The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-01-17
can De put in the same boat with the new ones.
II any oil the ID. DIS "cry for more" / am ready.
81. ROCCO.

can De put in the same boat with the new ones.
ii any OIL the d. DIS "cry for more" am ready.
81. ROCCO.
PROTESTANT"
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
Your paper being. in one sense. a universal me-
dunn for the conveyance OF truly Catholic knowl-
edge-for all truth Is Catholic and some truth is
found everywhere-tt IL proper that those millions
who cannot go to church for their sunday religion
should receive, through your widely circulated
paper, some spiritual food which they can eisurely
digest. Hence, your correspondents ON religious
topics, although so widely variant, are generally
entertaining. Such was the character OF COM
munication signed protestant" In a late Sunday
Issue OF your paper. He arrsigns the Catholic
Church. not, indeed, In the style Of Gladstone, but
upon grounds which he believes to be held as doc
trinal by members OF that Church With your
kind permission proceed to point out to him his
Misrepresentation OF the truly Catholic position.
This undertake the more willingly as he appa-
renty belongs to q very numerous class OF sincere
minds who love the truth.
He begins by taking TO task an expression used
by "Prudentus," another able and in terestng or.
respondent OF your valuable paper. This person,
speaking OF the presence Of God or Christ In the
Church. says, "In her tabernacies alone doth
He truly dwell evermore.u This language
OF course. must be taken fguratvely. for literally
it is not true. God IS really present everywhere,
as we'll where there is but one human soul or no
human soul, as "wnere there are two or three OF
you gathered together in my NAME" "Pru-
dentius" Is not the man to believe that He is CIR.
cumscribed BY . limited organization of few
million souls to the exclusion of the great body OF
the human family, or by material building or by
the literal tabernacle OF the altar In Catholic places
OF worship. Even the real sacramental presence
OF Christ II this is meant, is often borne through
the streets OF city and in the OF the sick
by the priest. 1t would be unkind to debar the
use OF igurative or poetic language to theologians
or preachers, who are In so much greater need OF
1t Than Others, who have only bare iacts and not
philosophical entities to deal with.
Second-The cebacy OF the clergy being
matter OF mere discipline ITS utility necessity
IL required to believe that 1t Is in any way con-
tanned In the word OF God, and only what is re.
Of divine Catholic faith. Why does not s'Protest-
antn Insist upon the many old maids and young
,, o. our c n o i've das n0S priest
fulness without being written about IN the papersP
One would think that it Was more OF their bust
ness than That OF anybody else, ana II they want
to take q wife We see that they do 1t whenever
they like. The newspapers have recently given US
Third-He accuses the Church Of commanding US
to pray to Mary TO nave mercy ON u.s." There is
sGa m apy ay U 20
source OF mercy, but a mere intercessOr. In
Catholic books OF plety there are many forms OF
expression which are merely fguratlve-such as
''MOther OF Divine Grace,i because she gave birth
to Chrlst, from whom all Qraces proceed; she Is
literally heaven has no gate; she is invoked as
the "Morntng star" when we need no argument
to convince us that she Is quite different Crea-
ture from that Respondent planet.
Besides. fourthly, no one Is obliged TO pray to
saints or to glye them any religious veneraon
useful but nowhere Is 1t autnOrltatively taught to
be obligatory in order to gain salvation. So too
the reverence given to relics and images is not
necessarily OF religious nature. There is no doc.
Urine OF faith ABOUT 1t, strictly speaking. and
Catholics may believe that they can go to heaven
image or relic. This Is entirely matter OIL TASTE
Even the Church does NOT claim nfalIbil.ty In de-
claring that such or such person lived the lie or
saint. This would depend entirely on human
testimony which can never be made the basis OF
And. aftnly. sProtestant" will ind auricular
concession practised with the apostles In Acts;
lar 1;;i' Nv" 'A- p'''''' '''"' ''''' A0''0u'
Siath-Almost all Christians admit that Christ
was God in some sense; and as Mary was mother
OF Christ, insOmuch as she was His mother, she
was mother OF GOD. NO Catholic beneves that
she gave birth TO the DIVINITY or to the Godnead.
And as to the prohibition OF our Lord that we
should call no man on earth Father, .'but only
our Father in Heaven,'' why does he ('Protes-
tant allow his children to Call HIM father If he is
not ceoate II his marriage Is not barren
Why did he Call his parent father ? The fact is, II
you lake he a e. y" Wsn91t proper
be gathered from It's pages, no false or psrnicious
theory that cannot be defended by numerous and
As to the eighth point urged against the
Church, e., the triple P0ntifcal crown as OPP
the temporal power, with It's manifold abuses, &C.,
&c.-a that need be said IN reply Is that these or
the IKE are by no means essential Or doctrinal.
diency, aud no Catholic Is bound to accept human
opinion as part OF his faith. Perhaps they might
be altered with good results: perhaps not. DIR.
Manning, In saying that the spiritual authority OF
the Pope has gained by the loss OF his temporal
sovereignty, clearly implies That the loss was
gain. But I am sure that protestant" will agree
with me In saying that 1t Is not Just to argue
against the essen ias OF an Institution and addnce
only the evils ana even these questionable, OF its
accidental concomitants to prove 1t substantially
wrong We must remember that there Is human
The latter Is unalterable in ltselI, and on
rational principle OF doctrinal development
consistently adaptable to all forms or human sOci.
ETY., subject as this is to periodic or phiosophic
change and progress. Catholics instructed In their
faith 40 not place much Importance in variable
human or ecclesiastical concomltants oil the divine
deposit contained in the Word OF God. They may
use their reason and not make a fetch OF that
ancient volume called the Bible, whose pages
made an arsenal OF falsenOOd superstition and
contradictory opinions commonly iOlsted upon so
many honest minds IN the place OF truth by the
varying ingenuity OF defective human reason.
Possessing the unchanging faith OF Christ in Its
entirety, the Church affords at the same time OK
tensve fields OF speculation and unlimited regions
of free inquiry to the nobleSt representatives OF
human intellect. There reigns within her empire
trines and the utmost liberty OF free thought and
diversity OF opinion. In this respect the Church
resembles the universe, where we find unalterable
law and order coexistent with that wonderful va
riety of endless motion and apparently opposite
tendencies OF all composing force, amid whose in
comprehensive complications the wise man sees
the design OF an all ruling Power while the unwise
can behold nothing but chaotic disorder.
CATHOLIC.
THE AMERICAN CYCLoPEDA AND PAPAL INFAL-
LIBuITY.
TO THE EDITOR or THE HERALD
In the last volume issued OF the above men,
toned useful work there Is an article on "Infali-
blty" 1t 10 understood that all religious subjects
treated OF In the encyclopedia" are un-
der the supervision and censorship Of
Catholic theologian. He Is known to
be the same reverend gentleman who writes ably