Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-04-08
THE SPIRITS
That Are Disturbing the Peace Of the
Catholic Churches Of Cincinnati
A Great Many Converts to
Doctrines That Have Time and Time
Again Been Denounced from the
PuIpits as Born of the Devil.

held 10 abhJTreDc9 DT lne CatbOiIC SietsJs |
aoa il is often made The subject OF dtnuncia-
ton from The pul pits OF the Catholic Cuur6h.
Il 4rely are converts made from this talIh TO
The teachings Of the spook believers, and Il
il safe to say hat no priest would give $40,
solution 10 a peDitent who had trequenied
seanc=s OF retained an ioia OF taith or belief
in the teachings OF the "loDg-hslred men
and short-hsir,d women" Ihese facts ac-
cspted, it will b. an astounding surprise 10
Catholic readers Of tine journal TO learn that
the congregations of the church OF 81. Fran
els Ssrsphicus and Of the ct. Johns church
have become Interested in spiritualism.
B.tween 100 aud 200 Of the members are not
only believers in spiritualism, but attend
seances regularly ST the following places:
Mrs, Burguud's on freeman avenue; on Lib
erty street, between Vine and Walnut; on
Hopkins street; on Western avenue,
and at the residence Of prominent mer-
chant who is an influential member OF 81.
Francis church. OIe of the most enthusi-
astic converts is said TO have been an organ
let in ons Of the churches, and his views
have been adopted by every member OF his |
family. Another strong worker in the cause |
Of prosel ytism is a Mrs. Haman, living on |
Oliver street. Sometime ago the serenity of |
the converts was fractured by an eccesiasti- |
cal percussion shell being fred into their |
midst by the Rev. Macmillan s1aeffer, o. |
l..
| Of the existence Of band Of Spiritualists in |
the congregation, and denounced the move |
ment in anmeasured terms. 1t is also re- |
| ported that a similar denunciation was IN ade |
10 S.. Johns church by the Very Rev. |
| Otto Sair, vicar general Of the diocese. A
young German business man en- Vine street, |
| when interviewed yesterday, said: 81 am
glad that you are taking hold OF this. Il is
| the lslk of The whole Catholic neighborhood. |
| -. al # hav
from the puipt.Y- rs gvi1g ait the
same. There is no doubt that in the congre-
| cations of st. Johns and ST. Francis's spirit
| uaiism has taken hold, and that il is
| Aourishing. ] had been abseni from home
| for some time, and behold my surprise when
| | learned that my mother and sister had
{ given them elves up to the same beliefs. l
: sometimes found my sister in great agitation
\ all by he self, waving her hands to and fro,
/. and saying that spirits were about her. She
: and my mother, l knew, ofen attended these
| s.ances, and the latter for long time de-
I Tended them. She asserted she had seen the
: spirits OF her departed children; how they
| had spoken to her through the medium, aud
how the latter gave tidings OF the condition
aud prosperity of her absent sou. l finally
| becams Sd disgusted with the matter that
| maze some well meant threats, and 30 che
| promised TO discontinue her visits. 1t would
| be blessing to b0th congreg atoms if that
whole gathering OF Spiritualists could be
| broken up"
Another German bus ness man and in-
! tiuendal member OF the Church, was sur
! prsed at the knowledge of facts already OBJ
Isined, but stoutly asserted that he was only
an investigator OF spiriluslistic phenomena,
! and zsarrbpr after the truth Said he
Now you are an Intelligent man, and tell
me, how can you explain the reason Of these
PHENOMENA They are wonderful facts, and
| why should not anyone, Catholic or other
!. wise, be allowed to investigate them, the
same as he would any other scientific cub.
| jet? /, for instance, went TO hear Bob
Ingersoll, and listened to his atheistic talk
| that did not affect me nor my Catholic prin-
ciples 10 the least. The Church has good
reasons for misunderstanding spiritualism.
| II would not be advisable for weak minds I'd
be influenced by these pheEomena, but strong
minds cannot be influenced in the least. As
| for the fa0ts, Il ia true that these seances you
| speak of are held, ard il is also true that the
Rev. Macmillan Shaeffer of a Sunday
morning, denounced the whole matter vehe-
mently."
A well.known German photographer on
| Vine street, also a member of the CHURCH,
was credited with having said, 81 cannot see
| why this shouid be attacked. / have three
broihe, 2, priests in Germany. One of them
was an active pstticip1.t In these seances,
| and, Of course, was Just devoted to them.
| | can recolect we'll the time when, in the
town OF Germany where | was residing, the
| priests thundered from the altar against the
! increase OF spiritualism. l col,ld not under
stand il, aud l simply told Que Of them, MY
brother is priest, aud he does it. and why
should not ~ So the mater ended"
Calling at Myers concert hall, No. sos
Vine street, the wife of the proprietor said
81 was induced by a Mrs. Aumbser, a mid
| wife living on West Court street, to attend
a seance which was held in rouse on Lib
erty street, near St. Francis church. had
never attended the like before, but
rem aimed an rnbelevsr. l noticed sew
| ersl Catholics present, members of St.
Johns church, and they were deeply
interested in the exercises, manifest
ing by different sigos that they were be-
holding the spirits of their departed children
| and friends. The ghosps name was 'Dooley,'
and the tin trumpet Aourished around real
lively. 9ne OF thoee present said she felt the
| hand Of her child touching her forehead,
and she expressed her ecstscy by many ex-
clamations. l did not attend any other
seances, and remain an unbeliever, and
hence | cannot tell how many Catholics are
now in the circle; but know the matter is
generally talked about"
Last of all the Rev. Father Shseffer was
visited and asked about the invslion of spr-
itualism. He mentioned similar instance
prevailing among Catholics throughout the
United States about twenty years ago, and
that prompt action from the pul pit broke
its hold completely. Ii was the ougrowth
of miserism which spread among Cath
olics in France. A few years ago the move
ment was again N manifested in the Church
by members, mainly among the ignorant and
superslitious, who were not Catholics at
heart. Father Shaeff.r said that in his GER
mon he impressed upon the congregation
that, according to the teachings OF the Gatho.
lie Church, there are angels and DEVILS tn e
former good spirits, the latter bad spirits,
and that the spiris seen at seances, if seen
at all, are bad spirits. There were in the
audience come who had been visiting me-
diums, attending seances, and giving much
attention TO spiritualism. To some of these
he spoke afterward. They told him that
what they had seen during their visits 10
mediums only confirmed the Catholic teach
ings that there were spirits, Tor they had seen
them. Father Schaeffer said that while the
spread of the false doctrine has been con-
siderable among the members of the differ
ent congregations, ii is having very little eff.
| & hoaa q L..