St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-14
sAVVH VIII VII nV
Kind Words for the Catholics
From a Prominent Prot
estant Minister.
The Treachery Of Judas Cont
trasted With the Gener-
osity Of Mary.
The Psalms, The Prayer Book
and Hymn Book of
Worship.
Christ's Healing Graee--TheI
Government and the In-
dams Considered.

OOx1oAV0A wv fssres
Rev. Fl. M. Simmons yesterday,
at the First Unitarian church, preached
on the Catholic question. He said it
seemed strange that Catholics and
Protestants should be at enmity. 10 an
outsider there seems no wide difference
between their religions. Both believe
in the same God and both teach nearly
the same things about Him. Both
alike teach that God has given men the
Bible as His inspired word. and both
draw nearly the same doctrines from
the Bible. Both teach the same Trim
ity; both teach mans ''original
SIM" both teach that, to save
from this sin, the Son became in
carnate in Christ; both teach that lie
was miraculously born from the Virgin
Mary and died and assembled; and both
repeat the same Apostles creed, as the
summary of their belief about him.
Both believe In the church and wor ship
i'm quite similar ways. Both have cere-
monies, sermons and Sacraments. Both
baptize and have holy communion.
Both believe in prayer, and use about
the same prayers. A large part of the
Episcopal liturgy is a translation from
the Catholic missal; the chief prayer
of Catholics is the Lords prayer. word
for word as Professionals use it: and
nearly all the Catholic prayers are very
similar to those heard in other churches.
Much of the opposition comes from mis-
understanding. PrOtestants, for i'll
stance, are wont to charge Catholics
with praying to the saints and the
Virgin. Well, if these are alive and
have any power. what is the harm IN
asking their help? But in fact Catholics
never pray to the saints OF Virgin
but only ask these to pray tor them.
All their prayers are made TO Goa OF
Christ, lust as PrOtestants' are; and the
Virgin is invoked to intercede in aid of
those prayers, or pray in their behalf.
Nor do the Catholics defy the Virgin
at all. as is so often supposed. They
call her the .'mOther of God" but Prot
estants teach that she was that. In
calling her so the Catholics do not pre-
tend to raise her to the rank OF God or
Christ, and Cardinal Gibbons protests
against the idea that they make
her divine or dare to worship her,
and he compares their reverence for the
Virgin to that of Americans for Wash
ington. A Minneapolis Clergyman, as
RECENTLY reported, said that by the Cath
olics .'Mary is put above Christ. and
made the living substitute to whom APP
peal and prayer are chiefly made" M
stead of saying that they put her above
Christ he should have said that they put
her infinitely below Him; instead OF
saving that they make her a substitute.
he should have said that they do not;
and instead of saying that prayers
are "chietly made" to her, he should
have said that real prayers are never
made to her. With these changes his
sentence is correct. so he SAID Rome
.sdepieS even to her priests the free: use
of even the Bible she has" But the
fact is that her priests are encouraged
to study the Bible. in all. its forms; her
Bible is for sale in the Catholic book
stores and used in most Of her intefii-
gent families; common edition con
tains letter from a pope recon-
mending its reading; and another edi-
ton contains letters from United States
bishops expressing the hope that it may
be widely used among the people. These
are SAMPLES of common mlSunderStand-
ings of the Catholic religion. The chief
difference between Catholics and Prot
estants is that the former carry the
same principles farther than the latter.
They pray much more; but If PRAYERS
are good, what is the harm in this? Why
is it worse for Catholic servant girls to
go to church early Sunday morning and
say the Lords prayer and others before
getting breakfast for their Protestant
sisters, than for the latter to
spend the hour asleep, and then
60 to church and say the same prayers
fhnI co IN
Catholics have more ceremonies and
sacraments than Professionals; but if
these are good. why is an increase Of
them bad? Catholics believe in more
miracles than Protestants, and among
them see q miracle in each eucharist.
But their doctrine of the eucharist
seems Il harmless superstition, and the
idea that God is pleased with the sacri-.
flee of wafer is quite as reverent as
our frequent hymns about the blood. So
PrOtestants teach the iufallibility of the
Bible, and Catholics extend the idea
into the infallibllity of the church. But.
the doctrine in both cases is very elastic.
P1otestants disobey a Scripture text
when they want to, and Catholics DISC
bey their very pope when he inteMeres
in Ireland against their wishes.
The chief danger from the Catholic
church seems not 10 De III us doctrines
or ceremonies, which are so like the
Professionals. but in the social
and intellectual condition of it's
adherents. In our country those
are largely from the lower classes, and
hence show more crime than the Prot
estants. and perhaps more intolerant
spirit, though this is not certain. So
far as the Catholic church, OF any
church, either by its sermons or its
schools, cultivates any narrowness of
thought, it is to be opposed. But the
true policy is not to attack it, but by our
public schools and all public measures
to cultivate the broadcast sentiments,
which shall unite Catholicism, Prot
estantism and all isms in COM
mon patriotism and humanity. We must
thank the Catholic church for its noble
charities, and its apostles of temperance
from Father Mathew to Bishop Ire
land. We should learn its spirit of de-
votiOn, which sends missionaries to the
remotest islands and Sisters of Charity
to sick beds and sufferers OF every kind.
And we should aim at church which
is truly catholic in the real meaning of
that grand name-a church universal.
Whose priests are all Gods faithful sons,
To serve the world raised up:
The pure in heart, her baptized ones;
Love. her communion cup. 6E