The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-09-03
The Irish Catholic Church.

A wonderful work, and one evidently
inspired by and under the control of Him
who doeth all things well, is in progress
at the building of the University Of New
York, Washington square. Here the Rev.
Father Mcnamara, who some time since
left the Church Of Rome, holds two ser
vices each Sunday, during the afternoon
and evening, and expounds the Scriptures
to a large, attentive and distinctively
Irish congregation. The wish of the re
verend gentleman is to build up again the
faith held so long by the Irish Catholic
Church, and which was exerted in its ma
tive purity after the conversion Of the
people of the Green, Isle by st. Patrick
and his fellow missionaries 1t is well
known that the Irish Church did much to
spread the true religion abroad, and her
sons were to be found as missionaries
carving the truths Of the Christian reli-
gion to all parts of the known world, I'M
III their success, awolle the jealousy of the
Roman Catholic Church, which thereupon
flooded Ireland with It's priests, and soon
-depriving the people Of their true and
simple Anticipated it with that pecu-
liar form of man worship and Mariolatry,
which has since crushed the Irish and
kept them debased and uneducated as no
other English-speaking people are at the
present day
Father Mcnamara and his flock do not
style themselves Protestants; far from it,
they glory in the name Of Irish Catholics;
but all their hopes and inspirations are
based on, and their articles of belief drawn
from, that book of books, the Bible They
protest against the errors of the Church
of Rome, but do not wish to be known as
Protestants, fearing and Justly, too--that
the name would deter many from Joining
their young church. None can attend
the services without being struck with
the wierd and beautiful tunes which are
sung, and where can more beautiful mel
odies be found than in the native airs of
Ireland? These give distinctively Irish
tone to the meetings, and many a person,
attracted by the old familiar tunes, such
as The Harp that Once Through Tara
Halls, or the Exile of Erin, has been
induced to remain during the services,
and has heard such truths as could never
have reached him otherwise.
The reverend gentleman spoke, on Sun
day, of the bitterness which he once felt
against the hierarchy of the Italian
Church, which had done its best to crush
him and the small flock who had come
out with him from Rome; but he said
that then he had ceased to be Roman
and had not yet become a Christian
Since that great change had been effected,
and he had given his soul to God, the
feeling of bitterness had been replaced by
one of pity. He had been accused of
madness, and so had the members Of his
congregation; but there was method in
their madness, and before long there would
be many more like them. He never spoke
unkindly Of the priests, for he was one Of
themselves; but he inveighed in severe
terms against the higher orders Of the
church, who ground the very individuai
ty out Of the poor priests. Was it any
wonder that so many Of them became
miserable drunkards 7he knew of fifty
such in the city of New York to day. If
a man attempted to think for himself he
was crushed at once, and when turned out
what could he do? His brother priests
dare not aid him, and those of the Irish
people who are yet enslaved avoid him as
if he were an emissary of the devil Few
of the priests even know their own rei
gion, and, as for the people, theirs is sup
piled to them by machinery in return for
their hard-earned money. Everything,
he said, was the fear of hell, and not the
hope of heaven, for no matter how good
YOU might be, your only hope was pmga-
tory, from which place YOU could buy
yourself into heaven if you were rich
enough. The Cathedral was spoken Of,
and a scathing rebuke administered to
Cardinal McCloskey for having turned it