The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-08-26
FIR. PHELAN SEES VIENNA
AND PREJUDICE Is JARRED


ment so universally observed. There are masses
going on continuously from early morning until
midday; and there is always large attendance
Judging from what | have seen L should think that
fifty thousand people hear mass IN Vienna every
day in the week And Iwas struck with the NUM-
Der of men Ill the churches at mass and III Vlsit9
to the Blessed Sacrament i have conVersed with
the priests and they tell that fully one-half OF
the Yiennese are really devout people. asked
what the other half were, and was answered by tha5
general continental shrug of the shoulders LON
Burke said that meant NO great shakes; but
[ pressed them for bill of particulars and was
told that they were people who came to mass very
seldom went very rarely, if ever to the sacraments
and ate meat on Friday | asked IL these people
had fallen away from the church, and they opened
their eyes and said: NO, with big, loud o.
asked if they did not desire the sacraments when
they died and they answered: "Ot course l
asked if they were not married by the priests, and
they said: by all means" l inquired IT they had
not been taught in Catholic schools and had not
made their First Communion and they told me that
was matter of course.
Now YOU know what is meant in Vienna by
bad Catholic. [ did not have to cross the Mlssls-
sppi to see plenty of them, and they defled classl
fication. In Vienna monuments to the SAINTS !;
statues of the Madonna and CruclflXes adorn the
public places. In the galleries there are no immod-
est pictures and absolutely none OF Protestant Suo-
ects After ten clock at night the streets are de
serted, ana you 90 not get DdCh 10 JOuL "
half past ten, you must ring a bell, wake UP the
watcher and pay him a few heller for your late
hours. This is true of Prague and tho other Cath
Ole cities [ have visited. On the other hand. IN
Berlin the hotels, parks and principal streets are
open and crowded until way after midnight. From
my hotel on Friedrichsstrasse / saw perfect
stream of people passing by after ten o'clock and
was surprised at the number of women without es-
cQrts promenadng at that late hour 1t seemed
that tens of thousands of handsome, well dressed
and exceedingly well behaved women had possession
of the streets. The proprietor informed me that
from nine o'clock till one in the morning people
who must keep indoors in other cities allowed
the freedom of the fashionable thOroughfares.
draw attention to these great features OF life IN
these two cities because every student of Christian
morality knows that Christian education and the
church are the great props of public morality In
the world; and that where religion Is dead and edu-
cation secuarized, as it is in most parts of Europe
there can be but little public morality. l
have seen this great truth strikingly illustrated
since [ came to Germany.
l have always had a deep-seated prejudice
against the union of church and state. In all
the cases I know, or thought L knew of, the union
meant slavery for the one and impudent impunity
for the other. | fancied Austria the greatest
offender in this respect Josephisn is word car
red to express the relation and it used to des
ignate the conduct of an Austrian emperor towards
the church; conduct which merIted for him the des
ignation of the Imperial sacristan." Well, they
have good and devout emperor In Austria.
The Catholics have schools and Catholic teachers
supplied by tile state The children are brought to
church and the sacraments by their teachers.
The churches and charities are maintained and
igious service provided at public cost. All Cath
oics brought up to the practice of their reli
gion and if they fall away from it afterwards it is
neither the fault of the government the clergy
Many monuments to religion and charity have been
erected at the cost of the imperial privy purse The
emperors and all the members of the imperial house
have been buried in the churches or beneath the
affairs. Beautiful chapels built by pious princes
and princesses are to be seen everywhere.
| went to the crypt of the Augustinian church
and saw the sarcophagus of poor Macmillan and
of the Duke of Eichstadt the unfortunate son OF
Napoleon and Mary Louise-|EP Aiglon7 The
hearts of all the rulers of Austria are preserved in
under the altar of the chapel copied after the
/ Holy House of Loretto. History speaks of the
deeds of arms of these crowned heads; their monu-
ments in the churches speak only on what they did
| for God; for Gods church, and for their fellow
man. The church has only one way to heaven, and
| it all must take, whether they a are
| bareheaded. Of course, where we have Christian
| government union of church and state is the most
| perfect and more natural condition. This condi-
ton almost obtains in Austria today; and here
am a Unionist, But how long will the Austrian
government be conducted by land as experienced
and devoted as that of Francis Joseph?