The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-06-27
AMBIGUOUS iNFALLlBiLlTY.
The Pope's Letter in Regard TO the Public
s II Schools.
New York POST ].

lNtW IOEk L OSt.
The. Popes letter to the Catholic
hierarchy of the United States on the
public-school question made public yes
terday, is an important document, but
we very much doubt if it will prove to
be the olive branch which he seems to
think it. In the first place, it undiplo-
matically blurts out the truth that there
has been an acrimonious conflict raging
among American prelates marked by
bitter personal recrimination and rival
appeals to the Holy See. This cannot be
especially soothing to those who have
been engaged in the conflict, particularly
as they have all along asserted that there
was no conflict but that everything was
peace and harmony. For the Pope now
to come along talking about "dissen-
sions" and writings published with ex-
cited minds and angry feelings" and
even about false interpretations and
malignant imputations,' is distinctly
celestial minds.
Another and more important reason
why the pontifical letter will not make
an end of the strife is, that it SO plainly
strives to please both parties to it, and,
Oh the main point, is ambiguous. Let it
be remembered that the course of the
Catholic Church on the school question
in this country had been governed by the
DEGREES on the subject by the Plenary
Council of Baltimore, held in 1884. That
course had been, if not of distinct hos
tility to the public-school system of the
United States, at least of distinct aver
sion to it, and the avowed policy was to
take all Catholic children out of public
schools and to provide for their educa-
ton in parochial schools. 1t was under
the authority of the Baltimore DEGREES
that the lines were drawn more and
more tightly, that priests were enjoined
by their bishops to set up school in
| every parish, no matter at what incon-
venience and sacrifice, and that the
practice came in of threatening and visit
ling Catholic parents with ecclesiastical
penalties for sending their children to
public schools. 1t was, moreover, the
| Baltimore DEGREES which Archbishop
Corrigan hurled at Archbishop Ireland
as the ground of his charge that the
| Minnesota prelate had been guilty of DIS
obedience and INSTRUMENTATION in en-
deavoring to effect a compromise with
the goddess schools of the State. In
short, the appeal of what may be called
the high-church wing was all along to
the decisions of the Baltimore Council.
| 1t might therefore look, and we do not
doubt the high church party will prompt
| ly claim, that the Pope sustains their
position, and that they have won great
victory. What else can be meant by
4 that passage in the Pope S letter in which
1 he says: "We declare that the DEGREES
| which the Baltimore Council, agreeably
| to the directions of the Holy See, have
i enacted concerning parochial schools
/. are to be steadfastly Observed
| This has been Archbishop Corrigan's
| whole contention, and 1t might be thought
that he had gained all he has been fight
| ing for, and that Archbishops ireland
1 and Gibbons would have to reverse
/ themselves at once or be subject to disci-
pline. But in another part of his letter
the Pope also supports the opposite con-
tention, saying that 1--WE also with great
pleasure confirm the resolutions on the
school question which Archbishop
Satolli ordered passed in the meeting Of
| Der. Now those resolutions, and thu
policy marked out under them, were dis
tinctlv at variance with the Baltimore
DEGREES, in several important points, anc
all the pother over them has been pre-
cisely because they were at variance 81
that we have the Pope in the act of cor
daily asserting to two propositions
which those who have maintained them
have supposed and declared to be utterly
| irreconcilable.
l. His Holiness seems aware OF the awk
wardness of his position, and endeavori
to make it seem consistent by bringing
into requision the useful art of theologi
cal Interpretation. If we only suppose
that the Baltimore DEGREES meant I
wien they said A, and that the Satoll
1 resolutions meant B when they said c
and if we further remember the fact, sc
important for logical purposes, that thu
Church cannot, from the nature of thu
case, say different things at differen
times, we see Immediately that it is pos
4 sible at once to condemn public schools
and to support them, to sustain Arch
bishop Corrigan and to sustain at the
same time his opposite, Archbishop Ire
land. Nothing could be simpler, ant
Il the Pope seems to smile complacently
after this exhibition of his dexterity
and speaks of "the controversy" as be
ing now mot only Gained but total,
ended ~
We think, however, that the liberia
party will be perfectly willing to con
cede the theoretic victory to the conser
vatives, as long as they may continue t.
feel sure as they undoubtedly may
that the practical fruits of victory re
main with them. AS matter of fact
the Pope upholds his Ablegate, and de