The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-12-26

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things are On the decline believe the
chief support Of all of them L. religion.
and by religion I mean the strong belief
in an al-po wsrs1i. divine ruler OF the uni
verse. ard IN rewards ard puniShnen.s
from that ruler. When such religious
faith declines. the danger IL that morals
VIII also decline. ! fear that there .s such
a decline going On row. though ! hope IL
Is only momertary."
Science and Relfgios.
'sCpon what especial lines do you notice
the decline. your excsIlency>''
Chiefly aicng the lines OF rnaterialiem
ard agaosticism," said the archbishop.
Ard. OF course. upon ali lines which tend
TO take men away from the belief In the
divinity OF Gcd and Christ. The further
we get away from the conviction Of
divine moral ruler the further We get
away from Christ. and thereby lose IN
moral character and pure living"
Speaking Of agnostics. your exceilency.
are not the recent archaeological discover
les affecting the foundations OF religion
Yes, perhaps 30. with the uniformed
and superficial. At FIRST sight ii seems 10
some that science does away with the
need for great God. as though the new
discoveries weakened the effect Of Christ
superficial, and / have no fear Of the final
result Science only changes the date. I.
NAV. for instance, put a little further
back by secondary causes. the Great Gre
ator, but no matter how far back IL goes.
the Creator must be confessed. Take the
question Of the beginning of life upon the
planet Darwin, Haeckel and others OF
that kind cannot answer Il. They will
evolve ether beings from those who pre-
coded them. bat they fail TO state where
life began. There Is only one answer. il
must have come from the supernatural
"As 20 these archaeological discoveries
which have led to so much biblical criti-
cism. not one has vet been made which
upsets the Bible. They may lead US TO
read some parts OF our Bible a little diff
ferenty. so far as the history is con-
cerned. But II We have read wrongly
some historical part OF the scriptures
this IL no indication that the Bible is
wrong, and especially that II IS not
true guardian and teacher Of faith and
morals"
The Catholic Church and the nible.
Then the Catholic church upholds the
Bible In its entirety. does It not,"
1.-THE Catholic church has absolute con-
ndence In Christ and the Bible and II not
only fearlessly challenges all discoveries.
but X aids In them 10 the best OF its abil-
diet another, that science will never con-
tradict faith. that nature will never con-
! tradct revelation. We are not afraid Of
the sciences Take the Catholic university
at Washington I don't think you will
find any more advanced thinkers any,
where than We have there. Everything
upon earth is discussed there. Science at
best is limited IN fits information: It pre-
supnoses and noints out the bevord which
itself cannot attain. and 1t Is far from the
beyond that faith comes. But. of course
faith does not come 10 us as a mere dream
or as a sentiment. II comes with It's ere
dsntials TO our reason and bases itself as
Christ based II upon His miracles upon
the moral elevation Of HIS doctrines and
upon the moral elevation Of that much OF
the world which He chose to be His"
Missionary. Work.
do you believe In missions your ex-
ceilency?" said I.
Yes I do" was the reply II am a
Christian. and Christ told us to teach all
nations. My church Is Catholic, which
means II is bound to embrace all nations
Hence We have missions all over the
globe"
But how about those whom the mis-
sionaries do not reach? Are they all
damned?" asked
'No. think not" replied the arch
the doctrine Of the church. The heather
Is judged according to the light that Is in
him. as st. Paul declared In his epistle
TO the Romans. But Ii Is the duty of the
church to bring more light to the heather,
as IL is the duty Of the heather to accept
the light
The Catholic Church Politics.
II hear IT now and then charged. your
exeellency. that the Catholic church wants
to swallow up the American government
and control the state"
THAT IL not true" replied the arch
bishop. THE church has only the spirit
ual realm OF faith and morals to deal
with. The state has charge OF temporal
and political interests. The two are in
altogether different spheres The church
Is supreme in one. the state IS supreme In
the other. The church is not a temporal
sovereign and never was. The pope IL
not temporal sovereign. and his tenn
poral power over the world ar large has
never been claimed During the middle
ages when all nations were Catholic, the
pope by general consent was looked upon
as general arbiter even In temporal mat
ters. but he did not claim IL as a divine
or inherent right He does not claim any
thing OF the kind today and does not want
10 hold any such position in American
affairs. doubt whether there is more
HNciei MAN III the WnFiO To-Day tnan Leo
Mi. I am sure there Is none who un-
derstands better. the American people and
loves and blesses the liberty which we
have here. He has a strong admiration
for a republican form Of government and
very deep interest in our future as a
nation. The pope is thoroughly In touch
with the times ard with the age Of today.
He believes In democracy as allied 10 good
government and IS for everything that Is
good. true and beautiful in modern pro-
gress."
Nevertheless. your e1ceIlency. there
seem TO be many who believe differently.
You remember the sermon which one OF
the Washington preachers delivered be-
fore a congregation % which President
Mckinley was a member on Thanksgiv-
ing day."
Eyes. do" replied the archbishop sHs
said. I think. that the chief dangers for
America were from rum. socialism and
Jesu!tism. That man was an irnoramus
and thoroughly ili-bred. He took aavan-
tage OF a day OF thanksgiving. when all
the country was thinking Of peace 70 in
suit 70 01h GO American voters and in his
Inbred way tried TO take advantage OF
him 70 such blundar. have no nst,erre
with such smail-minded mer. I should
say that the three great evils for Amer
lea are rum. socialism and hirotrv. ara 4,
this 7 would rot pace higotry \. the hot.
tom" FRANK q CARPENTER