The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-24
THE POPE ON AMERlCANISM.
HIS HOLINESS COMMENTS on THE
HECKER CONTROVERSY.


says. Has Always sought 10 Ac-
comn,olatc Herself to the Nations
She Embraecs--No One should De-
part From Its Teachings.
Baltimore Feb 23-The approved trans
Iatisn Of The Pope's letter to Cardinal
Gibbons, giving the papal views on Amer
iaanism." heretofore covered briefly IN the
Associated Press cable Dispatches, was
made public here to-day.
His holiness, CONNIE uung on the contro-
versy which has grown out Of the French
translation OF the life Of the ale Father
Hecker founder Of the Society Of Paulists,
a distinctly American order, says the rule
OF life laid down for Catholics by the vat'-
can council is not Of such a nature thar
il cannot accommodate itself to the eNi-
gsucles OF various times and places. The
church has at ali times been what 81.
Paul said Of himself: II became all things
to all men that l might save all
In regard 10 ways Of living, the church
has been accustomed 70 so yield that the
divine principles Of morals being kept
intact. she has never neglected 10 accom-
modate herself TO the character and ge-
Mus Of The nations which she embraces.
But, continues the letter in this present
matter. there is great danger and manifest
opposition to the Catholic doctrine and
discipline in the opinion of the lovers of
liberty, that allowance should be granted
the faithful, each one to follow out more
freely the leading Of his own mind and
the trend of his own proper activity. Such
reasoning is evidently faulty No one
should wish to depart from the infalhble
teaching authority of the church
License and Liberty.
The confounding of license with liberty,
the passion for discussing and pouring
contempt upon any possible subject, the
assumed right to hold whatever opinions
one pleases upon any subject, and to set
them forth In print to the world have so
wrapped minds in darkness that there is.
now a greater need of The church's teach
ing office than ever before, lest people be
come unmindful both of conscience and of
duty.
I'VE, indeed, have no thought of reject
ing everything that modern industry and
study has produced; so far
from il we welcome TO the
patrimony of truth and 10 an ever
widening scope of public well-being, what
soever helps toward the progress of learn
ing and virtue. Yet all this. to be of any
solid benefit, nay, to have a real existence
and growth, can only be on the condition
of recognizing the wisdom and authority
of the church.
ssCor11iper now n sneak Of the pOnclu slODS
which have been deduced from the above
opinions, and for them, we readily believe
there was no thought of wrong or guilt
yet the things themselves certainly merit
some degree of suspicion. First, all exter-
nal guidance is set aside for those souls
who are striving after Christian perfection
as being superfiuous OF, indeed, not usefui
in any sense-the contention being that the
Holy Spirit pours richer and more abund-
ami graces than formerly upon the souls
of the faithful, so that without human in
PREVENTION He teaches and guides them by
some hidden Instinct of His own. Yet 1t
is the sign of no small over-confdence to
desire to measure and determine the mode
of the divine communication TO mankind,
since it wholly depends upon His own gOod
pleasure and He is a most generous dis
penser of His own gifts. The spirit breath
eth whereso lie listethr-John iii, 8.
And to each one of us grace is given
according to the measure of the giving OF
Christ'-Eph. iv. Z.
How the Holy Spirit Works.
And shall any one who recalls this
story of the apostles, the faith of the mas
cent church, the trials and deaths of the
martyrs-and above all, those olden times,
so fruitful In saints-dare to measure our
age with these, or affirm that they receiv-
ed less of the divine outpouring from the
Spirit of Holiness. Not TO dwell upon this
point, there is no one who calls in Ques-
ton the truth that the Holy Spirit does
work by a secret descent into the souls
of the just, and that He stirs them alike
by warnings and impulses since unless
this were the case all outward defense
and authority would be unavailing For
If any one persuades himself that he can
give assent to saving. that is, to gospel
truth when proclaimed without any ilu-
mination of the Holy Spirit who gives
unto all sweetness both TO assent ana TO
hold, such an one is deceived by a hereti-
cal spirit'-From the second council of
Orange. Canon Z"
Regarding the fact that the Paulists are
not required to take special vows and
that they believe that the religious life is
either entirely useless or of
little service 10 the church
besides being injurious 10 the re-
ligious orders, the Pope remarks that such
cannot be the opinion of any one who has
read the annals of the church. Did not
your country, the United States, derive
the beginning both of faith and of culture
from the children of these religious fam
lilies? To ore of whom but very lately
thing greatly to your praise, have de-
creedSa that statue be publicly erected
And even at the present time whereever
the religious families are found, how
speedy, and yet how fruitful a harvest of
good works do they not bring forth
Many Seek Strange Lands.
How very many leave home and seek
strange lands to impart the truth of the
gospel and to widen the bounds of civiR-
cation; and this they do with the greatest
cheerfulress amid manifold dangers
out of their number less indeed. than
from the rest of the clergy, the Christian
world finds the preachers of Gods word
the directors OF consciences, the teachers
OF youth, and the church itself the exam
pies of all sanctity.
Nor should any difference Of praise no
made between those who follow the active
state Of life from those others who. charm
cd with solitude, give themselves TO PRAYER
ana bodily modification.