The Irish standard., 1890-06-14

IIl
S 4. TIl RID / "a. Y ,JJJ NE p
RUSSIAN PERSECUTION.
Priests Banished TO Siberia for the Per
Torrance Of Their Ecclesiastical
Functions.
The cruelty and barbarltY of the Bus
sian government IN its dealings with its
Catholic subjects presents a companion
picture to the one drawn recently by
Mr.. George KEENAN,. The latter has
submitted to the civilized world the
rigors OF Russian justice, or rather IN
Justice. in it's relation to political pri-
soners. but then the worst has not been
told. nor probably will the suferings
of the Catholic Inmates ever be fully
published. No means or methods are
neglected to stamp out, If possible, all
Catholic faith among those unfortunate
people, and were it not for the lnfallible
promises Of Christ that 1.-THE gates of
hell would not prevail against His
Church, . it would follow that the days
of Catholicity in Russia were mum
bered and it's adherents swept from
Russian soil. The fact Of Peter the
Great, inviting the noble army Of the
Jesuits to his dominlons when the latter
were undergoing persecution from So
called Christian governmentsin Europe
is but an oasis in the desert of Russian
intolerance, while the present century
presents phases Of cruelty and inhuman
WELD of power that are beyond concep-
tion. For years has the religious press
been teeming with instances Of prelates
and priests being banished to Siberia
as malefactors and felons for exercising
the rights and privileges of religious
convictions, for the performance of
their ecclesiastical functions, for wor-
shipping God according to their con-
science and teachings, for carving into
the social life the germs Of a higher,
nobler and purer existence, the pro-
misses and rewards Of eternal life. The
dark, reeking dungeon, as we'll as the
ice-clad wilds of Siberia, are in mang
places stained with the blood of mar
tyrs of Catholic consistency, and the in
stances of firm, uncompr0mising reli-
gious fervor will not be manifest
until the dav of final reckoning. The
roads to the Siberian battlefield Of
faith are strewn with the whitening
bones Of confessors and are so many
appeals to heaven for the conversion of
the prosecuting horde of Russian tyr
ants. Recent foreign exchanges bring
additional accounts Of the scourges
under which the United States labor.
A great number Of the latter, having
been married by Catholic priests, were
violently separated, although children
have been born to several couples. If
a child be baptized by Catholic priest
then the latter is banished to Siberia
and the church closed; in ONE district
alone, that of Bialsk, eight churches
have been closed for this reason alone.
At present the government has an army
of secret agents at work whose duties
consist in watching every movement of
the Inmates and are perforce quartered
upon them, entalling great hardships
upon the poor people. The spies are to
take note of the form and manner of
devotion employed by the people, to OBJ.
serve closely who attend Catholic
worship, who strive to have their
children receive Catholic baptism and
so on ad libitum. In the district of
Podlachea we find villages in which
even the most devout Catholic has not
had an opportunity of receiving the
sacramento for number Of years.
The baptisms and funerals are in many
cases put IN charge of the oldest and
worthiest inhabitant, who in secret
performs the rites that are usually the
province of the priest, for the reason
that no priest IS allowed the exercise Of
these functions. Is ltsurprlsing, there
fore, that the poor, prosecuted, down
trodden Christian signs for the day of
freedom and release from these CALLING
chains2 Or is it to be wondered at that
the rotten structure of Russian aristoc-
racv hnnavcnmhnd with nihil1sm and
other cratic economies, will soon
| tumble complete and final ruin, only
to be known to posterity as pale
reflex of old Roman tyranny and an
execrable counterpart of Dioclesian
brutality?
SPORTING NOTES
Hardness expects to 20 to Seattle and
will pitch for the Pacific Coast League