Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-28
CATHOLIC PROPAGANDA.

khSIA
.iIremarkable story OF religious en-
thusiasm and faith comes, In the dis
patches from New York, where u
Catholic festival has Just been brought
10 o close 1t seems that 1t is claim
cd that two bones from the visit of
~ ST. Anne, the mother of Mari, are
preserved In the Catholic church OF St:
Jean sRaptiste, and that remarkable
cures IRE reported as a result Of g
touch, by the faithful, of these re-
lies The dispatches say that on the
first of the nine days of Novena re-
3 markable cures We're reported, among
them being Il woman who Is said 70
have $regained her sight This and
many reports Of similar miracles. caus-.
ed the little church to be besieged day
and night by the lame and the halt
and many pitiful scenes We're witness
ed, Believing parents carried to the
shrine children who had been ! u from
BIRTH others brought men and women en-
so crippled that they could not walk,
and scores Of the blind were led to the,
altarsrail to kiss the little silver case
and frequently utter their prayers to
4 ST. Anne for deliverance from their
3 physical woes. 5is 323
From Kan1sabee, III, a similar story
Il comes. LiIlian, the a-Sear-old Daughter
II q MIR. and Mrs Edward Fo Mt SO
4. the ydispat ches say, was cured of blind
ness on the occasion of the annual pi ~
srimage to the shrine Of st. Anne, at
st. Anne, I'LL, marking the close Of a
nine days Novena. Led TO the tn az altar
II BY her mother the child suddenly stag
{ Rered back in& alright as her closed
eyelids opened, Crying for Joy, the
K mother pushed her way through the
crowd Of Scripples and friends, and 4
hurried with the little one to q nearby
house.
We need not discuss the .proba bilitY
or inprobabilitY, Of the cas- cases. We
have not the necessary data before us
by which to base n innpartia ssjlldg-S
n slnent. The power OF faith. is mig 1ty.sS
i and God \ is merciful TO His children.
But such stories diligentiy circulated
ana implicitly believed account to some
( extent for the success Of the Catholic5
propaganda in this country. &
rhe Rosary Magazine claims that the
& Catholic church In the United states t,
during last year, ma de rs, 7o9 converts
This total does not include ldren
& but only adult baptisn's
In 1906 according to the same au-
y thortS: there we're found to be- 25,-
4 055 converts But hat year twas diff
ficnlt5 to get exact figures, for in many
chancery offices there was no note
Il taken of converts at all. In some do
Sceses they were a ne s igtble Quantity
& since the congress of 1908, the idea had
so grown that with very little diff
fcuty accurate results have been Sc
cured.
The figures range we are further in t-5
formed, from i AL in New York to a
vanishing quantity in some places,
! cleveland had Ts7 converts: Mobile, ASS
In New England convert making is
very much below the mark. There
4 we're only .722 converts In a population
OF over 2, O00, 900, or. one in 200 while
tho average for the country at large
is about one in 500.
The Southern States have a record
ofaabout 1000 converts. Catholicity has
y made its way in these states, it Is said,
irls5spite of strong Professionalism and
the opposition Of rooted prejudice and
Ii bitter antagonlsm.
1T viii be noted that the percentage
Of conversions Is rather small. Even in
the South where the record is largest
4 1t is only one fifth of one per cent of
the Catholic population; and in the en-
tire country It is less than that Still,
25.000 converts is a large number.
1t will probably be a, surprise to
many a hard-working Protestant5ninis-.
ter to learn that so many thousands
every year abandon the Protestant
ranks for the mother church. But it
q lis not surprising. Professionalism, hay-
ing abandoned the doctrine of eontinu-
L Gus revelation and accepted the Bible
as its only and ultimate standard and
then having admitted the right O, high
er criticism to lower than standard
necessarily finds itself In a periIous po-
sition i'll which its defenders can see
F nothing but defeat When to its the
ology Catholicism adds miracles. II ls
no wonder il II gains what others loose.
The probability is that the Protestant
churches viii gradually become absorb
ed, and that the final discussion con-
corning faith will be carried OF, Between
the Catholic church and the Church Of
Jesus Christ Of latter7day saints, the
wo8extrene wings Of the forces pro
Tossing Christianity. The probability is
3 that the two extremes ill8tinally meet.
+ after all intermediate divisions have
laid down their arms. Or Joined one side
orthe other.
HIDES AND LEATHER.