The Irish standard., 1888-02-04
Some hOld Catholic" Falsehoods.


Preliminary TO the coming to this city
of Catholic apostate, VIII 5se mission IS
to beg for funds for an cold Catholic
mission which he claims to have founded
in northern Wisconsin. there appeared
in one of our local contemporaries
lengthy article the other day in eulogy
of this renegade and his work. In this
article the public was informed that
there are SO. .0C0 persons. mostly Belglans
in northern Wisconsin, who were
brought up in the Catholic faith, but
who have never been sufficiently cared
for by the Catholic bishops of that state,
it being alleged that unworthy priests
were seut to minister to them. ILL con-
sequence Of which the majority of these
people refuse TO attend Catholic SER
vices The impression WAS also given
that they have all become 'old Ca5ho-
lies" OF are about to do so, and the
nave assertion is made hat here is
chance for Bostonians to aid move
ment in America. (which is truly
Catholic, aud yet not Roman Catholic"
Now, while nobody has any right to
object if the good people of the Church
Of the Advent. this city, in which his
renegade is to speak next Sunday, see
fit to bestow money upon his mission, y
it cannot be expected that the false
hoods with which he tries to enlist pub
lie sympathy and gull people into con-
tributing to his work shall pass Encon.
tradicted. To begin with, his claim
that the Belgian Catholics OF northern
Wisconsin have been neglected by the
Catholic bishops is an outrageous false
hood. The Belgians of that district are
mostly from Flanders, and are, properly
speaking, Walloons. Now i'll the do
cese of Green Bay, which comprises the
northern section Of Wisconsin, there
are, and have for many years been, at
leasta score of Walloon priests, besides
many Hollandish ones who speak Wal
loon, and a Large number OF Wal!oon
churches. In fact, it is the exception
to lind a priest in that diocese Who does
not speak two or three European lam
guages, and it is absurd to say that the
Belgian Catholics have been neglected
in any manner Or fashion. The fact
that they have Tor years had a represe1~
tative in the bishops council is ample
proof that their interests have been
looked after.
In the second place. although the inn
preston is given chat the whole 10000
Belgo- Americans OF northern Wiscon-
sin have either become or are about be-
coming Old Catholics, the falsity OF
such a statement is illustrated by the
admission that at Little Sturgeon.
which is the headquarters Of this mis-
sien,'' the cold Catholic church has
but 13O communicates. AS there are
but three old Catholic" clergymen in
the whole state, the reader Can readily
reckon how far off they are from minis
tering 10 80, 900 people, even if there are
that number of Belgo Americans to be
found in northern Wisconsin,. The
statement that the Catholic church at
Little Sttr con had been abandoned
because of the perversion to cold Catho-
iicity'' Of the entire population of that
place is not borne out By the Catholic
directory, which says that there is a
church there attended by priest who
,Ir,,
guages, and who is, consequently, COM
petent to minister to bis mixed congre-
cation.
1t is wasting time and space, however.
to reply further to these odd Catholic"
lies Let the congregation OF the
Church OF the Advent, il it so wishes,
give this renegade Catholic all the as
sistance he asks for next Sunday, but
let it not be forgotten that the ''old
Catholic" movement has long since
proved flat failure wherever au at
tempt was made to introduce it. Even
It's admirers admit that the ''old Cath
olic' Church in Europe is dead and
lifeless trunk today, and has been such
for years past. Money therefore, spent
in Az endeavor to make a green branch
flourish from a dead aud sapless tree is
simply money thrown away, but there
are al ways people in the world who like
tc indulge in that sort of amusement
Boston Republic.
The Real Effect of Ohloroform.