The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-01-31
FATHER JAS. BEIssEL ON
MR.. DOVES s|DEuGH1s


so as TO enable me TO reduce them to
their proper value, and throw this
much more light on the important sub
ject of Infallibility.
Prejudice against Catholic teaching
Is so deep rooted that it prevents its
victims from listening, from consid-
ering, from careful reading. Far be 1t
from me to suppose any bad VIII with
them All the opponents had to deal
with in the past weeks are suffering
with the same nalady, a difference
being only in the degree OF more or
less. Their intelligence is affected by
the poisonous food they Jared on, pre-
pared in the first instance, by histor-
ians who undertook, like Llorente, to
write history for mean, mercenary
purposes. The chief well-poisoner in
Germany was Flacias ulyricus, who in
company with others wrote theirteen
volumes of biased history In the years
1559-1574. He also like Llorente
pitilessly destroyed all the doeu-
mdhts that contained statements I'M
favorable to his purpose Only he
could not do away with all Of them,
those Of which copies existed in other
hands. Under these circumstances 1t
is no wonder that there exists SO great
an opposition against the Catholic
Church it's teachings and institutions
To those people the statement of the
Catholic side of Catholic things comes
simply as a revelation They seem to
be awaking from a dream. The Inqui-
sition-the InfaIlibility--the very name
is enough to relegate q discussion on
it to doomsday. Being through with
my explanation of the Inquisition,
those who read it must say that 1t did
not bring what those prejudiced souls
expected; a Plea in favor Of the stake,
the thumbscrew, the rack and the ak
TO be introduced into Hawaii. But that
InfallibiIity of Mr.. Dove in his side
lights commits the same blunder as
Mr.. Moberg. He constructs his objec-
tons not on the Catholic teaching on
the subject but on his unsurmountable
preconceived false notions OF it; he
also is fighting against a windmill Let
me repeat what / have said several
times already during my discussions
The papal Infafiibility regards only qUes-
lions of faith and question Of morals in
as far as they have been laid down and
are contained in the known sources OF
1t lids uOAA1AAiE 6A ~ Ah
with any other kind of questions. Truth
and righteousness as revealed by God.
is the Pole that attracts the magnetic
needle on St. Peters vessel. Therefore
Il the Popes treat Of any other ques-
ton, of medicine or natural science, ii
'or instance Gregory XIII reforms the
Julian Calendar. there is no question
IF Infaflibility. Jesus Christ did not
oh a roo7soSra No
,ther science, however useful they may
BE- They belong to the domain of hui
nan intelligence. 1t is the right of
men to study the God-made forces of
nature and conquer and subdue them t
20 their service There is no proiiibi- /
ion for a Pope to take part in these |
studies And as the constitution of the |
Catholic Church brings naturally the /
most prominent of men to the papai /
zee, il is not astonishing that many /
cholars. eminent in learning and viz
ue, have graced it. But, remember, in
hese matters, his magnetic needle Is
Iull. just as much as If any sea cap
ain consults his needle for bcadaGhe-
The Pope's sentence in such matters is
Eorth as much as his scholarly stand
ng in the said science
AS to witchcraft, sorcery, magic or
sury, It is the Pope's matter to decide
i abstracto, what is To be understood
y those terms, and what is allowed
r prohibited in these matters by Holy
Writ. But as to the question of facts,
e., whether such q person, high or
Nv, learned or not, is guilty of an
LEGGED crime or not-this question has
othing to do with the PapaI Infallibii
y, there being no revelation about it
the Bible
With this explanation, Mr.. Dove, I
1ink you see that your objections miss
heir aim. AS to the papal contradic-
on, they must be measured with the
ame gage. And no doubt you are in
eIligent enough to see that. by reading
lem over again in the light of the
otion I have explained OF Infallibility, |
he true, Catholic notion. not the wind
ill, you will drop ali that is absurd
Id, am sure, there will nothing re-
ain standing. Consequently. thank
Cd. the compass is safe yet, it points
the right direction.
JAMES c. BEISSEL-
49,