The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-09-26
Reckless Assertions.

We were startled by an article in ths
Picayune, of the l9th inst, under the cap
! tion Ecuador" in which some assertions
very damaging to the good repute of tn,
Catholic Church in that country wer,
boldly made. Under the circumstances W,
think the Catholics of this community ar.
entitled to the proof of them at the hand
of the Picayune. The attack is nominally
made upon the late President of Ecuador
Moreno-but is in reality leveled against
the Church. Observe the following extract
With ruined exchequer, and when he de
| clared Ecuador too poor to pay any dividend
upon its foreign debt, he could give the Church
at Rome $50, 600 q year, and find room for and
keep an army of Jesuits and priests equaling
| II not outnumbering, his standing army. BY
| means of this force the secrets OF the confes
\ slt Ial were never sacred, and he came to know
| difference between the clerical friends of Mo
reno and the pure, noble and pious Catholic
| tests and dignitaries of the Catholic Church
| in our country and in Europe!
| Our neighbor gives too ready ear to
| ISLANDERS. We are confident that as regards
| the $50, 600 year to Rome there were NO
| circumstances indicating the acceptance OF
that subsidy as donation from a bankrupt
exchequer, aud yet that is the meaning left
to be implied. From excellent authority
we learn per contra, that the contributions
made by Moreno's government to the Holy
See " did not in the least interfere with the
financial prosperity of the country.n In.
deed, the Picoyune itself seems to be quite
uncertain of its data, for in its edition OF
the 9TH inst, in very vindictive article on
The Despot of Ecuador" it fixes the
annual contribution to Rome at $40 600.
while now it places it at $4,000
Again, what is meant by an army OF
Jesuits and Priests7 Were they drones Z
Had they nothing to doq Were they kept
IN idleness, or at hard work7 There is
vagueness about all this that says nothing
in particular, and yet is expressly put forth
as clear proof of villainy on the part OF
Moreno. There are many Catholics in this
city, and they dislike to see serious looking
chargee made against their Church even in
another quarter of the world, aud made
without specification or proof. They would
like some more light on the subject.
But what shall we say of the outrageous
ly false charge about the confessional7 AS
''The secrets Of the confessional ,rere never
sacred" What shall we think of an unsecta-
rian paper which unhesitatingly accepts
and Willingly or unwittipgly lends the cir
cnlatiOn of it's columns to slander of this
kindf The Picdyane cannot prove that a
secret of the confessional has ever been be-
trayed; not only in Ecuador, but anywhere
the world in
tion of Christianity to this day.
The slavering about the clergy of this
country cannot hide the enormity of such a
Misrepresentation nor make amends for it.
The Church can carry on its functions in
all countries independently of the peculiar
moral condition of its priesthood here or
there. But if there were any place where
the secrets of the confessional were not
safe, there the Church would be failure.
If failure anywhere, it is not the work of
God, no matter how well it works else
where. Such bold and baseless assertions as
this are the only effective arguments that
can be urged against the Church. They
can be met only by contradiction. If they
were true the argument based on them
would be unanswerable, and is, therefore,
with regret that we see respectable non
sectarian papers taking them for granted
and endorsing them in a positive form of
statement. We are not accustomed to fair
play or honest dealing in questions of fact,
on the part of the sectaran press, but GER
tainly we have right to expect SO much
from those who prOfessedly disclaim all
partizanship in religious differences. The
Pie0VUHe might write and publish pol
emical arguments against Catholic ortho-
doxy every day for ten years and not do az
much damage-nOr one hundredth part as
much-by all its diableetic skill as by the