The Irish standard., 1892-03-26


historical and oratoricals u complete
treasise Of che question and noble plea
for the riehtasof the papacy. N orsover,
quite recently in meeting Of the arch. ].
bishops Of the American Church in Chi
cago, it was decided to give the first
place to the cause Of the Holy Sec in the
labors and resolutions Of the Catholic
Congress to be held IN that city, on the
occasion Of the Worlds Fair. In that
meeting Cardinal Gibbons and Mgr. Ire
land had decisive and leading part.
The second objection to which we shall
answer to-day consists in setting Mgr.
Ireland in opposition to the ideas of Leo
XIII. The Pope is behind the times,
buried in Anticipated traditions, the Arch
bishop. modern, progressive, not quite
orthodox. Though the Neue Freie Press
does not produce any documentary evil
dence to back it's accusations, we shall
end this calumny, this attempt to strangle
man who is one of the purest AM most
shining glories of the Church to-day, we
shall end by bringing to light the accu-
sers dishonest intrigues. Why, Mgr.
Ireland is one of the most clear-sighted
admirers, one of the most docile imitators
of Leo's policy of conquest through paci-
fication and unifcation. The Arch
bishops discourse at the Centenary OF
Baltimore is but the commentary and
| he very echo of the social and French
policy of Eco XIII. To state that this
| warm, learned and pious GRAFTON is as the
accompaniment to the action of the Holy
Father in France is to end all debate.
| That speech indeed was an event IN
France What is the ideal of thespeaker
who Is known more for action than for
speech even? It is to spread the influence
of the Church by taking advantage OF the
conditions of the age, to pursue the great
Catholic traditions without hind1ance
from forms and contingencies that may be
dropped to adopt the inexhaustible vital
ity of the Church to new needs, to be an
apostle and an evangelist, to put religion
above all political parties, to bring TO-
gether, not to put asunder, to inoculate
the young American republic with the
living sap Of undiluted Christianity, to
exterd to it the lite-giving influence of
the Holy See-precisely what Leo XIII.
is doing in France. BY every fibre of bis
heart, by every thought Of his mind Mgr.
Ireland belongs to the apologetic and con-
quering school of the Roman Pontiff.
His whole life has been but the applica-
ton of his vast popular strength to the
projects and initiatives of the present
Pope.
Well then, whence this campaign,
whittier tends il and who inspires it?
The calumniators of the Archbishop
| are the adversaries of Leo XIII. We
are not unused in Italy to attempts of
this kind. Periodically hypocritical and
artful men seek to bring the Holy See in
opposition to the chosen minds of the
episcopate and the Church. They hope
to relegate the pontiff in kind of soli-
tude, so that no voice of the century
might come to him. Make the Pope as a
voice crying in the desert, that is the
plan. If the attempt succeeded, our
enemies think they would emasculate the
Pope's language and isolate his action.
Above all this conspiracy tends to Gre
ate a conflict between the American
Church OVERLOOKING with vitality, keen to
sec the needs of the age, and the Holy
See, SO immovable and antiquated in its
ideas, says the enemy. Liberal Italy
breads the mutual intersection of inau-
ence between the Vatican and the New
World; liberal Italy hates the rebound Of
Catholic force from America to Europe
and breads what may be the outcome
Whatever tends to make stronger and
more conspicuous the power of Rome is
held in suspicion, is cried down as prin.
ciple of Opposition to'the Holy See. That
is the diabolical art of liberalism.
Now Mgr. Ireland is the most popular
man in the United States. Protestant
fanatics in noisy meetings have de-
nounced him as foe dangerous to
American Democracy and as an oppo.
nent they had no nope to resist and over.
come. It is this powerful voice, it is this
priceless influence, it is this living chan
na1 If the Church II is this barrier Of in