The Waco evening news. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 1891-1894, 1893-09-22
CATHOLICISM.
Has It Evolved From the lntran'
sigeant 10 the Opportunistlc?

Pope Plus IN predecessor of the
present Pope, Leo NH, in the
chair of S. Peter, cannot fail to
wonder, to be perfectly astonlshed,
by the new direction gwen today to
the policy Of the Catholic church,
which is in direct opposition TO that
which was so emphatic lily declared
ex cathedra by the intranslg9ant
author of the syllabus.
That famous syllabus denounced
and condemned as false, da lgerous
and impious the very principles on
which are founded the Am arican
Declaration Of Independence and
the American national constitution.
Every orthodox Catholic vas com.
PEELED to side-in his conscience,
and consequently in his contuct-
with the syllabus against the
American principles of popul ir
liberty and d mocla.ic sovereignty,
against the American constitution.
To be a good Catholic, in com.
munion with the church, it was in
dispensable to submit ones judg-
ment to the infallible decision of
the Pope, speaking ex cathedra, and,
consequently, to fully accept and
earnes .ly work for, the triumph of
the anti American principles pro.
mulgated in the syllabus. Accord
ing to it liberty AMI self gov srnment
ought to be replaced by the power
of divine-right rulers, acting in
harmony with and in OBEDIENCE to
the church, if not by the ideal and
only perfect government-that of
absolute theocracy-such az was
established in Paraguay by the
Jesuits.
And it must be acknowled ged
that this absolute theocracy is but
the logical consequence of the fun
damental dogmas of the church, as
it is the ideal, nay, the very raison
d'etre of her policy. For no kind
of action, either in the temporal or
in the spiritual order being inditfe r-
ent b fore the judgment of the con-
science, and, at the same time the
church being instituted by Christ, or
God himself, to enlighten them
direct and rule human condolences,
it inevitably follows that she is
divine and the only legitimate au-
thority on earth over every act of
man.
Without stopping to consider if
it would be politically beneficial or
hurtful to the material interest of
the church and clergy, Pope Plus
IN, true to the intrausigeancy of
Catholic dogmas, bravely affirme
them in his syllabus and Haunted
them as red cloth in the very ia ,e
of modren Democracy. The effect
was great and not a little detrl.
mental to the Influence of the
even in Catholic countries,
for the people had already
with more or less
the modern princi-
pies of liberty and Loaf in proper
ton their old blind obedience and
fanatical subeerviencJ to the clergy.
The thunders and lightnings of ex.
communication had lost their ter.
rors, and the old nqaisition, with
it's racks, pinches, and red hot grid.
irons was not there any more to en-.
force orthodoxy. On every side
the syllabus was denounced as an
anachronism, ghost escaped from
the gloom of the dark ages, unable
to stand in the light of modern pro.
greas and investig alton.
Very different from his predeces.
,or, more acute and deeper, more
Italian, in fact, is the present
Pope, Leo XIII, who has taken
Just the opposite policy. Plus lX
vas intransigeant; Leo XIII is OPP
portunist. Plus TX was inf xible
n principles; Leo X III is supple,
and if he does keep in reserve for
more opportune circumstance these
same principles of the syllabus, he
& careful to conceal them when the
exhibition of them would be dan
yerous; and more than that, he even
sbjures them, indirectly, at least,
n proclaimiug his appreciation of
md admiration for democratic prin-
'iples. The spectacle lately given
Vt Chicago by the Catholic bishops