The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-02-28
THE CONFESSIONAL.
A Sermon Delivered In St. Paul by
Bishop Keane.

preached OH 1.-The Confessional" He
said in part:
Upon the subject of auricular con,
fession there are two distinct views.
These are a Catholic view and under
standing; the other is Il non-Catholic |
view and misunderstanding.
THE non-Catholic view is that the
confessional is a human institution de-
signed by crafty priesthood to fur
nsh those priests ample excuse and
scope by means Of which to prey upon
IL credulous pastorate. And it is too
bad that the non-Catholic idea, or i'm
preston, is the one that to-day has at
tanned to predominance in this coun-
try. The nonCatholic idea found ORR
gin ages ago in obscurity and darkness
and hate; and in spite of all the light
that the Roman Catholic church has
endeavored to throw upon the sub
ject, this perverted idea has steadily
grown.
Some years ago, in the course of a
temperance campaign carried OH in the
South, myself and colleague reached a
small village and put up for the night
ut the only hotel. In the evening l
asked the landlady if there were any
Catholics in the village, to which she
replied in the negative very forcibly,
adding that none were desired. / ask
ed her, then, if she knew aught Of the
Catholic church. She replied that she
knew all about it. Probably said 1,
you had the advantage of convent
education?' NO, indeed, that was not
necessary. read all about it in a
book written by Catholic priest,
Father Chiniquy' From that poison
Gus, perverted, despicable piece Of lit
erature she had attained her knowl-
edge of the hottest institution on earth.
The word of Il liar against all the
teachings of the stanchest church of
the world!
"And that book has been translated
into all the languages of Europe, and
many of Asia. And over there it is
still at it's work, poisoning the minds
of humankind and combating our mis-
sionaries in their God-given work to
an incalculable degree.
But Chiniquy was not the first.
There was II Frenchman before him
engaged in the same work. And you
know that when the devil gets into
Frenchman there is none worse.
"When Cardinal Newman was new
ly converted it CHANGED that an Eng
lislman, travelling in Switzerland, saw
outside the door of a grand old Cath
Ollie cathedral a sign upon which were
words and figures. He, it seems, was
preparing a lecture which he intended
delivering upon his return to England,
and in that lecture he stated that he
had seen sign upon which was
catalogue of the different sins and the
price of absolution for each. Cardinal
Newman was naturally very much in
censcd over the matter, and he wrote,
asking that a clear exposition of the
matter be sent him. This was done;
and it turned up that what really was
upon that sign was the location of each
seat in the church and the rental Of
each. The man who created the fur
ORD could not read French, but he
could hate and pervert But the old
story is still upon it's way.
I'm this America Of ours we are not
SO much given to investigation of
religious matters as they are in other
countries We are too apt to accept
without Il thought the ready prepared
thing as it is set before us. We are
too busy in the pursuit of material
matters; and in all my experience in
this country l have very rarely found
a school in which the minds of the
children were not permitted to become
poisoned in regard to religious matters.
You know the principle upon which
an enemy works is not to say mild
things about you. Rather, he deluges
you beneath Overwhelming, damaging
evidence; and in the event of the lack
of truth, he throws lies ut you. That
is the manner i'm which the enemies Of
the church have served her
These enemies will tell you that a
beautiful girl goes to the confessional
and is treated in an inhuman manner
by the priest who hears her. God for
give them! In this world there are
about 25O. 100000 Catholics. How many
of those are mothers who have been
accustomed to the confessional all
their lives? Have they not as much
love for their daughters as non-Cath
Ollie mothers? Why do they hail w,sn
joy the fact that their daughters are
regular attendants at the confessional?
wonder if those mothers found the
confessional means Of support and
fountain Of good? Or did it early
break down and shatter all their
ideals?
"But then it is a we'll known fact
that the worst enemy the church has
Is an apostate priest, one who has
proved himself false to every trust
reposed in him. He has fallen from n
great height, and, of course, he falls
very low, But 1t seems that no amos.