The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-06-13
Arguments That Are Put Forth
to Sustain the
Ideas.
Catholics Are Witnesses of the
Truth and Sus-
tain II.
The Claim Is Not Made in a Spirit
of FanaticiSm But for
the Truth. -,

The claim which the Catholic church
makes to be the only true; church of
Christ in the world has been the occa-
sion, no doubt, Of feeling OF prejudice
against Catholics. Protestants feel that
the claim is so enormous, and then so
SERIOUS in it's results, and at the same
time so humiliating to them, as to justify
them not only in feeling offended, but al
so in Indignantly protesting against 1t
and all who make the claim. Many have
allowed themselves to be led to the con-
clusions, before amy act is committed to
Justify it, that Catholics are and must
be intolerant and Of a prosecuting spirit
and straightway, for this reason alone,
accuse them of being the instigators OF
all the prosecutions of the past, and have
also conjuerd up such a terrible picture
as to the future, in case they should get
the power, as to make the blood run
cold in their veins, and yet, when they
begin to think calmly, they find tnat II
has been only a. dream. the result maybe
of disordered stomach.
why" they ask, 'should Catholics
PERSIST in holding UP this claim for their
church when they know it is SO offensive
to all Protestant organizations? I'VE,
they say. edo not make the claim for our
churches No, they do not, but why :?
Is it because they are more modest than
Catholics? Or is it because they ssot y
find the same solid ground for it in their
churches as Catholics do in theirs? If
they had a bona fide foundation for it In
their churches, or if in good reason and
honest conscience they thought they had,
would they not proclaim it in the same
way? They hold themselves to be wit
nesses for the truth and are very active
in testifying to what they think to be the
truth. II they felt that such gift as is
here claimed by the Catholics were
lodged with tIem-so divine and SO
graaa--would they feel justified to cover
and hide it? On the contrary, they
would realize in conscience the obliga-
tion to proclaim it to the whole world.
Many have been in fact the attempts to
do this, but they have failed, the words
formulating the claim having choked in
their throats before they reached a clear
utterance 1t would require indeed an
extraordinary courage for any man In his
sound senses to proclaim to the world
that any mere sect can i'll itself be the
one whole or true church Of Christ. The
claim would indeed in this case be SO
enormous as to prove itself even to the
proclaimer to be utterly ridiculous.
But now with Catholics and their church
all this can readily be seen to be very dif-
ferent. Here the church is not a sect, cut
off from some pre-ex:stent but still con-
tinuing church, but is itself the original
whole body, which was born Of the Holy
Ghost on the day Of Pentecost, in the Sec
ond and higher advent Of our Lord accord
ing to his promise t'to come again." and
which was made in that supernatural
event. to be Christ's mystical body-the
fullness of him that filleth all in ALL" AS
such church, it is necessarily one, holy,
Catholic and Apostolic. This church is in
destructible and continues in its unity and
divine integrity to the end of the world,
even the power of hell not being able to
prevail against it.
ic ti,o oh:1ino a fnifh nf 11v
the members OF this church the same now
as it was In the time of the Apostles, is it
not very natural for them. to assert this
claim? Would not those who are now in
the sect churches, were they in the Cath
olic church, do the same? And would they
not, in that case, do the very thing for
which they now complain and at which they
take offense? 1t Is said that converts,
when they enter the Catholic church, are
even louder and more Jealous in their
proclamation Of the claim of the Catholic
to- be the only true church of Christ than
those who are to the manner born, and the
reason IS. where this is true, because they
are then more deeply impressed with ref
erence to this point by the great contrast
between this grand CID historical Church
with all it's original and supernatural full
ness, and the sects from which they have
Just escaped The members of the Cathol-
ic Cnurch are, in their plea for this claim,
simply acting as the witnesses OF what they
see and know, Could they be honest in
their convictions and yet remain silent, Or
suppress what they here see to be a trans
cendeDtally glorious fact If they could and
actually did. .the very stones would cry
out against them. 8.s 4}s's '5s s!i s
If our Protestant friends could realize
while in the, sect religions this state Of
the Catholic consciousness they would
not be disposed So readily to take UNI
brage at this 4 Catholic testimony. This
is fhe mission of all Catholics, lay and
clerical, which they cannot neglect With.
out sin. Their mission to be Witnesses
for Christ is sco1nmen surate with the lim-,
its Of Catholicity itself extending
through all tinns and spreading all over
the world every here saying il the
same arm tones this is the one III igirlaI
ana sfr11e church ofs e'IhIi
ith I'LL his the PR mild
III odest ana qts
ta iS thes