The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-11-20
TWO NOTED METHODISTS
Bishop Goodsell of Tennessee and Rev
DR.. Drees.
BISHOP ON CHURCH WORK IN ITALY
Declares The POpe's Opposition Makes the Fight
Against RomaniSm More Determined. Or.
DeeS Says That Either Catholic
ism or Protestantsm Falls.
(By the Associated Press J

L
New York, Nov. 1.-Two fierce on
slaughts on the Church of Rome enlivened
the proceedings at today's session of the
| General Missionary Committee. On each
occasion an audience which filled every
part of the large auditorium in ST. Paul's
NJ. E. church. where the committee is
meeting, broke into applause and no eff
fort was made by the chair to check these
demonstrations of approval
The general committee, which is COM
posed of all the bishops and leading di-
vines in the Methodist church of America
| has been in session daily since last We'd
nesday Upon several occasions during
| former sessions when reference has been
made to anything pertaining to the Ro-
| man Catholic church the same spirit CT
defiance has been apparent.
| The person to advance to the attack to-
| day was Bishop Goodsell, of Tennessee.
In the course of an address on the work OF
| the Methodist Episcopal church in various
parts of Europe ne had occasion 10 speak
of the work done in Italy and conditions
obtaining there. 1t was in the recital of
the latter the bishop used such strong
| language against the Church of Rome
I'm Northern Europe, for instance in
Germany and the Scandinavian coun-
tries" the bishop said, eve have made
| satisfactory progress. though have had
Il great deaf of indifference and even op-
position to contend with. Statistics slow
that we have made as much headwav du-
ring the first * wears in Europe as we
have IN the same period in this country,
which offers 4 more c0ngcnial soil fer our
creed
In Southern Europe the conditions are
somewhat different. There the strug-
gle has been harder. There are many
who doubt whether we have done work at
all in Italy, that land of superstition and
priestcraft; whether we could ever hope
to accomplish anything there in the face
of the tremendous press of adverse
thought with which we are con-
sent one of our workers into
Rome we had to do as do the Romans. He
began by training the young. by taking
them into our schools and seminaries.
'"The work IS SLOW but it's value has
been recently testified to by the Pontiff
himself, who has honored us by excom-
municating everyone teachers and pupils
alike, connected with our institutions or
learning In the effort to preserve for
himself the triple crown of papacy he
has issued a sweeping interdict against
the schools and everyone passing through
their gates. This, however, has only made
US more determined to wipe out system
which has created out of the former man
of empire q cringing beggar with a
monkey and a grind organ"
The applause which greeted this sally
was deafening.
The next speaker threw down the gaunt-
let to the church of Rome in terms as
direct and as condemnatory as did Bish-
op Goodsell. This was the Rev. DR.. C. w
Dress, who for a number of years has
been identified with the work of the
Methodist Episcopal church and was ap-
pointed by a committee to take over the
supervision of the work among the Span
ish speaking nations on this continent
He SAID:
"a former speaker has said that
condition where half of the world is pa
gan and the other half Christian cannot
endure long The same can be said with
as much truth of a state of affairs where
CHIlSleUuOm Is ulVlQ6u lHIO TWO great
camps, with Professionalism on one side, |
and Greek and Roman Catholicism on the
other. The time is upon us when anew
the questions which appeared in the |
Protestant reformation will begin to agi- |
tate the world and demand to be push |
ed to their final issue After slumbering
for four centuries the self-same ques-
tions were awakened through the last |
act of infamy of the Pontiff in declaring |
himself infallible. Within "a hours after |
this blasphemous declaration had been |
written on the triple crown of Rome the |
Prussian armies invaded Catholic France. |
Forty-five days later the battle of Sedan |
was fought with Protestant Prussia, the |
victor, and twenty days had only elapsed |
when the united armies entered the Holy |
City where the Pope held sway, bringing
with them carloads of Bibles The Pope
lost his temporal power and since that
day the creed has been awakening.
THE Poman Church at one time held
sway over everybody, but now both that
church and Spanish domination have
fallen off their high pedestals. When
Spain is arraigned the Roman Catholic
church should be arraigned with that
power as correspondent Ever since Isa-
bella signed away the liberty of Spain to
the POpe, there has been an illegitimate
alliance between statecraft and priest