The Irish standard., 1903-05-09
to Social and Political Organizations
Which Perpetuate Foreign
Ideas and Customs.
Sees Added Importance of the Church in This
Country Because of Acqui-
sitlon of Philippines

| In the highest sense, we met him. He
never asked you If you believed In
God, but, IL you were brave and hon.
est, he presumed that you did. 1
didn't know much about creeds, but
I'd be quite satisfied to be a John-Ire-
land sort of a Christian No matter
how tough Il man was, he had only to
go TO the chaplain in his difficulties,
and II was man to man. We fought
all the better when he was about. T
don't believe the story Of his having
rushed to the front, singing the Mar
seillaise' to encourage us. In the first
place, 1t isn't like him; in the second,
don't believe he knows the 'Marseil-
laisc' from Yankee Doodle or the
Wearing Of the Green That he pre-
vented Il lot of yellow -strcaked pri-
Yates from going to the rear, because
they wanted cartridges. by giving cart
ridges out himself. is possible He
hadn't much use for cOwnrds."
Fifteen months in tho army brought
the strenuous chaplain to the verge Of
the grave. and he retired, with the
| sense Of having done his duty to the
utmost. il tho opinion OF the soldiers
| had amy value with him.
In "Churrh and Modern Society"
| Archbishop ireland says:
'"Thc times arc solemn. In no other
epoch Of history since the beginning
or the Christian era. did changes so
profound ana fnr-rMching take place
Discoveries and inventions have OPEN
cd to us n new material world So
cial ana political conditions have been
| transformed. Let all things
bc new is The watcllword of humanity
| today. ana to make all things new Is
hnmnnity's strong resolve. 10 this
end are pledged it's most fierce nctivi-
ties, which. wherever in this realm Of
men they are put forth, arc cxempli-
fed In the steam and electricity of the
new material creation. With
the new order. have come new needs,
new hopes. new aspirations. TO con-
u,lcr the new world to Christ, the
church must herself be new, adapting
herself in manner Of life and in meth
od Of action to the conditions Of the
new order, thus proving herself while
ever ancient, to be ever new, as truth
from heaven is and ever must be-"
st. Augustine's great apOstrophe to
the Catholic Church is not more pious
or more sincere than this, and it rep
rcsents the essential principles Of
Archbishop Trelnnd's action. His Euro
pean cducation--following his Ameri-
can t1aining-had taught him not to
fear old shadows in a new land. But
when he spoke-and not only spoke
but acted. as If there could he free
church in Il free land-he produced
the effect Oh some Of his well-meaning
brethren that Cotton Mather would
have produced, had he informed his
colleagues that the witches had ceased
to be worth burning.
The fatal result. among other fatal
results of the conflict between church
and state in Europe. was the conclu-
sion on one side that the church had
no rights which anybody was bound to
respect. and on the other. that the
state had no rights at all, unless the
church granted them. This condition
of mind was artificial and un- Christian
on both sides; it had grown through
the existence Of constant and abnor-
NAL war, and it explains much, in the
status of European countries, which
Americans take too little trouble to
understand.
Archbishop ireland, if one may
judge his resolves by his course Of ac-
tion. had determined that the Euro.
pcan mistakes should not be repeated
here. The chart was u1sullied there
was Q clear field; there was a tabula
rosa Old abuses need not weary the
energy of the man of good will: there
was no Bastile: no privileges: no base
compromises between the human side
of the church and the evil of the
world. He was keen to see the source