The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-04-18
An Eloquent Tribute TO the Catholic
Church.

OAAtARAN W aAAKbf OsA
last celebrated the first anniversary
Of its installation in Evansville,
with large number of Visiting
knights from lerre Hauie, Wash
intton, Ind, Nashville, Tenn,
Louisville, Ky, Toledo, Ohio, and
other cities, and had a number Of
limitations, and big banquet at
Evans hall
The Evansville Courier says:
Close to 400 sat down 10 the ban
quet tables. Mr.. James Y. Rush
acted as toasimaster, and immedi-
ately introduced Hon. +. j. Nc
Dermott, Who responded To the
toast, "Pope Leo MIL" He spoke
in part a. iollows:
Though the Catholic church
mbers 200, 900, ,Ol0 in its ranks, a
large majority OF all the christians
in the world, strange To say, most
mer outside our told, give little, if
any, attention to our beliefs or the
dogrnas of the church; but some
times cherish an unreasonable and
unyielding grudge against the church
and especially against the papacy; ;
and yet the Pope is but the living
voice Of the church, seeking only to
uphold its tenets and authority for
the good Of mankind. Many emf
nent protestant authorities, like
Dean Millman, surely disinterested
witness, freely admit that the pa
'pacy was the power that, In the
middle ages, saved Europe from an
archy, ignorance and baIbarism.
1T was this power" said he,
(which was most imperatlvely re-
qrired to preserve all which was to
survive out Of the crumbling wreck
Of Roman civilization. Ii is i'm
possible to conceive what had been
the confusion, the lawlessness, the
chaotic state OF the middle ages,
without the medieval papacy. 1t
was the church that lifted up and
protected the poor, that set a limit
to the arrogance and strife OF mobiles
and kings, that, at the altar or in
the convent, gave the only safe re-
fuge from rapine and violence, that
fed the hungry, and bound up the
wounds of the suffering and dying,
that, day in and day out, taught
morality, piety and bTotherly love,
that encouraged the study Of med
icine and law, that preserved not
only the bible, but also the litera
ture OF Greece and Rome, that,
amid the almost constant clash OF
arms, inspired the scholar, the poet,
the architect and the painter to en-.
tighten and refine the world. II il
did not accomplish all we could
have desired, we must remember
that its grand purposes had to be
carried out by human agencies as
we'll as by Divine assistance. Like
sturdy ship on the raging sea il
seemed to 60 upward and down
ward as it ploughed its way through
the stormy passions OF humanity
but though laboring hard and threat.
ened often with destruction, il still
kept its course straight onward, with
the bible for its compass and God FOL
its pole-sta and to day, as on yes
terday and two thousand years ago,
semper eadem, it bears aloft ths
best treasures and the highest hopes
Of mankind.
"What the church accomplished
was due, in a great degree, to ths
wisdom and goodness of its Ions
line Of illustrious pontiffs. A few
very few, like Judas, may no
have been worthy Of their exalted
station; but we are amazed wher
we contemplate the nobility anc
greatness Of the rest. The church
has never taught that Pope cannot
sin or make mistakes in science OF
politics, though his training, hi.
guarded life, and his eminence tend
powerfully to free him from th'
weaknesses OF other men. HI
. claims infallibility only when, a
the voice of the universal church
speaking ex cathedra. he gives :
formal decision on point OF faiti
and morals. As Cardinal Newman
in his reply to Gladstone in 1871
! said, "A Pope is not infallible in hi'
laws, nor in his commands, nor il
his acts OF state, nor in his admin
istration, nor in his public policy,
though always entitled, by reasoI
OF his office, to be heard with ten
der and reverent attention by hi
flock The church does not pre-
7. scribe or reproba,e any REASONABLE
form Of government, whether re
publican or imperial. 1t leaves II
children free to choose any forr
!, they prefer; and yet the Pope him