The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-11-14
Church and State.


Excitement n st. Louis lately over lecture
recently delivered by the Rev. Joseph
Henning, Redemptor:st Father of that
city, in which the subject of the connection
between Church and State was alluded to.
1t appears that the papers there were
flooded with communications from self
styled Catholics reprobating the sentiments
of the Reverend lecturer, and protesting
against their acceptance as those of the
Catholic community. We concluded at once
that these communications were bogus-a
weak invention of Republican tacticians
who were trying to trap Catholics into
some kind of false position. So far as we
could judge, from allusions, the comm uni
cations were all anonymous, and we could
hardly believe any real Catholic to be 80
weakened and temporizing as to quail
before a false public opinion and compro-
mise the Truth through human respect.
We have been a little shaken in this con-
fidence, however, by observing the attitude
of the local Catholic paper itself-the
Western Waterman, of st. Louis. That
paper, it is true, publishes in full the mag
nifcent lecture alluded to, with some com
plimentary remarks of Introduction, but in
the very same number contains an editorial
full of disparaging comhents on it. 1t
says:
To begin with, it is quite evident that the
lecture was not carefully prepared: The
language is slip-shod and the points slovenly
adjusted.
We fnd the lecture, in the passages which
have called forth the criticism, and the only
ones which we have yet had the time to
read, just the reverse of the picture thus
given. We find it clear, cogent and, above
all, perfectly accurate.
Again:
Many expressions in the lecture we could
wish had not been said. 1t is needlessly dis
courteous to say of Gen. Grant, that he "calls
himself President of these United States"
Too soft, friend When you deal with
knaves, knocks on the head are worth more
than pats on the back. Here is what Father
Henning says of Grant:
The enemies of the Church have already
given us an inkling of what they are going to
do Insy are gg no of bad boe H0d
l am sorry to say that this issue has been
spoken loudly by the lips of one who should
never have spoken it-by the lips OF enc who
This is merely forcible and perfectly
Just manner of putting forward the incon-
sistency of man who, with legal right calls
himself President of the whole country,
when he is acting as the President merely
of party.
The Watchman laughs at the idea of sup
posing that an onerous tax may cover a
persecution. 1t says:
The Church is unfairly taxed in this country.
But taxation is not persecution.
Ouerous taxation, especially when it
amounts to a discrimination between
classes of citizens, is confscation so far as
it goes, and certainly con6scation of prop
erty, though not 30 sanguinary proceed
ing as martyrdom, can be made one species
of persecution. We fear that the Waterman
is unduly severe on it's friends out of too
great tenderness for it's enemies. For our
part we have nothing but unqualified ad-
miration for the lecture so far as we have
examined it.
Our neighbor, the New Orleans Times, is
inadvertently drawn into the error of the
st. Louis papers, by too ready and res
pectful consideration for those anonymous
snobs of correspondents who toady to the
respectability whose frown they cannot
endure to meet. The Times quotes in e1.
tense from one of them commencing with
the following:
A prompt and explicit reputation of Father
Hennipg's strange and mischievous views
should properly come from Bishop Ryan as it
taoitly conceded that the Catholics of this
country are in favor of union of Church and
State that a Catholic must vote for Catholics
because they are Catholics that the Pope is
infallible in everything"
Now what Father Henning really said on
these points is as follows:
There is no such thing as an absolute indie
pendenee of the State from the Church. The
Church, as you are all bound to believe as
Catholics, is infallible. She is infallible in
faith, and she is infallible in something else--
she is infallible in morality. She is infallible
in morals as we'll as in faith; and if she is the
infallible interpreter of morals, it follows that
the State can never be absolutely separated
from the Church-it follows that the separa-
ton of the State from the Church is simply