The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-17
THE CHURCH IN SPAIN
HOW ITS POWER Is VIEWED by THE
PROGREssIvEs AND LIBERALS.
The War Is a Severe Moral Blow to
He Does for His Practitioners.
Madrid Letter in New York Post.

political and material aspects. The blow to
this party has been moral one-the de-
etruction, In certain sense, of an ideal of
intellectual progress, ardently cherished by
them, which not only harmonized intimate
~ with what they regarded as the American
ideal. but for the attainment of which fruit
full inspiration was to be found, they be-
lieved. in the intellectual life of the great
republic, as they delighted to call the
United States.
The men of this party, withdrawn for the
most part from politics, ardently desire the
regeneration Of Spain which has been re-
tarded and interrupted by her unhappy
wars. They see clearly and they acknowl-
edge freely the national weaknesses and de-
fects; and believing they do that the only
sure basis of a nations prosperity is the
moral and intellectual elevation of her peo-
pie. they would lay the foundations of re-
generated Spain in the schoolroom. There
they would inculcate principles of broad
humanity; they would turn the eyes of the
young from the too steady contemplation
Of the past to the wide outlook which the
future offers Them they would teach the
trades and arts Of peace with all the per-
lection made possible by modern discovery
They would thus prepare the way for the
1.-THE country-her mineral and agricultural
resources. her industries and her commerce
and they would counterbalance the effect
OF the now too highly esteemed virtue of
giving by teaching the morality of the mod
ern virtue of getting And as many of these
men are engaged in educational work. some
OF them being at the head of important in
sututions Of learning, others at the head
or museums and Libraries. they are familiar
with the ground they tread in this sphere
and they know what seeds will at the same
time best respond to cultivation, and, when
they attain fruition, supply existing needs
but, crippled as they are in the prosecu-
Ion or their aims by lack of resources, more
slender now than ever before, because of the
more urgently pressing claims of the pres
ent war, they do little more for the
time than lament the existing state of
Things. And this is one reason why they de-
plore the war. But they deplore it still
more Tor its moral effects, which they re-
gard as even more pernicious, than for it's
material effects. They deplore it because
or the hatred between the two peoples which
will naturally result from it; because of the
inevitable alienation of their sympathies
from each other which will continue long
after the war has ceased, and the conse-
quent cessation, for long time to come of
such communication as there has been be-
tween them.
RELIGIOUS REFORMERS.
or this large party many, while not, strict
Catholic Church. are, more or less, religious
refoimers. They believe that the clerical
element forms too large a part of the ma
uonal life; that while in past ages the
clergy occupied a place in the life Of the
nation which only they could fill, and which
they in general filled we'll and wisely. in
the modern order of things this has ceased
10 De the case, and the preponderating in
huence of the church in secular affairs has
become prejudicial to the welfare of the
state. Even in the department of education
f, iIslyt w4 4 CONNIE within very narrow
the sphere Of private life they would e<-
clude 1t except in so far as it serves to in
terpret faithfully the religious and the
moral law and to render aid in their full
hllment:, And they believe further that
where this action Is not desired it should
not extend. and that each one should be left
at liberty, without mourning social or re-
ugious ostracism for availing himself of it,
way. 0"-
In this party are to be found the names
or many men distinguished in Spanish let
tsrs, and 1t may be mentioned in proof Of
the liberation Of the people at large that
neither socially nor in literary reputation
ana success have they suffered or do they
suffer because of the views which they hold
on this point and which they make no hest
tat1on IN prociaiming.
To deduce from what has been said how
ever that the influence of the clergy in the
community is on the whole prejudical would
tnem many excellent, many sanity men
whose example and whose teaching make
only Tor good. In the small towns and VII
lages, especially, where the priest comes
necessarily and constantly into Intimate per
son9l relations with the members of his
nock, whose confidant and counsellor he is
IN all their difficulties and troubles, and
whose life, exposed to the view of ali ex-
emplifies most frequently the virtues which
ne preaches-here the priest still has his
place, which no one can yet fill as well as
he He is the friend as well as the con-
needy members of which he shares freely
his slender stock of worldly possessions
20 tba tai ei 81 may not always be equal
gregation the mysteries of their common
faith. or even of penetrating very profound
~ the mysteries of that faith himself: but
when they are sick and in sorrow he con-
soleS and cheers them; when they have
gone astray he brings them back. most
when they are glad he rejoices with them
ana when the hour comes in which they
they obey. he helps them to straighten cut
the account, leaving, if it be possible, a ball
ah itt IN their favor. and, he sustains them
with words of hope and comfort in their
passage into the dread unknown.
WOMEN ARE FAITHFUL.
But in the large cities. from whatever rea-
son, the clergy do not in general exercise
this personal influence over their parishion-
ers. The women, indeed, as a whole, it NAV
be said, still faithfully follow the precepts
or the church, and are devOut believers in
the mysteries of their religion, whose min
lister is invested in their estimation with
the sanctity of his office. And there is
among the men also a class, though not a
very large one, who are sincere and con-
sistent believers but the religious attitude
of the vast majority of the men who have
gone through school and through college,
and especially if they have Travelled in
foreign countries. may be best described as
one Of optimistic agnostjcism They con-
form outwardly with the requirements of
the church; they offend in no way the sus-
capabilities of the devout, but they have
parted with the faith of their boyhood: they
have yielded 10 the influence of the modern
spirit of unbelief though in the unbeief of
the Spaniard, l have implied there is
nothing of cynicism or bitterness And that
they have lost their belief in dogma has not
caused them 10 lose their belief in goodness
and justice. and in the human virtues that
were, after all, as highly esteemed and as
greatly honored among some of the pagan
nations as they have ever been among
Christians
In elaboration Of this point passage in a
contemporary Spanish writer occurs TO my
mind, which i will copy here. I'm examin-
ing the ideal constitution of Spain' the
writer referred to says. the moral and in a
certain manner the religious element which
Is seen to underlie every other serving them
as a foundation, is stoicism; not the brutal
ot,A afs CT