The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-04-28
A REPUTATION OF HIS STATEMENTS
Anent Religious Orders in the
Philippine Islands.
SOME VERY IGNORANT ACCUSATIONS
The Cause Of the Filipino War
Enormously Stated.

The following letter in reply to
Bishop Potter's malicious and false
statements about the Catholic church
in the Philippines recently appeared
in the New York Sun under the sigma
ture Of the Rev. Joseph N. Alque, di-
rector Of the Observatory at Manila:
In the first place, it will be we'll to
note that Bishop Potter spent a very
short while in Manila, three or four
days, and it is matter of fact that
the most serious Philippine people
scarcely paid attention to his visit. Be-
sides, the conditions of the war did not
give him the best chances for obtaining
exhaustive information about places
outside of Manila. This may explain
and partly excuse the incorrectness Of
his assertions, few of which I will
quote and examine in the order in
which they stand in his report.
"Her religious orders, except, per-
haps, the Jesuits, have robbed the peo-
pie, wrung from them their lands, and
taxed the administration of sacraments
and ordinances of religion with scale
Of exactions and impositions at once
-scandalous and outrageous"
1t would be curious thing to in
quire from Bishop Potter what is the
exact meaning Of this perhaps" be-
cause it is we'll known in the Philip
pine Islands that the Jesuits had
neither parishes nor properties in the
northern islands, and in the southern
islands, where the Jesuit missions are,
the people clearly state that neither
money nor property has been taken
from them by the missionaries, as au-
thentically proved by an important
document possess, signed by Gen.
Bates, United States Army, on the
9th Of last December, who took the
southern ports of Mindanao Island.
In regard to other institutions, the
charge is such a grave and serious one
that it ought to be proved by facts, and
SOL would request Bishop Potter to
quote facts in sufficient number to
prove his assertion by induction. He
undertakes to prove his charge by the
following statements:
'sNo marriage, e. g., can be celebrated
by priest Of the Roman obedience,
without (a) certificate from both par
ties of baptism; (b) Of confirmation; icy
of confession to a priest Immediately
preceding the marriage; as we'll as a
certificate Of marriage, all of which
must be severally and separately paid
for and for which the charge is in each
case from SIS to $S."
The first (a) is an ecclesiastical rule
in force among Catholics everywhere;
the second (b), as a rule, is not required
in the Philippine Islands; with regard
to the last (c), the confession required
before matrimony need not be made
Immediately before it. If q certificate
be required in this case, it is only to
assure the parish priest that the par
ties contracting marriage have pre-
pared for the sacrament worthily. AS
for the certificate Of marriage, that is
nothing but the marriage license.
Now, the Bishops main point is to
prove that the religious orders have
robbed the people. But if the people
pay the necessary charges for these
certificates willingly, how can he call
it robbery? 1t is not clear, from the
Bishops words, whether the charge in
each case be from SIS to So for all the
certificates together or for each cer
tificate for each party, which would
make quite difference; nor is it clear
whether the SIS to So is estimated in
Mexican money (the usual standard in
Manila) OF our own. But it is not
worth while disputing this point, be-
cause the fact is that the fees for mar
riages in the diocese Of Manila and ev-
erywhere else in the Philippine Islands
are by no means so high as Bishop
Potter asserts. The fees for marriage
among native Indians, or Of Indian
with native, amount to $1.75; among
mestizos, 1926; among white people,
about 81. For poor people there is no
tax at all, as I can show by innumera-
BILE instances.
Charges are fixed by the archbishop
who, it is understood, divides their
proceeds with the clergy who collect
them"