The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-17

the truth to be found Christ delegated
the power to teach the truth to the
apostles, he said, and only their right
full successors, the priests and bishops
of the Catholic church, have that power
| TODAY.
catholics believe" said he, that
only within the Catholic church can the
truth of God as revealed through Jesus
| Christ be found. outside the Catholic
church many of the things which Christ
taught are denied and doctrines origin
ated by fallible men are substituted.
The fundamental belief of the
separatists-private judgment the right
of every man to find his own religion in
the Bible--has been the fruitful source
of divisions and sects differing widely
on questions OF faith"
The bishop declared that 1t is no
wonder that since the reformation the
conversion of all the nations of the
earth has Jagged. When Catholicism
held undisputed sway. he said, the ma
tions of the earth came one by one to
know Christ and to bend at His feet.
In the three hundred years that have
elapsed since the Reformation, millions
of Bibles have been distributed among
the heather, he said. but how little real
good has been accomplished as COM
pared with that accomplished before.
Number of Interpretations
Christ said at the Last Supper" said
he. ''This is my body and this IS my
blood No less than sixty separate and
distinct interpretations of this remark
exist outside the Catholic church, while
within her fold there is only one. What
a condition society would be thrown
into if, instead of having Il court to in
terpret our civil laws. every man was
permitted to De his own interpreter
Then the criminal could find a hundred
ways to avoid paying the penalty of
his crime"
The bishop lkened the Catholic church
to the courts, inasmuch as it speaks
with authority and interprets Gods
laws for His people.
But a strange thing has come to pass
in the Protestant church," said he.
The average Protestant bases his
hopes upon the inspira ton of the Scrip
lures. which he considers as the idol of
his heart, but these Scriptures have
lately been assaled in the house of
its friends. The higher critics have
assaulted them until it seemed as if
they were about to toppe over, and it
remained for the Catholic church to
come to the rescue and to proclaim to
all the world its belief in the divine
inspiration of the entire Bible The
Catholic church existed with the full
est authority before the New Testament
was written. Instead of being the en-
emy Of the Scriptures, as has been
charged, it gathered together the scat
tered pages, sifted out the wheat from
the chaff and has always proclaimed
its belief in their divine inspira ton.
The bishop closed with somewhat
exhaustive discussion of the doctrine of
papal infalliblity. which has prevented
contradictions during the last nineteen
hundred years and which has prevented
Il conformance on the part of the church
to the varying moods and speculations
of the human mind.
Bishop Hoban's Remarks.
Rt. Rev. Bishop Hoban made a few
remarks. following Bishop Gavey. He
congratulated the congregation upon
the erection of the beautiful now church
out of the fullness of their love for God.
He expressed a wish that God would
bless them for their devotion and love.
The pastor, Rev. E. j. Melley. extended