The Indianapolis journal., 1885-10-18
RELIGIOUS SYMPATHY.

RELIGIOUS SYMPATHY.
The death of Cardinal McCloskey elected
the sympathy Of the entire Christian, we may
say religious, world. His lofty character, the
purity of his life the gentleness of his nature
combined to make him lovable man, so that
his death was felt to be a loss to humanity at
large, beyond the bounds of his church. His
example was for good from first to last. The
leave no stain, no regret 1t was not surpris-
ing, then, when he was lying at the
point of death, that the annual gather
ing of another great religious body,
for centuries at war with Cardinal McCloskey's
belief, should, in Christian humility, offer a
united prayer for his comfort and recovery if
possible. This incident was one of the grand
est tributes to the excellence of religion that
has blessed the world in these later days. It
encouraging to believe that the churches and
the people are gradually approaching a COM
mon center; that they are beginning to real
ize that there is more in religion than
dogmatisln. more in the here
after than accommodations for the
devotees of any special denomination. Unless
all religion is superstitious farce, it is broad
er than the confines of any one church, wider
than the reach of all combined, and men
should set about exploring how far it sweeps
on either side of their various creeds No
man who has thought enough about religion
to care to be religious can possibly contem-
plate the probability of but one church being
saved without shuddering at the aw-
full outlook Take the Jewish church
Who would like to think that this
sect, which for eighteen centuries has rejected
Jesus as the Messiah, is to be irretrievably
lost? Who dares think and declare that the
millions of Hebrews who have lived and died
since the tragedy on Calvary shall have no
part in everlasting life? II, on personal inves-
tigation of ones mind, he cannot accept SO
atrocious belief it must be that the stakes
of the church must be set nearer the bounds
that take in all humanity that are
good or conscientiously try to be.
The death of the Catholic cardinal, and the
broad sympathy it drew forth from the people,
should not stop there II men held in the
bounds of Professionalism can pray for the re-
covery of a man like him, who was Catholic,
though one of the most cultured men of his
time why may they not clasp hands with all
the religious world, and move forward ire
sistibly to the evangelization Of humanity?
If catholic sympathy is to be felt
for the head of the Catholic
Church in America, man who chose
for himself because of his intelligence, why
not feel even deeper sympathy and more
boundless charity for the masses less intelli-
gent, who are Catholic, possibly because of
No man can exercise charity for the leader
who cannot pity and sympathize with the led.
And if with leader and led, why not strive to
bring all into closer fellowship, and to break
down the barriers of prejudice which
have so long stood in the way
of greater progressY The charity that
throws the mantle of sympathy and
love over the dying and dead, should reach
out and take in the living and suffering The
man is no more brother when dead than when
living. Mankind may be brought to keener
appreciation when death levels the narrow
distinctions set up by finite minds, but it
does not really change relationships between
man and man. If the sympathy of the relig
ious world is to stop at such men as the Cardi-
nal, heaven will be an aristocracy of brains or
of ecclesiastical position 1t must be
more than that, or be too narrow, too selfish
and cold, to win and hold the great world of
swarming humanity. Let the sympathy that
soothed the dying hours Of Cardinal McClos.
key go out to and comfort and warm living,
suffering humanity everywhere. If the doors
of the churches are not wide enough, let the
Architect of the first church be called down
to reconstruct them in conformity to the
original plan. We do not read anywhere that
only cardinals and bishops are to be saved
Let not the masses be neglected
Todav Gar,uapy obsaruaa tha tuaptr fetl, a..