Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-08-15

ROOu ulnlSteT Win Ine Ddu priest anu
they believe that it is direct attack upon
religion and it is to fail in respect to the
priest who complies with his duties as it
is also to those who TAIL entirely in their
mission, scandalizing society by their
misdeeds and their depraved conduct.
Religion effectively considered, is as
pure and holy as the hand of its creator,
God. And its brilliancy and beauty do
not depend upon its ministers, because
they are inherent to it. 1t can not, how
ever, be denied that ministers of religion
are an adornment, when these present
themselves to the public as models OF
virtue and Christian morality, which
constitute religion in the concrete, or
practical religion. And on the contrary,
they are the blot upon faith and morality.
and the rock of scandal among the faith
full, the shepherds of souls, who by their
works destroy all that they preach and
teach us by ministerial authority.
But this evil star fell to the lot Of our
unfortunate soil. For since the unfor-
tunate arrival of Monseigneur Lamy up
to date, we have been invaded by a set
of imported clergy from France, of the
worst, most souless, ignorant, corrupt,
deforn ed, hangman countenanced, in.
stead of those missionaries; unworthy of
human association, who in no way what
ever resemble the French clergy, which
as is worthy and respectable in France as
it is throughout the missions of the Cath
olic world. We love to do justice, and on
account of handful of vagrant rap
scalllons, it would be unjust to wound
the susceptibillties of nation in which
we claim to have many friends. We will
also make due exceptions, of those who
have distinguished them selves for their
morality, zeal, and activity in the faith
full discharge of their clerical duties in
New Mexico. But we have also seen
other French priests in New Mexico, who
have seduced religious nuns, taking
them out of their cloisters. either for the
purpose of marrying or to live with
them in concnbinage to the public scan
dial, and the disgrace OF religious VOWS.
We have seen them violate conjugal love,
leaving legitimately married couples in
mourning and despair, and covering
with shame and disgrace families many
times worthy of all respect. We have
seen them abuse the confidence which
has been reposed in them, debauch viz
gins, and steal them away, abandoning
their churches, and casting away their
priestly robes, exchanging divine for
profane Lowell!
We have seen them defile churches,
committing crimes, even in them, the
pen trembles at the description, due re-
spect to the public forbidding. We have
seen them leading the most licentious of
lives in public and in private, delivered
over to drunken orgies and debauchery.
We have seen them making commerce
of the Sacraments, of the holy water, OF
absolutions, and Of future glory at highest
prices. So that l will here repeat what
Luther said to Papal Rome "Here Christ
is sold, Peters Dogmas are sold, and that |
perfidious Rome, may not be sold, God is
also Sold"
We know all the wonderful things
which are practiced in the holy tribunal
of penance
And we are fully convinced that very
many of them have no faith in Christ,
and yet they teach faith; that they preach
morality, and are at the time immoral,
honesty, and are dishonest purity,
and are the most corrupt; that they
preach charity, but do not themselves
practice it. They preach to US ofreigious
zeal, and piety for the religion of Christ,
and they think of nothing else but coming
of money, and of debauching their neigh
bors' daughters.
That they become angered against the
enemies of our holy religion, while in
truth and IN fact they are its worst enc
mics, because they cast a prejudice upon
it through their evil conduct, and they
can not defend it against hostile attacks,
nor do they care to defend it, because
they are but mercenaries, anxious to &C.
cumulate riches of the world, and care
but little as to garnering deeds meet for
heaven. We IRE compelled to acknowl-
edge, that if there were no Jesuits at
this time, Catholic faith would have
ended in New Mexico. So great is the
Incidence of the French bishops and
clergys in this territory. OH where, or
what does the conscience of the Catholic
prelate amount to !! 1t is a mystery
which we do not apprehend.
Many years ago, and previous to the
advent of the French plague, not a single
non-conformist was known in our terri
tory; their we're neither Protestant, Jews
nor unbelievers. And while our national
clergy was not of the best, that might
have been obtained, we would prefer the
worst of them, to the best of these, who
reformed evil, by making it worse; We
were cured of smallpox" but we con-
tracted instead "leprosy."
Under the pledge of reform, the French
provoked scandals, and heresy, persecut-
ing the Mexican priests with the greatest
known injustice in the world, eiecting
them even from their own houses, and
dispossessng them of their churches,
which belonged to them by divine, hui
man, civil, and ecclesiastical right; this
was done by set of adventures who
possess nothing Christian, but the name.
This ecclesiastical revolution, begun by
Monsegneur Lamy, and continued by
Monseigneur Salpointo, scandalous to the
faithful, and, and dangerous to the Cath
olic church, was not born OF the Catholic
zeal, which they have never possessed,
but chiefly originated OF mistaken pride,
their ambition to command, and above
all, from an overwhelming avarice, desir-
ing to lnonopolze everything in the in
terest and for the benefit of their race,
and to be prejudice OF the poor. Mexican
priests, as well as the priests OF other ma
tons; they sacrifice the interests of God.
and of their church, upon the altar of
purely selfish and inhuman spirit, and
French patriotism. In one word to termi-
nate this issue, they did not seek God, who
should be the sole object of a Jealous pastor,
out they strictly adhered to the mess OF
cottage for the bishop ana his followers.
In very fact, when the French bishops
obtalned possession of the diocese, they
'esolved the Catholic church into a fief
If fee with title of succession, reserving
t, only for French set, who are at first
either as male or female
,OOk. or familiar servants. or what not OF