Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-10

YET renamed sunken deep In their natures
the wild passions of heathendom. The
church had been obliged to fight long and
severe battles for her freedom of action
against princes and kings, whose ambition
coveted the subsection to their Own
of the chuFch's authority, and Who iabored
by force AID iatrisue to place in the
priesthood and the episcopate, and coca
sionally even in the Roman pontifcate,
their creatures Often the church was bound
hand and foot, as she Is ia many countries
OF Europe to-day, and her action for good
prevented Or nullifed.
But ii the sixteenth, as in all centur-
les when evil appeared in the church, it
was never the ohurch's teaching. Did the
church ever announce through her pontifs
or her councils that man is not free to
avoid sin, that God himself is the author
of SIN IN man, that confluence is rot DOS
slble, that provided We believe it matters
not if we commit a thousand murders or
thousand adulteries?
Ihose are Luther's official teachings.
upon which he built his reformation. and
the historians who eulog1ze Luther are
those who arraign tho Catholic church in
Judgment. When individuals in the church
dld wrong, whoever they were, laymen or
PElests, Kings or pontiffs, Catholics hold
their memory in horror; no praise re-
echoes from our pulpits at the sound of
their names; no festive centenary cel.-
brates their birthday. and Catholi5 histo-
rians write down the truth, when thew in
scribe their lives upon history's page.
Martin Luther was blasphemer; obscene
language flowed from his tongue as water
from 40 ntaiv bo -
excess of wine and beer, "tossing off," as
he said himself, ga strong bumper to the
honor of God;" he seandalized BIS friends
by his levity of manner With females; he
advised others to commit adultery. If We
believe the Lutheran minister, Wolfca ng
Agricola, before Tetzsl, preached on in
dulgsncss Luther coveted the affections
of young woman at WlttsnLerg. Heavy
clouds hung ever his relatj ons with Cattle
rins Borh, before he married her;
trucking sycopant ne authorized the big
amous union o. q priros protector Aud
Luther u acclaimed saint and hero.
Inc uno' fishing sinner who would do evil,
and ttIaoh evil as Luther did, calling him
| SEX Catholic, would be held among Oath
T, olies In eternal exscration.
| There are men whom Catholic historians
have called rsformsrs, Dominic, Francis,
Vincent Fsrver, or Vincent de Paul; they
were saints and most unfriendly critics
will discover no blemish in their lives.
TIE RvILs EXAGGERATED.
What the evils were in the sixteenth or
previous centuries you cannot learn from
Protestant historians. 1t is not that would
ask the public to read and believe exclu-
sively Catholic historians. Bat I do de-
Rand for the sake of truth that both sides
be heard, and careful references made to
origina doenments, before q judgment is
formed. AS a rule it will BIO found that
Protestant historians grossly exaggerate
the evils of those times, and not seldom,
eithar through lack of original research
or misstatements of teachings and
facts tantamount to downright felsehoods,
put into their records accusations against
the church and against churchnen which
are absolutely devoid of foundation
Protestant tradition has been SO strong on
the rruption of the Catholic church in
those ages that for honest and fair minded
people it has become herculean task to
rise above the surrounding prejudice into
the calm and elevated regions Of impartial
investigation.
l will give an instanee-the doctrine or
indulgences, of which mention has to be
made in discussion of the Lutheran re-
formation.
| MIssTATEMENTs OF INDULGENCEs.
| AS the story goes in the non-catholic
world, forgiveness of sin, past and future
was sold for money. Leo X. announced
in Rome his willingness to forgive sin.
throughout the world for price, more Oh
less generous, according to the heinous.
ness of the crime, and his emissaries, in
dulRences or pardons on slips of paper II
one hand and money box in the other
divided between themselves the universe
john Tstzel was appointed ny the papal
legats Albert, cardinal archbishop of Ma
inz and Magdeburg, to make sale of psr-
dons in Saxeny, and his blasphenoui
speeches reused to fiery indignation tn,
pure ssul Of Martin Luther, humble
monk of Wittenberg, vhe weak in humaE
strength but powerful by his advocacy OF
eternal trsth, insuguratsd reformation
The story has bsen repeated in St. Paul
The presence of persons under papsI au-
ahority in all parts Of Germany selling alb
solvences for sins committed, and indulg-
enoes for sins contemplated, displeased
and disturbed Luther" Mosheim whose
church history ia standard work among
Protsstants, writes: "The first occasion
for publishing the Truths Luther had dis
coVered,wss presented to this great man by
John Setzel, a Dominican monk void of
shame, whom Albert, archbishop of Ma
inz and Magdeburg had hired, on account
| of his influence, to solicit the Germans in
the name Of the Pontiff Leo, to expiate
with money their own sins and those of
their friends, and future sins as well "a
| past ones, or in other words, to preach in
| dulgences. ~
Even the liberal Ranke writes: "Forpive-
ness Of sins to be purchased by money -
| Recent Protestant writer's are more guard
cd in their language, and far nearer the
Catholic trnth. Fisher and KostIin are
not much astray in their statement of the
dootrinal teaching of the church on IL
dulgencss. But they lay to the charge of
Tstzsl and other preachers of the in
diligence Of 1917 all the old-time mis-
statements of the doctrine. "The forgive
ness of sins,' says Fisher was offered in
the market for money" Kostlin admits
that for the living confession and contri-
tlon were necessary prerequisites tor OBJ
tanning pardon, "but," he adds, 'sfor the
souls in purgatory nothing was required
but money offered for them by the living"
THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE.
Neither Fisher nor Kostlin hints that