The Irish standard., 1895-06-01
CHRISTIAN UNITY.

full OF Christian SOl1cltude ana zeal IOr
the salvation of souls. Within a brief
period he has issued two encycltcals, one
directly addressed to the English people,
kindly inviting them to enter the fold of
the Catholic church which their forefath-
ers abandoned during the reigns of Henry
VIII and Elizabeth, and the other is adj
dressed to the dignitaries of the Catholic
Church throughout the world, calling
upon Catholics to pray for the CONVEX
sion of their separated brethren and
granting them indulgences If they pub
licly or privately recite some special
prayers for several days before and after
Pentecost.
The English people as nation may
not heed the invitation extended to them
by the Holy Father, but We believe that
many many individuals among them will
return to the bosom of the ancient
church. Indeed, they have been embrac-
ing the Catholic faith in large numbers
for many years and members of the no.
bility and clergymen high in the Angeli-
can church, as by law established, have
relinauished the faith in which they
were born and gone over to Rome" as
they term it. Since the appearance of
the encyclical in the London Times,
which printed it in it's entirety with
out note or comment, it Is said that it is
being freely discussed in the British
press by men of all shades of opinion.
The pope addressed the English people
in a. f1attering and conciliatory tone, re-
ferring to their exalted virtues and civ
ilizing Influences; and If there is any
thing that gratifies John Bull more than
another it is giving him praise for what
he has done for humanity and civiliza-
ton. There are but few Irishmen, how
ever. who would indorse the words of
Pope Leo so far as the relate to the CIV
ilizing influences of the British empire.
They have felt the iron hand Of England
too heavily for generations to agree with
the Pope as to the humane qualities of
the governing portion of the English peo-
ple-the aristocracy-and there are thou
sands of Irshmen today in their own
country and all over the globe who do
not care to pray very much for their con-
version to Catholicity. The history OF
ireland incontestably proves the fact
that when the English were Catholics
they were brutal and treacherous to the
irish people. At the time of the Norman
invasion and for nearly four centuries
thereafter, the English and the Irish
were of the same faith. prayed at the
same altar and recognized the Pope of
Rome as their spiritual head. During
that long period the English Catholics
treated their high co-religionists as cru
ely as the Protestant English in later
DAYS treated the heather Hindoos. They
slaughtered and massacred them without
mercy and were guilty of spoliation and
wrong. The Englishman who now be-
comes Catholic does not change his
antipathy toward the Irish people, and
the English who have always chung to
the Catholic faith have never shown
much love for them when the question of
repeal of the union or national independ-
ence comes to the front. O'Connell de-
nounced the English Catholics az in
crates and somewhat regretted that he
had obtained Cotholic emancipation to
enable them to enter parliament and Sc
cure government patronage. The Cath
olic nobility of England today are rank
Tories who are sternly opposed to Irish
The Englishman
may change his creed at the kind solicit
tation OF Pope Leo, but he certainly will
/ not change his prejudice against the
Irish Catholics SO long "a they struggle
~ cast 81 the Bri fish
n; 81 & Ipcs,1 ops