The Irish standard., 1908-12-05
Instructive Sermon Preached Thanksgiving Day at
Military Mass by the Jesuit Son of an
American General.
THOSE WHO M|SUNDERSTAND CATHOLIC TEACHING
Rev. David H. Buell. Speaks For Their Enlightenment
Large Audience in Church of the Gesu
at Philadelphia.

The following timely and instructive
discourse, taken from the Standard an6
Times, was delivered on last Thanks
giving Day in the Church Of the Gesu,
Philadelphia, by Rev. David H. Buell..
son of the famous Union general:
At the wish of the President Of The
United States, at the desire of the
Governor of the State of Pennsylvania,
s.U the request Of our beloved Arch
bishop, we are gathered here today, my
brethren, to give thanks to God the
Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanksgiving is an act of prayer, dear
to the heart Of holy Church, and today
we offer that sacrifice Of Thanksgiving,
that sacrifice which in every place,
from the rising of the sun to the going
down Of the same, is offered to Az.
mighty God, that clean oblation, the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We thank
God for the wonderful growth ard
prosnerity Of our holy mother, the
Church, in our city Of Philadelphia. IN
our State of Pennsylvania, in our great
>and glorious country. <.
We thank God for our religious lib
erty under the Constitution of the
;. United States, for our freedom of con-
science, for our freedom Of speech, for
our freedom of the press. We thank
God for the kindly feeling which ex:
lists between: :the rulers of the
Holy Church, our Cardinal,
our Archbishop; the priests Of our
archdiocese, and ouf evil rulers, our
President, our President elect, our
Governor, the Mayor of our city. w e
thank. God for the prosperity of our
parish schools, our high schools, our
colleges, our universities. ITO God, All
great and Good, all thanks. -
We are surprised 20 be told that mil
lions Of our fellow-citizens outside the
Church are honestly convinced that we
Catholics, who understand thoroughly
the teachings of the Sovereign Pontiff,
and are wholly loyal to them, must de-
nounce as wholly wrong. and only to
he tolerated as long as they cannot be
changed, first, complete separation of
Church and State; secondly, full relig-
ious liberty; thirdly. freedom Of CON-
science; fourthly, freedom Of speech;
filthy, freedom Of the press: and that
loyal Roman Catholic if elected Pres
idcnt of the United States, first could
rot subscribe to the Federal Constitu-
ton; secondly, If he did subscribe to 1t,
could not be expected to abide by it
and enforce it and defend it. What, my
dear brethren, shall we say to our fell
low citizens who are laboring under so
sad a mistaken =.
Let us tell them the Church's teach.
ing, first, about the relations of Church
and State. All authority is from God,
the authority of the Church and The
authority Of the State. Each, Church
and State, is perfect society. inde-
pendent of the other in it's own sphere.
tut they occupy the same territory and
have the same members. How should
they bear themselves toward eacn 9TH
er? &C..
There are the ideal relations Of the
Church and State and the actual reia-
tions. The ideal relations Of Church
and State throw great light upon their
actual relations. The ideal of the
Catholic Church is this We Catholics
are convinced that our Church, the
Roman Catholic Church, is tire ons
true Church founded by Christ, to
which He wiy.ed, and even now wishes
all men to be,vng. The State IS indi.
rectly founded by God, !nasmuch. as He
has given men reason and inclined
them to live together. The purpose o1
the Church is the eternal welfare Of al
men. The purpose Of the state IS the
temporal welfare of all its citizens
There may be, first, purely spiritual
matters; secondly, purely tcmpors'
matters. and, thirdly. mixed matters
that are temporal and yet also llsye 9