The Irish standard., 1897-06-12


ent for the question at: once arises,
What are the essentials Of Christian
ity?" No two people will give exactly
the same answer to this question, but
even If all could agree on the essentials,
would that be any excuse for not keep
ing Christ's other commands? Did he
not say to teach whatsoever things
have commanded you?" We have no
right to accept such of Christ's teach
ings as we please. We might as we'll
say there is no difference between hea-
ven and hell as to say one church is as
good as another.
The latter part of the address was de-
voted to the pope. The early reformers
hated him and went into Mysteries when
he was mentioned, but in spite of de-
nunciations and past prejudices the peo-
pie of today are beginning to regard
Leo as fine old gentleman. Some still
think of the pope as a mysterious being
whose every command all Catholics
must obey Some actually believe that
the pope could command Catholics to
rise up and kill their Protestant fellow
citizens and that such command would
be obeyed. In this connection Father
Michael referred to a bogus encyclical
which was gotten up by an anti-Catholic
organization and distributed few years
ago. It purported to be an order from
the pope that every Catholic should kill
two non-Catholics that year. You
smile, continued the speaker. yet
there are people in Minnesota who be-
lieved that this was genuine. Now,
what is the pope? Pope simply means
papa or father, and every head Of a fam
lily is pope. Every organization must
have a head and the pope is simply the
head of the church. Had. the church
not had a head to it, # could not have
endured through the baFbarism Of all
the past centuries. Christ was the first
head of the church and Christ impaired
infallibility to Peter. There are num-
ber of Scriptural references which prove
this very conclusivaay,- particularly
where Christ said, ''1hosa art Peter, and
on this rock will 7 buiad my church"
These beautiful words have no meaning
Christ did not say my churches" but
"my church, Father Michael also
quoted a few other passages, and con-
tinuing stated that the popes had come
o1-
though at one time two men claimed the
papal chair, just as there was at one
time tie vote in the presidential elec-
toral college in this country. While the
pope, as head of the church, claims in
fallibility, he is far from claiming i'm
peccability, and if the English language
were better understood these words
would not be SO frequently confused.
Impeccability means that man cannot
sin, while infallibility means something
entirely different, and the pope is liable
to sin just like other men. His infalli-
bility means that when he speaks, as
head of the church, then he is infallible,
and If the church has not the right to
say what is right and wrong then it is
not a divine institution-it is not the
church which Christ promised to be with
''even to the end of the world" But
the pope, as father of the church, has
no right to command people as hs
pleases, any more than father would
have right to abuse his child or send
him to prison. 1t is only when dis
puted question is brought before him
that the pope speaks to settle 1t.
Father Michael said he would admit
fhere had been q few bad popes, that
there had been bad cardinals, bishops
and priests, but he called attention to
the wickedness in high places even in
old, and also called to mind the strong
tendency to harp on and magnify the
Hfckedness in ecclesiastical circles.
Christ conferred spiritual power on his
apostles and not on others, yet who is
the head of the English church today?
The queen. Who Isl the head of the
church in Germanyf The emperor.
Christ did not confer spiritual power
on the Caesars, the temporal rulers OF
his day.
Many of the churches OF to-day cannot
tell by whom they were foanded. Their
doctrines are constantly changing and
would not be recognised a afew hundred
years hence. The Catholic church is
stable. Thus it uses the Old Latin Ian
guage, the old hymns and prayers, COM
posed eighteen centuries asp. This lam
guage is the same now, ASST was then,
while other dialects and languages
change and the word which means one
thing today may have another meaning
tomorrow.
The address eaosed with an earnest
exhortation to all to think the subject
over carefully: Father Michael thanked
the Congressional people for the use
zof their church, the. Lyceum manager
for the use Of the theater and:thesJour-
nal for the interest which it had taken
fsand the accounts it had given of the