The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-26

No utterance of the pope has aroused
more widespread interest among the
clergy and laymen Of the Catholic
| church than that contained in his en-
| cyclical to Cardinal Gibbons on Amer.
| icanism which was published in The
| Clio b Friday 1t has been read with
care by every priest In this city ano
| has formed the subject Of conversation
| wherever they have met.
| Following closely upon the encyclica'
| came Archbiship~Ireland'S letter to the
! pope expressing his thanks for the
| clear exposition of the Vatican's views
| on a subject in which he has been con-
| sidered particularly interested. Arch
| bishop Ireland has been generally re-
| garded as the leader or champion Of So
called "Americanism,' but his state
naents to the pope indicate that his
| views on liberal interpretations Of doc
| trinal law are not as radical as was
| supposed.
But while every priest in this city
| is deeply interested in the subjects
treated by Pope Leo, there are very
| few who will express an opinion re-
garding its effects for publication. A
reporter for The lilo b e yesterday
asked several priests to explain the en-
| cyclical clearly for lay readers, but
| they asked to be excused, saying the
encyclical was self-explanatory. The
hesitation Of the clergy arises from the
fact that as yet they have no official
| knowledge Of it. nor will they have un-
til copies of the encyclical have been
| received from Rome and distributed
among the clergy.
| AS TO MISSION WORK.
''The pope says that the doctrines of
| the church are not to be tempered
with" said the Rev. Father Oster. vice
rector and spiritual adviser of st.
I Paul's college, to a reporter for The
Globe. ''The encyclical was provok-
| ed by the life of Father Hecker, found
| er of the order of Paulist Fathers, who
died several years ago in New York.
| The book was issued three or four
| ally Protestant clergyman and drift
ed into infidelity. but later became
again converted and joining the Cath
| Ole church he founded the Paulist So
| ciety. He spent several years in Rome,
where he received the apostolic sane
| ton Of his work, and gathered about
| him a number of former Protestants,
| who were later joined by regularly or
dained priests. Father Hecker and his
converted associates, knowing the Pro-
| testant mind on number of important
| teachings of Catholicism, were inclined
perhaps to interpret them with more
| liberality than a strict Catholic would
| have done, and yet no particular ex-
ception was taken at the time to their
doctrines A number of questions were
left open for individual Interpretation.
| Then the Paulist Fathers started mis-
sions to convert non-Catholics.
Father Hecker'S death was follow
| ed a year or two later by the publica-
ton Of his life and works. which was
translated into French by the Able
| Klein. a French priest. 1t was a free
| translation and certain beliefs were
credited to Father Hecker. to which a
number of French clergymen took ex-
ception. They directed the attention
| Of the Vatican to such things as SEEM
ed antagonistic to Catholic doctrines
and the matter was referred to the
Papal Index at home for examination.
The index read the book carefully and
| reported to the pope that the book con-
tanned teachings that appeared SUBJ