The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-05-21
Professionalism in the United States.

| Ao mduy OF our TeaOeT6 uo uoS oSo wy
Catholic World, we occasionally rePrin
valuable extracts from its columns, anG
| among these will be found elsewhere IL
our present number, a resume OF thesstatis
! tics of the various Protestant sects in thi,
country. 1t will be seen that there are
fifty lone distinct organizations anon them
embracing 1896, ITO members.F The popu.
lation of the United States is At least forty
million. The Catholic element of that
population is about eight million.
In glancing at these figures, several novel
reflections will probably suggest them.
selves. The frat might he the exceeding
slimness of Protestant membership as COM
pared with the total population, and an-
other would doubtless be its numerical in
feriority to Catholicism.
How strange that out Of population of
thirty-two million non-C Catholics, only
6, 396, 900, or one-Afth, should be members
other four-Hfthsf Are they Infidelsf If
SO, what sad Commentary upon the Apos-
tolic pretensions Of Professionalism! We
hear a great deal about Infdelity in France
and know that little of it exists in other
Catholic countries, but all this does not
approach in horror to the widespread
moral plague that is slowly eating out the
remnant of Christian life yet lingering in
an immense section like Protestant Anne RIGA
cut off from the Church by the Reformation.
And yet how aggressive Professionalism is
against error at o distance! Oh! the millions
and millions of dollars which it subscribes
to convert the heather of far-of lands
Would it not do we'll to recall it's mission
aries, and set them to work here at home
where the field is SO white for the harvest
Four fifths of their own fathers, mothers,
wives and children !nnconverted, and they
talk of foreign missions!
But they will say, these neighbors of
ours are not Infidels, they are Christians at
heart, though non practical ones -uncon
verted Christians. We know that there
can be such thing; we know that there
who have the faith and refuse to obey it's
behests. Yet such Catholics are very few
in number compared with those who, at
least occasionally, perform acts showing
their membership in the Church. And
then it must be remembered thst such per-
sons are only partially out of the Church.
They have been practical members of it at
one time. They consider themselves as
merely in a state of transient disobedienee.
Their children are necessarily Catholics
they are taught their religion, receive the
and may well be fervent and
faithful in their duties. In this way nom
practical Catholics serve to propagate the
Church. -.
Now with "unconverted Protestauts it
lie totally different. They have never been
of the Church, they have gener-
ally never been baptized; their children
will be born and reared like themselves.
Thus, instead of being fountain of mem
bership through their progeny, non-practi-
cal Professionals are force continually act
ing towards the severance of the popula-
ton from the Church. Thus in America
this mighty army of dissent has swollen to
over twenty five million, and in the natural
order of things would eventually swallow
up every appearance of a Church in the
eccroachments of its death-like food.
But the most singular aspect of the case
is that in which we compare the numerical
strength of Professionalism and Catholicism,
and find the latter in clear majority.
This, for o country which Professionalism
has always boasted of as its stronghold and
favored field, is strange. Here, in this land
of liberty the religion of liberty, was going
to laugh to scorn the dark devices and
sinister schemes of Catholicity. 1T had a
fair field, and in the open day of untram-
melted competition 10 would show how i'm
measurably superior it was to its enemies
what an easy victory it would gain.
1t has met the foe and-is fairly van
oueshed. While it is losing relatively with
the increase of population, the Catholic
Church is advancing with giant strides
The fact is, Professionalism does worse in o
fair field than in it's nests among the de-
spotisms of Europe. Sustained openly, as
it is there, by the State, with money, will