The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-04-06
- . That Bogus Jesuit Oath.

|
Rev. Father Ryan, of st. Michaers
Cathedral, furnishes the following
communication to the Telegram, OF To-
ronto:
Some one sent me a marked copy
Of your paper of Saturday. March 2.
On page 6you have an article on what
YOU call in your heading, Oath Of a
Jesuit Now want to stigmatize that
| whole artic1e-as most infamous and
outrageous SANDER on the character of
the most learned and devoted body of
men i'll the Catholic church: indeed, l
may say, in the whole world. Lord
Macaulay's famous essay, that every
schoolboy is supposed to know, will
prove the first part of my assertion
the learning of the Jesuits. Mr.. Park
man. in his most interesting and fairly
honest volumes, will prove the second
Jesuit devotedness. The glorious
heroes of Christianity and civilization
in this Canada of ours such as Mar
quette. I4alemont, Breboeuf and
Jouques by their learning life and suf-
fering prove both. and these were all
Jesuits. But to come to facts of mod
ern history and to this infamous 'Jesu-
it OATH The Jesuits are cosmopolitan:
they are everywhere. But wherever
they are. l confidently assert that they
are most loyal subjects to the civil au-
thority. And now for this oath Of
course, like most calumnies against the
Catholic church. this infamous oath
has been heard of before. It has been
answered. denied and Indignantly re-
pudiatcd hundreds Of times, by those
who spoke With knowledge and au-
thority. The great Jesuit, Father Ed
monl O'Reilly, who, Cardinal Newman
says in his 'Apologia,' was the most
learned man in Europe, felt once conf
PEELED to make public reference to this
very same odious SANDER Now,
where and when are these falsehoods
to cease? To what end and in what
interest are they reiterated? The
Catholic church can get on without
caluu1ny or falsnhood. Why should not
other churches try and do the same?
Anyhow. as far as j can. am deter
mined to nail these odious lies against
our religion every time. Now, sir.
don't ask what your code or COIL
science of literary ethics may be. But
l do hold that even an editor of Il
daily paper may he held fairly RESPONSE
bic for statements that seriously and
iniuriously affect the character of
others. You give as authority for your
staten ems about the Jesuit oath, a
Reader and lie Scmeur Franco
American. OF course nobody knows
who Reader may be, except probably
yourself, and I must honestly confess
that l never before heard of lie Sc
incur. But what I do know perfectly
we'll is all about the so-called Jesuit
oath. In the first place. the Jesuits do
not take any oath at all. Like all re-
ligiOus orders in the Catholic church.
the JcsuitS take vows, in which there
is not single word about any civil
power, even in England. These vows
are purely the personal affair Of those
who make them. and no one else has
right to talk about them. The rules
and constitutions of the Jesuits may
now be had in almost any or our pub
lie libraries. This book is the only
authentic and authoritative statement
of what Jesuits say and do, including
the very words of their vows. / can
lend a copy OF this book to anyone
who cares to see it, even to the learned
editor OF the Evening Telegram.
"And now. sir. I must ask you as an
honorable man. to publish every word
of this letter in your issue of this even
ing. Wednesday,, March G. And if
You do not, l will denounce you and
your paper as strongly as I can in pri-
vate and in public, and tell all our
people to have nothing more to do with
You or your paper"