The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-11

"AmERECANISM'-A CONSPIRACY.
A great deal of speculation has been
INDUCED in regarding the true mean
ing of the recent letter Of the pope adj
dressed to Cardinal Gibbons and the
bishops of the Catholic church in Amer
lea on the subject of "Americanism
The letter attracted great attention at
classes of American society. But even
among Catholics the real meaning of the
letter remained much of a mystery
Among one school of Catholics the
document was accepted as involving pa,
pal condemnation of doctrines and prac
tees identified with such men as the
cardinal himself, Archbishops Ireland
and Keane and others, sometimes spo-
ken of as representing tbs liberal school
of Catholicism. Among another school
1t has been regarded as merely condemn
ing certain doctrines or practices in no
wise identified with the prelates men
toned nor in any true sense prevalent
among American Catholics, or peculiar to
them. Non-Catholic Americans occupied
the attitude of standing politely aside and
indicating by their silence that, in a
case like this, where doctors disagreed,
there was not much to be expected from
laymen
Father Hecker's Life" by a member
of the Paulist Fathers in New York of
which Father HecBer was the head, was
the immediate occasion of imputing GER
tain heretical, or, at least, mischievous,
doctrines to American Catholics under
the general designation of American
ism" But just wherein the hereticaJ
or mischevous doctrines consisted, either
in the conduct of Gibbons, Ireland OF
Keane, or in the teachings or practices
of Father Hecker, as Indicated In the
text of Father Elliott's life of that dis
tinguished man. was apparent to few,
if any, Catholics or Protestants. The
incident may be said to have been dis
missed by the average thinking Ameri-
can, Catholic and Protestant alike, as
one of those things which were beyond
his understanding.
Much light is thrown on the subject
by DR.. William Barry in an extended
article entitled "Americanism. True and
False" in the pages of the North Ameri-
can Review for July. The writer knows
his subject thoroughly in it's political
and personal, as well as in its ecclesias,
I.e l.;
circumstances under which the pope's
letter was written is very interesting
story of European ecclesiastical poll
tics. Generally speaking, the thing call
ed "Americanism" is, according to Faith
er Barry, a spurious product, which has
really been fabricated by those who as
sumed responsibility for the Cahensly
movement. Cahenslyism was a move,
ment designed to perpetuate foreign dis
tinctions of nationality in these states
and was strenuously opposed by Arch.
bishop Ireland and other Catholic prel,
ates The supporters of CahensIyism
were bitter against these men for the
defeat they sustained, and they con-
tinued their plottings until they suo-
ceeded in arouslng a belief in Europe,
which extended to certain quarters in the
Vatican, that there were serious he :es:es
prevailing among American Catholics
1t is plain from the qualifying state-
ments of the pope's letter that he did
not think that there were, but evidently
concluded that If there were not the
letter would do no HARM while, if there
were any tendency to separate from the
church among any body of American
Catholics, or to reject the teachings of
the church, or to put forward false
doctrines in any direction, the letter
would be effective in checking such a
movement.
1t is really the old war of democracy
against royalism, of progress against re-
scton- OF nnedievaIism against modern