The Irish standard., 1902-02-01
Hew He Became a Catholic.

How He Became a Catholic,
In a letter to Southern paper, N.
f. Thompson explains as follows how
he came to be Catholic:
Reared under Professionalism, 1 had
imbibed all the prejudice and lem
braced all the errors regarding Cathol-
icism which any one could have ex-
perienced in any place or under any
circumstances-excepting one. Truly,
was "Pharisee after the strictest
sect" 1 was superintendent of a
Methodist Sunday school at the time
Of my marriage to Catholic, and had
never met Catholic to converse with,
to my knowledge, before making the
acquaintance of the woman who be-
came my wife. promised her be-
fore marriage that would investigate
for myself the claims of her Church,
after our marriage, and that promise
I at once set about fulfilling.
Being religiously inclined by nature
and training, 1 not only took up a
series Of the studies on Catholic doc
trine, but I extended my investigation
into almost all the religions of the
world, past and present. I found
much to admire in the teachings Of
Confucius. the wisdom of Aristotle and
philosophy of Plato. I became a
strong admirer of the Hebrew religion,
which, more than any other, taught
the existence of one God, who was
the Supreme Ruler and Creator OF
the universe. If by any means I could
today be convinced that there never
existed a Divine Person, who came
OH earth to establish a teaching medi-
UNI for the salvation of mankind, l
should feel obliged in conscience to en-
ter the Jewish church, as coming near
er than all others toward my ideal of
a doctrinal religion, and meeting near
er than any others the conception of
Divine Creation and rulership over
man. While Protestant 1 felt and
claimed myself to be "Christian,"
but never, until began to investigate
the claims of the Catholic church, did
1 fully realize what that word meant.
I soon learned that it embraced more
than was usually conveyed in the
word as understood by Protestants. l
found it meant the acceptance of the
teachings of divinely established and
divinely guided church-an infallible
teacher and an incorruptible body,
founded by Almighty God Himself, for
the salvation of mankind! I found
the Roman Catholic church the only
one claiming to be an infallible teach
er and an unerring guide for mankind
in matters of faith and morals. found
it fulfilling that function and exercis-
ing that sphere, and this through
period Of time beginning with the
Apostles and extending down to the
present; SO that my judgment became
convinced of the fact that If there was
such thing as Christian religion it
existed only in the Roman Catholic
church. From the very nature Of
logical reasoning, this became to me
am irresistible conclusion. The argu-
ments on which Professionalism sought
to establish itself, viz: that the church
had become corrupt and needed reform
ing, proved entirely too much. II
true, it destroyed Christianity itself.
for Christ, being God, could not have
established a corruptible church, or
left an uncertain guide to men in SO
vital matter as the salvation Of their
souls! A Divine Founder could only
establish church possessing His char
acteristics; hence man could not ire
form" the church of God. 1t remained
alone to Professionalism to attempt such
a work, the inconsistency of which
must become apparent to any reflect
ing mind.
Now, all these truths I accepted, and
yet for fifteen years thereafter I re-
mained outside of the church, and
why? was a member Of q number
Of secret orders, among them the one
known as Freemasonry. I learned
that to become Catholic I would
have to renounce Masonry, and while
I sought in various publications, and
from a number Of priests, to find
reasons that I could accept as justify
ing the requirement, I did not find
them. loved its broad humanitarian
principles and noble charity. l ceased