The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-06-22
CHURCH and SCHOOL.
Much Discussed Letter from the
Pope Made Public.
CATHOLICS URGED TO SUPPORT
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS,

But Refusal To DO So will Not Be Con-
sidered an Offence to the Church War
ranting the Denial of Absolution-The |
Position of Mgr. Satoln Sustained-The |
School Question as Stated in the Papal |
Letter.
BALTIMORE, Nd, June 21.--Cardinal |
Gibbons has given out the official trans
lation of the much discussed pontifical |
letter from the Pope on the school ques-
tion. ~
tits considered that the position of Mgr.
Satolli in urging Catholics to send their
children to Catholic Schools has been.sus-
tanned, but at the same time refusal to
do SO will not be considered an offense to
the church, and absolution will not be
denied those parents who seek other ed.
ucational institutions for their children.
The letter says:
Our said venerable brother wishing, as
it was onr desire, to settle the question
concerning the right instruction for
| Catholic youth, about which controversy
was being waged and writings published
with excited minds and angry feelings,
laid before you certain propositions put
in shape by himself, touching upon both
the theoretical principles of the subject
4 and their practical application.
When the meeting Of archbishops had
seriously weighed the meaning and bear
ing of these propositions and had asked
for certain declarations and correct tions
| in them, all this the Archbishop of Le-
panto cheerfully complied with. Which
being done the distinguished assem-
blage closed witha declaration of graft
tude and of satisfaction with the way
| in which he had fulfilled the
commission entrusted to him by us,
All this we find in the minutes of the
meeting, which you have taken care to
send us. But propositions of our dele
gate having been inopportunely made
public, minds were at once excited and
controversies started afresh, which,
through false interpretations and through
malignant imputations, scattered abroad
In the newspapers, grew more widespread
and more serious Then certain prelates
OF your country, whether displeased with
the interpretations put upon some of
these propositions, OF fearing the harm
to souls which it seemed to them might
thence result. confided to US the reason
OF their anxiety. And we, knowing that
the salvation of souls is the supreme law
to be ever assiduously borne in mind by
us, wishing, moreover, to give you ano-
other lproof of our solicitous affection.
requested that each of you should, in a
private letter, fully open his mind to us
on the subject, which was diligently COM
piled with by each one of you
-. L.
1T became manifest to us that some of
you found in the proposition no reason
for apprehension; while to others it
seemed that the propositions partially
abrogated the disciplinary law concern
ing schools enacted by the council of
Baltimore, and they feared that the di-
versity OF interpretations put upon them
would engender sad dissensions, which
would prove detrimental to the Catholic
schools.
After carefully weighing the matter,
we are intimately convinced that such
interpretations are totally alien from the
meaning of our delegate, as they are as
suredly far from the mind of this Apos-
tolic See. For the principal propositions
offered by him were drawn from the de-
crees of the third plenary council of
Baltimore, and especially declare that
Catholic schools are to be most sedulous-
: ly promoted. and that it is to be left to-
} the judgment and conscience of the ordi-
nary to decide, according to the circum-
stances, when it is lawful, and when un-
lawful to attend the public schools.
: Now, if the words of any speaker are
so to be taken that the latter part of his
discourse shall be understood to agree,
and not to disagree, with what he had
said before, it is surely both unbecoming
and unjust so to explain his later utter
ances to make them disagree with the
preceding ones. And this is the more
true since the meaning of the writer was
not at all left obscure. For, while pre-
senting his propositions to the distin-
guished meeting in New York, he ex-
pressly declared las is evident from the
minutes) his admiration for the zeal
manifested by the Bishops of North
America in the most wise DEGREES enact
ed by the Third Plenary Council of Bal
timore for the promotion of..the Catholic
instruction of the young. He added,
moreover, that these DEGREES in as far
as they contain general rule of action,
are faithfully to be observed, and that
although the public schools are not to be
entirely condemned {since cases may oc-
cur. as the Council itself had foreseen,
} in which it is lawful to attend them).
still every endeavor should be made to
; multiply Catholic schools and to bring
them to perfect equipment.
Two Arrested for Assault,
BANGOR, June 21.-Detective Ira W.
l