II., Autobiography of Andrew D. White.
General Lafayette, reared and educated a Roman Cath-
olic, uttered this prophecy :
"It is my opinion that if the liberties of this
country the United States of America are de-
140 ROMANISM
stroyed, it will be by the subtlety of the Roman
Catholic Jesuit priests, for they are the most crafty,
dangerous enemies to civil and religious liberty. They
have instigated most of the wars of Europe."
Did not Rome instigate the present conspiracies and in-
surrections in Mexico and in Portugal ; did she not inspire
the Turko-Italian War- and all for furthering her own cause
power and pelf? Her policies and practices are quite evi-
dent to any one who closely studies her crafty, cunning Jesuit-
ical methods.
In relation to the Mexican Rebellion, The Neiv York
Times, through information received from its special corre-
spondent, in its issue of May 23, 1911, says:
"MEXICAN CATHOLICS PLAN TO RULE
NATION.
"FORMIDABLE PARTY ORGANIZED TO CARRY ELECTION
AND OVERTURN DIAZ'S ANTI-CHURCH POLICY.
"MEXICO CITY, MAY 22.
"CATHOLICS WORKING FOR CONTROL.
"The organization of the Catholic Party, of
which Gen. Diaz always said he was afraid, is pro-
ceeding, and it is extending its ramifications to the
most distant sections of the country. Gabriel Somel-
lera, a wealthy capitalist, is the organizer of record
and the nominal leader of the party. Directly behind
him, however, are the prelates of the Church and the
landed aristocracy in so far as they have not gone
abroad and they have an immense following of will-
ing or unwilling peons, who are under the influence
of the bread-giver and the parish priest. Another
fact is that the Catholic Church in Mexico has a cap-
ital of at least $200,000,000 a larger sum than the
capitalization of all the Government banks which
escaped confiscation in the days of Benito Juarez or
has since been amassed. This, of course, would give
the Church party a very strong position either in
business or politics.
. A MENACE TO THE NATION. 141
"While the Maderistas or Progressives, as their
self-effacing leader would have the party called
are not resting on their laurels, their campaign or-
ganization is still rudimentary as compared with that
of the Catholics. Many keen observers of this new
trend of affairs to-day expressed the opinion to me
that any election held in the next few months under
the broader franchise and the Australian ballot, would,
if fair, result in the defeat of Madero and the justi-
fication of the judgment of Diaz, who always excused
delay in the extension of the suffrage by saying that
he could not hand the country over to the Church
party which he had fought so long.
"CATHOLICS WORKING QUIETLY.
"An element in the campaign which the news-
papers have already begun to discuss openly, working
more quietly, but not a whit less ambitiously than any
claimant for the throne of Diaz, is the Catholic
Church. The only step in the open that it has been
necessary to take has been accomplished in the forma-
tion of the Catholic party and the publication of a
platform providing for the closer union of Church
and State. Mexico offers a great field for such a
party."
The New York Herald says:
"Those who gibly talk of intervention in Mexico
are requested to stop long enough to consider that
intervention would mean
"War with Mexico.
"Unification of all Mexicans against the United
States.
"Employment of an American army of 200,000
men, mostly volunteers, to invade Mexico.
"Long and arduous campaigns in tropical cli-
mate.
"Suspension of $150,000,000 of annual trade.
"Jeopardizing lives and investments of Ameri-
cans now in Mexico.
"Incalculable expenditure of life and treasure.
"Antagonizing of Mexico's sister Latin-Ameri-
can States."
142 ROMANISM
All of this Rome has planned and hopes to accomplish in
order to serve her worldly purposes. Her political success on
this Continent depends largely on the international compli-
cations which she is ceaselessly striving to bring about, not-
withstanding the pope's claim as a "peacemaker on earth."
It may be important to state here that Archbishop Ireland,
of St. Paul, Minnesota, arrived at his political headquarters,
which are located one block from the White House, on the
very day that President Taft summarily ordered the United
States troops to the Mexican border. As usual, he called on
the President. The White House is one of the sights which
priests, prelates and "Princes of the Church" never want to
miss. President Taft's Mexican War Map, which is brought
up to date every day, has a great attraction for them at
present.
Relative to the recent troubles in Portugal, The New
York Herald says:
"BISHOPS TO FIGHT LISBON CABINET.
"EPISCOPATE EXPECTED TO ADVOCATE OPPOSITION TO
GOVERNMENT ON ACCOUNT OF SEPARATION LAW.
"LISBON, WEDNESDAY. The bishops of Portugal
will hold a meeting next week to protest against the
law of separation of Church and State. It is re-
ported that they will refuse to recognize the Govern-
ment's authority in ecclesiastical matters and instruct
the lesser clergy of the provinces to decline to accept
the stipends offered to them and make propaganda
against the Government at the forthcoming elections."
The -/Ww York Times, in its issue of Dec. 23, 1911, says:
"TO PROSECUTE PRELATE.
"PORTUGAL WILL CHARGE LISBON PATRIARCH WITH
CONSPIRACY AGAINST REPUBLIC.
"LISBON, DEC. 22. The Government has de-
cided to prosecute Mgr. Anthony Mendes Bello,
Patriarch of Lisbon, on a charge of conspiring
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 143
against the republic. It is considered certain that
the prelate will be sentenced to the maximum of six
years' imprisonment and ten years' deportation to
Africa." . . .
The public press of Jan. 5, 1912, says .
"As a sequel to the punishment of the Patriarch
of Lisbon, Mgr. Anthony Mendes Bello, who was
ordered into exile for two years by the Portuguese
Government on Dec. 28, all the Portuguese bishops
to-day proclaimed their independence from the Gov-
ernment.
"The minister of justice, in reply to a communi-
ication from them, notifying him of their decision,
declared that if they persisted in their refusal to
recognize the civil authority they would all be ex-
pelled from Portugal. At the same time he will hold
them responsible for any disturbances."
If the governments of non-Catholic countries would only
administer such medicine to priests, prelates and "Princes of
the Church," their political and supposed religious power
would rapidly disappear and the liberties of the people would
be secure.
Relative to the present war between Italy and Turkey,
The New York Times, in its issue of Sept. 29, 1911, says:
"POPE FAVORS THE STEP,
"BUT HOPES THAT BLOODSHED WILL BE AVOIDED.
"POPE FAVORS ITALY'S PLANS.
"The Pope is showing great interest in the prep-
arations for the expedition, and has ordered a propa-
ganda for the purpose of instructing the missionaries
to use their influence in favor of the Italian plans,
considering these plans as offering advantages for
the spread of Catholicism in North Africa, but he
hopes that success will be attained by Italy without
the shedding of blood." . . .
Since the beginning of the Turko-Italian War, bloodshed
and butchery, even of women and children, have been of
144 ROMANISM
frequent occurrence, and, notwithstanding the hypocritical
hope expressed by the pope, is, no doubt, a source of great
joy to that "storm-center" the Vatican, which is now eagerly
awaiting similar slaughter between Americans and Mexicans.
Popes and their Jesuitical agents have been and are the
instigators of wars, and while the world is having real pain,
Rome is having champagne.
"For ways that are dark the heathen Chinee"
Is not in it with the Roman clergy.
CHAPTER X.
CHRISTOPHER COLtJMBUS A JEW.
THE NAVIGATOR, THE CHURCH AND THE KNIGHTS.
The Knights of Columbus is one of the strongest, if not
the very strongest, of all the numerous organizations em-
braced within the American Federation of Catholic Societies.
One of the aims of this organization is to secure the
recognition of Columbus Day for a national holiday, upon
which day the Roman Church, with all the pomp, trappings
and circumstances, with cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests
and monks, together \vith all Catholic societies, congregations,
confraternities and Roman Catholic military organizations,
may parade the streets in all the gaudy robes and vestments
and other insignia of the Roman Church in order to impress
Americans with the sense of their power.
Among the methods which the Roman Catholic prelates,
priests and politicians are using to "make America dominantly
Catholic" is that of extolling those supposed to be of their
own faith who were active in the discovery, colonization and
settlement of America: and among these by far the most im-
portant stands Christopher Columbus.
Columbus was not a knight, though he lived near the
close of the days of chivalry and was considerable of an errant
on the seas, making four voyages to the land he thought to
be India, besides others according to his own account, with
which the reading world is less familiar.
As one of the discoverers of the New World leading to
its settlement and colonization, he may deserve some praise,
but the effort to make him a saint and advance agent of the
"Holy Roman Catholic Church" on this continent, has no sub-
145
146 ROMANISE
stantial basis in fact, since the latest investigations tend to sup-
port the view that he was a Jew at heart, as he certainly was
half-Jewish in lineage, and that his representations to the
Spanish sovereigns as to religion and even as to his birthplace,
were made merely with a view of concealing his real origin
and sentiments.
This is supported by such facts and considerations as the
following :
1. The assertion of his illegitimate son and first biogra-
pher, Fernando, that his father did not desire his origin and
fatherland to become known.
2. The answer of the same Fernando to the contemporary
historian, Bishop Augustin Giustiniani, that the fatherland of
his father was a "secret;" this circumstance at the same time
reminding us that the writing of history in Spain as regards
the New World, was restricted by law to the priestly orders.
3. The testimony of Pedro de Arana, brother of Beatriz
Enriquez, the mother of Fernando and intimate friend of the
Admiral, that "he had heard Columbus say he was a Genoese,
but did not know where he was born."
4. In a suit as to right of entail, the masculine line of the
Admiral having become extinct in 1578, no Genoese Columbo
appeared to claim the right; and of the two Italian Columbos
who presented themselves, one from Cuccaro and the other
from Cugureo, neither proved relationship.
5. Columbus never mentioned father or mother, and never
used the Italian language. Of the ninety-seven distinct pieces of
writing by his hand, which either exist or are known to have
existed (sixty-four being preserved in their entirety), all, ex-
cept a few monographs in Latin, werfe written in Spanish.
Is it reasonable that a young man leaving his native land at
the age of fifteen, should forget his own language? Or that
a poor young man should be able to speak and write a foreign
language fluently? In the preamble to his diary, speaking of
the title "Khan," he says: "Which title in our Romance tongue
means King of kings."
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 147
6. The name Columbus signed to his contract with the
Spanish sovereigns was Cristoval Colon, which is not the
Italian correlative of Columbus, as many suppose, but a dis-
tinct Spanish family name ; though Columbo is more ex-
tensively Italian, by which name the Admiral called himself to
suit his own purposes, afterwards going back to the name
Colon. Thus as the Spanish writer and critic Fernando de
Anton del Olmet says: "We have four periods in the life of
Christopher Columbus : a Spaniard in Spain before going to
Genoa, an Italian in Italy on finding out the advantage of
being one, a Spaniard in Spain on returning thither and be-
lieving it more practical to be such, and an Italian in Spain on
being convinced of the advantage that it would bring to him."
7. Columbus said he was "from Genoa and was born
there," but when Oviedo wrote, not many years after the
death of Columbus, it was regarded as so very doubtful where
the great navigator was born, that Oviedo mentions five or
six Italian towns claiming the honor of his birth; and begin-
ning with Savona, we find each of the following Italian towns
claiming the honor of having given Christopher Columbus to
the world : Plaisance, Cuccaro, Cogleto, Pradello, Nervi, Al-
bissoli, Bogliasco, Cosseria, Finale, Oneglia, Quinto, Novare,
Chiavari, Milan and Modena.
These claims arose largely from the lack of definite data
among Columbo families in Genoa, and lines of his ancestry
existing there, and the further fact that families of the name
Columbo existed in each of these several towns. Speaking of
these claims, Justin Winsor, the historian, says : "The pre-
tensions of some of them were so urgent that in 1812 the
Academy of History at Genoa thought it worth while to pre-
sent the proofs as regards their city to the world. The claims
of Cuccaro were used in support of a suit by Balthazar
Columbo, to obtain possession of the Admiral's legal rights.
The claim of Cogoleto seems to have been mixed up with the
supposed birth of the corsairs, Columbos, in that town, who
for a long time were confounded with the Admiral. There is
148 ROMANISM
left in favor of any of them, after their claims are critically
examined, nothing but local pride and ambition."
8. A later claimant for this honor was the town of Calvi,
in Corsica, and their cause was particularly embraced by the
French. As late as 1882, President Grevy, of the French Re-
public, undertook to give a national sanction to these claims by
approving the erection there of a statue of Columbus. The
assumption is based upon a tradition that the great discoverer
was a native of the place. "The principal elucidator of that
claim, the Abbe Martin Cassanova de Pioggiola," says Justin
Winsor, "seems to have a comfortable notion that tradition is
the strongest kind of historical proof, though it is not certain
that he would think so with respect to the twenty and more
other places on the Italian coast where similar traditions exist
or are said to be current."
"Finally, in order to determine the value of the evidence
serving as basis to the claim made by Genoa to be the birth-
place of the renowned Admiral," says del Olmet, "it suffices to
know that four cities have dedicated four marble monuments
to their son, Christopher Columbus ; two possess the register of
his baptism, and eight or ten which present divers title-deeds to
consider themselves his cradle, and opinions are not wanting
which attribute to him a Greek nationality."
9. The explanation why Columbus made contradictory
statements as to the date of his birth, his birthplace, and
concealed his real sentiments on other questions, has only
recently been made clear through the discovery of sixteen
notarial documents ranging from 1428 to 1528, by a local his-
torian of Potevedra in Galicia, Spain, Mr. Garcia de la Riga,
these documents relating to the Colon and Fonterossa families,
who also found other evidences that Christopher Columbus,
whose natal name was Cristoval Colon, was born and passed
his childhood in that city, his parents having been Domingo
de Colon and Susana Fonterossa, a Jewess. And though they
probably emigrated to Genoa about 1450, when the boy Cris-
toval was about fifteen, availing themselves of commercial
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 149
relations which existed between the two ports, there is no
reasonable doubt remaining that Cristoval Colon was obliged
to conceal his maternal origin, rather than incur the dangers
of the Inquisition and the prejudices of his time; since, had
his birthplace and family connections been known, the fact
that his mother was a Jewess would have been not merely an
insuperable obstacle to his receiving the attention of Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, but a cause for his execution, or at least
expulsion from the land of his birth. For as he states in his
journal, the Jews were expelled from the domains of both
Ferdinand and Isabella in the very same month in which he
was appointed Admiral.
10. That Columbus was quite capable of such subterfuge
is revealed in his own accounts of himself and otherwise. He
relates how, in an early expedition as captain of a vessel under
King Reinier, he deceived his own frightened crew by secretly
altering the point of the compass so as to get the vessel within
the Cape of Carthagena. He employed a similar artifice, it
will be remembered, in his alteration of the log-book on his
first voyage to America, thus deceiving his crew as to the
distance they had sailed from Palos.
His early voyages referred to by himself, and supported
by new-found documents, show him quite capable of deceiving
even their Catholic Majesties. "Of the early career of Colum-
bus," says Justin Winsor, "it is very certain that something
may be gained at Simancas, for when Bergenroth, sent by the
English Government, made search there to illustrate the re-
lations of Spain with England, and published his results, with
the assistance of Gayangos, in 1862-18/9, as a Calendar of
Letters, Despatches and State Papers relating to negotiations
between England and Spain, one of the earliest entries of his
first printed volume, under 1485, was a complaint of Ferdi-
nand and Isabella against a Columbus some have supposed it
our Columbus for his participancy in the piratical service of
the French."
11. But, it may be asked, how does the nativity of Colum-
150 ROMANISM
bus at Pontevedra comport with his sending his title-deeds,
despatches and documents to Genoa by Nicholas Oderigo,
Ambassador from that city to the Court of the Catholic
sovereigns? This is very reasonably answered by the dis-
covery in the archives of Pontevedra of a document as fol-
lows:
"Order of the Archbishop of Santiago, Sire of
Pontevedra, ordering the Council, on March 15, 1413,
to pay to Mr. Nicholas de Oderigo de Janua, 15,000
maravedis old coin, in three sums of money."
The parents of Columbus being members of the Colon
and Fonterossa families residing in Pontevedra, who emi-
grated later on to Italy, it may be accepted that they availed
themselves of some recommendation from or of, direct or in-
direct relation with the Oderigos. At all events, that the Am-
bassador Oderigo knew the true natal place of the Admiral,
and knew how to keep the secret, may be deduced from the
silence that he kept relative to the fatherland and origin of
his friend, from the fact of having retained the copies en-
trusted to him, and which were not delivered to the authorities
of Genoa until about two centuries later by Lorenzo Oderigo.
12. Cristoval Colon, known as Christopher Columbus,
had a younger brother, Bartholomew, also a navigator, whom
Columbus made Adelantado, or Governor General of the
Indies, a man of importance. Two Genoese historians, An-
tonio Gallo, a native of Genoa, who knew the Colon family,
and Bishop Giustiniani, also a contemporary of Columbus,
each speaking of Bartholomew, say: "A minor, born in Lusi-
tania ;" and Lusitania, in that time of the world, comprised
Portugal and Gallicia, in which Pontevedra is located. So
the probability of Cristoval's having been born in the same
country and of the same Hebrew parentage as his brother is
rendered well-nigh certain.
13. Various historians, including Oviedo, state that the
flag-ship of Columbus, the Santa Maria, and vulgarly known
as the Gallician, was built at Pontevedra; and Mr. La Riega
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 151
unearths a notarial contract executed at Pontevedra, July 5,
1487, freighting the vessel called Santa Maria, or La Gallega
applying both names indiscriminately.
14. A plot of land appraised to the Colon family, half a
kilometre from Pontevedra, was bounded by other lands in
the cove of Portosanto in the parish of San Salvador, while a
triangular space existed near the home of the elder Colon,
adjacent to the Gate and Tower of Galea. In his first voyage
Columbus named the first island discovered, San Salvador,
and the fourth Portosanto ; and in his third voyage, he gave
the name Trinidad to the first land he saw, and called the first
promitory, the Cape of la Galea.
15. The wily Hebrew character of Columbus is shown in
the way he overcame the objection advanced by the sovereigns
and the Church authorities, that his theory of the earth's
rotundity contradicts the Scriptures.
Cardinal Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza, Archbishop of
Toledo, finally conceded that the theory was worthy of a trial,
but the great body of churchmen stood firmly by the opinions
of Lactantius and St. Augustine. Says the former, ridiculing
the globular theory of the earth: "Is there any one so foolish
as to believe that there are antipodes \vith their feet opposite
to ours people who walk with their heels upward and their
heads hanging down?" And St. Augustine declared it im-
possible that races on the opposite side of the earth could have
descended from Adam and Eve, since there was no land
passage, "and it was impossible for them to have passed the
intervening ocean."
Columbus contended merely that the plan was worthy
of the experiment, while if successful the wealth of the Indies
\vould reward the effort. "Gold," he says in one of his letters,
"is the most precious of all commodities ; gold constitutes
treasure, and he who possesses it has all he needs in this
world, as also the means of rescuing souls from purgatory,
and restoring them to the enjoyment of paradise." This last
clause must have been peculiarly touching to the sovereigns
152 ROMANISM
who are credited with establishing the Holy Inquisition, and
who expelled seventy thousand families of Jews, not allowing
them to carry away their gold or silver. During their admin-
istrations between nine and ten thousand Jews were buried
alive, seven thousand in effigy, while about one hundred thou-
sand were persecuted in other ways.
16. The fact that the funds defraying the expenses of
the first voyage, as referred to in a speech in Congress by the
Hon. Julius Kahn, in December, 1911, were supplied by Luis
de Santangel, the king's chancellor and a converted Jew, is
significant. "In his original account books, extending from
1491 to 1493, preserved in the Archive de Indias in Seville,
Santangel is credited with an item of 1,140,000 maravedis,
which were given by him to the Bishop of Avila, who sub-
sequently became the Bishop of Granada, for Columbus' ex-
pedition."
Just how many Jews there were in the fleet of Columbus
i:-> not known. One was Luis de Torres, a Marano, or con-
verted Jew, learned in the languages, who acted as Columbus'
interpreter; others of Jewish extraction were Msestre Bernal,
the ship's physician, and Marco, the surgeon, the latter of
whom had undergone penance for his faith in October, 1490,
ai Valencia, at the same time that Adret and Isabel his wife
were burned to death for not adopting Catholicism.
The interest of Columbus in Jews was finally shown by
his legacy to "the Hebrew who dwelt at the gate of the
Jewry," and whom he did not otherwise name in his will, and
whom certain historians believe to have been a maternal rela-
tive.
17. It has been repeatedly noted by historians that the
writing of Columbus was tinctured with the style of the Old
Testament. Some of his disquisitions and apostrophes would
not be out of place in that revered volume, such for illustra-
tion as his "Vanquishing the Waterspout," and his "Vision of
the River of Bethlehem," inserted in a letter addressed to the
sovereigns.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 153
The regaining of the ancient land of Judea seems to have
been a fixed idea with Columbus, a project he urged upon
the sovereigns, and even the pope, and concerning which he
wrote in his own "Prophecies:" "The conquest of the Holy
Sepulchre is the more urgent when everything foretells, ac-
cording to the very exact calculations of Cardinal d'Ailly, the
speedy conversion of all the sects, the arrival of Antichrist,
and the destruction of the world."
If one will study the writings of the fifteenth century,
Christian and Jewish, as related to Antichrist, a new light may
dawn upon him in regard to the character and real sentiments
of Columbus; as there were many who regarded the papacy
in its hideous perversions of morality as the real Antichrist.
It was an era of dissimulation, when deceit seems to have been
frequently necessary to the preservation of one's life; and
Columbus seems to have been an adept in the art of dis-
sembling.
"The person who may suspect the fervor of Columbus
was one of his tactics," says del Olmet, "being acquainted
with the prevailing ideas of his country, can not be charged
with being suspicious. Columbus proposes to the Catholic
sovereigns the discovery of a world, in order to conquer the
Holy Land with its riches. He fortifies his project with the
religious spirit of that kingdom, in which a standing was
given to the Tribunal of the Inquisition and the expulsion of
the Jews decreed. If the Admiral of the Indies, in lieu of this,
had publicly declared himself a Jew, it is not venturesome to
state that his project, opposed to a great part of the scientific
ideas of his time, being examined by a board of theologians,
would rapidly have led the renowned alleged Genoese to those
autos in which the faith, turned to fanaticism, changed into
sanguinary persecution the pious indulgence of Christ."
18. The reticence of Columbus as to his ancestry and birth-
place, his vacillation as to his name, and his duplicity on many
occasions and involving various questions, are seen to be all
clearly explained when we find that he was not only of He-
154 ROMANISM
brew lineage, but possessed of strong Jewish proclivities, thus
explaining his great anxiety to regain the land of Palestine,
his fervid literary style akin to the Hebrew prophets, and
withal, his love of gold and avaricious spirit which led him
even to acts of cruelty, as in sending a shipload of the
natives from Cuba to Spain to be sold into slavery.
And this explanation is being accepted by all who take
the time and trouble to examine it along with all the collateral
facts discovered by Mr. La Riega. Not only has a favorable
criticism on this conclusion been published in "La Espana
Moderna," Madrid, by Fernando de Anton del Olmet, but the
Spanish Encyclopedic Dictionary accepts this view in the
Columbus biography. Eva Canel, in Buenos Ayres, has written
articles sustaining it, as has Martin Hume in London ; and it
appeals so strongly to rational minds that it may be safely
used to illustrate the ancient adage that truth is mighty and
will prevail!
The Roman Catholic Church seems to be unfortunate in
her claims as to distinguished personages, it being conclusively
shown that St. Peter, upheld by the Church as "the first pope
and bishop of Rome," was never in that city ; St. Patrick,
claimed as "the Apostle and Patron Saint of Ireland," has been
quite positively identified as a Protestant; and Christopher
Columbus, the uncanonized saint of the Roman Church on this
continent, and the Exemplar of the Knights of Columbus, is
now demonstrated to have been a Spanish Jew ! And accord-
ing to the writings of reputable scholars, among them Mr.
Justin Winsor, librarian of Harvard University, and Pro-
fessor Charles Kendall Adams, LL.D., president of the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, Christopher Columbus was little better
than a pirate, a betrayer of innocent girlhood, a wife deserter,
a kidnapper, a slave trader, a tyrant, and man of boundless
cupidity.
The Knights of Columbus, founded at New Haven, Con-
necticut, February 2, 1882, by Rev. M. J. McGivney, curate
of St. Mary's Church, and including as incorporators, M. C.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 155
O'Connor, M.D., James T. Mullen, John T. Kerrigan, Wm.
M. Geary and C. T. Driscoll, had on January i, 1905, a total
membership of 127,206 persons, 43,537 of whom were in-
sured and 83,669 were associate members. They are now
said to be over 300,000 strong.
The total net assets of the Knights on the above date
were $1,290,196.31, of which $1,239,137.89 was deposited as
a mortuary reserve fund, for protecting outstanding insurance
contracts. It will thus be seen to be a fraternal and benevo-
lent order. But an adroit feature of this organization, to
which Roman Catholics only are eligible, is the initiative service
of four degrees, calculated to impress upon candidates their
sacred obligations to uphold the Church on this western conti-
nent discovered by the great Columbus.
The relations of the Knights and the Church are sup-
posed to be mutual and reciprocal, the Church using the order
to further its ends of capturing America, and the Knights
using the Church to exalt the glory of Columbus, and more
particularly for their own political preferment. But some
of the far-seeing leaders of the Hierarchy think there has
been a mistake made in permitting such a young and vigorous
order to participate in Church affairs, and to take root within
the very pale and under the fostering care of the Church.
Some few years ago, Bishop Janssen, of the diocese of
Belleville, Illinois, forbade the establishment of a Council of
Knights in his diocese. The late Bishop of Hartford, Con-
necticut, also opposed the policy of the Church in organizing
and supporting the Knights in any way, on the ground that
sooner or later they would operate after the manner of a
cancer in the human body and prove stronger than the Church
itself. Various other dignitaries, bishops and archbishops,
even ostensibly ardent members of the organization, were so
impressed with similar ideas that secret appeals were made to
the Vatican, to withdraw its sanction from the organization.
But the Vatican, in view of the pecuniary grants made
by the Knights in support of "the faith," and the hope they
156
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 157
have aroused as an aid to capturing America, has tnus far
taken no action against them. The late Cardinal Satolli in
his extraordinary visit to the United States in 1904, ostensibly
to perform the marriage ceremony for the daughter of Martin
Maloney, a Marquis of the Roman Catholic Church, and for
which, incidentally, he received a fee of several thousand
dollars, was instructed to investigate the ground of these
appeals against the Knights filed at the Vatican. For reasons
which need not be stated, his advice to the American branch
of the Roman Hierarchy was that, in view of the strength of
the organization numerically, financially and intellectually, it
would be unwise to oppose them for the present at least. In
that year the organization presented the Catholic University
at Washington, D. C., the sum of $50,000 to establish a chair
in History in that institution.
The Knights themselves, it may be truthfully said, are
not in the organization entirely for the sake of their own
health, or even for the glory of the Church, inasmuch as there
are many ambitious men among their leaders, and some that
have little or no use for the Church. However, they work in
collusion with the Hierarchy, and are heart and soul in poli-
tics. This fact is well known to political machines and non-
Catholic politicians, whose candidates must receive the ap-
proval of Rome and the Knights before they dare nominate
them for either dog pound or presidency.
Knights of Columbus have assured me that their organi-
zation, with the Church of Rome, controls the Municipal, State
and Federal Government, and also influences the business in-
terests throughout the country. They have also assured me
within the past few years that it is almost impossible for a
man to secure a position or promotion in any business house
or corporation, if a Knight of Columbus be a competitor.
Notwithstanding these facts, the innocent Knights, like
their Jesuitical spiritual advisers, publicly declare that they are
not in politics, as the rules of their organization forbid their
being in such unholy environment it being considered danger-
158 ROMANISM
ous to their "faith and morals;" and in order to wholly dis-
abuse the minds of the guileless non-Catholics of any such
suspicion they frequently protest against the union of Church
and State.
In the first session of the Sixty-second Congress, Hoa,
Ben Johnson, of the Fourth Kentucky District, himself a mem-
ber of the Knights, denounced (?) Dr. Emil Scharf, a brother
Knight, for having promised to deliver the "Catholic vote" in
his (Johnson's) district, as well as in other congressional dis-
tricts. Why this stage-play to the public through the Press Gal-
lery in the Capitol at Washington, D. C. ? If the gallant and
honorable member from Kentucky was sincere in his denuncia-
tion of Dr. Scharf, why has he not denounced Cardinal Gib-
bons, Archbishop Ireland, et al., for similar conduct, and
worse? For the purpose of hoodwinking the non-Catholics
this stage-play was continued, Dr. Scharf was "tried" and "ex-
pelled" from this politico-religious organization. If the
Knights of Columbus were sincere, why have they not expelled
their spiritual leaders, brother Knights, whose principal busi-
ness is politics, aye, Jesuitical politics, which has been the curse
of Catholic countries, and is to-day a menace to non-Catholic
countries ?
The Knights of Columbus, together with the Church of
Rome, have succeeded in making October 12, Columbus Day,
a holiday in many States of the Union, and have caused to be
placed in Congress a bill to create it a national holiday, as
shown in accompanying illustration. A similar bill will un-
doubtedly be passed in the near future.
The Church and the Knights have been instrumental in
setting up various busts and statues of Columbus in public
places, and even in the White House and the end is not yet !
A majestic statue of this remarkable personage, Columbus, is
being erected on the Plaza in front of the Union Station at
Washington, D. C., in full view of the approaches from Cap-
itol and city. The plan for erecting this statue was started by
the Church and the Knights, who secured an appropriation
IT CONGRESS,
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
DECEMBER 5, 1910.
Mr. HF.NRY of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary nnd ordered to be printed.
A BILL
To make October twelfth in each year a public holiday, to be
called " Columbus Day "
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 lives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 That the twelfth day of October in each year, being the
4 anniversary day of the discovery of America by Christopher
5 Columbus, be, and the same is hereby, made a legal public
6 holiday, to be called "Columbus Day," to all intents and
7 pnrposce in tho onme manner no the fust Monday of Scplcin-
8 ber in each year is now made by law a public and legal holi-
9 day Provided, That when the 'twelfth day of October occurs
10 on Sunday said holiday shall be celebrated on the succeeding
1 1 Monday.
12 SEC. 2. That the President of the United States be, and
13 he is hereby, authorized and directed to issue a proclamation
14 to the people commending the observance in all their locali-
1 ties of Discovery Day on the twelfth day of October by public
2 demonstrations and suitable exercises in their schools and
3 other places of assembly.
COLUMBUS DAY, OCTOBER 12, TO BE MADE A ROMAN
NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN AMERICA.
159
160 ROMANISM
of $100,000 from Congress. The President of the United
States, at the suggestion of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and
the Knights of Columbus, has fixed the date for this politico-
religious celebration, as will be seen from the following item
which appeared in The Catholic Telegraph, published in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio :
"PRESIDENT FIXES DATE.
"President Taft has set Saturday, June 8, as the
time for the unveiling and dedication of the Colum-
bus memorial on Union Station Plaza, in Washington,
D. C. The date was fixed following a conference on
February 17, with James A. Flaherty, Supreme
Knight of the Knights of Columbus ; Edward L.
Hearn, commissioner on the part of the Supreme
Council of the order, and Colonel K. Spencer Cusby,
of the War Department. Preparations are being
made in Washington to accommodate fifty thousand
visitors."
Messrs. Flaherty and Hearn, before attending this con-
ference, received instructions from their spiritual "bosses"
Gibbons, Farley and O'Connell the "American" Princes of
the Church, who will control the ceremony and be the prin-
cipal attraction on the above date, Taft and other prominent
plebeian non-Catholic politicians being permitted within the
show-ring to assist.
I would respectfully suggest that the Roman Catholic
Hierarchy and Knights of Columbus place upon the proposed
monument the following inscription proposed by Dr. Henry
Brown, of Spokane, Washington, for a similar monument at
Walla Walla in that State :
To THE MEMORY OF
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS,
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF
THE FACT THAT HE WAS
"TiiE ORIGINATOR OF AMERICAN
SLAVERY" AND
FIRST SLAVE-DRIVER IN
THE NEW WORLD,"
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162 ROMANISM
Dr. Brown, in proposing this inscription, writes:
"I do not forget that very many people, through
lack of information, may be tempted to look upon the
wording as slanderous and inappropriate. But, for
the benefit of all such, I will simply say that these
(quotations) are the exact words used by Professor
Justin Winsor, Harvard librarian, in his great work
on Christopher Columbus, page 312, fifth line from
the top and first line on page 282."
If any religious sect is to control the ceremony, which
should be entirely national, and in which all classes without
regard to creed should participate, it would seem more ap-
propriate and more in accord with the truth of history that
this ceremony be controlled by the Jews.
The foregoing sketch of the life of Columbus, obtained from the
most trustworthy historians, was contributed by Mr. Hyland C. Kirk,
Washington, D. C.
CHAPTER XL
ROME EVER AND EVERYWHERE THE SAME.
Cardinal Martinelli in 1902, at the Apostolic Delegation
Office, Washington, D. C., made a most interesting statement
to me. I said to him, "Your Eminence, if the Catholics in this
country numbered about seventy million and if the Protestants
numbered about ten million, what would you do to the Prot-
estants?" His reply was this, "Oh, Christ, I'd crush 'em!"
"To crush 'em" is the spirit and design of Romanism in all
its attitudes toward "heretics."
No wonder Rome boasts that she is ever and everywhere
the same. Her real attitude toward non-Catholics is the same
to-day everywhere as it was in the days of the Inquisition, and
yet some people say "the Roman Catholic Church is not as it
was fifty years ago it is more liberal." Is it?
Few have any idea of the crafty efforts which Catholic
ecclesiastics make to hoodwink non-Catholics. Priests, bishops
and cardinals cultivate a spirit of seeming liberality on purpose
to win the esteem of the very people whom they hate, so that
these people will be made unwilling to countenance any oppo-
sition to the movements of Romanism. The greatest victory
which has been won by the Roman Hierarchy in the British
Empire and in the United States lies in the fact that it has
succeeded in making it unpopular for any one to impugn its
utterances or policies.
"What is the smooth game in all this that is go-
ing on between the Vatican and England? Simply
this : England is the stronghold of obstinate heresy
the citadel of Protestantism. Therefore the Church
163
164
ROMANISM
ARCHBISHOP IRELAND A' PAPAL POLITICIAN.
Archbishop Ireland, the "Protestant archbishop," the Machiavelli
of American politics, and defender of the ungodly "Ne Temere" de-
cree, is still sighing and sedulously qualifying for a "caubeen" a red
hat. The Storers' late connection with the courts of Vienna and
Madrid, the two greatest centers of Catholic influence in Europe ;
their constant association with high personages of state, "Dear The-
odore" excepted for the time being, together with Mrs. Storer's likely
leadership of her contemplated "new political pa r ty," consisting of
"every Catholic worthy of his faith," constitute a powerful source of
influence in Vatican circles, and may inspire the indefatigable "Dear
Maria" to renew and push her suit at the Vatican for a "red hat" for
her political friend, John of St. Paul.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 165
of Rome is using every means at her command
caresses, cajolery, threats, flatteries to bring proud
England back into subjection to her yoke. Listen to
Rome's own confession from the mouth of Cardinal
Manning: 'Surely, a soldier's eye and a soldier's heart
would choose by intuition this field of England for
the warfare of Faith. ... It is the head of Protestant-
ism, the center of its movements, and the stronghold
of its powers. Weakened in England, it is paralyzed
everywhere; conquered in England, it is conquered
throughout the world. Once overthrown here, all
is but a war of detail.' " The Heretic, Berkeley, Cal-
ifornia.
The keen eye of the Vatican has, for years, been turned
toward the British Empire and the United States. She is
working the same wiles and witcheries, playing the same
smooth, oily, ball-bearing, noiseless game with both countries.
Through one of her organs (The Tablet, London) she com-
plains as follows :
"Prussia, not a Roman Catholic country, has an
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary ;
Russia, a minister Resident ; England and the United
States alone -among Great Powers remain without an
accredited representative to the Holy See."
Mark the word accredited. England always has a back-
stairs representative ; for example, Sir George Errington filled
that office at the Holy See, to the detriment of Ireland and
the Irish race during the Parnell Movement; and for aught
we know, the United States of America has a backstairs repre-
sentative at the Vatican to-day. Her late secret clerical agent
there is at present a prominent bishop in America. Rome's
secret representative at the Capitol at Washington, D. C., is
none other than the Papal Delegate, who has been recently
promoted to the Cardinalate, as due reward for his "signal
services" to his Lord the Pope, King of Heaven, of Earth,
and of Hell. Her chief Jesuitical agent at Ottawa, Canada,
is the Papal Delegate to the Catholic Church in that country.
166 ROMANISM
I know and assert without fear of successful contradiction
that the Vatican system the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has
a grip upon all the departments of our Government, from the
President to Department Clerks, including Legislative, Ju-
diciary and Executive Departments, both Federal and State
and the accommodating politicians, Catholic and non-Catholic,
particularly the latter, are to blame for it all.
Every trap is being laid to ensnare Germany, the British
Empire, the United States, and other non-Catholic countries,
in papal schemes. In fact, the plans of Pope Leo XIII. and,
therefore, of the Papacy, with reference to America, were
thus tersely expressed in a letter from the Vatican (see New
York Sun, July n, 1892) :
"What the Church has done in the past for
others she will now do for the United States."
In a recent pamphlet issued by the Roman Catholic Uni-
versity of America at Washington, D. C, under the title "The
Roman Catholic Mission Movement in America," they say:
"Our motto is, We come not to conquer, but to win. Our pur-
pose is to make America dominantly Catholic."
The Very Rev. Francis C. Kelley, D.D., LL.D., President
of the Roman Catholic Church Extension Society of America,
uttered the following in a recent address on "Church Ex-
tension and Convert-making:"
"Without a doubt, if American Protestantism
were blotted off the religious map of the world, the
work of the so-called Reformers of the fifteenth
[sixteenth?] century, within fifty years, might well
be called dead. Protestantism in the United States
is a great source of missionary activity in foreign
countries. The different Protestant organizations in
the United States spend seven millions of dollars
per annum in foreign missions, or almost half the
spendings of all the rest of the non-Catholic world.
Protestantism, then, really may be said to stand or
fall on American effort.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 167
"From a strategic point of view, America the
United States of America is our best missionary
field.
"Again, how many are fond of calling this a
Protestant country! Is it? We deny!
"We who hope for a Catholic America have as
yet come only to the end of the desert. . . . Only has
it been given to some among us to enter the land of
Canaan and gather souls, grapes so sweet and beauti-
ful as to fill us with hunger for other fruits that await
the coming of our successors. They will go, Joshuas,
to the Jordan, to Jericho, to Hai, and to Jerusalem,
and then only will the details of the work become
clear. The little chapels the Church Extension move-
ment will build shall be their fortified camps, and the
men whom you [Paulist] Fathers of the Apostolate
will send shall be advance-guards to point the way
to the new and fertile fields that abound in the
Promised Land."
The Very Rev. Kelley and his missionary gangs, in-
cluding General Secretary, Field Secretary, and retinue,
travel throughout the western, middle west, and southern
States in two private Chapel Cars, which are carried at
the expense of the stockholders of the roads over which they
are hauled. A vast majority of these stockholders are non-
Catholics, and they are defraying the transportation expenses
of a propaganda which would blot American Protestantism
off the religious map of the world.
The patriotic ( ?) Archbishop Ireland, in presence of
Cardinal Gibbons and a large number of prelates, priests,
monks and nuns at Baltimore, Md., said in part as follows :
"The Catholic Church is the sole living and en-
during Christian authority. She has the power to
speak ; she has an organization by which her laws
may be enforced. . . . Our work is to make America
Catholic. Our cry shall be, 'Gods wills it,' and our
hearts shall leap with crusader enthusiasm."
To secure the good will of non-Catholic politicians, Demo-
cratic and Republican, in the ignoble work of making America
168 ROMANISM
Catholic, that noted American conjurer, Cardinal Gibbons,
surpassed himself in a recent interview given at Philadelphia,
while attending the Pallium celebration of Archbishop Pren-
dergast, the champion poker player of Pennsylvania. A sum-
mary of the interview appears in The New York Evening Sun
in its issue of Feb. 12, 1912:
"GIBBONS ON TAFT.
"CARDINAL BELIEVES THE PRESIDENT WILL BE
RENOMINATED.
"PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 2. That President Taft
probably will be renominated by the Republicans is
the belief of Cardinal Gibbons, who made a statement
to this effect this afternoon prior to leaving this city
for Baltimore. The Cardinal characterized Theodore
Roosevelt as the 'most popular man in the country
to-day,' but said that Mr. Taft, 'being in the saddle,'
would undoubtedly win the nomination.
"In a short interview his Eminence declared that
Mr. Taft deserves recognition for what he termed
his honest, sincere efforts to serve the country. He
said that in considering the election the Democrats
must be considered, as they have lots of available
Presidential timber."
I fancy I hear Cardinal Gibbons saying, "American citi-
zens, find the P ! Heads I win, tails you lose."
Though every milestone along the historical pathway of
the Roman Catholic Church has been marked by its curse to
humanity, yet there are, unfortunately, some non-Catholic
bishops, ministers, editors and others who, on the plea of
toleration, Christian unity, or for business or political reasons,
do not like to hear the Roman Catholic politico-religious abom-
ination criticized. In fact, they publicly commend Romanism
and its Hierarchy, while priests, prelates and popes condemn
them and theirs as "heretics" doomed to eternal damnation.
Rome regards non-Catholics as "heretics ;" she teaches, both in
her churches and schools, that they are destined for Hell.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 169
Here is Rome's doctrine of fraternity, of toleration, of
Christian unity! In The Western Watchman, organ of the
pope and Archbishop Glennon, published at St. Louis, Mis-
souri, we find Rome's real attitude toward Protestantism in
the following expression of fiendish hatred:
"Protestantism We would draw and quarter it.
We would impale it and hang it up for crows' meat.
We would tear it with pincers, and fire it with hot
irons. We would fill it with molten lead, and sink it
in a hundred fathoms of hell-fire."
In another issue of the same paper, December 24, 1908,
we find the following editorial by its Editor-in-chief, Rev.
David S. Phelan, LL.D., Rector of Our Lady of Mount Car-
mel parish, St. Louis, Missouri, and designated by Cardinal
Satolli, "the dean and senior of the Roman Catholic journalists
of the United States:"
"Protestants were persecuted in France and
Spain with the full approval of the Church authori-
ties. The Church has persecuted. Only a tyro in
church history will deny that. . . . We have always
defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the
Spanish Inquisition. . . . When she thinks it good to
use physical force, she will use it. ... But will the
Catholic Church give bond that she will not persecute
at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and
equality of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic
Church gives no bonds for her good behavior."
The same papal organ, The Western Watchman, in its
issue of September 28, 1911, contains the following:
"Protestantism is simply ruffianism organized
into a religion. The first Reformer, Martin Luther,
was the vilest blackguard of all time, in comparison
with whom the Greek Thersites was a polished gen-
tleman. All his associates in the sacrilege of sanctu-
aries and sacking of religious houses, were almost to
a man men of the lowest character and beastliest
morals. But who cares for their private lives? It
is their public acts and utterances that concern us.
170 ROMANISM
These are public property, and they brand their
authors as blackguards of the first water."
And in an editorial in its issue of October 12, 1911, The
Western Watchman confirms the declaration made lately in
Cardinal Farley's Cathedral by that international "lady-turn-
er," Jesuit Vaughan, of England, that Protestantism is dead:
"Protestantism in the United States has fallen to
pieces; but what is more astounding, the ministers
look complacently out upon the ruins. . . . All the
money in the world will not bring back the spirit that
is fled. . . . Even hatred of Catholicity is dead, and
nothing now remains but the sombre duty of burying
the dead."
While Rome everlastingly hates non-Catholics, she con-
stantly seeks their financial aid, both private donations and
public moneys, to be used for her sectarian institutions. With
unblushing coolness The Western Watchman, in its issue of
December 16, 1909, declares:
"We do not think the Church in this country is
overburdening herself with charities. She is winning
her way to the hearts of the American people by her
Christ-like beneficence; and the way from the heart
to the pocketbook is very short, compared with the
long road from the lip to the seat of pity. More
Protestant money is finding its way into our chari-
table institutions than ever before. The duty of sup-
porting our asylums and refuges will soon be borne
in great part by people who have no affiliation with
the Catholic Church."
Here let me state that these moneys are, as a rule, unac-
counted for and misused, as is the case in Roman Catholic
institutions of Greater New York, where the diversion of large
sums of public money paid to said institutions by the city for
the support of its charges, is now being investigated by the
City Comptroller in spite of the objections raised by the Cath-
olic Church authorities and their reluctance to permit the
accounts of these institutions to be audited. Cardinal Farley,
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 171
who controls $60,000,000 worth of property between the Bat-
tery and the Bronx alone, through his attorneys, among them
Eugene A. Philbin, has even declared that these Roman Cath-
olic institutions would decline to receive any more children and
would turn out those already placed there by the city rather
than submit to an accounting for the public funds received by
them. How beneficent! How Christ-like!
Let me throw a little light on Rome's real attitude toward
marriage.
Popular opinion in the British Empire is just now being
greatly stirred by the agitation caused by the "Ne Temere"
decree of Pope Pius X., which is producing such havoc in
homes where Protestants marry Roman Catholics. One of
the unfortunate victims of this infamous decree, a heart-
broken wife and mother, has made the following fruitless ap-
peal to the Earl of Aberdeen, the Lord Lieutenant and Govern-
or General of Ireland:
"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:
"I pray your Excellency's assistance under the
following circumstances: I am the daughter of a
small farmer in County Antrim, and a Presbyterian.
I was married in May, 1908, in a Presbyterian church
by my own clergyman, to my husband, who was and
is a Roman Catholic. Before our marriage he ar-
ranged with me that I should continue to attend my
own place of worship and he his. After our mar-
riage we lived together for some months at my
mother's house in County Antrim, but work called
my husband to the west of Ireland, where I joined
him, and we lived for some months there. After-
wards we came to Belfast; there my first child, a
boy, was born in June, 1909. During all this time
there never was any difference between us about
religious matters, and our boy was baptized by my
own clergyman. My husband, on Sundays, would
take care of the baby when I was out at church.
A short time before our second baby, a girl, was
born in August last, my husband spoke to me about
changing my faith ; in consequence, he told me of the
172 ROMANISM
way the Roman Catholic priest was rating him, and
I was visited on several occasions by this priest, who
told me I was not married at all, but that I was
living in open sin, and that my children were illegiti-
mate, and he pressed me to come to chapel and be
married properly. I told him I was legally married
to my husband and that I would not do what he
wished, and on one occasion my husband and I be-
sought him to leave us alone that we had lived
peaceably and agreeably before his interference, and
would still continue to do so if he let us alone. He
threatened me, if I would not comply with his request,
that there would be no peace in the house, that my
husband could not live with me, and that, if he did,
his co-religionists would cease to speak to him or
recognize him. When he found he could not per-
suade me he left in an angry and threatening mood.
"From this time on my husband's attitude to
me changed, and he made no secret to me of the way
he was being influenced. Our second baby was taken
out of the house by my husband without my leave
and taken to chapel and there baptized. My husband
also began to ill-treat me, and told me I was not
his wife, and I was nothing to him but a common
woman. I bore it all hoping that his old love for me
would show him his error. But the power of the
priests was supreme, and on returning to my home
some weeks ago, after being out for a time, I found
that both of my dear babies had been removed, and
my husband refused to tell me where they were, be-
yond that they were in safe-keeping. I did every-
thing a mother could think of to get at least to see
my babies, but my husband told me he dared not give
me any information, and that unless I changed my
faith I could not get them. A day or two after this,
on pretense of taking me to see my babies, he got me
out of the house for about two hours, and on my
return I found that everything had been taken out
of the house, including my own wearing apparel and
underclothing, and I was left homeless and without
any means of clothing beyond what I was wearing.
My husband left me and I could not find out where
he went. I subsequently saw him at the place where
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 173
he was working. He was very cross with me, refused
to tell me where the children were or to do anything,
and told me to go to the priest, in whose hands he
stated the whole matter was ; and also said that unless
I was remarried in chapel I would never see the chil-
dren. I subsequently saw the priest, who said he
could give me no information, and treated me with
scant courtesy. I have tried to find my husband, but
have failed, and can not now get any information of
his whereabouts, or of that of my babies, and I do
not even know if they are alive. My heart is break-
ing. I am told the police can do nothing in the
matter; although, if it were only a shilling that was
stolen, they would be on the search for the thief ; but
my babies are worth more to me than one shilling.
In my despair I am driven to apply to you, as the
head of all authority in this country, for help. I am
without money, and, but for the charity of kind
friends, I would be starving. I want to get my chil-
dren and to know if they are alive; and I have been
told, kind sir, that if you directed your law officers to
make inquiries, they could soon get me my rights.
Will you please do so, and help a poor, heart-broken
woman who will continue to pray for the Almighty's
blessing upon you and yours?
"MRS. McCANN."
This is only one specimen of the havoc wrought by the
"Ne Temere" decree of the present "Vicar of Christ."
In order to give the reader an idea of what is taking place
across the border in Western Canada, I quote from press re-
ports of recent date as follows:
From the Pioneer, Vancouver, B. C., December 23, 1911:
"BIGAMY
"PROMOTED BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
"WINNIPEG, December 23. Rev. Father Comeau,
resident priest of St. Mary's Church here, has made
the following statement to an evening paper in re-
gard to the recent 'Ne Temere' case at St. Boniface,
when he refused to permit a Catholic woman to see
ROMANISM
her Protestant husband unless they were remarried
by the Church:
; ' 'Suppose a Roman Catholic and a Protestant
wish to get married we will imagine the husband
to be a Catholic. The parties are married by a
Protestant minister. The moment the marriage is
contracted the husband has forsaken the Catholic
doctrine and can be no longer recognized as a true
Catholic. The only way he can come back into the
fold is by getting his legal wife to be married to him
by a Catholic priest, according to the conditions of
the Catholic Church; that is, that she will not inter-
fere with the practice of the doctrine, and the children
shall be brought up in the Catholic faith.
" 'If the wife refuses and he insists on coming
back to the Church, the husband must take a vow
never to live with her again.'
" 'If, when reinstated as a Catholic, the man
wishes to marry another woman, the ceremony to be
performed by a Catholic priest,' asked the reporter,
'may he do it?'
' 'Well,' was the reply, 'we try and get the man
to seek a divorce from the State first, because in the
eyes of the law he is still married, and while the
Church does not recognize it, we do not want to lay
ourselves open to persecution. There is a way out
and that is by having a secret marriage.'
" 'Take this as an instance : I am sent away to a
mission, a long way up in the country. When I ar-
rive a man comes to me and says, "Father, I have
committed a sin for which I am truly repentant.
Three years ago I was married to a Protestant woman
by a Protestant minister. Later we separated. We
did not get a divorce, and now I am living with
another woman. Will you marry us?"
' 'I might say, "I will run the risk and marry
you in the eyes of God." I then get two witnesses
whom I can trust never to reveal what has taken
place, and I marry the parties in secret. After this
they can never part, as there is no such thing as a
divorce in the Roman Catholic Church. Then they
are married in the eyes of God and the Church,
although perhaps not according to the law of the
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 175
State. If the former wife should get to know of the
second marriage, I might be persecuted. One never
knows.' "
The following editorial from the Weekly People, pub-
lished in Western Canada, January 13, 1912, may help to en-
lighten the reader about the promotion of bigamy by the
Roman Catholic Hierarchy:
"A CATHOLIC PRIEST PROMOTING
BIGAMY.
"A cog must have slipped from the brains and
the tongue of Father Comeau, the resident priest of
Winnipeg, an interview with whom appears in the
Vancouver Pioneer of last December 23. The inter-
view is a 'dead give-away.'
"Father Comeau's explicit answer to the reporter
for the Pioneer concerning the case of a Catholic
who married a Protestant woman, and who, seeing
his wife refuses to submit to the conditions of the
Catholic Church, leaves her, and insists upon return-
ing to his Church, and wishes to be married to an-
other woman by a priest, Father Comeau's explicit
answer to the hypothetical case was that he would
'get two witnesses, whom I can trust never to reveal
what has taken place, and I marry the parties in
secret,' adding that he knew that if the former wife
should get to know of the second marriage he 'might
be persecuted.' Prosecution under the law the
Father calls 'persecution.'
"It is of no consequence to the issue whether
the law is wise or not that defines bigamy, and enters
the act in the criminal code. The only thing that con-
cerns the issue is that a man, married under the law,
and not legally, divorced, is, under the law, a bigamist
and punishable as such if he marry again during his
first wife's life. Such is the law of the land in Win-
nipeg. All this notwithstanding. Father Comeau
stands forth not only as a condoner, but as a pro-
moter, of bigamy; and, not only that, he stands forth
as an encourager of others to steep themselves in
crime as witnesses who are to keep the secret.
176 ROMANISM
"Again and again the Daily People has main-
tained, and proved the claim with facts, that the
Roman Catholic Hierarchy is not the priesthood of a
religion, but the agency of politics ambushed behind
religion. . . .
"Again and again the Daily People has pointed
out that, differently from other political parties, all
of whom, whatever the new policies that they may
advocate, submit to the existing policies until over-
thrown, the Roman Catholic political party starts by
disregarding the existing policies and violating
them,"
In Eastern Canada, where very many of the French Cana-
dians are driven like dumb cattle by the Roman Catholic
Hierarchy, this infamous and ungodly decree is enforced, and
happy homes are broken up by priests and prelates, Archbishop
Eruschesi, of Montreal, the coming "Canadian" Cardinal, be-
ing the principal home and marriage breaker.
Let no one suppose that this "Ne Teinere" decree of
Pope Pius X. is a dead letter in the United States the land
of the free and the home of the brave ; or that I have J|o con-
fine myself to the British Empire for examples of its having
been put into actual practice.
Archbishop Glennon, of St. Louis, Mo., U. S. A., the warm
friend of President William H. Taft and ex-President Theo-
dore Roosevelt, annulled the marriage of Mr. John A. How-
land and Mrs. Helen O'Brien Howland because they were
married by a Baptist minister, and he compelled Mrs. How-
land to sign the following un-American and un-Christ-like
apology, which was read in the churches and published in the
press of America and other non-Catholic countries:
"Sx. Louis, MISSOURI,
"October 29, 1910.
"To THE REVEREND PETER J. O'RouRKE,
"Pastor of St. Mark's Church,
"Page and Academy Avenues.
"Dear Father: In submission to the obligation
laid on me by His Grace, the Reverend Archbishop,
A MENACE TO THE NATION.
177
ARCHBISHOP GLENNON VERSUS CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS
LIBERTY.
A Countess of international fame, Ambassador Dick Kearns, and
others, are striving to secure a '"red hat" for that "Ne Temere"
champion, John J. of St. Louis. The unpatriotic insult offered by the
Roman Catholic Hierarchy in St. Louis on May 24, 1912, to one of
America's greatest generals Gen. Nelson A. Miles when he was de-
prived by papal intimidation of the use of a public theater wherein
to deliver his message on "America's Danger," will no doubt help
to inspire the pope to create Glennon a cardinal a "foreign prince of
the blood." (See p. 701.)
178 ROMANISM
of publicly repairing the scandal I have given, as a
requisite for absolution, I confess to the world as a
Catholic I was married by a Baptist minister on
August 26, 1910. I ask the pardon of God for my
' sin- and- the prayers of the -faithful for the grace of -
; sincere repentance: Sincerely, v .
"HELEN O'BRIEN."
Think of the awful crime of being married by a Prot-
estant minister !
In the Metropolitan Province of New York, presided
over by Cardinal Farley, the story of the following case in
the diocese of Trenton, N. J., directly ruled by Bishop McFaul,
a Krupp gun of the Hierarchy, should arouse the millions of
people who were born outside the pale of Rome, and, conse-
quently, "illegitimate," according to her decrees and teaching,
as' well as those who are living in "concubinage" because they
have been married by non-Catholic clergymen, Justices of the
Peace, or Judges of the Superior Courts. The King and
Queen of the British Empire, the Emperor and Empress of
Germany, President and Mrs. William H. Taft, ex-President
and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Hon. Mr. and Mrs. William
Jennings Bryan, Governor and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, Mr.
and Mrs. J. P. Morgan, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller,
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schiff,
and their children, are among the millions who have been de-
clared by the "Vicars of Christ" to be "illegitimate," "here-
tics," etc., whom the cardinals, old and new, have solemnly
sworn "to combat with every effort."
I can understand how sincere non-Catholic people treat
with silent contempt the teaching of the Roman Catholic
Church that "outside of Rome there is no salvation," but I
can not understand how they can complacently suffer the insult
from the pope of Rome, who, with the quintessence of
audacity, decrees and teaches that all those who are born of
marriages contracted outside the Roman Catholic Church
the "One True Church" are "illegitimate," and that all parties
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 179
having contracted marriage as above stated are living in "con-
cubinage."
The case set forth in the following letter will serve as
another example of Rome's real attitude toward non-Catholic
marriages :
"PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY,
"February 3, 1912.
"MR. JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY, New York City.
"Gentleman: I respectfully ask for your advice
in a very important matter.
"Stephen Dagonya, a Roman Catholic Hun-
garian, married a Hungarian girl, a member of my
parish. The ceremony was performed by me in our
church. When a child was born from this wedlock
it was taken to Rev. Francis Gross, priest of the local
Hungarian Church, who said to the party that a mar-
riage performed by a Protestant minister or Judge
is entirely null ; the father and mother have to re-
marry before him in order to get a lawful marriage.
However, he baptized the child and he issued a certifi-
cate of baptism, in which he declared that the child
was 'illegitimate.' He added also that 'the parents
are living in concubinage.' He affixed to it his signa-
ture and the seal of the Church. The certificate with
two other similar ones is now with Mr. Charles M.
Snow, editor of 'Liberty/ who wants to make photos
of them.
"As the father of the child is very desperate on
account of the behavior of his priest, will you kindly
advise him what to do under these circumstances.
Has any priest any right in this country to declare
that a marriage, which is lawful in the eyes of the
country and according to the conscience of the party,
was concubinage and the fruit of such marriage was
illegitimate?
"Thanking you in advance for your valuable in-
formation in this matter, I am
"Very truly yours,
"[Signed] L. NANASSY,
"Pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church."
180 ROMANISM
My reply to the above letter was as follows:
"CINCINNATI, OHIO,
"March 29, 1912.
"REV. L. NANASSY,
"Pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church,
"Perth Amboy, N. J.
"Rev. and Dear Sir: Your letter of Feb. 3,
1912, addressed to my late residence in New York
City, has just reached me, and I hasten to reply.
"While in Washington, D. C, some weeks ago, I
saw and read the certificates to which you refer in
your letter ; and now that you have asked me person-
ally to advise the 'desperate' husband and father,
Stephen Dagonya, as to what he should do under the
circumstances, I would suggest that the Rev. Francis
Gross be prosecuted for criminal libel, and that this
be made a test case in the interests of humanity.
However, knowing the powerful and iniquitous in-
fluence of Rome over the Civil Courts, particularly
when the plaintiffs or defendants possess slender
means, I would suggest that a public appeal be made
for adequate funds to thoroughly prosecute the case,
to the millions who have been and are now indirectly
charged by Rome with living in 'concubinage' or
with being 'illegitimate.'
"In case of an adverse decision in the lower
Courts, through the influence of Rome, the case
should be appealed, and, if needs be, carried to the
Supreme Court of the United States, over which
Chief Justice White, a Jesuitical Roman Catholic, pre-
sides by the favor of President Taft. And in case
of an adverse decision by that august body, through
the influence of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, I
would suggest that the case be brought before Con-
gress without delay, and if necessary before the
bar of public opinion, as Rome, through her Jesuit-
ical decrees, policies and practices, is undermining the
inviolability of the home and the peace of nations.
"Rome hopes to gain complete political control
of our beloved country through the cunning political
influence of her four 'American' Cardinals at the
corning Presidential election. Therefore, immediate
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 181
exposure must be made of her in the Civil Courts
and otherwise, if the liberties of this country are to
be preserved.
"I shall be able to take the matter up with you
personally in the near future. Believe me,
"Very sincerely yours,
"[Signed] JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY."
Listen to the following story of what occurred quite re-
cently in Washington, D. C. :
A young man of that city, a Protestant by birth and
education, age, twenty-eight years, had been paying his honor-
able attentions to a young lady, age, twenty-two years. His
courtship was successful and the pair agreed to be married.
The young lady was a Roman Catholic. Her faith in that
Church and its priests had been weakened by a number of
circumstances, and especially by the fact that upon one oc-
casion when she went to confession she was met in the Con-
fessional box by her then pastor, who smelled very strongly
of intoxicating drink. She went home and told her mother
about it, adding that "his breath smelled perfectly awful."
However, she continued a member of the Church up to the
time of her marriage to the young gentleman above referred to.
The marriage was performed in Washington, D. C., Sep-
tember 16, 1911, in a Protestant church and by a Baptist
minister. Within a week, September 22, 1911, the young
bride received a telephone message from her sister, asking
her to come over to her parents' home. She went, and her
sister told 'her that she had received a letter from her mother,
who was- then at Colonial Beach, in which her mother ex-
pressed the desire that she go to see her late pastor, Rev.
P. J. O'Connell, St. Vincent's Church, South Capitol and N
Streets, Washington, D. C. The young bride said that she had
no desire to see Rev. O'Connell, but that she would call on him
"to please mama." Accordingly, she immediately went to see
the priest.
After some preliminary and formal conversation about
indifferent matters, the priest asked her:
No _
AGREEMENT,
To be signed by all non-Catholic applicants for
dispensation to contract marriage with
members of the Catholic Church.
I, the undersigned, not a member of the Catholic
Church, wishing to contract marriage with
_ a member of the Catholic Church,
propose to do so with the understanding that the marriage
bond thus contracted is indissoluble, except by death, and I
promise, on my word of honor, that _ ..__..
_ ...shall be permitted t/iefyee exercise of
religion according to belief f and that all children of
either sex born of this marriage, shall be baptized and educated
in the faith and according to the teachings of the Roman
Catholic Church. I furthermore promise that no other mar-
riage ceremony than that by tlw Catholic priest shall take
place.
SIGNED in THE PRESENCE OF
this. .....day of. 18
This form to be forwarded to the Chancery with application for dispensation.
ROMANISM AND DESPOTISM ARE "ONE AND INSEPARABLE."
The non-Catholic who signs the above agreement required by Rome
sells his children, yet unborn, body and soul to the pope.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 183
"Have you yet had your vacation?"
"Yes," replied the lady, "and during my vacation I was
married."
"Married! Married! And who married you?" asked
the priest.
"A Baptist minister," replied the lady.
"You are not married ! Why did you not come and con-
sult me about getting married ?"
She said, "I did not care to."
The priest then asked her, "Did you not hear the rules
about marriage read from the altar about two years ago?"
She said, "I do not know whether I did or not."
He said, "Why did you not come to me and find out?"
She replied, "I did not care to know."
The priest then angrily exclaimed : "You are not married !
You are the same as a woman who walks the streets," and
added, "You are the same as a woman that a man would take
to a room in a hotel and live with ; you are the same as a
woman in the 'Division.' " (The Division in Washington,
D. C, means the same as is understood by the Red Light
section in other cities.)
Here the lady burst into tears, and the priest, thinking
he had her "going," added in great anger and terrific tones,
"You are not married, and if you should die to-morrow morn-
ing your body would not be allowed to be brought inside of a
Catholic Church."
The lady had now quite recovered herself, and replied
defiantly, "I know that, and I do not care."
The priest now opened another view of the subject. He
remarked, "You could leave that man to-morrow morning and
marry some one else, because you are not a married woman."
The lady answered, "I will not leave my husband, and if
I did I would have to go to the law for a divorce and not come
to you."
The priest, finding himself baffled in all his efforts, con-
184 ROMANISM
tinued, exclaiming, "You are not married ! You are not mar-
ried! The idea of such a thing! You are not married!"
The young lady now told the priest that she was well aware
that she was not married according to the rules of the Roman
Catholic Church, but that she was legally married and that
was sufficient for her, and defied the priest to deny that her
marriage was lawful.
Thereupon the priest left the room in a rage and the
young lady went to her home.
She was at first reluctant to relate this interview to her
husband, because she did not want him to know that her late
pastor would presume to talk to her in such a manner. A few
days afterwards, however, she did tell him. Upon hearing the
story, her husband said that if he had been present one of
the two would have been taken to the hospital, adding, "He
had not better meet me on the street."
Let no one suppose for a moment that the views here
expressed are only those of an individual priest acting on his
own responsibility. This is not the case. Such views are not
private views. The "Ne Temcre" decree declares that mar-
riages under the law of the land are invalid and that a Cath-
olic going through this ceremony has not contracted matri-
mony and may be married again. Under the law of the land
such a second marriage, without a decree of divorce, is the
crime of bigamy, and Catholic priests and prelates are justi-
fied and authorized by the Church not only to pronounce such
marriages invalid and to inform any subject of the Church of
his or her right to contract a new marriage, but the priest is
further authorized to become a party to the crime of bigamy
by performing the second marriage ceremony himself.
The thoughtful reader will lay it to heart that the event
which the foregoing story records took place in the city of
Washington the capital of this nation ; where President Taft
presides and who has declared that there is a perfect con-
sistency between earnest devotion to the Church and perfect
obedience to the laws of the land ; and further, that the event
A MENACE tO THE NATION. 185
occurred in the archdiocese of Cardinal Gibbons, who poses
par excellence as the great defender of "law and order," and
as which he has been eulogized by Theodore Roosevelt.
The annulling of marriages by Rome is not a rare occur-
rence. While she sternly denounces divorce as one of the
greatest evils of the age, she frequently annuls marriages for
the graft that is in it, or to show her disregard for the civil
laws and marriage ceremonies performed by non-Catholic
clergymen.
Priests and prelates have wrecked many homes and
families. We even find them co-respondents in divorce suits ;
yet they continue to minister at the altar and in the confes-
sional. Baroness von Zedtwitz declared shortly before her
mysterious death that she would expose some of the crimes of
popes, prelates and priests, were it not for the fact that such
exposure would most assuredly break up many prominent
homes, both in America and Europe.
In order to avoid scandal, protect the Roman Catholic
Hierarchy of both sexes, and show contempt for the civil law,
Pope Pius X. issued a Bull, "Motu Proprio," which excom-
municates any person, lay or cleric, man or woman, who shall
without the permission of ecclesiastical authorities, summon
any Roman Catholic ecclesiastic before a lay tribunal, either
in a civil or criminal case. The main part of this Bull reads
as follows:
"In these evil days, when ecclesiastical immuni-
ties receive no consideration, and not only priests and
clerics, but even bishops and cardinals of the Holy
Roman Church, are cited before lay tribunals, this
condition of things absolutely demands of us to re-
strain by severe penalty those who can not be other-
wise deterred from the commission of so heinous a
crime against the religious character. Therefore, by
this Motu Proprio we determine and ordain that
whatever private person, lay or cleric, man or woman,
shall, without having obtained permission of ecclesi-
astical authorities, cite to a lay tribunal and compel
186
to appear there publicly any ecclesiastical person,
either in a criminal or civil case, will incur excom-
munication, 'lat<z sententice,' specially reserved to the
Roman Pontiff. This by these letters is decided, and
we wish it to stand ratified, everything to the contrary
notwithstanding.
"Given at St. Peter's, the ninth day of October,
1911, the ninth year of Our Pontificate.
"Pius PP. X."
This recent decree of Pope Pius X. is a gigantic bluff to
intimidate not only his "Catholic subjects," but also the rulers
and governments of non-Catholic countries and their subjects.
To many it would seem incredible that such things could
happen in the twentieth century and under constitutional gov-
ernments.
Why do not the rulers and governments of all non-Cath-
olic countries step in to protect the rights of the people from
such dangerous and infamous invasion by the pope of Rome,
as did the Government of Russia which recently prosecuted
Bishop Casimir Ruszkiewiez, suffragan bishop to the Arch-
bishop of Warsaw, and Father Cisplinski on the charge of
declaring a legal marriage null, and thus infringing civil
authority? The result was a sentence of sixteen months' im-
prisonment for both priest and bishop. The term is to be
passed in a fortress and the bishop is to be deposed from his
diocese.
Russia knows Rome and therefore nips her in the bud in
order to prevent her gaining supremacy over civil authority.
If the other non-Catholic countries had only done likewise,
or would even do it now, Romanism would not wield the
powerful, iniquitous influence which it does.
Why do not the Governments of the British Empire and
the United States prosecute and punish according to law
priests and prelates guiltv of similar, and far worse, crimes?
CHAPTER XII.
ROME AND AMERICA.
I have no sort of controversy, personal or otherwise, with
President William H. Taft, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt,
Woodrow Wilson, or any other politician, but in the interest
of humanity I feel constrained to warn the people everywhere
of the intrigues going on between the Roman Hierarchy and
politicians. Having been a member of that Hierarchy for
twenty-one years, I know whereof I speak.
Up to the present time Mr. Roosevelt has made no answer
to the protest from millions of American citizens, whom
he denounced as possessed and influenced by an "unwarranted
bigotry" because of their earnest and conscientious protest in
behalf of constitutional liberty against the unwarranted claims
of the papal power.
The official attendance of President Taft and other high
non-Catholic government officials at Solemn High Mass on
Thanksgiving Day for the last three years in St. Patrick's
Church, Washington, D. C., has established a deplorable prece-
dent for future presidents, as well as for non-Catholic people
throughout the country, for whom he has set the example.
The President of the United States and other high non-Cath-
olic officials should not permit themselves, through selfish
motives, to be used by the Roman Catholic Church for adver-
tising purposes.
Mr. Taft, addressing the Knights of Columbus, a strong
politico-religious organization, at Portland, Oregon, October
12, 1911, said in part as follows:
"Instead of being a reason why you can not be
patriotic, loyal sons of the United States, willing to
yield up your lives if occasion calls, the fact that you
are members of the Roman Catholic Church in the
187
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 189
United States is an assurance that you are such patri-
otic, loyal citizens."
Can any one believe that President Taft is sincere when
he makes this declaration? He surely knows the position of
the Roman Catholic Church and its claim of the supremacy of
the papal over the civil power. Here is what a great American
papal organ, The Catholic World, says upon this subject, which
statements are neither new nor original. The Catholic World
says:
"The Roman Catholic is to wield his vote for the
purpose of securing Catholic ascendency in this coun-
try. All legislation must be governed by the will of
God unerringly indicated by the pope. Education
must be controlled by the Catholic authorities, and
under education the opinions of the individuals and
the utterances of the press are included. Many
opinions are to be forbidden by the secular arm, under
the authority of the Church, even to war and blood-
shed."
Does not this savor of the Inquisition?
Who inspired Indian Commissioner Valentine's order for-
bidding teachers to wear their religious garb (mask) in the
Indian Schools, and why was it immediately revoked by Presi-
dent Taft pending future political developments? Was it a
politico-religious "frame-up" favoring Romanism, with the
understanding that the much sold "Catholic vote" would be
given to him?
Priests and prelates realize that politicians who are reach-
ing after office will do anything and everything to help Rome
"make America dominantly Catholic," in order to secure the
"Catholic vote" for themselves and their party. Therefore,
this presidential year is considered most opportune to force the
issue and compel the Federal Administration to establish far-
reaching precedents in favor of Romanism.
Another link in the chain between Washington and Rome
is supplied by the following item which appeared in The Cath-
olic Telegraph, Cincinnati, Ohio, in its issue of April 4, 1912:
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 191
"ROOSEVELT'S MISTAKE
"CAREFULLY AVOIDED BY MAJOR ARCHIBALD BUTT.
"ROME, March 30. It has become known that
Major Archibald Butt, President Taft's personal
aide, besides bringing an autograph letter from the
American Chief Executive to the Pope, brought cre-
dentials in the shape of three letters, addressed to
Cardinal Merry del Val, the P&pal Secretary of
State ; Cardinal Rampolla, his predecessor in . that
office, and an American prelate. All three were asked
to arrange the audience with the Pope.
"The negotiations for the audience were con-
ducted through ecclesiastical channels without the in-
tervention of the American Embassy, lest the mistake
which was committed when Colonel Roosevelt came
to Rome on his return from Africa be repeated.
Major Butt did not communicate with the Quirinal
and did not see King Victor Emmanuel.
"The Pope was greatly pleased with the visit of
Major Butt, which he subsequently contrasted with
the failure of Colonel Roosevelt's projected call.
The letter which the Pope has sent to President Taft
in care of Major Butt is merely complimentary."
While it may be complimentary to President Taft, it is
by no means complimentary or agreeable to patriotic Amer-
ican citizens that such a mission should be even thought of,
let alone executed.
The press has informed the public that it was for the
purpose of thanking the pope for the bestowal of three car-
dinals' hats upon "Americans," and asking information as
to the proper rank of the various cardinals at great state
functions.
Why should the President of this so-called free country
thank the pope for having conferred papal titles on his agents,
which titles, according to the regulations of the Church of
Rome, give them precedence over the President himself?
192
ROMANISM
BERNARD VAUGHAN-A JESUIT "LADY-TURNER."
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 19 J
Why be SO solicitous of the "proper rank" of "Americans"
who have sworn allegiance to a foreign potentate the pope?
This confidential and unpatriotic mission has already cost
our country the life of one of its chivalrous sons.
"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence," said
Washington, "the jealousy of a free people ought ever to be
constantly awake, since history and experience prove that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican
government."
We might inquire if this autograph letter and visit, pre-
ceding the presidential election, was for religious or political
purposes. I wonder if the present political crisis led President
Taft and Major Butt to that haven, or did they come under
the spell of Jesuit Vaughan of England, who has recently
been "performing" in Canada and the United States, and
to whom credit is given for "turning" President Taft's sister-
in-law to the Roman Catholic Church.
Vaughan and his manager, the pope, feeling that he
"knocked out" Protestantism in Canada and the United States
during his short evangelistic mission in 1910, on his present
extended tour is concentrating his Jesuitical energies on the
demolition of Socialism, the abolition of divorce, and the
"turning" of wealthy non-Catholic women.
Let us hope that Jesuit Vaughan will not follow in the
footsteps of that eloquent libertine, the Right Rev. Monsignor
Capel, also an Englishman, whom the pope sent to America
some years ago to convert non-Catholic women of rank, wealth
and fashion, but as generally happens, while "turning" them
be fell from grace, and for several years lived in a luxuriously
furnished home in California, devoting the latter years of an
ill-spent life to the guardianship of another man's wife .and
her ranch. However, he, like the vast majority of priests and
prelates, being thoroughly posted in Canon Law and Sacred
Theology, took care not to violate the "Ne Tcmere" decree,
and consequently when he died recently, the public was in-
194 ROMANISM
formed that he passed away in the odor of sanctity and was
buried with high honors from the Roman Catholic Church.
The Right Rev. Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, English
priest and author, son of the late Episcopal Archbishop of
Canterbury and a "distinguished convert" to the Catholic faith,
is now in this country. Speaking of the outlook for religion
in England, he says :
"I think we shall have all the religion that there
will be in fifty or sixty years' time, but there will be
an enormous amount of infidelity and agnosticism.
The other forms of Christianity are tumbling down-
stairs as fast as they can go."
Messrs. Benson, Vaughan and other "Ambassadors of
Christ" should remember what a Kempis says in the "Imita-
tion of Christ" "Those who travel much abroad seldom be-
come holy."
Many distinguished Jesuit stars, while engaged in similar
missions, have fallen by the wayside, among them that "emi-
nent convert," Rev. Thomas Ewing Sherman, son of the late
General Sherman, who lately attempted suicide and had to
be confined in an asylum. Priests and prelates ought to follow
St. Paul's example and take care lest while preaching to others
they themselves may become castaways.
Here it may not be out of place to give a brief descrip-
tion of the Jesuits, commonly called the "Society of Jesus."
This Order is under the absolute control of its General, the
"Black Pope." They have been expelled by many European
governments, and Pope Clement XIII. was even compelled by
public opinion to promise their suppression, but was murdered
before the fulfillment of this promise. His successor, Pope
Clement XIV., was compelled by like opinion to suppress
them, but was poisoned soon thereafter. Pope Pius VII., for
political reasons, restored them to power, and ever since the
Jesuits are the power behind the papal throne. To-day they
are stronger in the United States than they ever were in any
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 195
of the countries of Europe which expelled them as a menace
to .the government
Harper's Weekly of May 21, 1870, says of the Jesuits:
"The operations of this powerful Society em-
brace every part of the world, and are carried on by
means of the most intricate machinery ever contrived
by man. The Society is divided in five classes: ist.
Professed Members (Professi) ; 2nd. Spiritual Co-
adjutors; 3rd. Lay Coadjutors; 4. Approved Pupils;
5th. The Novices.
"From his residence in Rome the General directs
the movements of the Society in every part of the
world by means of a system in which the art of
'espionage' is brought to perfection. Every month
or every quarter he receives reports from the heads
of all the subordinate departments ; and every third
year the catalogues of every province, with detailed
reports on the capacity and conduct of every mem-
ber, are laid before him. Besides this, the most active
correspondence is maintained with all parts of the
world, in order to supply the offices of the Society
with the information they require. In the central
house at Rome are kept voluminous registers, in
which are inscribed the names of all Jesuits, of their
adherents, and of all the considerable persons,
whether friends or enemies, with whom they have
any connection. In these registers, we are told, 'are
reported without alteration, without* hatred, without
passion, the facts relating to the life of each indi-
vidual. It is the most gigantic biographical collec-
tion that has ever been formed. The frailties of a
woman, the secret errors of a statesman, are chron-
icled in these books with the same cold impartiality.
Drawn up for the purpose of being useful, these bi-
ographies are necessarily exact. When the Jesuits
wish to influence an individual, they have but to turn
to these volumes to know immediately his life, his
character, his faults, his family, his friends, his most
secret ties.' By the use of such machinery the Order
has attained its high position and widespread in-
fluence."
196 ROMANISM
The General is at the head of this black and mute militia,
which thinks, wills, acts, obeys the passive instrument of his
designs. Their whole life must have but one aim the ad-
vancement of the Order to which they are attached.
From the preceding paragraphs, we can. understand how
Jesuitism or Romanism gets control of and "converts" women
of rank, wealth and fashion ; and also how politicians who are
not saints, fearing exposure, are compelled to do Rome's bid-
ding, no matter how unpatriotic. The private lives of poli-
ticians are closely watched and recorded. Sometimes they are
entrapped in order to get them in the power of Rome.
The present complications of the political factions, in
both Democratic and Republican parties, have been brought
about by Jesuitism in order to ccnfuse the public and compel
the aspiring candidates or their supporters to "come and see"
the ecclesiastical bosses, who are supposed to control the
"Catholic vote." The more dissensions in the parties, the more
helpless the candidates are in the hands of Rome, and the
more she will demand in lieu of her alleged support for nomi-
nation and, eventually, election. Rome has played both parties
"to a frazzle" in the present campaign, 1912.
During the first "American Mission" to the Vatican in
1902, Extraordinary Ambassador Taft made a deal with the
pope involving several million dollars for the Friars' lands in
the Philippine Islands. And as a quid pro quo the pope of
Rome granted to the Chief Executive at Washington the
power of veto of bishops and archbishops in the Philippine
Islands, a right which he will hardly ever dare exercise.
How long shall the Roman Catholic Hierarchy play the
people for fools?
Shall the government be of the people, for the people, and
by the people, or by the pope?
Let's not let the pope of Rome name our President for us.
Lovers of your country, beware of Jesuitical intrigues,
the political power of Romanism, and the honeyed words of
politicians reaching after the presidency !
CHAPTER XIII.
ROMANIZING NON-CATHOLIC COUNTRIES.
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy has taken advantage of
the press agency age in which we live. The trans-Atlantic
cable has lately been kept busy flashing the most trivial details
concerning the so-called honors done America, "the youngest
but richest daughter of the Church," in elevating to the rank
of princes and kings three of her wiliest Jesuitical emissaries,
who claim to be American citizens. They can not be loyal
American citizens and at the same time loyal "Princes of the
Church." Their very oath of allegiance to the pope, a foreign
potentate, whose spiritual and temporal power they have
solemnly sworn to promote and defend, "even to the shedding
of blood," precludes this possibility. The despotic dogmas of
the Church of Rome are diametrically opposed to the Con-
stitutions of all countries, and, therefore, cardinals, arch-;-
bishops, bishops, monsignors, priests and monks, having sworrt
allegiance to a foreign potentate, have so far renounced their
allegiance to their lawful sovereigns or governments, and,
consequently, should be considered as aliens with respect to
citizenship.
If any one has the least doubt in the world that the cardih
nals' first allegiance is due to the pope of Rome, and only
their secondary allegiance, when not in conflict with their obe-
dience due the pope, is given to their respective countries, let
such an one read the oath taken by a cardinal when he enters
upon his office, and all possible doubts will be dispelled.
The following is the oath which these three "American"
cardinals, as well as all other cardinals, must take on becoming
'Princes of the Church." This translation of the oath was
printed in the Daily Telegraph (London), Dec. i, 1911, and
.197
A MENACE tO THE NATION. 199
accepted as genuine by Monsignor Canon Moyes in a letter
published in the Tablet of London (Roman Catholic), Dec.
16, 1911 :
"I, , of the Holy Roman Church,
cardinal of , promise and swear, from
this hour forward, as long as I shall live, to be
faithful and obedient to the blessed Peter and the
Holy Roman Apostolic Church, and our Most Holy
Lord Pius X., and his canonically elected successor;
"To give no counsel nor to concur in anything
nor aid in any way against the pontifical majesty or
person ;
"Never to disclose affairs entrusted to me by
them personally, by their nuncios, or by letters, will-
ingly or knowingly, to their detriment or dishonor ;
"To be ever ready to aid them to retain, defend
and recover their rights against all, to fight with all
zeal, and all my forces, for their honor and dignity;
"To direct and defend honorably and kindly
legates and nuncios of the apostolic see in all places
under my jurisdiction, to provide for their safe jour-
ney, and treat them honorably going, during their
stay, and during their return, and to resist even to
the shedding of blood whosoever would attempt any-
thing against them ;
"To try in every way to assert, uphold, preserve,
increase and promote the rights, even temporal, es-
pecially those of the civil principality, the liberty, the
honor, privileges and authority of the Holy Roman
Church, of our lord the Pope, and the aforesaid suc-
cessors;
"When it shall come to my knowledge that some
machination, prejudicial to those rights, which I can
not prevent, is taking place, immediately to make it
known to the Pope, his successor, or to some one
qualified to convey the knowledge to them ;
"To observe and fulfill, and see that others ob-
serve and fulfill the regulations, the decrees and the
ordinances, the dispensations and preservation of
provisions and apostolic mandates, the constitutions
of Pope Sixtus V., of happy memory, concerning
visits 'Ad limina Apostolorum' at the prescribed
200 ROMANISM
times, according to the tenor of said constitution;
"To combat with every effort heretics, schis-
matics, and those rebelling against our lord the Pope
and his successors;
"When summoned for any reason whatsoever by
the Holy Father or his successor, to come to them,
or when detained by a just cause to send one to
present my excuses, and to show them due reverence
and obedience ;
"Never to sell or to give away, mortgage, or
alienate without consent of the Roman Pontiff, even
though the consent of said chapters or convents or
churches or monasteries or their benefices be had, the
possessions belonging to the 'mensa' of the church,
monasteries, or other benefices committed to me ;
"Likewise to observe inviolably the constitution
of the Supreme Pontiff Pius X., which begins Vacante
Sede Apostolica, given at Rome the twenty-fifth day
of December, in the year 1904, concerning the vacancy
of the Holy See and the election of the Roman Pon-
tiff ; and to lend no help nor countenance to any inter-
vention of the civil power in the election of the Pope ;
likewise,
"To observe minutely each and all of the decrees,
especially those which have emanated from the sacred -
congregation of the ceremonies, or those to come from
it, relative to the sublime dignity of the cardinalate,
nor to do anything which would be repugnant to the
honor and dignity of it, and to pay the rights of the
cardinal's ring conceded by Gregory XV. to the
Sancta Congrcgatio de Propaganda Fide.
"So help me God and these holy gospels."
Many of the same obligations are imposed in the oath
administered to archbishops and bishops, including that part
referring to action against heretics and schismatics (Prot-
estants).
It is simply impossible for a cardinal, or any member of
the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, to be a loyal son of the
Church and at the same time a loyal citizen of the United
States, or of any country, no matter what Taft, Roosevelt and
others, for political purposes, may allege to the contrary.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 201
The Duke of Norfolk (Roman Catholic), Premier Duke
of England, writing to Lord Beaumont (Roman Catholic),
Nov. 28, 1850, says in part:
"I should think that many must feel as we do,
that ultramontane [papal] opinions are totally in-
compatible with the allegiance to our Sovereign and
with our Constitution."
In passing, I may state that the appointment of a bishop
or archbishop to a wealthy diocese in the United States costs
the aspiring candidates and their supporters, clerical and lay,
several million dollars. To the uninitiated this amount may
appear extravagant, but when we consider the fifty million
dollars' worth of property, more or less, which comes directly
under the control of the successful candidate appointed by the
pope and his cabinet inspired, of course, by the Holy Ghost
the sum total of the bribes to the Vatican is by no means
excessive. Catholic and non-Catholic friends of aspiring can-
didates for papal honors are permitted and encouraged to
"chip in" and use their political influence with the pope. And
as for the price paid for "red hats," the amount is incon-
ceivable, and the intrigues connected therewith are sometimes
international : for example, the Bellamy Storer-Roosevelt-Ire-
land episode.
The press has recently given us Rome and "red hats"
usque ad nauseam, telling us of the pope's admiration and
love for America, Americans, their wealth and generosity.
Papal blessings and honors are frequently cabled* but we
may well bear in mind the story of the great wooden horse of
Troy and the enemy concealed within it remembering the
motto: "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentcs." [I fear the Greeks
even bearing gifts.] Wake up, non-Catholics!
I am convinced that the non-Catholic people are blind to
their vital interests. On every side they are saying: "Oh, the
Roman Catholic Church is not as it was fifty years ago ; it is
more liberal." But the Roman Catholic Church is ever and
H. J. RES. 97.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
DECEMBER 20, 1909
Mr. BANSDELI. introduced the following joint resolution , which was referred to
the Committee on the Library and ordered to be printed.
JOINT RESOLUTION
Authorizing the occupancy of reservation numbered sixty-eight
in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, as a site for
and erection of a pedestal of a statue in honor of the late
Eevcrend Dennis J Stafford, doctor of divinity
1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
2 of the United States, of America in Congress assembled,
3 That reservation numbered sixty-eight in the city of Wash-
4 ington, District of Columbia, situated at the intersection of
5 Eleventh and Twelfth streets, L street, and Massachusetts
6 avenue, is hereby set apart as a site for a statue of the late
7 Reverend Dennis J Stafford, doctor of divinity, said statue
8 to be provided by the Father Stafford Memorial Association
9 SEC 2. That for the preparation of the site so selected
10 and the erection of the pedestal the expenditure of four thou-
41 Sand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is
12 hereby authorized
MEMORIAL TO A LOVER OF PLUTUS, BACCHUS AND
VENUS.
If the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, with the aid of non-Catholic
politicians, gets this or a similar bill passed, the highways and the
byways will be dotted with memorials to a foreign Hierarchy.
202
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 203
everywhere the same. As she was fifty years ago so she is
to-day, except that she is playing politics more astutely now
than she was then.
I know by varied and bitter experiences the spirit of
bigotry, bribery, hypocrisy, superstition, intrigue, persecution,
treason and murder which actuates the Roman Catholic Hier-
archy ; and I feel that an imperative duty calls me to resume
my efforts to enlighten the Roman Catholic people every-
where as to the abominable priestcraft which is being prac-
tised upon them. For them I have only the deepest sym-
pathy. Born, reared and trained in their faith, I know how
naturally they are held in bondage and how easily they are
deluded, degraded and despoiled in the sacred name of relig-
ion. And I also feel that it is my duty to awaken the non-
Catholic people of all nations to a realization of the imminent
dangers which confront them.
It is the verdict of history, says Mr. Mangasarian, that
"Where the priests are free, the people are slaves !
Where the priests are rich, the people are poor! .
Where the priests teach, the people are ignorant !
Where the priests prosper, progress is paralyzed !
Where the priests lead, they lead into misery,
bondage, poverty, superstition, persecution ruin !"
Lord Macaulay truthfully described the Vatican system
when he said:
"It is impossible to deny that the polity of the
Church of Rome is the very masterpiece of human
wisdom. In truth, nothing but such a polity could,
against such assaults, have borne up such doctrines.
The experience of twelve hundred eventful years,
the ingenuity and patient care of forty generations
of statesmen, have improved the polity to such per-
fection that, among the contrivances that have been
devised for deceiving and oppressing mankind, it
occupies the highest place."
H. R 30155.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
DECEMBER 21, 1910.
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred -to the Com-
mittee on Iht^-Tcrrilurics nrid ordered to be printed.
A BILL
Donating three hundred thousand acres of land to the Christian
Brothers of Saint Louis Province, in New Mexico, to be held
in trust by them for the establishment of a manual-training
school for the youth of New Mexico
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 lives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
3 That three hundred thousand acres of unappropriated non-
4 mineral land in the Territory of New Mexico, te be selected
5 under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, be, and
6 the same is hereby, donated to the Christian Brothers of
7 Saint Louis Province, in New Mexico, to be held by them m
8 trust for the establishment of a manual-training school in the
9 Territory of New Mexico, for the youth of New Mexico, and
itf that the income from said land or the proceeds of the sale
11 thereof be devoted exclusively to the maintenance and sup-
12 port of the said institution
A SLIGHT TOKEN OF ESTEEM FROM PATRIOTIC
POLITICIANS.
American citizens, do you approve of this bill? Are you aware
that all these Religious ( ?) Orders, male and female, are money-
making corporations under the control and supervision of the Roman
Hierarchy? The diversion of public funds by the Papal Orders of
New York City should be a warning to non-Catholics.
204
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 205
There was affixed to a column at the corner of the Orsini
Palace in Rome at the beginning of the sixteenth century the
following comparison between Christ and the pope :
"Christ said : My kingdom is not of this world.
The pope conquers cities by force.
Christ had a crown of thorns.
The pope wears a triple diadem.
Christ washed the feet of His disciples.
The pope has his kissed by Kings.
Christ paid tribute.
The pope takes it.
Christ fed the sheep.
The pope shears them for his own profit.
Christ was poor.
The pope wishes to be master of the world.
Christ carried on his shoulders the cross.
The pope is carried on the shoulders of his serv-
ants in liveries of gold.
Christ despised riches.
The pope has no other passion than for gold.
Christ drove out the merchants from the temple.
The pope welcomes them.
Christ preached peace.
The pope is the torch of war.
Christ was meekness.
The pope is pride personified.
Christ promulgated the laws that the pope tram-
ples underfoot."
Notwithstanding the wealth, political power, and the extra-
ordinary increase claimed by the Roman Catholic Church,
investigation will prove that she is losing ground everywhere
206
ROMANISM
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PHENOMENAL GROWTH
Of Catholic Church in United States
Shown By Official Directory.
New York. March 28. There are" 15,015,-
669 Catholics In the United States proper,
according to the 1912 edition of "Kennedy's 1
Official Catholic Directory," which Is au-
thority also for the following statistics:
A year ago the Catholic population of
"the country was 14,618,761, while 10 years
t?ott was 10,976,757 showing an increase
of 4,038,812 for the decade. Twenty years
ago Catholics numbered 8,615,185, showing
that within 20 years the Catholic popu:ation
has nearly doubled
There are 17,491 Catholic priests in the
United States and 13,939 Catholic churches.
of which 9 V 250 have resident priests, the
other 4,683 being mission churches. The
Directory also shows that there are 14 Arch-
bishops, 2 titular Archbishops, 97 Bishops,
2 Archa'bbots and 15 Abbots in the Union.
Furthermore, there are 83 seminaries with
6,006 students preparing for the p'riest-
hood, 229 colleges for boys and 701 acade-
mies for. girls. There are 6,119 parodiial
schools, with an attendance of 1,333,786.
There are also 289 orphan asylums, caring
for 47,111 orphans. Including the children
in parochial schools, orphan asylums,
academies, colleges and other charitable
Institutions, the grand total of young peo-
ple under Catholic, care amounts to 1.-C40,-
O49.
The following shows the state,s -having the
largest number of Catholics v 'New York,
2,778,076; Pennsylvania, 1,616,920; Illinois,
1,447,400; Massachusetts, 1,381,212; Ohio,
745,271; Louisiana, 783,000; Wisconsin. o,">0,-
703; Michigan, 654,320; New Jersey, 502,000;
Missouri, 445,000; Minnesota, 447,280; Con-
necticut, 412,973; California, 399.500; Texas.
300.917; Iowa. 261,625, Maryland, 260,000;
Rhode Island, 255,000; Indiana, 227,695;
Kentucky, 158,945; New Mexico, 140.57.1;
Nebraska 130,755; New Hampshire. /26.034;
Maine, 123,647; Kansas. 121,000; Colorado
105,000.
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A JESUITICAL CONCOCTION A LIE.
The vast majority of so-called Roman Catholics are at heart ag-
nostics many of them infidels. If once baptized, they are not only
reckoned as Romanists, but multiplied many fold in census returns
of late years for political purposes.
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 207
as a religion : in fact, Romanism is not a religion : Romanism
is first and last political. According to the most trustworthy
statistics, eighty million followers have left the Roman Cath-
olic Church during the past seventy-five years. The Roman
Catholic Hierarchy has been exposed and dethroned by the
despoiled Catholic people in Italy, France and Portugal. It
ib being exposed and dethroned by the Catholic people in
Spain, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Ireland and other so-called
Catholic countries, where it is trembling, tottering, falling.
Strange as it may seem to the casual observer, it is true,
nevertheless, that in many Catholic countries the papal policy
of power and pelf has been repudiated as a curse by the Cath-
olic people and their representatives, while in non-Catholic
countries the papal policy is embraced for the graft that is in
it, by non-Catholic politicians elected to office by the credulous
non-Catholic people ; and this is especially true in the English-
speaking countries England, Canada and the United States.
These unscrupulous politicians, high and low, are only too
willing to serve the pope in his ungodly efforts to regain tem-
poral power.
The political influence of the papacy is making rapid prog-
ress in non-Catholic countries, owing solely to the apathy of the
people and the traitorous conduct of non-Catholic politicians,
including Presidents and Prime Ministers, who, as a rule, are
pledged to Rome by their corrupt political machines, in order
to secure the supposed "Catholic vote," which the pope pretends
to control, but which he does not.
Non-Catholics are possessed by the false impression that
the Catholic laity vote as a unit as they are directed by the
Hierarchy. This is not true. There is a division in the Cath-
olic laity upon political matters, and an independence of action
of which non-Catholics have no conception. For the purpose
of inducing non-Catholics to court the support of the Roman
Catholic clergy and accede to their demands, they are made
to believe by the representations of crafty, cunning priests and
prelates that the pope controls the "Catholic vote." Previous
ARCHBISHOP GIOVANNI BONZANO PAPAL NUNCIO.
The new head of the Papal Secret Service Bureau in the U. S. A.,
being asked, on his arrival in New York harbor, if he had any formal
message for the people of this country, replied :
"I am very glad and feel greatly honored to have been sent to repre-
sent the ancient Church before the great American people, and where,
in spite of your busy life and ways, you have so much time for re-
ligion and doing good work."
Notwithstanding this declaration, Archbishop Bonzano knows or
ought to know that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is responsible for
the alliance between crooked politics and crooked business, which has
been responsible for nine-tenths of the corruption in American politics.
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy is the breeder of anarchy. In its
efforts to prostitute the people's schools to politics, it is an enemy of
the most dangerous character and is more to be condemned than the
anarchist.
Bonzano is the plenopotentiary representative of the pope of Rome,
who, with the quintessence of audacity, claims to be "Our Lord God
the Pope, Vicar of Jesus Christ, King of Heaven, of Earth, and of
Hell, and servant of the servants of God." Was there ever such a
contradiction ?
208
A MENACE TO THE NATION. 209
to political elections, priests, prelates and "Princes of the
Church" promise the supposed "Catholic vote" to both polit-
ical parties, Republican and Democratic of course, they could
not conscientiously and consistently promise it to either the
Prohibition or Socialist party. At the close of an election the
pope is represented by his clerical, as well as lay, agents at the
headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties, and
even in the very homes of the candidates. They are there to
congratulate the victor and assure him that his election is due
to the "Catholic vote," and also to remind him that the pope
and his representatives are entitled to the greater share of the
appointments to be made by him. This papal political trick
"heads I win, tails you lose" is successfully played at elec-
tions in all non-Catholic countries.
The mass of the Catholic vote can not be corralled for the
support of any man. If non-Catholics would only take a bold
stand in defense of civil and religious liberty against Rome,
they would find thousands yea, hundreds of thousands of
nominal Catholics rallying to their camp. But these inde-
pendent-thinking Catholics, seeing the obsequiousness and ser-
vility of non-Catholics in their obedience to the suggestions of
the Roman Hierarchy, naturally decline to take the initiative
in the defense of civil and religious liberty.
Yea, more than this. If the game of every man for himself
was to be played in earnest, why should independent Catholics
give up advantages and benefits which they might receive them-
selves through Roman influence in American and English poli-
tics for the use and behoof of non-Catholics who are cringing
before Rome for the sake of business success and political
preferment expected to be derived from her favoring influ-
ence?
Why, then, do the liberty-loving people of non-Catholic
countries permit themselves to be deceived and enslaved by
that debauched, liberty-destroying Hierarchy?
Those who are indifferent on this subject should note Lord
Beaconsfield's words of warning:
210 ROMANISM
"We are sinking beneath a power before which
the proudest conquerors have grown pale, and by
which the nations most devoted to freedom have
become enslaved the power of a foreign priesthood."
There is urgent need of a wide publicity of the truth con-
cerning Romanism! In the words of William Ewart Glad-
stone, uttered against the Vatican system, I would warn the
lovers of liberty everywhere "against the velvet paw and smooth
exterior of a system which is dangerous to the foundation of
civil order. . . . Never was there invented a greater con-
spiracy against the liberty, virtue and happiness of the people,
than that represented by Romanism." And with the illustrious
Gladstone, I say:
"I am confident that if a system so radically bad
is to be made or kept innocuous, the first condition
for attaining such a result is that its movements
should be carefully watched, and above all that the
basis on which they work should be faithfully and
unflinchingly exposed."
Protestantism is asleep ! Romanism, the sleepless and
tireless foe of liberty, enlightenment and progress, is awake !
Shall we permit it to enslave us, or shall we follow the wise
and patriotic example of Italy, France and Portugal?
"The time has come
When men, with hearts and brains,
Must rise and take the misdirected reins
Of government, too long left in the hands
Of Aliens and of Lackeys. He who stands
And sees the mighty vehicle of State
Hauled thro' the mire to some ignoble fate,
And makes not bold protest as he can,
Is no American." Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
TO THE PUBLIC
I am a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago,
and I am in good standing. I am also a citizen of the United
States of America.
I am engaged in the threefold work of (i) purifying my
beloved Church from existing evils, (2) protecting the public
school from Catholic clerical machinations, and (3) promoting
a sympathetic understanding between Catholics and non-Cath-
olics. I am prosecuting my threefold work by publishing,
lecturing and preaching.
Priests and Prelates accuse me covertly of making false
accusations in my book entitled ''The Parochial School, a
Curse to the Church, a Menace to the Nation": I now state
that if my opponents can disprove the charges in my book, I
will hand over to them all the plates of my book, and I will-
agree to stop its publication forever. Since these accusations
were published, nearly two years have elapsed, and the Church
officials have not arraigned me, nor taken any step looking to
the disproof of my charges.
I will give Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to any one
who can prove that I am not in possession of the "faculties"
of a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY.
Chicago, November, 1906.
211
ENDORSEMENT BY A GREAT CATHOLIC
ARCHBISHOP
I am convinced that Almighty God brought Father Crow-
ley to America to save the Catholic Church, and that the
present scandal in Chicago the most terrible that has ever
occurred in America was permitted by Providence to bring
to a climax the reign of rottenness, that it might be unearthed,
exposed and wiped out.
THE MOST REV, FRANCIS XAVIER KATZER, D. D.,
Late Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee.
COMMENDATION OF PROMINENT
CLERGYMEN
To ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN :
In view of the fact that the Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley,
a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and an Amer-
ican citizen, feels that he has been providentially called into
what he terms the threefold work of (i) purifying his Church
from existing evils, (2) protecting the public school from
Catholic clerical machinations, and (3) promoting a sympa-
thetic understanding between Catholics and non-Catholics,
We, the undersigned, being personally acquainted with
Father Crowley, hereby certify to our firm confidence in him
as a Christian gentleman, to o-ur conviction as to the wisdom
of his methods, and to our belief in the great importance and
the pressing necessity of his work.
We bid him Godspeed in his preaching, lecturing and
publishing. We feel that pulpits and pJatforms everywhere
should be open to him, and that his book entitled ''The Paro-
chial School, A Curse to the Church, A Menace to the
Nation," should be read by every thoughtful person, regard-
less of race or creed.
ni
COMMENDATION OF PROMINENT CLERGYMEN ' 213
We most cordially commend him to all the people of
America, earnestly bespeaking for him their hearty sympathy
and generous support.
REV. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D, D.,
The Evangelistic Leader of the Presbyterian Church.
REV. WILBERT W. WHITE, D. D.,
President, Bible Teachers Training School, New York City.
REV. HUNTER CORBETT, D. D.,
Moderator, Presbyterian Church, U. S. A.
REV. S. PARKES CADMAN, D. D.,
Pastor of the Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.
REV. CORNELIUS WOELFKIN, D. D.,
Professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary,
Rochester, N. Y.
REV. JNO. J. TIGERT, D. D.,
Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
REV. CHARLES C. McCABE, D. D.,
Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church.
REV. O. P. GIFFORD, D. D.,
Pastor of the Delaware Ave. Baptist Church, Buffalo, N. Y.
REV. HENRY C. MABIE, D. D.,
Boston, Mass.
REV. C. H. WOOLSTON, D. D.,
Pastor of the East Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
REV. IRA LANDRITH, D. D.,
President of the Belmont College, Nashville, Tenn.
REV. J. D. MOFFAT, D. D.,
President of Washington and Jefferson College,
Washington, Pa.
PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF
PART II.
As a Catholic priest and an American citizen, I beg you,
reader, to do me the favor to read this preface carefully.
I am engaged in a crusade, not against the Church, but
against Catholic clerical corruption and un-Americanism. In
this crusade I face the most powerful aggregation of wealth
and influence on earth.
Persecution is the only reply my opponents make to my
book. They are putting forth their utmost efforts to crush
me. Bookdealers and canvassers are intimidated; the secular
press is muzzled, and the Catholic people are threatened with
eternal damnation if they read it. Within the past few months
the manager of the Sherman House, a prominent Chicago
hotel at which I had resided for four years, was visited by
prominent Catholic politicians and office-holders in this city,
and was so intimidated by these emissaries of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy that notice was given me to leave the hotel,
and the boast is made by my clerical enemies that they will
drive me out of the city and finally force me to leave the
country. Under this pressure I have been compelled to pro-
vide myself a private home, but will not leave the city.
My crusade is no ephemeral effort. Its scope is bounded
by no narrow limits. It is here to stay as long as God permits
me to live. Its objectives are the wide ramifications of an
ecclesiastical corruption which is destroying the sheep for
whom Christ died, and undermining the foundations of free
government.
Catholic ecclesiastical corruption ramparts itself in the
ignorance of the people and fattens on their credulity; it
gathers strength from the apathy of its opposers. There is
214
PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF PART II. 215
but one weapon that will destroy its power, and that weapon
is TRUTH. There is but one way in which this weapon can
be wielded successfully, and that way is PUBLICITY. Cath-
olic ecclesiastical corruption can not withstand the universal,
uncompromising, unceasing publicity of truth.
I feel that in this crusade I shall have the sincere wishes
for success of every enlightened citizen, be he found in the
United States or in any foreign country. It is a movement
large enough to appall the stoutest heart, but my trust is in
God, He lives! He reigns! Strong in my faith in Him, I
gladly consecrate to this herculean task my time, my means,
my honor and my life.
If I am to succeed, however, I must have something
more than kind wishes. I MUST HAVE MONEY! My
opponents have wealth which runs into the millions. I CAN
NOT GET NEEDED PUBLICITY FOR THE TRUTH
WITHOUT MONEY. How am I to get money? The sale
of a few million copies of my book would yield enough to
secure a publicity of truth which will shake the Catholic
world as with an earthquake. It will also enable me to print
and circulate information that will compel Catholics to read
and think and act. Of course my expenses will be large. If
each of my well-wishers would be the means of selling but
twenty of my books, I would secure a mighty prestige and an
immense capital for my crusade against Catholic clerical cor-
ruption.
While this crusade is pre-eminently an affair of Catholics,
nevertheless I feel that it is not improper to accept sympathy
and aid from other Christian people who value religious free-
dom and have at heart the interest of free government. I,
therefore, submit that public-spirited citizens, whether lay or
clerical, Catholic or non-Catholic, may serve the cause of
Christian truth and real patriotism by aiding in the circulation
of my book.
I may seem to be asking much of lovers of purity, truth
and justice, but if these were the days of Savonarola I am
216 PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF PART II.
confident that that heroic monk of Florence would find those
to whom I appeal among his most ardent supporters. Al-
though a lesser light, I too know what it means to put life in
jeopardy, and my cause is not less important than was his
their help would have been freely given to him ; why should I
not hope that it will be given to me?
I shall be pleased to hear from you and shall be thankful
for any suggestions and co-operation with which you may
favor me.
It will be noticed that this edition is on a much larger
scale than the first. An Appendix has been added, giving an
account of the school situation in Canada. After the issue of
the first edition I happened to be visiting Canada, and, to
my amazement, found the parochial school, though called by
another name, flourishing there with great vigor. I proceeded
to inquire into matters, traveling for that purpose extensively
throughout the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and meet-
ing some of the most prominent public men from all parts of
Canada. My amazement was increased on seeing how the
public school system of Canada was going down before the
religious school ; and I felt that here was an object-lesson to
my fellow-citizens by which they might profit. I thought, at
the same time, that a word of warning should be given the
Canadian people of their danger.
As it may be of interest to my readers to learn that I
sent a copy of the first edition of my book to Pius X., in ful-
fillment of the promise contained in the Introductory Chapter,
I now give a copy of a letter which I sent to His Holiness,
but of ^vhich the Holy Father has taken no notice in any way,
shape or manner, the wicked coterie which was able to keep
Pope Leo XIII. silent evidently being able to keep Pope Pius
X. inactive.
PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF PART 11. 217
CHICAGO, Illinois, U. S. A.,
April 29, 1905.
To His Holiness, Pope Phis X.,
Rome, Italy.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HOLINESS :
I humbly beg to inform
Your Holiness that on December 27, 1904, I published a book
entitled "The Parochial School, A Curse to the Church, A
Menace to the Nation," and on its twenty-seventh page I
stated that I would send to Your Holiness one of the first
copies of it. I now fulfill that promise by this day sending to
Your Holiness by registered mail, under triplicate cover, an
autograph copy from the first edition.
As a reason for the publication of my book in addition to
the reasons enumerated in it, I beg to inform Your Holiness
that the illustrious predecessor of Your Holiness, Pope Leo
XIII. , and His advisers at the Vatican, never paid the slight-
est attention to any of the protests, charges and appeals which
were filed at Rome during the controversy that arose in the
Archdiocese of Chicago over the elevation of Rev. P. J. Mul-
doon of this city to the Episcopate. More than a score of
prominent pastors and priests opposed his elevation on the
most serious grounds. During this controversy over one hun-
dred documents were sent to Rome by the friends of purity,
truth and justice ; but the Church authorities there remained
as silent as the Sphinx. This course of the Vatican convinced
me that the clerical and episcopal enemies, at home and abroad,
of a reformation in the American priesthood, had formed a
coterie which was influential enough, either to keep the docu-
ments from the Head of the Church, or to induce Him to
ignore them. Since the accession of Your Holiness to the
Pontifical Throne, the same course of silence has been pursued.
In view of these facts, I could see no other way to circumvent
the iniquitous coterie than to resort to publicity. I humbly
assure Your Holiness that I was greatly emboldened to adopt
this method by the fearless and encouraging words which
I>kEFACE TO FIFTH fiDlTiOtt 6F fcAttf 11.
Your Holiness addressed to the eminent historian of Holy
Church, Dr. Ludwig Pastor, "The truth is not to be feared."
Your Holiness will observe that my book deals with the
parochial school as it is, and that it is in fact an expose of that
institution; that it contains an appalling account of priestly
graft, immorality and sacrilege, a part of which account is
taken from the history of Dr. Pastor and another part of which
consists of the details of the crimes and rascalities of twenty-
seven American ecclesiastics; that it shows that the Catholic
Church in America has lost over thirty million adherents ; that
it discusses the existence of Apaism, and shows that among its
causes are the Parochial School, the demand for the restora-
tion of the Temporal Power of the Papacy, the insistence upon
having a Papal Nuncio at Washington, and the blatant boast-
ing of American prelates, and that for a conclusive proof of
the existence of Apaism it cites the fact that no political party
in this country dare nominate a Catholic for the Presidency
or Vice-Presidency of the United States ; that it pleads for
the control of the temporalities of the Church to be placed in
the hands of the laity ; and that it champions the Public
School on the ground that it is an absolutely necessary insti-
tution, and shows that it guarantees freedom of speech, free-
dom of conscience and the freedom of the press.
I humbly assure Your Holiness that my book is a truthful
presentation of the facts therein stated, and that it is far less
severe than the materials in my hands warrant. I humbly
assure Your Holiness that only the profound conviction that a
resort to publicity was the sole course left open to me by which
to circumvent the powerful coterie of iniquitous priests and
prelates, and thereby to save from destruction the Catholic
Church in America, could have induced me to publish my
book. In what I have done I am glad to assure Your Holiness
that I have the comforting consciousness of the approval of
Almighty God. In fact, during the preparation of my book I
sought daily the aid of Holy Grace.
I humbly assure Your Holiness that I issued my book with
t>REtfAC tO FIFTH: fcDlTlOtt OF PAfcT 11.
the fervent prayer that it would lead to the emancipation of the
Catholic people from the domination of drunken, avaricious
and immoral priests and prelates ; and that it would deliver
the Church from the adoption and pursuit of policies which
are antagonistic to fundamental Americanisms. That my book
will ultimately achieve these results, I confidently believe.
I am pleased to inform Your Holiness that my book is
being circulated in ever-increasing quantities in the United
States, Canada and Europe. If my unpretentious publication
could but have the patronage of Your Holiness, how vastly en-
hanced would be its reformatory influence! Most humbly I
beseech Your Holiness to grant to it the Apostolic blessing.
I beg to inform Your Holiness that I am hoping to be able
to publish ere long translations of my book in the various
countries of Europe. When my arrangements are completed
for the publication of the Italian edition of it, I shall humbly
beg the high honor of dedicating it to Your Holiness.
I humbly call the attention of Your Holiness to the fact
that the readers of my book are adversely criticising the ec-
clesiastical authorities for ignoring the grave charges con-
tained in it. They say that if my book were an arraignment ot
the clergy of any Protestant sect by one of its own clergymen,
the officials of that sect would call the author to account before
the eyes of the world, and that they would say to him, "Give
the names of these clerical sinners and prove your charges, or
we will forthwith expel you from our communion." They say
that such a course would be pursued in any secret order, such
as the Masonic fraternity, or even in a labor union. I most
humbly suggest to Your Holiness that the method outlined by
my readers is the policy of conscious integrity everywhere.
I humbly submit to Your Holiness that to treat with
silence the grave charges contained in my book is tantamount
to a confession of fear that they are no idle tales, but that I
have the proof to support them. I humbly assure Your Holi-
ness that I would welcome an opportunity, open to the eyes of
220 PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION OF PART II.
the world, to exhibit the proof which I have, proof which
shows conclusively that drunken and licentious priests and
prelates are ministering at our Altars and in the Confessional,
proof that shows beyond a question that in the name of re-
ligion the shepherds of the flocks are robbing the devoted
Catholic people.
It is with great sadness that I inform Your Holiness that
since the publication of my book additional proof of priestly
and episcopal depravity has been daily accumulating in my
hands. It includes names, offenses, places and dates. It is
minute in its details and appalling in its nastiness. Clerical
and episcopal hypocrisy, licentiousness, drunkenness and avar-
ice are the manifestations of an ulcer which is consuming the
vitals of the Catholic Church in America. This ulcer should
be removed by heroic measures. May the Great Head of the
Church aid His Vicar to apply the necessary remedies !
That the reign of Your Holiness may be numbered among
the most illustrious Pontificates in the annals of the Church,
is the prayer of
Your humble servant in Christ,
JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY,
A Priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
I deem it important at this point to direct the attention of
the public to the fact that I am a priest in good standing of
the Archdiocese of Chicago, as will be seen by referring to
the documents set forth on page 256 of this book.
Priests and Prelates accuse me covertly of making false
accusations: I now state that if my opponents can disprove
the charges in my book, I will hand over to them all the plates
of my book, and I will agree to stop its publication forever.
Since these accusations were published nearly two years have
elapsed, and the Church officials have not arraigned me, nor
taken any step looking to the disproof of my accusations.
Non vale sed salve!
J. J. C.
CHICAGO, NOVEMBER, 1906.
PART 11.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL
A Curse to the Church A Menace to the Nation.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
IN this chapter the reader will find my reasons for writ-
ing this book, and a brief sketch of my life to enable him to
form an intelligent opinion as to the weight of my words.
THE BOOK.
Catholic priests and prelates are determined to destroy the
American public school. Their slogan, (suggested by the
Roman cry against Carthage in days of old, " Delenda est
Carthago"), is, The public school must be destroyed. The
Romans had in view the maintenance of their commercial and
military supremacy : the Catholic hierarchy has in view the
selfish interests of its priests and prelates and not the true wel-
fare of the Church or State.
The Catholic hierarchy offers the parochial school as a
substitute for the public school. I shall deal in this book with
the Catholic parochial school as it is, and I shall show that it is
a curse to the Roman Catholic Church, and that it is a menace
to the Nation.
The utterances of the clerical champions of the parochial
school clearly show an intense hatred of the public school
an institution which the American people rightfully regard
as one of the greatest bulwarks of their liberties.
222 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
I shall show the general' phases of the settled clerical plan
now being carried out to encompass, if possible, the utter de-
struction of the American public school. My information has
its sources in personal experience and observation ; conversa-
tions with priests and prelates ; the public utterances of Catholic
ecclesiastics ; and the history of the school controversy which
has raged, with more or less intensity, during many years.
I shall show that the parochial school, as an institution
for educating and training American youth, is hopelessly de-
ficient by reason of the anti-Americanism of its board of edu-
cation, the pedagogic incompetency and moral delinquencies
of its officers, the inefficiency of its teachers, and the glaring de-
fects in its curriculum.
During the year 1903 Bishop McFaul, of Trenton, New
Jersey, Archbishop Quigley, of Chicago, Illinois, and Cardinal
Gibbons, of Baltimore, Maryland, three of the most prominent
members of the American hierarchy, publicly expressed senti-
ments which are radically antagonistic to the American school
system. The secular and religious press of the continent free-
ly quoted the utterances of these ecclesiastics, and storms of
adverse criticisms were aroused. If the course of these pre-
lates is pursued by the hierarchy certain things must inevitably
follow. Animosities will be engendered among the American
people which should have no place in the citizenship of our
Republic. The Catholic Church will lose all of Her power
and prestige in America.
A hurricane of hate is brewing. I love the Catholic
Church, and to save Her from destruction in America I write
this book.
I shall use very plain language. I am compelled to do
so because I am writing for all classes and not solely for learned
men.
I shall not conceal the truth. In this I but conform to
Catholic requirements as will be seen by the quotations which
follow.
INTRODUCTORY. 223
Pope Pius X. (the reigning Pontiff) said to Dr. Pastor,
the celebrated historian of the Catholic Church :
The truth is not to be feared. The New World, Novem-
ber 7, 1903, p. 13.
Pope Pius II. said in a certain bull:
He who remarks anything calculated to give scandal, even
in the Supreme Head of the Church, is to speak out freely.
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. Ill, p. 272.
Cardinal Gibbons says that the Catholic Church has no
secrets to keep back :
There is no Freemasonry in the Catholic Church ; she
has no secrets to keep back. She has not one set of doctrines
for Bishops and Priests, and another for the laity. She has
not one creed for the initiated and another for outsiders. Ev-
erything in the Catholic Church is open and above board. She
has the same doctrines for all for the Pope and the peasant.
The Faith of our Fathers, p. 14.
Cardinal Manning declared that truth in history should
be supreme :
The historica vcritas ought to be supreme, of which we
have a divine example in Holy Writ, where the sins, even of
Saints, are as openly recorded as the wickedness of sinners.
Notice written for the first volume of Dr. Pastor's History
of the Popes.
Dr. Alzog, the renowned historian of the Catholic Church,
stated that the historian should not conceal the possible short-
comings of his church :
Historical impartiality demands . . . that the histor-
ian . . . shall frankly acknowledge and openly confess
the possible shortcomings of his church, for silence here would
be more damaging than beneficial to her cause. Dr. Alzog's
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. I, p. 14.
The celebrated Pere (Father) Lacordaire asserted that
history should not hide the faults of men and Orders :
" Ought history," asks Pere Lacordaire " hide the faults
of men and orders ? It was not," he replies, " in this sense
224 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
that Cardinal Baronius understood his duty as an historian
of the Church. It was not after this fashion the saints laid
open the scandals of their times. Truth when discreetly told,"
he continues, " is an inestimable boon to mankind, and to sup-
press it, especially in history, is an act of cowardice unworthy
a Christian. Timidity is the fault of our age, and truth is
concealed under pretense of respect for holy things. Such
concealment serves neither God nor man." Dr. Alzog's Man-
ual of Universal Church History, the Preface.
The Great St. Gregory, the revered Hildebrand of the
Pontifical Throne, once wrote:
It is better to have scandal than a lie. Homil. f, in Eze-
chiel, quoted by St. Bernard.
Cardinal Baronius once said:
God preserve me from betraying the truth rather than
betray the feebleness of some guilty minister of the Roman
Church! Annales, ad. ami. 1125, c. 12.
Count de Maistre proclaimed :
We owe to the Popes only truth, and they have no need
of anything else ! Du Pape, lib. ii. c. /j.
St. Bernard said:
I would not be silent when vice was to be rebuked, and
truth defended. Epistola 78, torn, i., p. 38.
It will be alleged by the champions of the parochial school
that my unfavorable views of it are founded upon unusual
and infrequent facts of the moral delinquencies of its officers
and the pedagogic incompetency of its teachers; but I know
whereof I affirm, and I solemnly declare that I am conservative
in my statements.
There is not a diocese or an archdiocese in America which
has not priestly devotees of Bacchus and Venus wine and
women and in the prominent dioceses and archdioceses there
are scores upon scores of ecclesiastics who are the slaves of
these goddesses. But the universal ecclesiastical vice is graft-
ing. The American clergy, high and low, exhibit an insatiable
INTRODUCTORY. 225
desire for money. They seek and obtain it in the sacred name
of religion for God and Holy Mother Church! Many of
the means they employ to secure it are not only questionable
but criminal. Instead of preaching the Gospel of Christ
they proclaim the message of mammon. The money acquired
is spent, in the main, in the service of Satan.
It is impossible for those who are not prelates, priests,
monks or nuns to know how much sin there is in ecclesiastical
circles. It is not difficult for me to understand how hard it
must be for non-Catholics to believe that individuals, dedicated
to the service of God by most solemn vows, can live in daily
violation of their sacred covenants, and I know how extremely
loath Catholics are to give credence to any report of clerical
misconduct, no matter how well founded, as they have been
trained from infancy to regard a priest as a holy man another
Christ.
Policemen, railway and street car conductors, steamship
officers, hotel proprietors, waiters, porters and cabmen know
that I do not exaggerate in my descriptions of clerical sin.
Hardly a day goes by in our great cities that policemen do
not pick up drunken priests and also take them out of houses
of shame. Railway conductors from all parts of America tell
me that Catholic priests are among their toughest passengers.
Steamship officers relate tales which make the heart sick. Ho-
tel proprietors, waiters and porters tell facts which for numer-
ousness and nastiness defy comparison. If policemen would
suddenly become authors and tell what they know of sinning
priests the world would hardly be able to contain the books.
Cabmen, the knights of the whip, have as their most profitable
customers clerical rounders, the knights of the cloth, whose
chivalry vents itself in attentions to ladies who live in houses
of shame. Catholic prelates understand full well the personal
knowledge which these various individuals and others possess
of priestly debauchery.
I know that the conditions are appalling in the Archdio-
cese of Chicago. I have been assured by an American Arch-
226 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
bishop, whose former ecclesiastical positions ought to enable
him to speak with the authority of personal observation and
experience, that the conditions in Buffalo, New York City
and other places are many times worse than they are in Chi-
cago. If he were to speak to-day I believe he would say, in
view of the additional light he has received on the Chicago
situation, that New York City and Chicago are equals in ec-
clesiastical rascality.
I am well aware that this book will arouse the intense wrath
of Catholic ecclesiastics, who hate the American public schools.
Be it so! In this connection, Catholic laymen, permit me to
warn you against being deceived by the official Catholic press.
It will bitterly assail me. Its columns will be rilled with villi-
fication and vituperation. But who control the official Cath-
olic press? Priests, Bishops and Archbishops as a rule.
These men will unite in bitter opposition to any publicity of
sin. The editors of the official Catholic publications are under
the thumb of ecclesiastical power. Woe to them if they show
any independence of thought and action ! I have been grossly
slandered in official Catholic publications, while in private my
detractors have admitted that I was right in my course. This
expose will bring upon my head torrents of written wrath from
men who know that -I reveal but a small part of the awful case
in hand ; but these same writers in private conversation will be
heard to say : " O, Father Crowley, God bless him ! is all right,
but we have got to stand in with the authorities ; we have to
look out for our bread and butter."
My opponents will seek to befog the issue raised in this
controversy by charging me with making attacks in this book
upon my Church. In answer to this anticipated malignant ac-
cusation I say now that / do not attack my Church; I attack
solely its corrupt ecclesiastics. I am not fighting my Church
and never will. / am fighting priestly corruption, and I will
fight it as long as God permits me to live.
My opponents will also say that I am attacking Christian
education. Let it be remembered that I am not attacking
INTRODUCTORY. 227
Christian education, but that I am dealing with the parochial
school as it is in America. I make war not upon the theory
of Christian education, but upon the present practice, for the
latter, under prevalent conditions, is devilish.
The cry will be raised that by this publication I am giving
scandal. My opponents will seek to blind the Catholic public
by this false cry. Let the Catholic people remember that it
is the only answer left to the debauched priests whose wicked-
ness I expose. The scandalizers of our Holy Church are
not the men who protest against clerical impurity, falsehood
and injustice; but they are the ecclesiastics whose lives are
rotten, and the Church dignitaries who try to cloak the rotten-
ness.
Some of the grossest of the clerical sinners referred to
in this book have been publicly arraigned by name. When
this book becomes public property I look to see them adopt a
much-abused attitude. They have already expatiated upon the
hardship of their position in not being able to say a word in
self-defense until the charges are proved ! ! If they were anx-
ious to have the charges proved, why did they not ask Rome
to thoroughly investigate them? But there was no difficulty
in the way of their appealing to the civil courts, and they did
not. They knew there were laws in this country to protect
the slandered. Were there not penitentiaries for criminal li-
belers ? Yes, there were, but those penitentiaries were also for
clerical thieves, adulterers, rapists, seductionists and sodomists.
One of the first copies of this book will be sent to the Pope.
I hope that the Pontiff, as soon as he is acquainted with the
real condition of the public school controversy in America,
will decree a policy for American priests and prelates which
shall be in entire harmony with American history and ideals.
THE AUTHOR.
Yielding to the insistence of my friends and advisers I
insert this biographical sketch, not for any self-laudation, but
& THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
to enable my readers to see what manner of man I am so that
they may form an intelligent opinion as to the weight of my
words, and also that a stop may be put to a gross imposition
which is being practiced all over the country by wicked priests
who assume my name when they are arrested by the police,
and when they ask for financial help. To aid in carrying out
these objects this book contains my photograph, and I state
now that my height is six feet and three inches, and my weight
is two hundred and fifty pounds.
I was born November 20, 1861, in County Cork, Ireland :
" The Island of Saints and Scholars." My parents
were of Celto-Norman stock and belonged to the plain people.
My father was a farmer of means. He died July 7, 1904.
My mother's maiden name was Nora Burke. She died a few
minutes after my birth, while I was being baptized, she having
received the last rites of the church. My father thought I
could not live, and immediately before the priest pronounced
the words of baptism he made an offering of me to the priest-
hood in the hope that God would graciously spare my life.
When I was about five years of age I was sent to the Na-
tional (primary) School. When I was seven years of age I
became an altar boy, and so continued until I was fourteen
years old, when I was sent from my native parish to Bantry
for better educational advantages. I staid a year in Bantry,
and I was then sent to the Model School at Dunmanway, where
I remained nine months. I was then sent for three months to
the Classical School at Skibbereen. When I was sixteen years
of age I was sent to St. Finnbarr's College, Cork, where I re-
mained four years. I passed the required examination, and
was sent to St. Patrick's College (Seminary), Carlow, County
Carlow (this being the oldest Catholic College (Seminary)
extant in Ireland), where I remained four years and a half,
and completed the prescribed classical, philosophical and theo-
logical courses.
I was ordained a priest of the Catholic Church on the I5th
day of June, 1886, for my native diocese of Cork. My father
INTRODUCTORY. 229
paid full tuition rates for my education from the time I en-
tered the primary school until my ordination.
My earliest thoughts were associated with the expectation
that I would some day be a priest in the Holy Catholic Church
and could stand at her sacred altars to offer up the Holy Sacri-
fice of the Mass for the repose of the soul of my dear mother,
whom I had never seen.
My relatives, friends and neighbors expressed no other
thought for me than that I was destined to be a priest. When
I was at St. Finnbarr's College, being nineteen years of age
at the time, my father came to see me, and to test the sincerity
of my vocation to the priesthood he said to me, " A priest has
a great many trials and troubles ; if you would prefer to follow
some secular profession, there is the Queen's College (Univer-
sity), I am willing that you should enter it now! " I replied,
" No, father, I have but one desire in life, and that is to be a
priest." My father expressed great joy over my reply, and
he was supremely delighted to learn that I was blessed with a
vocation.
I said my first Mass in my father's house. I was ordained
Tuesday morning, and I traveled all night to reach the home
where I was born that I might there offer up my first Mass
for the eternal repose of the soul of my mother.
From boyhood I had the desire to go to America when I
became a priest. Many of my friends had gone to the United
States. I was ordained for the Diocese of Cork, but there
was no vacancy in it, and I said Mass for some weeks as pri-
vate chaplain to Bishop Delaney of Cork. The opportunity
to go to America came to me then through the Very Rev. E.
M. O'Callaghan, now Vicar-General of the Diocese of Man-
chester, New Hampshire, and the Right Rev. Monsignor D.
W. Murphy, of Dover, New Hampshire. The Coadjutor Bish-
op of Cork gave me his permission to go to America on a
temporary mission, and he wrote me the following letter:
230 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Cork, November 7th, 1886.
My Dear Father Crowley:
I am glad you have taken the Mission offered you through
the kindness of Father O'Callaghan.
You may expect a hearty welcome from me on your re-
Yours faithfully,
t T. A. O'Callaghan,
Coadjutor Bishop.
My kindest regards to Father O'Callaghan.
I also bore the following letters :
St. Patrick's College, Carlow, Ireland, June 21, 1886.
I feel happy in testifying to the excellent character borne
by Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley during such time as I have had
the pleasure of knowing him in this college. In matters of
discipline he was regular and attentive ; in the discharge of his
duties diligent ; and in every branch manifested quite an anx-
iety to give satisfaction. His conduct while here affords ev-
ery reason to believe that his future will be characterized by the
same good qualities^
(Rev.) John Delaney, Dean.
St. Patrick's College, Carlow, Ireland, July 2, 1886.
Previous to his ordination to the priesthood last Pente-
cost the Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley had spent four and a half
years in this college. He read rhetoric, moral philosophy, and
three years theology with credit to himself. His moral con-
duct was always edifying, and I have every reason to hope
that he will be a most zealous, useful and pious priest.
(Very Rev.) Edward W. Burke, D. D.
President.
When I reached America I was appointed assistant rector
of St. Anne's Church, Manchester, New Hampshire, which
was the mensal parish of the late Bishop Denis M. Bradley.
I staid there sixteen months, when my time for returning to
Ireland came in obedience to my promise to the Bishop of
Cork.
As to the manner in which I had discharged my priestly
duties in Manchester, I quote the following letters :
INTRODUCTORY. 231
Manchester, N. H., April 2, 1888.
My Dear Father Crowley:
In acceding to your request to be permitted to return to
your own Diocese, I cannot refrain from assuring you of my
gratitude for your labors in my Diocese during the sixteen
months that you have labored therein. You have always and
under all circumstances carried yourself in a manner becom-
ing a good priest.
Yours respectfully,
f Denis M. Bradley,
Bishop of Manchester.
Manchester, N. H., April 3, 1888.
To Rt. Rev. Dr. O'Callaghan,
Bishop of Cork.
Right Rev. and Dear Sir :
The bearer, Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley, a priest of your
Lordship's Diocese, has exercised the sacred ministry in my
Diocese during the past sixteen months. He returns to his
home at his own earnest solicitation.
I beg leave to add that he has given me entire satisfaction
during the time that he has been subject to my jurisdiction.
Yours very respectfully,
f Denis M. Bradley.
I make the following quotations from the non-Catholic and
the Catholic press of Manchester to show how I was regarded
by all classes. Neither directly nor indirectly had I anything
to do with the writing of the articles.
The Manchester Daily Union, March 28, 1888.
A SAD OCCASION.
THE REV. FATHER CROWLEY TO LEAVE MANCHESTER FOR IRE-
LAND.
Rev. Father J. J. Crowley, the able assistant pastor at
St. Ann's Church for some time, is to leave Manchester for
Ireland on Wednesday next, and in all probability will sever
his permanent relationship with this city for all time. On
Friday evening last he delivered a farewell sermon, taking for
his text the following words : " Seek first the Kingdom of
God and His Justice." There was a very large congregation
in attendance, and after an eloquent discourse upon the above
text the Reverend Father took occasion to thank the people
232 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
for their kindness, goodness and respect toward him during
the sixteen months he had spent among them. . . The entire
congregation sobbed aloud and heard with sadness the fare-
well words of him they had learned to love and esteem.
The Manchester Daily Union, April 2, 1888.
WARM HEARTED FATHER CROWLEY.
HE RECEIVES MANY EVIDENCES OF ESTEEM.
OVERWHELMED WITH KINDNESS EXPRESSIONS OF REGRETS.
Since the announcement was made that Rev. J. J. Crow-
ley, assistant pastor of St. Ann's Church, intended to dis-
solve his official relations in this country and return to Ire-
land to accept a position in the Diocese of Cork, he has been
overwhelmed with callers who have waited upon him to ex-
press their regrets because of his intended departure, and to
wish him the choicest of blessings in all time to come. . .
Among Protestants also he is highly esteemed, and among
people of all manner of beliefs and callings there is but one
sentiment, and that of regret because of his going away. Un-
numbered kindnesses have been heaped upon him within the
last few days. . . Father Crowley leaves Manchester on
Wednesday afternoon next, but will pass several weeks in the
principal cities of America before sailing for the " Isle of
Saints."
The Nezv Hampshire Catholic, March 31, 1888.
It is safe to say that no priest captured the affections of
the Catholics of this city so completely, in so short a time,
as Father Crowley has done. There is nothing small about
him. . . In the zeal with which he discharged his priestly
duties he could not be surpassed. He is a model specimen of
the Soggarth Aroon (dear priest) and quickly and thoroughly
the people perceived the fact. Utterly devoted to his sacred
calling he is also a staunch Nationalist, and is heart and soul
in sympathy with the cause of Home Rule for his beloved na-
tive land. . .
The New Hampshire Catholic, April 7, 1888.
About three o'clock Wednesday afternoon the depot began
filling up with people, most of whom were not in travelling
garb, and very many had evidently come from the mills to at-
tend the train. It was quite apparent that all eyes were
INTRODUCTORY. 233
turned on one person, a stalwart young clergyman, who tow-
ered head and shoulders over the throng. There was
no mistaking the earnest and kindly features of Father Crow-
ley, who had his hands full to bid good bye to the sorrowful
friends who came to see him off . . There were few dry eyes
in the throng. . . In the brief period of sixteen months he
has been in this city, Father Crowley has captured and bears
back with him to the diocese of Cork to which he belongs the
esteem and affection of our people from the head of the Dio-
cese down.
I arrived in Ireland about the middle of June, 1888, and
September 20 I was appointed assistant pastor at West Schull
(Goleen), County Cork, Ireland. I served in this place until
March, 1892. This parish was about twenty miles long and
seven wide, and it was inhabited principally by tenant farmers.
During this time I was imprisoned seven months in Her Ma-
jesty's prison in Cork for the heinous offense of having suc-
cored Mr. Samuel Townsend Bailey, a Protestant gentleman,
seventy years of age and stone blind, who had been deprived,
on a mere legal technicality, of his estate by the clergy of his
own Church, and turned out upon the roadside without money,
food or shelter. As my enemies charge that I was once in
jail because of some grave violation of the law, in the palpable
hope of discrediting me with the public, I am constrained to
give the details of this incident, for on it they found their base
slander. They have circulated the tale at home and abroad
that I was " such a devil " that the British Government was
compelled to lock me up to protect the public.
In the year 1847, which was the famine year in Ireland,
Mr. Bailey, a Protestant, was in the possession of a comfort-
able estate, which afforded him a substantial stone residence
and an adequate income. Most of his tenants died of starva-
tion during the famine, and he was deprived of his income.
Mr. Bailey's Protestant Rector was a Rev. Mr. Fisher, whose
assistant was a Rev. Mr. Hopley. The people were starving
and dying all around, and Rev. Fisher wrote to Protestant
societies and individuals in England, telling them that if he
234 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
had money to buy food for the people he could convert all the
Catholics. Money poured in upon him. He called upon Mr.
Bailey, who was his chief parishioner, sympathized with him
and offered him financial aid, which Mr. Bailey was very glad
to get. Rev. Fisher then went home for the money; he re-
turned with it and also a shrewdly drawn assignment of Mr.
Bailey's property to the church trustees, the assignment to take
effect after the lives of three individuals and thirty-three years
(which finally proved to be a term of about forty years), which
assignment he wanted as a mere formality in case his generous
friends in England should ever question his handling of the
funds. Rev. Fisher died before my return to Ireland, and he
was succeeded by Rev. Hopley. Rev. Hopley wanted to get
Mr. Bailey's stone residence and its adjoining five acres for
a woman who was then his maid-servant, and he urged the
church trustees to commence legal proceedings to evict Mr.
Bailey. The case was fought during three terms of court.
The Judge kept putting off the delivery of his decision in the
hope that the church authorities would see what a harsh enter-
prise they were engaged in, and relent. He finally pronounced
judgment, and, on a technicality, was forced to hold against
Mr. Bailey.
Mr. Bailey in despair turned to me, having heard of my
championship of the civil rights of Protestants as well as of
Catholics in that district. His son came to see me. I said,
" Before I attempt to do anything I must see your father's
tenants and learn from them whether he has been a kind land-
lord." In a few days the tenants came to me in a body, and
told me that old Mr. Bailey had been a most indulgent land-
lord. I then said, " It is the duty of Christians of all denomi-
nations to come to his rescue." I then asked if anyone present
would give a site for a hut (a little frame cottage) in the
vicinity of the Bailey homestead. Mr. Thomas Donovan, a
Protestant farmer, gave a site right across the road from Mr.
Bailey's stone residence. There was a vacant hut ten miles
away, and I called for volunteers to transport that building
INTRODUCTORY. 235
forthwith and put it on the new site. Within twenty-four
hours the hut was transferred to the new location, and above
it I had placed two flags, one green and the other orange. Be-
fore the erection of the hut a fair rental was tendered on behalf
of Mr. Bailey for the stone house and five acres, but it was
refused.
A few days later a force of bailiffs and police evicted the
blind old man and his family, and 1 threw them " on the road-
side." Word was sent to me and I hastened to the seat of
difficulty. There I found the blind and helpless old man sit-
ting on the roadside ; I took him by the hand and led him into
the hut, his aged wife and son following.
Rev. Mr. Hopley was insanely maddened by the presence
of the hut and its occupants in such close proximity io the old
homestead, and to his own home, which was about a quarter
of a mile distant. The Tory Government trumped up against
me a charge of intimidation; I was arrested; and, under a re-
vived statute, passed in the reign of George the Third, I was
" tried," not before the ordinary and usual tribunal, but be-
fore two " Removable " Magistrates paid government offi-
cials. My conviction was a foregone conclusion from the be-
ginning.
My prosecution was the subject of many editorials. I give
a few excerpts.
Eagle and County Cork Advertiser, Ireland, June 28, 1890.
THE PROSECUTION OF FATHER CROWLEY.
When the history of Ireland comes to be written up to date,
no more extraordinary event will present itself to the writer
than that which has occurred in West Cork during the past
few days. If the historian does his work faithfully, both the
Land League and the National League will occupy prominent
places in historical records. To the agrarian question of the
present day much time and thought will be devoted, but in no
event from the Clanricarde evictions, from the founding of
New Tipperary, down to the most trivial affair, will be found
such an episode as that which presented itself at Goleen on
last Sunday. No less than eight Protestant families changed
236 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
their religion, and joined the Roman Catholic Church, to show
and prove their indignation at the conduct of their own pastor,
the Rev. Mr. Hopley, . . . Out of Bailey's eviction and
the threat to remove Donovan for an act of kindness have
arisen the proceedings which terminated on Wednesday in the
conviction of Father Crowley under the Crimes Act. . .
The Cork Daily Herald of June 26, 1890.
i
Yesterday Mr. Cecil Roche (one of the two presiding
magistrates) consummated the outrage which he was sent to
West Cork to perpetrate. At the conclusion of a farcical trial,
during the course of which it was quite easy to see that the
Bench meant to convict, a most outrageous sentence was passed
on Father Crowley, of Goleen. Seven months' imprisonment
is what is awarded against Father Crowley for tal'/ng the side
of the poor Protestants of Teampeall-na-bo'ct against their
evictors and persecutors. Father Crowley denounced these
people. He made public charges against a parson and against
a policeman which these persons could have got investigated by
means of a civil action. They did not do so. The fact that
the paid Castle (Government) magistrates have come down,
and in violation of the spirit of the law and of all constitutional
usages have sent Father Crowley to gaol for seven months
does little to better their position. We have no doubt that
this " trial " of Father Crowley will receive immediate atten-
tion in Parliament. The sentence is not only abominable and
vindictive in itself, but it is a deliberate evasion of the law
which gives every subject the right of appeal from every sen-
tence of over a month's duration in Ireland, and from all
sentences whatsoever in England. . .
His imprisonment is, in every respect, a misfortune for
his locality. In the poor district of Goleen he has been a
peacemaker of a model type between landlords and tenants,
and both classes are equally thankful to him. The fact that he
interfered in favour of Protestant as well as Catholic proves
the spirit of broad-mindedness in which he approached his
work. It was not because the parson sided with the evictors
of one of his own flock that his mouth was to remain closed,
and it did not remain closed. For what arose out of his thus
championing the oppressed he goes to goal. . .
We simply say that under the circumstances a prosecu-
INTRODUCTORY. 237
tlon on an absurd charge was a gross misuse of public author-
ity and a scandal on the administration of justice.
The Cork Examiner of June 26, 1890.
The remarkable prosecution at Bantry came to an end
yesterday, when the sentence demanded by Mr. Ronan, Q. C.,
(Crown Prosecutor) was imposed on the defendant, the Rev.
Jeremiah J. Crowley, the popular young curate of the parish
of Goleen. . .
Seeing the nature of the charge and the constitution of the
Court, the result can have surprised no one. But it is a
strange prosecution, arising out of very exceptional circum-
stances and connected with some very curious occurrences. . .
A sentence of savage severity is imposed on this young and
blameless clergyman. That severity will assuredly defeat its
own purpose. The immense popularity of Father Crowley in
West Cork was demonstrated in Schull and Bantry in a way
that must have impressed Mr. Cecil Roche. Even before the
trial the feelings of the people with regard to the prosecution
and the conduct of the Rev. Mr. Hopley were exhibited in a
perfectly startling and unprecedented fashion. Up to eight
Protestant families left the Rev. Mr. Hopley's congregation
and joined the Catholic Church.
The incident proves, at all events, that even among the
Protestants of his district the Rev. Mr. Hopley has lost his
influence through his interference with tenants like Bailey and
Donovan (both Protestants) and that the young priest has
won the affections of Protestants and Catholics alike by his
generous and practical sympathy with the poor and the op-
pressed. Removables Welch and Roche are, perhaps, of opin-
ion that Father Crowley's influence in his district will not sur-
vive a term of imprisonment, and that the National League
must cease to exist west of Bantry. On the contrary, Father
Crowley's sufferings in their cause will but render him ten
times dearer to the hearts of the people and make ten times
stronger their resolve to overthrow a system under which the
imprisonment of a young and kindly clergyman becomes a
necessity of State.
West Cork is the western half of County Cork, and is
about sixty miles long by thirty wide.
238 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The details of my journey to gaol were given in extended
press notices at that time. I quote briefly from one of them :
Eagle and County Cork Advertiser, June 28, 1890.
THE JOURNEY TO CORK.
At half past six o'clock Father Crowley was driven "from
the police barrack in a covered car to the railway station, ac-
companied by a strong escort, and followed by a large cheer-
ing crowd. Cordons of police were stationed at all approaches
to the station, and allowed to pass only those who were travel-
ing by train. A large crowd, however, by climbing over the
walls and ditches, succeeded in reaching the road outside the
station, but their progress to the platform was barred by a
strong force of police drawn across the entrance. At the sta-
tion, District-Inspector Smyth was in charge of a body of po-
lice and a great portion of the crowd was prevented from enter-
ing the railway premises, but they soon fringed the line and
cheered the Rev. prisoner loudly. Father Crowley 's brother
clergymen were allowed on the platform, and he had many a
hearty handshake before the train started. District-Inspector
Stewart, Kinsale, was in charge of Father Crowley, who was
accommodated in a first-class compartment, and the body-
guard consisted of four policemen. In a third-class carriage
a dozen policemen traveled, while the fifty soldiers of the
Welch Regiment, who had been on duty, also returned to Cork
by the train. As the train moved off the Rev. gentleman was
followed by the enthusiastic cheers of those gathered on the
platform, and which were vigorously echoed by those outside.
At the stations en route to Cork Drimoleague, Dunmanway,
Ballineen, Enniskean, etc., crowds cheered Father Crowley en-
thusiastically, and bonfires were lighting as the train steamed
by.
POLICE VIOLENCE AT BANDON.
In Bandon the whole populace appeared to have turned
out, headed by the town band, but at the gates of the station
they were met by a body of police under the command of Mr.
Gardiner, R. M., who had traveled from Cork by the evening
train. He at once ordered the police to charge the people,
and the batonmen obeyed the order with alacrity. The bands-
men were beaten and the instruments seized. On the plat-
form priests, Town Commissioners, shareholders of the line,
INTRODUCTORY. 239
railway porters and all were hustled and shoved about, and
the police did all they could to provoke a row. When the
train arrived Mr. Gardiner's excitement was intense, and he
rushed from carriage to carriage shouting out for military and
police as if the train was about to be seized and carried off the
rails. At last he rushed to the compartment in which Father
Crowley was, and seeing District-Inspector Stewart, he ordered
that officer to get a number of his armed policemen out of the
train, and clear the people off the platform if the cheering was
not stopped. The inspector carried out the magistrate's order,
and the moment the cheering was renewed the police charged
the crowd, and a number of people were punched with the butts
of rifles. Fathers Magner, O'Shea and Coghlan were present,
together with Mr. C. Crowley and several Town Commission-
ers. These gentlemen protested to the stationmaster against
the manner in which the Bandon people had been treated on
the railway premises, but all Mr. Rattray could say was that
he was powerless in the matter. After a short delay the train
started for the city of Cork, Mr. Gardiner traveling by it in
order to take charge o the police force on duty at the Cork
terminus.
SCENES IN CORK.
The news of the sentence on Father Crowley was pretty
well known in the city of Cork about nine o'clock, and a good-
ly number had assembled outside the railway terminus when
the Bantry train reached Cork, shortly after half-past nine.
There were but few persons on the platform, as the police ap-
peared to have superseded the railway officials in charge of
the station. A body of police kept the gates, and exercised an
arbitrary power over the rights of the citizens generally. The
Mayor was admitted and some town councillors got through
in a rather undignified manner, but dogged pertinacity alone
procured admittance for some other gentlemen, while the vast
portion of the crowd was crushed outside. A considerable
number of plain clothes men (detectives) mingled with the
crowd, while a few of them took up .positions on the station
platform.
Just as the train reached the platform about twenty police-
men, under District-Inspector Bourchier, drew up opposite the
carriage in which Father Crowley was in custody, while the
moment the train stopped the military, who occupied the car-
riage next the engine, quickly sprang out and formed on the
240 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
left of the policemen. The large body of policemen who had
come in on the train then came forward on the far end of the
platform, completely barring the few persons present from ap-
proaching any portion of the train. A minute after Father
Crowley stepped from the train, and was hurried by his escort
to the police side-car. A number of policemen treading on
one another's heels, pressed after the Rev. gentleman, and
surrounded the car while he was taking a seat beside District-
Inspector Stewart. The gates being thrown open the police
car, followed by the brake, which was loaded with fully armed
policemen, drove out into the thick of the crowd amidst loud
cheers for the Rev. prisoner. The general body of police im-
mediately followed and kept up with the cars for some little
distance.
Amongst the gentlemen who were present in the railway
station when Father Crowley arrived were the Mayor; Rev.
P. O'Neill, S. S. Peter and Paul's ; Rev. J. M'Donnell, S. S.
Peter and Paul's ; Rev. Father Murray, C. C. ; Messrs. W.
Kelleher, T. C. ; J. C. Forde, Sec. National League ; Aid. J.
O'Brien ; and E. Murphy, sessional chairman, Cork, Young
Ireland Society.
The route to the gaol was by the South Mall, Grand Pa-
rade, Great George's Street and the Western Road, and all
along the way the sidewalks were covered with people, who
cheered loudly and long for the Rev. prisoner. The usual
police cordon was drawn up at the gaol Cross, but it was rather
surprising to find a crowd of people at the very gaol door as
the prisoner drove up. The Mayor accompanied Father Crow-
ley into the prison and saw him lodged in the reception ward.
I had for my jail diet the first three days bread and water;
thereafter I had the usual prison fare. For the first month
my bed was a plank.
Within a few days after my incarceration, letters, tele-
grams and cablegrams poured in upon Rev. Mr. Hopley's bish-
op, asking him if he had been a party to this injustice. The
bishop sent at once three clergymen to tender to Mr. Bailey
his old residence and the five acres, with the privilege of oc-
cupancy rent free during the rest of his life. Mr. Bailey re-
plied, " No, gentlemen, Father Crowley is in prison, suffering
for me. You must get Father Crowley out of prison before
INTRODUCTORY. 241
I could think of going back to my old home." I heard of this
offer, and succeeded in communicating with Mr. Bailey and in-
sisted upon his going back, which he most reluctantly did.
Great pressure was brought to bear upon me by the Tory
Government to sign a peace bond, and thus to put an end to
my captivity at the end of the first month, Mr. Gladstone, the
Liberal Party and the Irish Party having become interested
in my case, which was debated in the British Parliament. I
refused absolutely to sign any such bond, as its signing I con-
sidered would be tantamount to an admission of guilt, and my
refusal had the unanimous approval of the Catholic bishop
and clergy of the Diocese of Cork. The result was that I
remained in jail six months longer.
Upon my release, on my way home and at home I was
greeted by vast throngs of people who testified in every pos-
sible way the esteem in which they held me ; but the one wel-
come which touched me most was that given me by Mr. Bailey
the old and blind Protestant gentleman threw his arms
around my neck and kissed me.
Some press excerpts seem apropos and I give them :
Eagle and County Cork Advertiser, January 31, 1891.
FATHER CROWLEY RELEASED ON SATURDAY.
Father Crowley, the gallant and patriotic curate of Go-
leen, was released from Cork prison at 7 : 30 o'clock on Satur-
day morning, after undergoing seven months' imprisonment
for an " offense " under the Coercion Act. The circumstances
under which Father Crowley was imprisoned are already well
known to our readers. We are glad to say that the true-heart-
ed Soggarth (priest) is in excellent health and spirits, and has
borne his imprisonment with a cheerful courage worthy of the
cause for which he has suffered. Father Crowley comes out
of the prison with the happy consciousness of not only having
done his duty as a faithful priest and a robust politician, but
of having won the battle for which he fought.
The law might call his offense " intimidation." But at
least his intimidation was a success. The man whose cause
Father Crowley advocated the cause of an evicted Protestant
242 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
against his own parson has gained. When Father Crow-
ley was a short time in gaol, he was re-instated, and notwith-
standing this the authorities still detained the Rev. gentleman
in prison.
On Wednesday Fatlier Crow-ley proceeded from Cork to
Bantry. He left Cork for the purpose of visiting his friends
and former parishioners in West Cork, and at the different sta-
tions along the route he received hearty ovations. Rev. W.
Murphy, P. P., Kilbrittain, traveled with him as far as En-
niskeane. At Waterfall a large crowd gathered, by whom
hearty cheers were raised. At Bandon there was a very large
number of people with the brass band of the town, including
the Very Rev. Dean M'Swiney, P. P., V. G. ; Rev. Mr. Mag-
ner, C. C. ; Rev. Mr. Russell, C. C. ; Rev. Mr. Coghlan, C. C. ;
Rev. Mr. M'Donnell, C. C., Kilbrittain.
When the train steamed in Dean M'Swiney was the first
to shake hands with Father Crowley and welcome him back
out of the hands of the Balfours and the Roches, and when
the train was leaving the station he a-gain called for cheers for
Father Crowley, which were heartily responded to.
At Enniskeane Rev. Mr. O'Sullivan, C. C. and a large
crowd were gathered, and at Dunmanway there was another
large concourse assembled.
At Drimoleague Rev. J. Murphy, P. P. ; Dr. Crowley,
Messrs. W. Fitzgerald, J. Connolly, A. M'Carthy, P. L. G.,
and a number of others were present.
At Bantry Father Crowley was met by Rev. J. O'Leary,
C. C. ; Rev. J. O'Hea, C. C. ; Rev. J. Kearney, C. C. ; Mr. J.
Gilhooly, M. P.; Mr. P. T. Carroll (solicitor), and a large
deputation of the townspeople. As the train steamed in hearty
cheers were raised for the Rev. " ex-criminal," and when he
stepped out on the platform a rush was made to seize his hand
and welcome him to liberty once more. The Rev. gentleman
then proceeded to the residence of the Very Rev. Canon Shink-
win, P. P.
In the evening a meeting was held in the town hall in
his honor. The building was filled to overflowing. . . .
The Rev. J. O'Leary, C. C., presided.
The Rev. Chairman briefly introduced Father Crowley,
and referred to his sufferings in prison, and the fortitude and
dignity with which he had borne, them. He said the glaring
injustice of which Father Crowley was the victim, and the
. INTRODUCTORY. 243
iniquitous punishment to which he had been subjected, had
only more endeared him to the hearts of the people of West
Cork, and it was with a hearty caed mille failthe they wel-
comed him amongst them once more (cheers).
Addresses were presented from the Bantry Branch of the
National League, and the Bantry G. A. A. . .
From Bantry Father Crowley proceeded to Skibbereen.
The arrival at Skibbereen was marked by en enthusiastic ova-
tion from a large crowd assembled at the terminus. Amongst
those present were Rev. Fathers O'Brien and Cunningham ;
Dr. Kearney; Dr. O'Driscoll ; Messrs. Florence M'Carthy ; Cor-
nelius M'Carthy, Town Clerk ; Timothy Sheehy, T. C. ; John
O'Shea ; Charles O'Shea ; P. Sheehy, solicitor ; Edward Roy-
craft, Chairman Schull Guardians ; etc.
At Ballydehob a great crowd was assembled, and a most
enthusiastic cheer was raised when the train pulled up at the
station, the fife and drum band of the village playing a series
of National airs.
It may be observed here that on the occasion of Father
Crowley's release on Saturday last the village was brilliantly
illuminated, tar-barrels being lit in the streets and the windows
of all the houses being illuminated. The band paraded the
streets, playing National airs, and followed by a large crowd.
On Thursday the band joined the train at Ballydehob and
traveled with us all the way to Goleen. A tremendous cheer
was raised as the train steamed out; the band playing the
while. With the band the following representatives from Bal-
lydehob accompanied Father Crowley as far as Schull Rev.
D. Corcoran ; Messrs. T. McSwiney, Hon. Sec. I. N. L. ; D.
Gallagher ; J. Coughlan, M. Cotter, R. Hodnett.
Oh the arrival of the train at Schull a scene of the
most extraordinary enthusiasm was witnessed. Before the
station was reached the road for a long distance was crowded
with men and women, the men waving their hats, and many
men and women bearing aloft evergreens. On the platform
the throng was dense, and immediately that the train stopped
a rush was made fdr the carriage in which Father Crowley
traveled, joy beaming on every face, and the people almost walk-
ing on each other in their eagerness to shake the hand of Father
Crowley. Schull itself presented a gay appearance. All the
way from the station the road and fences were lined with peo-
ple, of whom there were some thousands, not alone from
244 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Schull, but from all the surrounding country, and even from
Goleen. There were triumphal arches across the streets, bear-
ing suitable mottoes, flags waved from many windows, and
as the procession wended its way through the village to the
Rev. Father O'Connor's house the greatest enthusiasm was
evinced. Schull, on the occasion, did honor to the patriotic
priest in a splendid manner. On the day of his release they
showed their joy in a befitting way with tar-barrels and illu-
minations, while the country all around was blazing with bon-
fires. . ,
Father O'Connor addressed the meeting, and said that
he need not say how happy they all were at seeing Father
Crowley amongst them, and their pleasure was the greater
at seeing him in such splendid form, notwithstanding all
that he had endured endured so unjustly and cruelly, in
" Balfour's Hotel " in Cork during the past seven months. He
need not relate to them the reasons why he was imprisoned.
He was put into jail for trying to promote justice between
man and man and for championing the cause of a poor blind
old gentleman, who was a Protestant. They were all proud
of Father Crowley's action in defending one who then dif-
fered from him in creed (cheers). Father Crowley had al-
ways endeavored to see justice between landlord and tenant,
and it was for these reasons that he was immured in Cork
Gaol (groans and a voice, " Thank God he is not the worse
for it"). They were all delighted to know that he was as
determined to work in the national cause in the future as he
had shown himself to be in the past (cheers) ; and he hoped
that that future would be a long and a happy one (cheers).
Father O'Connor, then read the following address:
" To the Rev. J. J. Crowley, R. C. C.
" Dear Father Crowley, On behalf of the Schull and Bal-
lydehob branch of the Irish National League, we beg to ten-
der you a hearty welcome from " Balfour's Hotel." You may
feel sure we highly appreciate your noble efforts and suffer-
ings on behalf of the poor and oppressed people of West
Schull. We feel the injustice of the terrible sentence seven
months inflicted upon you for no earthly reason but that you
championed the cause of a poor blind old gentleman against
landlord rapacity, and we feel the greater pride in your action
because that he differed from you 'in religion. We congratu-
late you upon the splendid state of your health after your
INTRODUCTORY. 245
term of imprisonment, and we hope you will be long- spared
to work in the future as you have so nobly done in the past
in the grand old cause of fatherland."
Father Crowley, who got a splendid ovation, addressed
the people and said that he could hardly express in words
his grateful thanks for the enthusiastic welcome accorded
him, and for the genuinely hearty manner in which they had
received him. It was almost unnecessary for him to remind
them of the history of the struggle which had just come to an
end. . .
At the conclusion of the addresses the word was given
" TO GOLEEN "
and a long procession was formed. First came Father Crow-
ley, accompanied by Father Corcoran and Father O'Connell.
Then came a body of pedestrians, including many women ;
then came the Ballydehob band, followed by a long line of
spring carts, equestrians, and common carts, the procession
reaching nearly two miles in length. Along the line of march
the people congregated in groups near the houses, bonfires
blazed along the hill-sides, and evergreens were tied to long
poles, fixed in the ground. At intervals in the procession flags
were borne aloft, and at every now and then enthusiastic cheers
were raised by the crowd of pedestrians that formed Father
Crowley's guard of honor. The evening was beautifully fine,
and as the procession wended its way along with banners fly-
ing, and the horses decorated with green, the effect was pic-
turesque in the extreme. When we arrived at
TOORMORE
the band struck up a tune, and at the " Poor Man's Church "
some of the villagers met us. The rocky elevations around
the village were occupied by cheering groups. Bonfires blazed,
horns were " tooted," and the enthusiasm of the processionists
reached a high pitch when a banner was observed waving from
Mr. Bailey's window. Outside Bailey's house a great crowd
was collected, the women and children waving green branches,
and the men cheering enthusiastically. A halt was called here,
and Father Crowley paid a visit to Mr. Bailey, who wept for
joy when he clasped Father Crowley's hand. Poor Mr. Bai-
ley is not very well just now, though he is able to be about.
All the cabins were decorated with ivy and laurel, and the vil-
lagers gathered around Father Crowley as he emerged from
246 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Mr. Bailey's, some saying- that but for him they would be far
from Toormore now, and all expressing their joy at his re-
turn, and their sorrow at his forthcoming departure, some of
them saying that they'd never let him be sent away from them.
Leaving Toormore, the crowd of pedestrians was very con-
siderably augmented, and as the shades of evening were falling,
GOLEEN
was reached, the hillsides as we approached our destination
being ablaze with bonfires in all directions. Goleen itself was
brilliantly illuminated, every house in the village being a blaze
of light. Before entering the village the crowd struck up
" God Save Ireland," and the chapel bell boomed forth its
deep notes as Father Crowley reached his old home. On the
rocky elevations above the village tar-barrels blazed, and were
surrounded by cheering crowds. As Father Crowley made
his way on to one of the rocks, which served as a sort of plat-
form, the enthusiasm of the multitude reached an extraor-
dinary pitch. He was accompanied by Fathers O'Driscoll,
Corcoran, and O'Connell ; Messrs. Florence M'Carthy, R.
Roberts, T. Ward, S. Bailey, John Roycroft, James Roycroft,
and all the principal men of the village and the surrounding
locality. The whole population of the district for miles around
was present on the occasion. The Rev. Father O'Driscoll, C.
C, was chosen to preside, and, in opening the proceedings,
said that they were assembled on a historic occasion to give
a welcome home to Father Crowley after his absence of seven
months in jail (cheers). The people showed their love of
Father Crowley unmistakably that day. From Mizen Head
to Dunbeacon the people had shown by the numbers of them
who went to Schull to welcome him what popularity he had
earned amongst them by his labours on their behalf. Father
Crowley had every man and woman and child to welcome him
back to their midst, while if Removables Welch and Roche,
who sent him to jail, came there they would have nobody to
greet them but the police (groans). He concluded by asking
Mr. Florence M'Carthy to read the address to Father Crowley
on his release.
Mr. McCarthy read the following address :
" Address to the Rev. J. J. Crowley, C. C. (Catholic Curate)
from the parishioners of Goleen, on his return after seven
months' imprisonment,
INTRODUCTORY. 247
DEAR FATHER CROWLEY, It is with feelings of sincere
pleasure that we welcome you back safely to liberty after en-
joying for seven months the care and attention of our paternal
Government in one of its bastiles. We are delighted to find
that your long imprisonment has neither injured your health
nor subdued your spirits. We cannot refrain from referring
with pride to your imprisonment being the result of your de-
nouncing the harsh and unfeeling treatment dealt out by the
Trustees of his own Church to an old Protestant gentleman.
Your hatred of oppression urged you to expose the cruelties
and hardships of evicting and leaving to die near the ditch
this old man of seventy winters, with his wife and family.
Your kind thoughtfulness, however, provided them with a
home, and it must have been a pleasure to you to-day, as the
knowledge must have been for months past in your lonely cell,
to find Air. Bailey and his family restored long since to their
old home. You were beloved by us before ; but the hall-mark
of the prison endears you to us a thousandfold. The Govern-
ment through motives of petty vindictiveness, detained you
for months in prison after the wrongs you denounced had
been rectified; and while you, a Catholic priest, have not hes-
itated to come to the aid of your oppressed Protestant neigh-
bors, and cheerfully go to prison for their sakes, the Govern-
ment and its supporters are not ashamed to urge for political
purposes the knowingly false cry of ' Catholic intolerance '
and oppression of the Protestants as a reason for withhold-
ing Home Rule from Ireland. Thank God, Catholic Ireland
can proudly refer to her present and past history to refute this
libel. A natural hatred of wrong, an inherent sense of jus-
tice have been intensified by your sojourn in (America) the
land of liberty. The hardships they were obliged to endure,
and the petty tyrannies and wrongs the poor people of the
parish were subjected to aroused your indignation; and once
you were convinced of the necessity for action you never hes-
itated to espouse the cause of the oppressed, and were fear-
less of the consequences. Your prompt and decisive action
Vept many in their homes ; but while checking the aggressive-
ness of unfeeling landlordism, you would not tolerate the with-
holding or non-payment of fair rents, and have in many in-
stances largely increased the landlords' rent collections. Re-
gardless of yourself, you were at any time of the day or night,
when duty called, by the bedside of the suffering, bringing
248 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tender-hearted' sympathy to the couch of pain, and succor to
the poor and lowly. In our selfishness we hoped you would
be left longer with us to enjoy the little improvements we
recently made in your home in anticipation of your return
and stay with us. If this is not to be, we can only assure you
that your memory will always be treasured by a grateful peo-
ple, who will look forward to your visiting them occasionally,
when you may calculate on receiving at all times, as you do
now, a ccad mille failthe."
Father Crowley, on coming forward to address the peo-
ple, received a magnificent reception. He said that he was
unable to express in words how happy he felt at being back
again in Goleen, and how glad he was to find them all in such
spirits. He was happy in being able to tell them that he was
in good health and spirits, too (cheers). He was very thank-
ful to his dear people for the enthusiastic manner in which
they received him, and for the address presented to him on
behalf of the people of Goleen. . .
AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE.
As Father Crowley was making his way from the place of
meeting to his own bouse, a most extraordinary scene was
witnessed. The men and women flocked about him, and wept
as if their hearts were breaking at the thought of his departure.
It was a most pathetic scene, and as the loud sobs of many
hundreds of sorrowing hearts were echoed back from the sur-
rounding rocks, the effect was at once weird and wonderful.
Such devotion as was here displayed is a thing that but few
priests have ever experienced. The manifestations of sincere
love exhibited were most impressive. The people rushed to
kiss Father Crowley's hand, and it was only after a long strug-
gle that he was able to tear himself away from amidst a
weeping throng of admirers, many of whom loudly declared
that they would never let him be removed from amongst them.
The foregoing suggestion of my removal from Goleen was
founded upon the fact that my bishop was seeking to promote
me. He yielded to the wishes of the people of Goleen, as will
be seen by the following letter :
INTRODUCTORY. 249
Cork, Feb'y 8th, '91
Dear Father Crowley:
I have yielded to the wishes of the good people of Goleen,
and I have determined to leave you with them for some time
longer. There is much to be done in the parish, and the dis-
tress of the poor people will give you many opportunities of
exercising your zeal. I remain
Yours faithfully,
f T. A. O'Callaghan.
I remained in the parish of West Schull (Goleen) fifteen
months longer; then I was promoted to the parish of New-
cestown, near Bandon, where I staid four years.
When I returned to Ireland I determined to go back to
America at some future time. I asked permission of my
bishop in 1895 to return. He begged me to withdraw my re-
quest, and would not yield until my importunity drew from
him the following reluctant consent :
Cork, June 18, 1896.
The Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley, of the Diocese of Cork, has
my permission to seek a mission in the United States, and I
have given it to him reluctantly at his own earnest request
as I sincerely regret his departure. He is a good, hard-work-
ing priest, zealous and devoted to his duties. During the
eight years he has been in the diocese I have had no fault
whatsoever to find with him. He has already labored on the
American Mission and is now anxious to return.
f T. A. O'Callaghan, Bishop of Cork.
I also received the following letters :
Bantry, County Cork, July 13, 1896.
As the Rev. J. J. Crowley, who for some years officiated
in the Deanery over which I preside and is now of his own
accord severing his -connection with this Diocese, has asked
me to say what I think about him, I feel much pleasure in com-
plying with his request. He was always faithful in the dis-
charge of the duties that devolved upon him and thoroughly
devoted to the work of his sacred calling. His ministry was
highly efficient and fruitful, and so appreciated was it by the
people amongst w'iom he labored that, when he was taken
from them, they manifested the greatest possible regret. His
250 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
relations with priests and people were of the kindliest char-
acter. All who know him wish him a bright and happy future,
and indeed none more sincerely than myself.
M. Canon Shinkwin, P. P. V. F.
Bandon, County Cork, June 15, 1896.
Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley, who has ministered in this
Deanery for four years, is a very worthy priest. He is hard-
working and energetic, is esteemed by all who know him,
and it gives me great pleasure to be able to state that he leaves
us without the least stain on his character.
Joseph Canon Shinkwin, P. P. V. F.
From the Cardinal Primate of all Ireland I received the
following :
Ara Coeli, Armagh, July 13, 1896.
From all I could learn regarding Rev. Father Crowley
I believe him to be a good, regular, hard-working priest. I
am sure Father Crowley will labor with zeal and success in
any mission entrusted to him. | Michael Cardinal Logue.
From Bishop O'Donnell of Raphoe, Donegal, I received
the following:
Letterkenny, County Donegal, June 25, 1896.
Having met Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley of Cork more than
once and heard a great deal about him from others, I have
much pleasure in stating that he bears the name of a zealous
and efficient priest, and it is my expectation that he will prove
a very useful worker in whatever mission in America his lot
f Patrick O' Donnell, Bishop of Raphoe.
I also received the following letters :
Maynooth College, County Kildare, July 20, 1896.
I am happy to testify from personal knowledge and
from reliable information that Father Crowley is an excellent
priest with a stainless record. Intellectually, socially, and
physically he is everything that could be desired. He am-
bitions a wider field for the use of the gifts God has endowed
him with; and I confidently pray that his zeal and prudence
may be as conspicuous in the future as in the past.
Edward Maguire, D. D. (Professor).
INTRODUCTORY. 251
St. Finnbarr's Seminary, Cork, Aug. 15, '96.
Most Rev. M. Corrigan, D. D.,
Archbishop of New York.
My Dear Lord :
Father Crowley asks me for a line of introduction to
Your Grace. He is seeking for a mission in America with
permission of his bishop, from whom he has got an excellent
letter. To that I would wish to add the very strong personal
recommendation of my brother (Very Rev. John B. O'Mahon-
ey, D. D.), President of our Diocesan Seminary, and who
knows Father Crowley particularly well, as he was one of his
earliest pupils.
I take this opportunity of thanking your Grace for all
your kindness on the occasion of my last visit to New
York, every way one of the pleasantest of my many pleasant
souvenirs of America. I write this from my brother's place,
where I am staying for a few days on my way to All Hallows
(College).
Most Respectfully Yours in Christ,
T. J. O'Mahoney, D. D.
(Professor of All Hallows College, Dublin).
I arrived in New York in August, 1896. After a few
days I paid a visit to my friends in Manchester, New Hamp-
shire, and received the following letter to the Vicar General
of the Archdiocese of New York :
Manchester, N. H., August 30, 1896.
My Dear Monsignor Mooney :
This will introduce to you Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley
of the Diocese of Cork. He exercised the sacred ministry in
this Diocese for sixteen months. He was an assistant here
in the city during his stay in this Diocese. He is an excellent
priest, sober, zealous and of great faith.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
f Denis M. Bradley, Bishop of Manchester.
I was received most cordially by Archbishop Corrigan
and other Church dignitaries at New York, but there being
no vacancy I came to Chicago.
I called upon Archbishop Feehan in Chicago, accom-
panied by a prominent ecclesiastic. I was appointed an
252 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
assistant pastor at the Church of the Nativity of our Lord,
37th St. and Union Ave., Chicago. I was there nearly three
years. On December 20, 1899, I was promoted by Archbishop
Feehan to the Oregon, Illinois, parish and the outlying mis-
sions thereof, receiving from His Grace the following letter:
Chicago, December 20, 1899.
I hereby appoint Rev. J. J. Crowley pastor of St. Mary's
Church, Oregon, 111., and also of the missions attached to that
place.
I recommend him to the kindness and confidence of
the Catholic people.
f P. A. Feehan, Archbishop of Chicago.
I remained in Oregon until August 3, 1901, when I was
ousted by an injunction issued by the civil court on the prayer
of a petition alleged to have been filed by the direction of the
late Archbishop Feehan of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
And now I come to the famous Chicago controversy
which arose in the summer of 1900 over the appointment of
an Auxiliary Bishop to the late Archbishop Feehan. It was
commenced by twenty-five priests of most excellent stand-
ing, and it is still pending.
During the Oregon, Illinois, litigation, commenced against
me as stated in the name of Archbishop Feehan of the Arch-
diocese of Chicago, I had prepared a printed brief which set
forth the pleadings, affidavits, etc., in that litigation, and I
mailed copies of this publication to various Church dignitaries.
To the fly-leaf I attached a little slip, a facsimile of which is
as follows :
With the Compliments of
A full and authentic history of the sad con-
dition of the Catholic Church in the Archdio-
cese of Chicago, is now being prepared and will
be given to the public in the near future.
INTRODUCTORY. 253
A consequence of the foregoing slip was the sending to
tne of the following unjust and invalid document, Cardinal
Martinelli, (the Papal Delegate to the Church in the United
States), having been persuaded to adopt this, course in the
hope that it would save himself and my opponents from ex-
posure by frightening me into a cowardly submission :
[TRANSITION.]
APOSTOLIC DELEGATION,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
No. 1393. WASHINGTON, D. C.
This No. should be Prefixed to the Answer.
Inasmuch as the Sacred Congregation for propagating
the Faith has learned that certain priests of the Archdiocese
of Chicago have taken grave offense at the election of the
Rev. P. J. Muldoon to the Episcopate, and have with all their
vigor, pertinaciously and wrongfully protested against his
consecration, therefore, it, [the Sacred Congregation], by let-
ters No. 45,708, dated Rome, August 21, 1901, has charged
this Apostolic Delegation with the duty of watching closely
lest the matter should grow to too great a scandal, and at the
same time of canonically admonishing, and, as far as may be
necessary, visiting with ecclesiastical censure, whomsoever it
[said Delegation] might happen to find guilty.
Now, however, since we have with safety learned that the
Rev. Jeremiah Crowley, a priest of the said Archdiocese, made
a very bitter contest against the aforesaid election and conse-
cration, and does not even now desist therefrom, since, indeed,
we have before us
1. A bill of complaint by him presented to the civil court,
2. A defense which his advocate undertook to prepare,
3. A promise made by him in writing concerning the early
publication of a work wherein he will relate the sad state of
the Archdiocese existing in his mind,
We require the said Rev. Jeremiah Crowley, in the Lord,
for his own good and for the honor of the Church, to desist
from his pertinacity, and at the same time we peremptorily,
once instead of thrice, warn him to give certain signs of
repentance and reparation.
But if he shall refuse and if, within the space of ten days,
to be computed from the day of his receiving notice of this
Admonition, he shall not repair the scandal,
254 . THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
1. By desisting from the prosecution of the suit in the
civil tribunal,
2. By altogether prohibiting the printing of the prom-
ised book, or, if it shall have already been printed, by not pub-
lishing the same,
3. By making public reparation for the public scandal,
4. And by submitting himself to the authority of the
Archbishop,
We declare him ipso facto e.v communicated, and we re-
serve to this Apostolic Delegation the power to annul (or to
absolve from) this excommunication.
Moreover, we commit to the Court of the Archbishop of
Chicago the execution of this decree, and we, therefore, charge
it with the duty of transmitting these presents to the afore-
said Rev. Jeremiah Crowley, all legal requirements being ob-
served. But if the said Rev. Jeremiah Crowley is absent
or cannot be found, then, the edict being posted up in the
churches or in other public place, after the space of ten days,
as above mentioned, he still not desisting from pertinacity, we
ordain that this decree shall in like manner take effect.
Given at Washington,
From the palace of the Apostolic Delegation, Octo-
ber 13, 1901. .
Sebastian Card. Martmelli,
Apostolic Pro-Delegate.
In due course the following unjust and invalid document
was issued in the name of Archbishop Feehan of the Arch-
diocese of Chicago :
Chicago, III, Oct. 26, 1901.
Whereas, the Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley, a priest exer-
cising faculties in the Archdiocese of Chicago, has grievously
violated the laws and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church
and of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and as he persists con-
tumaciously in his unlawful conduct, therefore, after due
warning from the Apostolic Delegation of the United States,
as shown by the above document, which was delivered to the
Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley in person on Wednesday, the i6th
day of October, 1901, and the said Rev. Jeremiah J. Crow-
ley having failed to comply with the conditions laid down by
the Apostolic Delegation within the period of time allotted
to him in the said decree, we hereby declare publicly and
solemnly that the Rev. Jeremiah J, Crowley is excommunicated
INTRODUCTORY. 255
from the Roman Catholic Church and all participation therein,
according to the decree of His Eminence, Sebastian Cardinal
Martinelli, Pro-Delegate Apostolic.
The effects of this most grave censure of the Church are :
1. He is cut off from the communion and society of the
faithful.
2. The faithful are forbidden, under severe penalty, to
hold communion with him or assist him in his unlawful con-
duct.
3. He cannot receive or administer any of the sacraments
of the Church. Should he attempt to give absolution in the
tribunal of penance, said absolution is invalid and sacrilegious.
4. He cannot be present or assist at any of the public ex-
ercises or offices of religion in the Roman Catholic Church,
nor can he be present at mass, vespers or any other public ser-
vice in the Roman Catholic Church.
5. He cannot receive or fill any office within the gift of
the Roman Catholic Church.
6. Should he die while under this excommunication he
will be deprived of Christian burial.
All the pastors of this Archdiocese are hereby commanded,
sub pocna suspensionis, to attach the above decree and this let-
ter on the wall of the sacristies of their churches for thirty days,
in such a manner that it may easily be seen and read by all.
This order goes into effect immediately upon receipt
thereof.
Given at Chicago, on this 26th day of October, 1901.
f Patrick A. Feehan, Archbishop of Chicago.
By order of the most Reverend Archbishop,
F. J. Barry, Chancellor.
This unjust and invalid ban of excommunication was re-
moved within two months by Bishop Scannell of Omaha,
Nebraska, U. S. A., he acting as the representative of the
Papal Delegate, Cardinal Martinelli. / made no apology to
the priests against whom charges had been made, and I made
no promise to desist from issuing the publication the announce-
ment of which had been the moving cause of my unjust and
invalid excommunication.
The following- is a translation of the Celebret given to me
256 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
by Bishop Scannell upon the removal of the ban of excommuni-
cation :
RICHARD
BY DIVINE MERCY AND FAVOR OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE BlSHOP
OF OMAHA.
To the Rev. J. J. Crowley :
By these presents we testify that you for honorable rea-
sons known to us obtained leave of absence for six months,
and we make known to all with whom you may come in con-
tact that you are of good moral character, and that as far
as we know you are not laboring under any ecclesiastical cen-
sure or canonical impediment. Wherefore we request in Christ
the Bishops of all places in which you may be to permit you
to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
In proof of which etc.
Given at our palace at Omaha the 26th day of December,
A. D. 1901. -J- Richard Scannell,
[Episcopal Seal]. Bishop of Omaha.
I received from the Archbishop of Chicago the follow-
ing Celebret, which was sent in obedience to the command of
Cardinal Martinelli :
Chicago, 111., February 7th, 1902.
The Rev. Jeremiah J. Crowley is, so far as I am aware,
under no ecclesiastical censure and may be permitted to say
mass " de consensu Ordinariorum."
Yours faithfully,
f P. A Feehan, Archbishop of Chicago.
On March 9, 1902, I celebrated Solemn High Mass in
the Archdiocese of Chicago, and I quote the following from
the headlines of The Chicago Tribune of the next day:
Crowley Again a Priest.
Authorized by Martinelli to Celebrate High Mass. Of-
ficiates at Special Services in the Church of the Immacu-
late Conception and is Recognized by the Congregation
Papal Benediction on the Parish is Received and Read
to the Members.
Most solemn promises were made to me by Cardinal Mar-
tinelli in person at Washington, of a parish in Chicago, salary
CARDINAL MARTINELLI.
258 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
from the time I was ousted from my Oregon parish, etc.,
but none of these promises was kept, as the priests against
whom the twenty-five prominent pastors had made grave
charges insisted that I should first sign an apology to them.
I refused to " whitewash " them.
It does not come within my purpose to give in this
publication the history of this now famous and still pending
Chicago controversy. The publication of its history remains,
perhaps, for the future. But my readers will probably be
able to glean a few hints of its facts and importance by perus-
ing the quotations (a volume of which I have in my pos-
session) which I now give from religious and secular publi-
cations of high standing. My friends insist that I shall not
eliminate from them the flattering expressions, and most re-
luctantly I yield to their advice.
Leslie's Weekly, New York, Nov. 2ist, 1901.
CHICAGO'S FIGHTING PRIEST.
Father Jeremiah J. Crowley, until recently pastor of the
Catholic Church at Oregon, 111., was the central figure of the
most sensational incident in western church history, Sunday,
November 3d. Defying a recent edict of excommunication
from Cardinal Martinelli, of Washington, he entered the Holy
Name Cathedral in Chicago, while solemn high mass was in
progress, and took a seat immediately below the altar. Chan-
cellor F. J. Barry, of the archdiocese of Chicago, was in charge
of the mass, and in pursuance of the laws of the church that
no excommunicated priest shall be allowed to take part in the
services of a Catholic Church, ordered Father Crowley to leave.
The priest quietly refused to go. The music was stopped ; the
choir filed out, and the priests retired. Chancellor Barry ex-
plained the situation to the congregation, most of whom left;
low mass was hurriedly rendered, and Father Crowley re-
mained to the end. The sensational incident had its origin last
July, when Father Crowley, in connection with twenty-five
other priests, protested against the appointment of Peter J.
Muldoon as auxiliary bishop of Chicago. Archbishop Fee-
han disregarded the protest. Father Crowley resigned from
his parish in Oregon. Later he withdrew the resignation.
INTRODUCTORY. 259
The archbishop, however, accepted the action of Father Crow-
ley and appointed a pastor in his stead. Father Crowley re-
fused to give up the church and the archbishop secured an
injunction, prohibiting Father Crowley from acting. The in-
junction suit is still pending. The archbishop notified Father
Crowley that he must desist in his charges against brother
priests or suffer excommunication. Father Crowley refused
to withdraw his charges, and the letter of excommunication
by Cardinal Martinelli was printed in the Chicago press.
Father Crowley insists that he cannot be excommunicated
without a trial.
Father Crowley is forty years old and a man of striking
physique. He is gifted as a scholar and orator.
The Ram's Horn. Chicago, November 3Oth, 1901.
A brave and pious priest in the Roman Catholic com-
munion is not so scarce a personage as he was within the mem-
ory of men now living. Indeed, it is the character of the
priesthood that has been the chief objection which men have
argued against this ancient church. When its own clergymen,
however, come to a lively appreciation of the shortcomings
of their order, hope arises that this mighty ecclesiastical sys-
tem may have within itself the seeds of a new life. But the
reformation, if it come, will not be without stubborn conflict,
as is indicated by what is now taking place in the archdiocese
of Chicago. When men were recently raised to high offices
in the diocese, a young priest, Father J. J. Crowley by name,
asked the church authorities for a thorough investigation of
these men's records. The answer was a sentence of dismissal
of Father Crowley from his own parish, which he was serv-
ing 1 most faithfully and acceptably, and after it appeared
that his contention was being seconded and supported by all
honorable Catholics, he was summarily excommunicated. But
this loud edict, which was so dreaded once, has failed to alter
the fixed purpose of Father Crowley. He is a man whom it
will be hard to defeat. He is finely endowed physically, stand-
ing more than six feet high ; mentally, having a thorough
classical and theological training; and spiritually, for one to
look into his open face and clear eyes assures one that he is
a man who has been with God. Compared with the types
of priest that are seen most frequently, slim, ferret-eyed,
260 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
shifty, designing creatures, or greasy, obese, dull-witted ones,
Crowley looks like a man from another planet.
The St. Louis Republic. Sunday, Dec. ist, 1901.
UNIQUE CASE OF THE REVEREND JEREMIAH J. CROWLEY.
The case of the Reverend Father Jeremiah J. Crowley, a
priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago, who
was excommunicated recently by authority of Cardinal Mar-
tinelli, furnishes at once the most unique and the most inter-
esting controversy that has ever arisen between that wonder-
ful church and one of its anointed ministers.
It differs from the McGlynn case, which was one of di-
rect disobedience to the commands of Rome ; it differs from the
famous Koslowski case, which was one of schism ; it differs
from all the minor cases in which the accusations against the
excommunicated were based on immorality or religious infi-
delity.
Father Crowley is a man and a priest of high intellect-
ual endowments; one of rare, almost fanatical piety. His
career as a student, as a citizen and as a minister of his
church is exemplary from the standards of measurement with-
in and without the Roman church. A product of Carlow Col-
lege, a living example of the genuine Irish gentleman, young,
handsome, a giant physically and yet a person of much ten-
derness, as well as courage, Father Crowley stands forth in
his own right as a personage sure to prepossess acquaintances
and likely to win and hold their high regard. He is abstemious
in his habits, industrious to. the limit of his great physical
power, studious to a degree, intensely sincere, direct and frank
of mind and manner.
The very character and reputation of the man make his
present sad plight incredible to strangers. He has been cursed
by Rome through a published document of excommunication
uttered by Cardinal Martinelli. If he died to-day his body
would be denied burial in holy ground. His presence at mass
in the parish church of Archbishop Feehan in Chicago has
been sufficient to stop the ceremonial. If Lucifer himself had
appeared in the church, no greater consternation could have
reigned amongst the priests celebrating the sacrifice. The
music ceased, the lights were quenched and the high cere-
monial was abandoned. The preacher leveled his logic and
INTRODUCTORY. 261
his eloquence against the outlawed priest, who, in spite of her
malediction, was kneeling there worshipful, silent, alone and,
as it seemed, defenseless against the pontifical thunderbolts
falling around him.
Having thus pilloried a good man and a good priest be-
fore all men, the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church
have at least invited the astonished curiosity of all religionists,
all thoughtful men. What has Father Crowley done to incur
the most awful curse that can befall either a Catholic layman
or priest?
According to his own statement, he began, many months
ago, to oppose and expose the alleged sinful machinations of
a number of clergymen then and now high in the councils of
the Chicago diocese. To his Archbishop, and through him to
Rome, he protested against certain deeds of priests whose lives,
thought Father Crowley, were a menace to his church and a
blasphemy against her holiest teachings. At first he waged
his crusade through the secret channels of the hierarchy, not
that he feared candor, but to evade scandal if possible.
His efforts were absolutely ignored. If his communica-
tions, offers of evidence, names of witnesses and other state-
ments ever reached the proper authorities, they elicited no
action or response. Then came Archbishop Feehan's declara-
tion that he would appoint the Reverend P. J. Muldoon as
auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. Twenty-five priests of the dio-
cese, one of whom was Father Crowley, protested against the
appointment on grounds already exploited in the secret
crusade against corruption and sin in the high places. The
Archbishop ignored this protest and preparations for the con-
secration of Father Muldoon proceeded.
Then Father Crowley gave to the world a story of al-
leged priestly decadence ana corruption such as has been sel-
dom charged even against ordinary self-respecting men of the
world. The question as to whether these charges were true
was never raised by the church authorities. The first action
of the diocesan was to begin civil proceedings to relieve
Father Crowley of his mission as pastor of St. Mary's Church
at Oregon, 111. The priest defended the injunction suit thus
brought, on the ground that he had been neither accused, tried
nor found guilty of anything that could debar him from his
rights as pastor. But he bowed to the arm of the civil law
and obeyed the en joinder. A priest was sent thither to sup-
262 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
plant him. The case took its place on the docket of the Cir-
cuit Court of Ogle County. The briefs then issued by Crow-
ley's attorneys contained between the flyleaves a slip of paper
announcing that later Father Crowley would publish a book
exposing the alleged state of affairs in the diocese of Chicago.
Father Crowley and his friends believe that this threat
(never carried out) was the true cause for the commotion
which followed in the high councils of the Catholic Church.
The offending priest was warned that unless he withdrew all
past charges, expressed penitence and accepted the punishment
which Archbishop Feehan might mete out within ten days
he (Crowley) would be excommunicated. The priest, yet be-
lieving that his charges were true and uttered in a holy cause,
refused to recall his words. He permitted the ten days to
elapse.
A printed circular, with Cardinal Martinelli's name at-
tached, was served upon him by three constables, hired lay-
men, while the priest was at dinner. It proved to be a stere-
otyped form of excommunication and upon the same day was
posted in the sanctuaries of every Catholic Church in the dio-
cese. It was a shocking surprise to Crowley, who expected
at least a trial. The causes for the decree of excommunication
were summed up as (first), "appealing to a civil court." To
this Father Crowley replies that it was his Archbishop and
not he who went into the civil court. The second charge was
that Crowley had sought to defend himself in a civil court
at law. To this the priest replies that neither priest nor man
needs an excuse for self-preservation. The third charge was
to the effect that he had threatened to expose the " unfor-
tunate diocese of Chicago as he believes it to exist."
To this last and most significant accusation Father Crow-
ley answers : " I threatened to tell' the truth about this diocese
for no other motive than to further the best interest and pre-
serve the sanctity of my Holy Mother Church. I do not be-
lieve that my church is benefited by the suppression of truth
and the continuation of evil men in her holiest offices. If I
have falsified, why do they not investigate, and prove me false ?
But I have not. My charges were supplemented by willing
and credible witnesses, names and dates. I am not fighting
my church and never will. I am fighting the evil men who,
in this diocese at least, are sapping her power, dishonoring her
sanctuaries and blaspheming the God of all Christians. If
INTRODUCTORY. 263
that be a crime, I do not understand what loyalty, decency
and virtue mean. But, right or wrong, I am entitled to a
trial. The meanest criminal is supposed to be innocent until
proven guilty. My worst enemies accuse me of no sin. I
believe that my church will yet hear me ; that she will uphold me.
But, come what may, I shall never fight against nor villify
my church. I shall remain a Roman Catholic, as I was born
and as I am to-day."
Father Crowley has appealed to Rome through the Amer-
ican Ablegate, Cardinal Martinelli. He is willing to with-
draw from, the fight if the church authorities will appoint an
unbiased court and investigate the charges he has made against
his fellow-priests of this diocese. He is willing to abide by the
results of that investigation. He believes it will be given.
Meanwhile he continues to attend holy mass in the face
of physical, oratorical and tacit opposition. His opponents,
clerical and lay, insist that he has already committed the un-
pardonable crime of scandalizing his church by accusations
against her clergy. They insist that even the truth of those
charges cannot condone the inherent offense. His friends
and adherents, and they include some of the ablest and best
of the priests and laity of the Chicago diocese, contend that
there can be no sin in telling truth, in exposing corruption,
no matter how cloaked with the sacred vesture of office. They
say that there are bad priests, just as there are bad preachers,
bad merchants, dishonest lawyers, but, they argue, it is the
duty of honest Catholics to " drive them out."
(The Interior, April 3, 1902. Editorial Column.)
Every new movement made by Archbishop Feehan and
Bishop Muldoon of this city to crush Father Crowley is of
a nature calculated to convince the Protestant onlooker that
the priest has attacked the prelates and their favorites at a
point where they do not dare to make a fair reply. Father
Crowley's charges of immorality among the clergy of the dio-
cese have been definite enough in all conscience to deserve
attention, but his overlords absolutely refuse to order or sub-
mit to investigation. As a climax to his tyranny Archbishop
Feehan has issued an edict prescribing that any priest who
gives countenance to Crowley shall by that act be automatically
suspended from the priesthood. This is done in spite of the
tact that Father Crowley has been upheld by the highest
264 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
authority of the Catholic hierarchy in this country, Monsignor
Martinelli, and stands now in perfect nominal relations to the
church. This decree of ostracism, a punishment not only
without conviction but even without charges, is full of the
very spirit of the old-time Inquisition. We can only hope that
for it the archbishop will incur the avenging wrath of the papal
delegate whose will he has virtually defied. Martinelli, of
course, is as tyrannical as anybody, but there would be some
rude kind of justice in an apportionment to Feehan of a good
big dose of his own sort of medicine.
The Ram's Horn, Chicago, June 28, 1902, Editorial Column.
The most important question before the Vatican is, what
will it do with the many protests on file there against the ir-
regularities and immoralities in the church itself? These are
made by good Catholics. They are not attacks from without,
but are appeals from priests and people within. Conditions
as they exist in the archdiocese of Chicago are perhaps akin
to those which exist elsewhere. Instead of disproving Father
Crowley's charges or giving him a chance to prove them, the
church excommunicated him. He was, however, almost im-
mediately restored to church communion, which act was a
confession that he was right, and yet there is no evident in-
tention of cleansing the church of its unworthy priests.
Archbishop Feehan died July I2th, 1902, and Bishop
Quigley, of Buffalo, N. Y., was appointed his successor, com-
ing to Chicago March TO, 1903.
Archbishop Quigley of the Archdiocese of Chicago, with
full knowledge of the villainy of some of the priests of his
Archdiocese complained of by the twenty-five protesting pas-
tors, has demanded that I sign a document which would in
effect whitewash them. At our last interview he handed me
an apology in Latin and what purported to be a translation
of it in English, the latter paper bearing across its top in the
handwriting of His Grace the words, " Authentic translation.
J. E. Quigley." I now give a photographic copy of this trans-
lation.
Chlcag*, 111.
KoBt Rtrerend and Dear Archbishop:
Having come to the conclusion that the course pursued by me
for the last two years Is altogether wrong, and having In mind the
solemn promise of reverence and obedience to my Bishop, which 1 made
on the day of my ordination, I hereby renew that promise and pledge
myself to be henceforth to your Grace, an obedient son In Christ.
I regret and deplore the injury I have done to certain of
my fellow-priests by publishing charges against them after said charges
had been duly considered and set aside by the competent ecclesiastical
authority, and I pledge myself to accept any penance which your Grace
may deem fit in satisfaction therefor.
I sincerely engage myself to do all in my power to stop th
furtner publication of anything which may give scandal or offense. I
hereby bind myself to submit all matters of grievance or dispute be-
tween me and my confreres to the judgment of the proper ecclesiastical
authorities; and I will abide by their decision. Therefore I have
withdrawn certain cases now pending in the civil courts, specified by
me in another letter of even date with this; renouncing at the same
time all right on my part to re-open them.
Henceforth I shall earnestly endeavor to repair my short-com-
ings of the past. I will accept without question any charge your Grace
shall confer upon me after my re-instatement. Your Grace has my per-
mission to make public this letter at any time or in any way you may
select. Trusting that your Grace will find it possible to restore me
shortly to the full exercise of faculties as.. a priest of the Arch-
diocese of Chicago, I remain,
Your Grace '
most obedient servant in Christ,
To the Host Reverend James Edward Quigley,
Archbishop of Chicago.
266 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Catholic people, note this: I was but one of a band of
twenty-five priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago who pro-
tested against clerical corruption. I alone am made to feel the
weight of ecclesiastical displeasure, and I alone am commanded
to apologize for telling the truth. I have been subjected to
persecution. My name has been unjustly removed from the
directory of the Catholic clergy of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
I have not received, as is my ecclesiastical right, any financial
support from the funds of the Archdiocese. I have been left
without a parish, without a home, without any salary, and have
been uncanonically forbidden by the authorities of the Chi-
cago Archdiocese to say Mass, or in any way to exercise my
" faculties " as a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago, although
I have a " Celebret." I am convinced that I have been sub-
jected to this cruel treatment with the deliberate design of forc-
ing me to apologize to corrupt priests.
For the information of my readers I now state that a
" Celebret " is a canonical document which is given to a priest
by the head of the diocese to which he belongs, or by some
higher Church dignitary of competent jurisdiction, when that
priest travels outside of his own diocese. It is, in effect, a
certificate that he is of good moral character and not laboring
under any ecclesiastical censure or canonical impediment.
I have never looked upon the face of Archbishop Quig-
ley since March 28, 1903, when he handed me the apologies
in Latin and English. These papers, it is needless to say,
remain and will remain unsigned. I will never sign a lie for
any man, be he layman, priest, Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal
or Pope ! I have nothing to regret or retract. I can only
say : God save the Roman Catholic Church !
Archbishop Falconio succeeded Cardinal Martinelli as
Papal Delegate to the Church in the United States. He was
made fully acquainted with the details of the Chicago con-
troversy by a mass of official documents on file in the Dele-
gation Office; and a correspondence ensued between His Ex-
cellency and myself looking towards a settlement of it. I
now give a photographic copy of one of his letters to me :
aitutccl States of America.
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268 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
My reply to the letter of Archbishop Falconio of June
6, 1903, was as follows :
Sherman House, Chicago, June 9, 1903.
His Excellency,
Most Revd. Diomede Falconio,
Apostolic Delegate,
Washington, U. S. A.
May it Please your Excellency:
I beg to own receipt of your kind favor of the 6th inst.,
in which you inform me that you have been carefully look-
ing into my case, and that you are ready to render your de-
cision.
I should be glad to comply with your request to come
to Washington on the I9th inst., accompanied by my advocate.
But the fact is the latter gentleman is now in California, on
an indefinite leave of absence. Moreover, I am somewhat
deterred by the consideration of expense, since this would be
my third journey to Washington on a similar errand, both
of which proved fruitless, and I scarcely feel justified in thus
using funds generously contributed by loyal friends in dif-
ferent parts of the country, to whom I feel in a measure
responsible. You will kindly bear in mind, your Excellency,
that I am placed in this dependent position by reason of the
fact that, though I am a priest of this Archdiocese, I have
not been allowed one dollar for salary or support since Aug.
3, 1901. In view of my inability to come to Washington with
my advocate, I must trust to your fair consideration of the
subject, which has been fully presented to you in person by
my advocate and myself, April 3rd, 1903, and later, in a
formal written statement, under date of April i/th.
Permit me again to beg simply that I may have your
early decision. With profound esteem, I am,
Your most obedient and humble servant in Xt.,
Jeremiah J. Crowley.
About June 17, 1903, Archbishop Falconio and Arch-
bishop Quigley met in the City of Allegheny, Pennsylvania,
and discussed the Chicago controversy. Archbishop Falconio
evidently departed from that interview determined to use his
influence to compel me to sign the apology which had been
INTRODUCTORY. 269
presented to me by Archbishop Quigley, a photographic copy
of the English translation of which I have already given.
My canonist is one of the most prominent priests in the
Catholic Church in America, and he told me that Archbishop
Falconio placed in his hands in the City of- Washington, on
June 19, 1903, a document which was signed by fourteen of
the accused priests, in which they begged the Papal Dele-
gate to compel me to sign an apology to rehabilitate them
before the world, solemnly declaring that they were under
such a cloud since the accusations against them had been
made public that they were not welcome to the homes of
their own relatives. On this occasion Archbishop Falconio
told my canonist that he would be in Milwaukee on June
30, and requested him to tell me to call upon him there.
I now give an abridged account of the interview that I
had by appointment with Archbishop Falconio, the successor
of Cardinal Martinelli as Papal Delegate to the Catholic
Church in America. He arrived in Milwaukee, Saturday,
the 27th of June, 1903. I went to. Milwaukee the following
Tuesday morning and saw His Excellency. He said : " Are
you going to sign that apology ? " I said : " No, Your Ex-
cellency, I most respectfully decline to do so." He said:
" Why ? " I said : " Because I would be signing a lie ! Our
charges were never, as it states, duly considered and set aside
by the competent ecclesiastical authority." He said : " Yes
they were ! " I said : " How ? Do you mean to tell me,
Your Excellency, that our charges were duly investigated ? "
He said : " They were not investigated, but they were duly
considered and set aside." I asked : " How were they duly
considered and set aside ? " He said : " Why, your superior
officers took your charges, looked at them, and then threw
them into a wastcbasket!" I replied: "Your Excellency,
I must insist that that was very far from being a canonical
consideration, investigation and setting aside of our charges."
Pius X. now sits in Peter's Chair. I am confident that
in due time His Holiness will decide the Chicago controversy
270 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
and that He will settle it on the basis of Fiat justitia mat
coelum let justice be done though the heavens fall.
In 1897 I took out my first naturalization papers in Amer-
ica; and I became a full-fledged citizen of the United States
in 1901. I do not forget my native land! The shamrock is
in my heart! I am proud of an Irish ancestry whose char-
acters were formed by the noblest ecclesiastical and patriotic
ideals. But America is my country by adoption; I glory in
her history; I rejoice in her free institutions; my ardent
prayers ascend for the continued blessing of Almighty God
to be poured upon her. My highest civic ambition is to dis-
charge to the letter the solemn obligations which I assumed
in my oath of naturalization.
Humbly and devoutly I thank God for ever calling me to
minister at the sacred altars of His Holy Church. My supreme
religious joy is the fact that I am in her priesthood. I have
no other desire than to be faithful unto death to my duties as
a Catholic priest. I believe that the Church is a divine
institution the bride of Christ. For Her welfare I have
counted it a joy to labor; for Her good I am glad to suffer;
in Her behalf I will cheerfully lay down life itself. In the
Catholic Church I was born ; in the Catholic Church I have
lived; in the Catholic Church I will die.
I am not unmindful of the seriousness of the position
which I take in openly exposing the parochial school, in directly
championing the American public school, and in boldly assail-
ing ecclesiastical wickedness in high and low places. I
know full well the greatness of the power financial, social
and ecclesiastical which I oppose. I know that it has vast
capital and great prestige. I know that it dines with rulers
and is on terms of intimacy with governors, judges and other
public officials. I know by several personal attacks that it has
henchmen who are ready to take life for pay. I know that
it claims to be able to muzzle the press, and that by a show
of its strength it stifles protests against its wrong-doing. But
INTRODUCTORY. 271
I know some other things. I know that God lives. I know
that the genius of His Church is against ecclesiastical corrup-
tion of every kind. I know that the honest Catholic people of
America are crying out for deliverance from ecclesiastical tyr-
anny, immorality and grafting. I know that the masses of
the American people are lovers of purity, truth and justice,
and that they are loyal to the Republic. I know that this is
not the first time in human history that a lone man, relying
only upon the blessing of God and the approbation of decent
men, has assaulted intrenched iniquity and overthrown it. I
do not dread the struggle, for
" Simple duty hath no place for fear."
CHAPTER II.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AND CATHOLIC CLERICAL HOS-
TILITY TOWARD THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
HISTORIC STATEMENT
The parochial school in America owes its beginning, ac-
cording to Bishop Spalding of Peoria, Illinois, to the German
Catholics. In his lecture entitled, " The Catholic Church in
the United States," delivered at the Church of Notre Dame,
Chicago, January 24, 1904, before a representative audience,
he said:
Fifty years ago there was a great difference of opinion
amongst Catholics in this country about the religious school.
Some of the leading Bishops, some of the most active minds,
had misgivings, were rather in favor of simply accepting
the school as it existed, and of not attempting to create a dis-
tinctively religious school. We owe, I think, this great move-
ment, or at least the beginning of this great movement, largely
to the German Catholics.
It was among the German Catholics first that insistence
upon the necessity of a religious school was made, and not
made wholly from religious motives. The Germans, as you
know, are of all people in this country, the most tenacious of
their mother-tongue. They are a tenacious race, strong,
sturdy, persevering, without frivolity, not easily influenced
by new surroundings, loving their own customs, as well as
their own tongue.
Now, from a desire to perpetuate their language, as well
as from a desire to instill into the minds and hearts of their
children the faith which they had brought across the ocean
with them, they began to establish schools, and they showed
us how easy it is, how easily a congregation of one hundred
families, in the country, in villages, can build and maintain
a Catholic school.
272
ORIGIN HATRED OP PUBLIC SCHOOL. 273
And then, attention being attracted to it, it more and
more grew upon the consciences of the Catholic Bishops,
and priests and people, that this was the one thing that God
called us to do, more than anything else, if we would make
our faith abiding here in this new world, and in this democratic
society.
THE REAL REASONS FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT.
From the words of Bishop Spalding it will be seen that
the Catholic parochial school in America is many years younger
than the American public school. The Bishop attributes the
adoption and the carrying out of the German Catholics'
parochial school idea to the recognition by Catholic bishops,
priests and people of a call from God. The fact is that Cath-
olic bishops and priests were the ones who seized upon the
parochial school idea. The Catholic people did not want the
parochial school. Why did the priests and prelates adopt it
and why do they champion it to-day? The answer is fourfold.
First : because they saw and see that there never can be any
union of Church and State in this Republic as long as its
citizens are the product of public school. Second : they saw
and see that the indoctrination of Catholic children with lib-
eral and progressive ideas is impossible in schools wholly
under Catholic clerical influence. Third : they saw and see
that the parochial school gives ample opportunity to train
Catholic children to close their eyes, ears and mouths to cler-
ical drunkenness, grafting and immorality. Fourth : they saw
and see in the parochial school an immense opportunity for
graft.
The Catholic parochial school in the United States is not
founded on loyalty to the Republic, and the ecclesiastics who
control it would throttle, -\i they could, the liberties of the
American people.
CLERICAL COERCION OF CATHOLICS.
It is my profound conviction that the masses of the Cath-
olic people prefer the public schools, and that they send their
274 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
children to the parochial schools to avoid eternal punishment,
as their pastors preach from the pulpit, " Catholic parents who
send their children to the godless public schools are going
straight to hell."
The Jesuits are particularly vicious toward the public
school. In the Holy Family Church, the largest parish in
Chicago, in 1902, during a mission, at which there were pres-
ent at least 2500 people, all being women, the Jesuit preacher
said:
Parents who send their children to the godless public
schools are going straight to hell. I make this statement in
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Now, I want you good
mothers, whose children attend the parochial school, to kneel
down and offer up with me, from the bottom of your hearts,
three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys for the conversion
of these wicked and benighted parents who are sending their
children to the godless public schools.
A lady friend of mine, a most intelligent and respectable
Catholic mother, told me she never was in such a plight in
her life. She had a child in the public school, and, of course,
remained seated. Women knelt all around her. Right by her
side knelt a drunken woman, who, as she prayed from the bot-
tom of her heart, in unison with her pastor, peered right into
her face, and nearly suffocated her with the fumes of whis-
key. It is needless to add that my friend was not converted
to the parochial school.
Some priests refuse absolution to parents whose children
attend the public schools. Others compel parents, through
the confessional, to promise to send their children to the pa-
rochial schools.
Catholic children, who attend the public school, are denied
certain spiritual privileges. I quote, as an illustration, the
following from the Cathedral Calendar, published by the Holy
Name Cathedral, Chicago, September, 1902; p. 7:
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 275
Attendance at the parish school will be an absolutely
necessary condition for the children who hope to make their
First Holy Communion next spring.
In some parishes the children of Catholic families who
attend the public school are not permitted to receive their
first Holy Communion on the same Sunday morning that
the parochial school children receive theirs, but have
to wait a week or two, although equally prepared. For the
parochial school communicants special preparations are made
in decorations, processions, music, etc. There are no special
preparations made by the pastor for the public school com-
municants. The course pursued toward the public school
children is with malice aforethought and is intended to so
humiliate them (and their parents) that they will leave the
public school.
At the children's Mass on Sunday morning the parochial
school pupils are given the better seats, while the public school
scholars are crowded into the undesirable parts of the church.
To show still further the pressure put by prelates upon
Catholic parents to force them to send their children to pa-
rochial schools I quote from page 4 of The Catholic Telegraph
(published in Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A.) of August 25, 1904,
the following letter :
To the Clergy and Laity of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati :
Dearly Beloved:
As the Catholic schools are about to open, We consider
it opportune to address you on the important obligation of
parents to provide for the Catholic education of their children.
There are, We regret to be obliged to say, some fathers and
mothers, who, either for the sake of fancied advantages, or
through indifference, or on account of feeling against priest
or teacher send their children to non-Catholic schools.
It is undeniable, that as a rule, all Catholic teaching is
excluded from non-Catholic schools and that in them there is
usually present some kind of false religious influence. Now
a system of education for the young, in which Catholic faith
and the direction of the Church are excluded, can not be ap-
276 TH PAfcOCHlAL SCHOOL.
proved by any Catholic. The Church considers it vital to a
child's faith, that the spirit of religion should animate every
part of the scholar's task, and influence every hour of his time
in school. The teachers should be good Catholics, well in-
structed in their faith, and be capable to thoroughly drill the
children in religion. The Church recognizing this necessity
has always opposed the separation of education and religion,
and hence has condemned those who advocate it. . . In the
Encyclical of Leo XIII. "Nobilissima" of the 8th of February,
1884, occur the following words : " The Church has over and
over again loudly condemned those schools which are called
Mixed or Neutral, warning parents to be careful in a thing
so momentous."
These pronouncements of the Holy See are the law for
all. The legislation of the III. Plenary Council of Baltimore
is based upon them. It is evident, then, that the doctrine of
the church, which it would be erroneous, scandalous and even
savoring of heresy to contradict, is that to attend a non-Cath-
olic school constitutes usually a grave and permanent dan-
ger to faith, and that, therefore, it is a mortal sin for any
parents to send their children to such a school, except where
there is no other suitable school, and unless such precautions
are taken as to make the danger remote.
In applying this teaching to practical life there are dif-
ficulties. We often meet with parents who object to sending
their children to Catholic schools on account of certain fea-
tures which they dislike or who prefer non-Catholic schools
on account of certain advantages. They claim that, if they
take due precaution to have their children properly instructed
and brought up in piety, they can not justly be interfered with.
But such a claim can not be admitted. This is a religious
question and is, therefore, within the sphere of the Church
authority. In such questions it belongs to the Church not
only to pronounce on the principle involved, but also on its
application to particular cases and individual Catholics. It
is the office of the Bishops, as the III. Plenary Council of Balti-
more teaches, to judge both of the alleged necessity, and of the
sufficiency of the precaution. This is a matter, then, which
lies within the jurisdiction of the spiritual power, and it is far
from the true Catholic spirit to decide such a grave question
for oneself.
Moreover, there is another aspect of the subject which
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 277
shows still more clearly how necessary it is to abide by the
judgment of the Church. It is almost impossible for a Cath-
olic parent to send his child to a non-Catholic school anywhere
in the country where there is a Catholic one without causing
scandal. That is to say, such action suggests to other Cath-
olic parents to do the same ; it has the appearance of religious
indifference ; and it tends to break down the strictness and firm-
ness of Catholic faith. It is, therefore, nearly always, a very
grievous scandal especially when the parent in question is a
person of some standing and influence. Now an action which
involves scandal of this kind can only be justified by a very
grave necessity. It is the duty of the parent, therefore, to take
the judgment of the Church both upon the possible extent of
the scandal and the reason for risking it. The foregoing prin-
ciples justify us in laying down the following rules:
1. In places where there is a Catholic school parents are
obliged under the pain of mortal sin to send their children to
it. This rule holds good, not only in case of children who
have not yet made their first Communion, but also in case of
those who have received it. Parents should send their chil-
dren to the Catholic school as long as its standards and grades
are as good as those of the non-Catholic school. And even
if there is no school attached to the congregation of which
parents are members, they would still be obliged to send their
children to a parochial school, college or academy, if they can
do so without great hardships either to themselves or to their
children.
2. It is the province of the Bishop to decide whether a par-
ish should be exempted from having a parish school, and
whether, in case there be a Catholic in the place, parents may
send their children to a non-Catholic school. Each case must be
submitted to Us, except when there is question of children liv-
ing three or more miles distant from a Catholic school. Such
children can hardly be compelled to attend the Catholic school.
3. As the obligation of sending a child to a Catholic
school binds under the pain of mortal sin, it follows that the
neglect to comply with it, is a matter of accusation, when
going to confession. We fail to see how fathers and mothers
who omit to accuse themselves of this fault can believe that
they are making an entire confession of their sins,
4. Confessors are hereby forbidden to give absolution to
parents, who without permission of the Archbishop send their
278 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
children to non-Catholic schools, unless such parents promise
either to send them to the Catholic school, at the time to be
fixed by the Confessor, or, at least agree, within two weeks
from the day of confession, to refer the case to the Archbishop,
and abide by his decision. If they refuse to do either one or
the other, the Confessor can not give them absolution, and
should he attempt to do so, such absolution would be null and
void. Cases of this kind are hereby numbered among the re-
served cases from September i, 1904.
5. The loss of Catholic training which the children suffer
by being sent to non-Catholic schools must as far as
possible be counteracted. Wherefore, we strictly enjoin that
Diocesan Statute No. 64, be adhered to : " We decree that
those who are to be admitted to first holy Communion shall
have spent at least two years in Catholic Schools. This rule
is to be observed also by superiors of colleges and academies."
This Statute was enacted in Our Synod in 1898, and we regret
that it has not always been observed. The necessity of com-
plying with it is evident. It is difficult to properly prepare
for first Communion even the children who have always
attended Catholic schools; and it is simply impossible to
do so when the children are allowed to go to non-Catholic
schools up to a few months before they are to make their
first holy Communion. Pastors, superiors of academies and
colleges are admonished to observe this regulation. No ex-
ception is to be made to it without Our permission. In places
where there is no Catholic school, Pastors will confer with
Us as to the provision, which should be made for the instruc-
tion for first Communion.
6. Pastors seeking to prevent parents from taking their
children too soon out of school have made regulations regard-
ing the age of first Communion. As there has been some dis-
crepancy in regard to this matter, some fixing one age, some
a different one, and in consequence causing dissatisfaction
among parents and children, We hereby direct that no child
shall be admitted to first Communion, made publicly and sol-
emnly, unless it has completed its thirteenth year on or be-
fore the day fixed for first Communion.
7. It is the Pastor's duty to decide whether the children
of his parish have sufficient knowledge for making their first
Communion. Hence, children attending a Catholic school
other than the parish school, as well as those going to colleges
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 279
and academies, must not be permitted to first Communion un-
less their Pastor has testified that they are sufficiently in-
structed for approaching the Holy Table. . . Pastors will read
this letter to their Congregations on the last Sunday in August.
May God bless all, and especially bless parents, their
children and all engaged in the work of Catholic education.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
j" William Henry Elder,
Archbishop of Cincinnati.
Given at Cincinnati this i8th day of August.
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, and elsewhere, there is
no publicly proclaimed statute such as obtains in the Arch-
diocese of Cincinnati, but there is in reality a rule that Cath-
olic children who attend the public schools may not (at the
option of the pastor) receive instruction for first Communion.
Several of the Chicago priests, during the past year, have
told their congregations that owing to orders from " head-
quarters " they would be compelled to refuse instruction for
first Communion and Confirmation to Catholic children who
attended the public schools.
On the Sunday preceding the opening of the public
schools for the fall term, the studied attack of the priests upon
the " godless " schools, from the altar or the pulpit, is appall-
ing. The intelligent, independent parents, who persist in send-
ing their children to the public schools, are pictured as finally
arriving in hell, and their children as moral wrecks, the sons in
penitentiaries, and the daughters in places of shame. At last
there is a family reunion in the place of the damned, where
the children curse their parents, and say, " We are here be-
cause you sent us to the godless public school."
A SPECIFIC CASE OF COERCION BY A SODOMITE.
In 1899 an imposing church dedication took place in the
United States. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Arch-
bishop Ireland of St. Paul, Minnesota. The occasion was
graced with the presence of Archbishop Kain of St. Louis,
280 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Missouri; Bishop Scannell of Omaha, Nebraska; Bishop
O'Gorman of Sioux Falls, Iowa; Rev. Jeremiah J. Harty,
pastor of St. Leo's Church, St. Louis, Missouri, and now
Archbishop of Manila, Philippine Islands ; the Very Rev. Wil-
liam J. Kerby, Ph. D., Professor, of Washington, D. C. ; and
many others. Letters of regret were received from Arch-
bishop Christie of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Hogan of Kan-
sas City, Missouri; Bishop Allen of Mobile, Alabama; and
Bishop Gallagher of Galveston, Texas.
Prior tb the dedicatory sermon the pastor announced that
the parochial school would open the following Wednesday,
and in this connection he said :
It will be expected that all of the children of this parish
shall attend this school if they attend any. I have determined
that I will not ask the Archbishop on behalf of anybody for
permission to attend any school other than the parochial.
Such requests must go directly from the persons desiring the
permission, and not through me.
In other words this pastor served notice upon the Catholic
people of his parish that their children must go to the paro-
chial school if any, and that Catholic parents would have to
go to their Archbishop for permission to send them elsewhere.
Just imagine plain Catholic people making such a request of
their Archbishop ! ! ! That Archbishop was a Krupp gun
against the public school.
This pastor was later formally charged with sodomy,
and he was forced to leave his parish by enraged lay people,
the ecclesiastical authorities ignoring (as usual) the charges.
He is on terms of intimacy with princes of the Church, in-
cluding American Papal Delegates, and he was instrumental
at Rome in securing a Philippine Island See for one of his
bosom American clerical chums. He is now himself a high
dignitary of the Church in the Philippine Islands. I shall refer
to him again in Chapter IV. of this book.
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 281
Nor FIVE PER CENT. OF CATHOLIC MEN FAVOR PAROCHIAL
SCHOOL.
Catholic public school opponents declare that at least one-
third of the American people favor their position. I deny it.
I am morally certain that not five per cent, of the Catholic men
of America endorse at heart the parochial school. They
may send their children to the parochial schools to keep peace
in the family and to avoid an open rupture with the parish
rector; they may be induced to pass resolutions of approval
of the parochial school in their lodges and conventions; but
if it ever becomes a matter of blood not one per cent, of them
will be found outside of the ranks of the defenders of the
American public school.
If a perfectly free ballot could be cast by the Catholic men
of America for the perpetuity or suppression of the parochial
school, it would be suppressed by an astounding majority.
The plain Catholic laymen know that the public school
is vastly superior to the parochial school in its methods, equip-
ment and pedagogic talent. They know, too, that the public
is the poor man's school. They know that the public school
prepares, as no other can, their children for the keen strug-
gle of American life and the stern duties of American citizen-
ship.
Prelates and priests work upon the fears and feelings of
the women and children, and the fathers, to have peace in their
families, yield and send their children to the parochial school.
CATHOLIC CLERICAL HOSTILITY TOWARD THE
PUBLIC SCHOOL.
There is an open, notorious and virulent hostility of
priests and prelates, at home and abroad, toward the public
school.
Catholic publications are filled with articles and editorials
which show most malignant hatred of the public school.
Catholic clerical hostility toward the public school is
282 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
a fact with which the American people will be forced to deal
sooner or later the sooner the better.
ANNIHILATION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL THE OBJECT.
I assert that it is the set purpose of the great majority
of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in America to destroy, root
and branch, the present system of Ameiican public schools.
Bishop Spalding says (as I have quoted in the beginning
of this chapter), "Fifty years ago there was a great difference
of opinion amongst Catholics in this country about the religious
(parochial) school." Unfortunately the clean prelates and
priests of " fifty years ago " were whipped into line, and the
unpatriotic and ruinous course of attacking the public schools
prevailed.
The contents of this book, I submit, amply support my
contention under this heading.
DESTRUCTIVE CLERICAL TACTICS.
The Catholic clerical scheme to utterly destroy the Amer-
ican public school has these, among other, phases :
1. The bringing of the public school into contempt by
characterizing it as " godless," " vicious," " a sink of corrup-
tion," etc., etc.
2. The securing for the Catholic parochial school the
largest possible share of the public school tax funds.
3. The encouraging of other sects to start sectarian schools
and to demand public moneys in payment for the secular edu-
cation of the children.
4. The securing of a Catholic majority on public school
boards and on the teaching staff of the public schools in the
hope of being able thereby to lower the tone of instruction and
discipline in the public schools and thus bring the public
schools into disfavor.
5. Securing the employment of nuns and monks as public
school teachers.
* ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 283
6. The prevention of normal school training of public
school teachers.
By these and other means Catholic ecclesiastics hope to
destroy the public school system, and to make the parochial
school supreme.
I have had many conversations with members of the
American Catholic Hierarchy during the past eighteen years
about the public and parochial schools in America. The
ecclesiastical champions of the latter have stated that the in-
sistent demand of the Catholic hierarchy for a division of the
public school money would eventually be granted; that the
American people would grow weary of the school contention
and to escape it would adqpt the Catholic view ; that then
every effort would be made to secure the largest possible
grants of public money; that the other sects would, out of
envy, demand similar grants for their various schools, and
that they would be encouraged by the Catholic dignitaries to
press their claim; that the consequence would be the disrup-
tion of the public school system by the competition and an-
tagonism of such sectarian bodies; and that the ultimate re-
sult would be the supremacy of the Catholic Church in secu-
lar teaching by virtue of Her strong organization and great
resources through Her various teaching orders.
THE STATE MUST NOT EDUCATE THE CHILD.
Catholics have it dinned into their ears constantly that
the " education of children belongs to the parents and is foreign
to the State," and that the parents cannot yield this right to
the State. They are taught that the State is excluded from
educating children.
The logical effect of this assertion is to take the educat-
ing of the children of the land wholly from the State and place
it entirely in the control of the parents of the children. If
the parents are religionists who believe that their church is
the mouth-piece of God, then the education of their children
comes naturally under the control of their church. This doc-
284 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
trine would give to the Mormon church, for example, the ex-
clusive training and educating of all Mormon children. And
when the parents are not religionists but disciples of peculiar
anti-social tenets this doctrine would insure the rearing of the
children of those parents in those anti-social tenets. The right
of the anarchist under this doctrine is as sacred as the right
of the Mormon or of the Catholic.
But I contend that the State has a vital interest in every
child born within its borders. The State is in the child. Self-
protection and perpetuity indicate at least two of the para-
mount duties of the State. The State should endeavor to pro-
tect itself, and the State should try to insure its own per-
petuity. Parents may be permitted to educate their children
but it is always on the presumption that the education they im-
part will not vitiate the State and tend to produce its downfall.
If parents teach their children to steal, the State must
interfere. If parents insist upon rearing their children in ig-
norance, the State must enforce compulsory education. If
parents teach their children traitorous sentiments towards the
Commonwealth by the direction of their church, or permit
their church to teach such sentiments to their children in paro-
chial schools, the State is recreant to its paramount duties if
it does not intervene.
The fact is that the Catholic ecclesiastical enemies of the
public schools, in their anxiety to imbue the Catholic people
with a belief in the exclusive right and duty of parents to
educate their children, press the matter too far. They are
serving the future, however, for their inimical attitude will
eventually cause Americans to demand a full ascertainment
of and a rigid insistence upon the rights of the State in the
child, and when these are accomplished secular education out-
side of public schools will be abolished.
MINORITY RIGHTS.
The plea is made by Catholic ecclesiastics that the minor-
ity has rights as well as the majority. But in reference to
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL.
the public schools there is no minority. The public schools
are open to all the children none are excluded. It is silly
for any set of people, who willfully keep their children from
attending the public schools, to declare that they are a minor-
ity in the Commonwealth and that as such minority they have
a right to impart to their children secular education in paro-
chial schools at the expense of the State. The Mormons can
make the " minority " plea with as good grace as Catholics.
The State does its full duty when it provides and maintains
a thorough system of secular education for the children of
the Commonwealth, free to all the children alike. Any parent
who wants somethrng else seeks a superfluity or a luxury and
should pay for it himself.
The plea for the " rights of the minority " is but a wily
attempt to dignify the hateful attitude of the ecclesiastical
opponents of the public schools, and to excuse the reaching
of their hands into the public purse.
A DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDS.
Catholic priests and prelates are demanding a share of
the public school funds as pay for the secular education which
Catholic children receive in the parochial schools. This de-
mand for pay for the secular education of children in paro-
chial schools is fairly stated by Father James S. Hayes, a
Jesuit, who is quoted with approval in an article in The New
World, the official organ of the Archdiocese of Chicago, of
February 6, 1904, page 17, as follows:
Every school that does the work of education in a way
to satisfy the requirements of the state in all the secular
branches of instruction is entitled to state support, no matter
to what religious denomination the school managers may be-
long. The state schools which teach no religion and are there-
fore fatally defective are nevertheless supported out of the
public taxes solely for their work of secular instruction. In
all justice, then, to religious schools, if they give the
same amount of secular instruction as the others are entitled
to the same support for the secular instruction they give.
^"86 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Why not ? Can any man except the unreasoning bigot see why
they should not be treated alike ? If, in addition to the secular
instruction required by the state, the religious schools also
teach religion because the parents want it, the state can have
no objection. It will not pay for the religious instruction,
but it will not hinder it, because it has no right to do so. The
parents want it and they are willing to pay for it. What can
be more just and sensible than this plan, " an equal wage for
equal work " ? Let the Catholic or Anglican or Methodist
school do the same work in secular instruction as the state
school, and why should it not receive the same pay from the
state for work which fully complies with the requirements of
the State ? Let us take our stand on this platform, " The
same pay for the same work." That seems to offer to the
people of the United States the fairest solution of the school
question.
In this connection I quote, without comment, the fol-
lowing :
The Chicago American, Dec. 20, 1903.
The supremacy of the state in all things is a denial of
God. The state has not the right to tax all the people for
schools which all the people do not patronize. The state must
provide schools for the minority as well as for the majority.
Archbishop James Edward Quigley coupled criticism of
the public school system with a demand for state support of
parochial schools in an address before the Catholic Woman's
League in Corinthian Hall, the Masonic Temple, yesterday.
The Catholic Archbishop of Chicago took strong ground
against the secularization of education, and declared that the
church and not the state should have the guidance of educa-
tion.
The cry everywhere is for non-sectarian education, the
archbishop declared. .This is secular education, which is liber-
alism. It is liberalism that is the fundamental error of the
age. It does not recognize the Church of God, but only the
individuality of man. This is the trouble everywhere between
the church and the state.
The argument advanced is this in effect: The State is
only interested in the secular education of the children of the
Commonwealth ; it can be of no concern to the State who im-
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 287
parts this training, or in what place it is done, or what
religious instruction in addition may be given, so long 1 as
the secular requirements are fully met; that, hence, it is im-
material to the State whether the required secular instruction
be imparted to the children in a public or in a parochial school ;
and that for the secular training given in a parochial school
the State should pay as willingly as for that given in the pub-
lic school; and that any such payment by the State to a paro-
chial school can not be rightfully considered or construed as
a payment of public money for a religious purpose.
It requires no elaborate argument to show that such
a course by the State would be one of public folly. It is suf-
ficient to say that to grant compensation for secular instruc-
tion to one sect would open the door for the granting of it to
all sects. It would inaugurate an indescribable reign of graft.
It would fill the land with jealousies, strifes and intrigues.
It would mean the denominationalizing of the public schools.
It would finally work the utter destruction of the magnificent
public school system.
To open the public treasury to the presentation and pay-
ment of bills by religious denominations for the secular edu-
cation of their children would mean ultimately its looting by
Catholic ecclesiastical grafters.
The members of the Catholic Hierarchy would, if they
could, support their Church in America by " secular educa-
tion " graft. This book will probably disclose some other
things which many of them would support by this graft.
ABUSE. OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
This is a fair sample of the moderate Catholic ecclesi-
astical abuse of the American public school. It is by a con-
tributor to The New World of April 9, 1904, page 13:
The state schools are the curse of filial piety and obedi-
ence and the breeding places of anarchism and rebellion.
They infect the mind of the child with contempt for the help-
less parents, who have nothing to say. Character and manli-
fg8 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ness, obedience, reverence, family ties are weakened. Do we
not see it in our young people ? They are the most irreverent,
the most forward, the most disobedient on the face of the
globe. Then what a conglomeration of girls and boys are gath-
ered in public schools! The children of thieves, murderers
and criminals sit side by side with the children of the honest
and upright; the Jew with the Christian, the infidel with the
devout. The morally rotten mingle with those yet sound.
Is it not true then that public schools are a perverse, il-
legal and dangerous institution? Oh, what cursed negligence
of otherwise sensible parents to allow such a commingling!
They would not mix up a dozen of sound apples with a sin-
gle tainted one, but they risk their innocent offspring with
any number of the corrupt scum of humanity merely because
the state offers to relieve them of the education of the children.
Before another generation grows up, our public schools will
be sinks of corruption from which streams of irreligious, un-
manly, lecherous, impious and scoffing humanity will issue
forth and poison our country.
Let all religious persons in the land rise up in might and
force the criminally negligent parents to take charge of the
education of their children in schools managed by each denom-
ination or each community. Let them help to sweep the in-
iquitous school laws from the land and make the state mind
the business for which God and we as citizens have set it up.
I imagine that a few of my readers will wonder, before
they finish reading this book, how much more stenchful the
parochial school sinks of corruption would be if there were
no public schools.
I do not think that it harms a Christian to sit by a Jew.
I think a man should be judged by his character and not by
his creed, his color or his family.
I can designate parochial schools in Chicago from which
have come criminals of international reputation. Chicago has
witnessed the hanging of more than one murderer who was
in youth a parochial school boy. These things are equally
true of other dioceses and archdioceses in America.
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 289
CHARGED WITH BEING GODLESS.
It was formerly the general custom to open the public
schools with the reading of some Scriptural selection and the
saying of the Lord's prayer. This course was followed to
teach the children about God and man's accountability to Him.
It probably was pursued with the idea of supplementing the
religious instruction of the home, the church, and the Sunday
school. Catholic ecclesiastics saw a point of attack upon the
public school in these religious exercises. So the country
was startled by Catholic protests against teaching religion in
the public schools. Some non-Catholics rallied 1 to the support
of the protesting Catholic.ecclesiastics ; ana out of the agitation
came the virtual abandonment of religious exercises in the
public schools.
Having eliminated God from the public schools Catholic
ecclesiastics then charged the public schools with being god-
less and unfit for the education of the Catholic youth. The
next movement was to erect parochial schools. The depleted
pocket-books of the Catholic people are mute witnesses to the
success of this last named ecclesiastical activity.
The Hierarchy hopes that its constant reiteration of the
charge of " godlessness " against the American public school
will lead many pious non-Catholic parents to believe that the
public schools are " vicious," and thereby hasten the destruction
of the public school system.
Catholic priests and prelates should not call the public
schools godless, for the majority of the teachers in many of
them are Catholics. They should not call them godless, for
they were principally responsible for the elimination of re-
ligious instruction from them. They should not call them
godless, for the leaders in American history were produced
by them. They should not call them godless, for many promi-
nent American Catholics, clerical and lay, were educated in
them. They should not call them godless, for the eloquent and
fearless Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, whose name is a household
290 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
word at home and abroad, has said that they are " not irre-
ligious, not anti-religious, not godless." (See Chapter XII
of this book for full quotation. )
CHARGED WITH CAUSING FRIVOLITY /ND DEPRAVITY.
It is charged by the ecclesiastical enemies of the public
school that the frivolity and depravity of the present day in
America are almost entirely due to the " godless public school."
In this connection I quote from an article by Rev. Charles
Coppens, a Jesuit pr.iest, published in The New World, the of-
ficial organ of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, June 25,
1904, page 6, entitled, " The White Slaves of America " :
It will scarcely be questioned that the number of de-
praved young men is greater than that of depraved young
women. But the question which it concerns the whole country
to study is : What has filled the land with such multitudes of
young people who live for pleasure without any serious thought
of solemn duty ; whose ideal in life is independence, personal
enjoyment and general egotism? What education have those
boys and girls received? They know how to read, write and
cipher to some extent ; they have a smattering of all that is
taught in the common schools, and many have gone through
high school or college. The vast majority of them are the
ripe and legitimate fruit of the public school system ; they are
the logical outcome of the principles practically inculcated by
it, namely, of eagerness to have money, love of amusement and
show, independence, liberty of thought, neglect of religious
observances.
The frivolous and depraved members of the present gen-
eration are not the legitimate fruit of the public school system.
The love of money, which according to the Scriptures is " the
root of all evil," does not have its origin and development in
the public school. It has its genesis in the abundant wealth
of the times and it is developed by a knowledge of the manifold
objects which minister to comfort, culture and pleasure that
money will procure. The progress of the world has made
money a key which will open more doors in our day than it
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 291
did in the times of our forefathers. The wealth of America
has made America. Mr. Motley, in his Rise of the Dutch Re-
public, says that " wealth, its vivifier became its destroyer/*
Wealth, the vivifier of America, may become the destroyer of
America. The danger lurks in the inordinate desire to ac-
cumulate it, in the unholy ways adopted to get it, and in the
misuse or abuse of it. From one end of the land to the other
there is a mania for money getting. American children do
not become tainted with this mania for wealth by the instruction
which is imparted to them in the public school, but by what
they see, by what they hear, and by what they read. They are
most largely influenced by the examples given them by the
holders of wealth. So far as the public school is concerned it
is on the sidq of morality and religion because its chief ideals
are the distinguished Americans who rose under their aegis
from lowliness to the highest position in their country. Wash-
ington, the surveyor; Lincoln, the rail-splitter; Grant, the
tanner; Garfield, the canal-boat boy; and McKinley, the clerk,
are types of the concrete teaching imparted to children in the
public schools. The public school does not deify the dollar
it deifies character.
Now, what advantage has the parochial school over the
public school in warning the children against the wrongful as-
pects of money desiring, money getting and money using:
The parochial school can teach that God looks with disfavor
upon any inordinate desire to acquire wealth; that He abomi-
nates unholy methods to gain it ; and that He will hold its pos-
sessor to a strict accountability for the use he makes of it. The
public school cannot teach its pupils these religious truths.
Does the parochial school in consequence have an advantage
over the public school in respect to this line of instruction?
Theoretically yes, but practically no, because the parochial
school officers in America exhibit the most inordinate desire
for wealth, adopt the most unholy methods to gain it, and make
the most selfish use of it. I<leave it to the good sense of 'think-
292 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ing Americans to decide whether the hypocrisy of the parochial
school in this regard is not infinitely more harmful to children
than the silence of the public school.
The ecclesiastical enemies of the public school seem to
take it for granted that frivolity and depravity are character-
istics of the product of the American public school alone.
That some of the graduates of the public schools should have
these characteristics is not astounding. But what about the
frivolity and depravity which characterize the product of the
parochial school? From the statistics in my possession I as-
sert that proportionately there is a very much smaller depraved
and frivolous product from the public school than there is
from the parochial school. I make this declaration with no
desire to hurt the feelings of the Catholic people who have re-
ceived a parochial school education, many of whom are true-
hearted men and women. I marvel that so many of the pa-
rochial school pupils succeed in rising above their alma mater
and in developing fine characters in spite of the awful incubus
of hypocrisy, incompetency and inadequacy under which they
labored in the parochial school.
CHARGED WITH BREEDING SOCIALISM.
One of the attempts to discredit the public school is found
in the charge by Catholic ecclesiastics that it is allied with
socialism. The New World (the official organ of the Arch-
diocese of Chicago) in its issue of June 25, 1904, page 8, has
an article on this subject by " a distinguished writer," and
from it I quote as follows :
Socialism is sloth and laziness concocted into a gigantic
system and involves the end of all decency and progress in the
human race. Well, then, what are our public schools but a
part of this system ?
I leave it to socialistic writers to combat the above defini-
tion of socialism. The reading I have done along this line,
however, has not led me to any such conclusion. Whatever
socialism may be, abstractly or concretely, one thing I know
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 293
and that is that the American public school is not a part of
a gigantic system of concocted sloth and laziness. My ob-
servation in America teaches me that socialists here, whatever
they may be in other countries, are industrious, hard working,
plain people, who love their homes and country and desire at
heart, however mistaken they may be in theory, the welfare
of all men.
This socialistic charge is directed to the Catholic people
rather than to the non-Catholics, for the Catholic clergy are
bitter enemies of socialism, and they constantly preach against
it from their pulpits. If the Catholic people can be made to
believe that the public schools are hot-beds of socialism, then
to that extent will the public schools be discredited in the eyes
of the Catholic people as proper institutions to which to send
Catholic youth.
CHARGED WITH CAUSING LYNCHINGS.
From an editorial entitled, " Reaping the Whirlwind," in
The Catholic Telegraph, of Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A., of Au-
gust 18, 1904, page 4, I quote the following:
Various reasons have been assigned for these frequent
eruptions of the anarchistic spirit, but, in our opinion, the lynch-
ing spirit is due to the irreligion, the exaggerated idea of per-
sonal freedom and the repugnance to authority imbibed by the
pupils in the godless schools of the country. " All authority
comes from God," and " Morality can not be taught without re-
ligion," are principles which should dominate every system of
education which may hope to produce law-abiding citizens,
and until they do dominate our 'primary school education, we
must not expect to be free from increasing outbursts of the
lynching spirit.
Parochial school graduates never participate in lynchings !
Only graduates of the public school are guilty of that deviltry !
The time is surely near at hand for the Jesuits and other
Catholic enemies of the public school to charge it with bring-
ing about the rebellion of Lucifer, the fall of Adam, the uni- .
294 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
versal deluge and the diabolical immorality of Pope Alexander
VI.
SCHEME, TO DETERIORATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL BY THE DE-
STRUCTION AND PREVENTION OF NORMAL SCHOOLS.
I now advert to that part of the ecclesiastical plan to wreck
the public schools which has to do with preventing the train-
ing of teachers for the public schools. Teachers are now
trained by normal schools. A specific clerical attack is being
made upon the normal schools. It requires no extraordinary
degree of intelligence to forecast the fate which awaits the
public schools if they cannot secure an abundant supply of
thoroughly trained teachers. If the normal schools are abol-
ished, the public schools very likely will be forced to employ
untrained teachers, and the inevitable result would be the de-
struction of the efficiency of the public schools.
But Catholic ecclesiastical enemies of the public schools
hope not only to injure the public schools by depriving them
of the trained teachers which they now get by the normal
courses, but to crowd the teaching staff of the public schools
full of the incompetent graduates of the parochial schools.
With the normal schools out of the way, these ecclesiastics be-
lieve that they can so manipulate matters that the parochial
school graduates will easily become public school teachers in
fact, have the preference over other graduates and candidates
for teaching positions. The success of this scheme would, of
course, mean great graft for the ecclesiastics and awful de-
terioration for the public school.
A Catholic ecclesiastical attack is now being made upon
the normal school in Chicago. A bill has been filed in the
names of several Catholics to restrain the Chicago Board of
Education from completing the normal school, alleging some
class distinction as the ground of complaint. Preceding the
filing of this bill the Archbishop of Chicago had much to say
against the normal school, and I think there can be no doubt
that His Grace is directly or indirectly responsible for the legal
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 295
action. The Union League Club, composed of leading Chicago
citizens, is championing the normal school. Apropos of the
situation I quote the following about a speech delivered by
Archbishop Quigley, December 19, 1903, at Masonic Temple,
Chicago :
Chicago American, Dec. 20, 1903.
Declaring that Catholics simply desired their constitution-
al right to educate their children as they saw fit, Archbishop
Quigley attacked the erection of the new Chicago Normal
School and the principles on which it was founded. He ex-
plained that the State could support Catholic parochial schools
without violating any constitutional provision or statute.
I quote the following editorial on the action of the Union
League Club :
The Chicago Daily Journal, June 25, 1904.
IN DEFENSE OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL.
The Union League club has tendered its assistance to the
board of education in defense of the Chicago Normal school.
The latter body is to be commended for having accepted
the offer. The issue is one vitally affecting the welfare of the
Chicago public schools.
A suit has been instituted, in the name of three taxpayers,
seeking to restrain the board of education from making further
appropriations for the maintenance of this institution.
The intention clearly is to kill the school. Its destruction
is calculated to paralyze the efficiency of the teaching force.
It means nothing less, and the public should be aroused to the
true situation.
The normal institution is the nursery and training school
for Chicago teachers. To destroy it is to undermine the whole
free school system.
It has been shown by school statistics that the supply of
teachers from outside schools is not only inadequate, but de-
ficient in preparation.
It also has been shown that careful, intelligent, expert
training is necessary for the profession of teaching. How
necessary, then, that the normal school should be as carefully
provided for as are the public schools themselves !
296 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
An attack upon the normal school from any source should
be resisted. The whole people of Chicago should applaud the
Union League club for coming to the defense of this important
educational institution.
Friends of the American public school in other localities
should be on the alert to resist any Catholic ecclesiastical at-
tacks upon normal schools.
ATTACKS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL VEILED AND OPEN.
The attack of the Catholic Hierarchy upon the American
public school is both veiled and open, depending upon the judg-
ment of individual priests and prelates, that judgment being
shaped by local conditions and personal considerations.
Sometimes ecclesiastical disavowals of antagonism to the
public schools are made, and the public informed that the
Church does not seek to destroy them. As an illustration of
such disavowals I quote the following from the Cathedral
Calendar, published by the Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago,
September, 1902, p. 3:
Upon the opening of our parish schools education be-
comes the topic of the hour. Catholics have little room for
perplexity in the matter, as the Church has pointed out the
school in which their children shall be trained. In so doing
the Catholic church makes no war with the American system
of public schools. That institution is a credit to a people striv-
ing for knowledge. But life is more than knowledge, and
character is more than instruction.
All such disavowals of Catholic ecclesiastical antagonism
to the American public school are rank hypocrisies. At the
very time the foregoing quoted matter was penned for the pub-
lic, Catholic people were told that the American public schools
are but traps of the devil and sinks of corruption.
Some Catholic ecclesiastics pretend to want " higher pub-
lic schools, not the destruction of the school system," and sol-
emnly declare that this is the Catholic aim ; but when their argu-
ments are carefully analyzed and weighed it is seen that the
ORIGIN HATRED OF PUBLIC SCHOOL. 297
word " higher " is used metaphorically or dynamically, and
that their object is to blow the public schools out of existence.
If Americans will observe closely they will see that emi-
nent Catholic ecclesiastics are hypocritically posing as the
champions of the best interests of the public school.
In April, 1903, the Archbishop of Chicago was heralded
over the land as fiercely assailing a certain educational bill then
pending before the legislature of the State cf Illinois, alleging
it to be " a blow at free education, and in effect an effort to
place the public schools under the direction of the president
of the Chicago University, who would be a dictator." When
I reflected upon the Catholic ecclesiastical plan of attack upon
the public schools, the wickedness of grafting parochial school
officers, and the demand of His Grace that the State shall aid
parochial schools, I wondered how long it will take the Amer-
ican people to wake up.
A SIMULATED LIBERALITY.
The Catholic ecclesiastical opponents of the public schools
assume an air of liberality and make references to the belief
of the majority of Americans in one God, Creator of all, and
they declare that all civil laws which interfere in things super-
natural or religious are invalid and unjust. But it should
be borne in mind that these expressions have only an apparent
and not a real liberality. When Catholic ecclesiastics thus
talk about the belief of the majority in " one God " it is simply
to ingratiate themselves in the favor of pious non-Catholics;
and when they protest against civil laws which interfere in
things supernatural or religious, they have in mind solely their
own Church. The non-Catholic, who entertains for a moment
the thought that they speak in a fraternal sense, is not wise.
I say it with sadness that I am absolutely certain that these
men, if they possessed the power, would not only destroy the
public schools, but would trample upon the religious rights of
every sect in America. Their references and appeals to " God,"
" the Church," and " human rights " must be interpreted first,
298 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL..
last and all the time by the darkness of bigotry and selfishness
and not by the light of liberality and charity.
ON THE EVE OF AN AGGRESSIVE CLERICALISM.
We are now on the eve of a most aggressive Catholic cler-
ical movement. In a prominent article entitled, " Our Duty
as Citizens," in The New World, the official organ of the
Archdiocese of Chicago, (issue of April 16, 1904, p. 10), oc-
cur these words :
Catholics as a body have offered a passive resistance to
the school laws all over the country The better and most re-
ligious portion of them have desired a radical change in these
lazvs, and they are getting ready to make the most strenuous
efforts to effect such a change.
I have no misgiving about the outcome. Catholic eccle-
siastics cannot destroy the American public school ; they can
not disintegrate it ; they cannot divert its funds they can make
the effort and achieve a certain amount of apparent success,
but the result of their effort will be the arraying of the seventy
millions of non-Catholic American citizens against the less
than twelve millions of Catholics in America and the end of
the struggle will witness not merely the protection of the
American public school but the annihilation of the Catholic
parochial school.
Recent French history, telling of the suppression of the
teaching orders, should be emphasis enough on what is pos-
sible and probable in America.
The American people are slow to wrath, but when their
wrath is once kindled it burns like a consuming fire. Mes-
sages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. X., p. 420.
The parochial school is a gold mine for Catholic ecclesias-
tical grafters. It is a curse to the Church. It is a menace to
the Nation.
CHAPTER III.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE PAROCHIAL
SCHC'OL SYSTEM.
THE public school system in America has Boards of Educa-
tion. The public schools of the City of Chicago, 111., for exam-
ple, are controlled by a Board of Education. The public school
superintendents, principals, assistant principals and teachers
are subject to it. It is the supreme head of the public school
system in Chicago. It regulates the salaries of the public
school officers and teachers; it contracts for the securing of
new building sites, and it lets the contracts for the erection of
new school buildings. It designates the studies which the pub-
lic school children shall pursue. Other cities and localities in
America have similar boards, vested with like powers. The
Nation has no supreme Board of Education to which are ame-
nable all the Boards of Education in the respective States.
The parochial school system has no Boards of Education
in America such as I have described as being in control of the
public schools. It has, however, in effect, a Board of Educa-
tion, although it does not designate it by this name, to which
the parochial schools are subject. The Board of Education of
the Catholic Parochial School System is none other than the
Vatican, meaning thereby the Pope and the Propaganda, and
their ecclesiastical advisers. These high Church dignitaries,
comprising the Pontiff, Cardinals, and others, constitute what
may with propriety be called, in view of their relation to the
parochial school, the Board of Education of the Catholic Pa-
rochial School System.
J 209
300 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Jti view of the fact that a division of the public school
money in America is demanded by the Catholic hierarchy, and
in view of the fact that the Catholic hierarchy is ceaseless in its
villification of the American public school, and in view of the
fact that the Catholic hierarchy is determined to annihilate the
American public school system, and in view of the fact that
these ecclesiastical attitudes have never been rebuked by the
Vatican but on the contrary indirectly if not directly approved,
I deem it very important to this discussion to present certain
information about the Board of Education of the Parochial
School System that the American people may have at hand
reliable data to help them in deciding whether they should favor
or oppose the attitudes of the Catholic hierarchy towards the
American public school. Some of these data consist of Church
history which I trust will so enlighten the Catholic people that
they may be led to form rational views as to the peccability
of priests, prelates, Cardinals and Pontiffs.
VATICAN HISTORY.
The Board of Education of the Catholic Parochial School
System has a long history and much of it is shocking. Its
unsavory features are not familiar to the plain Catholic people.
I shall quote almost entirely from the works of Dr. John
Alzog and Dr. Ludwig Pastor, the renowned historians of the
Catholic Church.
Dr. Alzog is the author of the Manual of Universal
Church History, and the American translation bears the fol-
lowing imprimatur :
Cincinnati, August 15, 1874.
With no ordinary satisfaction, we attach our Imprimatur
to this most necessary Manual of Ecclesiastical History of the
Rev. Dr. Alzog. The work, as it comes from the hands of
the Rev. President and a Rev. Professor of our Seminary, may
be considered an improvement on the original. It is better
adapted to our needs, and from the favor with which the pros-
pectus has been received by our Most Reverend Prelates and
Right Reverend Prelates and Professors of Theology, we have
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 301
no doubt of its being regarded as a valuable acquisition to ec-
clesiastical science.
f J. B. Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati.
Dr. Pastor's work is widely known, and as it is drawn
from the secret archives of the Vatican it is regarded as par-
ticularly valuable. I quote from The New World of Nov. 7,
1903, page 13 :
Dr. Pastor, author of the " Lives of the Popes," had a long
audience with the Holy Father on Saturday, and presented to
His Holiness a copy of the fourth edition of the first volume
of the work. The Pope expressed his hearty appreciation of
the action of Leo XIII in throwing open the Vatican archives,
and said : " Non e da temere la verita " the truth is not to be
feared. He gave Dr. Pastor permission to dedicate to him
the fourth edition of the second volume of the " History of the
Popes," and said he would regard the dedication as a high hon-
or for himself.
Dr. Alzog and Dr. Pastor devote hundreds of pages to
the dark side of the Vatican history. They say that sin has
infected all ranks of the clergy at various times during the ex-
istence of the Church ; that certain Popes, while occupying
the Pontifical throne, were guilty of immorality some of them
officiated at the weddings of their own children and performed
the ceremonies in the Vatican ; that many Cardinals were lewd
in life; that the lower clergy were corrupt; that grafting
abounded ; that the ruling classes, demoralized by clerical ras-
cality, plunged into excesses ; that the faith was preserved by
the honest, abused, deceived, patient, plain Catholic people;
that when the priesthood had the most of wealth and power
its sins were greatest; and that money has been wrung from
the people to feed the extravagance of priests, prelates, Cardi-
nals and Pontiffs.
I quote a few of the statements of Dr. Alzog and Dr.
Pastor.
GENERAL IMMORALITY.
Under this heading will be found a few quotations which
are general in their nature.
302 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
UNCHASTITY AND SIMONY.
There were eighty councils held in France during the
eleventh century, and of these there was not a single one in
which a protest of the fathers was not directed against the
lawlessness and brigandage of the laity and the unchastity and
simony of the clergy. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal
Church History, Vol. II., p. 368.
PAPAL AND CLERICAL IMMORALITY.
Cupidity, manifesting itself in the prevalence of simony
and the accumulation of benefices, selfishness, pride and os-
tentatious luxury were but too common among ecclesiastics.
The extent of the corruption is seen in the complaints of con-
temporary writers, and proved by well authenticated facts.
Unhappily, the infection spread even to the Holy See. The
corruption begins with Paul II., it increases under Sixtus IV.
and Innocent VIII., and comes to a head in the desecration
of the chair of St. Peter, by the immoral life of Alexander VI.
The depravity of these times struck even such outside observers
as the knight Arnold von Harff, with horror. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 169, 170.
There can be no doubt that . . . among the clergy
(during the Renaissance) there was a great deal of immorality.
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., p. 10.
Dr. Pastor refers to the mandate of the Duke of Milan
to the Podesta of Pavia, dated Sept. 27, 1470, containing com-
plaints of the priests who went about at night in secular attire.
Also, much scandal was given by the clergy in Sicily. Also to
Ordinance of the Viceroy, dated Palermo, Oct. 26, 1500, on
priests who kept concubines. All in Vol. V., p. 172, footnotes,
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes.
PROSTITUTION, SODOMY AND MURDERS IN CHURCHES.
Already, in the I4th century, in the towns in Italy, the
number of unfortunate women leading a life of shame had been
very great. . . . On the side of the Church great efforts
were made to stem the tide of evil. . . Special missions
were sometimes given for the conversion of these women.
. . Some were converted. . . . But in the main things
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 303
remained much as they were in Rome, which was not sur-
prising, considering the bad example set by so many of the
clergy. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 128,
But this (prostitution) was not the worst of the maladies
which the false renaissance had brought upon Italy. . . .
There is unmistakable evidence of the revival of the horrible
national vice of the Greeks. ... It made its way into the
lower ranks also. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V .,
pp. 131, 133.
The frequency of murders in churches is another mark
of the blunting of the moral sense. Dr. Pastor's History of
the Popes, Vol. V., p. 134.
GROSS LIBERTIES BY ARTISTS.
The abuse of painting friends and acquaintances of the
artist as saints, grew apace during the latter half of the I5th
century. Donatello, in choosing a man like Poggio for a mod-
el of a prophet, was defying all sense of propriety. The same
was in a sense true of Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes in the Campo
Santo at Pisa, and in S. Gimignano, and of those painted by
Ghirlandjo in Sta. Maria Novella in Florence. Many as are
the beauties of Ghirlandjo's frescoes in the choir of Sta. Maria
Novella, we cannot but regard the introduction of twenty-one
portraits of members of the donors' families as a profanation
of sacred history. The dissolute Carmelite, Fra Pilippo Lippi,
did even worse, for his Madonnas reproduce again and again
the features of Lucrezia Buti, his mistress. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 196, 197.
Many of my readers may not catch the full significance
of these words. It is simply this : Artists who were en-
gaged to paint sacred pictures, painted the likenesses of their
mistresses to represent the holy women, and Lippi even chose
his mistress to represent the Mother of God.
IMMORAL MONKS AND NUNS.
The ecclesiastical troubles of preceding years had paved
the way for grievous abuses in the Tyrol, as well as in most
parts of Germany, and fearful immorality prevailed amongst
clergy and laity. . . Cardinal Cusa rose to the occasion. He
304 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
was resolved at any cost to carry out the reform in his Dio-
cese ; his special attention was directed to the Religious Or-
ders, the scandal of whose moral corruption was aggravated
by their profession of a life of poverty and self-abnegation.
The extent of the evil may be estimated by the violent op-
position which the regulations of the new Bishop encountered.
The Poor Clares of Brixen in particular were distinguished by
the obstinacy of their resistance, and even the intervention
of the Holy See was ineffectual. The nuns treated the Papal
Brief with as little respect as the Interdict and Excommuni-
cation pronounced by the Cardinal. Dr. Pastor's History of
the Popes, Vol. III., pp. 178, 179.
Cardinal Cusa's most serious contest was with the nuns
of the Bendictine Convent of Sonnenburg, in the Pusterthal,
where a secular spirit had made terrible inroads. . . They
turned to Duke Sigismund for protection. This dissolute
prince was a strange champion for a convent of nuns, but he
was equal to the occasion.
A foot note here says : In 1490 the deputies of the States
represented to Sigismund that " the gracious Lord had cer-
tainly more than forty sons and daughters who were illegit-
imate." . . Archiv fiir Ocsterreich. Gesch., XLL, 310.
Ibid. 302 seq. shows Sigismund to have ultimately become the
sport of depraved women.
In 1455 the sentence of greater excommunication was
pronounced on the obstinate inmates of the convent, who
thereupon appealed to the Pope. Calixtus III. disapproved of
the Cardinal's (Cusa's) severity, and recommended, for the
sake of avoiding scandal, that the matter should be amicably
adjusted. Cusa, however, would yield nothing, and the nuns
persevered in their resistance, relying on the protection of the
Duke (Sigismund). Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol.
III., pp. 180, 181.
Many of the monasteries were in a most deplorable con-
dition. The three essential vows of poverty, chastity and
obedience, were in some convents almost entirely disregarded.
. . The discipline of many convents of nuns was equally i'ax.
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 172, 173.
Sixtus IV. found it necessary to direct a Bull against some
Carmelites in Bologna who had maintained that there was no
BOARD OP EDUCATION. 305
harm in asking for things from demons. Dr. Pastor's History
of the Popes, Vol. V., p. 152.
THE CHURCH BETWEEN NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES.
The Church, notably in Italy and in some portions of the
former Prankish Empire, had fallen from the high position
to which she had been raised by Charlemagne to as low a
depth as she could well reach. . . In the midst of the turmoil
and conflict of parties, it was but natural that the clergy
should be distinguished by ignorance rather than learning;
and, this being the case, it was equally natural that the bulk of
the people should grow up without the necessary religious in-
struction and information. Such was in matter of fact the
condition of things. People grew worldly and sensual ; religion
was, in many instances, little better than a gross and degrad-
ing superstition ; the veneration paid to the saints was but a
few removes from Paganism ; the reverence given to images
was excessively exaggerated. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. II., p. 391.
The efforts of Benedict XIL, Innocent VI., and Urban
V. were ineffectual to counteract the influence of these wide-
spread disorders. Relaxation and dissoluteness infected every
member of the Church, from the highest to the lowest; stem
and branch languished, barren and dishonored. Dr. Alzog's
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., p. 845.
Men were not wanting to whom these shameful courses
became an occasion for altogether rejecting the institution of
the Papacy. A Canon of Bamberg, Dr. Theodorich Morung,
who had gone to Rome on some affairs of the Diocese in the
spring of 1485, on his return home expressed himself in this
sense. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., p. j/o.
MORALS OF THE CLERGY, A. D. 1303-1517.
The gradual decline of papal influence and the evil ex-
ample of the lives of some of the Popes reacted with terrible
effect upon the morals of the bishops. As many of these had
secured their sees by the employment of questionable means,
it need excite no surprise if, having once entered upon the
duties of their office, they led lives the reverse of exemplary,
and did absolutely nothing to elevate the standard of morality
among the faithful. . . It must be admitted that morality,
306 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
especially among the lower clergy and in the monasteries, was
dissolute indeed in the fifteenth century. . . Concubinage was
the crying vice among the clergy of many dioceses. . . Such
scandals will occur in the very best and purest ages. . . Neither
can the action of synods be taken as conclusive against the
morals of any age. . . But after allowance has been made for
every such modifying circumstance, the fact that during this
age the morality of the clergy was deplorable, is still before
us in all its hideous deformity. This dissoluteness of morals
rapidly infected the laity, who learned from those whose lives
should have been examples of manly honesty and priestly
honor to put a light estimate on the virtue of purity. The
leading minds of the Councils were divided as to what means
to employ for removing so deep a stain from the priestly char-
acter. Some professed to believe that the marriage of the
clergy was the only adequate remedy for the evil ; but others . .
maintained that the well-being of the Church depended upon
the rule of celibacy, the observance of which would be ren-
dered morally certain if based upon a thoroughly clerical edu-
cation, an education such as is consonant with a divine call-
ing to the priesthood. Decrees were enacted punishing with
fines and deposition those of the clergy who should refuse to
leave off living in concubinage.
As these disorders were very generally believed to be a
consequence of the great w r ealth of the clergy, many asserted
that the removal of so potent an occasion of sin, was the first
step towards either forming a new clergy, with more exalted
principles of priestly purity and honor, or raising up those of
the existing clergy from the depth of degradation to which
their avarice and their immorality had precipitated them, and
establishing them once more in the esteem and affections of a
laity who now regarded them with aversion and contempt.
Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II. ,
PP. 928-931-
GRAFT AT THE PAPAL COURT.
So wide an extension and so active an exercise of the
power and authority of the Holy See called for a large and
efficient staff of officials about the immediate person of the
Pope, and the continual presence of papal legates in distant
countries. For the decisions in all legal matters, the Roman
court was the highest tribunal of appeal, and for these legal
services heavy fees were exacted. The legates sent into the
feoARt) OF EDtfCAfiOJN. 30/
various countries to look after ecclesiastical affairs, as a rule,
made an honest and conscientious use of the vast authority
with which they were invested; but the abuses which they
not unfrequently permitted themselves excited the most bitter
complaints even against the Popes, who, to their honor be it
said, always meant well, but were not always faithfully served.
Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II.,
PP- 633, 634-
POPES INFLUENCED BY ASTROLOGY.
Astrology was so bound up with Italian life that many
even of the Popes, Sixtus IV., Julius II., Leo X., and still
later Paul III., were influenced by the notions of their time.
It is uncertain whether or not Paul II. tolerated Astrology.
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., p. 149.
Astrology in those days evidently had superseded the Holy
Ghost.
THE PLAIN CATHOLIC PEOPLE SAVED THE CHURCH.
The religious dispositions of the people held many things
together which threatened to fall to pieces, and explain much
that would otherwise be difficult of solution ; it was often very
touchingly manifested. When Gregory XL, the last of the
Avignon Popes, laid an interdict u*pon Florence, crowds of
citizens used to assemble in the evening before the images of
the Madonna, at the corners of the streets, and endeavor by
their prayers and hymns to make up for the cessation of pub-
lic worship. Vespasiano da Bisticci, in his life of (Pope)
Eugenius IV., relates that when the Pope, during his sojourn
in Florence, blessed the people from a balcony erected in
front of the church of Sta. Maria Novella, the whole of the
wide square and the adjoining streets resounded with sighs and
prayers; it seemed as if our Lord Himself, rather than His
Vicar, was speaking. In 1450, when Nicholas V. celebrated
the restoration of peace to the Church by the publication of a
Jubilee, a general migration to the Eternal City took place ;
eye-witnesses compared the bands of pilgrims to the flight of
starlings, or the march of myriads of ants. In the year 1483
the Siennese consecrated their city to the Mother of God, and
in 1495, at the instigation of Savonarola, the Florentines pro-
claimed Christ their King. . . Side by side with these evi-
308 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
deuces of religious feeling in the Italian people, the age of the
Renaissance certainly exhibits alarming tokens of moral de-
cay ; sensuality and license reigned, especially among the higher
classes. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. I., pp. 34, 35.
CORRUPTION IN THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS.
GRAFT, IMMORALITY, CRUELTY, WORLDLINESS, ETC.
The lives of many cardinals, bishops, and prelates, are
a sad spectacle at a time when one man could hold any num-
ber of benefices, and squander unabashed the revenues derived
from them in a career of luxury and vice. The serious cor-
ruption in the College of Cardinals began under Sixtus IV.,
and during the reign of Innocent VIII. it increased to such
an extent that it became possible by bribery to procure the
election of such a successor as Alexander VI. A glance at
the lives of Ippolito d'Este, Francesco Lloris, Caesar Borgia,
and others, is enough to show the character of the members ad-
mitted under this Pope into the Senate of the Church. It was
not till the reign of Julius II. that a partial improvement took
place, and even he bestowed the purple on such worthless per-
sons as Sigismondo Gonzaga and Francesco Alidosi. Strict
ecclesiastical discipline was not re-established in the College
of Cardinals till the middle of the i6th century. Dr. Pas-
tor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 170, 171.
Of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, we are told that he hired
assassins to put out the eyes of his natural brother Julius, be-
cause one of his mistresses had remarked that they were beau-
tiful.
He was made a cardinal at the age of fifteen years. Dr.
Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., p. 171, foot-note, and
p. 417.
INCIDENTS IN THE LIVES OF POPES.
JOHN XL, A. D. 931-936.
Made Pope by His Infamous Mother.
Dr. Alzog says that his mother was Marozia, one of the
infamous daughters of the infamous courtesan, Theodora the
elder. While she was in the possession of the castle of St.
Angelo, she had Pope John X. cast into prison and put to
death. Pope John XI. was her son by her first husband, and
BOARD Of EDUCATION. 309
he "was throughout his whole reign, subject to the baneful
influence of either his mother or brother." Dr. Alzog's Man-
ual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., pp. 293, 295, 296.
JOHN XII., A. D. 955-964.
A Profligate. Indicted for Incest, etc.
In the year 956, Octavian, a youth only eighteen years
of age, the son of Alberic, Duke of Tuscany, the husband of
Marozia, succeeded through the influence of his faction, in
having himself raised to the papal throne. The custom, now
common with popes, of changing their baptismal name upon
their accession, into one more ecclesiastical in form, was first
introduced by John XII. His pontificate lasted till the year
964. Though young in years, this unworthy occupant of the
papal chair was old in profligacy, and brought disgrace upon
his exalted office by his many vices and shameful excesses. . .
When (King) Otho was informed, upon the authority of the
leading citizens of Rome, that John XII. was stained with
the guilt of immorality, simony, and other vices equally hein-
ous, he dismissed the charges with the remark: "He is still
young, and may, with the example of good men before him,
and under the influence of their counsel, grow better as he
grows older." (Otho, while at Pavia, learned of treacherous
conduct on the part of Pope John XII. towards him and) he
set out for Rome, where he arrived November 2, A. D. 962 ;
but John and (Prince) Adelbert, not daring to await his com-
ing, had already fled, taking with them the treasure of St.
Peter's Church. The Romans took the oath of fealty to Otho.
. . He (Otho) convoked (A. D. 963) a synod to meet in St.
Peter's Church, at which forty bishops and sixteen cardinals
were present, for the purpose of deposing the Pope. . . This
so-called Synod indicted the Pope on the charges of incest,
perjury, blasphemy, murder, and others equally enormous.
This synod deposed Pope John XII., and elected Leo. a
layman, who was called Pope Leo VIII., to the pontificate.
Later, John XII. returned to Rome, and drove out the anti-
pope, assembled a synod, declared the acts of the synod called
bv Otho null and of no effect, deposed and excommunicated
Leo, and pronounced his ordination invalid.
No sooner had John gained this triumph over his enemies
than he again went back to his former licentious habits and
310 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
unseemly excesses. But though God may tolerate such things
for a time, His vengeance usually overtakes one in the end.
John was suddenly stricken down with cerebral apoplexy, and
died, at the end of eight days, without being able to receive
the Holy Viaticum. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church
History, Vol. II., pp. 297, 298, 303, 304,305.
BENEDICT IX., 1033-1044.
A Profligate. Gets Married.
Count Alberic, the brother of Benedict VIII. and John
XIX., succeeded, by means of unbounded bribery, in having
his son, Theophylactus, a young man of only eighteen (12?),
but far more proficient in vice than became one of his age,
elected Pope, under the name of Benedict IX. For eleven
years did this young profligate disgrace the chair of St. Peter.
One of his successors (Pope Victor III.), in speaking of him,
said, " that it was only with feelings of horror he could bring
himself to relate how disgraceful, outrageous, and execrable
was the conduct of this man after he had taken priest's orders."
The Romans put up with his misconduct and vices for a time ;
but, seeing that he grew worse instead of better, from day to
day, they finally lost all patience with him, and drove him
from the city. The Emperor Conrad . . . conducted him
back to Rome and reinstated him in his office; but, on the
death of the former (Conrad), Benedict was again forced
to leave the city ; and his enemies, by making liberal distribu-
tions of money among the people, reconciled public opinion
to the election of an antipope in the person of John, Bishop
of Sabina, who took the name of Sylvester III. After an ab-
sence of a few months, Benedict was brought back by the
members of the powerful family to which he belonged ; but he
had scarcely been fairly seated on his throne when he gave
fresh offense to the people by proposing a marriage between
himself and his cousin. The father of the young lady refused
to give his consent to the proposed union, unless Benedict
would first resign the papacy, and the archpriest John, a
man of piety and rectitude of life, fearing the consequences
so great a scandal would bring upon the Church, also offered
him a great sum of money if he would withdraw to private
life. Benedict, who longed for privacy, that he might the more
fully indulge his passions, listened with pleasure to these sug-
gestions, and finally consented to resign and retire to live as a
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 311
private citizen, in one of the castles belonging to his family.
It was the honest purpose of the archpriest John to raise the
Holy See from the degradation to which it had been sunk by the
tyranny and the bribery of the nobles; but, at the same time,
conscious that the only way to defeat them was to outbid them
in the purchase of the venal populace, he distributed money
lavishly, but judiciously, and thus secured his own election.
He took the name of Gregory VI. But the love of power and
notoriety soon grew upon Benedict. He repented of the step
he had taken, and, coming forth from the privacy which had
now lost its fascination, and supported by his powerful rela-
tives, he again put forth his claims to the papacy. There
were now three persons (Benedict IX., Sylvester III. and
Gregory VI.) claiming the same dignity. This condition of
affairs brought grief to the hearts of the well disposed of all
parties, and they coming together, invited Henry III. of Ger-
many . . to put an end to the confusion and restore order. . .
He caused a synod to be convened . . at Sutri, at which Syl-
vester III. was condemned and ordered to retire to cloister,
and there pass the remainder of his days. Benedict's
claims, owing to his resignation, were not taken into account,
and Gregory came forward, and, on his own motion, declared
that though he had had the best intentions in aiming at the pap-
acy, there could be no question that his election had been se-
cured " by disgraceful bribery and accompanied by simoniacal
heresy, and that, in consequence, he should of right be deprived
of the papal throne, and did hereby resign it." Accompanied
by his disciple, Hildebrand, he afterward retired to the mon-
astery of Clugny. . . The Romans had sworn that they would
not choose another Pope during the lifetime of Gregory, and
they therefore begged Henry III., as he with his successors
enjoyed the title of Patrician of Rome, to make choice of one.
Henry selected for the office Suidger, Bishop of Bamberg, who
took the name of Clement II. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. II., pp. 316-319.
JOHN XXII, 1316-1334.
A Multimillionaire.
John died (December 4, 1334), leaving a well-filled ex-
chequer whose wealth, amounting to eighteen millions of gold
florins and seven millions in jewels, was derived chiefly from
312 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
annats, or the first year's revenue of a vacant bishopric ; from
expectancies, or moneys paid by clerics to the Pope for let-
ters securing them the first benefices that should fall vacant;
and from the tithe, or a levy amounting to the tenth of its
value on all property. It was said that the Pope was accumu-
lating this wealth to undertake a new Crusade, and to put
him in a position to restore the pontifical residence to Rome.
Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II.,
P. 835-
URBAN V., 1362-1370.
Indescribable Immorality.
Urban V. was one of the best of Popes. . . The period
was in many ways a most melancholy one. The prevailing
immorality exceeded anything that had been witnessed since
the tenth century. . . Habits of life changed rapidly, and be-
came more luxurious and pleasure seeking. The clergy of
all degrees, with some honorable exceptions, went with the
current. . . Gold became the ruling power everywhere. . .
The officials of the Papal Court omitted no means of enrich-
ing themselves. No audience was to be obtained, no business
transacted without money, and even permission to receive
Holy Orders had to be purchased by presents. The same
evils, on a smaller scale, prevailed in most of the episcopal
palaces. The promotion of unworthy and incompetent men,
and the complete neglect of the obligation of residence, were
the results of this system. The synods, indeed, often urged
this obligation, but the example of those in high places counter-
acted their efforts. The consequent want of supervision is
in itself enough to explain the decay of discipline in the mat-
ter of the celibacy of the clergy, though the unbridled im-
morality, which kept pace with the increasing luxury of the
age, had here also led many astray. Urban V. . . clearly saw
that the reformation of the clergy was the first thing to be
attended to, and took vigorous measures . . against immoral
and simoniacal ecclesiastics and idle monks. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. L, pp. 97-98.
GREGORY XL, 1370-1378.
A Revolt. St. Catherine Denounces Papal Court.
(The States of the Church revolted.) Consternation
reigned in Avignon ; Gregory XL,, timid by nature,
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 313
was deeply shocked and alarmed by the evil tidings
from Italy. . . He endeavored to make terms with his op-
ponents but in vain. . . In face of the reckless proceedings of
his enemies, Gregory XL believed the time had come when
even a pacific Pontiff must seriously think of war. A sen-
tence accordingly went forth, which, as time proved, was
terrible in its effects and in many respects doubtless too severe.
The citizens of Florence were excommunicated, an interdict
was laid upon the city ; Florence, with its inhabitants and
possessions, was declared to be outlawed. Gregory XL came
to the unfortunate decision of opposing force by force, and
sending the wild Breton mercenaries, who were then at Avig-
non with their captain, Jean de Maletroit, to Italy, under the
command of the fierce Cardinal Legate, Robert of Geneva.
War w r as declared between the last French Head of the Church
and the Republic of Florence. Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. I., pp. 102, /oj.
(St. Catherine) urged him by word of mouth, as she had
already done in her letters, to undertake the reformation of
the clergy. The worldly-minded Cardinals were amazed at
the plain speaking of this nun. She told the Pope of his fail-
ings, especially of his inordinate regard for his relations. . .
She loudly complained that at the Papal Court, which ought
to have been a Paradise of virtue, her nostrils were assailed
by the odours of hell. It is greatly to the honor of Gregory
that St. Catherine could venture to speak thus plainly, and
equally to her honor that she did so speak.
Many would have been glad to crush her. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. I., pp. 107, 108.
A TWO-HEADED PAPACY.
At a number of times there were two and even three Popes
at the same time.
I now give a brief account of the two-headed papacy
which started during the pontificate of Urban VI. My readers
will please note that the " corruption of the clergy was the root
of all the misery."
The election of Urban VI. had taken place under cir-
cumstances so peculiar that it was easy to call it in question.
It was impossible for those not on the spot to investigate it in
314 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
all its details, and the fact that all who had taken part in it
subsequently renounced their allegiance, was well calculated
to inspire doubt and perplexity. It is extremely difficult . . to
estimate the difficulties of contemporaries who sought to know
which of the two Popes had a right to their obedience. The
extreme confusion is evidenced by the fact that canonized
Saints are found among the adherents of each of the rivals. . .
The writings of the period give more or less evidence of the
conflicting opinions which prevailed; and upright men after-
wards confessed that they had been unable to find out which
was the true Pope.
Peter Suchenwirt, in a poem written at this period, de-
scribed the distress, which the growing anarchy within the
Church was causing in men's minds, and earnestly beseeches
God to end it. " There are two Popes " he says, " which is the
right one?" (This is Dr. Pastor's recital of the poem) :
" In Rome itself we have a Pope,
In Avignon another;
And each one claims to be alone
The true and lawful ruler.
The world is troubled and perplext,
'Twere better we had none
Than two to rule o'er Christendom,
Where God would have but one.
He chose St. Peter, who his fault
With bitter tears bewail'd,
As you may read the story told
Upon the sacred page.
Christ gave St. Peter pow'r to bind,
And also pow'r to loose;
Now men are binding here and there,
Lord, loose our bonds we pray."
We can scarcely form an idea of the deplorable condition
to which Europe was reduced by the schism. . . This schism
affected the whole of Christendom, and called the very ex-
istence of the Church in question. The discord touching its
Head necessarily permeated the whole body of the Church ;
in many Dioceses two Bishops were in arms for the possession
of the Episcopal throne, two Abbots in conflict for an Abbey.
The consequent confusion was indescribable. We cannot won-
der that the Christian religion became the derision of Jews
BOARD OP EDUCATION. 31 5
and Mahometans. . . All evils which had crept into ecclesias-
tical life were infinitely increased. Respect for the Holy See
was also greatly impaired. . . The schism allowed each Prince
to choose which Pope he would acknowledge. In the eyes
of the people the simple fact of a double papacy must have
shaken the authority of the Holy See to its very foundations.
It may truly be said that these fifty years of schism prepared
the way for the great Apostacy of the sixteenth century.
The Cardinals of the rival Popes were at open variance . .
in many cases public worship was altogether discontinued.
The most clear sighted contemporary writers point to the
corruption of the clergy, to their inordinate desire for money
and possessions in short, to their selfishness as the root of
all the misery. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. I.,
pp. 138-142, 143, 146.
It certainly is passing strange that notwithstanding the
fact that " upright men " of that sad time were " unable to
find out which was the true Pope," yet Dr. Pastor, living five
hundred years later, assisted by five Cardinals, has no diffi-
culty at all to tell which was the true Pontiff. Surely it is a
matter for deep regret that those " upright men " died five
centuries before the lifetime of Dr. Pastor and his eminent
supervisors! (See Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. I.,
p. 120).
Together with the revolt against the Church, a social revo-
lution was openly advocated. A chronicler writing at Mayence
in the year 1401, declares that the cry "Death to the Priests!"
which had long been whispered in secret, was now the watch-
word of the day. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. I.,
p. 120.
Pius II., 1458-1464.
The Father of Several Children. A Writer of Erotic
Literature.
(He was Aeneas Sylvius of the noble house of Piccolo-
mini, and was) unable to enter upon his studies until his
eighteenth year gifted with a fine mind Secretary under
Capranica, Bishop of Fermo, . . whom he accompanied to
the Council of Basle promoted to the office of Recorder of the
316 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Council. He was also frequently sent on important embassies,
during some of which he was not over discreet in his con-
duct. He fell in with an English-woman at Strasburg, by
whom he had a son, a fact which he quietly communicated to
his father without any attempt at exculpation other than a
reference to the examples of David and Solomon. . . he was
created Cardinal by Calixtus III. . . He was called to fill the
chair of Peter and took the name of Pius II. Dr. Alzogs
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., pp. 898-900.
Pope Pius II. was a writer of erotic literature. Dr. Pas-
tor says :
Beccadelli's disgraceful work did not, unfortunately,
stand alone, for Poggio, Filer Filelfo and Aeneas Sylvius
Piccolomini (Pope Pius II.) have much to answer for in the
way of highly seasoned anecdotes and adventures. Dr. Pas-
tor's History of the Popes, Vol. L, p. 24.
Dr. Pastor says of the early life of this Pope :
He was employed by the Council as Scriptor, Abbreviator,
and Chief Abbreviator ; was a member of the commission of
dogma, and took part in several embassies. . . His happiest
hours were spent in Basle, in a little circle of friends, like him-
self, of studious tastes and of lax morality. . . We have posi-
tive proof that his own moral life was deeply tainted by the cor-
ruption which surrounded him, and that he even gloried
in his errors with the shamelessness of a Boccaccio. (Foot-
note) : See especially the notorious and much misused letter
to his father, in which he begs him to receive a little son
whom a Bretonne woman had borne him. Another illegitimate
child of Aeneas' died early. Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. L, pp. 342, 343.'
INNOCENT VIII. , 1484-1492.
Formerly Cardinal Cibo. Buys Election. The Father of tzvo
Children. Marries his Son in the Vatican; also two Rela-
tives. Reform. Forged Bulls. Clerical Sports. A
14-year-old Cardinal. New Means to Ex-
tort Money. Pawns his Mitre.
The news of the death of Sixtus IV., which had taken
place on the I2th of August, 1484, set all Rome in commo-
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 317
tion. . . A strong movement in favor of the Colonna, and in
opposition to the chief favorite of the late Pope, Girolamo
Riario, soon made itself felt. With wild shouts of " Colonna.
Colonna " the infuriated populace invaded the palace of Giro-
lamo on the 1 3th August and devastated it so completely
that nothing but the bare walls remained. . . In a short time
the city, to which all the armed vassals of both parties flocked
in crowds, had become an open camp. Civil war threatened
to break out every moment. All shops were closed ; no one
could venture into the streets without endangering his life.
The palaces of the Cardinals were changed into small
fortresses; according to the account of one of the ambassa-
dors, the owners seemed to be prepared for an immediate at-
tack. The Cardinals Giuliano della Rovere and Rodrigo Bor-
gia especially had filled their houses with troops, had erected
outworks and provided themselves with artillery. . . The
whole town was in arms and uproar. Such was the state
of Rome when the obsequies of Sixtus IV. began on the I7th
August, 1484. Only a few of the cardinals were present. . .
Owing to the energetic interference of Cardinal Marco Bar-
bo, affairs assumed a more promising aspect. . . On the 25th
August (1484) the obsequies of Sixtus IV. were finished,
and on the day following the 25 Cardinals present in Rome
went into Conclave. . . The Italian Cardinals had a complete
majority over the four foreigners. . . The Conclaves of 1484
and 1492 are among the most deplorable in the annals of
Church history. The first step taken by the Cardinals in
Conclave was to draw up an election capitulation ; in doing
so they openly disregarded the prohibitions of Innocent VI. . .
The personal interests of the electors (Cardinals) were the
primary consideration. . . There existed a great divergency
of opinion as to who would be raised to the Pontifical dignity.
. . Italian diplomacy was, of course, not idle. . . All the re-
ports agree in stating that Rodrigo Borgia, (afterwards Pope
Alexander VI.) was trying his utmost to obtain the Tiara. . .
Jakob Burchard, who took part in the Conclave, relates that
Cardinal Cibo won the votes of his future electors by sign-
ing petitions for favors which they presented to him during
the night in his cell. . . At 9 o'clock a. m. Cardinal Piccolomini
was able to announce to the crowd assembled outside the Vati-
can that Cardinal Cibo had been elected and had assumed the
name of Innocent VIII. The people burst forth into acclama-
318 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tions, the bells of the palace of St. Peter began to ring and
the thunder of cannons resounded from the Castle of St. An-
geio. The newly elected Pontiff . . was above middle size. . .
He studied at Padua and at Rome, and in his youth had no
intention of taking Orders, and his life at the licentious court
of Aragon was no better than that of many others in his posi-
tion. He had two illegitimate children, a daughter, Teodorina,
and a son, Franceschetto. The statements of Infessura and of
the poet Marullus, who speak of seven or sixteen children, are
exaggerations. . . It is certain that from the moment (he)
entered the ecclesiastical state, all the accusations against the
purity of his private life cease. . . All accounts agree in
praising the kindness, the benevolent and amiable disposition
of the newly elected Pope, but they are equally unanimous in
condemning his want of independence, and weakness. " He
gives the impression of a man who is guided rather by the
advice of others than by his own lights," says the Florentine
ambassador of him. . It is not surprising that Giuliano della
Rovere, to whom Cibo owed his promotion to the dignities
both of Cardinal and Pope, obtained an unbounded ascendancy
over (him). Dr. Pastors History of the Popes, Vol. V ., pp.
229, 231-236, 238-242.
On Sept. nth, all the preparations for the coronation
(of Innocent VIII.) were completed. . . In the morning the
Pope went to St. Peter's, celebrated High Mass there, and
gave his benediction to the people. Then Cardinal Piccolo-
mini crowned him outside the Basilica. After a short in-
terval he went in solemn procession to take possession of the
Lateran Palace. The homage of the Jews, usual on such an
occasion, took place in the interior of the Castle of S. An-
gelo. . . An immense crowd of people thronged the streets,
which were decorated with green boughs and gorgeous hang-
ings and carpets. Sixteen noblemen carried the canopy, un-
der which the Pope rode on a white horse, richly caparisoned
in white and gold. He had on his head a golden crown, and
over his shoulders the pallium, and wore round his neck a
costly amtce, and a cross of gold on his breast, and blessed
the people as he passed. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. V., pp. 243, 244.
A project of a marriage between Lorenzo's second
daughter Maddalena and Franceschetto Cibo (bastard son
01 Pope Innocent VIII.) was broached; but on account of
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 319
the youth of the bride its celebration had to be postponed
for a while. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp.
265, 266.
(This marriage finally took place, and Dr. Pastor thus
describes it): On November I3th (1487) the bride entered
Rome, accompanied by her mother. On the i8th the Pope
gave a banquet in honour of the bridal pair, and made them
a present of jewels worth 10,000 ducats. At the beginning
of his Pontificate, Innocent (VIII.) had refused to allow
Franceschetto to reside in Rome ; now with almost incredible
weakness he celebrated the nuptials in his own palace. The
marriage contract was signed on January 2Oth, 1488. Lor-
enzo was vexed at finding that Innocent VIII. showed no
disposition to make an extensive provision for the newly mar-
ried couple, but his annoyance was still greater at his delay
in the bestowal of the Cardinal's Hat, which had been prom-
ised to his second son Giovanni. The marriage of Maddalena
with Franceschetto, who was by many years her senior, was
not a happy one ; though utterly rude and uncultured, Cibo
was deeply tainted with the corruption of his time ; he cared
for nothing but money, in order to squander it in gambling
and debauchery ; but quite apart from this the alliance be-
tween the Cibo and Medici families \vas a most questionable
proceeding. " This was the first time that the son of a Pope
had been publicly recognized, and, as it were, introduced on
the political stage." . . In the November of the following year
Innocent VIII. celebrated also in the Vatican the marriage of
his granddaughter Peretta (daughter of Teodorina) with
the Genoese merchant Gherardo Usodimare ; the Pope himself
sat at table at the banquet. . . Burchardi remarks : " These
things were not secret but were divulged to and known by
all the city." Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp.
269, 2/0.
Ferrante's behavior towards the Pope underwent a com-
plete transformation. Amidst effusive professions of grati-
tude and devotion he commenced negotiations for a family
alliance between himself and Innocent VIII. He proposed
that his grandson, Don Luigi of Aragon, should marry Bat-
tistina, a daughter of Teodorina and Gherardo Usodimare. . .
Ferrante despatched an envoy to Innocent VIII. to discuss
this subject. On the 2/th of May, Ferdinand, Prince of
320 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Capua, son of Alfonso of Calabria, and Ferrante's grandson
(Don Luigi), came to Rome and was received with royal
honors. A chronicler of the time says that he will not at-
tempt to describe the splendours of this reception as no one
would believe him, and the . contemporaneous reports of the
envoys corroborate his statement. A banquet, given by Car-
dinal Sforza, which lasted six hours, seems to have sur-
passed in sumptuousness anything hereto imagined. Dra-
matic performances were included in the pleasures provided
for the guests. The entertainment given in honour of the
betrothal of Luigi of Aragon to Battistina Cibo furnished an
occasion for a fresh display of magnificence in the Vatican it-
self. (This marriage took place later, and Dr. Pastor says) :
The Pope's condition improved, so much that he was able to take
part in the solemn reception of the Holy Spear, and the mar-
riage of Luigi of Aragon with Battistina Cibo. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 284-286, j/<?.
Unfortunately nothing of any importance was done un-
der Innocent VIII. for the reform of ecclesiastical abuses.
At the same time Infessura's statement that the Pope had
authorised concubinage in Rome is absolutely unfounded. We
have documentary evidence that in France, Spain, Portugal
and Hungary, he punished this vice with severity. (In a
foot-note here Dr. Pastor says) : See in the Injunction to the
Archbishop of Rouen to take measures against clerical con-
cubinage.
No proof that he (Innocent VIII.) favored it (con-
cubinage) in Rome has yet been adduced. . . In this particu-
lar instance it is not difficult to find the probable origin of the
calumny. In 1489 it was discovered that a band of unprin-
cipled officials were carrying on a profitable traffic in forged
Bulls. Neither entreaties nor bribes were of any avail to
induce Innocent to abstain from punishing the crime with
the utmost severity. Domenico of Viterbo and Francesco
Maldente who were found guilty were hanged, and their
bodies burned in the Campo di Fiore. Now it is notorious
that some of the forged Bulls were to this effect (authorising
concubinage), and the supposed permission accorded by In-
nocent VIII. to the Norwegians to celebrate Mass without
wine was also a forgery. The existence of such a confederacy
for forging Bulls throws a lurid light on the state of morals
in the Papal Court, where Franceschetto Cibo (bastard son
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 321
of the then reigning Pope, Innocent VIII.) set the worst pos-
sible example. The increasing prevalence of the system of
purchasing offices greatly facilitated the introduction of un-
trustworthy officials. The practice may be explained, but can-
not be excused, by the financial distress with which Innocent
VIII. had to contend during the whole of his reign, and the
almost universal custom of the time. Numberless briefs de-
plore the terrible dearth of money. In the Bull increasing
the number of the College of Secretaries from the original six
to thirty, want of money, which had obliged the Pope to pawn
even the Papal mitre, is openly assigned as the reason for this
measure. Between them, the new and the old secretaries
brought in a sum of 62,400 gold florins and received in re-
L urn certain privileges and a share in various taxes. Innocent
VIII. also created the College of Piombatori with an entrance
fee of 500 gold florins. Even the office of Librarian to the
Vatican was now for sale. No one can fail to see the evils to
which such a state of things must give rise. Sigismondo de'
Conti closes his narrative of the increase in the number of
secretaries with the words : " Henceforth this office, which had
been hitherto bestowed as a reward for industry, faithfulness
and eloquence, became simply a marketable commodity."
Those who had thus purchased the new offices endeavored to
indemnify themselves out of other people's pockets. These
greedy officials, whose only aim was to get as much for them-
selves as possible out of the churches with which they had to
do, were naturally detested in all countries, and the most de-
termined opponents of reform.
The corruptibility of all the officials increased to an alarm-
ing extent, carrying with it general insecurity and disorder
in Rome, since any criminal who had money could secure im-
munity from punishment. Gregorovius points out that all the
other "cities in Italy were in the same case. The conduct of
some members of the Pope's immediate circle even gave great
scandal. Franceschetto Cibo (the Pope's bastard son) was
mean and avaricious, and led a disorderly life, which was doub-
ly unbecoming in the son of a Pope ; he paraded the streets at
night with Girolamo Tuttavilla, forced his way into the houses
of the citizens for evil purposes, and was often driven out with
shame. In one night Franceschetto lost 14,000 ducats to Car-
dinal Riario and complained to the Pope that he had been
cheated. Cardinal de la Balue also lost 8,000 to the same Car-
322 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
dinal in a single evening. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. V., pp. 350-354.
In order to obtain the means for the gratification of such
passions as these (gambling), or worse, the worldly minded
Cardinals were always on the watch to maintain or increase
their power. This explains the stipulation in the election capit-
ulation that the number of the Sacred College was not to
exceed twenty-four. Innocent VIIL, however, did not con-
sider himself bound to observe this condition, and already in
1485 we hear of his intention of creating new Cardinals. The
College refused its consent, and the opposition of the older
Cardinals was so violent and persistent that some years passed
before the Pope was able to carry out his purpose. In the in-
terval as many as nine of .the old Cardinals had died. . . .
Though, in one respect, these deaths facilitated the creation
of new Cardinals, on the other (hand) great difficulties were
caused by the urgent demands of the various Powers for the
promotion of their candidates. In the beginning of March,
1489, the negotiations were at last brought to a conclusion,
and on the Qth of the month five new Cardinals were nominat-
ed. (Among these was the Pope's nephew.) . . . Three
others were reserved in petto. (One of the three was a son of
de' Medici, and Dr. Pastor says of this youth) : Giovanni de'
Medici, Lorenzo's second son, was then only in his fourteenth
year; he was born December n, 1475. His father had des-
tined him for the Church at an age at which any choice on his
part was out of the question, and confided his education to
distinguished scholars. ... At seven years old he re-
ceived the tonsure, and the chase after rich benefices at once
began. Lorenzo in his notes details these proceedings with
appalling candour. In 1483, before he had completed his eighth
year, Giovanni was presented by Louis XI. to the Abbacy of
Font Douce in the Bishopric of Saintes. Sixtus IV. confirmed
this nomination, declared him capable of holding benefices
and made him a Prothonotary Apostolic. Henceforth " what-
ever good things in the shape of a benefice, commendam, rector-
ship, fell into the hands of the Medici, was given to Lorenzo's
son." In 1484 (when he was nine years of age) he was al-
ready in possession of the rich Abbey of Passignano, and two
years later was given the venerable Benedictine Abbey of Monte
Cassino in commendam. But even this was not enough for
Lorenzo, who with indefatigable persistency besieged the Pope
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 323
'(who was the father-in-law of Lorenzo's daughter) and Car-
dinals to admit the boy into the Senate of the Church. He
did not scruple to represent Giovanni's age as two years more
than it really was. Innocent VIII. resisted for a long time,
but finally gave way; and he was nominated with the stipula-
tion that he was to wait three years before he assumed the
insignia of the cardinalate or took his seat in the College. Lor-
enzo found this condition extremely irksome, and, in the begin-
ning of 1490, instructed his Ambassador to do everything in
his power to get the time shortened. The Pope, however, who
wished Giovanni to devote the time of probation to the study
of Theology and Canon-law, was inexorable, and Lorenzo had
to wait till the full period had expired. When at last the day
for his son's elevation' arrived he was too ill to be able to assist
at any of the ceremonial services. The moment they were con-
cluded the young Cardinal started for Rome, where great prep-
arations were being- made for his reception. On March 22,
1492, the new Cardinal Deacon of Sta. Maria in Dominica
(Giovanni, aged then about sixteen years and three months!)
entered Rome by the Porta del Popolo ; on the following day
the Pope admitted him, with the customary ceremonies, to the
Consistory. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp.
354-35^- '
Innocent, like his predecessors, invented new means of
extorting money from the churches to fill his depleted treasury.
The decrees of (the Councils of) Constance and Basle were
either entirely forgotten or lost sight of; ecclesiastical affairs
were esteemed of little consequence, and artists and savans
seemed to have taken the place of ecclesiastics. This Pope,
however, deserves considerable credit for his energetic efforts
to suppress sorcery and witchcraft and the remnants of the-
heresy of John Huss. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal
Church History, Vol. II, pp. 906, 907.
Innocent VIII. was known, before he was made Pope, as
Giovanni Batista Cibo and he " had passed a frivolous youth."
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. IV, p. 410.
POPE ALEXANDER VI., 1492-1503.
Before he became Pope he was Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia.
He bought the Papacy. He was the most infamous of
the iniquitous Popes of the Roman Catholic Church.
324 THE PAPOCHIAL SCHOOL.
His life was a blasphemy. His memory rots.
The following is a brief epitome of his life in the words
of Dr. Pastor :
CHARACTER.
(Calixtus III. had a partiality for one of his nephews,
Rodrigo Borgia, who was a man of remarkable abilities, but
sensual.) He loaded him with dignities and favors of all kinds.
(At the age of twenty-five he was secretly created a Cardinal,
in 1456) an unjustifiable action, and the evil was aggravated
by the fact that Rodrigo (Borgia) was an immoral and vicious
man.
In the time of Pius II. the historian Gasparo di Verona
sketched his (Rodrigo's) portrait in the following terms: " He
is handsome, of a pleasant and cheerful countenance, with a
sweet and persuasive manner. With a single glance he can
fascinate women, and attract them to himself more strongly
than a magnet draws iron. w . . Repeated efforts have . .
been made in recent years to rehabilitate the moral character
of this man. In the face of such a perversion of the truth,
it is the duty of the historian to show that the evidence against
Rodrigo (Pope Alexander VI.) is so strong as to render it
impossible to restore his reputation. Dr. Pastor's History of
the Popes, Vol. II, pp. 448-452.
The first light thrown upon Rodrigo's immorality occurs
in an admonitory letter of the year 1460, in which Pius II. re-
proaches the Cardinal. . Says Pius II : " You, beloved son, gov-
ern the Bishopric of Valencia, the first in Spain ; you are also
Chancellor of the Church, and you sit with the Pope among
the Cardinals, the Counsellors of the Holy See. We leave it
to your own judgment whether it is becoming to your dignity
to pay court to ladies, to send fruit and wine to the one you
love, and all day long to think of nothing but pleasure. . . .
A Cardinal must be blameless and an example of moral life be-
fore the eyes of all men. What right have we to be angry if
temporal princes call us by names that are little honorable . . ?
We trust in your prudence to remember your dignity,
and not suffer yourself to be called a gallant by women and
youths." The hopes of Pius II. were not realised. Cardinal
Rodrigo would not change his mode of life. Dr, Pastor's His-
tory of the Popes, Vol. II. , pp. 452, 453, 455-
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 325
GROSSLY IMMORAL. HAS FOUR CHILDREN. LUXURY.
They . . (the worldly Cardinals) allowed themselves the
utmost license in morals ; this was specially the case with Rod-
rigo Borgia (afterwards Pope Alexander VI.). His uncle
Calixtus III., had made him a Cardinal and Vice-Camerlengo
while he was still very young, and he had accumulated bene-
fices to an extent which gave him a princely income. In the
time of Sixtus IV. he was already, according to d'Estouteville,
the wealthiest member of the College of Cardinals. One of
his contemporaries describes him as a fine-looking man and a
brilliant cavalier, cheery and genial in manner, and winning
and fluent in conversation ; irresistibly attractive to women.
His immoral courses brought upon him a severe rebuke from
Pius II. But nothing had any effect. Even after he had re-
ceived priest's orders, which took place in August, 1468, and
when he was given the bishopric of Albano, which he after-
wards exchanged in 14/6 for that of Porto, he still would not
give up his dissolute life ; to the end of his days he remained
the slave of the demon of sensuality. From the year 1460 Van-
ozza de Cataneis, born of Roman parents in 1442, was his ac-
knowledged mistress. She was married three times ; in 1474
to Domenico of Arignano ; in 1480 to a Milanese, Giorgio de
Croce; and in 1486 to a Mantuan, Carlo Canale, and died in
Rome on the 26th of November, 1518, aged 76. The names
of the four children whom she bore to the Cardinal (Rodrigo
Borgia) are inscribed on her tomb in the following order:
Csesar, Juan, Jofre, and Lucrezia. This inscription,
originally in Sta. Maria del Popolo, has disappeared from
thence, like many others, but has been preserved in a col-
lection of MSS. It is absurd to doubt its genuineness. . It
runs thus :
" Vanotiae Cathanae Cesare Valentiae Joane Cadiae.
Jofrido Scylatii et Lucretia Ferrariae ducib, filiis nobili
Probitate insigni religione eximia pari et aetate et
Prudentia optime de xenodochio Lateranen. meritae.
Hieronymus Picus fideicomiss. procur. ex test, pos."
Vanozza is the diminutive of Giovanni, as Paluzzo is of Paolo ;
according to Jovius, in her later days she strove to make repar-
ation for her sins by her piety. Besides these, Cardinal Rod-
rigo had other children, a son, Pedro Luis, certainly born be-
fore 1460, (which) may be gathered from the deed of legitima-
'.326 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tion granted by Sixtus IV., Nov. 5, 1486, in which Pedro Luis
is called " adolescens," and described as the issue of de tune
Diacono Cardinal! et soluta; and a daughter, Girolama, but
apparently by a different mother. Rodrigo turned to his Span-
ish home for the careers of these children, who were legitima-
tised one after another. In 1485 he obtained the dukedom of
Gandia for Pedro Luiz. . . in 1488 he (Pedro) came to Rome,
and in August fell sick there and died, certainly before the year
1491. He left all that he possessed to his brother Juan, the
best of Rodrigo's sons, born in 1474, who eventually married
his brother's intended bride. The Cardinal's third son, Caesar,
born in 1475, was from childhood, without any regard to his
aptitude or wishes, destined to the Church. Sixtus IV. on ist
of October, 1480, dispensed him from the canonical impediment
for the reception of Holy Orders, caused by his being born
out of wedlock, because he was the son of a Cardinal and his
mother was a married woman. At the age of seven years
Caesar was made a Protonotary, and was appointed to benefices
in Xativa and other cities in Spain, and under Innocent VIII.
to the Bishopric of Pampeluna. Jofre also, born in 1480 or
1481, was intended for the Church; he is mentioned as a Can-
on, Prebendary, and Archdeacon of the Cathedral of Valencia.
Lucrezia, born in 1478, seemed, like her brothers, destined to
make her home in her father's native land, for in 1491 she was
betrothed to a Spaniard. The mother of these children, Van-
ozza de Cateneis, possessed substantial property in Rome, and
a house on the Piazza. Branca, close to the palace which Rodrigo
Borgia had built for himself. ... In the reign of Inno-
cent VIII. Jacopo da Volterra writes of Cardinal Rodrigo:
" He has good abilities and great versatility. . He is naturally
shrewd. He is reputed to be very rich, and his influence is
great on account of his connections with so many kings and
princes. He has built for himself a splendid and commodious
palace. . . . His revenues from his numerous benefices
and Abbeys in Italy and Spain and his three bishoprics of Va-
lencia, Porto, and Cartagena are enormous ; while his post of
Vice-Camerlengo is said also to bring him in 8,000 gold ducats
yearly. He possesses immense quantities of silver-plate, pearls,
hangings, and vestments embroidered in gold and silk, and
learned books of all sorts, and all of such splendid quality as
would befit a king or a pope. I pass over the sumptuous adorn-
ments of his litters and trappings for his horses, and all his
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 327
gold and silver and silks, together with his magnificent warr.-
robe and his hoards of treasure." We obtain a highly interest-
ing glimpse into the amazing luxury of Cardinal Borgia's pal-
ace from a hitherto unknown letter of Cardinal Ascanio Sfor-
za, dated 22nd of October, 1484. On that day Borgia, who,
as a rule, was not a lover of the pleasures of the table, gave a
magnificent banquet in his palace. . The whole palace was
splendidly decorated. In the great entrance halls the walls
were covered with hangings representing various historical
events. A smaller room opened into this, also hung with ex-
quisite Gobelin tapestry. The carpets on the floor were se-
lected to harmonize with the rest of the furniture, of which
the most prominent piece was a sumptuous state-coach up-
holstered, in red-satin, with a canopy over it. This room also
contained the Cardinal's credenza, a chest surmounted by a
slab, on which was ranged for exhibition an immense quantity
of table plate and drinking vessels in gold and silver, while the
lower part was a marvel of exquisitely finished work. This
apartment was flanked by two others, one of which was hung
with satin and carpeted, the divan in it being of Alexandrian
velvet; while in the other, still more splendid, the coach was
covered with gold brocade and magnificently decorated. The
cloth on the central table was of velvet, and the chairs which
surrounded it were exquisitely carved. Dr. Pastor's History
of the Popes, Vol. V., pp. 362-367.
BUYS THE PAPACY.
In view of the failing health of Innocent VIII. the Cabinets
of the Italian powers had for some time been occupied with
the probability of a Papal election. . . . On July 25, 1492,
when the death of Innocent VIII. was hourly expected, the
intrigues in regard to the election were at their height. . . .
Some were for Piccolomini and some again for Borgia. The
Florentine envoy ... on the 28th July mentions stren-
uous efforts on the part of the Roman barons to influence the
election, anrl the foreign powers were equally active. It was
currently reported that Charles VIII. of France had paid 200,-
ooo ducats into a bank, and the Republic of Genoa 100,000, in
order to secure the election of Giuliano della Rovere. On the
strength of this they fully expected that their countryman
would be chosen. As soon as it became known that the Pope
was seriously ill an eager interchange of communications at
328 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
once commenced between the Italian powers, but they were
unable to come to any agreement. . . . Giuliano della
Rovere did not want for rivals. . . . The chances were
against Borgia because he was a Spaniard, and many of the
Italian Cardinals were determined not to elect a foreigner ; but
the wealth of the Spanish Cardinal was destined to turn the
scales in the Conclave. . . . The Conclave 'began on Au-
gust 6th. On the loth of August the Florentine Ambassador,
who was one of the guards of the Conclave, writes that there
had been three scrutinies without result; Caraffa and Costa
seemed to have the best chance. Both were worthy men, and
one, Caraffa, was a man of distinguished abilities. The election
of either would have been a great blessing to the Church. Un-
fortunately a sudden change came over the whole situation.
As soon as Ascanio Sforza perceived that there was no likeli-
hood that he would himself be chosen, he began to lend a will-
ing ear to Borgia's brilliant offers. Rodrigo (Borgia) not only
promised him the office of Vice-Chancellor with his own palace,
but in addition to this the Castle of Nepi, the Bishopric of
Erlau with a revenue of 10,000 ducats, and other benefices.
Cardinal Orsini was to receive the two fortified towns of
Monticelli and Soriano, the legation of the Marches and the
Bishoprics of Carthagena ; Cardinal Colonna, the Abbacy of
Subiaco with all the surrounding villages; (Cardinal) Savelli,
Civita Castellana and the Bishopric of Majorca; (Cardinal)
Pallavicini, the Bishopric of Pampeluna; (Cardinal) Giovanni
Michiel, the suburban bishopric of Porto ; the Cardinals Sclaf-
enati, Sanseverino, Riario and Domenico della Rovere, rich ab-
bacies and valuable benefices. By these simoniacal means,
counting his own vote and those of the Cardinals Ardicino del-
la Porta and Conti who belonged to the Sforza party, Borgia
had thus secured 24 votes, and only one more was wanting to
complete the majority of two-thirds. This one, however, was
not easy to obtain. The Cardinals Caraffa, Costa, Piccolomini
and Zeno- were not to be won by any promises however brilliant ;
and the young Giovanni de' Medici held with them. Cardinal
Basso followed Giuliano della Rovere, who would not hear of
Borgia's election. Lorenzo Cibo also held aloof from these
unhallowed transactions. Thus Gherardo, now in his ninety-
sixth year and hardly in possession of his faculties, alone re-
mained, and he was persuaded by those who were about him
to give his vote to Borgia. The election was decided in the
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 329
night between the loth and nth August, 1492, and in the early
morning the window of the Conclave was opened and the Vice-
Chancellor, Rodrigo Borgia, was proclaimed Pope as Alex-
ander VI. The result was unexpected ; it was obtained by the
rankest simony. Such were the means, as the annalist of the
Church says, by which, in accordance with the inscrutable
counsels of Divine Providence, a man attained to the highest
dignity, who in the early days of the Church would not have
been admitted even to the lowest rank of the clergy, on account
of his immoral life. The days of distress and confusion be-
gan for the Roman Church ; the prophetic words of Savon-
arola were fulfilled ; the sword of the wrath of God smote the
earth, and the time of chastisement had arrived. Dr. Pastor's
History of the Popes, Vol. V., pp.. 377-386.
ONE OF HIS MISTRESSES.
Let us see what Dr. Pastor has to say further about " the
notorious Giulia Farnese " :
Writers speak of an unlawful connection between Alex-
ander VI. and Farnese's sister Giulia (la bella). Infessura
calls Giulia, Alexander's concubine; and Matarazzo in his
p?.mphlet, p. 4, and Sannazar, Epigr., I, 2, both use the same
term. A stronger proof is to be found in a letter of Alexander
to Lucrezia Borgia, dated July 24, 1494, in which he expresses
his annoyance at Giulia's departure. Any further doubt in re-
gard to these relations, which began while he was still a Car-
dinal, is dispelled by the letters of L. Pucci of the 23rd and
24th December, 1493, published by Gregorovius in his Lucrezia
Borgia. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V, pp. 417,
418.
HAS A SON BORN WHILE POPE AND LEGITIMATES HIM.
A Bull of 1 7th of September, 1501, gave to Rodrigo, the
son of Lucrezia and Alfonso, then two years old, the Dukedom
of Sermoneta with Ninfa, Cisterna, Nettuno, Ardea, Nemi, Al-
bano, and other towns. The Dukedom of Nepi, which included
Palestrina, Olevano, Paliano, Frascati, Anticoli, and other
places, was bestowed on Juan Borgia, also an infant. This
child (Juan Borgia) was legitimised by a Bull on 1st Septem-
ber. 1501, as the natural offspring of Caesar, and his age in-
cidentally mentioned as about three years. A second Bull of
330 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
the same date (ist September, 1501), legitimised this same
Juan as Alexander's own son. (Dr. Pastor has voluminous
foot-notes concerning these Bulls and the paternity of this Juan
Borgia, and from them I cull the following) : These two Bulls
are to be found in the State Archives at Modena. The first is
a copy, the second the original. Another original draft of the
second Bull is to be found, according to Thuasne, in the
Archives of the Duke of Ossuna. In view of possible fu-
ture apologists in the style of (the Catholic) Ollivier, it may
perhaps be well to observe that I found both Bulls in the Se-
cret Archives of the Vatican in the official Regesta of Alex-
ander's reign. Creighton, IV., 19, supposes that Alexander,
in his anxiety to secure the position of Caesar's bastard son,
accused himself in the second Bull of a fault which he had not
committed ; but from Burchardi Diarium, II., 170, and especial-
ly from Sigismondo de' Conti, II., 253, who is always trust-
worthy, it is plain that Juan, who seems to have been born on
the i8th June, 1492, really was Alexander's son. . . . An
inscription in which Franciscus Cardinal Cusentinus J c
called Juan's guardian has been published in Arch. d. Soc.
Rom., VII., 403 ; and also IV., 90, in opposition to Ademollo's
hypothesis that Juan was the child of Alexander and Lucrezia.
(Main text) : These undoubtedly genuine documents nullify
all attempts to rebut the accusations against the moral conduct
of the Pope. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. VI., pp.
104-106.
MAKES HIS DAUGHTER LUCREZIA REGENT.
On the 27th of July (1501) Alexander went to Castel
Gandolfo and Rocca di Papa and thence to Sermoneta. He
had the effrontery to hand over the Regency of the palace to
Lucrezia Borgia during his absence with power to open his
correspondence. (Foot-note) : When the Pope went to Nepi
in the autumn the same arrangement was made for the time
of his absence (from 25th Sept. to 23rd Oct.). Of course
Lucrezia was only Regent in regard to secular affairs, but such
a thing had never been done before, and was a startling breach
of decorum. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. VI., pp.
102, 104.
A POINTED POEM.
In his (Alexander the VFs) own palace one day, a set or
verses were put up, urging the Colonna and Orsini to comf
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 331
forward bravely to the rescue of their afflicted country ; to
slay the bull (a play upon the Borgia arms) which was de-
vastating Ausonia; to fling his calves (bastard children) into
the raging Tiber, and himself into hell. Dr. Pasto/s History
of the Popes, Vol. VI., p. 59.
FOREVER INFAMOUS.
Any further attempt to rehabilitate Alexander VI. is ren-
dered forever impossible by the documents from the Archives
of the Duke of Ossuna in Madrid recently published by Thuas-
ne. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. II., p. 452, foot-
note.
From henceforth it is clear that the rehabilitation of
(Pope) Alexander VI. is a hopeless task. Dr. Pastor's His-
tory of the Popes, Vol. V., preface p. viii.
HE MUZZLED THE PRESS.
Alexander the VI. distinguished himself by muzzling the
press.
The severe censorship which Alexander (VI) exercised
with regard to all publications, would seem to strengthen the
suspicion that he had a dread of public opinion. Dr. Alzog s
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., p. 912.
His Censorial edict for Germany, dated ist June, 1501, is
a very important document in this respect. In this, which is
the first Papal pronouncement on the printing of books, it is de-
clared that the art of printing is extremely valuable in provid-
ing means for the multiplication of approved and useful books ;
but may be most mischievous if it is abused for the dissemina-
tion of bad ones. Therefore measures must be taken to re-
strain printers from reproducing writings directed against the
Catholic Faith or calculated to give scandal to Catholics. Dr.
Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. VI., pp. 154, 155.
ENERGETICALLY REPRESSED IMMORAL HERETICS.
In Italy Alexander VI. energetically repressed the here-
tical tendencies which were especially prevalent in Lombardy.
On the 3 ist January, 1500, two inquisitors were sent by him
with letters of recommendation to the Bishop of Olmiitz, to
proceed against the very numerous Picards and Waldensians
in Bohemia and Moravia, who led extremely immoral lives.
Dr. Pastor s History of the Popes, Vol. VI., p. 156.
332 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
JULIUS II., 1503-1513.
He was the war Pope. He led his troops on the battle
field. He bought the Papacy. He was the father of children,
Julius II. was formerly Giuliano della Rovere.
(Before Julius II. became Pope he was known as Giuliano
della Rovere. He was made a Cardinal in youth.) Sixtus
IV. had not occupied the Papal throne for many months be-
fore two of his youthful nephews, Giuliano della Rovere and
Pietro Riario, were admitted into the Sacred College. . . Car-
dinal Ammanati speaks of the elevation of two youths, now
for the first time brought out of obscurity, and altogether in-
experienced, as an act of imbecility. . . Giuliano della Rovere
was certainly the most remarkable of the two nephews. . .
If his moral character was not unblemished, his outward de-
meanor was always becoming. Dr. Pastor's History of tha
Popes, Vol. IV., pp. 233, 236, 237.
Table Bill $4,600 to $6,000 Monthly. Objectionable Ways to
Raise Money. Bribery in Roman Court.
He (Julius II.) kept a better table than Alexander VI.;
the monthly bill for this (Julius' table) was between 2,000
and 3,000 ducats. Julius II. was so economical in his house-
keeping that he was quite unjustly accused of being a miser.
It is quite true that he was very careful to keep his treasury
always well filled. He quite realised the futility of any pre-
tensions that had not physical force to back them, and knew
that an efficient army meant plenty of money. In the begin-
ning .of his reign Julius II. had great financial difficulties to
contend with, in consequence of the extravagance of his pre-
decessor. He had to borrow money, and to pay Alexander's
debts, even down to the medicine which he had required in
his last illness. (Some historians allege that Caesar, a son of
Pope Alexander VI., appropriated his father's treasure im-
mediately after his death.) Some of the means which he
(Julius II.) adopted for the replenishment of his treasury were
of a very objectionable kind. His subjects were certainly not
oppressed with taxation, but it cannot be denied that he not
only sold offices, but also benefices. This formed a serious
hindrance to the reform which was so much needed; for if
that were carried out, it would mean the abolition of all such
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 333
sales. It is true that under Julius II. the money was employed
for the interests of the Church, and not for the enrichment
of his family; but this is no justification for persistence in
simony. The complaints of contemporaries both in Italy and
abroad shew how strongly this abuse was resented. (A foot
note.) On the bribery \vhich prevailed in the Roman Court
under Julius II., see the Swiss Ambassadorial Report in the
Anz. f. Schweiz. Gesch. (1892), 373. Dr. Pastors History
of the Popes, Vol. VI., pp. 223, 224.
Had Three Natural Daughters.
Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II.) had three daugh-
ters. See foot-note, Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol.
V., p. 369-
Accused of Sodomy.
Julius II's. obstinate confidence in (Cardinal) Alidosi has
been made to serve as a ground for the very worst accusations
of immorality against him. . . Creighton writes : " It is hard
to account for the infatuation of Julius II. towards Cardinal
Alidosi, and we cannot wonder that contemporary scandal
attributed it to the vilest motives." " II papa era molto vitioso
e dedito alia libidine Gomorrea," (The Pope was very much
depraved and addicted to the lechery of Gomorrah now the
crime of sodomy), says a relazione of Trevisan, printed by
Brosch, Julius II., 296. The charge was often repeated with
reference to Alidosi. It was a rude way of explaining
what could not be explained. Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. VI., pp. 342, 351, foot-note.
LEO X., 1513-1521. LAVISHLY EXTRAVAGANT. LEAST FIT-
TED TO PUSH REFORMS. RELIGION SECONDARY. TABLE
BILL OVER $16,000.00 MONTHLY.
(After the death of Julius II.) the fifty Cardinals who
went into conclave, elected the young Cardinal-deacon, Gio-
vanni dei Medici, now in the thirty-eighth year of his age.
(He had been admitted to the Cardinalate when he was four-
teen years old.) Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. V .,
P- 356.
On ascending the papal throne, March 19, A. D. 1513,
(he) took the name Leo X. . Leo was a true representative of
334 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
his age. An ardent admirer of classic and humane culture,
he possessed a refined taste, had a love of elegant literature,
and was sincerely devoted to the arts and sciences. But, for
all this, he was entirely destitute of the motives and spirit
which should form the guiding principles in the life of an ec-
clesiastic, and was, moreover, lavishly extravagant. . . The
Vatican became the resort of savans, literati, and artists. . .
The work of the Lateran Council, which Louis of France now
acknowledged, was again taken up where it had been left off
in the fifth session, on the death of Julius II. The old ques-
tion of reform was again discussed and decrees proposed
which provided for a purer morality and a stricter discipline . .
abolished the practice of the same person holding several ec-
clesiastical benefices, the possession of which would require
incompatible duties ; condemned the concubinage of the clergy.
. . .. These salutary measures were received with indifference.
The evil had grown to such vast dimensions that the men of
that age lacked the nerve, the vigor, and the determination to
look it steadily in the face, to grapple with it, and to persevere
in the struggle till it should have been crushed, or at least
rendered harmless. And, of all the men of his time, Leo was
perhaps least fitted, either by nature or education, to under-
take and conduct to a successful issue so difficult a task. Dr.
Alsog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., pp.
920, 921.
To artists and scholars he was magnanimous, noble, and
generous ; patronizing them, not from feelings of vanity, but
from taste and conviction, and as one having a practical, and
thorough knowledge of what he was doing, and why he did it.
The age of Augustus seemed to have again dawned upon
Rome. More devoted to art than to the duties of his offices
more enamored of the charms of elegant literature than of the
chaste beauty of Christian virtue Leo pursued toward Luther
a policy at once halting and ineffective. Regarding religion
himself as a matter of only secondary importance, he could
but ill comprehend how others should bear trials for its sake,
and expose themselves to countless dangers in pushing for-
ward its interests. His pontificate, though one of the most
brilliant, was by no means the most happy, in the history of
the Church. His lavish extravagance occasioned in great
part the disastrous controversies of the age, and was a source
of no little embarrassment to his successors in the Papacy. He
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 335
died December i, 1521. Dr. Alsog's Manual of Universal
Church History, Vol. III., pp. 43, 44.
(Leo) seemed either totally oblivious of, or entirely dis-
regarded the decay that had come upon every branch of ec-
clesiastical discipline, and which, while it was eating into and
poisoning the very life of the Church, was no uncertain token
of the sad days that were soon to follow. Dr. Alsog's Man-
ual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., p.
The monthly bill for the table of Pope Leo X., the suc-
cessor of Julius II., was 8,000 ducats. (See Dr. Pastor's His-
tory of the Popes, Vol. VI, p. 223.) Assuming that the value
of the ducat was, as stated by the Century Dictionary, about
$2.30, His Holiness spent only $18,400 per month for some-
thing- to eat and drink.
INDULGENCES.
Indulgences were often a source of graft in the olden
time, and they are a prolific source of gain to the clerical graft-
ers of our day.
Since the abuse of Indulgences was especially horrible
in the reign of Pope Leo X., I deem this the proper place to
insert quotations upon the subject :
One Explanation of Decay of Spiritual Life.
The decay of spiritual life is inevitably followed by a re-
laxation of penitential discipline. The abuse consequent up-
on granting indulgences to crusaders, to those contributing
to the building of St. Peter's Church, in Rome, and to others
in commutation for similar works, modified the rigors, and
eventually wrought the complete destruction of the whole pen-
itentiary system. To the earnest zeal of the early Christian
ages succeeded an incorrigible levity. The insolent sarcasm
of sectaries, which grew daily more violent and offensive, tend-
ed to cool the ardor for penitential practices ; and they were
largely aided in their work by the lethargy and remissness of
many of the clergy, who, instead of instructing the faithful,
strengthening the weak, and encouraging all in works of pen-
ance, wholly neglected their priestly duties. Dr. Alsog's
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II., pp. 1056, 1057.
336 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
In Connection with Jubilees.
Plenary indulgences were first granted to the Crusaders ;
next, to those who took arms against seditions heretics and
pagans in Northern Europe ; and, finally, to places of pilgrim-
age, and to those who, in making the Jubilee, complied with
the prescribed conditions. The Jubilee of the Jews, or rather
a custom analagous to it, was perpetuated under the Christian
dispensation, and during the closing years of every century
an extraordinary throng of pilgrims might be seen in Rome.
Moved by the recital of an old man, aged one hundred and
seven years, who said he remembered that, just a century pre-
vious, he had witnessed similar throngs of people coming to
the Holy City, Boniface VIII., in 1300, granted a plenary in-
dulgence to all pilgrims who from penitential motives should
visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul. Strangers were
required to make these visits on fifteen and the Romans on
thirty different days in the course of the year. On this oc-
casion, two hundred thousand pilgrims gathered about the
Holy Father. The interval between one Jubilee and another
was reduced by Clement VI. (1343) to fifty years, by Urban
VI.' (1389) to thirty-three, and by Paul II. (1470) to twenty-
five.
The venal spirit of the Romans could not resist the temp-
tation of reaping from these pious gatherings a harvest of
sordid gain.
Alexander of Hales is the author of the doctrine that they
are drawn from the superabundant merits of Christ and His
saints. . . (He) also teaches that, by the power of the Keys,
indulgences may be applied by the Church to the dead as well
as the living a doctrine which St. Thomas Aquinas establishes
by still stronger arguments. Dr. Ahog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. 11., pp. 7
In Relation to Pope Nicholas V. Gold the Inspiration.
The restoration of peace to the Church, after so protract-
ed a period of conflict and confusion, was deemed by Nicholas
V. a fitting occasion for the proclamation of a Universal Jubilee.
. . The obstacles presented by the war in Italy and the pesti-
lence which followed, were not sufficient to deter the Pope
from his project, and, on the igth January, 1449, in pres-
ence of the assembled Cardinals, he solemnly imparted his
benediction, after which a French archbishop read aloud the
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 337
list of all the Jubilees ever celebrated in the Church, and then
proclaimed the new one. All who, during" a given time, should
daily visit the four principal churches of Rome St. Peter's
St. Paul's, the Lateran Basilica, and Sta. Maria Maggiore
and confess their sins with contrition, were to gain a plenary
indulgence, that is to say, remission of the temporal punish-
ments due for those sins from whose guilt and eternal punish-
ment they had been absolved. Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. II., pp. 74, 75.
As early as the summer of 1447 the plague had broken
out in Venice, and before long it had spread over a great part
of Italy. In October it reached Perugia, where it raged for
several years. During the hot season of 1448 the ravages
of the malady (called Plague-sore), were terrible, and before
the end of the year it had visited Rome. In 1449 the cry of
" The plague ! " again rose from city after city. France and
Germany also suffered severely. But throughout the whole
of the fifteenth century the destroying angel nowhere found
a richer harvest than on the blood-stained soil of Italy. Dr.
Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. II., pp. 74, 75, foot-notes.
The " golden year " opened on the Christmas Day of 1449.
The concourse was immense. Then began a pilgrimage of the
nations to the Eternal City, like that which had taken place a
century before. The pilgrims flocked from every country in
Europe ; there were Italians and " Ultramontanes," men and
\vomen, rich and poor, young and old, healthy and sick. As
Augustinus Dathus says in his history of Sienna, " Countless
multitudes of Frenchmen, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese,
Greeks, Armenians, Dalmatians and Italians were to be seen
hastening to Rome." . . An eye-witness likens the thronging
multitudes of pilgrims to a flight of starlings or a swarm of
ants. The Pope did everything in his power to render their
passage through Italy easy and safe ; in Rome itself he made
the most extensive preparations, and especially sought to se-
cure an adequate supply of provisions. But the pilgrims ar-
rived in such overwhelming masses that all his efforts proved
insufficient. . . Cristoforo a Soldo, chronicler of the city of
Brescia, says, " A greater crowd of Christians was never known
to hasten to any Jubilee. . In short people of all ranks in
Christendom daily arrived in such multitudes in Rome that
there were millions in the city. And this continued for the
338 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
whole year, excepting in the summer, on account of the plague,
which carried off innumerable victims. But almost as soon
as it abated at the beginning of the cold season the influx again
commenced." The Roman chronicler Paoli di Benedetto di Co-
la dello Mastro has left us a description of the Jubilee. . " I rec-
ollect," he says, " that even in the beginning of the Christmas
month a great many people came to Rome for the Jubilee. .
Such a crowd of pilgrims came all at once to Rome that the
mills and bakeries were quite insufficient to provide bread for
them. And the number, of pilgrims daily increased, wherefore
the Pope ordered the handkerchief of St. Veronica to be ex-
posed every Sunday, and the heads of the Apostles, St. Peter
and St. Paul, every Saturday ; the other relics in all the Roman
churches were always exposed. The Pope solemnly gave
his benediction at St. Peter's every Sunday. As the unceasing
influx of the faithful made the want of the most necessary
means of subsistence to be more and more pressing, the Pope
granted a plenary indulgence to each pilgrim on condition of
contrite confession and of visits to the churches on three days.
This great concourse of pilgrims continued from Christmas
through the whole month of January, and then diminished so
considerably that the innkeepers were discontented, and every
one thought it was at an end, when, in the middle of Lent, such
a great multitude of pilgrims again appeared, that in the fine
weather all the vineyards were filled with them, and they could
not find sleeping-place elsewhere. . At night many of the pil-
grims were to be seen sleeping beneath the porticos, while oth-
ers wandered about in search of missing fathers, sons or com-
panions; it was pitiful to see them. And this went on until
the Feast of the Ascension, when the multitudes of pilgrims
again diminished, because the plague came to Rome. Many
people then died, especially many of these pilgrims ; all the
hospitals and churches were full of the sick and dying, and
they were to be seen in the infected streets falling down like
dogs. Of those who with great difficulty, scorched with heat
and covered with dust, departed from Rome, a countless num-
ber fell a sacrifice to the terrible pestilence, and graves were
to be seen all along the roads even in Tuscany and Lombardy."
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. II., pp. 76-78, 83, 84.
" The court of Rome," writes the envoy of the Teutonic
Order, " is sadly scattered and put to flight ; in fact, there is
no Court left. One man embarks for Catalonia, another for
BOARD OP EDUCATION. 339
Spain, everyone is looking for a place where he may take ref-
uge. -Cardinals, bishops, abbots, monks, and all sorts of peo-
ple, without exception, flee from Rome as the apostles fled
from our Lord on Good Friday. Our Holy Father also left
Rome on the I5th July, retreating from the pestilence. . . His
Holiness goes from one castle to another, with a little Court
and very few attendants, trying if he can find a healthy place
anywhere. He has now moved to a castle called Fabriano,
in which he spent some time last year, and has, it is said, for-
bidden, under pain of excommunication, loss of preferment and
of Papal favour, that any one who has been in Rome, what-
ever his rank, should come within seven miles of him, save
only the Cardinals, a few of whom, with four servants, have
gone to the said castle and are living there." Even in the
p'revious year the Pope had, on the outbreak of the plague,
fled from Rome with some few members of the Court and
gone first to the neighborhood of Rieti, and then to the castle
of Spoleto, whence he was driven by the malady. . Poggio
mockingly declared that the Pope wandered about after the
manner of the Scythians. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. II., pp. 86, 87.
When the pestilence ceased with the first cold of winter
the Pope returned to Rome. Pilgrims again began to pour
in. . . " So many people came to Rome," according to an eye-
witness, " that the city could not contain the strangers, al-
though every house became an inn. Pilgrims begged, for the
love of God, to be taken in on payment . . of a good price, but
it was not possible. They had to spend the nights out of doors.
Many perished from cold; it was dreadful to see. Still such
multitudes thronged together that the city was actually fam-
ished. . If you wanted to go to St. Peter's it was impossible
on account of the masses of men that filled the streets. . . All
Rome was filled so that one could not go through the streets."
Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. II., pp. 88, 89.
" Perhaps," says the chronicle of Forli, " it may have Been
in order to moderate the Pope's joy at the unwonted and ex-
traordinary concourse of pilgrims, and to preserve him from
pride, that an event was fated to occur which caused him the
deepest sorrow." A very beautiful German lady of rank, who
had undertaken the pilgrimage to Rome, was, in the district
of Verona, set upon and carried away by soldiers. Sigismondo
340 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Malatesta of Rimini was generally looked upon as the instigator
of this crime, which caused great excitement in Italy, but not-
withstanding the careful inquiries at once set on foot by the
Venetians, the mystery was never cleared up. The disaster
was all the more distressing to the Pope, inasmuch as it was
calculated to deter many rich and distinguished personages
from setting forth on a journey which was already deemed in
itself most perilous. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol.
U'> PP- 95, 96.
" Immense sums of money poured into Rome during the
Jubilee Year, especially at its beginning and at its close, when
the concourse of pilgrims was greatest. A chronicler mentions
four classes as chiefly benefited : First, the money-changers ;
secondly, the apothecaries ; thirdly, the artists who painted
copies of the holy handkerchief ; and fourthly, the inn-keepers.
. . . On this occasion, as in previous Jubilees, the pilgrims
brought an immense number of offerings. Manetti, the Pope's
biographer, says that an exceedingly large quantity of silver
and gold found its way into the treasury of the Church, and
Vespasiano da Bisticci tells us that Nicholas V. was able to
deposit a hundred thousand golden florins in the bank of the
Medici alone. From the chronicle of Perugia we learn that
money was dear at this time, and could only with difficulty
be obtained, because " it all flowed into Rome for the Jubilee."
The Pope thus became possessed of the resources necessary for
his great schemes, the promotion of art and learning; the poor
also had a share of the wealth. Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. II., p. 102.
The experience of all Christian ages has shown that pil-
grimages of clergy and laity to the tombs of the Apostles at
Rome are a most effectual means of elevating and strengthen-
ing the Catholic life of nations, and of uniting them more
closely to the Holy See. (Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. II., p. 103).
I will leave it to my readers to reconcile the last with the
two following quotations from Dr. Pastor :
The concourse of Jubilee pilgrims, which commenced on
Christmas Day (1474) did not at first equal the expectations
entertained. . . Respect for the clergy had been much shaken
by former experiences. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. IV., p. 280.
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 341
Of Italian pilgrims one of the most notable was Elizabetta
Gonzaga. . . She went incognito (to Rome during the Jubi-
lee of Pope Alexander VI. in 1500) with one or two attend-
ants, and only remained a few days, merely long enough to
gain the Indulgence. This lady, and numbers of other women,
were only brought to Rome where they must have seen so
much to grieve them by genuine piety. What the German
knight, A. von Harff, thought, in the year 1497, of the Rome
of the Borgias has already been told. A similar impression
is conveyed in the words of a Rhinelander who had been in
Cardinal Briconnet's service, retailed by Vettori. " If you ask
me why I left Rome, I answer that we Rhinelanders are good
Christians, and have read and heard that the Christian faith
has been founded on the blood of the martyrs, and good
morals and many miracles, so that it would be impossible for
any one who lived here to become an unbeliever. But I spent
sevejal years in Rome and saw the lives led by the Prelates
and dignitaries, and had I staid there any longer I should have
been in danger not only of losing my faith, but of becoming
an Epicurean and doubting the immortality of my soul." Dr.
Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. VI., p. 151.
IN RELATION TO POPE ALEXANDER VI. GOLD AGAIN.
Receipts from the Jubilee . . Sigismondo says, former
Popes such as Nicholas V. and Sixtus V. . . employed in re-
storing and adorning the churches of Rome. . . In December
(1500) the Jubilee in Rome was prolonged until the Feast of
the Epiphany and extended first to the whole of Italy, and
then to the whole of Christendom. According to these Bulls,
all Christians living at a distance from Rome might, in the fol-
lowing year, gain the great Indulgence without visiting the
city, by fulfilling certain conditions and paying a certain sum.
The Pope left all moneys collected in Venetian territory in
the hands of the Republic for the war against the Turks. The
same thing was done in Poland, though there the money was
not employed for the purpose specified. In Italy, Caesar
(Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI.) had the effrontery to
appropriate the jubilee moneys on his own authority. The
Florentine historian Nardi relates how his emissaries ap-
peared in Florence and demanded the money in the Jubilee
chest, " to enable him to pay the soldiers who were plundering
us. and it was no small sum." The knowledge that these things
342 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
were done goes a good way towards explaining the resistance
which those who were commissioned to preach the Jubilee
Indulgences met with in Switzerland as well as in Germany.
Cardinal Peraudi had to put up with all sorts of harassing
restrictions in the (German) empire, and to undertake that all
the money there collected should be handed over untouched to
the administration for the Crusade. Dr. Pastor's History of
the Popes, Vol. VI. , pp. 152-154.
INDULGENCE GRAFT AND LUTHER.
Dr. Pastor will, perhaps, treat at length the subject of
Indulgences in his forthcoming volumes ; I wish they were now
in print. He has already said, and I have just quoted it, " Ac-
cording to these Bulls, all Christians living at a distance from
Rome might, in the following year, gain the great Indulgence
without visiting the city, by fulfilling certain conditions and
paying a certain sum." The gravest abuses characterized the
procuring of Indulgences, and the handling of the receipts.
Dr. Pastor himself says, and I have already so quoted him,
that certain Jubilee or Indulgence moneys were misappro-
priated, and that " the knowledge that these things were done
goes a good way towards explaining the resistance which
those who were commissioned to preach the Jubilee Indul-
gence met with in Switzerland as well as in Germany." (See
again Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. VI., pp. 152-
154). Let us see what Catholic historians have to say on our
present topic !
It was at this time (about 1512) that Indulgences were
published in Germany by the authority of the munificent and
splendid Leo. X., the proceeds of which were to be applied
to the building of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, commenced
by Julius II. The office of publishing the indulgences was
given to the Elector Albert, a prince of the house of Branden-
burg, Archbishop of Mcnts and Madgeburg, and administra-
tor of the diocese of Halberstadt, who was as extravagant
and as fond of magnificent displays as Leo himself. Albert
selected the Dominican Tctzcl of Leipsic to preach the indul-
gences to the people of his diocese. A ripe scholar and a fine
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 343
popular speaker, Tetzel proclaimed the efficacy of indulgences
in language at once ardent and energetic, which while at
times sufficiently offensive to call forth expressions of hostility
against both the man and his mission, was by no means so in-
temperate or extravagant as his enemies would have us be-
lieve. As the civil and ecclesiastical authorities had but re-
cently enacted measures restricting the sale of indulgences,
the recent publication of them gave no little offense. In the
year 1500, the electoral princes entered a protest against their
publication, and enacted in 1510 that sums of -money arising
from this source should not be sent out of the country. The
emperor Maximilian was at special pains to see that the latter
provision was faithfully executed. John, Bishop of Meissen,
had also issued a prohibition, cautioning any one in his dio-
cese against receiving the preachers of indulgences ; and a
similar prohibition had been published in the diocese of Con-
stance. Luther, therefore, was not the first to protest against
the flagrant abuses incident to putting indulgences on sale ;
but had he been, no blame could have attached to him, for
he would have been only exercising a right which he had in
virtue of his offices of preacher, confessor, and doctor of the-
ology. So also, when, by the advice of his friends, he affixed
his famous ninety-five propositions to the doors of the church
attached to the castle of Wittenberg, on the Vigil of All Saints
(October 31, 1517), he did no more than what was sanctioned
by the usage of that age. It would seem that he might claim
the greater right to do so, inasmuch as he openly proclaimed
the doctrine of indulgences, saying in his seventy-first proposi-
tion : " Whosoever speaks against the truths of papal indul-
gences, let him he anathema ; " and protested that it was not
his wish or purpose to say aught against Holy Writ or the
teachings of the Popes and the Fathers of the Church. No
fault, therefore, could be found with him for having de-
nounced whatever was really extravagant and excessive in
the preaching of indulgences, and for having called for some
authoritative settlement of the question, of which, as he after-
ward confessed, " he knew no more at that time than those
who came to inquire of him." That he was sadiy in need of
some elementary instruction on the nature of indulgences,
their conditions and effects, is painfully evident from the
grotesque character and intemperate language of many of
his propositions. In his twenty-ninth proposition Luther asks:
344 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
" Who knows if every soul would desire to be delivered from
purgatory ? " Again, in his eighty-second : " Why does not
the Pope, since he may open heaven to so many for a few
wretched florins, of his sacred charity empty purgatory of
the suffering souls confined there?" Dr. Alzogs Manual
of Universal Church History, Vol. III., pp. lo/j.
The great applause that greeted the appearance of Luther's
propositions revealed the intense indignation everywhere
evoked by the abuse of indulgences. Within the short in-
terval of two months, they were known in almost every coun-
try of Europe. Dr. Alzogs Manual of Universal Church
History, Vol. III., pp. 14, 15.
That no one might have a pretext to plead ignorance of
the true teaching of the Romaii Church on indulgences, Leo,
in a bull issued November 9, 1518, and beginning Cum post-
quam, gave the fullest instruction on the doctrine, and threat-
ened such as should gainsay it with excommunication latee
sent entice. About the same time, the Pope sent the accom-
plished Saxon, Charles of Miliiz, to Germany, for the two-
fold purpose of decorating the Elector Frederic with the
golden rose and the securing him in the interest of the Holy
lee ; and of restraining Luther by peaceful measures until
such time as the German bishops should have put an end to
the quarrel. The Apostolic nuncio while traveling through
Germany heard much complaint of the evil effects of Tetzel's
preaching, and in consequence sharply rebuked the Dominican
for indiscreet zeal. Tetzel took the reprimand so much to
heart that he withdrew to a monastery, fell sick, and died, it
is; said, of grief, July 14, 1519. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. III., pp. 20, 21.
The bull " Exsurge Domine ct jndica causam tuam," was
issued June 15, 1520, in which forty-one propositions, ex-
tracted from the writings of Luther, were condemned, his
works ordered to be burnt wherever found, and he himself ex-
communicated if he should not have retracted at the expira-
tion of sixty days. The Pope exhorted and prayed him and
his followers by the Blood of Christ, shed for the redemption
of man and the foundation of the Church, to cease to disturb
the peace of the spouse of Christ, to destroy her unity, and
outrage her sac^l and unchangeable truths. But should he
disregard these eutreaties, refuse to avail himself of this pater-
BOARD OP EDUCATION. 345
nal kindness and tenderness, and persist in his errors, he was
declared excommunicate, liable to the penalties attached to
the crime of heresy, and all Christian princes were instructed
to apprehend him and send him to Rome. The execution of
this Bull was given to the Papal Legates, Carraccioli and Ale-
andro, and to these Dr. Eck was joined. That one like Eck,
holding no superior rank as a churchman, should have been
made a member of this commission of itself gave no little of-
fense. But apart from this, he had been and was still Luther's
most formidable and implacable enemy ; and he was now the
bearer of his sentence. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal
Church History, Vol. III., p. jj.
The Elector of Saxony, who had come as far as the Rhine
to welcome the Emperor on his arrival, had a conference with
Erasmus ("the guest of popes and princes") at Cologne, in
the course of which the latter gave it as his opinion that Lu-
ther's fault chiefly consisted in his having aimed a blow at
the tiara of the Pope and the bellies of the monks. Dr. Al-
zog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. III., p. 35.
Luther, now spurning papal prohibitions, and notably that
of Paul II. in the bull Exsecrabilis, and without waiting for
an answer from Leo, appealed (November 17, 1520), on the
authority of the decrees of Constance, declaring a Council
superior to the Pope, from the Holy See to an Ecumenical
Synod; after having previously published on the 4th of the
same month his violent protest " Against the Execrable Bull
of Antichrist." Not content with these bold and aggressive
acts, he went still further, and on December 10, 1520, having
called together tbe students of the University and the inhabit-
ants of Wittenberg at the Elster or Eastern Gate of the city,
where fagots had been heaped up, ready to set fire to, he ap-
peared bearing the bull of Leo, printed in characters large
enough to be seen by all present. The Body of Canon Law,
many scholastic and casuistical works, the controversial writ-
ings of Eck and Emser, were first cast into the flames, after
which Luther flung the Pope's bull into the pile, exclaiming:
" Thou hast disturbed the Lord's Holy One, therefore shalt
thou be consigned to fire eternal." . . On the following day
he addressed the students saying : " It is now full time that
the Pope himself were burned. My meaning is that the Papal
Chair, its false teachings and abominations, should be com-
mitted to the flames." The Emperor, sensible that matters
346 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
were going from bad to worse, convoked his first diet at
Worms. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History,
Vol. III., p. 36.
The Emperor had at first intended to summon Luther be-
fore the diet. Aleandro (Papal Legate) objected, because to
submit to the discussion of a secular court questions which
had been already disposed of by the Holy See and their author
excommunicated, he regarded as disgraceful. . He demanded
that the provisions of the bull against Luther should be fully
carried out (January 3, 1521). . . The States, however, re-
fused to yield to Aleandro's demand; for having themselves
brought forward one hundred and one grievances touching
abuses in ecclesiastical affairs, they were unwilling to con-
demn Luther without a hearing. Moreover, George, Duke of
Saxony, a determined enemy of Luther's, brought before the
diet twelve specific complaints, including some against the
abuse of indulgences and the lax morals of the clergy. He
also strenuously advocated the holding of an Ecumenical Coun-
cil. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol.
HI; P. 37-
Luther went before the imperial diet (at Worms), where
the Emperor was present, on the i/th and i8th of April
(1521). On the former of these days, John von Eck, Chan-
cellor to the Archbishop of Treves (and a member of the papal
commission), pointing to close upon twenty volumes placed
upon a table near by, asked Luther, first, if he acknowledged
himself the author of these writings published under his name ;
and, secondly, if he was willing to retract the teachings con-
tained therein. After hearing the titles of the books read,
Luther, in answer to the first question, admitted their author-
ship, but requested time for consideration before answering
the second. A day was given him to prepare his reply, and
on the morrow the Chancellor again asked him if he would
retract. Luther was evasive. The Chancellor pressed for a
categorical answer. " Will you or will you not retract ? " said
he, addressing him. Luther replied : " Inasmuch as it is cer-
tain that both Popes and Councils have time and again fallen
into error, and denied at one time what they had affirmed at
another, I can not bring myself to put faith in them. My con-
science is captive to the words of God, and unless I shall be
convicted of error by Scripture proof or by plain reason, I
HOARD OF EDUCATION. 347
neither can nor will retract anything. God help me. Amen."
. . On the 26th of May when many of the States had already,
as it seemed unadvisedly, withdrawn from the diet, an im-
perial decree drawn up by Aleandro, and dated May 8th, plac-
ing Luther under the ban of the Empire, was signed by the
Emperor, and officially promulgated. . The decree command-
ed all persons, under severe penalties, to refuse hospitality to
Luther; to seize his person, and deliver him up to the officers
of the Empire, and to commit his writings to the flames. . It
was now very generally believed that there was an end of the
heresy; that the last act of the tragedy had been performed,
but a few far-seeing men thought otherwise, and predicted
that the storm, far from having spent itself, was still gathering
strength. " There is, as some think, an end of the tragedy,"
wrote the Spanish courtier, Alphonso Valdez, to his friend
Peter Martyr, " but as for myself I am fully convinced that
the play is only opening, for the Germans are highly incensed
against the Holy See." . . . The edict of Worms was feebly
executed if at all. It was coldly received by the representa-
tives of the States of Germany, who had been industriously
taught to believe that this theological quarrel was no more
than a struggle against Rome, in the destruction of whose
claims they fancied they saw the realization of wild dreams
and delusive hopes. (Foot-note) : When the Papal Legate,
Chieregati, remarked that if Hungary should be lost, Germany
would also pass under the yoke of the Turk, the malcontents
replied : " \Ve had much rather be under the Turk than under
you, who are the last and greatest of God's enemies, and are
the very slave of abomination." Dr. Ahog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. III., pp. j5", 40, 41.
On " The General Causes of the Rapid Spread of Protes-
tantism " Dr. Alzog says, among other things :
Luther's efforts received a color of recognition and sup-
port from the serious complaints which had been made in gen-
eral councils, with a view to the correction of existing abuses.
Many well-meaning bishops had spoken out in no faltering
terms against abuses of every kind, and chiefly against those
of indulgences ; and hence when Luther reechoed their lan-
guage, he was listened to with approval. Dr. Alsog's Man-
ual of Universal Church History, Vol. III., pp. 291, 292.
34& THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
(Germany was) abandoned to the heresy of Luther chiefly
through the ignorance and immorality of the clergy. History
of St. Ignatius De Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, by Father
Daniel Bartoli, Vol. II., p. 369.
HADRIAN VI., 1523-1534.
The Reverse of Leo X. Sincerely Religious. Admits Cor-
ruption of Priests, Prelates and Popes. Inaugurates Re-
forms. Assails Luther. German States List 101
Grievances against Rome. Poisoned?
The character of Hadrian was quite the reverse of that
of his predecessor, Leo X. Sincerely and deeply religious, a
true priest, of simple tastes and grave manners, he had in a
certain sense a horror of the art treasures of ancient Rome,
regarding them as in a measure tending to revive the idols of
paganism. His dislike of them, which was emphatic and out-
spoken, gave great offense to the Romans, who, besides taking
an enthusiastic pride in the reign of Leo X., had financial rea-
sons for encouraging the love of pagan art which that reign
had called forth. The oft-repeated words of Hadrian, that
" he would have priests for the adornment of churches,
not churches for the adornment of priests," expressed a line
of action with which the Romans had little or no sympathy.
The growing discontent reached its height when the Pope,
through his legate, Chieregati, Bishop of Teramo, publicly
proclaimed at the Diet of Number g, that, " impelled alike by
inclination and duty, he would put forth his best energies to
bring about all needful reforms, beginning with the papal
household, the primary source of the evils afflicting the Church,
to the end, that, as corruption had infected high and low, all
might mend their lives, and make sure their salvation." But
while chus frankly avowing the faults of the papacy, and prom-
ising the correction of these and other abuses, the Pope soon
learned that it was not in his power to hasten the march of
events, or to shorten the time necessary to such a work. Ful-
ly persuaded that only the ignorant could be led astray by the
crude and irrational teachings of Luther, and that the revolt
against the old faith was to be mainly ascribed to the burdens
and hardships endured by the bulk of the people, he enter-
tained the hope that this frank avowal of the existence of evil
and the promise of its correction, coming from the common
father of Christendom, would have the effect of allaying popu-
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 349
lar discontent, of conciliating and inspiring confidence in the
minds of all. In this frame of mind he pressed the Diet to
take prompt and vigorous measures against Luther, " For,"
said he, with prophetic foresight, " the revolt, now directed
against the spiritual authority, will shortly deal a blow at the
temporal also." The words of the Pontiff were ill received
by the Diet, and his warning unheeded; his frank avowal of
the shortcomings of the papacy gave occasion to exhibitions
of unseemly triumph, and his promise of reform was inter-
preted as an acceptance of defeat. The hundred and one
grievances against the Holy See were again taken up ; and the
convocation of an ecumenical council, to convene in some city
in Germany, imperiously demanded; which should, in the first
instance, provide for the general well-being of the Church,
and, this accomplished, settle the Lutheran controversy. Thus
far, said the assembled States, it has been found impossible
to enforce the edict placing Luther under the ban of the Em-
pire, from fear of a popular insurrection. However, they fal-
teringly added, every effort will be put forth to prevent the
propagation, either orally or in writing, of the new doctrines,
until such time as the council shall have convened ; and to
sustain the authority of such bishops as shall punish married
ecclesiastics with canonical penalties. The Nuncio, clearly
perceiving that the temper of the States was hostile to Rome,
and mortified at the ill success of his mission, withdrew from
the Diet; and Hadrian, equally cognizant of their sinister de-
signs, gave expression to his sorrow in words of reproachful
tenderness, in which, while laying bare the deep and intense
grief that crushed his paternal heart, he seemed to take upon
himself the responsibility of all the faults committed by his
predecessors. Hadrian, however, did more than utter words
of complaint. Desirous of putting an end to the system of
wasteful extravagance that had grown up under his prede-
cessors, he dismissed a large number of useless functionaries,
thereby exciting against himself a spirit of intense hostility.
To add to the bitterness of his grief he learned that his ef-
forts to defend the island of Rhodes (December 25, 1522)
against the assaults of the Turks, had proved unsuccessful.
The disastrous issue of all his most cherished projects was too
much for the tender heart of the holy Pontiff, and he grad-
ually sunk under the weight of accumulated sorrows. " How
sad," said he in his last moments, " is the condition of a Pope
350 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
who would do good but can not." On the very day of his
death (September 14, 1523), the Romans gave expression to
unseemly joy, in a coarse inscription placed above the dooi
of his attending physician. (Dr. Alzog omits giving this
inscription.) (Foot-note:) The epitaph composed by his
friends, and inscribed on his tomb, does him justice: ''Here
lies Hadrian VI., who held that to rule is the greatest of mis-
fortunes/' Dr. Alsog's Manual of Universal Church His-
tory, Vol. III., pp. 44-47.
The inscription placed above the physician's door was
this: "To the liberator of his country." Did the physician
poison the good Pope, Hadrian VI. ?
PAUL III., 1534-1549.
Trafficked in his Sister's Shame.
(His sister was a mistress of Pope Alexander VI.)
Rumors of this scandalous connection penetrated into Ger-
many ; and, later, it came to be so universally believed that
Paul III. was openly taunted with the way in which his Car-
dinalate had come to him. Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes,
Vol. V., pp. 416-418.
In other words, Paul III. secured his Cardinal's hat by
winking at his sister's adultery with Pope Alexander VI.
In 1538 the Pope, Paul the Third, published a bull of ex-
communication and deposition against Henry the Eighth.
Green's History of the English People, Vol. II. , p. 194.
Henry the Eighth was the King of England under whom
the Protestant Church of England came into existence. He
had written a bitter attack upon Martin Luther, and for this
service he received from Pope Leo X. the title " Defender of
the Faith." At a later time he determined to divorce his
Queen, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn, but the
Holy See would not dissolve the marriage. The King would
not abandon his purpose, and out of this clash came the separa-
tion of the English nation from the See of Rome, and the
formation of the Church of England.
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 351
Catholic writers never tire of asserting that the Church of
England owes its origin to the adultery of Henry the Eighth,
who was excommunicated by Paul III., but they are discreetly
silent about the fact that Paul III. obtained his ecclesiastical
preferment by winking at his own sister's adultery with Pope
Alexander VI.
INNOCENT X., 1644-1655.
Lady Olympia.
There was another and more serious subject of complaint
against Innocent, namely, the influence which, it was well
known, Olympia Maldachina, his brother's widow, exercised
in the affairs of the Church. While it is a fact, admitted on
all hands, that his morals were above reproach, his conduct
in this particular cannot be wholly excused. Dr. Alzog's
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. III., p. 368.
It is not " admitted on all hands that his morals were
above reproach."
ALEXANDER VII., 1655-1667.
Nepotism. Extravagance.
He called his grasping relations to Rome, and when he
appeared in public it was with a pomp and splendor such as
had never before been witnessed or even thought of in that
city of magnificent displays. . . Alexander erected many mag-
nificent structures, which largely contributed to the embellish-
ment of Rome. . The costliness of these and other improve-
ments, together with the rapacity of his relatives, exhausted
his resources, and led to financial embarrassment. Dr. Alzog's
Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. III., pp. 479, 481.
ALEXANDER VIII., 1689-1691.
Nepotism.
The memory of Alexander has unfortunately suffered
much from the misconduct of his nephews, to whom, on ac-
count of his advanced age, he allowed a large share in the
government. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church His-
tory, Vol HI., p. 484,
352 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
BENEDICT XIII., 1724-1730.
A Reforming Pope. Clerical Corruption.
Shortly after his election he published various sumptuary
regulations, restricting the luxurious habits of the cardinals,
prescribing modesty of dress to the clergy, etc. A council
convoked by him in the Lateran palace (1725) made many
wise enactments for the suppression of scandals and abuses. .
Benedict was unfortunate in taking into his confidence Car-
dinal Coscia, by whose simulated piety he was deceived, and
by whose abuse of power and influence the Church was dis-
honored and he himself enriched. Dr. Alsog's Manual of
Universal Church History, Vol. III., pp. 487, 488.
BENEDICT XIV., 1740-1758.
Disordered Finances.
He at once applied himself to restore the finances from the
disordered condition into which they had fallen, owing to the
extravagance into ivhich Benedict XIII. had been driven by
Cardinal Coscia, and the enormous sums expended by Clement
XII. on public buildings. Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal
Church History, Vol. III., p. 489.
Pius IX., 1846-1878.
An Infidel Secretary of State.
Cardinal Antonelli was Secretary of State for Pius IX.
When he was dying he refused the sacraments, saying that
he never believed in their efficacy. He said he had served the
Pope faithfully in his official capacity, but that he did not be
lieve in the spiritual powers claimed by the Church.
After his death his wife and children came forward and
claimed his estate and got it.
Pius X., 1903
The Cardinals.
In The Catholic Citizen, published at Milwaukee, Wis-
consin, in its issue of July 16, 1904, appeared the following
on its front page:
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 353
CARDINALS' INCOME CUT.
Ever since he succeeded the late Pope Leo, Pius X. has
tried to cut down the expenses of the Holy See, a policy which
has made him anything but popular amongst the cardinals of
Rome.
A few days ago he announced his intention of cutting off
an annual amount of 23,000 francs which it had been custom-
ary to pay to every cardinal residing in Rome. The majority
of these cardinals have various other sources of income besides
their residences, which are paid for by the Church.
Pope Pius X. now intends to have all the cardinals reside
in the Vatican proper, where there is ample room, and in this
way save the high rental which now has to be paid for man-
sions for the cardinals in the city of Rome.
Several of the cardinals are protesting against this, and
say that it would not be proper for them all to live in the same
building, as it would detract from their dignity, and also ob-
ject to the cutting down of their income.
A very prominent cardinal said : " It costs about 35,000
francs to be made a cardinal, and many a cardinal has died
without succeeding in paying off debts which he has incurred
to meet this expense."
The above, it will be noted, is from a Catholic authority.
Why should it cost " 35,000 francs (about $8,000.00) to be
made a cardinal " ? Why should they live in mansions and not
in the Vatican? Why should they object to cutting down the
expenses of the Holy See?
Many of the Princes of the Church to-day are best de-
scribed in the words used by Dr. Alzog, the great Catholic
historian, concerning prelates of an olden time:
They are vain and arrogant courtiers, lovers of fine liv-
ing and pompous display, and much given to usury ; they make
their faith subservient to schemes of worldly wealth and am-
bition, and entirely neglect the care of their churches ; they
visit the great ones of the world and the wealthy, but seldom
the poor and the lowly; they have neither simplicity, love of
God nor chastity, and the celebration of Holy Mass and the
preaching of the Word of God have ceased to be objects of
their solicitude; in short, their entire life is one uninterrupted
354 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
scandal. Dr. Alzogfs Manual of Universal Church History,
Vol. II., p. 929.
THE VATICAN ASSAILS AMERICANISMS
The Declaration of American Independence asserts hu-
man equality : Rome denies it. The Constitution of the Unit-
ed States proclaims the sovereignty of the people; it prohibits
any union of Church and State ; and it guarantees freedom of
conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Rome
repudiates the sovereignty of the people ; She demands the
union of Church and State, and proclaims Herself to be the
Church to the exclusion of all others ; and she condemns free-
dom of conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of the
press. The non-sectarian public school has become an Amer-
ican institution, and is championed by the vast majority of
the American people. " The little red schoolhouse " represents
an Americanism just as much as any one of the constitutional
provisions which I have named. Rome condemns the non-
sectarian school and asserts that the control of the education
of the nation's youth belongs solely to Her. The United
States Constitution has been regarded by the fathers and build-
ers of American institutions as a priceless document, and not
only a boon to Americans but a blessing to mankind : Rome
condemns liberties which the Constitution of the United States
guarantees. Does the parochial school teach these American-
isms or Vaticanisms?
If it teaches these Americanisms it is false to Rome: if it
teaches these Vaticanisms it is false to America.
That my readers may see that I am not misstating these
Americanisms or Vaticanisms I now show the former by ex-
cerpts from the charters of American liberties, recognized
American history, and the most solemn declarations of each
occupant of the American Presidential Chair; and the latter
by excerpts from the Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII.
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 355
AMERICANISMS.
Human Equality.
I quote the following from the Declaration, of American
Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights gov-
ernments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed. (Ridpath's History of the
United States, 1889, p. 736.)
The great American historian, George Bancroft, honored
at his death by the half-masting of " the flags of all the Execu-
tive Departments at Washington," " as an expression of the
public loss and sorrow," and called by the President " One of
the most distinguished Americans" as appears from page 164,
volume IX" of the " Messages and Papers of the Presidents,"
has this to say about the Declaration of Independence :
This immortal state paper was " the genuine effusion of
the soul of the country at that time," the revelation of its mind,
when, in its youth, its enthusiasm, its sublime confronting of
danger, it rose to the highest creative powers of which man is
capable. The bill of rights which it promulgates is of rights
that are older than human institutions, and spring from the
eternal justice. Two political theories divided the world: one
founded the commonwealth on the advantage of the state, the
policy of expediency, the other on the immutable principles
of morals ; the new republic, as it took its place among the
powers of the world proclaimed its faith in the truth and reali-
ty and unchangeableness of freedom, virtue and right. The
heart of Jefferson in writing the declaration, and of congress
in adopting it, beat for all humanity ; the assertion of right was
made for the entire world of mankind and all coming genera-
tions, without any exception whatever ; for the proposition
which admits of exceptions can never be self-evident. (Ban-
croft's History of the United States, Vol. IV, p. 450. ),
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The Sovereignty of the People.
I quote as follows from the Constitution of the United
States:
We, the People of the United States, in order to form
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran-
quility, provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the
United States of North America. (Ridpath's History of the
United States, p. 745).
Freedom- of Conscience, Speech and Press.
The First Amendment to the Constitution reads as fol-
lows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech or of the press ; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances. (Id. p. 753.)
This Amendment was ratified December 15, 1791, but a
few months following the ratification of the Constitution it-
self by the several States.
This is what Rev. P. A. Baart, a Roman Catholic canon-
ist and author, says in his " Tenure of Catholic Church Prop-
erty in the United States of America: "
Section 19. Each of the thirteen colonies, before the
revolution of 1776, recognized some form of Protestantism
as its state church, and several levied taxes for the support
of the authorized worship. To prevent contention, the con-
stitution of the United States, in its first amendment, pro-
hibits the recognition of a state religion, though it intends that
all forms of Christianity shall be protected from disturbance
m worship and in property. Because of this constitutional
prohibition, the government of the United States does not
recognize the Catholic Church as such, nor can the Church
as such become incorporated.
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 357
History of the Establishment of Freedom of Conscience in
America.
In the History of the United States by George Bancroft,
" the author's last revision," 1888, there is a special chapter
on the " Constitution of the States." Each American State,
of course, has its own Constitution, which embodies the prin-
ciples of the Constitution of the Federal Government, or con-
tains nothing antagonistic to them. In his history Mr. Ban-
croft writes concerning the Constitutions of our original
States. He says:
For more than two centuries the humbler Protestant
sects had sent up the cry to heaven for freedom to worship
God. To the panting for this freedom half the American
states owed their existence, and all but one or two their in-
crease in free population. The immense majority of the in-
habitants of the thirteen colonies were Protestant dissenters;
and, from end to end of their continent, from the rivers of
Maine and the hills of New Hampshire to the mountain val-
leys of Tennessee and the borders of Georgia, one voice called
to the other that there should be no connection of the Church
with the State, no establishment of any one form of religion by
the civil power ; that " all men have a natural and unalienable
right to worship God according to the dictates of their own con-
sciences and understandings." With this great idea the colonies
had travailed for a century and a half ; and now, not as revolu-
tionary, not as destructive, but simply as giving utterance to
the thought of the nation, the states stood up in succession, in
the presence of one another and before God and the world,
to bear their witness in favor of restoring independence to
conscience and the mind. The establishment of liberty of con-
science, which brought with it liberty of speech and of the
press, was, in the several states, the fruit not of philosophy,
but of the love of Protestantism for the open (Bible). . . But
from the beginning the Church no longer formed a part of the
State ; and religion, ceasing to be a servant of the government
or an instrument of dominion, became a life in the soul. Pub-
lic worship was voluntarily sustained. Nowhere was perse-
cution for religious opinion so nearly at an end as in America,
and nowhere was there so religious a people. (Bancroft's
History of the United States, Vol. V., pp. 119-122.)
358 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
AMERICANISMS ENUNCIATED BY ALL OF THE
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.
From the beginning- of our Government until the present
year (1904) twenty-five different men have filled the Presi-
dential Chair.
They each entered upon the discharge of the grave duties
of the Chief Magistracy under the sanction of a solemn oath
to support and defend the Constitution of the Nation. Their
messages to Congress and proclamations abound in references
to fundamental Americanisms. From this long line of dis-
tinguished American patriots, I quote:
GEORGE WASHINGTON, " the Father of his Country," presi-
dent 1789-1797.
Resist any Innovation upon American Principles.
Toward the preservation of your Government and the
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only
that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its
acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the
spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the
pretext. One method of assault may be to effect in the forms
of the Constitution alterations which will impair the energy
of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly
overthrown. (Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol.
I., p. 218.)
JOHN ADAMS, second president, 1797-1801.
Venerates the Constitution.
I first saw the Constitution of the United States in a
foreign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, animated
by no public debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it
with great satisfaction, as the result of good heads prompted
by good hearts, as an experiment better adapted to the genius,
character, situation, and relations of this nation and country
than any which had ever been proposed or suggested. (Id.
Vol. L, p. 229.)
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 359
THOMAS JEFFERSON, third president, 1801-1809, and the idol
of the Democratic Party.
Freedom of Conscience and Press.
(He enumerates what he deems the essential principles
of our government, and in the list are) the diffusion of in-
formation and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the
public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press. . .
These principles form the bright constellation which has gone
before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution
and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of
our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should
be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction,
the touch-stone by which to try the services of those we trust ;
and should we wander from them in moments of error or
alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road
which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety. (Id. Vol. I.,
pp. 323, 324.)
JAMES MADISON, fourth president, 1809-1817.
Free Conscience and Free Press.
To support the Constitution, which is the cement of the
Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities ; . . to
avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience
or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil
jurisdiction; to preserve in their full energy the other salu-
tary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and
of the freedom of the press ; . . to favor the advancement of
science and the diffusion of information as the best aliment
to true liberty as far as sentiments and intentions such as
these can aid the fulfillment of my duty, they will be a re-
source which cannot fail me. (Id. Vol. L, pp. 467, 468.)
JAMES MONROE, fifth president, 1817-1825, the author of the
" Monroe Doctrine."
Equality. Sovereignty of the People.
In this great nation there is but one order, that of the
people, whose power, by a peculiarly happy improvement of
the representative principle, is transferred from them, with-
out impairing in the slightest degree their sovereignty, to
360 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
bodies of their own creation, and to persons elected by them-
selves, in the full extent necessary for all the purposes of free,
enlightened, and efficient government. (Id. Vol. II., p. 93.)
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth president, 1825-1829.
No Union of Church and State.
In 1825, referring to the Congress of American nations
to be assembled at Panama, he wrote :
There is yet another subject upon which, without enter-
ing into any treaty, the moral influence of the United States
may perhaps be exerted with beneficial consequences at such
a meeting the advancement of religious liberty. Some of the
southern nations are even yet so far under the dominion of
prejudice that they have incorporated with their political con-
stitutions an exclusive church (the Roman Catholic), with-
out toleration of any other than the dominant sect. The aban-
donment of this last badge of religious bigotry and oppres-
sion may be pressed more effectually by the united exertions
of those who concur in the principles of freedom of conscience
upon those who are yet to be convinced of their justice and
wisdom than by the solitary efforts of a minister to any one of
the separate Governments. (Id. Vol. II., p. 319.)
ANDREW JACKSON, seventh president, 1829-1837.
Free Conscience and Free Press.
As long as our government is administered for the good
of the people, and is regulated by their will ; as long as it
secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of
conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending. (Id.
Vol. II., p. 438-)
MARTIN VANBUREN, eighth president, 1837-1841.
The People the Source of Power. Church and State.
The national will is the supreme law of the republic. (Id.
Vol. III., p. 380.)
It was reserved for the American Union to test the, ad-
vantages of a government entirely dependent on the contin-
ual exercise of the popular will, and our experience has shown
that it is as beneficent in practice as it is just in theory. . .
In no country has education been so widely diffused. . . AM
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 361
forms of religion have united for the first time to diffuse char-
ity and piety, because for the first time in the history of na-
tions all have been totally untrammeled and absolutely free.
(Id. Vol. III., p. 484.)
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth president, March 4 to
April 4, 1841.
No Government by Divine Right. Free Conscience, Speech
and Press.
The broad foundation upon which our Constitution rests
being the people a breath of their's having made, as a breath
can unmake, change, or modify it it can be assigned to none
of the great divisions of government but to that of democracy.
. . We admit of no government by divine right, believing that
so far as power is concerned the Beneficent Creator has made
no distinction amongst men; that all are upon an equality,
and that the only legitimate right to govern is an express
grant of power from the governed. . . The boasted privilege
of a Roman citizen was to him a shield only against a petty
provincial ruler. . . Far different is the power of our sover-
eignty. It can interfere with no one's faith, prescribe forms
of worship for no one's observance, inflict no punishment but
after well-ascertained guilt under rules prescribed by the Con-
stitution itself. These precious privileges, and those scarcely
less important of giving expression to his thoughts and opin-
ions, either by writing or speaking, unrestrained but by the
liability for injury to others, and that of a full participation
in all the advantages which flow from the Government, the
acknowledged property of all, the American citizen derives
from no charter granted by his fellow-man.
The maxim which our ancestors derived from the mother
country that " freedom of the press is the great bulwark of
civil and religious liberty " is one of the most precious legacies
which they have left us. (Id. Vol. IV., pp. 6-20.)
JOHN TYLER, tenth president, 1841-1845.
Popular Sovereignty. Foreigners Must Become Americanised.
Personal Liberties.
The institutions under which we live, my countrymen,
secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his rights.
362 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The spectacle is exhibited to the world of a government de-
riving its powers from consent of the governed and having
imparted to it only so much power as is necessary for its suc-
cessful operations. (Id. Vol. IV., p. 39.)
The census recently taken shows . . our numbers . . al-
ready exceed 17,000,000. . . We hold out to the people of
other countries an invitation to come and settle among us as
members of our rapidly growing family, and for the blessings
which we offer them we require of them to look upon our
country as their country and to unite with us in the great task
of preserving our institutions and thereby perpetuating our
liberties. (Id. Vol. IV., p. 41.)
A sacred observance of the guaranties of the Constitu-
tion will preserve union on a foundation which can not be
shaken, while personal liberty is placed beyond hazard of
jeopardy. The guaranty of religious freedom, of the freedom
of the press, of the liberty of speech, of the trial by jury, of
the habeas corpus, . . these are the great and important guar-
anties of the Constitution which the lovers of liberty must
cherish and the advocates of union must ever cultivate. (Id.
Vol. IV., p. 336.)
JAMES K. POLK, eleventh president, 1845-1849.
Equality. Freedom of Conscience. A Treason to Mankind.
The inestimable value of our Federal Union is felt and
acknowledged by all. By this system of united and confed-
erated States our people are permitted collectively and indi-
vidually to seek their own happiness in their own way, and
the consequences have been most auspicious. . Multitudes
from the old world are flocking to our shores to participate
in its blessings. Beneath its benign sway peace and pros-
perity prevail. . All distinctions of birth or of rank have been
abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed
upon terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights
and equal protection. No union exists between church and
state, and perfect freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects
and creeds. . Who shall assign limits to the achievements of
free minds and free hands under the protection of this glor-
ious Union ? No treason to mankind since the organization of
society would be equal in atrocity to that of him who would
lift his hand to destroy it. (Id. Vol. IV., pp. 375, 376.)
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 363
ZACHARIAH TAYLOR, twelfth president, 1849-1850.
Most Stable Government on Earth.
I this day renew the declarations I have heretofore made
and proclaim my fixed determination to maintain to the extent
of my ability the Government in its original purity and to
adopt as the basis of my public policy those great republican
doctrines which constitute the strength of our national ex-
istence. (Id. Vol. V., p. 5.)
Sixty years have elapsed since the establishment of this
Government, and the Congress of the United States again
assembles to legislate for an empire of freemen. The pre-
dictions of evil prophets, who formerly pretended to foretell
the downfall of our institutions, are now remembered only
to be derided, and the United States of America at this mo-
ment present to the world the most stable and permanent
Government on earth. ( (Id. Vol. V., p. 9.)
MILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth president, 1850-1853.
Common Schools. Constitution the Best ever Formed.
We live in an age of progress, and ours is emphatically
a country of progress. . . The whole country is full of enter-
prise. Our common schools are diffusing intelligence among
the people and our industry is fast accumulating the com-
forts and luxuries of life. This is in part owing to our pecu-
liar position. . but much of it is also owing to the popular in-
stitutions under which we live. (Id. Vol. V., p. 181.)
Our Constitution, though not perfect, is doubtless the best
that ever was formed. Therefore let every proposition to
change it be well weighed and, if found beneficial, cautiously
adopted. Every patriot will rejoice to see its authority so ex-
erted as to advance the prosperity and honor of the nation,
whilst he will watch with jealousy any attempt to mutilate
this charter o our liberties or pervert its powers to acts of
aggression or injustice. (Id. Vol. V., p. 182.)
FRANKLIN PIERCE, fourteenth president, 1853-1857.
America, a Beacon Light to the World.
It is no paradox to say that although comparatively weak
the new-born nation was intrinsically strong. . . The op-
364 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
pressed throughout the world from that day to the present
have turned their eyes hitherward, not to find those lights
extinguished or to fear lest they should wane, but to be con-
stantly cheered by their steady and increasing radiance. In
this our country has, in my judgment, thus far fulfilled its
highest duty to suffering humanity. It has spoken and will
continue to speak, not only by its words, but by its acts, the
language of sympathy, encouragement, and hope to those who
earnestly listen to tones which pronounce for the largest
rational liberty. (Id. Vol. V., pp. 197, 198.)
JAMES BUCHANAN, fifteenth president, 1857-1861.
Richest Political Blessings Heaven Ever Bestowed.
Convinced that I owe my election to the inherent love for
the Constitution and the Union which still animates the hearts
of the American people, let me earnestly ask their powerful
support in sustaining all just measures calculated to perpet-
uate these, the richest political blessings which Heaven has
ever bestowed upon any nation. (Id. Vol. V., pp. 430, 431.)
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, *' the Savior of his Country," sixteenth
president, 1861-1865.
America's Free Institutions.
It may be affirmed without extravagance that the free
institutions we enjoy have developed the powers and improved
the conditions of our whole people beyond any example in
the world. Of this we now have a striking and an impressive
illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on
foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who
had taken his place there of his own free choice. But more
than this, there are many single regiments whose members,
one and another, possess full practical knowledge of all the
arts, sciences, professions, and whatever else, whether use-
ful or elegant, is known in the world ; and there is scarcely
one from which there could not be selected a President, a
Cabinet, a Congress, and perhaps a court, abundantly com-
petent to -administer the Government itself. Nor do I say this
is not true also in the army of our late friends, now adver-
saries in this contest ; but if it is, so much better the reason
why the Government which has conferred such benefits on
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 365
both them and us should not be broken up. Whoever in any
section proposes to abandon such a government would do well
to consider in deference to what principle it is that he does it ;
what better he is likely to get in its stead; whether the sub-
stitute will give, or be intended to give, so much of good to
the people. There are some foreshadowings on this subject.
Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of indepen-
dence, in which, unlike the good old one penned by Jefferson,
they omit the words " all men are created equal." Why ?
They have adopted a temporary national constitution, in the
preamble of which, unlike our good old one signed by Washing-
ton, they omit " We, the people," and substitute " We, the depu-
ties of the sovereign and independent States." Why? Why
this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men and the
authority of the people? This is essentially a people's con-
test. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for maintain-
ing in the world that form and substance of government whose
leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift arti-
ficial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of lauda-
ble pursuit for all ; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair
chance in the race of life. Yielding to partial and temporary
departures, from necessity, this is the leading object of the
Government for whose existence we contend. I am most
happy to believe that the plain people understand and appre-
ciate this. It is worthy of note that while in this the Govern-
ment's hour of trial large numbers of those in the Army and
Navy who have been favored with the offices have resigned
and proven false to the hand which had pampered them, not one
common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted
his Mag. Great honor is due to those officers who remained
true despite the example of their treacherous associates ; but
the greatest honor and most important fact of all is the unani-
mous firmness of the common soldiers and common sailors.
To the last man, so far as known, they have successfully re-
sisted the traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an
hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic
instinct of plain people. They understand without an argu-
ment that the destroying the Government which was made
by Washington means no good to them. (Id. Vol. VI., pp.
29, 30- X
366 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ANDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth president, 1865-1869.
God's Hand in the Framing and Adopting of the Constitution.
Equality. Education. Free Speech. Religion.
Popular Sovereignty.
The union of the United States of America was intended
by its authors to last as long as the States themselves shall
last. " The Union shall be perpetual " are the words of the
Confederation. " To form a more perfect Union," by an or-
dinance of the people of the United States, is the declared
purpose of the Constitution. The hand of Divine Providence
was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the
framing and adopting of that instrument. . . The ancient re-
publics absorbed the individual in the state prescribed his
religion and controlled his activity. The American system
rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to freedom of conscience,
to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a conse-
quence the State government is limited as to the General
Government in the interest of union, as to the individual cit-
izen in the interest of freedom. (Id. Vol. VI., pp. 353-355-)
Here more and more care is given to provide education
for every one born on our soil. Here religion, released from
political connection with the civil government, refuses to sub-
serve the craft of statesmen, and becomes in its independence
the spiritual life of the people. Here toleration is extended
to every opinion, in the quiet certainty that truth needs only
a fair field to secure the victory. Here the human mind goes
forth unshackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of
knowledge and acquire an ever increasing mastery over the
forces of nature. Here the national domain is offered and
held in millions of separate freeholds, so that our fellow-cit-
izens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the earth,
constitute in reality a people. Here exists the democratic
form of government; and that form of government, by the
confession of European statesmen, " gives a power of which
no other form is capable, because it incorporates every man
with the state and arouses everything that belongs to the soul."
Where in past history does a parallel exist to the public hap-
piness which is within the reach of the people of the United
States? Where in any part of the globe can institutions be
found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 367
their own free Constitution ? Every one of them, then, in what-
ever part of the land he has his home, must wish its per-
petuity. (Id. Vol. VI., p. 370.)
ULYSSES S. GRANT, eighteenth president, 1869-1877.
Personal Liberties. Free Pulpit, Press and School. The
States of the Church. Education.
The country having just emerged from a great rebellion,
many questions will come before it for settlement. . . This
requires security of person, property and free religious and
political opinion in every part of our common country, with-
out regard to local prejudice. All laws to secure these ends
will receive my best efforts for their enforcement. (Id. Vol.
VII., pp. 6, 7.)
We are blessed with peace at home . . with facilities for
every mortal to acquire an education ; with institutions clos-
ing to none the avenues to fame or any blessing of fortune
that may be coveted ; with freedom of the pulpit, the press, and
the school. (Id. Vol. VII., p. 27.)
I have been officially informed of the annexation of the
States of the Church to the Kingdom of Italy, and the re-
moval of the capital of that Kingdom to Rome. In con-
formity with the established policy of the United States, I
have recognized this change. (Id. Vol. VII., p. 144.)
I recommend favorable consideration of the plan for unit-
ing the telegraphic system of the United States with the pos-
tal system. . . Education, the groundwork of republican in-
stitutions, is encouraged by increasing the facilities to gather
speedy news from all parts of the country. . . The desire to
reap the benefits of such improvements will stimulate edu-
cation. (Id. Vol. VII., p. 150.)
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, nineteenth president, 1877-1881.
Education. Separation of Church and State.
To education more than to any other agency we are to
look as the resource for the advancement of the people in
the requisite knowledge and appreciation of their rights and
responsibilities as citizens, and I desire to repeat the sugges-
tion contained in my former message in behalf of the enact-
ment of appropriate measures by congress for the purpose of
368 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
supplementing with national aid the local systems of educa-
tion in the several States. (Id. Vol. VII., p. 506.)
The sanctity of marriage and the family relation are the
corner stone of our American society and civilization. Re-
ligious liberty and the separation of church and state are
among the elementary ideas of free institutions. (Id. Vol.
VII., p. 606.)
JAMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth president, March 4, 1881, to
September 19, 1881.
The Constitution.
It is now three days more than a hundred since the adop-
tion of the first written constitution of the United States the
Articles of Confederation. . . The Colonists were struggling
not only against the armies of a great nation, but against the
settled opinions of mankind; for the world did not then be-
lieve that the supreme authority of government could be safe-
ly intrusted to the guardianship of the people themselves.
We cannot overestimate the fervent love of liberty, the intelli-
gent courage, and the sum of common sense with which our
fathers made the great experiment of self-government. When
they found after a short trial, that the confederacy of States
was too weak to meet the necessities of a vigorous and ex-
panding republic, they boldly set it aside, and in its stead
established a national Union, founded directly upon the will
of the people. . . Under this Constitution the boundaries of
freedom have been enlarged, the foundations of order and
peace have been strengthened, and the growth of our people
in all the better elements of national life has indicated the wis-
dom of the founders and given new hope to their descendants.
(Id. Vol. VIII., p. 7.)
CHESTER A. ARTHUR, twenty-first president, 1881-1885.
Popular Government.
For the fourth time in the history of the Republic its
Chief Magistrate has been removed by death. . . For the
fourth time the officer elected by the people and ordained by
the Constitution to -fill a vacancy so created is called to as-
sume the Executive Chair. The wisdom of our fathers, fore-
seeing even the most dire possibilities, made sure that the
Government should never be imperiled because of the uncer-
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 369
tainty of human life. Men may die, but the fabrics of our
free institutions remain unshaken. No higher or more as-
suring proof could exist of the strength and permanence of
popular government than the fact that though the chosen of
the people be struck down his constitutional successor is peace-
fully installed without shock or strain except the sorrow
which mourns the bereavement. (Id. Vol. VIII. , p. 33.)
The abundant privileges of freedom which our fathers
left us in their wisdom are still our increasing heritage. (Id.
Vol. VIII., p. 36.)
GROVER CLEVELAND, twenty-second and twenty-fourth pres-
ident, 1885-1889, 1893-1897.
Popular Government. The Constitution.
In the presence of this vast assemblage of my country-
men I am about to supplement and seal by the oath which I
shall take the manifestation of the will of a great and free
people. In the exercise of their power and right of self-gov-
ernment they have committed to one of their fellow-citizens
a supreme and sacred trust, and he here consecrates himself
to their service. . . Amid the din of party strife the people's
choice was made, but its attendant circumstances have demon-
strated new strength and safety of a government by the peo-
ple. In each succeeding year it more clearly appears that our
democratic principle needs no apology, and that in its fearless
and faithful application is to be found the surest guaranty
of good government. . . But he who takes the oath today
to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States only assumes the solemn obligation which every patri-
otic citizen on the farm, in the workshop, in the busy marts
of trade, and everywhere should share with him. The Con-
stitution which prescribes his oath, my countrymen, is yours ;
the government you have chosen him to administer for
a time is yours ; the suffrage which executes the will of free-
men is yours. (Id. Vol. VIII., pp. 299-301.)
When the experiment of our Government was undertaken,
the chart adopted for our guidance was the Constitution. De-
parture from the lines there laid down is failure. It is only
by a strict adherence to the direction they indicate and by
restraint within the limitations they fix that we can furnish
proof to the world of the fitness of the American people for
self-government. (Id. Vol. VIIL, p. 773.)
370 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty-third president, 1889-1893.
American Liberties, Blessings and Duties.
The people of every State have here their representatives.
Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the occasion when
I assume that the whole body of the people covenant with me
and with each other to-day to support and defend the Con-
stitution and the Union of the States, to yield willing obedi-
ence to all the laws and each to every other citizen his equal,
civil and political rights. Entering thus solemnly into cov-
enant with each other, we may reverently invoke and con-
fidently expect the favor and help of Almighty God. . . Our
people will not fail at this time to recall the incidents which
accompanied the institution of government under the Con-
stitution, or to find inspiration and guidance in the teachings
and example of Washington and his great associates. . . The
masses of our people are better fed, clothed and housed than
their fathers were. The facilities for popular education have
been vastly enlarged and more generally diffused. The vir-
tues of courage and patriotism have given recent proof of
their continued presence and increasing power in the hearts
and over the lives of our people. The influences of religion
have been multiplied and strengthened. . . As a citizen may
not elect what laws he will obey, neither may the Executive
elect which he will enforce. The duty to obey and to exe-
cute embraces the Constitution in its entirety and the whole
code of laws enacted under it. . . No other people have a
government more worthy of their respect and love or a land
so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so full
of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor. God has
placed upon our head a diadem and has laid at our feet power
and wealth beyond definition or calculation. But we must
not forget that we take these gifts upon the condition that
justice and mercy shall hold the reins of power and that
the upward avenues of hope shall be free to all the people. . .
We shall find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation which our
next census will make. . . Each State will bring its gen-
erous contribution to the great aggregate of the nation's in-
crease. And when the harvests from the fields, the cattle
from the hills, and the ores of the earth shall have been
weighed, counted and valued, we will turn from them all to
crown with the highest honor the State that has most promoted
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 371
education, virtue, justice, and patriotism among its people.
(Id. Vol. IX., pp. 6, 7, 9, 13, 14.)
WILLIAM McKiNLEY, twenty-fifth president, 1897-1901.
Popular Government. Six Free Things. Education. The
Constitution. Fruits of American Sovereignty. The
Step of the Republic. The Nation's Hope is in
the Public School and University.
No great emergency in the one hundred and eight years
of our eventful national life has ever arisen that has not been
met with wisdom and courage by the American people, with
fidelity to their best interests and highest destiny, and to the
honor of the American name. These years of glorious his-
tory have exalted mankind and advanced the cause of free-
dom throughout the world, and immeasurably strengthened
the precious free institutions which we enjoy. The people
love and will sustain these institutions. The great essential
to our happiness and prosperity is that we adhere to the prin-
ciples upon which the government was established and in-
sist upon their faithful observance. Equality of rights must
prevail, and our laws be always and everywhere respected and
obeyed. We may have failed in the discharge of our full duty
as citizens of the great Republic, but it is consoling and en-
couraging to realize that free speech, a free press, free thought,
free schools, the free and unmolested right of religious liberty
and worship, and free and fair elections are dearer and more
universally enjoyed to-day than ever before. These guar-
anties must be sacredly preserved and widely strengthened. . .
A grave peril to the Republic would be a citizenship too ig-
norant to understand, or too vicious to appreciate, the great
value and beneficence of our institutions and laws, and against
all who come here to make war upon them our gates must
be promptly and tightly closed. Nor must we be unmindful
of the need of improvement among our own citizens, but with
the zeal of our forefathers encourage the spread of knowledge
and free education. (Id. Vol. X., pp. 14-16.)
The Republic was never so strong, because never so
strongly intrenched in the hearts of the people as now. The
Constitution, with few amendments, exists as it left the hands
of its authors. The additions which have been made to it
proclaim larger freedom and more extended citizenship. Pop-
372 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ular government has demonstrated in its one hundred and
twenty-four years of trial here its stability and security and its
efficiency as the best instrument of national development and
the best safeguard to human rights. (Id. Vol. X., p. 191.)
We are not waging war against the inhabitants of the
Philippine Islands. A portion of them are making war against
the United States. By far the greater part of the inhabitants
recognize American Sovereignty and welcome it as a guar-
anty of order and of security for life, property, liberty, free-
dom of conscience, and the pursuit of happiness. . . May it
end without further bloodshed, and there be ushered in the
reign of peace to be made permanent by a government of lib-
erty under law! (Id. Vol. X., p. 224.)
The Republic has marched on and on, and its step has ex-
alted freedom and humanity. (Id. Vol. X., p. 243.)
In an address delivered at Columbus, Ohio, June 12,
1895, entitled " Education and Citizenship," Mr. McKinley
said:
Our hope is in the public schools and in the university.
(International Memorial Edition, Life of William McKinley,
p. 247.)
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
the twenty-sixth president of the United States, in his book
entitled, " American Ideals " (published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons, New York and London, 1900), writing on " True
Americanism" (page 63), says:
Free Schools. No Public Money for Parochial Schools. Full
Religious Toleration. Separation of Church and State.
Immigrant must Revere our Flag. The Church
which Remains Foreign is Doomed.
We have no room for any people who do not act and vote
simply as Americans, and as nothing else. Moreover, we
have as little use for people who carry religious prejudices
into our politics as for those who carry prejudices of caste or
nationality. We stand unalterably in favor of the public
school system in its entirety. We believe that English and no
other language, is that in which all the school exercises should
be conducted. We are against any division of the school fund,
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 373
and against any appropriation of public money for sectarian
purposes. We are against any recognition whatever by the
State in any shape or form of State-aided parochial schools.
But we are equally opposed to any discrimination against
or for a man because of his creed. We demand that all
citizens, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile, shall have
fair treatment in every way; that all alike shall have their
rights guaranteed them. The very reasons that make us un-
qualified in cur opposition to State-aided sectarian schools
make us equally bent that in the management of our public
schools, the adherents of each creed shall be given exact and
equal justice, wholly without regard to their religious affilia-
tions ; that trustees, superintendents, teachers, scholars, all
alike, shall be treated without any reference whatsoever to the
creed they profess. . . The immigrant . . must learn
that we exact full religious toleration and the complete sep-
aration of Church and State (p. 68). . He must revere only
our flag; not only must it come first, but no other flag should
even come second. He must learn to celebrate . . the Fourth
of July instead of St. Patrick's Day (p. 69). . . Those (of the
Germans) who became Americanized have furnished to our
history a multitude of honorable names ; those who did not
become Americanized form to the present day an unimportant
body, of no significance in American existence. . . Thus it
has ever been with all people who have come hither, of what-
ever stock or blood. The same thing is true of the churches.
A church which remains foreign, in language or spirit, is
doomed (p. 71).
President Roosevelt's works are now in the Vatican li-
brary, and that he is admired by the highest officials of the
Holy See will be seen by these words of His Eminence, Car-
dinal Satolli, uttered at an international function in Rome,
February 29, 1904:
I have very great pleasure in asking you to drink the
health of the President of the United States. Nearly all of
us have been witnesses of his zeal, his activity, his forceful-
ness ; we have followed with interest and admiration the steps
of his brilliant career, and we have come to look upon him as
a magnificent type of the true American,
374 THL PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Vaticanisms.
The Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII. have been pub-
lished by Benziger Brothers, (New York, Cincinnati, Chica-
go), printers to the Holy Apostolic See. I take it that no
higher authority can be cited than this Vicar of Christ
for 1 read in his words " We hold upon this earth the place of
God Almighty." (The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII. ,
p. 304.)
Against Equality, Freedom of Thought, Sovereignty of the
People, Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of Speech,
Freedom of the Press, and Separation of Church
and State. Catholic Church Should be
Supreme in State.
I now quote from the deliverances of Leo XIII. In his
Encvcucal entitled " The Christian Constitution of States,"
dated November i, 1885, His Holiness said:
Sad it is to call to mind how the harmful and lamenta-
ble rage for innovation which rose to a climax in the six-
teenth century, threw first of all into confusion the Christian
religion, and next, by natural sequence, invaded the pre-
cincts of philosophy, whence it spread amongst all classes of
society. From this source . . . burst forth all those later tenets
of unbridled license which, in the midst of the terrible up-
heavals of the last century, were wildly conceived and boldly
proclaimed as the principles and foundation of that new juris-
prudence which was not merely previously unknown, but was
at variance on many points with not only the Christian, but
even with the natural law. Amongst these principles the main
one lays down that as all men are alike by race and nature,
so in like manner all are equal in the control of their life ; that
each one is so far his own master as to be in no sense under
the rule of any other individual ; that each is free to think
on every subject just as he may choose, and to do whatever
he may like to do ; that no man has any right to rule over
other men. In a society grounded upon such maxims, all
government is nothing more nor less than the will of the people,
and the people, being under the power of itself alone, is alone
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 375
its ruler. It does choose nevertheless some to whose charge it
may commit itself, but in such wise that it makes over to them
not the right so much as the business of governing, to be exer-
cised, however, in its name. The authority of God is passed
over in silence. . . as if there could be a government of which
the whole origin and power and authority did not reside in
God himself. Thus, as is evident, a State becomes nothing
but a multitude, which is its own master and ruler. And
since the populace is declared to contain within itself the
spring-head of all rights and of all power, it follows that the
State does not consider itself bound by any kind of duty
towards God. Moreover, it believes that it is not obliged to
make public profession of any religion ; or to inquire which
of the very many religions is the only one true ; or to prefer one
religion to all the rest ; or to show to any form of religion special
favor; but, on the contrary, is bound to grant equal rights to
every creed, so that public order may not be disturbed by any
particular form of religious belief. And it is a part of this
theory that all questions that concern religion are to be re-
ferred to private judgment; that every one is to be free to fol-
low whatever religion he prefers, or none at all if he disap-
prove of all. From this the following consequences logically
flow: that the judgment of each one's conscience is inde-
pendent of all law ; that the most unrestrained opinions may
be openly expressed as to the practice or omission of divine
worship; and that every one has unbounded license to think
whatever he chooses and publish abroad whatever he thinks.
(The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII., pp. 120, 121.)
The sovereignty of the people, however, and this with-
out any reference to God, is held to reside in the multitude;
which is doubtless a doctrine exceedingly well calculated to
flatter and to inflame many passions, but which lacks all rea-
sonable proof, and all power of insuring public safety and
preserving order. . . The liberty of thinking, and of publish-
ing, whatsoever each one likes, without any hindrance, is not
in itself an advantage over which society can wisely rejoice.
On the contrary, it is the fountain-head and origin of many
evils. (Id. p. 123.)
To exclude the Church, founded by God Himself, from the
business of life, from the power of making laws, from the
training of the youth, from domestic society, is a grave and
376 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
fatal error. . . The Church of Christ is the true and sole
teacher of virtue and guardian of morals. (Id. p. 124-.)
The drawing up of laws, the administration of State af-
fairs, the godless education of youth, the spoliation and sup-
pression of religious orders, the overthrow of the temporal
power of the Roman Pontiff, all alike aim at this one end to
paralyze the action of Christian institutions, to Qramp to
the utmost the freedom of the Catholic Church, and to curtail
her every single prerogative. (Id. p. 122.)
The State, constituted as it is, is clearly bound to act up
to the manifold and weighty duties linking it to God, by the
public profession of religion. . . It is a public crime to act
as though there were no God. So, too, is it a sin in the State
not to have care for religion, as a something beyond its
scope, or as of no practical benefit; or out of many forms of
religion to adopt that one which chimes in with the fancy ;
for we are bound absolutely to worship God in that way
which He has shown to be His will. All who rule, therefore,
should hold in honor the holy name of God, and one of their
chief duties must be to favor religion, to protect it, to shield
it under the credit and sanction of the laws, and neither to
organize nor enact any measure that may compromise its safe-
ty. This is the bounden duty of rulers to the people over
whom they rule. (Id. pp. no, in.)
Care must especially be- taken to preserve unharmed and
unimpeded the religion whereof the prance is the link con-
necting man with God. Now, it cannot K difficult to find out
which is the true religion, if only it be sought with an earnest
and unbiased mind ; for proofs are abundant and striking. (Id.
p. in.)
The only true religion is the one established by Jesus
Christ Himself, and which He committed to His Church to
protect and to propagate. (Id. p, 112.)
And just as the end at which the Church aims is by far
the noblest of ends, so is its authority the most exalted of all
authority, nor can it be looked upon as inferior to the civil
power, or in any manner dependent upon it. (Id. pp. 1 12,
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 377
Laments Lack of Ecclesiastical Authority in Public Schools.
Pope Leo XIII. in his Encyclical entitled "The Right
Ordering of Christian Life," dated December 25, 1888, stated :
As for the public schools, it is well known to you that
there is no ecclesiastical authority left in them ; and during
the years when tender minds should be trained carefully and
conscientiously in Christian virtue, the precepts of religion
are for the most part even left untaught. (The Great En-
cyclical Letters of Leo XIII., p. 167.)
When the Church and State Conflict, Obedience to the State
Becomes a Crime.
In his Encyclical entitled " On the Chief Duties of Chris-
tians as Citizens," dated January 10, 1890, His Holiness said:
We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence
we have received the means of enjoyment this mortal life af-
fords, but we have a much more urgent obligation to love,
with ardent love, the Church to which we owe the life of the
soul, a life that will endure forever. For fitting it is to pre-
fer the good of the soul to the well-being of the body, inas-
much as duties toward God are of a far more hallowed char-
acter than those towards men. Moreover, if we would judge
aright, the supernatural love for the Church and the natural
love of our own country proceed from the same eternal prnciple,
since God himself is their Author and originating Cause. Con-
sequently it follows that between the duties they respectively
enjoin, neither can come into collision with the other. We
can, certainly, and should love ourselves, bear ourselves kind-
ly towards our fellow-men, nourish affection for the State and
the governing powers ; but at the same time we can and must
cherish towards the Church a feeling of filial piety, and love
God with the deepest love of which we are capable. The
order of precedence of these duties is, however, at times either
under stress of public calamities, or through the perverse will
of men, inverted. For instances occur where the State seems
to require from men as subjects one thing, and religion, from
men as Christians, quite another ; and this in reality without
any other ground, than that the rulers of the State either
hold the sacred power of the Church of no account, or en
378 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
deavor to subject it to their own will. Hence arises a con-
flict, and an occasion, through such conflict, of virtue being
put to the proof. The two powers are confronted and urge
their behests in a contrary sense; to obey both is wholly im-
possible. No man can serve two masters, for to please the
one amounts to contemning the other. As to which should
be preferred no one ought to balance for an instant. It is a
high crime indeed to withdraw allegiance from God in
order to please men ; an act of consummate wickedness to
break the laws of Jesus Christ, in order to yield obedience
to earthly rulers, or, under pretext of keeping the civil law,
to ignore the rights of the Church ; we ought to obey God
rather than men. This answer, which of old, Peter and the
other apostles were used to give the civil authorities who en-
joined unrighteous things, we must, in like circumstances, give
always and without hesitation. No better citizen is there,
whether in time of peace or war, than the Christian who is
mindful of his duty; but such a one should be ready to suffer
all things, even death itself, rather than abandon the cause of
God or of the Church. . . But if the laws of the State ar
manifestly at variance with the divine law, containing enact-
ments hurtful to the Church, or conveying injunctions ad-
verse to the duties imposed by religion, or if they violate in
the person of the supreme Pontiff the authority of Jesus Christ,
then truly, to resist becomes a positive duty, to obey, a crime ;
a crime, moreover, combined with misdemeanor against the
State itself, inasmuch as every offence leveled against religion
\s also a sin against the State. . . Men have become pos-
sessed with so arrogant a sense of their own powers, as al-
ready to consider themselves able to banish from social life
the authority and empire of God. Led away by this delusion,
they make over to human nature the dominion of which they
think God has been despoiled; from nature, they maintain,
we must seek the principle and rule of all truth ; from nature,
they aver, alone spring, and to it should be referred, all the
duties that religious feeling prompts. Hence they deny all
revelation from on high, and all fealty due to the Christian
teaching of morals as well as all obedience to the Church, and
they go so far as to deny her power of making laws and ex-
ercising every other kind of right, even disallowing the Church
any place among the civil institutions of the State . . in order
the legislation may the more easily be adapted to these
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 3/9
principles, and the morals of the people influenced in accord-
ance with them. Whence it comes to pass that in many coun-.
tries Catholicism is either openly assailed or else secretly in-
terfered with, full impunity being granted to the most per-
nicious doctrines, while the public profession of Christian
truth is shackled often times with manifold constraints. . .
But the supreme teacher in the church is the Roman Pontiff.
Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect
accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience
of will to the church and to the Roman Pontiff as to God him-
self. This obedience, however, should be perfect, because it
is enjoined by faith itself, and has this in common with faith,
that it cannot be given in shreds ; nay, were it not absolute
and perfect in every particular, it might wear the name of
obedience, but its essence would disappear. (The Great En-
cyclical Letters of Leo XIIL, pp. 183, 185-187, 193.)
Church and State Cannot be Separated.
In his Encyclical which reviewed his pontificate, dated
March 19, 1902, His Holiness said :
In making man a being destined to live in society, God
in his Providence has also founded the Church, which as the
holy text expresses it, He has established on Mount Zion in
order that it might be a light which, with its life-giving rays,
would cause the principle of life to penetrate into the various
degrees of human society by giving it divinely inspired laws,
by means of which society might establish itself in that order
which would be most conducive to its welfare. Hence in pro-
portion as society separates itself from the Church, which
is an important element in its strength, by so much does it
decline, or its woes are multiplied for the reason that they are
separated whom God wished to bind together. (The Great
Encyclical Letters of Leo XIIL, p. 575.)
Separation of Church and State an Absurdity. Sometimes it
is worthy of Toleration when Situation Practically Might
be Worse in United States for Instance.
In his Encyclical entitled "Allegiance to the (French)
Republic," dated February 16, 1892, His Holiness said:
380 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
We shall not hold to the same language (referring to the
Concordat between France and the Holy See) on another
point, concerning the principle of the separation of the State
and Church, which is equivalent to the separation of human
legislation from Christian and divine legislation. We do not
care to interrupt Ourselves here in order to demonstrate the
absurdity of such a separation ; each one will understand for
himself. As soon as the State refuses to give to God what
belongs to God, by a necessary consequence it refuses to give
to citizens that to which, as men, they have a right ; as, whether
agreeable or not to accept, it cannot be denied that man's
rights spring from his duty toward God. Whence it follows
that the State, by missing in this connection the principal ob-
ject of its institution, finally becomes false to itself by deny-
ing that which is the reason of its own existence. These su-
perior truths are so clearly proclaimed by the voice of even
natural reason, that they force themselves upon all who are not
blinded by the violence of passion ; therefore Catholics can-
not be too careful in defending themselves against such a
separation. In fact, to wish that the State would separate it-
self from the Church would be to wish, by a logical sequence,
that the Church be reduced to the liberty of living according
to the law common to all citizens. . . It is true that in certain
countries this state of affairs exists. It is a condition which,
if it have numerous and serious inconveniences, also offers
some advantages above all when, by a fortunate inconsis-
tency, the legislator is inspired by Christian principles and,
though these advantages cannot justify the false principle of
separation nor authorize its defence, they nevertheless ren-
der worthy of toleration a situation which, practically, might be
worse. But in France, a nation Catholic in her traditions and
by the present faith of the great majority of her sons, the
Church should not be placed in the precarious position to
which she must submit among other peoples; and the better
thai Catholics understand the aim of the enemies who desire
this separation, the less will they favor it. To these enemies,
and they say it clearly enough, this separation means that po-
litical legislation be entirely independent of religious legisla-
tion ; nay, more, that Power be absolutely indifferent to the
interests of Christian society, that is to say, of the Church ;
in fact, that it deny her very existence. (The Great Encycli-
cal Letters of Leo XIII., pp. 261-263.)
BOARD OF EDUCATION. 381
Confirms and Renews All Censures of Predecessors.
In his Encyclical entitled " The Evils Affecting Modern
Society," dated April 21, 1878, His Holiness said:
In the next place, in order that the union of hearts be-
tween their chief Pastor and the whole Catholic flock may
daily be strengthened, We here call upon you, Venerable
Brothers, with particular earnestness, and strongly urge you
to kindle, with priestly zeal and pastoral care, the fire of the
love of religion among the faithful entrusted to you, that their
attachment to this chair of truth and justice may become closer
and firmer, that they may welcome all its teachings with
thorough assent of mind and will, wholly rejecting such opin-
ions, even when most widely received, as they know to be
contrary to the Church's doctrine. In this matter, the Roman
Pontiffs, Our predecessors, and last of all, Pius IX. of sacred
memory, especially in the General Council of the Vatican,
have not neglected, so often as there was need, to condemn
wide-spreading errors and to smite them with the Apostolic con-
demnation. This they did, keeping before their eyes the words
of St. Paul: Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy
and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according
to the elements of the ivorld arid not according to Christ. All
such censures, We, following in the steps of Our predeces-
sors, do confirm and renew from this Apostolic Seat of truth,
whilst We earnestly ask of the Father of Lights that all the
faithful, brought to thorough agreement in the like feeling
and the same belief, may thmk and speak even as Ourselves.
(The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII., pp. 16, 17.)
The predecessors of Leo XIII. had condemned without
stint the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United
States.
Not in America is Found Most Desirable Status of the Church.
Sighs for the Favor of the Laws and the Patronage
of the Public Authority.
From the Encyclical of Leo XIII., entitled " Catholicity
in the United States," dated January 6, 1895, I quote as fol-
lows;
382 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Many facts have been brought to Our notice, whereby We
are animated with hope and filled with joy, namely, that the
numbers of secular and regular clergy are steadily augment-
ing, that pious sodalities and confraternities are held in esteem,
that the Catholic parochial schools, the Sunday-schools for
imparting Christian doctrine, and summer schools are in a
flourishing condition; moreover, associations for mutual aid,
for the relief of the indigent, for the promotion of temperate
living, add to all this the many evidences of popular piety.
The main factor, no doubt, in bringing things into this happy
state were the ordinances and decrees of your synods, especi-
ally of those which in more recent times were convened and
confirmed by the authority of the Apostolic See. But, more-
over (a fact which it gives pleasure to acknowledge), thanks
are due to the equity of the laws which obtain in America
and to the customs of the well-ordered Republic. For the
Church amongst you, unopposed by the Constitution and Gov-
ernment of your nation, fettered by no hostile legislation, pro-
tected against violence by the common laws and the impar-
tiality of the tribunals, is free to live and act without hin-
drance. Yet, though all this is true, it would be very erron-
eous to draw the conclusion that in America is to be sought
the type of the most desirable status of the Church, or that
it would be universally lawful or expedient for State and
Church to be, as in America, dissevered and divorced. The
fact that Catholicity with you is in good condition, nay, is
even enjoying a prosperous growth, is by all means to be at-
tributed to the fecundity with which God has endowed His
Church, in virtue of which unless men or circumstances in-
terfere, she spontaneously expands and propagates herself;
but she would bring forth more abundant fruits if, in addition
to liberty, she enjoyed the favor of the laws and the patronage
of the public authority. (The Great Encyclical Letters of
Leo XIII., pp. 323, 324.)
Any Civilization Conflicting with Holy Church is a Meaning-
less Name.
Possibly, as a summing up of the views of Leo XIII. , the
following taken from his Encyclical entitled " The Evils Af-
fecting Modern Society," dated April 21, 1878, although not
uttered at the close of his many deliverances, may suffice:
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
383
That kind of civilization which conflicts with the doc-
trines and laws of Holy Church is nothing but a worthless
imitation and a meaningless name. (The Great Encyclical
Letters of Leo XIII. , p. 12.)
DOES THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL TEACH AMERICANISMS OR
VATICANISMS?
The important question now is : Does the parochial school
teach these Americanisms or these Vaticanisms? If it teaches
the former, it is non-Catholic; if it teaches the latter, it is un-
American. Does it teach neither ? Then it is neither American
nor Catholic because its relation to both is too vital to permit
it to follow any such silent course.
I close this chapter with this statement: The parochial
school which does not continually strive to create in its pu-
pils a firm belief in the foregoing Americanisms is a menace
to the American Nation.
By United Press.
BRUSSELS, June 5. Although
thSre wae a lull today In the
rioting which has been going on
throughout Belgium,, following
the recent elections, the Govern-
ment party did not regard the
dlsturbaaces as subdued.
The movement on the part of
the- laboring classes has taken" on
a revolutionary. character and agi-
tation In industrial centers is in-,
creasing rapidly. In various
cities throughout the kingdom
many persons have been killed or
Injured and much property has'
been destroyed.
The protesting party Is made
up of Liberals and Socialists
worklngmen In the main. The
women of those classes are quite
aa prominent In the disorders as
the men.
Their grievance is chiefly be-
cause of the Clerical victory in
the elections a victory for the
proposition that the Government j
shall place the church and public
schools on the same financia^foot-
ing, supported by funds provided
by the State,
The opposition -declares the
church schools should be paid for
by the church and not by the
State.
ROME RELIGION RIOTS !
The above is a photographic copy of a clipping from The Post,
Cincinnati, O., June 5, 1912. This bloodshed and riot, brought about
by Rome, is another warning to the liberty-loving people of non-
Catholic countries.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals are the superintend-
ents of the parochial schools in their respective Sees.
A Papal Delegate is virtually a supervising superin-
tendent of parochial schools.
Such superintendencies are inherently ineffective and de-
ficient for many" reasons.
Is the parochial school superintendent always a man of
natural ability, pedagogic training, and holiness of life? No,
indeed! He may be without pedagogic ability and training,
and most frequently is. He may be a trained spiritual ad-
viser he is not a trained secular educator. He may be a
man of immoral life. Grave charges against parochial school
superintendents are not unknown at Rome.
Lamentable are the deficiencies which are frequently
found in men who wear the mitre ; and shocking are the means
by which the episcopal dignity is often acquired.
Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals frequently get their
positions through " pull " and per pecuniam by money and
not through merit or the Holy Ghost.
Whenever there is a vacant See a regular scramble for
the nomination to the position ensues among the clergy. Often
the " wires " are laid before the See becomes vacant. Cau-
cuses are held day and night, trades are made, preferments
are offered, and money is plentifully used. There is very lit-
tle chance for a humble, pious and learned man to receive the
nomination or appointment,
3R4
SUPERINTENDENTS. 385
Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, Illinois, was chosen by the
electors of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Suffragan Bi-
shops of that Province, and the leading Catholic ecclesiastics
of America urged Rome to appoint him, as the successor of
the late Archbishop Feehan; but merit was ignored and the
Holy Ghost was not consulted. In the words of one of the
Suffragan Bishops of the Province of Chicago, " the defeat
of Bishop Spalding was brought about by the sordid little
soul of Satolli, the Religious Rabble, (meaning the Religious
Orders), and the reprobates (meaning priests) of Chicago."
Ecclesiastics are appointed to vacant Sees in America by
the Propaganda, subject to the approval of the Pope. The
appointing powers prefer men who will be entirely subser-
vient to them, and hence they do not select men who are likely
to enter upon any reformatory work among the clergy. They
dread getting any priest into office who might be inclined,
even in a remote degree, to imitate the fearless and righteous
Florentine martyr, Father Jerome Savonarola. Such a man
in his zeal might attempt to bring about a reformation, and
find it necessary to expose to the world the rottenness of
priests and prelates, and if there were any attempts by Rome
to stop him he might tell some embarrassing facts, ancient
and modern, about the clergy there, and by being the head
of a See his words might create a deep impression on the
world. A risk of this kind is not knowingly taken by the
ecclesiastics who control the appointment, and whose mail,
while their decision is in abeyance, often necessitates extra
banking facilities, while they themselves are waited upon by
emissaries of various candidates, armed with blank checks.
Wicked men do not have their way every time a vacant
See is filled, and men of good character sometimes providen-
tially slip into the episcopacy ; but if they assert any indepen-
dence, for instance by lecturing before a non-Catholic uni-
versity and thereby giving recognition to such an institution,
or by writing liberal-minded articles, which are repugnant
to Rome, they will never get any higher ecclesiastical honors.
386 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
There is a bishop in Illinois who is a living proof of the truth-
fulness of my words. He is an American citizen who is most
highly esteemed by all classes and creeds, and has a world-
wide reputation. Will he ever be a Cardinal? No. Will he
ever be an Archbishop? No. Men who are unworthy to un-
latch his shoes have been and will be given the preference.
Two ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SELECTION OF PAROCHIAL SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENTS.
My biographical sketch contains one illustration.
A Catholic priest, a candidate for the episcopacy, went
to Rome to secure the mitre, and met there a beautiful woman
from St. Louis, who was travelling. He returned to America,
and soon afterwards was elevated to the Episcopacy. Formal
charges of seduction were then made against him, but nothing
came of them. They were "wastebasketed." A distinguished
prelate, his Archbishop, since deceased, said to him : " I ex-
pected merely to attend your consecration, but since they have
preferred charges against you I will do better I will con-
secrate you myself," and he did. This seductionist-bishop
is a strong advocate of the American Federation of Catholic
Societies; he wants French goods boycotted to punish France
for attacking and expelling the Religious Orders; and he
asserts that the American public school is of the Devil.
UNWORTHY PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND ASSISTANT
PRINCIPALS ARE SHIELDED BY PAROCHIAL SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENTS.
The parochial school superintendent is generally in such
a position that he dare not interfere with corrupt parochial
school principals or assistant principals. Parochial school su-
perintendents are not made in a day. They are first priests.
They serve their time in the pastorate. They are men of like
passions with their brethren. If they sin in the pastorate their
sins are probably found out by their fellow-priests. When
they are elevated to the episcopacy the priests of their dioceses
SUPERINTENDENTS. 387
ARCHBISHOP CHRISTIE, PORTLAND, OREGON.
This alleged "convert" to Romanism is an ardent champion of the
Roman Catholic schools, and of the Roman Catholic Church Ex-
tension Society in America, notwithstanding the fact that the many
ecclesiastical scandals in his archdiocese are a blot on civilization.
One of the many shocking priestly scandals in Christie's arch-
diocese appears in The Daily News, Portland, Oregon, Dec. 3, 1909:
"PRIEST SHOWN CLEMENCY.
"W. R. Thompson, a Catholic priest, indicted by the
Federal grand jury for sending obscene letters through the
United States mails to two women in San Francisco, has
pleaded guilty and Judge Wolverton suspended sentence. The
case was disposed of quietly several days ago.
"The Reverend Thompson was turned over to the Dom-
inican brothers with the understanding that he would be
placed by them in some sanitarium.
"The two female correspondents of the priest were to
have been arersted in San Francisco, and word has not been
received here whether they were or not. The postal inspectors
say that the letters which were intercepted were of the most
vile character."
Priest Thompson's loathsome method of quasi-consummating his
unnatural passions is unique and beyond the comprehension of man.
The story is most revolting, and, as far as I can learn, has no
parallel in history, not even among the popes.
What high powers in Church and State conspired to save this vile
leper and turn him loose on society? Why does not the American
Federation of Catholic Societies protest against this pollution of the
mails by priests, prelates and "foreign princes of the blood"?
THE PAPAL BURDEN.
This monstrous burden is being Jesuitically shifted to the more
willing shoulders of non-Catholics.
388
SUPERINTENDENTS. 389
already know or speedily find out about their compromising
deeds, and if they rebuke a corrupt priest it is but the kettle
calling the pot black. There are Bishops, Archbishops and
Cardinals who are living in constant dread of exposure.
In America the Bishops and Archbishops have a cardinal-
ate bee in their bonnets as the Catholic Church in America has
but one representative in the College of Cardinals. They re-
gard this representation as being ridiculously small. The pub-
lic press teems periodically with announcements, purporting to
emanate from Rome, of the intention of the Holy Father to en-
large the American representation in the College of Cardinals.
This is welcome news to the American Church dignitaries, who
see in it an opportunity for their own advancement. Now does
any one suppose that a Bishop or an Archbishop will hazard
his chance for a Cardinal's hat by having disagreements with
the powerful sinning priests under him? Indeed, no. These
parochial school principals might manage to get racy accounts
into the Vatican of the adventures of their Archbishop when
he was a parish rector or a parochial school superintendent
elsewhere, and while the Holy See might not seriously object
to him on this account, still it might turn the scales against
him and in favor of another Archbishop whose Archdiocese
shows no outward sign of dissension. The ambitions of a
Bishop or an Archbishop lead him into the course of condon-
ing sin, especially when the sinners are his under-shepherds
of wealth and prominence. It may happen that his priests
are aware not only of his past, but present violations of the
moral law. Elevation to the episcopacy does not deaden the
fames peccatl. If it did, the Council of Trent would not have
passed laws (which are still in force) concerning incon-
tinent Bishops and their bastard children. (See Sess. 25, cap.
xiv. et cap. xv., de Reformatione.)
To let my readers know how parochial school superin-
tendents shield unworthy parochial school principals, I now
state that a strong Catholic Laymen's Association was formed
during the Chicago controversy. The laymen, knowing that
390 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
their immediate Church dignitaries would afford no relief,
made several appeals to the Papal Delegate, Cardinal Mar-
tinelli. This is a copy of one of their communications :
Chicago, January 4th, 1902.
To His Eminence,
Cardinal Martinelli,
Pro Delegate Apostolic,
Washington, D. C.
Your Eminence :
The committee representing the Catholic Laymen's As-
sociation of Chicago, were grievously disappointed not to be
able to present to Your Eminence in person the petition en-
closed which they had prepared for presentation on Sunday,
January 5th, 1902, at which time it was reported that Your
Eminence was to be in Chicago.
You will note in this petition we refrain from specifying
the particulars of any incidents evidencing the lamentable
conditions which prevail here and call for immediate and
strenuous measures of relief. We omitted such mention from
said petition because we deemed the occasion upon which we
hope to present the same to Your Eminence to be unfitting for
such details. We desire now to impress upon Your Eminence
some adequate conception of the state of affairs by referring
to the following facts, all of which are capable of verification.
We confine our attention to the period within the past
two months.
We still withhold names because the purpose of this com-
munication is to solicit your intervention and beg the oppor-
tunity to present evidence. It is plain that at such stage of
procedure it is not desirable that the names of the delinquents
should be committed to writing upon any documents except
such as are intended as formal steps in the way of prosecution.
On the night of Friday, November 29, 1901, between 7
and 9 P. M., a pastor of one of our city parishes was seen in
a state of intoxication near Wabash Avenue and Madison
Street in this city engaged in soliciting women passers-by.
On the same night another pastor of a parish in this dio-
cese was seen coming out of a public saloon plainly under the
influence of drink. This was in the same general locality
as the incident last above mentioned. This district is in the
central and most frequented part of the city.
SUPERINTENDENTS. 391
On Tuesday, December 3, 1901, about midnight, another
priest, recently appointed pastor of a city parish, was found
by the police in a condition of helpless intoxication and taken
to a police station and there kept over night.
Within a few days of the last mentioned incident an as-
sistant pastor of a prominent city parish entered a saloon located
in a neighboring parish in this city ; found no one present there
except the saloon-keeper and his wife ; dispatched the former
upon some errand real or supposed which would have required
the husband's absence for some time; and then attempted an
indecent assault upon the wife ; was resisted and received a
severe beating at the hands of the wife and the husband upon
the latter's return.
About midnight on Sunday, December I, 1901, the police
were called to the presbytery of one of the largest parishes in
this city to a disturbance caused by one of the assistant priests
who was under the influence of liquor, firing pistol shots in
the house. Upon the entry of the police beer bottles were
found lying about the room and the windows were broken
and the scene was one of drunken disorder.
An assistant pastor of a prominent city parish is known
to have had illicit intercourse repeatedly with a young girl,
with whom his first appointment was made through the con-
fessional.
It is also known that this same assistant with three other
priests had intercourse with the same woman during the same
evening while they were together all under the influence of
liquor.
The subscribers hereto are life-long members of the Catho-
lic Church. Her reputation is as dear to us as our own. We
beg you to believe that we are incapable of making such state-
ments as the above except in an honest belief of their truth
and in the sole desire to save the Church from such raven-
ing wolves. We are ourselves responsible citizens whose self-
interest as well as a sense of decency would make it impossi-
ble for us to participate in or to countenance slanders of our
own Church. It is only because these enormities have grown
to such frightful proportions as to threaten the very sanctity
of our own homes and to make every Catholic man with
wife and daughters shudder to reflect that they or their friends
are exposed to such dangers and that such unspeakable shame
is brought upon their Holy Mother, the Church.
392 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
We implore Your Eminence, if it be impossible to prose-
cute an immediate investigation of these matters, that you
will take at least some prompt steps to impose some restrain-
ing influence upon this element of our priesthood here. When
the late agitation to which Father Crowley was a party was at
its height it was noted that these evil excesses were at least
temporarily suppressed. But recently it seems to have been
understood that the authorities of the Church in frowning
upon that agitation have condoned the evils which were there-
by exposed, and that since Father Crowley was subjected to
censure, the evil-doers had received a dispensation and were
licensed to continue as before. There is apparently no one here
who has the authority and at the same time the courage and
the disposition to suppress these abominable evils. They have
existed so long and are known to so many among the Faithful
and the efforts heretofore made to invoke the active interven-
tion of the local authorities of the Church have so utterly failed
that we can only appeal to Your Eminence.
We do so in the hope and with the prayer that you will
save our Church, our homes, our wives, our children, and
ourselves from consequences which no man can foresee, if
our hope is disappointed and our prayer rejected.
We subscribe ourselves loyal sons of the Catholic Church
and humble and devoted servants of Christ and dutiful sub-
jects to Your Eminence, the representative of the Holy See.
This communication was duly signed and sent, but it
was ignored.
On Sunday, January 19, 1902, there was held at the of-
fices of the Catholic Laymen's Association in Chicago, a
meeting of its executive committee. Nearly every parish in
the city was represented. The following resolutions were
unanimously passed, and a copy thereof was ordered to be
sent at once to His Eminence, Cardinal Martinelli, with a
respectful request for as speedy a reply as his convenience
would permit. For the purpose of transmitting the resolu-
tions and receiving a reply thereto, a sub-committee was ap-
pointed, and its members were directed to request His Emi-
nence to address his reply to them. The resolution was as
follows :
SUPERINTENDENTS. 393
Whereas, we have heretofore in dutiful and respectful
terms invoked the attention of His Eminence, the Pro-Dele-
gate Apostolic, to the scandalous condition of immorality
among certain of the clergy in this Archdiocese, citing to him
numerous specific instances occurring within the past few
months, with details of time, place and circumstance, and
praying that he will at least permit us to present the proofs
of our complaints ;
And Whereas, His Eminence has heretofore ignored our
prayer and taken no steps whatever to redress these wrongs;
And Whereas, it is our plain and undoubted right, both
as sons of the Holy Catholic Church and as American citizens,
to enjoy immunity for ourselves, our wives, our children and
our homes from any licensed or obligatory association, official
or personal, whether under the relation of pastor or other-
wise, with these debasing, soul-destroying influences against
which we have protested, and are therefore by God himself
armed with the power of self-protection, if those whom the
Church have empowered and enjoined to protect us fail in
that sacred duty and leave us defenseless save by an appeal
to the public opinion of mankind ;
Therefore Be It Resolved : That if within ten days after
a copy of these resolutions shall have been forwarded to His
Eminence, Cardinal Martinelli, no reply shall have been re-
ceived thereto and no steps shall have been taken by the
Church authorities either to institute a thorough investigation
of these abominable evils, or to secure the presence in the
diocese of some active and restraining influence which shall
serve to suppress and check them, and at least secure a tem-
porary respite from present conditions until a thorough re-
form can be effected, we shall lay before our fellow-citizens
in the public press or by whatever means may be necessary the
full facts and details which form the basis of our just indig-
nation and complaint, and exhibit to the world the conditions
in this archdiocese which have prevailed for years past.
Resolved that in preferring this request to His Eminence
we reiterate our unshaken loyalty to our Church and our rev-
erent and dutiful submission to all lawful authority in the
Church and that, in attempting to fix a specific time within
which an investigation should be instituted, we intend to act
subject to the wise judgment of His Eminence, the Pro-Dele-
gate Apostolic ; and if the time named by us above is too brief
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
for him to take such important action we will gladly and hum-
bly yield our judgment in this particular to his own; that it
is only our purpose to receive definite and reliable assurance
that within a reasonable time action will certainly be taken
toward that end or at least some measure will be adopted that
will impose an effective and salutary restraint upon the evil-
doers whose corrupt actions and conduct imperil the very
sanctity of our homes.
The sub-committee sent the following letter to Cardinal
Martinelli, with a copy of the foregoing resolutions :
In discharge of the duty devolved upon us we herewith
transmit to Your Eminence a copy of the resolutions afore-
said and most respectfully but urgently solicit immediate at-
tention and as early response as the convenience of Your
Eminence may permit.
Cardinal Martinelli refused, point-blank, to take any no-
tice of the Catholic Laymen. He told me upon one occasion
at the Delegation Office in Washington : " The laity have no
right to interfere with the clergy; if the laity understand that
they have any rights, they will do in America as they once did
in France during the Revolution, they will kill the clergy. In
this independent country it would not be wise to let the laity un-
derstand that they have any rights to interfere in Church mat-
ters." My reply was : " Then the only rights you concede to
the laity are to 'put up and shut up?'' "Just so," he said,
" and one of the principal things we have against you, Father
Crowley, is that you are enlightening the Catholic laity of this
country as to their rights ; the laity have no right to expose
their clergy, no matter what they do ; any charges by the laity
against priests or prelates must be ignored ; and any spirit of
independence in the laity in reference to Church government
must be crushed."
As a further illustration of how wicked parochial school
principals are shielded by parochial school superintendents
and honored by the Parochial School Board of Education,
I refer again to the case alluded to in Chapter II. of a prom-
SUPERINTENDENTS. 395
inent Church dignitary in the Philippine Islands, who was
formerly a noted pastor in the United States. While he was
in the pastorate in America he was accused of corrupting
Protestant and Catholic boys. He was so loathed that decent
people would spit when they saw him on the street. The
Church authorities knew what a stench he was, but they did
not discipline him. Finally lay people confronted him with
affidavits setting forth his bestialty, and they threatened him
with immediate criminal prosecution if he did not leave the
city forthwith. Thereupon he left his parish and went to St.
Louis, Missouri, and finally to Rome, where he secured the
friendship and favor of Princes of the Church by a liberal use
of ill-gotten money. Before he went to Rome he had de-
frauded a Catholic loan company out of about $80,000 and
swindled private individuals out of about $20,000.
He procured for a close friend, who was a pastor in
America, a See in the Philippine Islands, and then he him-
self received a desirable appointment in that Archipelago,
where he now resides in a grand palace and is curing souls.
His promotion was a shock to the good people of the
American city from which he had been driven.
By virtue of his present title he is to-day a member of
the Pope's household.
Some of these unworthy parochial school principals who
are shielded by the superintendents of the parochial school,
are the spiritual advisers of prominent female academies, or
convent schools, to which Protestant girls are sent.
In this connection it may interest Protestant parents,
whose daughters are convent pupils, to read the following
which I take from The Catholic Calendar of September, 1902
(published by the Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois),
page 1 1 :
Why do many Protestant parents send their daughters
to convent schools ? In order that their Innocence may be safe-
guarded while their mind is being educated. That is the an-
swer. The parents know well the dangers that surround
396 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
their girls in secular schools and fashionable boarding col-
leges; they know also that in the Sisters' care their darlings
will be kept from evils. Forbidden knowledge will be closed to
them. Dangerous books will not be allowed in their hands.
Improper amusements will be prohibited. The love of virtue
will be inculcated. Purity will be reverenced. Obedience
will be made a habit. Truthfulness will be deemed indispen-
sable. Industry will be honored in the practice. By example
as well as by precept, goodness, gentleness and gracefulness
will be taught.
MORAL INCONSISTENCIES OF SUPERINTENDENTS.
One of the most prominent archbishops in America is
renting church property in a great city to tenants, who, to
his knowledge, use it for very unworthy purposes, such as
low saloons, dance halls, etc. He has much to say against
Socialism. He receives an exorbitant rent from these tenants
because of the immunity they enjoy from any municipal in-
terference, through the political pull of their ecclesiastical
landlord.
Children of tender years have been rescued from these
evil resorts. Whatever prosecution of the proprietors was
started came to an untimely end through the powerful influence
of His Grace.
How can this parochial school superintendent rebuke his
subordinates when they know of his renting church property
for such base purposes?
He is particularly outspoken against the public schoois.
He professes to stand in great fear of the rising generations
becoming utterly depraved by them. The only hope for the
welfare of this Nation which he can discover is in the parochial
school.
He is not the only Catholic ecclesiastic in his Archdiocese,
or in this glorious Republic, who is drawing a revenue from
vicious resorts.
THOROUGH SUPERVISION PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE.
In a large Diocese or Archdiocese it is practically impos-
sible for the Bishop or Archbishop to thoroughly superintend
SUPERINTENDENTS. 397
his parochial schools. He is compelled to rely upon the good
faith of his priests.
This is particularly so in an Archdiocese of the magnitude
of the Chicago Archdiocese, whose Archbishop is burdened
with manifold spiritual concerns, and financial responsibilities.
But what thorough supervision of parochial schools can
there be in a See when its Bishop or Archbishop is incapaci-
tated by protracted illness or advanced age? If such inca-
pacitated Bishop or Archbishop has a Coadjutor Bishop, with
the right of succession, there would be just such supervision
of the parochial schools in his See as the Coadjutor Bishop
cared or dared to bestow. If such incapacitated Bishop or
Archbishop were given an Auxiliary Bishop, there would be
just such supervision of the parochial schools in his See as
he might direct his Auxiliary Bishop to give, because the su-
perintendency of parochial schools does not canonically fall
within the duties of an Auxiliary Bishop, who is appointed
chiefly to assist his Bishop or Archbishop in confirming the
children of the See, and whose position is so temporary and
subordinate that he holds the office and acts solely at the nod
of his superior.
The Most Rev. Patrick A. Feehan, the late Archbishop
of Chicago, during the last two years of his life, was so weak
in body and mind that he was never without a trained nurse,
day or night. He was suffering from a form of paralysis, and
was so incapacitated that his signature had to be stenciled on
documents. He was given an Auxiliary Bishop in 1899, but
this official unfortunately was in a shattered condition of health
and was able to render him but very little assistance. In 1901
he was given another Auxiliary Bishop. Archbishop Feehan
died in July, 1902. During the time that he was incapacitated
there was virtually no discipline in the Archdiocese of Chica-
go, and many of the priests took advantage of this fact to do
as they pleased ; and one of the most prominent of them, who
was well known at home and abroad, and who was leading
a dual life, managed to secure several important Archdiocesan
398 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
offices, and then, by forging the name of Archbishop Feehan,
he secured from a number of sources large sums of money, ag-
gregating many thousand dollars.
Thorough supervision of parochial schools in any See is
likely to be wanting at almost any time by reason of the inca-
pacity, through age or illness, of its Bishop or Archbishop.
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS ARE NOT ANSWERABLE
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
To whom are the parochial school superintendents re-
sponsible ? They are directly answerable to the Vatican author-
ities. The Pope has never seen America, and, if reports be
true, does not understand the English language, and hence
cannot read the Constitution of the United States without the
aid of a translation or an interpreter.
The supreme head of the parochial school system in the
United States is inevitably an Italian, and a person whose
election suits France, Spain and Austria. The College of Car-
dinals has its majority composed of Italians. The Church
calls itself universal, and is established indeed in all parts of the
world, but any Cardinal who is not an Italian has no more
chance to become Pope than he has to become President of the
United States. France, Spain and Austria have for centuries
exercised in the Conclave the right of vetoing any candidate for
the Papacy whom they disliked. The Holy Ghost, if He acts
at all in the selection of a Pope, must consult these three secu-
lar governments. Dr. Alzog says :
The great Catholic powers have continued to exercise
a greater or less influence on papal elections down to our day.
(Dr. Alzog's Manual of Universal Church History, Vol. II.,
p. 484.)
It certainly must seem to the American people an anomaly
that France, Spain and Austria should have a commanding
voice as to who shall be the supreme head of a system of
schools in the United States of America.
SUPERINTENDENTS.
399
It is said that the present Pope has decreed that these
Catholic powers shall no longer exercise the right of veto in
Papal elections. But the Catholic powers themselves have
not so agreed, and their right of veto can hardly be terminated
by a Pontifical pronunciamento.
A Pertinent Question.
I submit to the American people this question: Is it to
the best interests of the Nation that a multitude (now over
a million) of its children should receive their secular educa-
tion in schools which for their highest supervision are subject
to ecclesiastics whose perpetual residence is in Europe, who
have never seen the shores of America, who are strangers to
our language, our customs and our laws, and who attack
Americanisms ?
City WilJ Aid Parochial School*
V press despatch frm Derby, Conn.,
boys:
j The Derby Board of Education has
just taken unusual action in voting to
aid in the support of a Catholic pa-
rochial school It has appropriated
$100 a -month for, St. Mary's school,
which has been in existence' for ten
years and has six hundred pupils.
"A year ago an attempt was mad*
to obtain a city appropriation, for th(j-
school, but lawyers gave the opinion'
that such action would be unconstitu-
tional, and the matter Was, dropped
'Hev. Dr. Robert F. Fitzgerald, rectoi
of St Mary's church, took the mattei
up again recently, and a plan was evol-
ved whereby tho constitutional objec-1
tion was obviated. This plan was fpr'J
the city to pay the parochial school a v
monthly rental for the building and to
receive in return educational acconv.
modations and facilities for ttt; at-
tending pupils.
"Dr. Fitzgerald and James McEnef-
ney, a leading business man, draf^d a
petition to the Board of Education em-
bodying this proposal, and the Board
adopted it unanimously."
The Catholic Citizen, Milwaukee, Wis.
PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PAPAL SCHOOLS.
In different parts of the United States, the Roman Hierarchy has
succeeded in getting in the thin edge of the papal wedge as regards
public funds for Roman Catholic schools and charitable (?) insti-
tutions. In the near future it intends to compel non-Catholic poli-
ticians in the municipal, state and federal governments to pass laws
granting public funds to all said schools and institutions.
CHAPTER V.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND ASSISTANT
PRINCIPALS.
Parish rectors are the principals of parochial schools;
and assistant rectors are assistant principals.
If a parish rector is a drunken or an immoral priest, then
the parochial school of that parish has a drunken or an im-
moral principal. If the pastor is. a man without pedagogic
ability, then his school has an incompetent principal. If the
pastor is mercenary in his aims, then his school children will
be compelled to further his selfish and reprehensible under-
takings, a fact fully substantiated by the history of many
Catholic church fairs, carnivals, picnics and dances.
The parochial school principal is not always at heart
and in life a man of God. The majority of the corrupt pas-
tors in America are principals of parochial schools.
If assistant rectors are men devoid of moral character
and pedagogic training, then parochial schools have assistant
principals who are unworthy. If assistant rectors happen to
be good men, they can do nothing for the betterment of the
parochial school if the principal is unworthy, because they
are wholly in his power.
Proper care is not exercised by prelates in the adop
tion of candidates for the sacred ministry, and hence the paro-
chial schools are provided with unworthy principals and as-
sistant principals. Men are adopted, educated and ordained
who should never be intrusted with the cure of souls or the
secular training of children.
It is well known to those who are conversant with cur-
rent events in France, and familiar with her history, that the
400
PRINCIPALS. 401
hostile attitude of the French Government toward the Cath-
olic Church is largely due to the deterioration of the Catholic
clergy in France. There was a time when the noblest Catholic
families in France were proud to have their sons ordained
to the priesthood. What is the situation in that glorious Re-
public to-day? It is this: The majority of its priests come
from the families which occupy the lowest places in the social
scale ; and the sad result is seen in the existence of a woefully
deteriorated priesthood. A similar condition obtains in Amer-
ica. Far be it from me to say a word in disparagement of the
worthy poor. I know that nobleness of manhood and woman-
hood is found in the humblest dwellings of men. I know that
in the galaxy of America's heroes the names of men, who were
the children of poverty, shine with unfading lustre. I rejoice
in the fact that America is the poor man's opportunity. But
honest poverty is one thing and -vicious poverty is another.
The children of the former can be trusted, as a rule, with any
office which is within their capacity in Church or State; but
the children of the latter, in the nature of things, cannot be
equally trusted. " A silken purse cannot be made out of a
sow's ear."
Are American bishops and archbishops careful in the ac-
ceptance of candidates for the priesthood? They are not.
Young men, whose homes have been evil and whose associates
have been vicious, are adopted, educated and ordained for the
sacred priesthood of the Catholic Church. I say it is wrong.
It is a sowing to the wind and the harvest will be the whirl-
wind. Throughout America are priests and prelates whose
antecedents would keep any reputable bond company from
bonding them for responsible positions in secular employment.
The Catholic Church in America adopts unworthy men, edu-
cates them, ordains them, and even honors them with episco-
pal authority that is, makes them parochial school assistant
principals, principals and superintendents. Even bastards are
ordained to the priesthood in the United States.
402 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
America is cursed with priests of foreign birth and train-
ing who were sent to America to relieve their native dioceses
of the scandal of their unpriestly conduct. A priest who does
wrong in Europe should never be entrusted with the cure of
souls in America. The United States Government sends back
immigrants who are not up to a fixed standard in health, wealth
and character. The Catholic Church in America should have
a department of ecclesiastical immigration, and any priest who
has broken his vows across the sea should be refused adoption
here. America should not be made a dumping ground for
fallen foreign priests.
The parish rector has full control of the parish moneys.
His word is law. He collects and spends according to his own
good pleasure. He is supposed to report annually to his bish-
op, archbishop or cardinal. But does he? Well, when he
does, his report would not stand the scrutiny of a fifth rate
auditor. Some pastors make an annual pretence of giving to
their congregations a report of receipts and expenditures for
the year, but those who have inside knowledge of the making
up of such reports know that they are monumental pieces of
deception. Many priests never even make a pretence of re-
porting. Sometimes nominal trustees are appointed for a
" blind," but in reality the laity have no voice in the temporal af-
fairs of their parish. They dare not ask for a complete finan-
cial report. All they can do is " to pay up and shut up." It
hardly requires any special penetration to see what an oppor-
tunity for grafting such a condition of things affords a mer-
cenary priest.
My observations lead me to the conclusion that not two
per cent, of the parochial school principals could pass an or-
dinary examination for a public school principal.
The public school excels the parochial school in com-
pelling its principals and assistant principals to observe in
public life a higher ethical standard than that followed by the
parochial school principals and assistant principals. If the
principal of a Chicago public school got drunk, or if he were
PRINCIPALS. 403
discovered to be a silent partner in a liquor saloon, he would
be ousted. This is not the case with the parochial school prin-
cipal. Charges of immorality against a public school prin-
cipal would be sifted to the bottom; such charges against paro-
chial school principals are thrown into iv&stebaskets.
I venture to say that no public school principal who was
known to have ever been guilty of immorality could hope to
obtain a position again anywhere in the United States. His
offence would be a perpetual bar. This is not at all the case
with an immoral parochial school principal.
If a priest gives public scandal, he is whitewashed by his
bishop, or he is sent, perhaps, to make a religious retreat for
a lew days, and then he returns to his parish, or he is trans-
ferred to another parish in that diocese, or he is sent to some
other diocese where he may assume another name to escape
the service of criminal or civil process. This course in effect
means no punishment for sin, and it affords no protection to
the Catholic people from ecclesiastical rascals. In an Ameri-
can Archdiocese a pastor, who had a parochial school, se-
duced his ward ; he was denounced publicly in his church at
Sunday morning Mass ; but he was simply transferred to an-
other parish. The same treatment was accorded by his ec-
clesiastical superiors to a priestly sodomite. If a priest runs
away with a woman he still retains his priestly faculties ; and
if he deserts her and seeks an appointment he has no particular
difficulty in securing a parish, even though they had been
legally married.
Failure to punish sinning priests is working incalculable
harm to the Catholic Church. There is not a Protestant sect
in America that deals with its immoral clergymen in this loose
way. If a Protestant clergyman seduced a young lady, would
he be transferred to another church ? Nay, he would be kicked
out of his denomination. Why should Catholic priests who
sin receive any less rigorous treatment?
I humbly urge upon the Catholic Church the necessity
of dealing sternly with sinful priests and prelates. A wicked
404 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
priest, even though he repents, should never be entrusted with
the care of souls. He should be consigned to a monastery,
and he should never be permitted to officiate publicly at the
altar, or to sit in the confessional to serve as a parochial
school superintendent, principal or assistant principal.
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS SHIELD EACH OTHER.
Another point, which must not be overlooked, will help
the public to a clearer understanding^ the disabilities of the
parochial school by reason of its principals. Catholic priests
shield each other. The immoral cleric is shielded by his moral
as well as his immoral brother priests. This indicates the
false code of honor which prevails in the Catholic priesthood.
It is a code which is uncanonical and unchristian. Neverthe-
less, it even dominates the course of decent priests and com-
pels them to condone and cover up offences which should send
their perpetrators to the penitentiary. How can the parochial
school get rid of an unworthy principal when priests and pre-
lates aie his devoted protectors and champions? And this
leads me to say that this false code should be relentlessly as-
sailed. Publicity is purity. Secrecy is sin.
I am happy to be able to quote the eminent Cardinal
Manning in support of my views concerning this subject.
From the Life of Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of West-
minster by Edmund Sheridan Purcell, (Member of the Roman
Academy of Letters), I quote as follows:
Cardinal Manning himself and that is enough has laid
down a rule against concealing the sins or shortcomings of
Bishops and others in the following words, spoken on the oc-
casion of his final visit to Rome in 1883, to Pope Leo XIII :
" If the Evangelist did not conceal the sin and fall of Judas,
neither ought we to conceal the sins of Bishops and of other
personages." (Foot-note) : The Pope in his conversation
with Cardinal Manning, reprobated the vicious system of sup j
pressing or glossing over facts in history, sacred or profane,
or in the lives of men, Saints or sinners, as repugnant tQ
PRINCIPALS. 405
truth and justice, and in the long run, as detrimental to the
spiritual interests of the Church. (Vol. II., p. 755.)
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ARE CHEAP POLITICIANS.
Our great American cities are cursed with municipal cor-
ruption. From my knowledge of the undercurrent of things
I assert that Catholic parochial school principals are at the
bottom of American municipal corruption. They have gone
into politics; and they are wire pullers at the caucuses, at the
conventions and at the primaries. They succeed in getting
their henchmen into various civic offices. This political work
is not done through purely benevolent motives. They make
money out of it. A clerical politician is none other than a
priest who is corrupt at heart. He abandons the spiritual in-
terests committed to his care, and, consumed by an unholy de-
sire to amass wealth, he plunges headlong into political chican-
ery for the graft that is in it.
" GET RICH QUICK " PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS.
The vast majority of Catholic priests are investors in
various " get rich quick " concerns. Gold, silver and copper
mines are very attractive to them, and in many of these mines
the only ore is the coin put in by the mercenary priests and
other gullible people. The more knowing priests do not in-
vest, but give the use of their names for blocks of stock ; and
prospectuses are prepared containing copies of signed letters
of endorsement by these God-fearing ecclesiastics. This print-
ed matter is sent to their parishioners, and on the stock sold
to them these pastors receive a commission. Often these cler-
ics personally solicit or advise their parishioners to invest in
speculative stocks, and the properties may exist on paper only.
These priests are frequently directors in these mining corpora-
tions, and church presbyteries often serve for meeting places
for the boards of directors.
These pastors often have parishes overwhelmed with debts
which run into many thousands of dollars, and they continually
cry for money. Sunday after Sunday they command their
406 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
people to give money. Money, indeed, is their only gospel!
When they are not at home their assistants take up the cry,
and woe betides them if they do not cry lustily, for the pastor's
relatives report any half-heartedness. What becomes of the
money? Ask the pastor, not the people the people do not
know. The money goes into the bank accounts of the rector
and his relatives, and it is used for all kinds of speculations.
From reliable data I am convinced that over fifty per cent of
the Catholic clergy are investors in " get rich quick " schemes.
Many of them are investors in listed speculative stocks, and
their first office in the morning is to examine the stock quota-
tions. When the market goes against them they usually an-
nounce a special collection on the following Sunday for some
special object, such as prospective repairs to the church, or
to the presbytery, or to the parochial school building.
A few years ago there were two brothers who formed a
mining company. They belonged to a most prominent parish,
which was conducted by a Religious Order. They made gen-
erous contributions to all the collections, and liberally patron-
ized the parish fair, picnics and dances. They gave the pastor
blocks of stock for his recommendation of their mining scheme ;
and men of that parish and of the adjacent parishes bought
mining stock. Men mortgaged their homes to obtain money
to invest. Suddenly it was ascertained that the wonderful
mine was simply a hole in the ground. Brave, noble women
of the parish went en masse to the presbytery, rang the bell,
and, no response being made, broke in the door and horse-
whipped the pastor, who was the head of the Religious' Com-
munity. There was press publicity of the assault, but there
was no legal prosecution. This pastor is an Examiner of
the Clergy.
LIBERAL PATRONS OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES AT WORLD'S
FAIRS.
A multitude of priests attended the World's Fair which
was held in Chicago in 1893. They sought the educating and
PRINCIPALS. 407
refining influences of that " White City." Their parishioners
were glad to see them go to it, and contributed towards their
expenses. The majority of these clerical visitors behaved in
a scandalous way. They frequented houses of shame; they
patronized gambling dens ; many of them were arrested and
booked under fictitious names. Some of them got crazy drunk
in their hotels and ran around the corridors naked. Neverthe-
less, some of these ecclesiastical sinners officiated on Sundays
in the various Chicago churches, kindly substituting for their
brethren who had gone elsewhere for a summer's recreation.
From the data which I have received the harlots of St.
Louis, during the great fair now in progress there, are getting
a greater percentage of patronage from Catholic parochial
school principals and assistant principals than from the male
sinners of any other vocation, occupation or profession.
In this connection I relate a conversation I had with
a most prominent American archbishop, who is, indeed, an
aspirant to a seat in the College of Cardinals. I said to him :
" Your Grace, as I was going to my hotel last night a hack-
man said : ' How are things coming with you, father ? ' I
said to the hackman : ' Very well ! ' He said : ' You are up
against a tough proposition ; the priests are a tough bunch.'
I said : ' What do you know about them ? ' He said : ' I have
not been a hackman for the last twenty years right down in
the heart of the city without knowing a good deal about them ;
I frequently drive them down to the levee district at night, and
whenever I take one down I can sleep for a month.' I said:
1 What do you mean by that ? ' He said : ' I get a rake off
from the house of ill-fame, a certain percentage.' I said : ' A
percentage of what ? ' He said : ' A percentage of the amount
which he spends in the house.' I said : ' In what way ? ' He
said : ' On the girls, buying wine for the girls, setting up the
can-can, and for the other things which go with such doings ;
the priests are the best spenders I meet; their money comes
easy and they let it go easy.' I said : ' How do you reckon
your percentage from the house ? ' He said : ' I size the fel-
408 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
low up pretty well; I have an idea of how much he wants,
and of how much he is going to spend; and the people who
run those houses are pretty square people ; any way they know
that if they don't deal square with us we will take the business
to some other house, so you see they have got to be on the
square with us.' " This hackman was a Catholic. I then
told the Archbishop about another case. I said : " A Catholic
hackman stopped me a short time ago and said : ' How are
the boys getting on, Father ? ' I said : ' What boys ? ' He
said : ' The priests.' I said : ' I believe they are improving ! ! '
He said : ' It is pretty hard to change them ; they are a tough
class ; it is little the people know about them ; in fact if you
tell them anything about them they won't believe it ; they will
call you an A. P. A. if you tell them anything about their
clergy; when I was a boy I attended the Catholic schools in
this city, and at that time I, too, would not believe anything
bad about them, but after I got into the hack business my eyes
were opened. One night I was engaged by a few gentlemen
to take them down the line onto Wabash Avenue to a certain
house of ill-fame ; I drove them there ; they got out of the car-
riage and paid me for my services, and I waited awhile and
went then right into the house to get my percentage for bring-
ing them there; well, good God, to my great surprise who
should come down the stairs but a priest of my then parish,
and now a prominent Chicago pastor ; he said to me : ' Hello
there, Patrick, what are you doing around here ? ' Then I
screwed up my courage and I said : ' I am here on business ;
what are you doing around here ? ' He said : ' I am here see-
ing the sights.' Now, I tell you, father, that was my first eye-
opener, and my eyes have been kept open ever since ; but when
I told that to some of my friends they did not believe me and
called me all sorts of names and warned me against giving
scandal by telling that to anybody else, and they said that if
I did I would get into trouble ; so realizing how hard it is to
persuade the Catholic people that there is anything wrong with
PRINCIPALS. 409
these fellows I made up my mind that the best thing I could
do was to keep my mouth shut."
The Archbishop then told me about one of his experiences.
He said : " Yes, hackmen know a great deal about us ; they
have seen a lot; they are in a way to see it; why, down at my
former diocese there were two hackmen, father and son, who
were Catholics once, but owing to what they saw amongst the
clergy they lost the faith. When the old man was dying,
his wife, unknown to him, sent for me to give him the last
rites of the Church; I went there, and as I was entering the
door of his bedroom the old man cried out : ' For God's sake,
don't come into this room ! I don't want you ! ' I said :
' Don't you want me, aren't you dying ? ' He said : ' Yes, I am
dying, but I am at peace with my God, with my country and
with myself, and I don't want to have anything to do with
you nor the likes of you; I know too much about priests; I
have driven lots of them to bad houses ; for God's sake, don't
come in! I don't want to be reminded by your presence of
those things now when I am dying ! ' I saw that the old man
was thoroughly in earnest, and, not caring to debate the mat-
ter with him for fear the people in the house might overhear
what he had to say, I turned on my heel and walked away."
The Archbishop continued : " Hackmen, policemen, firemen,
street car and railway men know a great deal about us; they
see a great deal, they are in the way of knowing it, but for-
tunately the poor fellows keep it to themselves."
The fact is that when a man of any of the foregoing classes
dies, his pastor and the assistants exert themselves to show
all possible honor to his memory, particularly by the delivery
of a most flattering funeral sermon. If the deceased died with-
out the last sacraments, or even refused them, greater exer-
tions are made. These honors are paid to the deceased to
shut the mouths of his relatives in case he may have told them
of the clerical misconduct he had seen. High church digni-
taries often grace these funeral occasions.
410 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
NAUTICAL CLERICS.
In the United States there are parochial school principals
who are very fond of the water. They enjoy trips on the pala-
tial steamers which ride the waters of the inland lakes, the
great rivers and the ocean. They are also much given to
yachting. During the summer time their health, impaired by
arduous service in their parochial schools, demands frequent
visits to the various beaches. I have heard fanatics predict
that the Atlantic coast would be submerged some day as a
punishment by an offended God ; I have been amused by their
weird predictions ; but as I think of the immorality and bes-
tiality of these nautical clerics, records galore being in my pos-
session, I really marvel that such a cataclysm does not happen.
Catholic travelers, watch the priest on shipboard ! Watch
him closely! If you will look sharply you will see a priest
and a woman. He may call her his " sister," or " niece," or
" cousin," but as a rule she is not.
The officers of the Atlantic liners tell many sickening facts
in connection with nautical clerics. Many an ecclesiastical
voyager has found himself in irons before the end of the voy-
age to protect the passengers and himself from his drunken
frenzy.
What these nautical clerics do not know about poker and
other gambling games on their voyages Satan does not know.
They usually travel incognito in both dress and name, but when
the liquor gets into them they betray their clerical character
by attempting to assert their priestly jurisdiction.
Dealers in Smut.
There are priests in America who are considered special-
ists in retailing smutty stories, the foundations of which they
learn in the confessional.
In Catholic theological seminaries in America students
form associations (not sanctioned by the seminary authorities)
in which membership depends upon the applicant's abilitv to
PRINCIPALS. 411
tell stories of a prescribed degree of nastiness. A priest told
me that it took him three years to get admitted.
Brazen Hypocrites.
There are Catholic priests and prelates who are at the
head of various Catholic temperance societies, and others who
are famed as temperance advocates, who get drunk ad libitum.
They deliver stirring addresses at temperance meetings, and
then they are put to bed the same night drunk.
Catholic priests in America impose severe penance upon
penitents who have eaten meat on proscribed days, but these
priests do not scruple when they are outside of their parishes
(and inside when the housekeeper is trustworthy) to break
the law of the Church concerning days of fasting and absti-
nence, and many of them even break their fast before they say
Mass.
Some priests, who have a little conscience left, and who
have not wholly lost the faith, winter in Mexico where the
Church permits Catholics to eat meat on those proscribed
days even on Friday !
MALODOROUS PEDAGOGIC SAMPLES.
So far I have discussed in a general way the principals
and the assistant principals of the parochial schools. I now
deal specifically with some of these clerical educators, designat-
ing each by a numeral and some suggested title. The cases
I describe I have selected at random from the hundreds xvhich
I have listed. They are but average samples, and are scattered
over America.
My readers may wonder why I do not give the names and
addresses of these clerical sinners, and of other wicked ec-
clesiastics to whom I have referred. I do not do so out of
regard for the opinion of my advisers. My clerical counsellors
assert that since many, if not all, of these names are now on
file in formal charges at the Vatican, and since the present
Pope, Pius X., has hardly had an adequate opportunity to
412 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
familiarize himself with the detailr of these charges, in order
to canonically deal with the accused, it would be disrespectful
to His Holiness to give to the world the names and addresses.
My lay counsellors solemnly declare that there is grave like-
lihood that such publicity would lead to the burning of churches
and the lynching of priest:, by an infuriated Catholic people.
It will be noticed that I describe some of these cases at
greater length than others. The shorter length is not due
to a lack of material. I do not care to nauseate my readers,
and so I give a few cases at greater length simply to illustrate
what might be said about each of these malodorous peda-
gogues.
The cases which I now. cite may seem improbable to my
readers by reason of their awfulness ; but I solemnly declare
that I am conservative in my statements, and that the cases
which I now describe are in reality infinitely worse than they
appear here.
If I should give the full story in every day speech con-
cerning each of these malodorous pedagogic samples, this book
would be so nasty that it could not be circulated. It is my
desire to tell the truth in chaste language, and, therefore, I take
as my literary guides the celebrated Catholic historians, Dr.
Alzog and Dr. Pastor (from whose works I quoted in Chapter
III), and I trust that my descriptions of clerical depravi-
ty will equal in refinement the similar portrayals of these emi-
nent authors.
Rev. No. i. A Forger.
In the autumn of 1903 a priest of international repute dis-
appeared. He had robbed his parish and Archdiocese of about
$750,000, and this largely through forging the name of his
Archbishop.
Why is he not prosecuted? Why is he not punished in
conformity with the canons of the Church ? Is it possible that
he knows some startling things which his Archbishop fears he
might reveal to the world? Can it be that even now he is
drawing hush money from his Archdiocese ?
A FORGER AND HIS CHURCH.
"Rev. No. i, A P"orger," Rev. George D. Heldmann, ex-rector of St.
Paul's parish, Chicago, one of Muldoon's chief clerical agents, and
leader among the German and German-American priests, fearing ex-
posure of his dual life, etc., appealed to Rev. Cashman and myself for
immunity. He offered to donate fifty thousand dollars to our crusade
and promised that he would supply us, if necessary, with irrefutable
evidence against Cardinal Martinelli, Bishop Muldoon and other high
ecclesiastics. He made this offer to me October 16, 1901, at the Audi-
torium Annex, Chicago, where I met him by appointment, brought
about by letters and personal visits from Rev. E. J. Vattman, Senior
Chaplain of the U. S. Army and Rev. Thomas F. Cashman.
413
REV. HELDMANN'S PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
During said interview, Heldmann, among other things, told me
that the Muldoon gang, including Cardinal Martinelli, had determined
to issue a Bull of Excommunication against me, hoping thereby to
head off my promised disclosures and, if possible, intimidate me and
my supporters, both clerical and lay. As soon as the church author-
ities learned that Heldmann had "squealed" they induced him, by
threats and otherwise, to make an affidavit declaring that he as agent
for the Muldoonites did not give Cardinal Martinelli a bribe of
several thousand dollars, which fact he had already made known to us.
"Rev. No. i, A Forger," is now Rev. George D. Heldmann, C. PP.
S. (Congregation of the Precious Blood), Editor of Messenger, and
Botschafter, St. Joseph's College, Rensselaer, Indiana, U. S. A. St.
Joseph's College is a Roman Catholic boarding school in which there
are 290 students, and in which there are 22 Sisters of the Precious
Blood employed for domestic work, though such employment for
.nuns is forbidden by Canon Law. Heldmann is in "good standing."
414
PRINCIPALS. 415
October i6th, 1901, he offered me $50,000 to induce me not
.to expose his dual life in any forthcoming book. I said to
him then : " If you dare to make that offer to me again I will
take you by the nape of the neck to the police station." At
that time he was living in adultery with a married woman
whom he had estranged from her husband and established in
a palatial home.
He was an ardent champion of the parochial school and
a fierce denunciator of the American policy in the Philippines.
He was the principal of a parochial school which had 21 nuns
and 750 pupils.
His influence was eagerly sought by politicians, and he
was once urged to run for Congress.
Since he has become a fugitive he has been teaching in a
Catholic college, and has been giving missions, under an as-
sumed name, to convert Protestants.
Rev. No. 2. A National Character.
His parochial school has over a thousand pupils. In the
winter season he is very fond of providing sleighing parties
for the young ladies of his school, and he always arranges it
so that there is a lack of at least one seat. The consequence is
that one young lady rides in the pastor's lap. This rector is
one of the most lecherous of the lewd members of the priest-
hood.
He constantly attends and " plays " the races. He won
$60,000 on one race. He is an habitue of race-tracks, gambling
houses and brothels. He is a national character.
His " O. K." is omnipotent. Gamblers have to secure it
in order to run their houses in his section of his city ; and can-
didates for the priesthood have to obtain it to get ordained.
This man has been guilty, on land and sea, of unprintable
lewdness. He presented one of his mistresses with a belt, each
link being a twenty-dollar gold piece. He is reputed to be
worth about a million dollars.
416 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Caught in flagrante delicto he said : " I never believed in
celibacy, I never preached it, never practiced it, and never will..
It's a humbug."
Rev. No. 3. A Lover of FasfHorses and Fast Women.
He has in his parochial school over 1,500 children. He
keeps a city house and a country residence. He is devoted
to fast horses and fast women. In the country he is known
as " Mr. West " ; and one of his temporary better halves as
" Mrs. West."
Rev. No. 4. A Grocer.
He is a priest who eloped with a young woman. He is
living with her and running a grocery. She has borne him
three children. He said Mass the morning the first baby was
born. Any time he will abandon the woman he can return
to parochial school duties, for " Once a priest always a priest."
In the parish from which he eloped the parochial school
had over 600 pupils.
His name appears in the issue of the Catholic Directory
and Clergy List of 1904, although his ecclesiastical superiors
are fully aware of his misconduct.
After his elopement he solicited offerings by mail for
Masses for souls in purgatory and undoubtedly made a nice
little sum in this way.
Rev. No. 5. A Pugilist.
After his ordination he served as an assistant pastor in
numerous parishes, where he acted as assistant parochial
school principal.
He was finally appointed pastor of a country parish and
its outlying missions, which parish had been vacant nine
months on account of the sudden disappearance of its rector,
who had been drunk most of the time for five years and who
was accused of a criminal assault upon two little girls.
At his first appearance he told the people from the altar
PRINCIPALS. 417
during Mass that they had a very bad name with the Arch-
bishop and priests of the Archdiocese, so bad, in fact, that
priests did not care to come and labor among them; that he
was the only priest with sufficient zeal and faith to volunteer
to undertake the work of the cure of their souls, and that if
they interfered in any way with his plans or reported him
to headquarters he would lock up the church, leave the place
and they would never get another pastor. This cowed the
people. He succeeded, by underhand means, in getting an-
other town attached to his parish. This gave him a large ter-
ritory for his. operations. He adopted every means to raise
money. He held missions, fairs, picnics, sociables, euchre
parties and barn dances, which he advertised through the
parish by hand-bills, placards, and the press. Depraved women
came from surrounding cities to his entertainments and helped
to sell his tickets and make his enterprises successful. These
abandoned women covertly plied their shameless arts at these
undertakings. When some of the good people remonstrated
with him, he replied with an oath : " It is not my business
to look into the character of people ; what I am after is
money for God's Giurch." Just after one of his fairs was
opened, four most respectable young ladies, finding a woman
of doubtful character in charge of a booth, went to him and
gave him their booth books and said : " We cannot have any-
thing to do with this fair ; it is a scandal ; we cannot associate
with abandoned people." He replied : " It is none of our
business ; it is not for you or for me to question the character
of people ; what we want to do is to make money for the
Church." At one of his church fair dances an intoxicated
stranger asked a young lady of the congregation to dance with
him. She declined, and he staggered over to the Reverend
Father and promised to give ten dollars to the fair if he would
induce the young lady to comply. The pastor urged the
young lady to dance with this man, telling her that her re-
fusal would cost him ten dollars.
418 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
He expelled a number of children from his Sunday School,
which was held in the church immediately before Mass, there-
by preventing them from being present at Mass, to humiliate
their parents for not meeting his exactions. He wrote scur-
rilous letters to several parishioners because they did not pay
enough to satisfy him.
In March, 1898, he told his congregation to be ready on
a certain Sunday to announce, on the calling of their names,
the amounts they would contribute to pay off the church
mortgage. The Sunday came, and during the Mass he as-
cended the pulpit, and commenced to call the roll of his con-
gregation. He called out three or four names, and the parties
replied : " I will see you to-morrow, Father." He called
back : " You will be in hell to-morrow ; damn to-morrow ;
to-morrow be damned; I'll see you all in hell to-morrow."
The congregation rose to leave the church, and he cried out:
" Go, and may the curse of God go with you ; this is damna-
ble; this is casting pearls before swine; by the eternal God
I'll make you do your duty." Several parishioners fainted.
The people at one of the outlying missions bought a lot,
for a church site, upon which there was a cottage. This cot-
tage was sold for $49.00, which the pastor treated as his own
money to pay for a memorial window in his own honor in
the new church.
At another outlying mission, in a popular contest for a
gold watch at one of his fairs, he put on a blackboard the
name of a prostitute with the names of three Catholic ladies,
two of whom immediately withdrew their names, but he
persuaded the third lady to stay in the contest on the plea that
the money would be for God's Church.
After having continued this course of blackguardism for
a number of years he was promoted to a most desirable parish,
where he commenced his administration by holding a fair,
at which he had all kinds of gambling devices. Shortly after
it closed he had a most prominent Paulist Father give a mis-
sion. The Paulist Father had a "question-box," and among
PRINCIPALS. 419
the questions asked were : " Is it right to have gambling de-
vices at a church fair ? " " Should not the pastor be paid a
definite salary ? " " Should not a parish have trustees to man-
age the parish finances ? " The Paulist had announced that
he would answer the questions at the evening service. The
pastor forbade him to answer the foregoing questions. The
pastor opened the evening service with the recitation of the
Holy Rosary, and then retiring to the sacristy he met the
Paulist and asked him, " Are you going to answer those
questions ? " " Yes, Father," was the reply. The pastor then
struck the Paulist with his fists; smashed his spectacles and
knocked him down, he breaking the electric lamp in his fall,
leaving the sacristy in darkness. The altar boys rushed from
the sacristy into the sanctuary crying, " A fight ! a fight ! a
fight ! " Many of the congregation thought they were cry-
ing " fire." The pastor quickly put on the benediction cope,
picked up the Monstrance, which had been thrown upon the
floor in the struggle, rushed into the sanctuary, ascended the
steps of the altar, opened the tabernacle, took from there the
Blessed Sacrament, placed it in the Monstrance, turned around
to the people and dismissed them with the Benediction of the
Most Holy Sacrament. Over a third of the congregation were
Protestants, who were curious to hear the sermon of the Rev-
erend Missionary, the Paulist's work being especially the con-
version of Protestants to the Catholic faith.
This pugilistic pastor has refused to pay his debts; he
has involved his parish; and he has blackguarded his people.
His congregation recently demanded, by a signed petition ac-
companied by grave charges, that he be removed, but his Arch-
bishop ignored this demand, and the priest still has th cure
of their souls.
In his late parish he claimed that a parishioner, who
was a poor man and eighty years of age, owed him six dol-
lars pew rent, and he demanded the money. The old man re-
sponded, " I have no money, father, except twenty-five cents."
The pastor replied, " I see you have the ' Lives of the Saints '
420 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
here, and I will take these books for the pew rent." The old
man exclaimed, " Why, father, you surely would not take them
from me ! They are the only comfort I have during- the long
days and dreary nights." The pastor replied, " I must have
my pew rent. Bring them up to the presbytery." The feeble
old man obeyed the command of his Reverend Father in God.
The six volumes had cost him over nine dollars.
He is the principal of a parochial school which has over
300 children enrolled.
Rev. No. 6. A Fiend.
He is a priest who ravished a defenceless fifteen-year-old
orphan, who had just arrived from Ireland. He committed the
crime in his parochial school hall, where he was in the habit
of offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the children of
the parish. He kept her in his power through fear. Finally
he forced her into public prostitution, and he often visits her
for immoral purposes in her abode of shame.
He has an honorable place in the published list of the
Catholic clergy of his Archdiocese. She is numbered among
the inmates of a brothel. He is beloved as a " Reverend
Father in God." She is loathed as a common harlot.
Rev. No. /. A Doctor of Medicine.
In 1899 he was sent to one of the most prominent parishes
in America. He was appointed second assistant pastor, and
was put in immediate charge of the parochial school, which
had about six hundred pupils. In 1902 he was charged with
a number of penitentiary offences.
The pastor of the parish tried for one year to see the
Archbishop about this unworthy assistant, but the stereotyped
reply of the Archbishop's valet was : " You can't see him.
He is in the country."
Finally this assistant was charged in a sworn affidavit
with having committed an indecent assault upon a beautiful
young lad}-, who was taken suddenly ill, and to whom he was
PRINCIPALS. 421
called to administer the last rites of the Church. While hear-
ing her confession he told her that he was " a doctor as well
as a priest, and spoke about the female anatomy and sexual
matters," and to her great shame and resentment made a
digital examination. He then gave her the Sacraments.
He was the spiritual director of the parochial school and
was in the habit of visiting it daily. He would sit in the seats
with the young girls. One day he asked one of the girls how
she felt. She replied : " I have a pain in my hip." He said :
" Come with me and I will cure you." He took her into the
parochial residence, placed her on a lounge, exposed her per-
son and indecently rubbed her with holy water, telling her
that whenever she had a pain like that to come to him and he
would treat her. The "little girl told the nun who taught her
in the school, and the nun reported it to the pastor. He should
have been indicted for a criminal assault.
On one occasion a father, on returning from business in
the evening, found his little girl on the lap of this priest, who
was taking indecent liberties with her. Said the parent : " My
God! Father, what is the meaning of this? what are you do-
ing? " " I am preparing her for her First Holy Communion,"
was the response of the assistant principal of the parochial
school. The parent ordered the priest from his house, and
threatened to kill him if he ever visited his home again. The
Church authorities were made acquainted with the foregoing
and other incidents of his depravity, and fearing that he would
be arrested or lynched they punished him by promoting him
to the position of assistant pastor in a neighboring parish ! ! !
This man is still preparing children for their first Holy Com-
munion ! ! !
Rev. No. 8. A Sot.
He was appointed pastor of a church in 1901. It was
known to many priests that he was an habitual drunkard. He
was frequently found wandering on the streets intoxicated,
and was carried by policemen to police stations. He was un-
422
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
der the influence of liquor the very day he got his appoint-
ment, and his clerical friends did what they could to sober
him sufficiently to be presentable at the Archiepiscopal Palace,
to which he was called by a telegram. He left at n A. M.,
received his pastoral appointment at noon, did not return,
and was found by the police at midnight lying dead drunk in
an alley.
About three months previous to the above incident he was
serving as an assistant pastor and was charged with the duty
of preparing children for Confirmation. The Confirmation
Sunday came and brought his Archbishop, who was accom-
panied by a numerous retinue composed of priests, bands of
music and a squad of cavalry. At n o'clock on the previous
day Rev. No. 8 procured a jug of whiskey, at once went to
bed with it and got so crazy drunk that the other assistant
pastors and the housekeeper had to hold him in bed, from
which, when he heard the music on Sunday, he made frantic
efforts to escape though clad only in his nakedness, deter-
mined to take an active part in the enthusiastic welcoming of
the Archbishop by the good people of the parish.
The first Sunday he was to say Mass as pastor he was
too drunk to appear, and. having secured no other priest the
good people were deprived of divine service. He was too
drunk to appear on the following Sunday and failed to pro-
cure a substitute, but his ecclesiastical friends came to his
rescue and had present a Carmelite Father who said Mass.
A few months later he was found lying on the street in a help-
less state of intoxication in one of the most disreputable dis-
tricts of the city, and was removed by the police to the police
station and kept over night under the name of " John Doe."
He escaped appearing on the following morning among the
" drunks," as he had escaped on former occasions, through
the effective political influence of Church officials. This last
episode was. one of the many things reported to Cardinal Mar-
tinelli by the Catholic Laymen's Association of Chicago.
PRINCIPALS. 423
Rev. No. 8 does not believe in lay trustees for parish
property. He is the principal of a parochial school which has
enrolled over 350 pupils.
Rev. No. p. A Gospel Pitcher.
He v/as so drunk on a number of occasions while offici-
ating at Mass that his parishioners had to remove him from
the Sanctuary. On one Christmas morning his parishioners
had to remove him from the altar and put him to bed.
At one time during Mass on a Sunday he took the Book
of the Epistles and Gospels in his hand and staggering around
on the altar, while turning the leaves, he suddenly said : " The
Gospel for the Sunday is taken from ah! O, h 1, I can't
find it, there is the d n book, find it yourselves ! " and he then
hurled the Holy Book at the congregation. The good people
were scandalized beyond description, and at once went to their
homes broken hearted. On another occasion he read the Gos-
pel of the Sunday, and then said : " Do you believe that ?
Well, I'll be d if I do. Since you believe it, here's the d
book, take it ! " and he threw the book of the Epistles and
Gospels at the congregation. Before he was appointed to this
parish he had been in charge of several parishes, where he
scandalized the faithful by his vices. Complaints were con-
stantly made about him to his ecclesiastical superiors, but to
no avail.
At one parish his boon companion was a colored porter
of a barber shop, whom he would take into the church and
vest, and the colored porter would walk around the altar pre-
tending to officiate, while the priest rang the altar bell. Of
course they were both drunk. His parishioners charged him
also with undue intimacy with a certain woman. After some
time he was promoted ! !
About the middle of February, 1904, he was in an in-
toxicated condition in a leading Chicago hotel, and boasted
of having been to houses of ill-repute. A Catholic bystander
said to him : " You ought to respect the Roman collar you
424 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
wear; the people can see by that that you are a priest" He
replied : " A priest ! a priest ! why, I am a priest, and I don't
give a G d who knows it." The bystander said: You
ought to take off that collar." " O, h ," he said, " that's my
trade-mark ! "
A parochial school which has this principal can hardly
be open to congratulations.
Rev. No. 10. A Wounded Veteran.
At a certain Sunday Mass in the summer of 1901 he ap-
peared before his congregation with a bandaged wound in his
forehead, which he had received in a house of ill-repute, where
he had also been robbed of his valuables. The house was
" pulled " by the police, and he was among the guests. At the
police station he was given medical attention. In 1902'
the piety, zeal and efficiency of this wounded soldier of Christ
received due recognition and reward by his appointment to an
important parish in an aristocratic suburb.
He is a devotee of four gods Bacchus, Venus, Graft
and Gambling.
Rev. No. ii. A Hatband Lover.
He is now an assistant pastor. About six years ago he
fell in love with a young nun, who was beautiful and accom-
plished. She was the music teacher at a female academy.
They carried on an amorous correspondence. Appointments
were made and kept. Sometimes they met at the house of his
mother; and at other times elsewhere. Ingenious methods
were practiced to arrange these assignations. He visited the
convent to say Mass and to give Benediction and spiritual
instruction to the sisters and children ; and he hung his hat
in a certain place, and then the musical nun would quietly
slip out of the chapel during the devotions and go to his hat
and find under the inside band a loving missive. She would
then go to her cell and read her love letter, and pen one to her
PRINCIPALS. 425
clerical lover in which she would designate a time and place
for their meeting, and then put it under his hatband.
On one occasion a Bishop accompanied him to the female
academy. Their hats were alike. When the Bishop put on
his hat he discovered that it was too small, and on investigat-
ing he found a letter under the hatband. He was kind enough
to give the letter to Rev. No. 1 1 instead of attempting to keep
the appointment himself. The nuns knew T of this intimacy,
and there was a good deal of tittle-tattle which came to the
ears of Rev. No. u, who threatened the Mother Superioress
with all kinds of revelations if she did not silence the gossip.
He said to the good Mother : " How can I help it if one of
your nuns falls in love with me ? " A conscientious nun
wrote to Cardinal Martinelli, then Apostolic Delegate, at Wash-
ington, D. C., and revealed the corrupt condition of things.
The pastor of the parish was ordered to make an immediate
and searching investigation. He made a judicious inquiry,
and reported to Cardinal Martinelli that the priest had fallen
from grace.
At this opportune time a priest was needed to act as as-
sistant pastor and spiritual director of the Young Ladies'
Sodality in the Cathedral parish, and Rev. No. n, -regardless
of his bad record, was installed. The charms that smote the
nun have had a similar effect upon a number of the young
ladies of the sodality, and a great deal of scandal has been the
result.
He is the spiritual director of about a thousand sodality
young ladies, and he is assistant principal of a parochial school
which has enrolled about thirteen hundred pupils.
Rev. No. 12. A Wolf in Priest's Clothing.
He gave instructions for First Holy Communion to a
motherless girl, aged thirteen years, who was accompanied
by a girl of about the same age. He sat between the girls,
who were standing up, and suddenly took indecent liberties
with the orphan. The little girl was shocked, went home cry-
426 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ing and told her married sister, with whom she lived, what
had happened. This offence was brought to the attention of
his Archbishop by affidavits made by both children and the
married sister. The Archbishop referred the whole matter to
his Auxiliary, who held a white-washing investigation.
Rev. No. 12 left the parish upon the advice of certain
ecclesiastical dignitaries. He was an honored guest at one
of the oldest and most prominent convents in America,
where young candidates for the sisterhood are instructed and
where there is a very large female academy for Catholics and
non-Catholics. He lived in continual fear of being shot by the
father of the little orphan, or of being brought before the bar
of the Criminal Court. He was persuaded to go to Europe
by his friends, who were glad to get him out of the country
for fear that he would be caught by the law and would tell
tales. At this time he was having criminal relations with a
young woman who was the dear friend of one of the mis-
tresses of a certain member of the Episcopate, and who is
referred to in a certain affidavit (sent to Rome) as having
become a mother by His Lordship. He was provided with
one thousand dollars when he left America. He went to Ire-
land. He tried to seduce a young American girl (who was
traveling with her uncle) in the Victoria Hotel, Cork. He re-
turned to America after a few months, and through the good
offices of his friends he was provided with a home at St. ,
appointed assistant pastor of a city parish, where he heard con-
fessions, said Mass and performed other priestly functions.
The Bishop came to this church to confirm a class of children.
He was assisted principally by Rev. No. 12 who wiped from
the foreheads of the innocent boys and girls the holy oil placed
by the Bishop's hand. The good people present, who knew
some of the unsavory facts, were indescribably shocked.
While spiritual director of a young ladies' sodality he
seduced one of its most prominent officers, and promised her
that when he secured a parish of his own he would make her
PRINCIPALS. 427
his housekeeper and they would then live as husband and wife.
He acted as her confessor while committing sin with her.
From 1893 to about 1900 he was an assistant pastor.
Part of this time he was a professor in a female academy, and
he was in the habit of having some of the boarders in the
academy visit him in his private rooms in the presbytery, where
he kissed them and took other liberties, frequently having
some of his brother priests present.
In 1903 he was appointed pastor of a fashionable rural
parish, where he immediately commenced and carried to com-
pletion the erection of a large parochial residence, provided
wit 1 i a goodly number of bedrooms. He entertains quite lav-
ishly, among his guests being some drunken and immoral
broken down priests who have all their clerical faculties but
no appointments, and during this last summer one of those
reverend guests visited Catholic families in the neighboring
metropolis and invited their daughters to spend the summer
in the new presbytery, painting it as a delightful vacation re-
sort and so situated that a morning dive could be taken from
it into the waters of a placid lake. I personally advised Cath-
olic parents not to allow their daughters to accept the invita-
tion for I well knew that it was extended by lust.
Rev. No. 13. A Ballad Singer.
While he was an assistant pastor a scandal arose con-
necting his name with one of his female parishioners, in con-
sequence of which he was transferred to an adjacent parish.
An important parish, in which is located a prominent fe-
male academy, became vacant, and he was promoted to it.
Worthy priests, when this appointment was announced, ex-
claimed : " Behold the priest who has been selected to guide
the sisters and pupils in the ways of chastity ! ! ! "
He has appeared many times before the public, with ec-
clesiastics of his ilk, in the role of a ballad singer.
He rarely appears in public in the garb of a priest his
dress is usually secular.
428 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
There are on file at the Vatican the most serious charges
against him.
Money is his god and Venus is his goddess.
In his parochial school there are enrolled over 500 chil-
dren; and the female academy has over 300 pupils, a number
of them being Protestants.
Rev. No. 14. Celibacy Inexpedient.
This priest has an international reputation. I now give
a translation of an affidavit in Latin which was filed at Rome
against him, but no attention has as yet been paid to it by the
Vatican :
makes oath and says : I am a priest of the Arch-
diocese of and was lately appointed Rector of a Church
in the same Archdiocese. I was Assistant Rector of the
Church of for about thirteen years. During all these
years I lived in the same house and sat at the same table with
the Rector, Rev. . During at least two years the afore-
said Rev. was an intimate friend and faithful adviser
of the Rt. Rev. , Auxiliary Bishop of - .
Of my own accord and of my own knowledge I bear tes-
timony to the following facts : The aforesaid lived
the life of a layman rather than that of a priest. His associates
and friends are certain priests of doubtful character and some
from among the laity against whom again and again grave
charges have been publicly made.
For twelve whole days in a year he has not lived in his
parish. For ten years, clad in secular dress, he spent a night,
nobody knew where, away from his house, once in every week.
It is certain that he frequently lied about the circumstances.
For twelve years he never missed the festivity called Mar-
cli Gras in the City of New Orleans, which is one thousand
miles from Chicago.
He lived for at least two months in the year not only
away from his parish but away from the Diocese.
To my knowledge and that of my associates the Rev.
- rarely said the Divine Office nor did he hear confes-
sions except two hours in a year.
For ten years he had the Stations of the Cross in his
church without canonical erection.
PRINCIPALS. 429
He made sport of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.
In the hearing of myself and companion, Rev.
priest of the Archdiocese of Rev. has main-
tained that carnal intercourse of priests with women of ill-
fame is not to be held as a sin, provided they do not cohabit
with the women of their own parishes.
The intimate companion and mistress of Rev.
is , who publicly maintains that the celibacy of priests
is inexpedient if not impossible. Again and again I found
Rev. and in a bed room with the door closed.
The circumstances were such that no doubt remained but that
they met there for an immoral purpose. The sister of Rev.
was grieved at the visits of this woman, but neverthe-
less they were continued.
(Signed)
Subscribed and sworn to before me April 17, 1902.
[Seal.] Notary Public.
Rev. No. 14 tells his parishioners from the altar : " It
is none of your business what I do. You don't have to do as
I do. You do as I say and not as I do."
Rev. No. 15. A Festive Fellow.
He is a pastor of very loose morals. He associates with
what are vulgarly known as " sporting characters." At 10
o'clock on the night of July 25, 1902, accompanied by a lewd
woman, he went into a fashionable restaurant, and remained
with her several hours in a private wine room. They left
at 12:30 A. M. and got into a ''runabout" that had
remained hitched for them all that time. They drove furiously
through the streets, the woman holding the reins and he hold-
ing her around the waist. The woman was a beautiful per-
oxide blonde, about twenty-five years of age, and had dia-
monds in her ears.
At the Silver Jubilee of his church a bishop and some
prominent priests were present and officiated at the Solemn
High Mass, but the pastor appeared not. He and a clerical
430 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
friend had entered heartily into some secular ante- jubilee fes-
tivities, and when the Sunday came he had only enough
strength to attempt the six o'clock Low Mass. He retired
from this ordeal completely exhausted, and was unable to be
present at the Jubilee services at 1 1 o'clock to hear his friend,
a Very Reverend Professor, portray him as " a pastor justly
celebrated for his piety, learning and efficiency, a noble man."
Rev. No. 16. An Equestrian Hero.
He has been a drunkard for a third of a century. Be-
cause of repeated scandals he has been removed from one par-
ish to another, as a mild discipline. About five years ago he
received a severe optical injury in a drunken spree. He was
taken to a Catholic hospital for treatment, and from there the
report was sent out by the good nuns that the reverend suf-
ferer was a Christian hero that he had been kicked by a
horse while in the discharge of a pastoral duty! Before his
removal to the hospital an hotel officer made an inventory, as
was the rule in such cases, of all the effects upon his person,
he being unconscious, and among the valuables were found
some rubber goods for lewd purposes. His unministerial con-
duct was so gross that complaints were made to his Archbish-
op, but nothing came of them. He still remains in good
standing with his archdiocesan authorities.
I saw him at noon, in January, 1904, on the public street,
in zero weather, with his shoes unlaced, without collar and
tie, shirt unbuttoned, and minus an overcoat, rushing into a
saloon.
He is but the representative of a large class of parochial
school principals and assistant principals who are abject slaves
of Bacchus and Venus.
Rev. No. 17. A Cuspidor Martyr.
His transgressions against all ecclesiastical proprieties
have been continuous. When he was an assistant priest he was
moved from one parish to another, as no pastor could tolerate
PRINCIPALS. 431
him. He was drunken and immoral in his habits, and violent
and brutal in his methods. He carries to-day a scar received
from a former pastor who struck him with a cuspidor in self-
defense.
He and a clerical chum took two young girls to the pres-
bytery of another priest, where they ruined . them. These
girls belong to prominent Catholic families.
He was drinking in a saloon with other priests on an
Easter Sunday night. They discussed their Easter offerings,
and they were so pleased with the receipts that they drank
copious toasts to the faith of the good Catholic people, and
finally he began to sing a High Mass. He kissed the counter
for an altar and then turned around with extended hands and
chanted " Dominus vobiscnm" the others chanting in response
" Et cum spiritu tuo."
He has a large parochial school.
Rev. No. 18. A Dead Beat.
Many years ago he was an assistant pastor, and by treach-
erous conduct towards the pastor he secured a pastorate. Dur-
ing all these years he has been a man of intemperate habits.
By unbusinesslike methods he almost put his parish into bank-
ruptcy. He refused to pay the builder of his late church,
who had to sue him. His present parish is wealthy and aris-
tocratic.
He is a clerical dead beat, a slave of Bacchus and a lover
of Venus.
He has a parochial school, and is the spiritual director
of a large female boarding academy which has many non-
Catholic pupils.
Rev. No. 19. A Brewer.
For years he was the assistant pastor of a parish located
in the " tenderloin " district of a great city, where he gave
free rein to his depraved instincts, consorting with prostitutes,
gambling and getting drunk ad libitum. From many saloons
.432 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
in this parish he was evicted late at night for being drunk and
disorderly, and for the same reason he was ejected from the
public bar of a prominent hotel in his parish. He was in the
habit of taking a Turkish bath at midnight to free him from
the effects of debauch. On one occasion, in company with
two of his sacerdotal brethren, he repaired to a leading Turk-
ish bath establishment. Following the bath of steam and hot
air the three retired into the same compartment and while
naked bathed their insides with many rounds of Bass' ale.
Their conduct became so scandalous that they were threatened
with expulsion. Before they departed they purposely used the
empty ale bottles for an unmentionable purpose, and the at-
tendants, on entering the compartment and thinking the liquid
was ale, quaffed it and were nauseated. They ran after the
priests to do them bodily injury. That same Sunday morning
Rev. No. 19 preached an eloquent sermon on the beauties of a
well ordered Christian life. It produced a profound impres-
sion, except upon some of the victims of the Bass ale outrage.
The life of Rev. No. 19 is a travesty of our Holy Faith.
While his Archbishop was weak in mind and body, he was ap-
pointed rector of a large parish. On the eve of this appoint-
ment he was ejected from a saloon late at night for outrage-
ous conduct, it taking five men to get him out.
He preached at the laying of the corner stone of a church,
and in his eloquent effort he urged the people not to forget
that the Church to-day is as it was fashioned by Christ, and
that She cannot be both progressive and consistent; that if
they complain of the Church they impeach Christ. (When
corrupt Catholic clergymen refer to the Church in this man-
ner, they mean the priesthood.)
He was greatly irritated by the exposures in the Chicago
controversy. A brother priest said to him : " There is only
one way for them to stop this ; if it is not true let them sue
Crowley!" "Well," he replied, "they can't take Crowley
into Court; he has told the truth; and, anyway, it is the part
PRINCIPALS. 433
of a gentleman to have a good time with the ladies, to gam-
ble and to get drunk."
Over twelve hundred children look up to him as their
parochial school principal.
Rev. No. 20. A Sodoniist.
In his early career he was an assistant at one of the lead-
ing churches in a great city. While there he was under grave
suspicion of abominable misconduct, and his superiors and
friends, fearing that he would be arrested by the civil law, to
the scandal of the Church, promoted him to a rectorship.
In both places he committed sodomy. He was also guilty of
habitual drunkenness. His parishioners rose en masse and sent
deputations to his archbishop to demand his removal. They
submitted proofs. Their efforts were in vain. The parish-
ioners then appealed to a neighboring bishop to help them get
the rotten priest removed. That bishop's efforts were futile,
and the clerical beast remained unmoved for years, a stench
in the nostrils of the entire community.
In 1901 he was promoted to the rectorship of a city par-
ish, where he is now curing souls and warning the faithful
against the " godless public schools."
When his present parish opens its parochial school it will
have a sodomist for its principal.
Rev. No. 21. A Philanthropist.
This priest conducts an alleged charitable home and school
for waifs. He sends " chain " letters and circulars all over the
United States, and even abroad. The money flows in to him
like a stream from an artesian well. His daily receipts at the
start averaged $500, but now they are much larger, owing
to a more systematic working of his various soliciting schemes.
In his office a Miss B. was a faithful worker, and she toiled
in reality for the glory of God, not receiving any salary what-
ever. He took all of the money and wisely invested it for him-
434 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
self in real property, and if ever a rainy day comes he has a
number of farms upon which to settle. He occupies a dou-
ble building- which is sumptuously furnished and electrically
lighted, the four or five waifs occupying one of the garrets.
The first lady of the home was a German, and on all their
trips he passed her off as his niece, I don't know whether on
his mother's or on his father's side. She finally married. Her
successor made it so hot for the conscientious Miss B. that she
appealed to him for protection, but he peremptorily sent her
away.
Generous people call at the institution and leave money
for this " sweet charity," ignorant of the fact that at that very
time the institution's hard worked head is lying in an elegant
upper room, sleeping off the influence of Bacchus.
Tippling priests never refuse an invitation to visit his
institution. It beats a saloon a greater variety, more of it,
and nothing to pay.
He has a barrel of whiskey so placed that he can suck its
contents through a rubber tube while lying in bed. His cigars
are made to order and are brandy soaked. He imports his
wine, champagne, oysters and lobsters. He is worth thousands
of dollars and is still making large money at the old stand.
A former post office clerk is now confined in a peniten-
tiary for robbing the mail of this clerical philanthropist, who
probably escapes a like fate by " divying " with certain of his
ecclesiastical superiors, a conclusion to which I am led in part
by the lying advertisement of the number of w r aifs in his home
which the officials of his archdiocese have inserted in his be-
half in the Catholic Directory and Clergy List for 1904 for
the United States and Canada.
This philanthropic clerical swindler cries loudly " To hell
with the public school," and he is an ardent supporter of the
demand for State aid for parochial schools. He is now work-
ing to secure State aid for his home and school for waifs.
niSSJOH OP Qm JUSBYOP FIERCY
I nin seeking the friendship of those interested in lu-ylecUtl or
dci>ciideijt ,chi!ureii. nuil after you have perused this note I am
tertain you will agrre friends are what I need The name signed
lo this, letter is a strange one and means there has been a .change
I am succeeding Father Mahony who has retired because his si>.'lji
tias failed him completely Tis said I received the position because I
am only 'a boy, crazy about boys, true I am only a youngster you ntr in
years and in the priesthood and dread the responsibility placed upon mi-
and hence the more reason why I must seek new friends to assist me
and keep old friends close to me
The scope of the Child Saving Union will be broadened because 1
shall, assuming charge, retain my old positions For ayear and a halt
I have been.Supt of Catholic Charities and one of the dutiea of that
office has been the representing of the Archbishop and our people in the
Juvenile Court I have not.missed a session, (Tuesdays and Fridays
from y H m till 6, 7 or even 8 p m.) And sitting on the bench beside the
Judge, assisting him in placing, caring for neglected Children I believe
I davc been able to do some little good On Saturday evenings I have
uone westward thirty-five miles .and on Sunday mornings read two
masses, one at 8:30 for the delinquent girls in the State Home at
Geneva and the other at eleven o'clock in the State School for Boys
at St .Charles six miles from Geneva
The Archbishop intends in the near future to replace this Home
with a large modern structure He has appointed Father James Leddy
assistant, and we shall endeavor to carry on the wojk I have been doing
as well as the work of the "Mission." It is our intention to care for
not only neglected boys but girls Yes, any and all children needing
nelp We cannot house the girls here but shall see to it that their
interests are protected
Asking a continuance of your prayers and co-operation, I leave you
and yours in the care of Our Lady of Mercy
Believe me
Ever Yours for the Boys.
Father C. J Quiile
SAVING HOMELESS CHILDREN "THERE'S MILLIONS
IN IT."
Rev. Quille's philanthropic predecessor, who amassed a fortune
operating through the United States mails, went blind and died from
dissipation. (See p. 433, "Rev. No. 21, A Philanthropist.")
435
MISSION OF O,V!R LflDT OP MERCY
365 WEST JACKSON BOULCV4RO
CHICAGO. ILL.
DEAR FRIEND
You will find enclosed a copy of (he Waif's Annual, a yearly publication, thai
will explain to you the nature of the work done by the Mission and the necessity for
its existence.
I also enclose for you a blessed miraculous medal and a ceitificate of membership
in the Child Saving Union of Our Lady of Mercy. This Union was organized for the
purpose of gathering in and providing for the homeless newsboys and children of the
streets.
The advantages ot membership m the Union are many i Masses are offered up
daily for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the living. a,nd for the repose of the
souls of deceased members; and our boys, in their night and morning prayers, nevr
fail to ask God to reward and bless those who help them.
Membership in the Union does not cezse with life. Uhen Cod calls a member to
his or her last reward, that member is immediately enrolled ;mong the c'ce>ed
members of the Union, and without the payment of any further membership fees, will
continue to receive the spiritual benefits of membership as long as the Mission may
last The fee for membership is only twenty-five cents a year.
This sum. small though it may bf to you, will provide some poor child with
food and lodging for a day, to-morrow some one else will follow your example, and
so. as day succeeds day. God's work will go on until the ragged, starved, and home
less children of to-day hccome good, industrious citizens and devcut Christians.
You may enroll the names of your deceased relatives and friends in this Union,
thus obtaining for yourself and for them all the benefits arising frcm this noblest of
charities.
In God's name and in behalf of God's homeless children ol the streets, I invite
you to become a helper in this. His work.
Placing you and yours under the protection of Our Lady of Mercy and wishing
you all blessings from Heaven, I am
Yours sincerely in the Sacred Heart,
REV C. J. QUILLE
P. S. I shall esteem it a personal favor if you send the names and addresses
of three of your friends, who you think would be willing to become members of the
Child Saving Union of Our Lady of Mercy, and share in its many benefits.
Instead of sending the usual Medal this year, we decided to t;ive the members o
'.he Child Saving Union a Rolled Gold Medal. Should you not desire to become
number, kindly return the Medal or endeavor to obtain a new member m your stead
SAVING HOMELESS CHILDREN "THERE'S MILLIONS
IN IT."
436
PRINCIPALS. 437
Rev. No. 22. A Seductionist.
He began his ministry in a large city. He was constantly
found in brothels. He was sent into the country as pastor,
and was finally promoted to a very desirable rectorship in an
inland city, where he seduced a beautiful girl. Her father
before his death wanted religious consolation, and his trusted
pastor came to him and gave him the last rites of the Church.
The dying man, tortured by the fear of leaving unprotected
his beautiful daughters, turned to his pastor and said:
"' Father, protect and save them from all harm." The priest
said : " I will." The man died.. The pastor had already
seduced one of the daughters. During her absence from home,
preceding her father's death, the pastor wrote to her the fol-
lowing love letter:
Aug. 24th, ^893.
My Dearest:
Your most affectionate and long expected letter reached
me yesterday morning, and its arrival and the reading of its
contents pleased me more than any language of mine could
adequately express. With your letter also came one from your
father. After reading them, especially yours, which I read
more than twenty times, I called over to your home and read
them to your mother (of course leaving out the love part of
it). Your mother is of course lonesome, but she is hap-
py and encouraged under the circumstances to know that your
own dear self is improving in health.
Dearest, believe me when I say that you can form no
idea of the pleasure which your letter afforded me when you
stated that you were having a real swell time on your much
needed vacation and your wishes to have me with you have
often been the same as mine. But when impossibilities pre-
vent vis as at present from meeting and enjoying each other
it thus affords me exquisite pleasure to do the next best thing,
to write to you and to assure you that you are not forgotten,
and that the old adage " Out of sight, out of mind " does not
and never will hold good in our case. Had grateful thoughts
been letters you would have received one hundred a day, but
opportunities for letter writing have been few since the dis-
tance between us is so great.
438 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
When I stated the positive truth to you in my last letter
concerning my interview with I paused before com-
mitting my thoughts to paper for fear that they may annoy you
on your pleasure trip but as I have never deceived you in
the past I was not going to deceive you now. I have always
tried to be honest and frank in everything I said or promised
to you and I want to be so in this instance. I am glad that
it has not annoyed you. I felt and know now that you are
a" good sensible girl and that the truth, no matter how un-
pleasant it might be, were better known, for I could not allow
you to be humbugged by any man living. You ask, while I
stay by you, what need you care ; and you need not care about
the deceptions of man or woman. The world is full of de-
ception and the older you and I get the more we realize that
fact. I have seen a great deal of it and often from those I
least suspected. Honey talk and sweet smiles are cheap and
for that reason they abound in the world, and the true friend,
like the true diamond, is a rare jewel to find.
Fear not, my dearest love, for I will stay by you through
thick and thin, in joy and in sorrow. There is none on earth
i love and cherish so much as I do you, my dearest. It makes
my very heart bleed when I am compelled to say anything to
you but words of tenderness and love.
I have seen some joys and some sorrow since my advent
here. I have labored hard and during the constant respon-
sibilities of my ministry I have made many friends, but none
so kind, none so true, none to whom I feel so grateful as I
do to you, and I sincerely hope that you and I will continue
always to love each other as we do to-day, and that nothing
will ever break the golden chain of love that unites us so close-
ly together.
I made $58.30 on the concert. I will make it $75.00 and
distribute that amount among the choir; $10.00 is for my
dearest when she returns from rural visits.
With kind remembrance to all and my best love to your
own dearest, sweetest self, I remain, as ever,
Lovingly yours,
The young lady returned from this trip; her father died,
and she found herself in delicate health. She went to Rev.
No. 22 and he frightened her into doing just as he bade by
declaring that all of her money was forfeited by her misdeed,
CHARGES A PRIEST WITH HER RUIN.
Mlsg Cummlners, of Aurora, HI., Causes a
Profound Sensation.
AtraosA, 111., Feb. 21. A 'warrant was
.eworn out to-day by Estasia Cummings, of
this city, .for the arrest of Rev. T. F.
Leyden, pastor of St Mary's ^ Catholic
Church,' charging; him with" caus-
ing her ruin, The warrant will not be
served until 'morning unless the priest
makes an attempt to escape. Current
rumor has linked the names of these two
people together for some time, even
before the condition of Miss Cummings be-
came known, but receut developments have
been decidedly sensational. Last Sunday
Mrs, Cummings, the girl's stepmother, who
is very bitter against the priest, took pos-
session of the space in front of the church
altar before the* morning service began for
the purpose of denouncing Leyden. The
latter, however, did not appear until a po-
liceman had led the Woman away. Leyden.
then made a brief statement to his congre-
gation to the effect that the scandal which
bad, arisen within the church would be set-
tled by the marriage to the- girl of the
young man who caused the mischief.
The youth referred to is Joseph English.
English went to .Chicago with the ^priest,
obtained a "special dispensation from the
bishop and a marriage license. Then the
girl's mother prevailed upon her to refuse
to marry him, In proof of his. position .Rev.
Father Leyden. has a 'statement signed by
the girlt charging her ruin to English,
dating from July 1, 1893, in Chicago; also
the jtnarriage license. -English has' practi-
cally admitted the truth of this statement.
To-day the girl came out from Chicago,
Where she,has been staying, and swore out
the warrant referred to. Miss Cummings
is a very pretty girl, about 18 years old,
daughter of the late Pierce Cummings, a
well-to-do saloon- keeper. Rev< Father
Leyden is 48 years old.
ILLEGITIMATELY REPLENISHING THE EARTH.
Rev. Leyden's assistant at the time of this love affair, and now a
pastor in Chicago, assured me that he knew of his pastor's misconduct
with this young girl during her visits at the priest's house. (Ser
P- 437-)
CONVERTS TO CAf HOLICISM.
e -^
ity The Warren, 111., Sentinel-Leader of
ised this week contains the following write
$20,- up of some conversions to the church,
the which will be read with interest by all
'he Catholics:
sr- The Woman's Missionary Society of
ie the Methodist denomination met in joint
convention in the Methodist church ten
to days ago. During the three days ses-
iy sions, while the delegates from Chicago,
; re Rockford, Freeport and other points,
3m united with the local societies in legis-
n. fating for the conversion of the Catho-
d lies in Mexico, South America and the
e Philippine Islands to the sect founded
by John Wesley, St. Ann's Catholic
! church in this city was quietly receiving
t the Methodist sheep into green fields
," s and pastures new. It may not be a com-
mon occurrence but it is nevertheless
true that, while the Methodist ministers
and the returned women missionaries
from the above named countries, were
pleasantly engaged formulating plans for
c the conversion of Catholicism, Catholic-
r ' ism was just as pleasantly employed in-
creasing her membership from .the Meth-
odist fold.
Rev. Thomas F. Leydon, the well
6 known pastor and priest of St. Ann's
* Catholic church here and St. Joseph's
e chiirch at Apple River, was pleasantly
a occupied, during the missionary conven-
tion baptising four of the Methodist
members a married lady with her son
and daughter, and a young gentleman
y popular in social circles. They are
ir now in full communion with the Roman
?Q Catholic church.
REV. LEYDEN LATER "COXVERTIXG HERETICS."
The above is a photographic copy of a clipping taken from Arch-
bishop Quigley's papal organ, The New World, Nov. 11, 1905. The
photographic copy on page 439 is taken from a press clipping dated
Feb. 22, 1895. Since then Rev. Leyden has been promoted and repro-
moted by Feehan, Quigley, and Mnldoon. He is now a prominent
pastor at Freeport, Til., and a member of Bishop Muldoon's Diocesan
School Board.
PRINCIPALS. 441
and that she would be in the poor house unless she depended
upon him. He then got a young man to shoulder the disgrace
and to marry her for her money. Rev. No. 22 and this fellow
hurried down town and procured a marriage license; but her
mother arrived at the hospital before the two villains got back,
and then the daughter refused to be married, and violently de-
nounced the priest, who thereupon departed.
His church was crowded the following Sunday morning;
and just as he, with acolytes and incense bearers, was step-
ping within the altar railing, a w r ild, shrill scream sounded
above the tones of the organ. Instantly everything stopped.
There at the altar' stood the poor girl's mother, and pointing
her finger in scorn at the priest she screamed : " Keep down !
you shall not hold service. You ruined my beautiful daughter,
and no such false-hearted man can step into that sacred place."
The white-haired mother was taken away by a policeman, and
Rev. No 22 told the people that he was being blackmailed.
The scandal was on everybody's tongue in the town. Rev.
No. 22 was arrested for bastardy, and stood convicted before
the people. He went to the press and tried to have the story
suppressed, but his love letter made that impossible.
Through the lust of this parochial school principal a
promising life was ruined, several young women were crushed
by a sister's shame, a mother's heart was broken, the confi-
dence of a dead man was betrayed, and the escutcheon of our
Holy Church was so stained that Catholics in that town hang
their heads to-day in shame. Yet this scoundrel, instead of
being driven by ecclesiastical authority from our sacred al-
tars, was simply transferred to another parish where he now
has the spiritual direction of immortal souls.
Rev. No. 23. A Debauchee.
He was expelled for immorality from the seminary in
his native diocese while studying for the priesthood. He then
came to his present Archdiocese, and resumed his theological
studies in its seminary. After his ordination he was ap-
442 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
pointed an assistant pastor of a parish in the " tough " sec-
tion of a large city. He was a frequent visitor at houses of
ill-repute. About twelve years ago he was made pastor of
his present parish. His career there has been one of drunk-
enness and debauchery. He visits houses of vice, and takes
lewd women back to his parochial home. From November,
1889, to November, 1890, he had illicit relations with Miss
, Mrs. and Miss . The last two were supposed to
sleep, on their visits to the presbytery, in a room adjoining his,
but in the morning only one bed showed signs of having been
occupied, and it was the pastor's and clearly showed that it
had held two. The first woman was his parishioner and was
a virtuous girl until he met and ruined her. Frequently rub-
ber articles were found in his presbytery whose use is familiar
to debauchees. He has been afflicted with a loathsome dis-
ease and has had medical treatment for it. Rubber articles
marked, " For prevention of disease only " were taken out
of a garment that he had worn on the preceding Sunday while
saying Mass. Miss was pulled out of his bed at the mid-
night hour by two reputable Catholic women.
At one time his Archbishop gave him $500.00 to pay for
church improvements. He spent the money in debauchery,
and did not get back to his parish until after the early Sunday
Mass, which was said by a Franciscan monk. He was ac-
companied home from a vile haunt by a suspended priest of
a neighboring diocese. He hired a liveryman to drive them
home. The carriage bill was $64.00. He was too drunk to
say Mass when he got home, and the High Mass was said
by the suspended priest. A special collection was taken up
for some church purpose, out of which the carriage fare was
paid. While lying on the floor of the presbytery drunk, he
soliloquized upon his deception of the people, and dismissed
the subject with the exclamation: " O, well, if I don't de-
ceive them somebody else will ! " A. Catholic lady called
thrice upon his Archbishop to complain of this priest, but
could not see him. Finally the Archbishop's valet told her
PRINCIPALS. 443
to go to the Cathedral House and see the Chancellor. She
saw this official, but he dismissed her abruptly, saying that
he did not believe anything she said about the rector.
Rev. No. 23 has the reputation of being an eloquent
preacher, and his services are in demand by his sinning breth-
ren for special ecclesiastical functions (such as corner stone
layings, dedications and jubilees), his Archbishop, who knows
about his unholy life, often being present.
When Rev. No. 23 goes to Hot Springs and other sum-
mer and winter resorts his friends address him, verbally and in
writing, as " Mr." He goes under the alias of " Mr. Mitchell."
He has become so depraved that he has low creatures
serve him in the ways of Sodom.
If he had his just deserts he would be transferred from
his parish to the penitentiary.
He is the principal of a parochial school which has en-
rolled over two hundred pupils, and he vehemently seconds
the Catholic clerical demand for State aid for parochial
schools.
Rev. No., 24. An Admirer of " Little Egypt."
After his ordination he served as an assistant pastor, and
he was known about town as a sport, a gambler and a roue.
One of his pastimes was telling smutty stories founded upon
things which he had learned in the confessional. He and
other priests caroused. Moonlight nights were used for hay-
rack parties by these convivial priests, whose companions were
abandoned women. He was never known to miss a picnic
day or night. There was no exhibition of beastliness in any
noted house of depravity, white or black or yellow, which did
not number him among its most delighted patrons. " Little
Egypt " was one of his prime favorites. Her nude dancing
never failed to fascinate him. His conduct was so unpriestly
that he finally was written up in the daily press. Within two
weeks thereafter he was grievously punished by being promoted
to the cure of souls in his present parish! Repeatedly he has
444 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
accompanied his Bishop to assist in the confirmation of the
children of the faithful Catholic laity ! ! !
Being short of funds he mortgaged his church for a
thousand dollars; and then he invited his Bishop to confirm
the children of his parish. After- the Confirmation he gave
a banquet in honor of the Bishop, and congenial priests and
a number cf young lady friends attended it. The gathering
broke up after the departure of the Bishop in a drunken fight
over the girls. Two parties were formed, and one ejected the
other. The vanquished party retired and awakened a saloon-
keeper, one of the pastor's leading parishioners, and insisted
upon being furnished with a stock of liquor. This was given
to them, and with it they went to a hotel. They then pro-
ceeded to drown the recollection of their recent defeat, and
in the effort made such a rumpus that the quiet of the town
was disturbed, and the city marshal threatened to put them
all under arrest if they did not desist. While debating the
matter the imbibed liquor came to the relief of the officer of
the law, the offenders subsiding into a drunken sleep.
Rev. No. 24 makes it a Christian virtue to avoid the pay-
ment of bills. Indeed, he is a bankrupt financially and morally.
Because of his artistic singing, he is in great demand as
celebrant of Requiem High Masses, and as chanter of the
"Veni Creator Spiritus'" at spiritual retreats, synods, etc.,
this hymn being a prayer for the descent of the Holy Ghost
upon the gathering. He is an accomplished singer of " coon "
and " levee " songs, and is unequalled as a cake walker.
As soon as his parish has its parochial school erected, he,
by the law of the Church, will be its principal, and the par-
ishioners can have none other.
Rev. No. 25. A Ground Hog.
He is rector of an immense parish. He first studied law,
but seeing more money in the priesthood he abandoned the
law for the Lord. He went to Rome and studied there. Then
he came home, and the prestige of his foreign schooling placed
PRINCIPALS. 445
him at once in an important ecclesiastical office. Then he was,
through a " pull," appointed rector of his present parish. He
is grossly intemperate. He was for some months in a Catholic
hospital at the time of his appointment on account of inebriety.
He is continually absent from his parish, being at Hot Springs
and other resorts. He is never home except when he wants
money. About the only religious duty he ever performs is to
announce special collections. He never baptizes ; he never
hears confessions ; and he never answers sick calls. His chief
ecclesiastical service is to beg for more money on Christmas,
Easter and All Souls' Day. Some of his parishioners -refer
to him as " the ground-hog " because of his rare appearances
and sudden departures. He is short on religion and long on
graft.
He has 1200 pupils in his parochial school. He has all
sorts of gambling devices at his church fairs, and raffles
whiskey at them. From the altar and pulpit of his church
the public schools are called " godless."
Rev. No. 26. A Monstrosity.
He is the pastor of a very large parish, and has been its
rector for thirty years. After his ordination he was appointed
an assistant to Father Z. Father Z. held a big church fair,
got dead drunk during it, and an assistant ran away with the
proceeds. Rev. No. 26, being regarded as a shrewd man to
hush up the scandal, was selected to take the place of the fugi-
tive assistant. When he got on the ground he saw that the
parish by proper handling would have a great future, the par-
ishioners being a generous, industrious and thrifty people.
But he felt that he must get Father Z. out of the way. He
procured a two-gallon jug of whiskey and gave it to Father
Z., who was lying in bed partially intoxicated and begging for
liquor, and Father Z. got beastly drunk. Rev. No. 26 then
iiurried to his Bishop, and complained that it was impossible
to do any work for God with the Rector continually drunk.
The Bishop immediately sent his Chancellor to the presbytery
446 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
to investigate, with orders to remove Father Z. to the hospital
if the complaint was found correct. Father Z. was taken
away forthwith. At this time the fugitive assistant was ar-
rested, and arraigned before the Criminal Court. Rev. No.
26 was a necessary witness to produce and testify to the books
of the parish ; and he went to his Bishop and said : " In what
capacity shall I testify? If I testify as an assistant my evi-
dence will have little weight." The Bishop replied : " Testify
as pastor of the church." " But," rejoined Rev. No. 26, " if
I am asked to produce my letter of appointment as pastor, what
shall I do ? " The Bishop said : " I will fix that now," and
he forthwith wrote a letter appointing Rev. No. 26 pastor of
the church. When Father Z. got sober he found his parish
gone, and he drifted around from place to place among his
friends and finally died. But he is to-day the nemesis of Rev.
No. 26, who, when he has the delirium tremens, sees Father
Z., and it is heart-rending to hear him cry : " O, let me alone !
let me alone ! for God's sake, let me alone ! let me alone ! "
Rev. No. 26 and his relatives have amassed a fortune of
nearly a million dollars out of this church.
He has demoralized the people of his parish through his
scandalous conduct. Numerous complaints have been made
against him by parishioners and assistant priests but to no
avail. The complaining assistants were usually punished; the
parishioners were always ignored.
On especially sacred occasions, such as the days of the Na-
tivity, Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord, he gets ex-
cessively drunk, alleging that his drunkenness is an incon-
testable proof of the genuineness and depth of his faith. The
way he puts the matter is this : " A man with my faith would
drop dead on the day of the Nativity of our Lord, when he
thinks of the divine Savior being born in a barn, if he did not
drown his amazement ! " " A man with my faith on the day
of the Crucifixion of our Savior, thinking over His sufferings
and death, would go crazy if he kept sober ! " " On Easter
PRINCIPALS. 447
a man with my faith would be paralyzed with holy joy, reflect-
ing upon that open tomb and the risen Christ, if he did not
have whiskey to calm his emotions ! " " Only men of weak
faith can keep sober on the day of the Ascension of our Lord ;
men of strong faith must get drunk to keep their hearts from
being broken by lonesomeness ! " The Feast Days of the
Blessed Virgin are times of peculiar trial to him; and only
by copious draughts of whiskey is he able to stand the strain
of their touching memories.
He frequently officiates at Mass without his pants, trust-
ing to his cassock to hide his limbs, and he often wanders
around the streets in some of the sacred vestments. He made
two attempts on Christmas morning, 1902, to say Mass in his
night shirt before the great congregations. He made a third
appearance in the sanctuary before fully two thousand people,
clad in his night shirt, with a short cape over his shoulders,
and he stood in the sanctuary bowing and smiling foolishly at
the worshipers. The two priests who were engaged in giving
Holy Communion ordered an altar boy to lead him away.
Just after the death of the noted American agnostic, Rob-
ert G. Ingersoll, he said : " Gentlemen, Ingersoll is dead. It
is too bad. He was an honest man. I wish I had the strength
and ability to take his place in the world ; if I had I would do
so gladly. Gentlemen, we are fooling the people, but he did
not." He was then asked by one of the priests, " Father, do
you mean to say that there is no God ? " He replied, " Why,
certainly I do." His questioner then reviewed the usual Cath-
olic arguments for the existence of a God, but he sneered and
said : " If there be what you say, a God, I now challenge Him
to strike me dead: that is my answer to you, young man." He
held his watch and gave God five minutes, and on the failure
of the Almighty to kill him claimed that he had won the argu-
ment.
This man's life has been an open book to bishops, priests
and people. The blasphemous wretch is to-day the spiritual
shepherd of at least fifteen thousand souls. What has been
448 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
and what is his "pull"? He has become so besotted that he
throws money out of his windows to the parochial school chil-
dren to get them to bring him whiskey.
He keeps his parish heavily in debt. He once said to one
of his assistants : " If you ever get a parish, don't get your
church out of debt ; keep it in debt, and then you can holler for
money as often as you please ; if anybody is fool enough to pay
off the debt, start a new debt. Have a collection every Sun-
day, at least every other Sunday ; never allow three Sundays
to pass without a collection ; if you do, the people will get out
of the knack of giving. I've got a beautiful parish, and I
prefer it to a diocese. I will tell you why my parish is beauti-
ful: I've the finest lot of cattle in the country to deal with,
and they never run dry. Why, the more I kick them and the
more I cuff them, the more I blackguard them and the oftener
I get drunk, the better they pony up."
For over seven years whenever he has addressed his peo-
ple during church services he has done so seated in a chair
inside the sanctuary rail. He gives this as his reason : " Why
should I tire myself by standing? Only an inferior being
would stand to talk to such a lot of cattle." The poor people
believe that the infirmities of his flesh compel him to occupy
a chair. Virtually the only Mass he says is at some funeral
where there is for him a fee.
Generation after generation of his relatives have drawn
their support from the duped people of his parish. His house-
keeper is his sister, and she is also his general manager and
cashier ; his brother is his sexton, and so on. His sister has
large real estate holdings. She keeps her money deposited in
different banks so that no one can tell the amount of her de-
posits.
He is an ardent promoter of church fairs, and makes his
parochial school children sell the tickets. At them he has slot
machines, wheels of fortune and other gambling devices ; also
fortune tellers, and a saloon which he runs without a license.
His parochial school is closed during two afternoons to give
PRINCIPALS. 449
the children an opportunity to gamble. He holds his fairs,
with their varied attractions, saloon, etc., in his church.
He is now about 55 years of age ; and if he rounds out in
his present parish the proverbial threescore and ten years,
there remain for himself and his relatives fifteen years more
of graft, and for the good people of his parish fifteen years
more of priestly sottishness, simony and sacrilege.
He has a parochial school in which are enrolled over a
thousand pupils, who are taught by fifteen sisters.
Rev. No. 27. A Preference for Black.
He was caught by officers in citizen's clothes in a city alley,
at midnight, while having lascivious relations with a negress.
As the officers came toward them they separated, he going to-
ward the west and she toward the east. One officer captured
her and held her. The other officer caught the priest, who
had a handkerchief around his neck to conceal his Roman
collar. The officer asked the priest to come with him to where
his brother officer was holding the negress, saying : " That ne-
gro wench may have robbed you, and now is the time to get
your money if she has; you better come back and see." The
priest swore at the officer and said : " Who are you ? " "I
am a police officer," was the reply. " Show me your star,"
commanded the priest. The officer did so. " I doubt that
you are an officer; I will go only with a uniformed officer,"
said Rev. No. 27. The detective whistled, and a uniformed
officer immediately appeared. The priest refused then to go
at all, still swearing. The officers grabbed the priest's arms,
twisted them backwards and forced him to go to where the
negress was being held. A second uniformed officer appeared
and asked : " Isn't he a priest ? " One of the detectives replied :
" I think so." When they got the priest to where the negress
was being held the detective in charge of her said : " My God !
voti hold this one, and let me hold him." This exchange was
made, and the detective took the priest aside and said : " My
God ! Father, what has come over you ? what is the matter
450 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
with you ? " The priest replied: " What in h do you mean?
Do you take me for a d priest ? " Said the detective :
" Father, I am sorry to take you for what you really are not
but what the people suppose you to be." The priest then
swore and said he had sufficient influence to get them all re-
moved and he would do business with them and get their stars
taken away from them on the following day. Said the detec-
tive : " If you don't go home quietly, Father, I will tell them
who and what you are. My God! Father, I live in your par-
ish, I am sorry to say." Then the priest said : " For the honor
of God let me go." The officer said : " You had better go and
go quickly; take the one-thirty car," and he released him and
the priest hurried away. The negress was taken in a patrol
wagon to a station where she was fined in the morning for her
misconduct of the night before with the priest. The priest
went home, and at 10 o'clock that morning celebrated Requiem
High Mass over the remains of a parishioner, and he discoursed
eloquently upon the necessity of living a pure and holy life,
much to the disgust of the wife of one of the detectives who
had been informed of the celebrant's midnight love affair with
the colored lady. A few nights after the arrest of the negress
the officers met her on the streets while she was pursuing her
avocation, and talked with her about her relations with the
priest. They wanted to find out if she knew who and what
he really was. They said to her : " That man's wife will tear
the wool off your head if she finds out about your doings with
her husband." Said she : " Why, he's got no wife ; he's a Cath-
olic priest ! " " W 7 hat ? " said the officers, " what do you
mean ? " Said she : " W T hy, he's my bo' ; I had a bo' of culur,
but I fired him las' September an' ever since that priest has
bin my bo'; he calls himself Jack McCarthy, but I know that
isn't his right name ; I could find his right name if I wanted to ;
he's a priest sure enuf, and he spends one night every week
with me; why, I luv him, he's a cracker-jack."
Rev. No. 28, plus scores and scores. Devotee? of Bac-
chus, Venus, Graft and Gambling.
A DEVOTED (?) ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPAL.
The above is a photographic copy of a picture of 'Tlev. No. 13. A
Ballad Singer," and one of his best girls. The original photograph
was procured by Rev. William J. McNamee, Permanent Rector, St.
Patrick's parish, Chicago.
451
452 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The man in the foregoing is a prominent Catholic priest
He is the spiritual adviser of a large female academy, to which
Protestant girls are sent. The Propaganda has a copy of this
picture.
" THE GATES OF HELL."
The priests to whom I have referred by number are stren-
uous objectors to lay trustees, and vociferous shouters against
the " godless " public school.
It is a marvel that the lightnings of the wrath of God
do not consume grafting, lecherous, drunken and infidel priests.
People of America, what think you of such men being
the principals and assistant principals of schools which are
training American youth?
Our Blessed Savior said of His Church : " The gates of
hell shall not prevail against it." Surely His words find a
striking illustration in the faithfulness of so many of the Cath-
olic laity to Holy Mother Church despite the wolves in sheep's
clothing who minister in holy things at Her sacred altars.
May Almighty God soon deliver the patient, honest and
loyal laity from the ministrations of corrupt priests.
The parochial school is a curse to the Church and a men-
ace to the Nation by reason of the pedagogic deficiencies and
moral delinquencies of its principals and assistant principals.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL TEACHERS.
The parochial school is fatally defective in its teaching
staff. This declaration will be seen to have ample founda-
tion by a perusal of the facts, as I shall conservatively state
them, regarding the procuring, the ability, the training and
the environment of the parochial school teachers.
Parochial school teachers, by the law or custom of the
Church, are members of some Religious Order, the female
teachers belonging to sisterhoods and the male teachers to
brotherhoods. Over ninety-five per cent of the teaching in the
parochial schools is done by nuns.
Let us see how the parochial school teachers are secured.
The officials of the Religious Orders nuns and monks are
constantly on the alert to discover subjects. The nuns urge
upon girls the calm, the dignity, the blissfulness and the honor
of a life wholly devoted to God. These girls are most gener-
ally those whose parents have been unable to give them edu-
cational advantages, and they and their relatives feel flattered
and honored by such solicitation. They have, as a rule, but
a smattering of the common branches as taught in the paro-
chial school. The girls ar~ also told how angelic they will
look in the dress of a nun, and what a pretty photograph they
will take in that sacred garb, and how highly esteemed they and
their families will be by the people at large.
The sisters in the parochial schools and academies coax
and urge their pupils to become nuns. The priests cooperate
with these recruiting sisters, and in and outside of the con-
453
454 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
fes&ional they flatter and coax girls in the same way, and as-
sure them, as their spiritual advisers, that they have a vocation.
Many girls become postulants at an early age. As a rule
the majority of the nuns enter convents while under legal
age.
If a girl consents to become a sister she immediately en-
ters a convent as a postulant, and receives the appropriate
garb. A few months later she is received as a member of the
Order, becomes a novice and receives a new name in religion.
She remains a novice from six to twelve months, when she
becomes a professed nun that is, she makes her solemn vows
of poverty, chastity and obedience. The whole procedure,
from her entrance into the convent as a postulant till she
makes her solemn vows, requires usually about two years.
American convents are often recruited abroad. Nuns
are sent to foreign countries to procure subjects. In 1903 a
prominent Irish-American politician gave a letter to a re-
cruiting nun in which he extolled her sisterhood, and de-
scribed the beauty of the life of its members, and portrayed
the great need of additional members to carry on the work of
converting America; and he particularly advised the young
women of his native section to become postulants. The letter
brought forth much fruit.
This foreign recruiting is greatly helped by the rigid re-
quirements to which postulants are subjected in certain for-
eign places. For instance, a young lady cannot become a pos-
tulant in Ireland unless she has had a first-class education,
and has an ample dowry, the latter generally being about
$2,500.00; and her personal character and family history for
generations must be above reproach. These rigid rules make
the sisterhoods in Ireland very exclusive; but this very ex-
clusiveness produces a fertile field for the American recruit-
ing nuns, for in America these strict requirements are un-
known. There is one dowry, thank God, which these im-
TEACHERS. 455
ported Irish girls bring with them, and that is virtue. Na-
tive recruits are generally secured in the parochial schools.
Recruits, as a rule, are immediately put to teaching. With-
out training, without pedagogic ability, and without experi-
ence they are placed over the Catholic children to impart to
them secular knowledge and religious instruction.
Postulants, dressed in the garb of professed nuns, are fre-
quently sent the next day after entering the convent to teach
classes in parochial schools. A girl, seventeen years of age,
a pupil in a prominent Catholic academy in America, became
a postulant, and next day she was put over a class of about
eighty children in a parochial school ; and a few years later
she was put in charge of the eighth grade in a parochial school
She had been a stupid scholar, and when she became a postu-
lant she was only in the fifth grade. She could not have hon-
estly passed a public school teachers' examination anywhere
in America ; yet she was put to teaching in a parochial school.
But if these deficiencies did not exist there would still
be the grave danger that the secular instruction would fail
to have its relative importance recognized. A teacher is most
likely to see everything through the glass of the dominant
motive. If the dominant motive is religious, then it follows
naturally that religion will receive the preponderant emphasis.
The Catechism might appear to outrank greatly all other
studies. The Catechism has its place, but may not too much
Catechism be as harmful to youth as too little?
Again, parochial school teachers are in great danger of
mental stagnation and retrogression. \Yhat incentive have
they to keep abreast of the times? They are free from the
criticism of the pupils' parents ; they are not subjected to ex-
aminations ; they are not held to any established secular ped-
agogic standards ; and they are answerable to ecclesiastics who
are very uncertain intellectual, moral and spiritual quantities.
Parochial school teachers receive individually no pay for
their services; hence their toil is reduced to an unrequited
456 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
drudgery, except the compensation which may be found in
religious sentiments. If this religious reward is absent, then
there is an utter lack of incentive to greater achievement in
their teaching work; and, if this recompense is experienced,
by its very nature the only incentive it furnishes is to become
a better religious teacher, and that in the sense of achieving
greater success in imparting catechetical instruction.
The secular instruction imparted to the children in paro-
chial schools is deplorably weak. Nevertheless ecclesiastics
laud to the skies these incapable teachers, and even assert that
they are endowed with supernatural grace for their teaching
work. A prominent Archbishop said in a sermon which he
delivered June 26, 1904:
The parochial schools surpass all others. How could it be
otherwise? Its teachers instruments of God's Church are
inspired by the Holy Ghost.
Parochial school teachers are grossly incompetent. I am
convinced that but a very few of them could pass the pre-
scribed examinations for public school teachers.
I know of one parochial school in America out of which
thirty-three sisters have been turned by the rector during the
past four years, on the ground of their "marked incompetency."
The last eleven were turned out at the very time Archbishop
Quigley was attacking the public school in 1903. These nuns
belonged to one of the most prominent sisterhoods in their
Archdiocese. They were sent to other parochial schools.
The religious instruction comprises a smattering of the
Catechism, a rehearsal of astounding ancient and modern
miracles, dissertations upon the Christlikeness of the paro-
chial school officers, and some other odds and ends.
Parochial school teachers tell the parochial school chil-
dren continually that the anger of God will immediately visit
any one who makes bold to comment unfavorably upon a
cardinal, a bishop, a priest, a monk or a nun. This instruction
TEACHERS. 457
is imparted to close the mouths of those pupils who keep open
their ears and eyes.
The nuns are completely under the thumb of the pastors.
They dare not oppose their reprehensible schemes. Their
activity in church fairs shows their subserviency to the wishes
of the parochial school principal.
At church fairs the parochial school teachers attend the
" afternoons " for the children, and they often instruct the
children how to play the various gambling devices, assist them
in placing their bets, and help the little children put their
money into the slot-machines. These nuns frequently manage
two booths, one for boys and the other for girls so as
to create a rivalry between them. Articles for the fair
are solicited by the nuns and the children; chance-books are
issued on each article, and each parochial school pupil has
to take a chance-book. The children sell these chances, and
the child who sells the most in each grade gets a small prize.
The teachers' booths make the most money.
The parochial school principal can, if he chooses, make
life miserable for the parochial school teachers. He can dis-
charge them at will. He can overwhelm them with petty an-
noyances. He is their spiritual confessor, and therefore has
them completely in his power. Bold, indeed, would be that par-
ochial school teacher who would enter any protest against the
unclerical conduct of her principal. But if she were courage-
ous enough to complain, her complaint would not bring re-
dress. Her course would be interpreted as an attack on
authority; and the parochial school superintendent, instead of
rebuking the corrupt principal, would have the complaining
teacher punished. Nuns have been exiled for such conduct.
All the nuns in a convent must be in subjection to their
sister superioress. Her will is law. Her will absolutely
dominates them. The nuns dare not express any will of their
own. Such arbitrary power in the hands of one woman, who
may be unchristian at heart, is fraught with the gravest peril
458
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
to any of the nuns who do not cater to her and enjoy her favor.
Think you that under such conditions a sister will oppose her
superioress or refuse to acquiesce in her every wish?
Let no one imagine that the lives of the nuns are full
of unalloyed happiness. If the truth were known the Cath-
olic people would be astounded by the number of sisters who
carry crushed and bleeding hearts. Not infrequently nuns
summon up courage enough to leave the sisterhood, despite
all suggestions of shame and threats of eternal damnation.
Parochial school teachers live in too narrow a groove
and breathe too confined an atmosphere to warrant Catholic
parents in feeling satisfied with having their children under
them, even if there were no question as to their qualifications
to teach. Catholic children should have natures over them
which are strong, broad, sympathetic and expanding.
As far as the monks are concerned many of them are
devotees of Bacchus and Venus.
I assert again that the parochial school is fatally weak
in its teachers because of their lack of pedagogic talent, train-
ing, incentive and independence.
.stion.
residue
175,000.
KluiD-
after
id
irlia-
ision,
il, but
tturoand
TTJ selves
!063. I
QISTER MARYOF fit. RAPHAEL, and
O SISTER MARY OF ST. XAVIER,
representing tho Sifters Marianitea of
Holy Cross, New Orleans, Louisiana,
U.S. A., will be glad to communicate with
Catholic Young Girls who contemplate
devoting their lives to the religious stale,
and who are looking for a favourable op-
portunity. Full information will be
obtained by addressing
SISTER MARY OF ST. RAPHAEL,
c/o Post-Office, Rosscarbery, Co.
Cork. '<JVUL~&<xsrvd' (877)
sarilj
Counci
21st Ju
NUN-RECRUITING FOR RELIGIOUS SLAVERY.
If the governments of the United States and Europe realized the
slavery, misery and sufferings, mental and physical, to which the young
girls who are captured by such advertisements, are subjected, they
would immediately pass laws against this species of papal slavery
which is carried on under the guise of religion.
CHAPTER VII.
GRAFT ! GRAFT ! ! GRAFT ! ! !
I HAVE already in general terms charged the parochial
school officials with being grafters. In this chapter I will
give some forms of clerical grafting. I do not pretend to de-
scribe all of the nefarious methods by which ecclesiastics filch
money out of the pockets of the faithful and generous Catholic
people, who blindly imagine that their gifts of money are en-
tirely devoted to holy purposes, and have no suspicion that
their contributions go to the personal enrichment of priests
and prelates. It is not surprising, however, that they should
be so easily deceived, for what could be more natural than for
them to believe without a question the statements of the shep-
herds of their souls? Taught from infancy to regard priests
and prelates as holy beings, they must not be unduly
blamed for shutting their eyes to all signs of clerical hypocrisy,
nor must they be too harshly censured for coming with the
greatest reluctance to a realization of the frauds which are
daily practiced upon them in the name of religion by the am-
bassadors of Jesus Christ.
My dear Catholic readers, I beg you to remember that
a grafting priest turns everything he possibly can into money.
Nothing is too sacred to deter him. He grafts on the living
and he grafts on the dead. He traffics in the holy things of
religion, and he does no service without making money out
of it if he possibly can. When he asks you for money for
the cause of God it is his own pocket that is uppermost in his
thought. He is a vampire that sucks the very life blood of
the poor. He is worse than an infidel because he destroys
459
460 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
while professing to be a friend. He is a wolf in sheep's cloth-
ing who gains access to the hearts of the people by the garb of
godliness which disarms their suspicion. If you have a graft-
er for your pastor remember that you have a rector who has
not at heart the good of your souls; his sole aim is to get as
much money out of you as he can.
I seek no quarrel with the Church over the feasts and
fast's and ceremonies which She in Her wisdom has enjoined
upon the faithful, and I do not begrudge an honest priest a
decent livelihood. What I oppose is the prostitution of sacred
things by clerical grafters to the service of mammon, and the
introduction by them of various religious side-shows for the
purpose of making graft.
An old Irish-American gentleman said to me one day:
" My God ! Father Crowley, the priests are nothing but graft-
ers; it is nothing but money, money, money, the whole time;
they are bleeding the people of money day and night; they
are hotter after graft than the Irish landlords are after their
rack-rents ; I left Ireland to escape the .clutches of the grasp-
ing, rack-renting landlords, but I find I jumped from the fry-
ing pan into the fire, as the clergy here are worse than the
landlords there ; I am so sick and tired of these reverend graft-
ers that I have lost all confidence in them, and I intend from
now on to do business straight with the Almighty and boycott
the clerical middlemen."
I reserve for a later chapter a full discussion of the dis-
astrous results to the Church of clerical grafting, hypocrisy
and immorality.
HOLY ORDERS GRAFT.
The Church educates the young men who are to enter
Her priesthood in this country, and the Catholic people once
a year, in every church in America, are .taxed for their educa-
tion, the offering being called " The Seminary Collection."
The explanation given for this tax is that the parents of the
GRAFT. 461
young men are too poor to pay for their care and tuition.
Each candidate has to be adopted by a bishop or an archbishop,
and in order to secure adoption he has to obtain the recom-
mendation of his parish rector. For this recommendation it is
not unusual for the parish rector to get an annual graft until
the candidate is ordained. The pastor is likely to object ori
some ground, real or imaginary, to his ordination, if the graft
is not forthcoming.
This Annual Seminary Collection is vehemently urged
upon the people " to sustain the Church in her efforts to Chris-
tianize infidel America." The pastor keeps at least fifty per
cent, of the Seminary Collection for his graft.
When a priest is ordained he aims to say his first public
Mass in his native parish. He sends out a card of ordination
with an elaborate card of invitation to his first Mass. The
Mass is announced from the pulpit and in the religious and
secular press weeks ahead. The relatives and friends of the
celebrant and other worshipers throng the church. Usually
the Mass is a Solemn High. A sermon is preached by the
pastor or some other ecclesiastic on the dignity, the beauty
and the power of the priesthood. A special collection is taken
up for the young celebrant but he gets just what the rector
chooses to give him. At one of these services there was at
least five hundred dollars received, but the pastor gave the
young celebrant only twenty-five dollars, although the young
priest had paid fifty dollars for the special music.
PROMOTION GRAFT.
This graft is made by priests when they are promoted
from the place of assistant pastor to a rectorship, and when
pastors are transferred from one pastorate to another. When
these events take place the Catholic people are duly advised,
and influences are set to work to lead them to give the promoted
priest or transferred pastor a monetary testimonial. Circulars
are gotten up by the priest and his clerical friends, setting forth
462 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
the propriety of a testimonial purse, and public meetings are
called to carry the suggestion into effect.
Large sums of money are collected in this way. Those
who do not contribute are likely to be blacklisted by the priests
of the parish and to have opprobrium heaped upon them. This
might cause a delinquent serious embarrassment at a time when
spiritual consolation is wanted by himself or some member
of his family.
VACATION GRAFT.
Catholic pastors work so hard for the glory of God that
they must have vacations in which to recuperate from the wear
and tear of their arduous labors for the salvation of souls.
They manipulate their vacation necessities in such a way that
the faithful are asked to contribute either to a purse to enable
them to get away or to a purse after they return to recoup them
for their vacation expenses. The sodalities and societies make
large contributions.
The subject is so adroitly presented to the people that
their giving becomes a sign of their faith.
Vacation graft is by no means to be despised. It runs
in the aggregate into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
ANNIVERSARY GRAFT.
Birthday: Parochial school children are harassed annual-
ly for money for a birthday present for the pastor. No child
can be comfortable who fails to contribute. A tax is levied
upon each child, and the money comes out of the pockets of
the hard-working parents. It is simply an annual graft.
Adult Catholics may and do contribute directly. Apparently
the pastor has nothing to do with the celebration of his birth-
day, but in reality he is the prime mover.
Ordination: The anniversary of the ordination of a pastor
cannot be allowed to go unremembered, and so a purse has to
be forthcoming to duly commemorate the event. The paroch-
ial school children are taxed and the societies and sodalities
GRAFT. 463
are virtually forced to contribute. The priest himself and not
the people sets the machinery in motion for the collection of
ordination graft.
Silver Jubilee: When a priest reaches the twenty-fifth
anniversary of his ordination a great occasion is made of it.
It is called his silver jubilee. Great efforts are put forth to
fittingly commemorate this anniversary. They crystallize in a.
purse for His Reverence, or His Lordship, or His Grace, or
His Eminence, as his title may be. Everybody is asked to con-
tribute to this purse, from the highest ecclesiastic and civil of-
ficial down to the humblest toiler on the streets ; non-Catholics
are solicited for funds as well as Catholics. Laudatory ad-
dresses are presented and sumptuous banquets are served. Sil-
ver jubilee receipts as a rule are exceedingly comforting in
size.
Silver jubilees are supposed to be the result of the spon-
taneous action of the Catholic people, but those who really
understand about their origin know that the priest whose an-
niversary is celebrated is the one who starts and works up the
enthusiasm.
BAPTISMAL GRAFT.
At the baptism of a child of a poor couple by a prominent
pastor and parochial school principal, its father paid
the priest two dollars, and each of the sponsors gave a dollar.
The priest looked contemptuously at the " two dollars " and
scornfully asked: "Is that all I am to get from you, Pat?"
" That's all I have, Father ! " " Well, now, see here Pat, if
you are not ready to pay at least five dollars for a job like
this, you must stop making children ! " The poor man had
borrowed the two dollars!
On the Sunday following baptisms some pastors announce
or have announced from the pulpit, just before the sermon,
the amounts given at such baptisms by the father and each of
the sponsors. This practice of giving names and amounts is
pursued to shame into larger giving any prospective fathers
464 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
and sponsors, and also to prevent the assistant pastors " knock-
ing down " baptismal offerings.
The baptizing of infants is a profitable industry with the
Catholic clergy. Baptism is the first Sacrament, but priests
and prelates turn it into an institution for graft. There is
probably not one baptism in ten thousand in the Catholic
Church in America which does not bring to the pastor a fee
ranging from at least two to fifty or more dollars. As a rule
the infants are baptized on Sunday afternoon, and the priest,
to spare himself labor, baptizes " in a bunch " all the infants
presented, and frequently he gets confused, forgets and makes
mistakes. He never forgets the baptismal fee, however. There
are thousands upon thousands of infants baptized in the Cath-
olic Church in this country every year. Think of the graft
which is made out of this holy Sacrament!
Grafting priests lead some Catholic parents to believe that
if the first fourteen verses of the first chapter of St. John's
Gospel are read after the Sacrament of Baptism, the baptized
infant will never be troubled by fairies or ghosts. For the
reading of these few verses of Scripture the grafting priest
expects and gets an additional offering.
PENANCE GRAFT.
Grafting priests do not scruple to use the confessional for
the making of mercenary gain. For example, they will com-
pel people who have gone to fortune tellers outside of church
fairs to put an amount into the poor box equal to the fee paid
to the fortune teller. The pastor is the custodian of the poor
box and has sole access to and entire control of its contents.
As assistant pastors do not have access to the poor box
they generally pursue the plan of ordering as a part of the
penance the having of one or more Masses said, and then and
there they receive the offering for the Mass or the penitent
brings it to them later.
I know a poor woman who paid a fee to a Gypsy fortune
teller, out of charity, and later went to confession, and the
GRAFT. 465
priest compelled her to pay him five dollars as a fine for hav-
ing listened to the fortune teller.
FIRST COMMUNION GRAFT.
In America Catholic children receive their first Holy
Communion from the age of seven to twelve years. For this
ceremony their clothing is prescribed. Certain stores are urged
upon the children. The nuns sell the children certain articles
such as ribbons and sashes, wreaths and veils. The children
also buy rosary beads, scapulars, prayer books, medals and
candles. For the candles they pay twenty-five cents for two
or fifteen cents for one, and they are supposed to carry them
lighted, but as a matter of fact they do not. After the cere-
mony the candles are taken away from them and either used
on the altar or sold to the members of the next Confirmation
class.
There is a first Holy Communion certificate which is
filled out for the child and signed by the pastor, for which
there is a prescribed fee. Often the children of a first Holy
Communion class are requested or commanded by the nuns
to contribute a certain amount to make up a purse for their
poor pastor in honor of their first Holy Communion.
CONFIRMATION GRAFT.
Confirmation is the next Sacrament following the first
Holy Communion, and may come a year later. For it the same
furnishings are virtually prescribed as for the first Holy Com-
munion, and practically the same graft is made.
The Sacrament of Confirmation can be conferred by no
Church dignitary less exalted than a Bishop. As a rule the
children confirmed are taxed so much each to make up a purse
for the dignitary who confirms them, and to pay for the sump-
tuous banquet which is given in his honor. For such ban-
quets professional caterers are generally engaged, and the
466 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
plates range in price from five to ten dollars, the price includ-
ing wines but rarely the cigars.
There is a Confirmation Certificate filled out for each child
and signed by the pastor, for which there is a prescribed fee.
MATRIMONIAL GRAFT.
When a Catholic gentleman wishes to get married he goes
to the pastor and makes arrangements for the ceremony. Or-
dinarily the minimum fee for the service is ten dollars ; in rare
cases it may be only five dollars.
If the contracting parties wish to avoid the publishing
of the bans they have to get what is called a dispensation for
which the pastor is paid at least five dollars. It is issued by
the Chancellor of the Diocese or Archdiocese, and the pastor
may pay him or may not.
If one of the contracting parties is a non-Catholic a dis-
pensation for the marriage has to be obtained from the Bishop
or Archbishop, for which cash down has to be paid, the amount
being at least five dollars. The marriage in this instance, how-
ever, cannot take place in a Catholic church, and at it, wherever
it takes place, the officiating priest cannot wear the sacred
vestments.
If the wedding is held in a church, the contracting parties
must pay at least fifteen dollars extra for having the organ
played if they want that instrument used, and if they have
singing they must pay still more. If they want the church bells
rung for a few minutes they must pay a fee of at least twenty-
five dollars. If there is a floral display with an awning and
a carpet from the church to the sidewalk, they must pay an
extra fee.
Candles are supposed to be lighted at every wedding cere-
mony when the contracting parties are Catholics. Two can-
dles are furnished by the pastor. If more candles are wanted
an extra fee is required.
GRAFT. . 467
Catholic priests sometimes officiate at the weddings of di-
vorced people. When they are called upon to marry individ-
uals who have been married previously but not validly accord-
ing to the doctrine of the Church, they take advantage of the
situation to exact large fees.
A priest showed me five hundred dollars that he had just
received as a wedding fee for officiating at a marriage though
the bride had a living husband. This last wedding was held
in a Catholic church and at it there was celebrated a Solemn
High Mass.
The law of the Church provides that Catholics shall be
married by their own pastor and they cannot be married by
any one else without getting his consent. But priests and
prelates deliberately break this law and marry couples without
the consent of their pastor, and sometimes against his protest,
and without knowing anything about the antecedents of the
contracting parties. Why do they thus violate the law of the
Church? Because they get the fee.
I call attention to these marriage fees chiefly to prevent
my readers losing sight of this prolific source of revenue when
they attempt to calculate the income of Catholic pastors.
Matrimony is one of the seven Sacraments of the Cath-
olic Church. I leave it to the calm judgment of my readers to
say whether the various fees in connection with a wedding cere-
mony which are exacted by the representatives of Jesus Christ
do not show a prostitution of a holy Sacrament to clerical
gain.
I am unable to say how large the fees are of Bishops and
Archbishops, perhaps they officiate for nothing! The wed-
ding fees of Cardinals are evidently not to be despised.
First and second cousins are allowed by the Church to
marry on securing a dispensation for which a fee is exacted,
its size depending upon the wealth of the contracting parties.
The law of the Church is that a man may marry his de-
ceased wife's sister, in spite of any adverse law of the country,
468 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
provided he secures a dispensation, and of course this costs a
fee.
EXTREME UNCTION GRAFT.
Even the administration of the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction is made an occasion for grafting by clerical grafters.
I content myself with relating the following incident: One
of the most prominent pastors in a great Archdiocese
refused to administer this Sacrament unless he got cash down.
He was called to the bedside of a poor woman whose husband
was a Protestant. She had not attended the Catholic Church
since her marriage two years. The priest put everybody
out of her room, and said to her : " You have not been to church
for two years ; this has kept me out of $28.00 pew rent ; before
I hear your confession and give you the last Sacraments of
the Church you must pay me that $28.00." The dying woman
replied : " My husband has been out of work most of the time ;
there are two doctors attending me for several weeks, and 1
have not a cent in the house." He then produced a blank
promissory note, filled it out and asked her to sign it. She
said : " No, Father, I do not want to go before God with such
a promise on my soul which may never be fulfilled." Taking
his hat he answered : " Then die as you are ! " And he went
away.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT GRAFT.
Catholic clerical grafters ply their wicked arts in the last
sickness of Catholic people who have means. People of pov-
erty receive scant attention and are sometimes roundly abused
for calling the priest at an inconvenient time and for not pro-
viding such essentials as candles, holy water, cotton, salt and
water. Rich people are fawned upon and obsequiously served,
while every effort is made to get a personal legacy for the Bish-
op or Archbishop so that the support of that dignitary will be
had in case there should be a contest over the will, to say noth-
ing of the desire to curry favor with His Lordship or His
Grace.
GRAFT. 469
Catholic priests and prelates are not strangers to probate
courts in the various States of the American Republic. Hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars get into clerical hands through
last will and testament graft.
FUNERAL GRAFT.
The law of the Church is that if a Catholic fails to make
his Easter duty he thereby excommunicates himself, and if he
then dies without having the ministrations of a priest no re-
ligious service of any kind can be held over his remains, and
his body cannot be buried in consecrated ground. Is this law
observed in America? No, not when the relatives of the de-
ceased have money. In fact, the breaking of the Church law
is a prolific source of graft. What will not faithful and devout
Catholics give to have religious rites over the remains of
a beloved relative, both for the salvation of the deceased and
to save the family from the scandal of having a relative buried
like a dog? The bodies of persons who have failed to make
their Easter duty and who have then died without the last
sacraments are carried into the Church, the altars are heavily
draped, a great number of candles are burning, Solemn High
Mass is sung, fulsome eulogies are pronounced, and the bodies
are laid away in consecrated ground. This is done throughout
America every day of the week. High church dignitaries often
officiate.
Most awful is the effect of funeral graft. The children
of the deceased, the relatives, the friends and the neighbors
understand the horrid hypocrisy and remark, " Why should we
lead a good life and go to Mass? If there is money left when
we die we are sure of a good send off."
Catholics deliberately fail to make their Easter duty and
neglect all of their other religious obligations. They are taken
sick, the priest is sent for and the sick receive the last Sacra-
ments, and thus they are entitled to Christian burial. If the
relatives have money the deceased receive as marked honors
470 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
in the funeral rites as are accorded to Catholic people who
have lived the most exemplary lives.
The remains of the most abandoned people, such as thieves,
murderers and prostitutes, who have died in the very act of
sin, are carried into Catholic churches and given all possible
honor and interred in consecrated ground.
According to Catholic teaching the soul of a Catholic who
failed to make his Easter duty and thereafter abandoned all
other religious obligations and died without receiving the last
sacraments, does not go to purgatory but goes immediately
and directly into hell, and " out of hell there is no redemption."
According to Catholic doctrine the destiny of that soul is ir-
revocably fixed, and it must remain in hell for all eternity.
This teaching applies to any human being who dies with the
guilt of even one mortal sin on his soul. Notwithstanding
this positive teaching priests and prelates take money for fu-
neral services which they know are but " a mockery, a delusion
and a snare." In addition they get immense graft from the
relatives and friends for Masses for the liberation of the soul
when according to Catholic doctrine there is no liberation.
What explains this inconsistency? Is it a clerical want of
faith in the doctrine? Is it graft? Is it both?
One of the most prominent pastors in America makes it
a point to say all the funeral Masses which are said in his
church, and at the funerals of individuals whose lives
have been most vicious and sinful he delivers eulogies,
in the course of which he expresses his sorrow over the great
loss to the parish, and he weeps copiously. Then he peers
up at the rafters and states that he sees the soul of the de-
parted in heaven, and often he declares that he hears the de-
ceased singing with the angels and archangels. Later he re-
minds his hearers of the frailty of all things human, and sug-
gests that possibly his eye-sight and hearing may be defective,
and he implores them to make sure of the eternal salvation of
their loved one by having him say some requiem Masses. Of
GRAFT. 471
course he does not say Masses for nothing. He is the shep-
herd of at least fifteen thousand Catholics.
Funeral graft is also made out of the funerals of devout
Catholics. The relatives and friends of the deceased are urged
to have Masses said for the repose of the soul of their departed
loved one. Every Mass, said or unsaid (the latter often be-
ing the case), means so much additional money for the priest.
I am not criticizing the having of Masses said for the
happy repose of the soul of the dead, for this is in accordance
with the teaching of my Church, but I do protest against mer-
cenary priests urging such Masses solely for the sake of graft.
A Catholic gentleman had been living in a Cathedral par-
ish for many years. He moved into another parish, lived there
some time, and there died. It was his wish that he should be
buried from the Cathedral parish where he had been brought
up and where he had many friends. His widow was anxious
to have his wish carried out. She went to her parish priest
and wanted to know how much it would cost to permit the fu-
neral to be held in the Cathedral parish. The pastor told her
two hundred dollars. She said : " Father, we have been good
parishioners; we have paid liberally; we gave fifty dollars for
each baptism in our family; I do not think you should hold
us up in-this way." His reply was : " I have stated our terms,
and it is up to you." Then she wanted to know how much it
would cost to permit a priest from another parish, a personal
friend of her husband, to attend the funeral of the deceased
in the parish in which he had died and to pronounce a pane-
gyric over him. He replied : " If you will give me one hun-
dred dollars I will permit the priest from the other parish to
preach over him." This hundred dollars would be in addition
to what this pastor would get anyway for his funeral fee,
which would be a very large one on account of the wealth and
prominence of the deceased. The widow answered : " Very
well, Father, you shall have it"; and then she added: "Well,
Father, from the way things are done here below it strike*
472 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
me that we will have to buy heaven, and if that is so then God
help the poor, for they can never get there."
CEMETERY GRAFT.
Who owns the Catholic cemeteries? Who buys the land
which is dedicated to the deceased children of the Church?
Who sells the lots and single graves? Is there any profit in
the various transactions? Who gets it?
If a parish has a cemetery of its own, which is quite fre-
quently the case in the country, the pastor handles all the cem-
etery moneys or revenue. Parishes in great cities do not own
cemeteries, but the diocese has one or more, the title to them,
in the absence of cemetery trustees, being in the Bishop.
In the vicinity of the great American cities there are some
large Catholic burying grounds. I wonder what they cost
and what the expenditures have been and are for their main-
tenance. I wonder what the receipts from the sales of lots
and single graves have been and are. I wonder if they are
conducted at a loss or a profit to the Bishops and Archbishops.
If there is a profit I wonder to what pious use it is devoted.
Catholic people, don't you wonder, too? If you do, why don't
you ask ? I have heard ecclesiastics say that the Catholic cem-
etery business is one of the greatest gold mines in America.
In many sections of the land there is enough ecclesiastical
grafting in connection with Catholic cemeteries to make the
dead rise up to protest.
PURGATORIAL GRAFT.
Many priests deliberately preach during the week pre-
ceding All Souls' Day (November 2nd) in such a way as to
work unduly upon the feelings of their hearers. They picture
the deceased relatives of their hearers as suffering most horrible
torments in purgatory, and crying out in anguish : " Have pity
on me ! Have pity on me, at least you, my friends," etc., etc.
Large offerings are thereupon made by the sympathetic rela-
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY
St. Uincetu's Purgatorial Society
FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
PERPETUAL MEMBERSHIP
TEN DOLLARS
With the kind pfrmiition of The St. Rev. Charles E. McDonnell, D D.. Bishop of the Diocese of Brook-
lyn the Perpetual Membership fee in St. Vincent's Purgatorial Society has been reduced to ten dollar*
This means that all who become memben of our Purgatorial Society, whether living or dead, and bav-
ins; paid the sum of ten dollars, will have read for them each year Five Thousand Five Hundred and Eight
Mines. In other words, they will share in all the Mattel and other spiritual benents u long as this Society
These not in a position 1o fay the amount of ten dolla
ay make
rfr/y
onthly payme
Sirely, there ii no better way to remember onr departed tnendi and relationi than by enrolling the
ii this Pcrgatorul Society. "It ii a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be
looted from their lini." We should not forget the dead; in life they were good and true to u; let us re-
member them, now that the hand of Ood has touched them. We should not turn a deal ear to their cry
Christian oharity obliges u to hear and help them. They are indeed separated from u by the dark river of
death, but they have never ceased to be our brethren, memben of that mystical body to which we all belong,
and whose head is Jesus Christ Himself . Is it possible for one limb or member of our bodies to suffer and the
others to remain indifferent) The Apostle says: "If one member infers, do not the others toot" Conse-
quently it is the very essence of Christianity to help the departed. Should we not be moved to help those
who proved themselves our benefactors, instructing us, leading us into the way of salvation, keeping us
from temptations, and perhaps remembering us in their wills)
Would we not be guilt; of the greatest indifference and deepest ingratitude were we to forget them
now in their sorest need, or refuse them onr aid T Would we r. ~t deserve to have hurled at us the terrible
prophesy and reproach of the Book of Ecclesiastic us "A hard heart shall fare evil at the last)"
We cannot say that because our friends or relatives have been dead a long time they do not need our
assistance. Nothing definite is known as to the*ronger or shorter duration of purgatorial pains. We do
know this, that they are proportioned to the purity of heart wherewith the deceased appears before the judg-
ment seat of Ood proportioned to the amount of penance done while on earth; proportioned to the help
given after death by those still left behind. But when we reject that on the other side of the grave jus-
tice, not mercy, holds the balance, when we recall St Peter's thrilling question: "If the just shall hardly
V saved, how shall it be with sinners)" and when we consider that even the Saints, after long and severe
penances for slight faults, trembled before and feared the severity of God's Judgments, we may justly
conclude that the pains of purgatory are of longer duration than U sometimes imagined. Therefore, we
should hasten generously to the help of the poor souls and continue our prayers for them until death bids
u depart hence
Again, even in life and health there is no better way of providing for the future than by becoming
memben of this Purgatorial Society Do not depend upon those whom you may leave after you. Be sure
that yon will not be forgotten after decth by becoming a Perpetual Member of the Society at once. Five
thousand five hundred Masses will be read each year for the living or dead. Moreover, at the death of each
living member of our Purgatorial Society a High Mass will be offered up in the Chapel of St. Vincent's
Home, for the eternal and happy repose of the soul of the departed one
Addrew all CammaftcfOaa to
REV WILLIAM L. BLAKE,
Bonur, Ptece and SUM Street
St. Vincent's Hon
(P. O. Bo>!74)
for Boys,
Brooklyn, N. V
SAVING SOULS BY MAIL "THERE'S MILLIONS IN IT.'
47S
474 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
lives, amounting often to thousands of dollars, and in good
conscience calling for the saying of many Masses, but the
Masses actually said are few and far between.
I know good Catholic people who have become so dis-
gusted with this duplicity that instead of making money of-
ferings for the remembrance of their deceased relatives in
Masses, they go to the cemetery and say prayers over the graves
of their loved ones.
On All Saints' Day, November I, 1903, a priest said to
one of the most enlightened congregations in his city : " I
blush for the faith of the people of this parish! They have
lost the faith ! They do not give us money for Masses for their
deceased relatives." The fact was that his people had become
weary of being deceived.
A few years ago in an eastern diocese of the United States
a pastor denounced from his pulpit the graft practiced upon
the Catholic people in the name of religion by mercenary priests,
and he called particular attention to the awful swindle per-
petrated upon them in connection with the All Souls' offerings.
A brother priest, who was a prominent pastor, struck him
between the eyes with his fist at a public gathering of the
priests of the diocese, held in the Cathedral church, for having
enlightened the Catholic people. Seeing that the exposures of
this brave priest would interfere with their grafting, the priests
entered into a plot to ruin him, and he was soon after sus-
pended and deprived of his parish. He is now raising and
selling chickens for a living.
BUILDING GRAFT.
When a building is erected for any purely diocesan pur-
pose the Bishop lets all contracts and pays all bills, and his ac-
counts are never audited. The structure may be for an acad-
emy, or a seminary, or a university, or an episcopal palace in
the city or in the country. The Catholic people have nothing
to say about its necessity, its size, its architecture, its location,
GRAFT. 475
or its cost. One Archbishop paid $35,000 for the erection of
a stable, which was not a duplicate of the one in which our
Savior was born. The Bishop, if it is a diocese, or the Arch-
bishop, if it is an archdiocese, settles all details to his own
satisfaction, apd then calls for money, and he asks for what
he pleases irrespective of the actual cost. If the actual cost
of a structure is a hundred thousand dollars, there is nothing
to prevent his asking for two hundred thousand. In fact he
gets as much more than the actual cost as he can, and this sur-
plus is simply his individual graft.
The erection of a purely parochial structure is in the con-
trol of the parish rector. He lets all contracts, pays all bills,
and his accounts are never audited in the strict sense of the
word. He asks the people for money and they give it to him.
Whatever the surplus may be the pastor keeps, and he makes
the surplus as large as he can.
Catholic people always pay far more for any strictly dio-
cesan or parochial structure than its actual cost. They never
get through paying for some of these structures, and in fact
they pay many times the actual cost of them.
Catholic pastors deliberately keep their parishes in debt
to give themselves an opportunity to incessantly demand mon-
ey, and the Catholic people are continually giving to liquidate
parish debts which are never paid off. What becomes of their
contributions? They go to swell clerical graft.
INCENDIARY GRAFT.
I have heard the charge made in Catholic circles that
churches and other buildings have been deliberately set on fire
by Catholic clerical grafters so that the erection of a new struc-
ture would become imperative and afford them an opportunity
for graft, the burning of a religious edifice tending particularly
to create sympathy in the breasts of all people regardless of
creed.
476 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
I do not mean to insinuate that incendiary graft is gen-
eral. I insert this item to decrease or put an end to the graft
of this kind.
SANITARY GRAFT.
The parochial schools, being under the parish" rectors,
may be kept in a sanitary condition, or may not. Care may
be taken of boilers, etc., or may not. A mercenary priest is
not likely to spend much for the sanitation of his school build-
ing and the safety of his pupils.
There are parochial schools in prosperous parishes whose
toilet facilities would shame a hog pen. No wonder many
parochial school children go to untimely graves.
Municipalities have building ordinances, and a compli-
ance with them costs money. Every dollar saved is a dollar
in the pocket of the priest. A mercenary priest is the great-
est tempter a building inspector can have. In the first place,
such a priest has no compunctions in carrying his point by
graft, and in the second place politics are made to enter into
the question, non-acquiescence in the pastor's wishes by the
inspector being represented as an . affront to the Catholic
Church, and, consequently, an insult to Catholic voters.
CORNER STONE GRAFT.
When the corner stone of a Catholic edifice is laid the
greatest possible publicity is sought for the ceremony. An-
nouncements are made from the altars, parades are held, and
Church dignitaries are secured to officiate. Great crowds as-
semble and large representations of Catholic societies attend.
Large collections are taken up during the services, and the
money goes into the hand of the ecclesiastic in immediate
charge of the edifice. There is no check upon him. He uses
for his own purposes what he pleases. Corner stone laying
furnishes a large amount of graft.
Many a Catholic edifice in America is founded upon graft,
and often those who lay the corner stones are lewd in life.
GRAFT. 477
DEDICATION GRAFT.
There is a great difference between the consecration and
the dedication of a Catholic church. A Catholic church is
not consecrated till it is entirely free from debt. Edifices may
be dedicated when they are completed, irrespective of any in-
debtedness.
Dedications are made the most of by grafting pastors.
Practically the same features attend them that characterize
corner stone layings. Large collections are received. The
pastor takes them and does with them according to his own
pleasure.
CONSECRATION GRAFT.
This is extremely limited all over the country as it is far
more profitable to rectors to keep churches in debt than to free
them from debt, and a Catholic church cannot be consecrated
till all indebtedness upon it has been paid. As long as there
is a debt on his church a Catholic rector can cry for money
to pay it.
In the United States of America there are but few Cath-
olic churches free from debt.
Corner stone layings, dedications and consecrations are
skilfully used. Catholic societies are compelled to turn out
in force. Everything is done to secure the attendance of a
multitude. A parade, attended with bands of music, is held.
Office holders, candidates for civic offices and aspirants for
political honors, from the governor of a State down to a con-
stable, are invited, and the invitation is couched in language
that compels attendance if the favor of Catholic voters is want-
ed. They attend and they occupy prominent places. They nev-
er leave their pocketbooks at home, and often they assist in
taking up the collection. They are publicly prese-nted to His
Lordship, or His Grace, or His Eminence, as the case may
be, so that their obeisance may be seen by the crowd ; and their
worshipful attitude is very reverential.
478 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
MASS GRAFT.
The worshipers at Sunday Mass comprise two classes, viz :
pewholders and non-pewholders. The former pay in advance
the prescribed rates for their sittings, the latter pay cash at
the door, the charge varying from ten to twenty-five cents,
depending upon the tone of the parish. The pastor sits at the
door, or has representatives there, and no non-pewholder over
sixteen years of age is allowed to enter for divine worship with-
out first paying cash down. Should he succeed in forcing
himself in, he is compelled to stand in the rear of the church
during the service or he is seated in what is known as the
" paupers' corner." I have known many a hard working poor
man, who could not afford to 'pay for each chargeable member
of his numerous family, to absent himself from church alto-
gether and keep his family away.
I was summoned once to attend a dying man. When I
reached the house he refused the last rites of the church. I
tried to reason with him and he gave as his explanation for re-
fusing the last Sacraments that the last time he had attempted
to enter the church on a Sunday morning he had been refused
admission because he did not have ten cents; and that he was
then in poor health, out of work and had a wife and three
small children. His wife told me that he had not been to the
church in five years. There are very many men in America
like this poor man.
I have known of instances where the pastor, who had
been watching at the door, went to the pulpit and, while mak-
ing announcements, cast aspersions upon the people in the
paupers' corner for daring to enter the church without paying
the entrance fee.
There is always a collection taken up during Mass, and to
induce the people to contribute at least ten cents each they are
told, " All who will contribute ten cents or upwards to the
collection during Mass will have a share in the Mass which
will be said to-morrow/' or some other day.
-GRAFT. 479
THE CHURCH FAIR GRAFT.
In a later chapter I will show the pernicious influence
of church fairs upon the Catholic children. In this place I
aim to show the various kinds of graft made at church fairs.
Who gets the money, often running into thousands of
dollars, which is made at church fairs? The rectors of the
parishes where they are held get the proceeds. Is there any
account rendered to the parish by the rector of the amount re-
ceived and of the use to which it is put? Never any honest
account. The rector simply puts it into his pocket and spends
it as he wills.
Clerical " Sandbagging."
The general public can hardly have any idea of the " sand-
bagging " which is done at many Catholic church fairs. If
possible they are held during the time of some pending election
when politics run high and politicians are particularly anx-
ious to curry favor with the largest number of voters. A
Democratic night will be had on which the Democrats are ex-
pected to turn out in force and spend their money lavishly.
Then a Republican night will be had, on which the Republi-
cans are expected to show themselves en masse and empty
their pocketbooks.
There are nights for the Mayor and prominent aldermen,
and also nights for the candidates for political office. These
men rally their friends, and the occasions add many dollars
to the bank account of the rector.
A certain Catholic pastor, who is over a very large city
parish, sent to a candidate for the office of sheriff of
his county about fifty tickets to his church fair, each
calling for one dollar. The candidate refused to be " held
up " in such a manner. On the following Sunday that pas-
tor publicly denounced from his pulpit that candidate, and
commanded the people not to cast their votes for him, on the
ground that he was no good for he had refused to buy fifty
480 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tickets to his church fair. The candidate lost the election.
There were many fairs going on at this time to which he was
asked to give.
At a fair held in the basement of the church of one of the
largest Catholic parishes in America, this incident took place.
There was present a politician who, for personal reasons, de-
sired greatly to win the favor of the voters of that parish.
He went to one of the parish priests and paid him liberally to
call the crowd at the fair to order and to fulsomely introduce
him for a few minutes' speech. So the fair was changed into
a political meeting, for the good of the parish, and Mr. Poli-
tician expatiated eloquently on the supremacy of the Catholic
Church in America and the rights of the Catholic people.
During his harangue another priest of that parish, who was
hearing confessions upstairs while politics were being aired
downstairs, learned the true secret of the political activity
in the fair, and he went below, mounted the platform and
complained bitterly of his brother priest's lack of attention to
his duties in the confessional. The meeting then broke up.
The fact was that its clerical interrupter was at that time in a
half drunken state, and was the champion and in the pay of
the rival candidate.
Catholic church fairs are attempts to do what Jesus Christ
said was impossible. He said : " Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon." God, at them, is served upstairs by reciting the
holy rosary, by going through the Stations of the Cross, by
receiving the Sacrament of Penance in the confessional, by the
Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament and the Holy Sacri-
fice of the Mass. If the fair runs into Lent, then a sermon is
preached in which the people are urged against vices. Mam-
mon is served downstairs at wheels of fortune, slot ma-
chines, vaudevilles, " blind pigs/' etc., etc. Upstairs the pen-
itent is roundly censured for going to fortune tellers (else-
where than at church fairs), and is commanded to put into the
" poor box " an offering at least equal in amount to the for-
GRAFT. 481
tune teller's fee. Downstairs fortune tellers (professionals
and amateurs) do a thriving business " for the greater honor
and glory of God."
The Pope's Life, Whiskey and Two Kinds of Pigs.
In the fall of 1903 a book entitled " The Life of Leo
XIII " was raffled at a church fair, the chances being five cents
each. At other church fairs bottles of whiskey were raffled
at a higher rate per bottle three chances for twenty-five
cents. At another fair held in the basement chapel of a
church, live geese, chickens, goats, sheep and dead pigs were
exhibited and raffled. Some of the animals were put in the
chapel sanctuary. There was a " blind pig," not far from the
dead ones, which was in great favor with young and old, and
s"ome of the clergymen appeared to be very much attached to it.
The stocks of liquors for these church fairs are donated
by Histillers, brewers and saloon keepers. It is needless to add
that the donations are forced.
Contests.
A common method of fleecing the people is by contest.
It may be a beauty or popularity contest between two belles
of the parish, or a popularity contest between two prominent
priests or business men or politicians or labor bosses or fire-
men or policemen or parochial school children. The friends
of the contestants are expected to express their opinion by
voting, paying so much for each ballot and being permitted to
buy as many ballots as they care to cast.
I know a priest who took in over ten thousand dollars from
a contest over a gold-headed cane between two labor bosses,
who had hundreds of men under them.
I know a priest who got up a contest over a gold chalice
between his parish and some mythical parish in a neighboring
city. His own people worked like beavers, but the mythical
parish won the chalice.
482 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
At a church fair in the east a contest was gotten up
between two parishes over the popularity of their respective
pastors. The rivalry ran high. It ended at midnight on a
Saturday or rather in the early hours of Sunday morning, in
a free fight, at which blood was spilled, and the edifice had to
be rededicated.
Disreputable people are often forced to champion the
contestants at church fair contests and to give generously.
These contests are simply, in the language of a lately prominent
German Catholic pastor, a " sandbagging of the people."
The good Catholic people are scandalized by these annual
fairs, filled, as they are, with all sorts of questionable attrac-
tions. Devout Catholic people blush over these scandalous
performances and try to ease their consciences by the pious
reflection : " O, well, it is for the glory of God and His
Church ! " Poor, deluded people ! It is not for the Glory of
God and his Church, but, as a rule, the proceeds go into the
insatiate maw of a grafting priest.
THE PAULIST FATHERS' FAIR.
On the opening night there was a prize fight between two
children aged eight and ten years. There were other prize
fights during the fair, and on Friday night, February the iQth,
(the first Friday in Lent and the Feast of the Passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ) a prize-fighter got his nose smashed in
the prize-ring in the sanctuary, while in the church above him
devout worshipers were going through the Stations of the
Cross, led by one of their fathers in God. There were at this
fair (in violation of the civil law) two of the most up-to-date
slot machines and a wheel of forune. There were also special
booths for fortune telling. Cigars and soft drinks were sold.
All kinds of raffles were conducted, one of them being for a
horse which had been presented by a convert. It was won
by one of the parish priests. One night a newsboys' band at-
tended and made so much music that the devotions and con-
GRAFT. 483
fessions in the upper church were abandoned. This fair ran
into the third week in Lent, the season of prayer, penance and
fasting. A polLeman was detailed to receive the tickets or
entrance fee at the door. The slot machines were a few feet
away from him.
The life work of the Paulists is the conversion of the
non-Catholics.
Jesus Christ scourged the money changers, or grafters,
from the temple. What would have happened to the holy
Paulist fathers if He had visited their church fair?
I respectfully suggest to the Paulist fathers that running
gambling devices and prize-fights in the church is not the way
to win non-Catholics to embrace our Holy religion.
This parish hopes to have a parish school in compliance
with the statutes of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore.
This is an old parish, and during many years of its ex-
istence, it had an immense income. The site of the first edi-
fice, which was burned, is worth hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Why should there be any debt on this parish? It
faces extinction because of its debts. Where has the great
cash income gone ? What has been done with its most valuable
land?
THE POOR Box GRAFT.
Even the necessities of the poor yield graft to Catholic
pastors. The world at large labors under the delusion that
priests and prelates are very solicitous about the poor. In
every Catholic church there are prominently displayed poor
boxes in which offerings are deposited by the Catholic people
to relieve the necessities of the indigent and the unfortunate.
The Catholic people give liberally. Do the poor get the bene-
fit of the contributions? No, they do not. The pastor is the
only one who has the key to the poor box. The poor box
funds go to swell the pastor's graft.
I have heard Catholic priests say that the giving of alms
has a most pernicious influence upon the poor; that it de-
484 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
moralizes them ; that it gets them into the habit of getting in-
stead of giving, and that it induces the poor to settle in the
parishes where they get help ; consequently, while they urge
their people to fill the poor boxes, still they feel it to be their
bounden duty to protect the poor against the pernicious effects
of philanthropy, and this they do by deliberately misappro-
priating the money to their own selfish purposes.
ST. ANTHONY GRAFT.
Graft is made out of the devotion to St. Anthony. He
was born at Lisbon in 1195 and died near Padua in 1231. He
was a Franciscan monk, theologian and preacher in France
and Italy. About four hundred years after his death he ap-
peared to a lady in a dream and told her how the faithful could
have certain things granted through his intercession. He is
the saint whose favor is especially sought in matrimony, and
for the recovery of lost and stolen articles.
The devotion of St. Anthony consists of confession and
communion in the church on nine consecutive Tuesdays. A
statue of the saint is erected in the church and near it is placed
a box to receive cash offerings of those who seek his inter-
cession, the amount of the offering being an evidence of the
petitioner's faith little faith indicated by a small offering and
great faith by a big offering. The people are taught that it is
necessary to have great faith to secure the help of St. A.nthony.
The devotion to St. Anthony is becoming universal in
America. There was a time when the Franciscan churches
had a monopoly of the devotion. The priests of the other
parishes saw that they were losing money by the monopoly
of the Franciscans, so they resolved to establish the devotion
in their own churches ; and now in the various Catholic
churches there is a statue of St. Anthony with a box to receive
the cash offerings, and his devotion is eloquently urged upon
the Catholic people. Those who seek his intercession are num-
bered by hundreds of thousands.
GRAFT. 485
For ihe information of my readers I quote the following
excerpts from a Catholic work entitled " St. Anthony's Bread
for the Poor, and Prayers for Novenas and the Thirteen Tues-
days in Honor of the Saint," compiled by Monsignor Patrick
F. O'Hare, Rector of St. Anthony's Church, Brooklyn, New
York:
An instance of St. Anthony's gift of miracles and of his
readiness to exercise it to the profit of the poor, is recorded
in the process of his canonization. Close to the church that was
erected in Padua to his honor, shortly after his death, a baby
boy named Tomasino, twenty months old, was drowned in a
pond. The distracted mother, standing beside the corpse in
the presence of several friars and a crowd of workmen, prom-
ised the Saint that, if he would restore her son to life, she
would distribute among the poor a measure of corn equal to the
weight of the child. Instantly the dead babe awoke to new
life, and stretched out his arms to his mother. (Page 13.)
At Bourges a Jew called Guillard, was one of the bitterest
enemies of Catholicity. The powerful sermons of St. Anthony
had impressed, without entirely convincing, him. One day he
held a long discussion with Anthony upon the real pres-
ence of our Lord in the Eucharist, a dogma which, to his
mind, was altogether inadmissible. " Brother Anthony, I have
a mule," said the Jew ; " I will lock it up, and keep it without
food for three days. At the end of that time I will bring it
to the largest public square in the town, and there in pres-
ence of the people, I will offer it a feed of oats. You, on the
other hand, will come, carrying the Host, which, according to
you, is the true body of the man-God. If the mule refuses
the proffered food in order to prostrate itself before the mon-
strance, I will become a Catholic." It was a solemn challenge
and the Franciscan accepted it. During the interval the apos-
tle gave himself up to fasting and prayer. On the day ap-
pointed, Guillard made his appearance in the square, sur-
rounded by a multitude of his adherents. From the opposite
side Anthony approached, bearing the monstrance which con-
tained the Lamb of God. In the middle of the square he
stopped, and turning towards the mule, he addressed it in these
words : " In the name of thy Creator, whom I, though un-
worthy, hold in my hands, I enjoin and command thee, O be-
486 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ing deprived of reason, to come hither instantly and prostrate
thyself before thy God, so that, by this sign, unbelievers may
know that all creation is subject to the Lamb who is immolated
on our altars." At this same time one of the opposite party
offered the oats to the famished animal. The mule, without
taking the slightest notice of the food placed before it, obedi-
ent to the voice of the Saint, went straight to where he stood,
bent its knees before the Sacred Host, and remained in an atti-
tude of adoration. At the sight of this evident marvel, the
air was rent with the applause of the Catholics. The owner
of the mule honestly acknowledged _his defeat, and, faithful
to his promise, publicly abjured his errors. Many of the sec-
taries present, who had begun to doubt and sincerely sought
for truth, were also received into the Catholic Church. (Pages
42 and 43.)
I have heard of men who dressed themselves in the skins
of bears and other animals and performed in circuses, and the
spectators believed that they were gazing on remarkable mem-
bers of the animal kingdom. I wonder if these performers did
not get the idea from reading about the pious mule of the
guileless Jew converted by St. Anthony!
What a fortune P. T. Barnum would have made out of
that famished mule which preferred the adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament to a feed of oats ! ! !
I take the following from the last mentioned work of
Monsignor O'Hare:
(St. Anthony's) funeral took place on June I7th, (1231)
and was of the most imposing description. The mournful
character of the burial was changed into a continuous tri-
umphal ovation, on account of the numbers and astounding
nature of the miracles operated that day. The blind, the
deaf, the paralytic implored the aid of the " Wonder Worker,"
and all who touched his humble coffin were at once delivered
from their infirmities. The gratitude of the people thereupon
consecrated Tuesday to the honor of the Saint. Crowds gath-
ered at his tomb on this day by preference, and it was the gen-
eral belief at Padua that one would obtain on this day what-
ever was asked of God through this Saint. This practice,
which had spread far and wide, received a new and surpris-
GRAFT.
487
ST. ANTHONY'S MULE MIRACLE.
See said miracle, page 485.
488
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ST. ANTHONY'S FISH MIRACLE.
If the Roman Catholic school endures in this country, within
twenty-live years its children will be learning more about St. Anthony
than Abraham Lincoln, and instead of being taught about his abolition
of slavery, the children of the Roman Catholic school will be taught
the same idiotic tale which they are taught now, of St. Anthony going
down to the seashore and calling on the fish to hear the gospel ; they
will be told that the fish came out of the sea in multitudes, and after
ranging themselves in orderly battalions with their heads out of the
water, they drank in the gracious words of advice and comfort of
the Saint.
GRAFT. 489
!ng impetus centuries afterwards. It occurred in this way.
A noble lady in Bologna, in the year 1617, besought a favor
of St. Anthony with much fervor and earnestness. For twen-
ty-two years she had vainly desired that her marriage might
be blessed with offspring. One night she saw the Saint in
a dream. " Visit," he said to her, " for nine Tuesdays my
statue in the Church of St. Francis, and your prayers will be
heard." The pious woman hastened to obey the directions of
the Saint, and as a result of her fidelity and perseverance ob-
tained the favor she so ardently desired. This happy response
to prayer was soon noised abroad, and the devotion of the nine
Tuesdays began to be practiced -by countless souls. ( Pages
31 and 32.)
St. Anthony does not belong to the city of Padua alone;
he is the Saint of the whole world. Leo XIII. (Title page.)
The Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure, declares that all
miraculous graces may be obtained throngh the intercession
of St. Anthony. This intercession is sought chiefly for the
following objects :
1. For the restoration to their owners of lost and stolen
things.
2. For the recovery of health in all kinds of sickness.
3. For a knowledge of the will of God, regarding ourselves
and others relative to the choice of an occupation or vocation.
4. For the happy issue of our undertakings, whether they
concern the honor of God, the welfare of our souls, or even
mere temporal blessings. (Page 34.)
The rich and the poor meet at St. Anthony's box. St.
Anthony procures for the poor who invoke him the aid of the
wealthy and providential blessings, and he obtains for the rich
abundant favors, spiritual and temporal, but only on condition
that they succor the indigent and distressed. . . The rich man
must share with the beggar in this world if he would have fel-
lowship and portion with him in the next (for) the poor are
they of whom it is said that theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Page 23.)
Within the past twelve years St. Anthony graft is made
more, especially- under the devotion of St. Anthony's Bread
for the Poor. This devotion seems to have begun about
490 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
March, 1890, in the shop of Louise Bouffier, a humble linen-
draper of Toulon, France. I quote again :
The fame of St. Anthony's bounty at the little shrine back
of the Bouffier linen-shop of Toulon spread quickly, not only
throughout that city, but also all over France; it passed to
Spain, to Italy, to Belgium, to Portugal, and to all other parts
of Europe. Thence the glad tidings were carried to America,
to Asia, to Africa, and to Oceanica. The good news has cir-
cled the globe. Everywhere St. Anthony is confidently in-
voked. The Saint of the whole world, as Pope Leo calls him,
is teaching the world that charity is the wide avenue to the
favor of heaven. (Pages 15 and 16.)
It is exceedingly easy to inaugurate the work of St.
Anthony's Bread, whether in the aim of consecrating the pro-
ceeds to the material necessities of the poor of a parish, of an
orphan asylum, a community, or to the maintenance of a
Catholic school. All that is requisite is to erect a statue, or
even a simple picture of St. Anthony of Padua in some con-
spicuous place in a church or chapel, that it may be of ready
access to the public. A poor-box for offerings is placed at the
foot of the statue or picture of the Saint, and the thing is ac-
complished. (Page 19.)
The widow's mite and the rich man's offerings are alike
dropped into the wooden box at the foot of St. Anthony's
Statue. Money literally flows through this channel, and be-
comes changed into bread for the poor. (!!!) (Page 5.)
The rector of a parish holds the key to St. Anthony's poor
box, and the offerings put into it go to swell his receipts from
clerical graft.
RELIC GRAFT.
A regular trade is carried on in sacred relics. Graft is
made in this way by the ecclesiastics who supply the demand.
Clerical friends, who were educated in Rome, assure me that
Church authorities at Rome palm off embalmed corpses upon
foreign priests and prelates, representing them to be the bodies
of Saints. The purchasers, as a rule, know they are being de-
ceived but since they get a written authentication which en-
GRAFT. 491
ables them to dupe their parishioners and subjects at home,
they are willing to pay the price. In like manner, pieces of
bone and other so-called sacred things are trafficked in.
A grafting pastor turns the possession of a relic into a
source of great gain for himself. He preys upon the credulity
of the honest Catholic people by craftily recommending de-
votion to the relic which he has in the church, and he will
arouse their enthusiasm by wonderful tales of marvelous bene-
fits which devout Catholics in various places, at home and
abroad, have experienced from devotions to such relics.
I do not deny that there are in existence genuine relics,
and I do not impugn the teaching of the Church in reference
to the edification which may be derived by the Catholic people
from a proper attitude towards them ; but I do protest against
the manifest fraud and graft which are more and more com-
ing into evidence in our day in connection with the acquirement
of and devotion to relics.
The American daily papers are constantly putting before
the people articles similar in purport to the following:
Chicago Tribune, August 15, 1904.
Piece of Cross in Gotham. Church. Unimportant Parish Pos-
sesses One of the Rarest Collections of Sacred Relics.
New York Bureau Chicago Tribune, New York, Aug. 14.
In the smallest Roman Catholic church in the city a
reliquary, said to be one of the most precious and representative
of any in America, was shown at mass to-day. It is the Bo-
hemian church of St. John, in East Seventy-first street. Au-
thenticated by the Vatican, and accompanied by a certificate
signed in 1842 by Cardinal Patruzi, then in charge of the Vat-
ican collection of sacred relics, the church has a cabinet col-
lection that cannot fail to impress the devout.
In the center, upon a silver cross, is a little piece of wood,
said to be a portion of the cross on which Christ was crucified.
Near this is a part of a red robe worn by the Savior after leav-
ing the sepulcher. There is also a scrap of the title of the in-
scription on the cross, a chip from the table of the last sup-
492
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
per, a shred of rope used to bind Jesus, a piece of the pillar
at which he was scourged, a splinter of the crib that held the
Christ child, a bit of soil from the grave of the Blessed Virgin,
and a piece of the cloak of St. Joseph.
Alongside the columns supporting the altar are affixed
small pieces of bones of the twelve apostles.
I assert that the foregoing article is a catering to a cre-
dulity which is a disgrace to the enlightened Catholicity of this
twentieth century.
My dear Catholic people, do you know how you are fooled
by these relic grafters? Let me tell you a few true things
which I imagine will be new to you in reference to relics. In
the first place it is highly probable that there are but few
genuine relics in existence, and it is improbable that many,
if any, relics are genuine which claim to date from before
the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. The people, centuries
ago, cared very little for antiquities. Nations then were com-
paratively small and they were constantly warring. During
the first few centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
his followers were poor, despised and inhumanly persecuted.
They were hunted like wild beasts, and their burial places
were desecrated. All of these conditions made against the
securing, preserving and passing down from generation to
generation of sacred articles, such as " a part of the red robe
worn by the Savior after leaving the sepukher," " a scrap of
the title of the inscription on the cross," " a chip from the ta-
ble of the last supper," " a splinter of the crib that held the
Christ child," etc. Dr. Pastor, the great Catholic historian,
openly confesses that the men of the Middle Ages and of the
Renaissance had no sense of reverence for the past; he says :
In truth, the men of the Renaissance had as little sense
of reverence for the past as those of the Middle Ages. . . The
passion for the new style stifled all interest in the monuments
of former days. It would be unjust in blaming the Renais-
sance period for its reckless destruction of precious memorials,
not to point out that the men of the Middle Ages were not
GRAFT. 493
one whit less indifferent; in the 1 3th century the famous
tomb of St. Bardo at Mayence was demolished, and not a
trace of it is left. . . The Carolingian tombs at St. Alban
near Mayence completely disappeared during the early me-
diaeval times. In the I3th century, the old cathedrals at Co-
logne, Spires, Worms, etc., were treated in a similar manner.
The feeling that we designate as piety, reverence, seemed un-
known in the Middle Ages. (Dr. Pastor's History of the
Popes, Vol. VI., p. 477.)
History teaches that finally a traffic in antiquities (and
this included relics) sprang up, and that deliberate deception
was practiced. Dr. Pastor says :
The demand for antiquities became so keen that the ex-
treme difficulty of procuring them is often mentioned. George
of Negroponte, writing from Rome in 1507, says, "The mo-
ment anything is found, innumerable bidders for it start up."
From the same letter we gather that a flourishing trade in
such things was carried on by speculators, the prices con-
stantly rising and falling.
The rage for discoveries of course produced many forger-
ies inspired by vanity or desire for gain. (Dr. Pastor's His-
tory of the Popes, Vol. VI., p. 491.)
The crusaders who went to the Hcly Land did not want
to return home without some tangible proof of their having
been to Palestine, so they bought relics to take back with them.
Kings and princes sought to show their zeal for religion by
securing relics and giving them to churches. Bad Popes and
Prelates greatly desired to secure relics because they saw the
endless graft they could make out of them.
The result of this traffic was the perpetuation of con-
stant frauds. Relic hunters abounded, and they did not scru-
ple to manufacture articles. In fact, there was often a dupli-
cation of relics. Two abbeys claimed at the same time to be
in possession of the crown of thorns worn by our Savior.
There have been other equally as disgraceful duplications of
relics.
494 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The Council of Trent treated the subject of relics in its
twenty-fifth session, held in December, 1563, and it expressed
its earnest desire for the removal of abuses, for the abolition
of unworthy gain in the veneration of relics, and of revelry on
the occasion of their visitation.
Churches which have celebrated relics are thronged with
worshipers, and thousands upon thousands of dollars are giv-
en in offerings by the deluded worshipers.
I often wonder how the twelve apostles feel over their
bones being broken into pieces and the pieces scattered over
the earth for grafting priests to use to filch money out of the
honest Catholic people. It is a wonder that the jaw-bones do
not begin to talk and give the graft away.
A distinguished clerical friend, who has lately traveled
abroad, recently toid me this : " From the persistent way in
which I saw Catholic ecclesiastics sell pieces of the ' True
Cross' the cross on which Christ was crucified I am con-
fident that they have already disposed of enough of it to fence
in the State of Kentucky."
CHARM GRAFT.
Little images of different saints are sold and blessed and
the owners carry them in their pockets in order to insure im-
mediate attention to their prayers. Among these are the fol-
lowing :
St. Anthony to help the owner recover lost articles.
St. Joseph to help the owner get rich.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus to help the owner get a hus-
band or wife as the need may be.
GROTTO GRAFT.
Many Catholic churches have grottoes. These are places
where shrines are placed. Statues of the Blessed Virgin, of
the infant Savior and of other holy beings are erected in them,
and the people are urged to go to them to pray for special
favors. As a rule they are made in imitation of rockeries, with
GRAFT. 495
moss and trickling water. The water is represented as pos-
sessing supernatural virtue, although it may be derived from
the city main or from a private pump. Sometimes ice is put
around the pipes in a hidden place and the cold of the water is
regarded as an evidence of its miraculous quality. Drinking
cups are conveniently placed, and the faithful are recom-
mended to drink freely and to take a supply home. Revolv-
ing candlesticks and offering boxes complete the scene.
Some of these grottoes are regarded as places where as-
tounding miracles are wrought.
I know a priest who is very prominent and wealthy. A
few years ago he established a grotto in his church, and an-
nounced publicly that he had imported several barrels of the
blessed water of Lourdes which the faithful could obtain at
the grotto. His barrels were like the cruse which held the
widow's oil in the time of the prophet Elijah they never
gave out though daily drawn upon.
Grotto graft goes to the pastor.
HOLY THURSDAY GRAFT.
The Blessed Sacrament is generally kept enclosed in the
tabernacle of the main altar. On Holy Thursday morning the
Blessed Sacrament is removed and carried in procession.
Priests and prelates, parochial teachers and pupils march in
the procession around the church, while the people kneel, and
the Blessed Sacrament is placed in what is called the altar of
repose. Hundreds of candles surround it as well as a pro-
fusion of costly flowers. At the foot of this last named altar
is placed a collection basket.
Catholic people from morning till night on Holy Thurs-
day come to church to kneel in front of this altar of repose
to adore the Blessed Sacrament. They are exhorted to put
liberal offerings into the collection basket. They do. Who
gets the money? The pastor.
496 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
GOOD FRIDAY OR HOLY LAND GRAFT.
In Catholic churches on Good Friday a crucifix (whicH
embraces a cross with a representation of Christ upon it) is
placed on a pillow just at the sanctuary rail and a collection
basket is put near it. The Catholic people are exhorted to
kiss the crucifix and are urged to place an offering in the bas-
ket ; they are told that the offering will be sent abroad and will
be used for the preservation and renovation of the holy places
in Palestine. As this solicitation occurs at the end of Lent
the good Catholic people are in a frame of mind to respond
gladly, and large offerings are accordingly made. Thousands
of Catholic people go to church on purpose to kiss the crucifix.
Who handles the contents of the basket? The rector.
Does the money get to Palestine? The only Holy Land it
reaches is the pocket of the grafting pastor.
HOLY SATURDAY GRAFT.
Holy Saturday is the day before Easter Sunday. On
it there are appropriate religious ceremonies, among them
being the blessing of the baptismal font and blessing water
for Easter which is known as " Easter Holy Water." Large
quantities of water are blessed, barrels and wash-tubs being
borrowed from the neighbors, liquor dealers and others to hold
the water.
In some churches this water is bottled by the priests,
kept on hand for sale and actually sold at so much per bottle.
Who gets the profits from this bottling industry?
This is not a small business, as Easter holy water is ex-
pected to be kept in the homes of the devout Catholics all
the year round, and to be supplied for twelve months they must
have an ample quantity.
There is a Jesuit parish in America which numbers twenty
thousand people where this bottling industry is particularly
in evidence.
GRAFT. 497
EASTER AND CHRISTMAS GRAFT.
The children of parochial schools are directed by the sis-
ters to bring in envelopes, furnished by the pastor, Easter
and Christmas offerings to the Church on those days. Pub-
lic inquiry is made by their teachers in the class rooms to as-
certain who neglected to bring these offerings. The question
is asked : " How many of you children did not bring an of-
fering? Those who did not will stand up." To stand up un-
der such circumstances is a great humiliation to a child. Those
who stand are directed to procure the proper envelopes and
to depart at once to secure the offering. Following' the Easter
of 1904 a parochial school teacher commanded all her children
to stand who had failed to bring in Easter offerings ; and she
severely reprimanded the delinquents, and said to them:
" When I was a little girl I always brought a Christmas and
Easter offering." One of the children asked, " Where did
you get the money, sister ? " "I got it from my parents," was
the reply; and thereupon the delinquent children were sent
home to ask their parents, many of whom were poor people,
for money to make an Easter offering. At that very time
their pastor was just recovering from a debauch.
For the Easter and Christmas offerings the pastors issue
thousands of envelopes, of different sizes and colors to fit thf
various ages and classes. These envelopes bear, as a rule, some
religious picture calculated to stir the religious emotions. The
pastor gets all these offerings.
At all the Masses on the Sunday preceding Easter and
Christmas the people get the Gospel of money instead of the
Gospel of Christ. They are urged to lay up treasure in heaven
by putting cash in the Easter and Christmas envelopes. They
are reminded of the heavenly mansions, and they are urged
to make, by a generous offering, their title good to a heavenly
house, on which there will be no taxes.
498 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
MISSION GRAFT.
I now call attention to mission grafting, and I will
describe an average case. The rector of a parish concludes
to have a mission. Such a mission is generally held once
every two years, alternating with a church fair. A mission is
a succession of religious services for the people of the parish.
As a rule it never lasts less than two weeks and in large par-
ishes it frequently runs four weeks, the first week being de-
voted to married women, the second week to the young women,
the third week to the married men, and the fourth week to the
young men. It opens at the Solemn High Mass on Sunday,
and services follow in the evenings and mornings of the days
of the mission, and sometimes on the afternoons of three or
four days the children are gathered together for special serv-
ices. Confessions are heard during the day and evening.
For the mission the rector engages preachers from some Re-
ligious Order. These preachers have " stock sermons " which
they have learned by heart and " fire off " in the various par-
ishes to which they are called for missions. The rector will
have, as a rule, preachers from a different Order at each suc-
ceeding mission. The mission is announced two or three
weeks ahead. Placards are put up, and handbills are given
out at the church door. The rector goes to dealers in religious
articles and gets rock bottom prices ; then he orders a stock
consisting of scapulars, rosaries, crucifixes, candlesticks, me-
dallions, holy water fonts, prayer books, religious pictures
of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and other
mission goods. These goods are placed in a booth in the rear
of the church or in the basement chapel or in the parochial
nail. Appropriate signs are placed calling attention to the
goods. The preachers urge the people to buy these goods, tell
them where they are to be found, and ask the people to bring
the purchased articles to the altar rail immediately cfter morn-
ing Masses to have them blessed, and some of them specially
indulgenced. These articles are sold to the people at two or
GRAFT.
499
three times their cost price. A collection is taken up at each
service, and sometimes an entrance fee is demanded at the
door in addition. The sermons deal with those things which
are calculated to quicken the devotion of the people and to
stir their liberality. The people contribute most generously
to these collections, which are taken up during the Masses
in the morning and immediately after the sermon in the even-
ing. The people are given to understand that all of these col-
lections, less a moderate amount for the maintenance of the
preachers during the mission, go into the coffers of the Re-
ligious Order to which the preachers belong, to be used to
educate young men for the missionary work of that Order.
At the end of the mission for each division of the people a
special collection is taken up for the same worthy purpose. The
preachers urge this collection and in this are earnestly sup-
plemented by the rector, who implores his people to be liberal
to the holy fathers. The preachers generally pass the col-
lection baskets which they frequently empty into large bas-
kets which are carried immediately after them by the pastor
and his assistants, who watch the people closely to discover
any who may fail to give and to keep the holy preachers from
slipping any of the collection into their own pockets. Dur-
ing the mission the people, particularly the women, make gen-
erous offerings to the preachers, outside of the collections, for
Masses for their living and deceased relatives and friends.
The services for each division end with a special sermon,
special collection and the Benediction of the Most Holy Sac-
rament and the Papal Blessing. All who attend the mission
a certain number of times, and go to confession and com-
munion, receive a plenary indulgence. A second plenary in-
dulgence is gained by all those who are present at the final
sermon, special collection, Benediction of the Most Holy Sacra-
ment and the Papal Blessing. Now, look at the graft! The
rector of the church gets all the collections and all the profit
on the sale of the religious articles. At the close of the mis-
500 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
sion for each division the people renew their baptismal vows,
sometimes the real or an imaginary baptismal font is erected,
and the people hold lighted candles in their hands. They buy
these candles from the rector, he making a profit on their
sale, and after the people have held the candles a few minutes
they extinguish them and they are collected by the altar boys
and are used afterwards in the service of the church, thus
saving the rector that much expense. He has both the can-
dles and the money!
A certain rector, who has at least fifteen thousand souls
in his parish, and is a hard drinker, concluded to have a mis-
sion. He engaged four Paulist preachers. He laid in a big
stock of religious goods. The Paulist Fathers came. On the
Saturday evening preceding the opening of the mission, he
expatiated on his own life as a priest and recounted his many
toils and sufferings in the vineyard of the Lord. He told of
his valor at the Battle of Gettysburg, and described how he
helped General Meade to hurl back from Cemetery Ridge the
valiant Confederates. The truth was that he never saw that
battle. Then he said : " We will open the holy mission to-
morrow morning, and I will sing the Solemn High Mass."
The leader of the Paulist band was warned not to depend upon
the rector's singing the High Mass. The leader then di-
rected one of his band to remain fasting so as to have some
one ready to take the pastor's place. The morning came and
a few minutes before the time for High Mass the rector said
he would not sing the Mass. He was not in a fit condition
because of drink. Were it not for the warning, one of the
priests would have had to say Mass, even though he had broken
his fast, to avoid the public scandal of having no Mass. The
rector announced, however, that he wanted a parade around
the church, preceding the solemn High Mass, to excite pub-
lic attention; so he had the priests and altar boys form in
line in the sacristy. The altar boys carried the cross, lighted
candles, holy water, thurible and incense. The missionary
GRAFT. 501
and parish priests were fully vested, and the rector brought
up the rear dressed in cassock, surplice, stole, cope and ber-
retta. They marched from the sacristy of the church into the
rectory, through the rectory into the garden and onto the
street, and then into the main entrance of the church, up the
center aisle, the pastor endeavoring to chant the De Profundis,
the Miserere and the Te Deum. They went to their respec-
tive places in the sanctuary. One of the Paulists was the cele-
brant of the Mass, and the other three were seated in chairs
in the center of the Sanctuary. The rector mounted the plat-
form of the altar, and turning around to the congregation of
at least 2000 people, and blessing himself, said : " In the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
Amen. My dear people, I am your pastor. I am a providen-
tial entity. I was sent by God to guide and direct you. I
have brought here these four wise young men to preach to
you. They cannot do so without my authority. I have got
my authority from God, and that authority I will now give
to them, and they will preach God's word to you." He stag-
gered down to the three Paulists, each of whom held a preach-
ing stole, and taking from their hands the stoles he kissed them
and put them on the Paulists and put his hands on their heads,
made the sign of the cross over them, looked towards heaven
and breathed on them. Then he said : " You have now re-
ceived the Holy Ghost through me, and you may preach to my
people." He then seated himself in the sanctuary, and the
Mass proceeded, but during it he continually interrupted by
giving unnecessary orders to the altar boys, whom he kept
running around in every direction in the sanctuary. This mis-
sion lasted four weeks and it netted the rector at least ten
thousand dollars in morning and evening collections, special
collections taken up at the end of the mission to each division
of the people, and profits on the sale of religious goods, which
total sum he put into his own pocket. The preachers got
through the confessional, and in private and voluntary of-
502 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
ferings, a large sum. The rector handed the preachers for
their profitable services only $400. The leader of the band
refused to leave the presbytery till he got $800, saying to
the pastor : " You are not going to have all of our blood
money." After a fierce contention he succeeded in getting
$800 out of the pastor's $10,000. The people who con-
tributed were given to understand from the altar by the mis-
sionaries and the pastor that the pastor was not getting any
of the money contributed, except just enough to cover the
living expenses of his missionary guests and the extra light-
ing bill for the church. They were urged with great earnest-
ness to make generous offerings. Some of them to my. per-
sonal knowledge borrowed money to put into the collections.
The faithful people thought that they were giving their money
to God. They had not the slightest suspicion that a game of
graft was being played upon them by the holy preachers and
their own reverend father in God. The poor people! Heaven,
help them !
During the month of June, 1904, a prominent Catholic
priest lost $50,000 in speculation. He went to the bucket shop
about his December wheat and found the place in charge of
the sheriff and the proprietors gone. Fortunately for him
several mission preachers were then conducting a mission in his
church, and at this time (Friday) the mission was about to
end. The mission preachers urge a collection on the last
Friday night of each mission, to be received on the following
Sunday, and on the night of this " black Friday " the people
present at the mission heard a plea for a large collection on
the following Sunday which for urgency surpassed any they
had ever heard before, and the object put before them was the
education of young missionaries and the conversion of Amer-
ica. The people were told that at least one dollar was wanted
from the poorest person in the parish and more from those
in better circumstances, and that God would return a thou-
sandfold whatever they might give. The preachers said thai
GRAFT. 503
if any one was so poor that he could not give a dollar at the clos-
ing service on Sunday, at which a plenary indulgence would be
obtained by those who would be present and discharge
all the obligations, they would advise him to take a street-
car ride instead of attending the service. When the collection
was taken on that Sunday night a basketful of money was
received. Surely it is the Catholic clerical gambler who has
a cinch on easily recouping his speculative losses !
I know of Catholic priests who have bought large stocks
of religious goods for missions, sold the goods at big profits,
and then refused to pay their bills, some of them having to
be sued, after vain appeals to their Bishops and Archbishops.
A nice picture this, people praying on such specially indul-
genced rosaries, and wearing such specially indulgenced scapu-
lars!
A recently appointed Archbishop, who was asked to com-
pel dead-beat priests to pay their bills, replied : " I did not
come here to become a collector. In addition, I am afraid
you will get into trouble; if those priests hear that you came
here they may boycott your store ! "
REVOLVING CANDLESTICK GRAFT.
Inside the sanctuary rail in many Catholic churches are
revolving candlesticks, provided with a number of tiers of
metal sockets, the tiers rising in diminishing diameter. Each
of these candlesticks will hold on an average about one hun-
dred candles. Two boxes are placed near these candlesticks,
one with a slot to permit the entry of money, and the other
box filled with small candles.
The faithful are taught that it is a holy and a wholesome
devotion to get one of these candles, light it and place it in
a vacant socket in the revolving candlestick, and they are
told that they may perform this devotion for any intention
imaginable. They are sometimes led to believe that if they
perform the devotion for a suffering soul in purgatory, that
504 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
that suffering soul ceases to burn at the very moment the
candle is lighted and remains free from pain during the burn-
ing of the candle, and that as soon as the candle dies out the
burning commences again.
In some of the churches there are two revolving candle-
sticks to accommodate the people.
Who gets the money that is deposited in the box? The
needy pastor.
CANDLEMAS DAY GRAFT.
Candlemas Day is the second of February annually. It
is the feast day of the purification of the Blessed Virgin.
On the Sunday preceding Candlemas Day an announce-
ment is made of Candlemas Day at each Mass, and families
of the parish are requested to bring a supply of candles, at
least a few pounds. Candles of the purest beeswax are re-
quired, and for fear that the people will not get the pure ar-
ticle in these days of adulteration the priests tell them that
they have bought a large supply of candles which they have
had analyzed and know to be absolutely pure, and that they can
be purchased in the sacristy or vestibule of the church on or be-
fore the morning of the feast. In fact the people are often pro-
hibited from purchasing candles elsewhere, and they are told
that if they buy elsewhere and present the candles for bless-
ing in the church that the blessing will be no good. The re-
sult is that the people purchase the clerical candles.
The candles presented by the people are placed in the
sanctuary before Mass on the day of the feast and they are
immediately blessed by the officiating priest. After Mass those
who presented candles receive back one and sometimes two
candles which they take to their homes to be used in case any
member of the family should require the last Sacraments;
and also to be used during lightning storms to keep away the
lightning.
The priest makes money in two ways on these candles.
He buys them cheap at wholesale and he sells them at retail
GRAFT. 505
at an immense profit. I am led to believe that the priests do
not secure pure beeswax but an inferior article. On Candle-
mas Day the priest gets back for nothing ninety out of every
hundred candles he has sold, and he keeps them presumably
for use on the altar, but few of them are so used because of the
prevalence of gas and electric light. In fact the priest sells
the candles over again on next Candlemas Day.
INDULGENCE GRAFT.
Catholic people are not strangers to various forms of in-
dulgences granted for the performance of various prescribed
religious duties, neither are they strangers to an incessant
demand for money at the services where these indulgences are
obtained.
Clerical grafters in America are making graft out of in-
dulgences just as truly as the clerical grafters of former days
made money out of them, even if the methods of getting the
graft are not just the same.
How strange it is that in the Church of Jesus Christ the
loyal and devout Catholic people cannot earn an indulgence
without having to look into a collection box !
SPECIAL COLLECTION GRAFT.
Pastors find many excuses for asking for special collec-
tions. Money is solicited for repairs to the parish buildings,
frescoing, painting, insurance, interest on debt, fuel, etc., etc.
The object itself may be worthy but it is used to filch money
out of the pockets of the faithful for selfish clerical ends. The
Catholic people are liberal contributors to these special col-
lections. They give far more than the object presented re-
quires, and the grafting pastor pockets the excess.
I know prominent pastors who say that special collections
should be taken frequently; that a month should never Be al-
lowed to go by without one; that special collections keep the
people in the habit of giving.
506 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Formerly the people gave to special objects by simply
putting their money into the collection baskets, but now the
custom is obtaining of having the people enclose their contri-
butions in envelopes which are given out on the preceding Sun-
day. On these envelopes the people must write their names,
addresses and amounts, and the pastor personally collects them
on Sunday. This new custom is followed so that the pastor
may know what the people give and who fail to contribute.
I have known pastors to say to their assistants, " Don't
dance attendance upon these people who do not contribute
when they are asked for money."
PETER'S PENCE GRAFT.
Even the taking of the Peter's Pence collection has been
made the opportunity for graft. The cry is made : " O, the
Holy Father is in great need of money ! Testify your love to
him and your faith in Holy Mother Church by liberal con-
tributions ! " The honest people make large responses. Does
all the money reach the Vatican ? No ! only a fraction. Who
gets the major part? Priests, over whom there is no financial
supervision.
The following resolution was passed by the American
Federation of Catholic Societies, at its convention in Detroit,
August, 1904:
Detroit Evening News, August 4, 1904, p. 6.
We commend to the societies which we represent in this
convention generous endeavors to increase the contributions
of the faithful known as Peter's Pence.
What a thoughtful and unselfish resolution !
Two priests were once gratefully discussing their large
Peter's Pence collections and rejoicing in the strong faith of
their people. Said one to the other : " How much did you
remit ? " " O, about a fourth," was the answer ; " how much
did you keep ? " " O, I always charge the Holy Father sev-
GRAFT. 507
enty-five per cent for taking up His collection," was the frank
response.
The Peter's Pence collection appeals especially to the poor
of all lands owing to their great faith and loyalty. I have
known poor people to actually borrow money to put into this
collection when their children were in need of food and clothes.
In view of the accumulated millions of dollars amassed
through the centuries by the Vatican, and the prodigality ex-
hibited by princes of the Church, I fail to see the righteousness
of calling yearly upon the poor Catholic people of the world
to give of their hard earned money to Rome.
I have seen poor people in Ireland walk barefoot, without
breakfast, carrying to the church a Peter's Pence offering.
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY GRAFT.
Pastors take up public collections, pursuant to the orders
of their Bishop and Archbishop, issued in obedience to the
command of the Holy Father, for the Catholic University at
Washington, D. C., which is expected to wield a dominant in-
fluence at the Capital of the Nation. The honest Catholic
people contribute liberally. Do their offerings find their way
to Washington? Yes, they do, that is, the balance that re-
mains after the pastor has deducted his commission for taking
up the collection.
I am led to believe that the funds of the University have
been grossly mismanaged. During the year 1904 the Catholic
world was startled by the news in the public press of the proba-
ble loss of all or the greater part of the vast funds of the
University by the business failure of a prominent Catholic
layman to whom, it was reported, the University had loaned
its money at an attractive rate of interest but with inadequate
attention to the security. The Catholic people will be called
upon to make the loss good, and Catholic clerical grafters are
correspondingly happy.
It might be interesting to know the records of the priests
who receive in this University what a humorous friend of
508 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
mine calls " a post-mortem education." I know a number of
them who are simply clerical blackguards.
SODALITY AND LODGE GRAFT.
The parish sodalities are fruitful sources of gain to the
rector. At stated times their members approach the Holy
Communion in a body, and they make a liberal offering to
the pastor. Every time a member dies his or her sodality has
a Mass said. In addition to these Masses, which are said fol-
lowing the decease of sodality members, often a sodality has
said during the year twelve Masses for the living and twelve
Masses for the dead, and the pastor receives an offering for
these. Retreats are given for sodality members to rest, restore
and strengthen them spiritually; but the retreat always ends
in a special collection, and a profitable business is done by the
pastor in religious articles. The sodality treasuries receive
money constantly from initiation fees and dues ; no embarrass-
ment happens to the custodian of these funds, however, by
reason of their bulk, for the pastor expects and receives pres-
ents of sodality cash. I have known of sodalities being dis-
banded which objected to clerical inroads upon their funds.
Some pastors handle all sodality money and never account for
it.
There are also in Catholic parishes what may be termed
lodges or courts of certain general Catholic Orders. No lodge
or court can be instituted without the permission of the parish
rector, for which he receives graft. Every time that a lodge
loses a member a High Mass must be said, for which the pastor
gets an offering. The members of each lodge or society ap-
proach the Holy Communion in a body at least once a year,
and they give the pastor an offering for a Mass, which he re-
ceives from them when the arrangement is made and which
Mass he may not say. These societies require doctors and
attorneys, and the pastor sees to it if he has any available pro-
fessional relatives that they secure the employment.
GRAFT. 509
Grafting- priests make money by electioneering for certain
candidates for office in various Catholic societies. Some of
them spend weeks, and even months, ahead of a convention
to secure votes to defeat certain candidates, and at the con-
vention itself they are indefatigable workers. Some of them
make long journeys for such electioneering graft. I know a
prelate who is over eighty years of age who traveled from
New York to St. Paul.
ADVERTISING GRAFT.
Church calendars, programmes for church fairs, com-
mencement days, picnics, etc., are lucrative sources of graft.
Business men not only make donations of merchandise, but
they pay liberally for space in the programmes.
Saloons are given space in them, and wines and liquors
for family and individual use are advertised.
This advertising graft is no trifling matter.
SACRAMENTAL GRAFT.
Certain articles are used by priests in their ministrations
to the sick. A sick call cabinet has been devised to hold these
things. The dealer will go to a pastor and ask permission
to sell the cabinet to the households of the parish. The pastor
grants his permission for a consideration. I have never known
these sick call cabinets to sell for less than five dollars and I
fail to see how they can possibly cost over a dollar apiece
to make. Every family is commanded to buy.
Commission deals are also made by pastors with dealers
in religious books, pictures and statuary, and the unsuspecting
people are urged to supply themselves with these things.
Sometimes these articles are represented as being specially in-
dulgenced by Rome, and larger prices are consequently de-
manded, whereas the fact is that articles which have been
blessed are forbidden to be sold by the law of the Church
they must be bought first and blessed afterwards.
510 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Theological students are much in evidence as canvassers
for these pious frauds.
SAVINGS BANK GRAFT.
The plan of the savings banks to induce people to save
and to deposit their savings by giving depositors small metal
banks in which they can place savings, but which the bank it-
self can only open, has been adopted by clerical grafters, and
now in Catholic parishes these metal banks are found in the
homes of the faithful. They are given out by the pastor to
hold the offerings from the family. The rector comes around
or sends his assistant once a month to open the banks and take
the contents. In some churches the people are told that
amounts and names will be called out at the end of the year.
This is done to frighten them into larger giving, and at the
same time to prevent the assistants from embezzling.
The people are taught that if they do not make generous
deposits in these banks they may expect the curse of God to
fall upon them.
ELEEMOSYNARY GRAFT.
The Catholic people are being importuned constantly in
their churches, homes, places of business, and fraternal so-
cieties to contribute for various Catholic eleemosynary enter-
prises both at home and abroad. Often the begging is done
by itinerant clerical solicitors.
The people who contribute do not know whether the ob-
ject is real or mythical. If it is a myth the contributions all
go to graft ; if it is genuine the contributors do not know how
much goes to it and how much to graft.
Resident pastors join hands with these itinerant grafters
and assist them in fleecing the faithful for a good round share
of the collections.
From what I know of the Bishops in Ireland I am cer-
tain that they would never send clerical collectors to America
to solicit funds for their churches if they knew of the grafting
GRAFT. 5H
and dissipation connected with such efforts here or the sources
from which much of the contributions come.
UNDERTAKING GRAFT.
There are priests who are in the undertaking business,
but they run it in the name of some relative or trusty in-
dividual. They virtually compel the dying to direct that Mr.
so and so (their own store) have charge of the funeral, or
they compel the relatives of the deceased to send the business
to him.
Other priests have commission arrangements with certain
undertakers. On each funeral which they get through
clerical influence they pay the Reverend Father in God a cer-
tain percentage.
Undertaking graft is likewise made at Catholic hospitals,
asylums and other institutions where inmates die.
EMPLOYMENT GRAFT.
There are priests who do a thriving business in the big
cities in securing situations for Catholic men and women in
all lines of employment. Their charge depends upon the
amount of the monthly salary the employee receives. I have
known them to exact a hundred dollar fee.
"PULL" GRAFT.
There are influential pastors in the great American cities
who make a great deal of money by using their influence to
help law-breakers escape punishment and to get them out of
places of punishment after they have been convicted and sen-
tenced in the courts. They importune verbally and in writing
state's attorneys, judges, wardens, prison boards, State gov-
ernors and Congressmen, the range and direction of their ef-
forts being controlled by the amount of graft and influence.
I have known priests to intercede verbally and in writing for
houses of prostitution. There are priests who have in their
possession diamonds, rings, watches and other articles of jew-
512 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
elry which were given to them by the thieves who stole them,
The watches they carry and the other articles of jewelry they
wear tvhen they are in lay costume, or they dispose of them
by sale or gift.
Thieves and murderers often escape their just deserts
at the hands of the law through the " pull " of clerical grafters.
SCHOOL PROCESSION GRAFT.
I know of parochial schools where processions of the
children are had which are simply dress parades, the garments
being; prescribed, and if the children can be persuaded to pur-
chase their outfits at certain stores then there is graft, and such
arrangements are usually made. The nuns generally sell to
the children wreaths, veils, sashes and ribbons. These pro-
cessions are also designed to entice the Catholic pupils of the
public schools to attend the parochial school so that they can
march in them.
In some of these processions the priest, marching at the
rear, carries the Blessed Sacrament, and the children marching
ahead strew his way with flowers which their parents had to
purchase, the parochial florist making a generous offering later
to the rector or to the teachers.
COMMENCEMENT DAY GRAFT.
Commencement day is one of graft in parochial schools.
From Easter till its arrival the school work is virtually aban-
doned, and all the children are drilled in exercises for gradua-
tion day, the graduating class being drilled in a play. On
commencement day the children have to appear in prescribed
suits, which they are often forced to rent through the rector
or teachers, and the parents, relatives, friends and strangers
pay a liberal entrance fee to see the children perform. Each
child makes an appearance if it is only to cross the stage.
Commencement day exercises are held in the largest halls
obtainable, and often theatres are procured. Sometimes they
GRAFT. 513
are held in the church, the sanctuary being used for the stage.
For weeks in advance of the rendition of the programme the
Catholic parochial school children run around day and night
peddling tickets, which range in price from fifty cents to one
dollar. The children are encouraged to make large sales of
tickets by little prizes, such as cheap rosary beads, scapulars
or medals. An immense number of tickets is usually sold.
Saloon-keepers are harassed by the importunities of the youth-
ful ticket sellers. Saloon-keepers are urged by the rector to
sell bundles of tickets to the brewers with whom they deal.
In many schools the certificate of graduation, signed by
the pastor, costs two dollars.
TUITION GRAFT.
The parochial schools demand tuition fees. These fees
are fixed by the parish rector. If there were no public schools
the Catholic parents would be absolutely at the mercy of any
sordid rector. The public school prevents Catholic parents
from being squeezed dry. Who gets the tuition fees? The
rector.
SCHOOL BOOK GRAFT.
I wonder if the dear Catholic people have ever thought
about the profit there is in parochial school books ! Well, there
is such a thing as parochial school book graft. It is a source
of great gain to those who have it in charge. Think, Catholic
people, of the books required for each child from the com-
mencement to the close of his or her parochial school educa-
tion ; think of the profit on all of these ; and then multiply that
profit by the hundreds of thousands of parochial school chil-
dren, and perhaps you will be able to comprehend the magni-
tude of this kind of easy graft.
About the only way for a parochial school superintendent
to stop this kind of grafting by parochial' school principals is
to erect a printing plant ; but then this simply transfers this
graft from the priest to his bishop or archbishop,
514 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Catholic people will do well if they ponder carefully the
action of any bishop or archbishop who starts a publishing
plant. It is not an enterprise which is as innocent and un-
selfish as it seems. Look closely and you will see that the idea
is conceived, brought forth and nurtured by graft.
ACCIDENT SUIT GRAFT.
The public has no idea of the money that is made by cler-
ical grafters out of accident suits. Every day, men, women
and children are being maimed by railways, street-cars, ele-
vators, defective side- walks, etc., and each injured one has a
claim for damages, whether well or poorly founded, and can
begin a suit for damages. If the injury is severe and the
negligence of the defendant is shown to have been gross a jury
may assess heavy damages.
Priests often act as settlement agents, and they make the
injured person pay liberally for such service.
This kind of graft is not to be ignored because in large
parishes of Catholic working people some one is injured almost
daily.
TESTIMONY GRAFT.
There are priests in the great American cities who do
not scruple to go on the witness stand in the courts of justice
as character or alibi witnesses, or to give other " necessary "
evidence, for graft.
I know several famous cases in which such priests have
appeared as witnesses. In one of these cases two Jesuit priests,
among the most prominent in the United States, appeared on
the witness stand, and under the solemnity of an oath testi-
fied in behalf of the defendant, who was charged with pollut-
ing the very fountains of justice. One of these Jesuits was
an alibi witness and the other was a character witness.
This graft is sporadic in its character, and I refer to it
to put judges and jurors on their guard.
GRAFT. 515
NATURALIZATION GRAFT.
There are priests in America who do not scruple to make
graft out of the naturalization of foreigners who have not
been in the United States the prescribed legal time but who for
personal reasons desire to become citizens, by assisting them to
secure naturalization papers.
JANITOR GRAFT.
A mercenary rector will make his pupils do janitor
work. I have seen young boys and girls cleaning the outside
of third story, windows in parochial school buildings, and they
had to sit or stand on the window ledge while working. They
also are compelled in some parochial schools to do inside
cleaning.
ASSEMBLY HALL GRAFT.
Assembly halls are provided in parochial schools. Such
halls are rented by rectors to various societies, and they pocket
the rent. They give dances in them and pocket the receipts.
They also rent them for dances.
A prominent pastor gave a dance (under the patronage
of the Young Ladies' Sodality of the Blessed Virgin) on St.
Patrick's night, 1904, in the assembly hall of his new school,
which had cost about $100,000.00, at which over three hun-
dred couples were present at a good fat fee apiece. He got
this dance money, and also the profits from the refreshment
counters. His receipts from the cigars and soft drinks were
not to be despised. Any parochial society in his parish which
refuses to rent that hall will have to disband. It is now
rented six months ahead for dances.
MIRACLE WORKING GRAFT.
There are priests who impose upon the credulity of Cath-
olics by claiming to be able to restore the health of the sick by
supernatural power. The news percolates through the ranks
of the faithful that Father so and so, because of his peculiar
516 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
sanctity of life, can heal the sick. Sick people seek out such
a priest, and he treats them by prayer, making the sign of the
cross, breathing upon them, applying holy water and by men-
tal suggestion.
They insinuate that they do not make any charge for their
treatment, but suggest that it would' help the treatment to
have some Masses said for which the patient can make an
offering. These miracle workers make great graft. The treat-
ments are administered at the rectories and at the homes of
the sick.
One priest made a specialty of working miracles by using
a certain brand of holy water which he put up. His labora-
tory was stocked with bottles and corks. In the corner was
an ordinary city water hydrant. He got tired blessing a
quantity of water from time to time so he blessed the city water
hydrant and then when he wanted holy water he just filled the
bottle directly from the faucet. The holy water was to be
taken internally and applied externally. I know of a case
where a poor workman gave him fifteen dollars to cure his
wife. All the poor man got for his money was a bottle of
this holy water. The wife died and the family was evicted
for non-payment of rent.
THE LAST STRAW.
Catholic clerical grafters even made money out of my
unjust and invalid excommunication of October, 1901. They
advised the people to get Masses said for my conversion, pre-
tending to be my warm friends in order to deceive the people.
A certain notoriously drunken and grafting rector
was particularly solicitous in my behalf. A gentleman went
to see him to arrange for a Requiem Mass, and noticing his
shaky appearance said : " Father, you seem to be very de-
crepit." " No wonder I seem so," replied the priest, " for
1 am on my knees day and night praying for Father Crowley ;
the doctors tell me that I am likely to get locomotor ataxia
from constant kneeling ; now look here, I know that you are a
GRAFT. 517
warm friend of Father Crowley; I am afraid there is very
little hope for his salvation; the only way that I can see to
save him is by Masses, High Masses, for these Low Masses are
no good; the High Masses never fail; when I go on the altar
in my unsullied vestments and the organ peals and I lift my
hands and raise my voice, my cry penetrates the courts of
heaven, reaches the Almighty, takes Him by violence and com-
pels Him to grant my prayer. Now, you are worth fifty thou-
sand dollars, and I am directed by God to tell you that you
ought to pay me at least half of your fortune to have me say
High Masses for the salvation of Father Crowley; and I will
also give you permission to go through the parish and solicit
others to follow your noble example." Up to date my friend
has wisely kept his estate intact.
I have reason to believe that large amounts of grait were
made in this way, because Masses were said for me from the
Atlantic to the Pacific at the suggestion of grafting priests.
The parochial school teachers had the children kneel and pray
for me in the class rooms. They also had them save their
pennies to make an offering for Masses in my behalf.
I know I have had God's blessing. The honest prayers of
the innocent children and misguided people no doubt brought
divine help to me to persevere in my crusade against sin.
THE HANDLING AND INVESTING OF GRAFT.
Who helps the pastor handle his graft? Some trusty
relative, such as a brother or a sister or a niece or a nephew
or a cousin. These relatives are usually found among the
regular inmates of parochial residences and are especially
in evidence during church fairs and missions, and at the Christ-
mas and Easter collections. They come to safeguard the paro-
chial funds and they most liberally reward themselves for
their arduous labors. Many of these relatives have large
bank accounts, and numerous real estate holdings. They get
inside tips on the location of new churches, and buy up the
desirable property and reap a handsome profit by the advance
518 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
in value produced by the establishment of a new parish. An
examination of the records of the various counties in which
are located the big cities, would disclose some very interesting
facts in reference to real estate being owned by priests and
their relatives.
The pastor's housekeeper is often the power behind the
throne, even though she may be no blood relation.
Some of my readers may say, " Well, I don't believe that
these Catholic priests have so much money, I never hear of
their investing any of it or paying taxes." Clerical grafters
are large investors in real estate in outside dioceses, and in
stocks and bonds, as well as in " get-rich-quick " enterprises.
Some of my readers may wonder how the various Cath-
olic hospitals, asylums, orphanages, etc., are supported, and
they may think that much of the money which the priests re-
ceive goes to these institutions. Not so. They are conducted
by various Religious Orders which solicit the necesary funds,
and they have no financial claim upon the rectors of parishes.
A SUGGESTION IN ARITHMETIC.
Catholic readers, why not estimate the income of your
pastors ? You know the number of worshipers who attend the
Masses said in your churches, and approximately the min-
imum which each one pays for a sitting ; you know the urgency
of the various church collections, and you can make a fair esti-
mate of the responses; you know about how many marriages,
funerals and baptisms occur in a year; you can form an ac-
curate idea of the success of the church mission, and of the
fair; you can make an accurate guess at the pastor's receipts
from sociables, picnics, card parties, dances, etc. You can
arrive at a reasonable estimate of the receipts from the paro-
chial school children for tuition. It will not be a difficult mat-
ter for you to estimate the rector's legitimate expenses. Make
the total of his receipts and disbursements and you will see
^something of the graft of which I complain.
GRAFT. 519
Let me help you, Catholic readers, to calculate the annual
receipts of your pastor by putting before you a conservative
hypothetical statement of the income of the rector of a small
city parish, and the income of the pastor of a large city parish.
Let us suppose that only two Masses are said on Sunday
in the small parish, and that 250 worshipers attend each
Mass; and that ten cents, on the average, is paid at the door
by each worshiper; this would equal $25 for each Mass or
$50 for both Masses. Suppose that ten cents, on the average,
is received from each worshiper, either as a contribution to
the Offertory collection or for a share in a Mass which is
to be said sometime during the week; this would equal $25
at each Mass or $50 at both Masses. Add together the $50
received at the door and the $50 received for shares
in the prospective Mass, and the result will be $100, which is
the income on one Sunday. Multiply this $100 by 52 and the
product will be $5,200, which is the amount that the pastor
receives for one year from his Sunday services alone. In ad-
dition to this amount he receives offerings on the six Holy
Days of Obligation, and proceeds from various forms of graft.
His total annual income is at least $10,000.
Now let us suppose that five Masses, (exclusive of the Mass
for the children), are said on Sunday in the large city parish,
and that, on the average, 1,500 worshipers attend each Mass;
and that ten cents, on the average, is paid at the door by each
worshiper; this would equal $150 for each Mass or $750 for
the five Masses. Suppose that ten cents, on the average, is
received from each worshiper, either as a contribution to the
Offertory collection or for a share in a Mass which is to
be said sometime during the week; this would equal $150 at
each Mass or $750 at the five Masses. Add together the $750
received at the door and the $750 received for shares in the
prospective Mass, and the result will be $1,500, which is the
income on one Sunday. Multiply this $1,500 by 52 and the
product will be $78,000, which is the amount that the pastor
520 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
receives for one year from his Sunday services alone. In
addition to this amount he, too, receives offerings on the six
Holy Days of Obligation, and proceeds from various forms of
graft. His total annual income is at least $100,000.
The pastor of a medium city parish is annually in receipt
of as much money as the Government of the United States
pays the President.
What does the good pastor do with his income? Does
he lessen the parish debt? Does he support benevolent insti-
tutions? Does he send it to the Pope? No, he uses it mainly
for his own convenience, pleasure and profit.
Assistant pastors receive from twenty-five to fifty dollars
a month, their food and shelter and their laundry, minus boiled
shirts, cuffs and lay-collars. It. takes a small amount of money
comparatively to pay the assistant pastor, the janitor, the gas
and coal bills, insurance and painting bills.
Catholic people, let me ask you again, what becomes of the
money received by your pastor? God and the rector alone
know. If you would really like to find out I suggest that you
ask your pastor, but let me caution you to secure police pro-
tection first.
CONCLUSION.
Leo XIII. said :
Let the workingman be urged and led to the worship
of God, to the earnest practice of religion, and, among other
things, to the keeping holy of Sundays and Holy-days. Let
him learn to reverence and love Holy Church, the common
Mother of us all ; and hence to obey the precepts of the
Church, and to frequent the Sacraments, since they are the
means ordained by God for obtaining forgiveness of sin
and for leading a holy life. (Great Encyclical Letters of Leo
XIII., p. 244.)
How can any sensible Catholic, rich or poor, be led to
the worship of God by clerical grafters? The sad fact is that
multitudes of honest Catholic people are becoming infidels
owing to the mercenary conduct of their Reverend Fathers and
GRAFT. 521
Lords in God, who are, as already explained, the officers of the
parochial school.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, warned the people
against the bad example of the Scribes and Pharisees, who
were their religious guides. Our Lord's words are strikingly
applicable to grafting and immoral Catholic priests and pre-
lates, and I quote from His sayings, as they appear in the
Catholic Bible, (St. Matthew's Gospel, Chap. XXIII, verses
13, 14, 25, 27, 28), as follows:
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because
you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you your-
selves do not enter in ; and those that are going in, you suffer
not to enter.
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; because you
devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this
you shall receive the greater judgment.
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; because you
make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within
you are full of rapine and uncleanness.
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; because
you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear
to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and
of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear to men
just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
The inordinate love of money by Catholic priests and
prelates is making atheists of Catholic people. The Catholic
laity cannot endure clerical avarice. In this connection I
quote as follows :
For the vice of avarice there seems to be less to be said
than for any other of the failings to which flesh is heir. We
remember from our days of the classics how even the pagans,
who made gods of some of the other vices, detested avarice.
We recollect how the Roman poet gives the lowest place in.
hell among parricides to those qui divitiis soli incubuere re-
pertis, adding, quae maxima tnrba cst (Virg. yn. vi. 610).
Milton makes the angel of wealth less attractive than any
other of the angels that fell:
522 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
" Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell
From heaven; for ev'n in heaven his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold,
Than aught divine, or holy else enjoy'd
In vision beatific."
Avarice was the ruin of the one bad Apostle. It ought
to be the most unnatural in followers of Him who had not
where to lay His head, and yet often it is looked upon as the
clerical vice.
Bishop Moriarty tells us that the laity hate the vice of
avarice in a priest more than any other. " When they talk
of a priest or of the priesthood there is no more frequent sub-
ject of conversation than our love of money or the amount of
money that we receive or possess. . . . They despise and
hate an avaricious priest. Avarice they never pardon, either
in life or in death. To them it is as the sin against the Holy
Ghost. It is quite clear that if the first preachers of the Gos-
pel admitted none to Mass who could not pay, and drove hard
bargains for their presence at the weddings of the first Chris-
tians, the world would never have been converted." (The
Priest, His Character and Work, by James Keatinge, Canon
and Administrator of St. George's Cathedral, Southwark, Eng-
land, and Diocesan Inspector of Schools, p. 115.)
It is said of St. Bernard :
His earnest desire and the yearning of his soul is ex-
pressed to the Pope in the following language : " Would that
I might have the happiness of seeing, before I die, the restora-
tion of that glorious age of the Church when the Apostles cast
out their nets, not in search of silver and gold, but to take
hauls of precious souls."
St. Bernard's earnest desire is my daily prayer.
CHAPTER VUI.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL PUPILS.
INADEQUATELY INSTRUCTED SECULARLY.
Having in preceding chapters dealt with the officials and
teachers of the parochial school, I deem it proper at this time
to consider the parochial school pupils.
As to the secular instruction imparted to children in the
parochial school I feel that I need say very little about its in-
adequacy in view of what I have said about the deficient
pedagogic talents and training of the parochial school officers
and teachers. Incompetent teachers in secular things cannot
give children the requisite instruction.
The fact is, the parochial school children are very inade-
quately instructed in purely secular knowledge, and the children
of the public school enter upon the duties of life incomparably
better informed and trained.
I have heard complaint after complaint from Catholic
parents that the parochial school did not fit their children
for life ; that their training lacked the virility necessary to meet
the multitudinous demands upon American manhood and
womanhood of this aggressive age; and that the parochial
school militated against the development of symmetrical char-
acter. I can readily understand how such ill effects should
result from parochial school training received under the prin-
cipalship of a drunken, sordid, or even worse, rector, and the
teaching of incompetent teachers.
I have known intelligent Catholic parents to summon up
enough courage to remove their children from the parochial
school and send them to the public school, notwithstanding
523
524 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
the threats of eternal damnation for themselves and for their
children uttered by priests and prelates. I have in mind now
the case of a bright child who was taken from the parochial
school by her parents and sent to the public school. In the
parochial school she was in the eighth grade but the public
school found her only fit for the fifth grade.
My understanding is that children who are taken out of
the parochial school and sent to the public school are always
put in a lower grade. Priests and prelates assert that they
are put into the lower grade through prejudice and to bring
a reproach upon the parochial school. This is a groundless
charge as any fair-minded person must feel when it is remem-
bered how many public school officers and teachers are Cath-
olics. The fact is that such Catholic children are placed in
the public school just where the parochial school has fitted
them to be put.
IRRELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
Now what are the facts in reference to the religious in-
struction imparted to the pupils of the parochial school? It
must be remembered that the necessity for daily indoctrinat-
ing the children with religious truth in the school room is the
supreme excuse offered for the existence of the parochial school.
I assert that the children of the parochial school receive
a religious training which is simply hypocritical, and instead
of being the foundation for the holding of a superstructure
of religion and morality its logical effect is the demoralization
of the child.
Precept and practice must go together in religious in-
struction or the result cannot fail to be disastrous to the pupil.
If an officer or a teacher of the parochial school teaches a
precept and then practices the opposite of that precept I hold
that the children are thereby trained for the kingdom of Satan
and not for the Kingdom of God. The evil effect of such in-
consistency in an instructor of youth is destructive when the
offender is a secular teacher and does not wear the sacred
PUPILS. 525
vestments of religion; but when that instructor or officer is
clad in a religious garb the teaching of righteousness and the
doing of iniquity simply mean moral and spiritual disaster
to the pupils. Precept and practice are lamentably foreign to
eath other in the lives of the officers and teachers of the paro-
chial school. The religious training of the parochial school
is worse than failure.
But in the parochial school there is, alas, what amounts
to a positive teaching of irreligion. When children are de-
liberately instructed to stultify their moral sense I assert that
irreligion is thereby taught. Let us glance at this irreligious
teaching. Parochial school children are taught that priests
and prelates are holy or supernatural beings. I have known
this kind of instruction to be imparted in parochial schools:
" Children, if a priest should tell you that your hand is mar-
ble, and an angel from heaven should at the same time tell
you that your hand is flesh, you must believe the priest and
disbelieve the angel ! " I make bold to say that the effect of
such teaching is to stultify a child.
The children are taught to attribute manifest clerical
delinquencies to a religious cause, and thus they are led to
stultify themselves intellectually and morally. A drunken
priest staggered in the presence of parochial school children,
and the nun said, " O, the dear priest ! He is so weak ! he has
been making a no-vena, he has been fasting and praying for
nine days, and he. is so weak that he can hardly walk." That
drunken priest was the pastor of that parish and consequently
the principal of that parochial school. He was constantly under
the influence of drink, and the nuns and children knew it. In
fact, he at that very time had been an habitual drunkard for
over a quartei of a century, and is to-day. I heard him say
repeatedly : " The education and enlightenment of the Cath-
olic children will be the ruination of the Church." In his paro-
chial school there are 15 nuns and about 1200 pupils.
Parochial school children have their moral sense blunted
by being taught that God will eternally damn the Catholic
526
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
who exposes a bad priest. The children see in this instruction
a scheme to cloak sin, and it leads them to regard with horror
a God who is in league with bad priests to protect and keep
them in power.
In a large Jesuit school a nun told her class, " Children,
you may not have heard that there are bad priests, but when
you grow up you will probably hear about them and see them.
You must pay no attention to what you hear and see about
them; you must not give it a thought, no matter how bad
they may be, for they are the ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
If you hear about them you must close your ears, and if you
see them you must close your eyes, and you must close your
mouths ; you are bound by the laws of God to close your ears,
your eyes and your mouths. Never speak about bad priests;
if you do something dreadful will surely happen to you."
Then she told the children some terrible things which she said
had befallen Catholics who had talked about bad priests.
CHILDREN DEMORALIZED.
Parochial school children are positively demoralized by
the use that is made of the parochial schools by the officers
and teachers in connection with parish fairs. In the preced-
ing chapter I described various kinds of church fair graft,
and promised to show later the pernicious influence of church
fairs upon the parochial school children. I now undertake
to fulfill that promise.
The parochial school is the powerful auxiliary of the
iniquitous church fair. Its children are compelled to do their
utmost to make the church fair a financial success. I have al-
ready stated that the parochial school principal gets all the
money.
Priests permit the desecration of their churches, for in
many instances the fairs are held in church basements. These
basements are a duplicate of the upstairs part, being furnished
with altars, sanctuary, baptismal font, pews, and choir plat-
form with organ. Funeral Masses and Mass for the children
PUPILS. 527 '
on Sundays are often said in these basements, and the con-
fessional boxes are located in them. The basement is as holy
as any other part of the church. When fairs are held in these
basements the pews are removed, the choir platform is en-
larged to accommodate musicians who furnish dance music,
and also to accommodate professional vaudeville performers
who are hired by the pastor.
Some pastors have dancing at these fairs in the church;
others have wheels of fortune and slot machines; some have
all these things; some have part of them. At some of the
fairs they sell liquor. They also raffle bottles of whiskey on
one occasion a little girl won a bottle of whiskey and she and
her little companion drank it and nearly died ; and at the same
fair a little girl won two bottles of whiskey which she took
home, and her parents used it, got drunk and into a fight and
the husband lost his job.
As a rule these fairs, whether held in the church basement
or not, have on Saturday nights special attractions to draw
the people and they close at one or two o'clock Sunday morn-
ing. Dancing, slot machines and other money-making schemes
run till the last minute. These slot machines are prohibited
by law, and saloon and other users of them are severely pun-
ished, but Catholic rectors use them with impunity at their
church fairs. The Catholic pastors get slot machines which
have actually been confiscated by the civil authorities. The
public should remember that at Catholic fairs all the articles
are raffled, chance-books being issued against each article and
chances sold as widely as possible, the raffle taking place upon
the closing nights of the fair. The fairs often last two, three or
four weeks.
Catholic girls at these church fairs are brought into con-
tact with the vicious and the lewd. They are given chance-
books which contain numbered tickets, each ticket entitling
the holder to one chance at the drawing of some prize. These
girls are encouraged to make large sales of these chance
528 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tickets, and they go to all sorts of persons; I myself have
seen them coming out of disreputable saloons with chance-
books in their hands at a late hour of the night. A lamentable
number of these poor innocent girls take their first lesson in
harlotry upon these trips for the sale of chance tickets. It is
notorious that lustful men patronize these church fairs because
at them they have the opportunity to form the acquaintance
of lovely, virtuous Catholic girls, whom they could never meet
under other auspices; and it is equally notorious that all over
the country, multitudes of these beautiful girls have been se-
duced by these men. As soon as a man enters the fair a lady
runs toward him begging him to " take a chance ! " This in-
nocent remark gives him a chance to indulge in vile innuendo.
No introductions are necessary at these church fairs in fact
an introduction would be regarded as an insult. The ladies,
young and old, are all on the reception committee. These
ladies are given this license to act in this free and easy way
in order to increase the receipts of the fair "for the greater
honor and glory of God ! ! !"
Catholic boys are taught and encouraged to smoke, drink
and gamble at these fairs. Priests and laymen at these fairs
in the church smoke cigars and cigarettes. Tobacco is sold
in the church. The next Sunday these priests preach against
vice ! ! !
The necessity of making the fair a great success is urged
upon the children and the teachers on and off the altar, and
in the parochial school class-room, during the several weeks
preceding the fair, and also while it is running. I know a
parochial school principal who tells his children publicly, half
in jest and half in earnest, that if their parents will not give
them money to spend at the church fair matinees they are
privileged to steal it. Some of them do not see the jest and
act on the earnest.
The parochial school, as a rule, gives its children two
half holidays to enable them to attend the fair, although this
is not necessary as the children are there night after night.
FOR GOD AND HIS CHURCH 1
530 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Some children get at these fairs their first lesson in em-
bezzlement. They spend the money which they collect on the
chance-books.
As a rule " blind pigs " are run at church fairs. Two
rectors in a prominent Archdiocese have taken out licenses
to sell liquor, which enables them to sell with impunity in the
school hall or church basement.
There was a cheap vaudeville at a certain fair held in
a parish church. Two of the actors seduced two of the parish
girls, and one of them had to be placed in the convent of the
Good Shepherd.
But this demoralization affects neighborhoods and brings
into its vortex all the children irrespective of the religious
beliefs of their parents. This statement is borne out by the
prevalence of " child gambling " schemes. About the begin-
ning of the spring, 1904, the Chicago press contained many
articles concerning " Child Gambling." Various schemes were
being operated in the vicinity of the schools to induce chil-
dren to gamble. The municipal authorities became aroused
to the enormity of the evil, and the police were instructed
to stamp it out. This " child gambling " is but a sequence
of " child gambling " at Catholic Church fairs.
Parochial schools are built near the parochial residences,
and the children are scandalized by seeing liquor wagons back
up to the priest's dwelling and unload large stocks of intoxi-
cating beverages. Temperance ladies have several times been
on the point of calling public attention to this pernicious con-
duct. And, yet, the public schools are " traps of the Devil ! ! ! "
Parochial school children may be subjected to outrageous
treatment, there being no set standards of humane discipline.
I know two little motherless Catholic girls who were sent to
a parochial school, the father willingly paying the required
tuition fees. These little girls were frequently made to do
janitor work. They were very delicate children, and the work
made them sick. Their father told them to tell the nun who
PUPILS. 531
was their teacher that he did not want them to do janitor
work. The children told the nun. Her answer was a severe
reprimand. She vented her wrath upon them by refusing to
permit them to go to the toilet room during school hours. Fi-
nally their father threatened to blow up the school if the brutal
treatment of his children occurred again. It ceased.
THE REAL NEED.
The only excuse of apparent worth for the existence in
America of the parochial school is that it is indispensable for
the holding of Catholic children in the faith. It is not a paro-
chial school education for the children but a godly training
in the home that Catholic parents should be concerned about,
and also a clean clergy to minister at the altar, the confessional
and other sacred places.
Let me ask the aged Catholic parents, is it not true that
you saw better priests and stronger faith years ago when there
were no parochial schools and when religious instruction in
the home was insisted upon? I believe your answer will be,
yes. Many intelligent Catholic parents who have raised large
families have assured me that this agrees with their obser-
vation and experience.
Leo XIII. once wrote : " The minds of children are most
influenced by the training they receive at home." Catholic
people, are you not losing sight of this great truth ? Is it not
the tendency of the parochial school to create in your minds
the thought that it relieves you as parents of the sacred duty
of training your children for God and society at home? I am
confident that there are Catholic parents who are making
the awful mistake of entertaining this false notion.
The Catholic Church in America needs for the holding
of her children to the faith, not the parochial school but priests
and prelates who are men of God, pure in heart, clean in
speech, Christlike in action, and patriotic in conduct. Such
priests will keep the children faithful till death.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AND THE LOSS OF THIRTY
MILLION CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES.
I assert that the parochial school has been a most potent
factor in causing the loss of thirty millions of communicants
which the Catholic Church has sustained in America. I have
reliable Catholic statistics which show that the Catholic Church
should now number over forty millions in this country, (ex-
clusive of the Philippine Islands and Porto Rico), while ac-
cording to the Catholic Directory for 1904 it has but 11,887,-
317.
I am indebted to an American Catholic gentleman of the
highest literary ability, who has an international reputation,
and is held in great honor by the Church, for the following
statistical argument :
The Catholic Directory of 1902 gives the total of the
Catholic community in the United States as 10,976,757. The
same authority states the same total, in 1890, as 8,301,367 souls,
an apparent increase during twelve years, of 2,675,390. Un-
der ordinary circumstances this would indicate a healthy prog-
ress. The increment for twelve years of the Roman Cath-
olic Church in the United States is greater than the total
membership of many important and flourishing sects. The
unthinking Roman Catholic lulls himself in the contempla-
tion of this pleasant prospect, and sees his Church marching
under stalwart leadership to the conversion of the whole peo-
ple.
There is another side. During the period from 1890 to
1902, according to available statistics, the immigration from
strictly Catholic countries was 2,482,284 persons. The coun-
tries from which this immigration originated are Austria, Bel-
gium, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Spain and
532
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 533
Ireland. An estimate of the German immigration of Roman
Catholic Faith has been included, but no account is taken in
the figures quoted above of the great Catholic immigration
from Russian Poland, nor of French Canadians. All statis-
ticians will admit that the exclusion of the factors mentioned
will more than compensate for any excessive statement in-
volved in the inclusion of the total immigration from the
countries named as Roman Catholic. It must also be noted that
the figures quoted from the Catholic Directory are complete
up to and including the early months of 1902, while the im-
migration statistics have not been brought down further than
June 30, 1901.
With this statement it will, therefore, be pertinent to restate
the facts in the form of a table so that the situation may be
seen at a glance :
10,976,757 Catholic population 1902
8,301,367 " " 1890
2,675,390 Increment of Catholic Population in 12 years.
2,482,284 Immigration from strictly Catholic countries
during same period.
193,106 Apparent increment by births, conversions, etc.,
during same period.
193,106 divided by twelve years give 16,092 and a fraction
as the annual natural increment of the Roman Catholic
Church in the United States during that same period.
This plain and straightforward statement of the situation
is startling. It shows that the Catholic Church in the United
States is nourished by an influx of new blood sufficient to
create a strong factor in the body politic. An element of pe-
culiar force in estimating the influence of this steady increment
is that the great majority of the persons who come to the
United States marry and raise large families. It is a matter
of common repute that the average number of a Roman Cath-
olic family is greater than among other classes of the general
population. Why, then, is it that the Catholic Church is
shrinking?
It is frequently suggested by Catholic ecclesiastics that
the figures given in the Catholic Directory are not accurate.
They should be. The statistics are made up from the re-
ports of the various pastors. It is not probable that any pas-
534 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
tor would deliberately understate the number of his flock.
The figures given in the Catholic Directory may be accepted
as a fair total.
Without further argument it may be assumed that in-
stead of holding its own and making inroads by conversion
into the membership of Protestant sects the Roman Catholic
Church in the United States is losing ground. The cold fig-
ures themselves are so eloquent that it needs no elaboration.
Roman Catholic statisticians who have made a study of the
question assert that the membership of the Catholic Church
in the United States should be 40,000,000. On the face of
affairs, therefore, some 30,000,000 have been sloughed away
from the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The
Jews and the Protestants can account for their membership,
and they have had a more or less steady acquisition of mem-
bership.
The loss from Roman Catholicity has gone to swell the
ranks of the atheists, the agnostics, the careless and the god-
less generally.
I now quote from the report of the convention of the
American Federation of Catholic Societies which was held
in Detroit, Michigan, in August, 1904, which appeared in the
fourth column of the fifth page of The Detroit Evening News,
as follows :
Bishop McFaul, of Trenton, N. J., followed with an ad-
dress on Catholic federation. He said the Catholic church
ought to number 40,000,000 instead of only 12,000,000. Sta-
tistics show, he said, that with emigrants and all 40,000,000
Catholics have entered the country, but through lack of organ-
ization they have dropped away from the church.
This admission of Bishop McFaul suggests three ques-
tions :
1. How many of the "twelve millions" are entirely out-
side the pale of the Church at heart and in practice ?
2. How many of the " twelve millions " are but nominal
Catholics ?
3. How many of the " twelve millions " are Roman Cath-
olics in the strict sense?
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 535
I venture the following answers. To the first question
about two millions; to the second question about four millions;
and to the third question less than six millions.
In this connection I quote the following from. The Cath-
olic Mirror, (the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons), issuf
of September 17, 1904, p. 7:
Bishop McFaul (in his address to the Federation of Cath-
olic Societies) referred to another matter of serious impor-
tance when he said that " if all the descendants of our Cath-
olic forefathers had remained true to their faith there would
be more than 40,000,000 Catholics in the United States to-day,
instead of 15,000,000."
This is a higher estimate of our Roman Catholic popu-
lation than is warranted by official statistics, but it may not
be excessive. However that may be, the immigration from
Roman Catholic countries alone since the foundation of the
republic must have been as many, and very much more if their
children born in this country are included. A great part of
these foreign Catholics and their descendants must have fallen
away from the faith, and the Bishop's estimate that if they
had all remained loyal our present Catholic population would
be 40,000,000 is moderate.
Placing the Blame.
The Parochial School Board of Education, superintend-
ents, principals and teachers, are largely responsible before
God for the loss of these thirty million Catholics. The paro-
chial school has bred and is breeding apostasy. No other re-
sult could happen in this land. This is America in the light
of the twentieth century and not in the darkness of medie-
valism. This is America under the sovereignty of the peo-
ple, with equality before the law, a free conscience, a free
press, a free school and free speech. This is America whose
very genius compels observation, investigation, reflection and
action, and relates them to the highest ideals the world has
ever known.
Bigotry is blasphemy, hypocrisy is sacrilege, and un-Amer-
icanism is the unpardonable sin in the temple of American
ideals.
536
Any church in America whose priests are bigoted, hypo-
critical and un-American will not only fail to win adherents
from the ranks of the outsiders, but she will inevitably lose her
own people. In no part of her economy will disaster more
certainly overtake her than in that which has to do with the
training of her young. The children's eyes may be blinded
with deception for a time, but there comes sight at last; and
then every day of past blindness will be an accentuation of the
resultant disappointment, pain, and loathing.
Have the Catholic children in the parochial school seen
bigotry, hypocrisy and un- Americanism ? I say that this ques-
tion finds an affirmative answer in the appalling loss of thirty
millions of members to the Catholic Church in America.
In The Catholic Citizen, published at Milwaukee, Wis-
consin, in its issue of December 21, 1901, appears an article
headed " Convent Education letter from a Chaplain," in de-
fence of the convent school. I quote from this article as fol-
lows:
What, then, would seem to be the reason for the falling
away in faith of some convent-bred girls, if such be the case?
To our mind, the causes,, which might be many, may be re-
duced to these: ist, the lack of virility in the faith taught;
2nd, the amount. Doubtless only too often the kind of faith
served up is a species of spiritual sweet-meat in the shape of
legendary lore, dubious private revelations, spurious miracles,
all of which become identified with real faith. As a conse-
quence, the girl, on leaving school, perceiving that much of
this is utter idiocy, might very easily lose a firm grip on faith
simply because of its previous identification with legend. Sec-
ondly, the amount ; that is, there might be a disposition on part
of certain religious to cram too much down their pupils in
the over-doing of devotions, sodalities, etc., etc. As a result,
the pupil, when school days are over, might, by force of re-
bound, fall into indifference even in essential spiritual duties.
They have been bred as a religious ; not having a vocation for
such a life, they must go to the other extreme, because unpre-
pared for the life they must lead in the world.
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 537
If the instruction described by this Chaplain causes con-
vent-bred girls to fall away from the faith, how much more
must the conditions I have described drive parochial school
children out of the Church ?
Leo XIII., in reviewing- his pontificate, said : " Our age ex-
acts lofty ideals, generous designs, and the exact observance of
the laws." (The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII., p 579).
These words are peculiarly true of the exactions of the Ameri-
can people. There is something in the free atmosphere of Ameri-
ca that makes the people keen to scent hypocrisy. Now, what
has been the situation broadcast through many years ? Simply
this : American Catholics have heaf d at Mass precepts falling
from the lips of their priests, and after Mass, often on the same
Sunday or Holy Day, they have seen those priests in a beastly
state of intoxication, and they have found them indulging in
pleasures and occupations at total variance with their sacred
calling. The scandalized Catholics have reflected upon the
facts put before them ; on the one hand they have had the
priest and the Eucharist, on the other hand the same priest
and worldliness, and, sad to relate, they have reasoned that if
the Real Presence of the Son of God could not keep the priest
pure there must be something amiss with the doctrine. They
have heard or read the words of St. Cyril, or similar words,
" Christ abiding in us lulls to sleep the law of the flesh which
rages in our members," and they have seen with astonishment
and sadness, and then disgust and disbelief, that the contrary
was true. To better put before my readers the awful incentive
to atheism which clerical misconduct engenders, I state now,
in the words of Leo XIII., what the Eucharist is supposed to
do for the Catholic priest:
The Eucharist, according to the testimony of the
Holy Fathers, should be regarded as in a manner a con-
tinuation and extension of the Incarnation. For in
and by it the substance of the Incarnate Word is united
with individual men, and the supreme Sacrifice offered on
Calvary is in a wondrous manner renewed, as was signified
538 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
beforehand by Malachy in the words: In every place there
is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a pure oblation.
And this miracle, itself the very greatest of its kind, is
accompanied by innumerable other miracles; for here all the
laws of nature are suspended ; the whole substance of the bread
and wine are changed into the body and the blood ; the species
of bread and wine are sustained by the divine power without
the support of any underlying substance ; the body of Christ
is present in many places at the same time, that is to say, where-
ever the Sacrament is consecrated. . . But that decay of faith
in divine things of which we have spoken is the effect not only
of pride, but also of moral corruption. For if it is true that
a strict morality improves the quickness of man's intellectual
powers, and if on the other hand, as the maxims of pagan
philosophy and the admonitions of divine wisdom combine to
teach us, the keenness of the mind is blunted by bodily pleas-
ures, how much more, in the region of revealed truths, do these
same pleasures obscure the light of faith, or even, by the just
judgment of God, entirely extinguish it. For these pleasures,
at the present day, an insatiable appetite rages, infecting all
classes as with an infectious disease, even from tender years.
Yet even for so terrible an evil there is a remedy close at hand
in the divine Eucharist. For in the first place it puts a check on
lust by increasing charity, according to the words of St. Augus-
tine, who says speaking of charity : " As it grows, lust diminish-
es ; when it reaches perfection, lust is no more." Moreover the
most chaste flesh of Jesus keeps down the rebellion of our flesh,
as St. Cyril of Alexandria taught, " For Christ abiding in us
lulls to sleep the law of the flesh which rages in our members."
Then, too, the special and most pleasant fruit of the Eucharist
is that which is signified in the words of the prophet: What
is the good thing of Him, that is, of Christ, and what is His
beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect and the wine that
engendereth virgins, producing, in other words, that flower
and fruitage of a strong and constant purpose of virginity
which, even in an age enervated by luxury, is daily multiplied
and spread abroad in the Catholic Church, with those advan-
tages to religion and to human society, wherever it is found,
which are plain to see. (The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo
xiii., pp. 524-525-)
At the Eucharistic Congress held in New York City in
the latter part of September, 1904, a " tender, pleading sermon "
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 539
was delivered by the Right Rev. Charles H. Colton, Bishop
of Buffalo, N. Y., his subject being the Holy Communion.
" With expressive eloquence he pictured the spiritual benefijts
that were the portion of those devoted to this fundamental dog-
ma of the Church, the real presence of the living God on the
altar." He said in part:
And as holy communion is the help we need to
resist temptation, even our Lord Himself has said un-
less we eat of His body and drink His blood we shall not have
life in us, so Holy Church makes it obligatory on the faithful
to receive holy communion at least once a year and exhorts
them knowing its wonderful effects to receive frequently. Wit-
ness her clergy, nourished with the precious body and blood
of Christ in the daily mass : witness her religious receiving
almost daily, and behold the thousands even in the world who
follow the same holy practice, and witness the results men
and women midst all this world's dangers, compelled to experi-
ence its temptations the temptations from Satan and the cor-
ruption of fallen nature yet leading holy and spotless lives;
for holy communion is indeed for them the bread of the strong,
the bread of angels, the bread of life, and the wine that maketh
virgins. The Catholic Union and Times, Buffalo, N. Y.,
October 6, 1904, p. i.
Now, over against these words of the late Pontiff, and
the deliverance of Bishop Colton, put priestly drunkenness,
grafting and immorality! W T hat must be the effect? I hold
that it drives Catholic people away from their Church.
Catholic people, who leave the Church, do not join other
sects they swell the ranks of the atheists. I assert again
that an tin priestly priesthood is to blame for the appalling loss
of Catholic communicants in the United States of America.
In this connection I quote from the utterances of the An-
gelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, as follows :
Hypocrisy would seem to be the worst of all sins. For,
Our Lord inveighed more forcibly against hypocrites, than
against any other class of sinners. St. Gregory says (in Pas-
toral), " None do more harm in the Church, than sinners who
540 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
have a reputation for, or appearance of, sanctity." (An Apol-
ogy for the Religious Orders, by St. Thomas Aquinas, p. 253.)
The Holy Father is greatly concerned over the general
falling away from the Catholic Church, as will be seen by the
following excerpt from His first Encyclical as the same ap-
peared in The New York Freeman's Journal and Catholic
Register of October 17, 1903.
SOCIETY'S MALIGNANT DISEASE APOSTASY FROM GOD.
Then again, to omit other motives, we were terrified
beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society to-day.
For who can fail to see that society is now, more than in any
past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady
which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being,
is dragging it to destruction? You understand, venerable
brothers, what this disease is apostasy from God, than which
in truth nothing is more allied with ruin, according to the word
of the prophet : " For behold they that go far from Thee shall
perish" (i) (i, Ps. Ixxii., 17). We saw, therefore, that,
in virtue of the ministry of the Pontificate which was to be
intrusted to us, we must hasten to find a remedy for this
great evil, considering as addressed to us that divine command :
" Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over king-
doms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to de-
stroy, and to build, and to plant." (2) 2, Jerem. 1., 10).
But, cognizant of our weakness we recoiled in terror from a
task as urgent as it is arduous.
Since, however, it has been pleasing to the Divine Will
to raise our lowliness to such sublimity of power, we take
courage in Him W 7 ho strengthens us, and, setting ourself to
work, relying on the power of God, we proclaim that we have
no other programme in the Supreme Pontificate but that " of
restoring all things in Christ," (3) (3, Ephes. i., 10) so that
"Christ may be all and in all" (4) (4. Coloss. iii., 2).
Some will certainly be found who, measuring divine things
by human standards, will seek to discover secret aims of ours,
distorting them to an earthly scope and to partisan designs.
To eliminate all vain delusion for such we say to them with
emphasis that we do not wish to be, and with the divine as-
sistance never shall be, aught before human society but the
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 541
minister of God, of whose authority we are the depositary.
The interests of God shall be our interests, and for these we
are resolved to spend all our strength and our very life. Hence
should anyone ask us for a symbol as the expression of our will,
we will give this and no other : " To renew all things in Christ."
THE WAR ON GOD.
In undertaking this glorious task we are greatly quickened
by the certainty that we shall have all of you, venerable brothers,
as generous co-operators. Did we doubt it we should have to
regard you, unjustly, as either unconscious or heedless of that
sacrilegious war which is now, almost everywhere, stirred up
and fomented against God. For in truth " the nations have
raged and the peoples imagined vain things" (5) (5, Ps. ii.,
i) against their Creator, so frequent is the cry of the enemies
of God: "Depart from us" (6) (6, Job xxi., 14). And as
might be expected we find extinguished among the majority
of men all respect for the Eternal God, and no regard paid
in the manifestations of public and private life to the Supreme
Will nay, every effort and every artifice is used to destroy
utterly the memory and the knowledge of God. . .
There are not lacking among the clergy those who adapt
themselves according to their bent to works of more apparent
than real solidity but not so numerous, perhaps, are those
who, after the example of Christ, take to themselves the words
of the prophet : " The spirit of the Lord hath anointed me,
hath sent me to evangelize the poor, to announce freedom to
the captive and sight to the blind " (4) (4, Luke iv., 18, 19).
Yet who can fail to see, venerable brothers, that while men are
led by reason and liberty, the principal way to restore the em-
pire of God in their souls is religious instruction ? How many
there are who mimic Christ and abhor the Church and the Gos-
pel more through ignorance than through badness of mind,
of whom it may well be said : " They blaspheme all that they do
not know " (5) (5, Jud. ii., 10). This is found to be the case
not only among the people at large and among the lowest
classes, who are thus easily led astray, but even among the more
cultivated and among those endowed, moreover, with education
beyond the common. The result is for a great many the loss
of the faith. For it is not true that the progress of knowl-
edge extinguishes the faith rather it is ignorance, and the
more ignorance prevails the greater is the havoc wrought by
542 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
incredulity. And this is why Christ commanded the Apostles :
"Go teach all nations" (6) (6, Matth. xxviii., 19).
I humbly trust that this book will help His Holiness to
understand how the parochial school is contributing to the sad
apostasy in America.
It is my humble and profound conviction, the result of
many months patient and careful reading of historical works
of Catholic writers, that the great apostasy in the sixteenth
century was chiefly brought about by clerical drunkenness,
grafting and immorality similar to that which prevails in
America to-day. I cite in this connection Catholic authorities-:
The second work (of St. Ignatius De Loyola) . . was the
foundation of the Germanic College. . . The first idea of such
an institution occurred to Cardinal Morone, who, having resided
for many years in Germany as Nuncio, had seen the necessi-
tous condition of that country, abandoned to the heresy of
Luther, chiefly through the ignorance and immorality of the
clergy. (History of St. Ignatius De Loyola, Founder of the
Jesuits, by Father Daniel Bartoli, A Jesuit, Vol. 2, p. 369.)
In a report of the year 1430 we read : " Greed reigns su-
preme in the Roman Court, and day by day finds new devices
and artifices for extorting money from Germany, under pretext
of ecclesiastical fees. Hence much outcry, complaining and
heartburnings among scholars and courtiers; also many
questions in regard to the Papacy will arise, or else obedience
will ultimately be entirely renounced, to escape from these
outrageous exactions of the Italians ; and the latter course
would be, as I perceive, acceptable to many countries." It
is possible that certain statements in these reports are to be
rejected or considered as exaggerated, yet, on the whole, the
picture they present must be a true one, for Swiss, Poles, and
even Italians of that day have all borne similar testimony.
(Dr. Pastor's History of the Popes, Vol. I. p. 241.)
In 1584 he (St. Francis De Sales, one of the founders
of the Order of the Visitation) went to the university of Padua
to study canon and civil law, and completed his course in
1591 with great distinction. While there he put himself under
the spiritual direction of Father Possevin, a Jesuit, who, be-
LOSS OF THIRTY MILLIONS. 543
ing truly a man of God, spoke to the young student of the
wounds of the Church, which, he said, were in all cases trace-
able to the corruption of the clergy. (Dr. Alzog's Manual
of Universal Church History, Vol. III., p. 393.)
It has been frequently and justly remarked that the de-
generacy of the clergy, and their neglect to instruct the people
in their religious duties, thus bringing upon the latter innum-
erable corporal and spiritual evils, had prepared the way for the
introduction of Protestantism. (Dr. Alzog's Manual of Uni-
versal Church History, Vol. III., p. 386.)
Present conditions in the American hierarchy are similar
to those which prevailed at the opening of the sixteenth century.
Priestly rottenness begat then a schism in Church polity and
dogma : priestly rottenness is now producing a schism, on one
side of which stands the Church and on the other atheism.
Priestly rottenness was cloaked in the time of the great
apostasy, and the result was Protestantism: priestly rotten-
ness is being cloaked in our times and the result is atheism.
Church dignitaries attempted, using the forceful figure of
" the strong Archbishop," to " ram it down the throats of the
people that the priests were all right." They failed in the
sixteenth century ; they are failing now ; and one of the strong-
est proofs of this to my mind is the, loss to the Church in
America of thirty million adherents.
CHAPTER X.
APAISM.
HISTORICAL STATEMENT.
Apaism is a term which has been coined to designate
organized opposition in America to Catholicism. Primarily
it refers to the American Protective Association, the initials
of which name enter into it.
From time to time there have been fierce antagonisms
between Catholics and non-Catholics in the United States.
During and immediately following the War of the Revolution
the Catholic part of the population was infinitesimal, and was
subjected to various annoying restrictions by the majority.
But these hindrances were soon removed, and the Catholics
were invested with the liberties which fell to the lot of American
citizens. In 1838 steam navigation across the Atlantic was es-
tablished, and it gave a tremendous impetus to emigration
from the old world to the new. This emigration had pre-
viously been going on in a constantly increasing ratio ; but the
steamship made the Catholic Church in America grow by leaps
and bounds, and its members entered actively into politics and
sought and obtained various civic positions. In 1853 a new
political party was formed to check the influence of these immi-
grants. It adopted as its motto " America for the Americans."
The common name of its members was " Know-Nothings "
because they invariably answered when questioned by out-
siders as to their aims and actions, that they knew nothing.
No applicant for membership could be admitted unless he and
his father were native born Americans. It is reported that
the salutation of its members was the odd question, " Have
544
APAISM. 545
you seen Sam?" This party was openly and notoriously hos-
tile to Catholics, and it increased rapidly in membership. It
was a secret oath-bound organization, and nothing was told
to its members of its name, nature and objects until they
reached its higher degrees. It accepted the name of the
American Party. It opposed the easy naturalization of for-
eigners and sought to elect native-born citizens to office. Se-
cret conventions of delegates from the various lodges made the
nominations, and members who refused to vote for the nomi-
nees were expelled. It decided many elections at first by en-
dorsing* the nominations of one or other of the two great
parties. It became for a time a national party, being adopted
by many of the Southern Whigs after the passage of the Kan-
sas-Nebraska Bill. In 1855 it carried nine of the State
elections, and it nominated Presidential candidates in 1856.
At this time the issues between the North and the South over
slavery and State Rights became paramount, and the members
of the Know-Nothing party were absorbed by the great po-
litical parties which were destined to see those questions set-
tled by the arbitrament of the sword. In 1893-4 the American
Protective Association was formed, and it has been styled the
successor of the Know-Nothing party. This association is
familiarly known to Catholics as "the A. P. A." (See Lar-
ned's History for Ready Reference and Topical Reading, Vol.
V, p. 3391 ; History of United States by Bryant and Gay, Vol.
IV, p. 416; and Ellis' History of United States, Vol. Ill, pp.
838, 839.)
The American Protective Association adopted the follow-
ing principles at the time of its organization :
1. Nationality is not a bar to membership in this order.
No man is asked where he was born.
2. We interfere with no man's partisan politics.
3. We attack no man's religion so long as he does not
attempt to make his religion an element of political power.
4. We unite to protect our country and its free institutions
Against the secret, intolerant, and aggressive frauds that are
546 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
persistently being set forth by a certain religio-political organ-
ization to control the government of the United States and
destroy our blood-bought civil and religious liberty.
5. We are in favor of preserving constitutional liberty and
maintaining the government of the United States.
6. We regard all religio-political organizations as enemies
of civil and religious liberty.
7. It is in our opinion unwise and unsafe to appoint or elect
to civil, political, or military office in this country, men who owe
supreme allegiance to any foreign king, potentate, or ecclesi-
astical power.
8. We are in favor of maintaining the principles of one
general unsectarian free school organization and will oppose
all attempts to supplant it by any sectarian institution.
9. We are opposed to all attempts, local or national, to
use public funds for any sectarian purpose.
10. We are in favor of laws taxing all church property
except the church edifice.
11. We are in favor of opening all private and parochial
schools, convents, and monasteries to public and official in-
spection.
12. We are in favor of changing our immigration law in
such manner that it will protect our citizen laborers from the
evil influence of cheap, pauper, and criminal labor, which
through the instrumentality of European propagandist so-
cieties and the subtle influence of priests, are rapidly supplant-
ing our free and American citizens in every line of industry.
13. We believe there should be an educational qualifi-
cation to the elective franchise.
14. We are in favor of putting into office honest and true
patriots who are best qualified to fill the position, regardless
of political principles. Official Declaration of Principles of
the American Protective Association as adopted at the meet-
ing of the State Council of Illinois, which convened at Bloom-
ington, January 23, 1894.
The American Protective Association is said to have gained
a considerable following in many of the States of America.
I have been unable to learn the extent of its actual member-
ship, but I am led to believe, from the information which has
reached me, that its real strength lies in the sympathy which
APAISM. 547
the great masses of the American people feel with it in its
opposition to ecclesiastical political activity for the aggran-
dizement of the Church and the destruction of the American
public school.
A CATHOLIC CANNOT BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
It is lamentable that such antagonisms should have arisen
between Catholic and non-Catholic American citizens. Ameri-
can history shows how deeply seated they have been in the past,
and observation teaches that they are still alive. Catholics
are not trusted by their non-Catholic fellow-citizens in America.
Does any one deny this assertion ? Its proof is sufficiently dis-
closed when attention is paid to the Chief Magistracy of this
Nation. Non-Catholic Americans will not vote for a Catholic
to be the President or Vice-President of the United States.
This political boycott of Catholic Presidential timber is
recognized by Catholics. From The Catholic Union and Times
of Buffalo, New York, of June 9th, 1904, third column of the
first page, I quote as follows :
It is a well-known fact that to be a Catholic, or to be con-
nected by ties of consanguinity with members of the Catholic
Church, seemingly keeps one from the Presidential chair, no
matter how deserving the candidate may be.
At the World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893,
M. T. Elder, a prominent Catholic of New Orleans, Louisiana,
said to the Catholic Congress:
Consider the Presidency, for instance. Have we ever
had a Catholic President ? Ever come near having one ? Ever
even had a Catholic candidate ? Ever likely to have one ? O,
never! (Barrows' World's Parliament of Religions, Vol. II.,
p. 1414.)
The Pilot, a Catholic paper, published at Boston, Massa-
chusetts, in its issue of June 25, 1904, page 4, contained the
following :
548 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
The prejudice with the force of a law, as Daniel
Doherty phrased it, which bars out any and every Catholic from
the nomination for President of the United States, includes also
any and every man who has or is suspected of having" a Catholic
relative by blood or marriage. Some of the Pilot's readers
remember how bitterly that prejudice was invoked against
Horace Greeley because of the known Catholicity of his
daughter, and against General Hancock because of the sup-
posed Catholicity of his wife, though it turned out that Mrs.
Hancock was simply a devout member of the " high Church "
element among the Protestant Episcopalians.
It does not speak well for the Catholic Church in America
to be barred from the realization of the laudable aspiration to
have a man of its faith entrusted with the supreme direction
of the affairs of our Nation. Americans have had too many les-
sons in the possibility of a Vice-President becoming President,
through the natural or violent death of the Chief Magistrate,
to favor the election of a Catholic to the Vice-Presidency.
Any political party in America which nominates a
Catholic for the Presidency or Vice-Presidency is doomed,
by that act, to overwhelming defeat. This ban upon Catholics
is due to the hostility of their ecclesiastics toward American
principles. The Catholic clergy have locked the door of the
White House against the Catholic layman. That locked door
conclusively shows the existence of a deep antagonism toward
the Catholics by the non-Catholics in America.
HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA.
The Catholic people in America were very thankful for
the benefits of the Declaration of Independence and the Con-
stitution. The illustrious American historian, Mr. Bancroft,
says that Catholics were eligible to office at first in only eight
or nine of the early states ; then he tells of the removal of the
disability ; and then he says :
The separation of the church and the state by the estab-
lishment of religious equality was followed by the wonderful
APAISM. 549
result that it was approved of everywhere, always, and by
all... The Roman Catholic eagerly accepted in Arner*
tea his place as an equal ivith Protestants, and found, content-
ment and hope in his new relations. (History of the United
States, by George Bancroft, Vol. V., p. 123.)
Mr. M. H. Carroll (who was in charge of the division of
churches, Eleventh Census), in his book entitled, "The Re-
ligious Forces of the United States " (American Church His-
tory Series, Scribner, N. Y., 1893, Vol. L, introduction, p.
Iviii), speaking of the Roman Catholic Church in America in
the colonial days, says:
There were in 1784 hardly 30,000 Catholics, two-thirds
of whom were* in Maryland and Pennsylvania, the rest being
widely scattered.
When the Declaration of Independence was promulgated
the population of the colonies was about two and one-half mil-
lion souls. (See tables in Bancroft's History U. S., Vol. II.,
p. 390). There were thirty thousand Catholics, and about
two million non-Catholic white people.
The following epitome of the progress of the Catholic
Church in America I take from an address in The Notre Dame
Scholastic, (Vol. XXXVII, No. 36, Commencement 1904), en-
titled, " Some Thoughts for American Catholics," by Hon.
Chas. A. Bonaparte :
On November 6, 1789, a Bull of Pope Pius VI. founded the
American hierarchy. At that date the Catholic population of
the United States was estimated, probably too liberally, at
forty thousand, or about the one-hundredth part of our entire
people. There were in all some thirty priests ; hardly so many
chapels ; no edifice which could, with any propriety of language,
be called a church ; not one asylum or hospital or other benevo-
lent institution, and but a single school or seat of learning of
any class, Georgetown College then just founded. When,
one hundred years later, the American Catholic Congress met
at Baltimore its members represented a Catholic population
of probably more than eight millions, constituting between
550 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
one-eighth and one-seventh of the whole nation. The Church
was ruled by thirteen archbishops and seventy-one bishops ;
commanded the services of over eight thousand priests ; pos-
sessed some ten thousand five hundred places of public worship,
five hundred and twenty hospitals and asylums, twenty-seven
seminaries for the education of the clergy exclusively, six hun-
dred and fifty colleges and academies, and, most significant
of all, for those who hope or fear much from " the corroding
action " of " free public education under Protestant auspices,"
more than thirty-one hundred parish schools, with, at a low
estimate, three-quarters of a million of pupils.
In the fifteen years since that Congress was held the
Church's progress has been even more rapid. Without speak-
ing of Porto Rico or the Philippines, it is safe to say that there
are now in the American Union several times as dnany Catholic
bishops as there were priests when our Constitution was adopt-
ed; fully as many priests as there were then adult male lay-
men; more churches than there were Catholic families in the
thirteen States ; convents and monasteries, schools and colleges,
asylums and hospitals, of which the combined means of the en-
tire Catholic population of those days could not have built a
tenth. It is true that since the adoption of our Constitution
the growth of this country has been marvelous, but the growth
of the Catholic Church in this country has been far more mar-
velous; while the number of American citizens has increased
perhaps twentyfold, the number of American Catholics has
increased much more than three-hundredfold. . . Surely the
mustard seed planted on these shores a hundred and fifteen
years ago fell on no ungrateful soil ; of this fact no better
proof can be given or reasonably asked than Time has fur-
nished in the stately tree with its deep roots and widespread-
ing- branches which has grown from that seed.
The Holy See has not been blind to the progress of the
Catholic Church in America under the conditions which have
prevailed concerning the separation of State and Church. I
quote from the Encyclical of Leo XIII., entitled " Congratu-
lations to the American Hierarchy," addressed to Cardinal
Gibbons and the American bishops, and dated April 15, 1902-
And Our daily experience obliges Us to confess that We
have found your people, through your influence, endowed with
APAISM. 551
perfect docility of mind and alacrity of disposition. There-
fore, while the changes and tendency of nearly all the nations
which were Catholic for many centuries give cause for sorrow,
the state of your churches, in their flourishing youthfulness,
cheers Our heart and fills it with delight. True, you are
shown no special favor by the law of the land, but on the other
hand your lawgivers are certainly entitled to praise for the
fact that they do nothing to restrain you in your just liberty.
You must, therefore, and with you the Catholic host behind,
make strenuous use of the favorable time for action which is
now at your disposal by spreading abroad as far as possible
the light of truth against the errors and absurd imaginings
of the sects that are springing up. (The Great Encyclical Let-
ters of Leo XIII., pp. 514-515.)
Catholic blood has been poured out in behalf of this
glorious Republic. In the dark days of the Revolution the
Catholic people, who were but a handful, were loyal to the
ideals of independence; on the hard-fought battle fields of
liberty they stood shoulder to shoulder with their fellow
countrymen of varying creeds; and their commingled blood
is typified in the fadeless red of Old Glory. In the war with
England in 1812 the Catholic citizens were loyal and self-sac-
rificing. In the war with Mexico they splendidly championed
their country's cause. In the titanic Civil War, when brother
was arrayed against brother, the Catholic people were divided,
as were all other sectaries, but the Catholics of the North-
land went to the front in multitudes to prevent the tearing of a
single star from their country's flag. If I read American his-
tory understandingly, out of Gettysburg and Vicksburg came
the final, though delayed, success of the Union arms. The
former battle was won under General Meade, a Catholic; the
latter under General Grant, a Protestant. In the late war with
Spain the American victories on land and sea were achieved by
military and naval forces which were largely composed of loyal
Catholic citizens. The heroism of the Catholics at the front
has been but the expression of the general Catholic loyalty
to American institutions. If Catholic and non-Catholic
552 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
Americans can camp together and march together and fight to-
gether and die together in behalf of their Government, why
should they not live together in perfect amity and mutual con-
fidence in times of peace?
There would be no friction in America between Catholics
and non-Catholics if Catholic priests, prelates and princes of
the church would not attack Americanisms, and if they would
not attempt to persuade the Catholic people to pursue policies
and to champion causes at variance with American principles
and ideals. Let us consider some of the things which cause
this lamentable Apaism.
THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL THE CHIEF CAUSE.
The parochial school is now the chief source of irritation.
The American people are wedded to the public school, and
any assault upon it arouses their wrath. I take it for granted
that I need not now dwell at length upon this phase of the sub-
ject since I so fully discuss it in other chapters of this book.
I have been asked many times this question : " What is
the likelihood of bloodshed during this public school con-
troversy ? " My answer is that it depends solely upon the
initiative of the enemies of the public school. If they take the
ballot as their weapon they will perish by the ballot ; if they
take the sword they will perish by the sword. When the
American people are forced to front an issue they face it with
the ballot or the bullet, just as the exigency dictates.
Americans will no more permit the disintegration of the
American public school in the Twentieth Century than they did
the dissolution of the American Union in the Nineteenth.
Catholic clerical agitation, vituperation and un-American-
ism will produce an overwhelming demand that the State alone
shall educate American children. The State will awaken to
the fact that it has duties 
