The Irish standard., 1901-12-14

General Chaffee the sentence Of death
was committed to twenty years. i'm
prisonment "out of respect to the con-
demned mans calling and the great
religious body to which he belonged,
and most unworthily represented"
The Irish Standard at the time said
;l.at the priest had killed nobody, and
that he was found guilty-by bigoted
American officers of the Funston type
who hate priests both at home and
abroad as the devil hates holy water.
1T, the priest had been guilty, why
should he not pay the penalty like the
three others who We're hanged? Why
any discrimination should be made by
Claffee because of his calling" and
the great religious body to which he
belonged" appeared to us as extreme
ly ridiculous. and hence it is that we
believed the priest to be victim of
bigotry and entirely innocent of the
charge. If he was guilty he ought to
be hanged; if he was innocent lie
ought not to be imprisoned.
Any priest capable of such cruelty
as is alleged against Father Leposoy
deserved no clemency from General
Chaffee. Instead Of mitigating the
crime by reason of his calling" he
deserved more punishment than any
of his confederates. Instead of par
ticipating in the murder Of his coun-
trymen he ought to have exerted all
his influence to have prevented the
dastardly act of stabbing his own
countrymen and then burying them
alive. His crime would be more hide
GUS in the eyes of God and man be-
cause of his sacred calling, and Gen
eral Chaffee has no right to save his
neck from the rope, if after a fair and
impartial trial he was found as guilty
as the three others.
But the fact is that the priest was
not guilty at all, if subsequent cable
gram to the Chicago American, dated
at Manila, Dec. 5, is to be believed
That dispatch says that the military
attaches had on that day hanged the
presidente, the chief Of police and the
vice-sergeant of Taytay for the afro
cious crime which was committed at
the instance Of the insurgent leaders,
and then adds:
ga priest of the name Of Leposoy,
who was also convicted and sentenced
to death because he had heard the con-
fessions Of the murdered men when
they were at the point Of death, had
his sentence committed to twenty
years. Imprisonment because of his
calling"
If we interpret this correctly the
priest has been sent to prison for
twenty years, not because he was an
accomplice in the crime, but because
he heard the confessions of the stab
bed men who were buried alive, when
they were at the point Of death. In
other words, he is being punished for
discharging his sacred functions by
preparing the dying men for eternity.
In all probability, Father Leposoy
heard Of the butchery Of the men and
fastened to where they were buried
alive to hear their confessions before
life was extinct. The American Off
GERS subsequently heard Of his minis
trations and arrested him on the
charge Of murder. AS there was no evil
dence to connect him with the crime,
General Chaffee changed his sentence
from hanging to confinement in the
penitentiary for twenty years.
If the priest did no more than hear
the confessions of the slaughtered men
at the point of death, he ought to be
discharged. He was simply perform
ing his duty as a Catholic clergyman
when hearing the confessions of the
dying men and granting them absolu-
ton of their sins. 1t makes no DIFF
ference whether the American officers
who courtmartialed the priest believe
in confession or in the power Of a
priest to forgive sins. They may scott
at the religious belief of the Filipinos
all they please; they may hate their
priests with all the Protestant bigotry
of their hearts; they may think it a
meritorious act to desecrate Catholic
churches and loot them, and rid the
archipelago of every priest and friar
by hanging them OF sending them to
prison; but will the Catholic citizens
of the United States raise no protest
against the bigots? The Catholics of
this country should demand an investi-
cation Of the case of Father Leposoy.
If that priest is guilty of crime, let
him be punished. If he was particeps
criminis in the killing of the seven
natives, let him be hanged; if he is
only guilty Of hearing the confessions
of dying men, let him be set at liber-
ty. An inquiry into the case is in
order.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
The Chicago-American, which cham
pions the cause of the people against