Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1883-11-20
MGR. CAPEL on LUTHER.

MGR. CAPEL ON LUTHER.
At the Cincinnati Cathedral a Sunday or
two ago Mgr. Capel, in two discourses which
supplemented each other, treated of Martin
Luther from the Catholic standpoint. In
the morning sermon the preacher showed
that the Church was an organized body, Il
corporaton both human and divine-hu.
man inasmuch as it is made up OF teachers
in helarchical order, and divine because in
habited by the Holy Spirit This human
divine creature, born on Pentecost sunday,
grew according 10 the law Of It's existence,
increasing but not creating, every organ,
Just as is done by the human frame IN as
similating food Therefore, argued the
Monsignor, the Church in the fifteenth CEN
,larv was the babe born on Pentecost now
grown TO manhood. In the next place ii was
urged that the Church is holy i'll its origin,
in It's object, in its means fsanctltication, III
its interior life, which is Christ and the Holy
| Ghost, and. lastly, in its producing saints.
| And then II was concluded that the Church
at all times, and consequently, in the six
teenth century, had this holiness.
The Monsignor said that the DEGREES Of
| the Council Of Trent bore too painful teSti-
lnonv 10 the corruption existing among the
clergy and people: but this was no proof
| against the truth and holiness of the Church.
! no more than the conduct Of Judas would
prove the Apostolic College corrupt, or our
own evil deeds prove the falsity of the COM
mandments, or the crimes narrated in the
daily press show that the American constitu
tion teaches wrong doing TO show that the
Church was more vigorous than ever at the
| time of the Reformation the hlonsignor ap-
pealed 10 ''The Imitation OF Christ, The
| Spiritual Combat, 'the works of St. Theresa
and others living Immediately before or
during the Luther period, as literary evil
dence 10 the Iabors OF ST. Francis Xavier
in the Old World, and ofSt. Louis Bertrand
in the New as missionary evidence; to the
Orders of the Jesuits, the Oratorians, the
Fathers of the Pious Schools, the Fathers Of
St. Jerome Emilan, the Theatines and
Others. as evidence Of the creative power of
| association: to Saints Ignatius, Aloysus,
Stanislai:s kostka, Theresa, Cajetan, Philip
! Neri and & dozen others rs evidence Of the
| Chulch's power to make heroes OF holiness
at the very time her enemies would !aln
| make believe she was corrupt.
At night the Mousignor continued his
subject, first disclaiming an intention of
offending any one by what he should say of
Luther sc reformer. He said that If he
were in London to-day and should ask what
was the state of intelligence in Europe when
Luther lived ninety nine out or one hundred
would say it was a state OF gross darkness
and would add that Lulher's sparks kindleG
the whole world into Il blaze OF light. He
would show that nothing va: further from
the truth than this modern view Of Luther'a
period and of his influence. He asserted
that to Catholicism, and not 10 Protestant
ism, was the world indebted for the light
that followed the fifteenth century. Print
ing aud paper, those powerful agents in the
diffusion cf knowledge, We're invented be-
fore Luther was born. The discovery Of
this New World was the result OF the ener
gv, learning and iiberality of Catholic Spain.
At that time sixty-four universities Of learn
ing existed in different parts Of Europe.
Church architecture aud the art Of that
time were also cited as evidence that the
Catholic Church was not a suppressor Of
learning.
The existeuce of republics with pros
porous commerce under Catholic auspices
gave the lie to the charge that the Catholic
Church was the enemy of energy learning
and liberty Without speaking in any de-
tail Of the life Of Luther he would mention
one or two points that were sufficient to de-
prive him of the title of Retormer. When
he was twenty years of age he took solemn
vows in the Catholic Church. This was
voluntary act but a most solemn obligation,
yet he voluntarily broke his vow. This Was
not the mark of q saint. Another fact, cited
with reluctance. was that he wrote and left
to the world letters of such coarse sensuous-
ness that any pure man would suffer his
right hand to be cut off rather than write
them. Reformers were not made Of such
material.
The Monsiguor said that Luther's heresy
was special in that it was revolt against
the principal authority, and the assertion of
with singular inconsistency he undertook to
say what should be the private judgment
of all his followers,
Looking TO the fruits of Luther's teachings
Mgr Capel said "a recent publication
saws there are 236 divisions of the Protes-
tant religion in England alone On the con-
trary. the Catholic Church remains the
same everywhere throughout all time. Lu-
theirs teachings tend to destruction not to
building up. It tends to rationalism and
aenosticism. Communism, another of its
! legitimate fruits, was not known in the
Middle ages Revolt against the principal
authority leads to all this. No nation has
ever been converted to Christianity by Lu-
theirs followers. 1t would be Impossible
when his rule of private judgment was to
govern"
Passing to the popular claim that Luther
gave the Bible to the masses. Mgr. Capel
said that before Luther was born the Cath
olic Church translated the Scriptures into
the language which was the mother tongue
of all psople..of learning. He argued that
Christianity does not depend alone on read
ing the Bible During the first three centu-
ries of Christianity there was no New Tes-
lament The Cathoich Church says read
the Scriptures, but do not place your own
Interpretation on them.
In conclusion he begged his hearers to
look at this matter in the light of history
and reason, and not blindly follow the shib-
boleths or prejudice repeated during four
centuries.