Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-11
CATHOLIC LAYMEN
ARE EULOG|zED
Points Out That Crusaders Were of
the Laity and Tells Of Other
Deeds Done for the
Church

Bishop Conaty addressed the assem-
bled Federation of Catholic Societies
last night at the Cathedral of st. Vibi-
ana, taking for his topic The Catholic
Layman In Our American Life"
The bishop spoke of the layman as
an element of strength in church or
ganization and said that in the history
of the church the union of the clergy
and the laity had been the upbuilding
of Christianity and the spreading of the
gospel of Christ, while the indifference
of the laity or their weakness in loyalty
to the church brought disaster to reli-
gion, as was evidenced by the Tudor
days In England, the revolution in
France, and as it appears to be true
in the French situation of today for
the church depends not upon the priest
alone, but upon the priest and the laity.
The bishop drew from history many
incidents of the power of the Catholic
laity both men and women. as exem-
plars and defenders of Catholic faith.
Referring to the Crusades he spoke Of
them as manifesting the zeal and love
of laymen In answering the appeals OF
Peter the Hermit and st. Bernard in
order to wrest the holy places from the
| Saracens. He mentioned Columbus, Sir
Thomas More, O'Connell, Ozanam,
Windhorst, Carroll, Brownson and
many others as evidences of the power
of the lay apostolate and said that the
lay influence in religion was necessary
to it in order that the gospel of Christ
might be known and honored. Speaking
of men in public life. in the professions,
in business avocatons, in the fields of
literature, the bishop said that Catho-
| lies In these positions had a RESPONSE
bility upon them to defend the truth
and maintain in word and deed loyalty
to the principles taught by the church.
Talks of Charity
"An intelligent knowledge of religion,
an earnest devotion to truth, love for
the church and its doctrine and a will
! ingness on all occasions to teach the
truth, is demanded from all our people.
! What is needed today is the spirit OF
the ages of faith, the feeling of a divine
calling to be not only members of the
church but also partners and cooper
atOrs in every work of the church."
| The bishop spoke Of the fields OF
charity and education, OF reformation
and relief work, and said that the
Catholic layman is called to these fields
of religious endeavor just as much as
! he Is to the ordinary church duties.
THE Catholic layman should be found
practicing and defending the domestic
virtues, an unhinching enemy to di-
Vorce, living his life so that all men
would find him without fear or re-
proach; he should be intelligently in
formed upon principles of government,
loyal to the state, incapable of dlshon-
esty and untruthfulness and filled with
devotion to responsibility" The bishop
dwelt upon the citizenship side of char
acter and said the Catholic layman
should be always found model citizen,
expressing in his public life the char
acter and goodness of his private life.
Speaking Of the professions, the
bishop said the professional man should
always realize the force of the eternal
precepts and the spirit of eternal JUS
tce and he should be a man of faith, of
intelligence and Of probity.
Referring to the work done by the
Catholic laymen In this country he gave
praise to the generosity of the laymen
by which the church has developed into
its magnificent system Of cathedrals,
churches, schools and institutions for
ell demands OF mercy and charity
Recognizing this he also maintained
that much more could be done if the
response to duty were much more
general. 1.-The false principles that are
pervading society need refutation.
Truth needs more advocates; the zeal