Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-27
CATHOLIC COMMENT.
The Baptist Ministers Attitude Gre
ates Great Surprise,
REV, MORGAN SHEEDY PROPHESIES
That the Public School System Will be
Abandoned.
WHAT LOCAL BAPTISTs HAVE 10 SAY

Rev. Father Sheedy, pastor Of St. Mary
of Mercy Church, and Vice President of the
National Diocesan Union of Catholic Tenn
perance Societies, returned home yesterday
from Hubbard, o., where he had gone to
attend q temperance demonstration. The
latter was held Monday afternoon and even
ing under the auspices of the Knights OF
Father Matthew, who gave an exhibition
drill. The meeting was presided over by
Mayor Weitz, of the city, and was attended
bvCatholics and Protestants. Father Sheedy
made an address, and a number of persons
Joined the local organization.
Father Sheedy was asked for his opinion
in regard to the statements made by DR..
Potter, pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in
New York at the Baptist ministers meet
ing. A full report OF this was published
exclusively in The DISPATCH yesterday.
DR.. Potter read an ESSAY on the Catholic
Congress, and said Catholics were just as
good Christians. if not better, than other
church goers. He also stated that the pub
lie schools are already doomed, and that the
Catholic Church was right in the stand 1t
has taken. After reading the article, Father
Sheedy said:
The Baptist ministers at the convention
ly. They have taken up the simple conclusions
and resolutions formed at the Cathollc Con-
gress in Baltimore. Instead OF gettlng eAclteu
at the proceedings of the latter, the baptlst
ministers. unlike their brethren OF other
denominations look the matter square IN the
face and approve of it. They recognize that
the position of the Catholic Church on the
school question is to the best interests OF So
ciety.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH GROWING.
am pleased to see the stand they have
taken in the matter The growth of the
Church is a fact patent to everybody. The
statistics read at the congress and repeated by
DR.. Potter at the convention showed the
propress we have made. The statement was
not made for glorIfication, but because it was
a good time to do so and count our numbers.
DR.. Potter calls attention to Bishop Ire
lands remarks about making America Catho-
lie What think the latter meant was that as
Protestantism had lost its hold on the masses
on account of the disappearance OF pre1uolces
and the opportunities to bring forward the
principles of Catholic faith the people are md
ing their way to the church. Every obseryant
person sees this. Professionalism is thing OF
the past. The Catholic Church, as years go by,
is simply growing. We do not 20 up on the
house tops to proclaim it. but it is so neVerthe-
less. The statement read at the Ca thollc Con-
gress was the first formal declaration in this
Take the record of the Church. The
people of the country will be blessed aecordlnR
as its principles haue been lived up to- Some
alsrmists think we are trying TO get old OF
everything. This is not so. We advocated the
control of the schools by the churches, as edu-
cation must go hand in hand with rellgl on.
We have put up churches all over the country,
and the paTOchial schools are being rapldl
perfected. We are getting better buildings
and facilities for the accommodation and edu-
cation of pupils Some of the schools now are
the equal of and some are far superior to many
of the public schools.
The control of the schools by the State is
the only grievance we now have. l hope that
our non-Catholic friends as DR.. Potter says
will come over by and by, and some kind of a
remedy for the present evil will be formulated.
1t is agreeable to us to find such statement
coming from such source. 1t is far different
from what we are accustomed to in this city.
COMMENTS OF LOCAL CHURCHMEN.
The meeting of Baptist ministers above
referred to, has occasioned considerable
discussion among religious circles. The
Presbyterian element particularly, with its
strong Scotch-Irish combativeness, regards
the situation with alarm at the inactivity
ssown by the evangelical denominations In
the home mission work. The United Pres
byterian report for home missions, published
in the current month, reviews the work OF
the church for 30 years, and although show
ing that 496 of its 9O7 congregations, much
more than one-half, are due to the nome
mission work, the immense field now being
cultivated and prepared by the Catholic
Church shows decidedly that it has the ad-
vantage.
Controller Morrow said, when asked about
the subject, that we had some "a evangeli-
cal denominations in this country, of which
the combined efforts did not approach those
made bv the Roman Catholic Church in
the great Mississippi Valley. He quoted
one authority in stating that there were
many places where no evangelical church
existed within a radius of 100 miles, and
that the attention paid to the territory was
wholly out of proportion to the require
ments.
A BIG CHARACTERIZATION.
Into this territory, he said, the Roman
Church was pouring missionaries and
money, assigning their finest talent and
brightest men to the task of molding its
destinies. No superannusted clergymen or
mediocre theological student was put in that
field of action BY the Roman Church, which
had grasped the situation and the import
ance of the field of labor.
He referred to 'Our Country" by DR..
Strong, of Cincinnati, which calls attention
to this field of labor, describing its vast ex-
tent, from the crest of the Alleghenies to the
lOOt VI bu6 hOChS anu ITOm the
great lakes to the gulf Its influence, the
work claims, upon the destiny of the nation
cannot be overestimated when it is taken
into consideration that within a century it
will hold a population of zoe, 600, 900 En-
glish-speaking people This will make an
impress not alone upon the course of the
United States, but of the world. 1t is this
population which will be called upon to
solve the social problems OF the world
which Bismarck with his mailed minions is
unable to do.
The Controller continued that into this
immense territory the great tide of immigra-
ton would flow, bringing with it the crude
notions of European countries-socialism,
anarchy, and other foreign ideas inimical to
our institutions These people have to be
trained and Christianized, and which of all
the a evangelical denominations in the
United States is taking measures suitable
to the end in view? The Catholics have
taken time by the forelock, and are entitled
TO credit for doing SO, both Tor their zeal and
Judgment. This may probably account for
the stand taken by the Baptist ministers in
New York as much as the instances quoted
in THE DISPATCH.
A Specific for Heart Disease