The record-union., 1894-08-11
In RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligious Newspapers
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed In the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

Speaking of Mgr. Satolli's recent de-
liverance on the liquor question, the
York Evangelist (Pres) says: 1T is safe
to say that never before in the history of
the Catholic Church in this country has
such an unqualified position on the tenn
perance question been taken by a Roman
| Catholic prelate. And it must be remem-
bered that the ablegate speaks with the
voice of the Pope, and that Leo has re-
J peatedly and positively sanctioned the
| acts Of his delegate snd affirmed and up
held his decisions thus far without sin
gle qualification. One point in the de-
cision should be carefully noted. The
ablegate does not decide that no saloon
keepers shall hereafter be or become
members of Catholic societies. He does
not decide that present members are or
must be expelled. He approves their ex-
pulsion, but especially he upholds the
authority of all Catholic Bishops in eX
pelling them or IN forbidding them mem
! bership. This leaves the responsibility
in the several dioceses with their re-
| spective Bishops. The decision must be
OF importance in another way. Not only
is it an utterance on the liquor question
1t is an utterance on the range of episcopal
authority. If Bishop can regulate
| the mem bership Of diocesan societies in
regard TO temperance considerations, he
can do the same in regard to other mat
ters. And if he can thus regulate the
mem bership of such societies at all, with
out interference or restriction, his power
in many other directions may be more
extensive and minute than many have
hitherto admitted.
whatever may be the quasi politi-
cal significance of the Watterson-Satolli
| episode, there cannot be two opinions
about the moral meaning of the course
taken by the Roman Bishop" observes
| the New York ChaGqcil7fea7e. Up. e..
There has been an idea that intemper-
ance, as the concomitant of saloon keep
ing and saloon haunting, had not been
presented in its true enormity to the Ro-
man Catholic faithful. Saloon keepers
| have always been liberal to the church,
and. to the popular mind, this liberality
| was sometimes supposed to atone to the
| ecclesiastical powers for the abuses of
| saloon keeping. We are not called upon
to say whether this idea about the Ro-
man clergy and their position toward the
! liquor business is true. In some cases
we believe il to be false. Bishop Waiter
son, by his courage and persistenay
has shown the Protestants that he
can institute a crusade against intem-
perance on lines as strict, uncompro-
missing and unpopular as Father Mathew
or Canon WilEerioree. Whether other
Roman prelates will follow the example
of their courageous Western brother, no
one can predict. 1t will, however, be ad-
mitted by all that the Roman Church will
not attain her highest possible usefulness
and success on these shores until she puts
herself in line with the best moral and
philanthropic movements of the Ameri-
| can people"
"We welcome most heartily the
numerous expressions of satisfaction with
Satolli's decision which have already
been heard from Catholics of standing
and influence" says the New York
Independent I'VE have long been hop
ing that the Catholic Church, which has
in its keeping the faith and morals Of
more than six millions of our people,
would come forward as a strong ally of
the great temperance movement. The
utterance of the apostolic delegate is, we
believe, a step in that direction. We
shall look in the comments OF the Catho-
lie press and the Catholic Bishops and
priests for strong support of Bishop
Watterson's action, and expect similar
action in other dioceses. We know no re-
ligious body which can do more to separ-
ate Christianity from all responsibility
for the hateful liquor traffic than the
CathoIic.o
"It should be noted,r says the Interior
(Pres) of Chicago, that the recent con-
troversialists, though they rank high in
theological science, appear to misappre-
bend the purpose of Messianic prophecy.
To state the truth IN the simplest way:
The Gospel has been preached for the sal
vation of men from the beginning. Re-
demption was announced Immediately
after the first sin. The prophets were
preachers of the Gospel for it's then i'm
mediate effect upon human sinfulness.
This fact lies with ll-comprehending
prominence on the face of every proph-
ecy. They sought to produce godly lives
by preaching the Gospel, and to secure the
forgiveness of sin by faith in Him,
attained through the medium of
foreshadowing sacrifice. Those pro-
phecies were not necessary to establish
the claims of Christ when He came. His
authority did not in the least rest upon
them. They were employed by Christ
and His apostles as logical premises to
carry conviction to the minds of those
who believed in the truthfulness of the
prophecies, but, as the New Testament
record shows, with little effect on those
who should have been convinced by them.
And we may say that even now the
Messlanlc prophecies of the Old Testa-
ment are not taken to establish the char
acter and claims of Christ, but as revela-
tions of what that character Is In the
pulpit they are universally used to eluci-
date a character and claims which are al
ready firmly established"
"In religion both prophet and priest
have o mission to our SOULS" says the
Christian Register. "The long contests
of the past have at last set the former
free to speak his word, and it is precious
message that he bears. But when we
pray, we are not trying to think out our
course; we are yielding ourselves to the
will of God. Then it is our sentiment of
truSt that snaaks. and its hast larrnacra Is