The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-10-21
WAIT AND SEE
1t is Well Not to Exploit the
Catholicity of
Prominent Persons Until Thew
Have Proved 1t.

Have Proved 1t.
There is a regrettable tendency on
the part of some Catholic journals to
claim as Catholic those who have
leven a distant utilization with the
church, if they happen to be people
of prominence, says the Casket. A
few years ago they made quite an ado
over the Dutch-French novelist,
Huysmans. His books, written be-
fore his conversion. had been so pu-
trid that it would have been wiser
to wait and see what he wrote next.
IF they did SO, they would have
lpraised him very gingerly. At pres
lent they are quoting. one after an
other. an article which he wrote
about Lourdes. but they feel obliged
to leave out one or two sentences in
which he indicates his dissatisfaction
that heaven does not work such an
overwhelming miracle as to restore
an amputated leg. Thus spoke the
Jews when they said: Come down
from the cross and we will believe
Iyou." The same journals were de-
lighted with Myra Kelly's school sto-
ries because she was the daughter
| of an Irish Catholic. Yet, it was
plain to any careful reader of the
stories that the writer was not a
Catholic. And her marriage in a
Lutheran church the other day sets the
matter at rest. When Thomas F.
Walsh's son Vinson-we wonder If he
was christened Vincent-was killed in
| an automobile recently, and buried
with Protestant Episcopal services, the
same papers lamented that poor Tom"
had been led away by mixed mar
riage. AS matter Of fact, the Colo
RADIO millionaire makes no pretentions
to be, or ever to have been, a Catholic.
While John w. Mckay was alive he
was often referred to by the Catholic
press as "one of u.s." We know his
wife had the priest at his deathbed,
but as we never heard of his being
connected with any Catholic movement
during his life, we preferred not to
boast of him. When his son and sue
cessor in business got married, the
same papers, or some of them, said his
wife was going to become a Catholic
Now they are loud in their indignation
because she refused to contribute to
the parochial school, and said she be-
lieved "Ronanist schools" to be
curse to the country. Some, at least
Of the indignation might be reserved
for the woman who exposed herself
and her co-religionists to such snub
from one whose religion she knew
nothing about. We do not believe in
assuming every one guilty till proved
innocent, but we do believe in 2ssum-
ing no one to be a Catholic because
their father or mother, husband or
wife, is one; let them prove their own
Catholicity by their acts. If an ac-
tress is presenting play which no re-
spectacle Catholic woman would go to
see, let us assume that this actress is
not a Catholic OR at least let us say
nothing about her. Sarah Bernhard
says she is a Catholic; our journals
never refer to her as such, and they
are right. But they do claim other
actresses Of inferior talent, whose
plays differ from those Of the great
tragedienne only in the lesser degree
of their salaciousness. Less unwise is
it to eulogize Thomas F. Ryan or the
king Of Spain; yet we should like to be
sure that the former is not one of the
pirates Of frenzied finance and the lat
ter is going to be a better man than
his father before informing any paens
in their honor. To acclaim a boy Of 10
years as great Catholic sovereign be-
cause he behaved as any well instruct
ed Catholic would do in Notre Dame
or Westminster, seems to US to be go
ing beyond the limits of prudence, to
say the least.