The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-03-11
BISHOP K4IN's LESTES COURSE.

BISHOP KAINS LESTEN COURSE,
His First Lecture Yesterday AfternoOu--II
the Catholic Church IllibsTal and In,
tolerant
AtSp. m. yesterday, RI, Rev, Bishop
Kain delivered the first lecture OF his
Lenten course, The design Of these
lectures is to correct some false impress
sions concerning the position OF the
Catholic church in her attitude towards
those who dissent from her teachings,
Is she illiberal and intolerant in that
odious sense charged against herr Can
this charge be sustained by reference TO
her principles and to her history2 Last
evenings lecture was an answer to the
first part OF this second question: "Is
there anything in the principles or doc
tFinal teachings Of the church which
justifes this charge OF intOleranCeY In
subsequent lectures, the Bishop will
examine certain historical facts, such us
the massacre oi st, Bartholomew's eve,
the lnguislIion, Galileo, etc., which are
so often urged In proof Of the intolerant
and even prosecuting spirit oil the Catho-
lic church,
From doCtriual standpoint said the
Bishop, no valid argument can be used
to show the church's intolerance or ILL.
berality. These are her
wRLL-HNOwN PRINCIPLES:
First. Salvation is possible to all who
haNfn fatNh NhaN 10 NA oil NNthn hAltnua
expressly what they know God has re-
vealGd and implicitly the revelations
not made known TO them,
Second. The church is, by the insti.
tuition Oi Christ, the ordinary medium
through which these revealed truths
are mRdo known,
Third. Those who accept the church's
declaration Of these truths certainly
have that faith which Is necessary for
salvation.
Fourth. Those who, convinced OF the
church's divine mission to teach the
truths revealed by God, refuse her obe-
dieuce, cannot have faith.
Fifth. Those even outside the visible |
fold Of the Catholic church may not
only believe through the light and grace
God has bestowed upon them very
many OF the sacred doctrines OF revel-
alton, but they may be disposed to ac-
cept them all when put before them by
an authority which they are convinced
is God.given and divine. To such rs
these no Catholic theologian denies the
possibility OF salvation. Who they Rre
God alone may Judge; but this much Is
certain, that Catholic who would VEN
ture 10 condemn any human being to
perdition would not be eChoing the sem
timents Of the religion to which he pro.
tesses to adhere. Catholics cannot
indeed accept that
RELIGIOUS INDIPPERISTIsM
which refuses to recognize any differ
enCe between truth and error, and which,
by It's axiom, zone religion Is us good
as another" virtually maintains that
zone religion Is as bad as another"
The Bishop repudiated very einphati.
cally the charge that Catholics must
hate any OF their fellow men, because
iorsooth they condemn and reprobate
the errors which some profess. He
maintained that the children OF the Cath
Ollie church, judged by the Gospel rule,
"By their fruits you shall know Them"
could lay claim 10 as much real, genuine,
christian charity toward all mankind Us
any OF their ielow.christians. Religious
liberality, he said, can really mean only |
"the assertion Of the truth and the rejec-
ton OF error the love OF all men, but not |
the sacrifice OF principle-true christian
charity"
Have these principles, asked the
Bishop, been carried out in practice by |
civil governments in Catholic countries2 2 |
This question, he said, involved matters
which statesmen as well as thGologians
have found 1t no easy matter to deal
with. Toleraton can be applied only to
the sutIerance OF what Is deemed an
evil. In this light, every Government
and our own is no exception must be,
In some degree, intolerant.
PUBLIC EVILS MUST DE SUPPRESSED,
II possible; and in their suppression
the government will be charged by those
affected as intolerant-perhaps tyranni.
cal. This point was illustrated by sew
eral practical instances.
Now, II would be unfair, argued the
Bishop, for US 10 Judge the past by our
present standards. II, in past ages, the
civil government considered heresy a
public evil and its propagation a menace
TO even the public welfare, were not the
authorities fully justified In trying to
suppress Il? This Is a consideration
which every fair minded critic must
weigh in making up his judgment upon
these events.
The principle underlying acts that
may now be pronounced evidences OF a
cruel and tyrannical spirit are still recog.
nized and will continue to be recognized
under all governments.
But In upholding the principle we
need not and do not sanction the griev-
Gus abuses which arose in the application
Of that principle.
"No one can condemn more than
do" said the Bishop, "every act Of in
humanity or Of cruelty, whether com.
mitted by Catholic or Protestant. These
excesses | seek neither 10 excuse nor TO
pailiate, but facts connected with some
Of these excesses have been time and
again so distorted as TO throw an unde.
served odium upon the Catholic Church,
and among these Is the murderous at
tack made upon the Huguenots on the
eve OF st, BarthOlomew's day In the
year l672-and hence called the massa.
ere Of 81. Bartholomew. That massacre
shall form the topic oi our next Sundays
lecture"