The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-18
CATHOLIC BISHOPS
VIEWS ON RELIGION
Message Is Sent to Conference
at Edinburgh
BASIS OF ALL BELIEFS
Bistop BonemelIi snys In His Letter
That Man Seeks Satisfying ReIlg-
ious Belief, Not an Ethical
or Social One
BASIS OF ALL BELIEFS

Edinburg, Scotland. June 17.-Today' S
features of the world missionary confer
ence were the reading of letter from
Monsgnor Bonemelli Roman Catholic
Bishop of .Cremona Italy, and the pres
entation of the report OF the committee
on education in relation 70 the Christian
ization of national life"
The communication of the bishop was in
response to an invitation for him to con-
tribute a message. The invitation ex-
planned the purpose of the conference in
| The following language
"A world missionary conference is TO be
held in Edinburg, Scotland. Christians of
all churches In the world are freely in
vited. 1t Is merely conference that all
Christians of every name may better I'M
derstand each other and better combine
to make Christ and his church known TO
all men.
THE conference will only confer, it will
not pass resolutions, or take any definite
| action. No conditions are to be compro-
missed. no principles sacrificed Will you
write letter to be read at the confer
ence advocating better feeling, better
knowledge, holier relations amongst all
who believe in Christ as God. in order
that we may all come together in God's
good time into the universal body of
Christine one holy catholic, and apos-
tolic church."
BonemeIli's Policy
| Monsignor Bonemelli addressed his reply
to Silas McBee. an American delegate,
who presented 1t to the conference. 1t
read in part as follows: "A conference of
| representatives of all the Christian de-
nominations, held with the noble aim of
better making known Christ and his
| church to consciences which feel and ex-
hibit In practice all the profound and
fecund beauty of religious aspira tons. is
fact of such Importance and significance
that it cannot escape the attention of
anyone who may follow the conference,
however superficially in what a degree
the most profound problems are agitating
and revolutionizing the modern spirit.
your conference. which is being held
in Scotland, the land of strong and noble
ideas, though at one time torn asunder
by religious strife, is a triumphant proof
OF another consoling fact; the most de-
sirable and precious of human liberties
religious liberty, may now be said to be
a grand conquest of contemporary hui
manity, and 1t enables men of various
faith to meet together not for the purpose
of hating and combating each other for
the supposed greater glory of God, but In
order to concentrate themselves in Chris
- ~, ,oIi
truth which unites all believers In Christ.
| United in one faith. the various spiritual
| forces combine in the alteration of the
one true God in spirit and in truth
For these reasons. l applaud your con-
| ference.
skeptics Criticise
II know very well that some skeptical
spirits, saturated In gross materialism or
cold positivism, may smile at your initia-
tive and tax you with utopian optimism
or with being well meaning dreamers,
shutting your eyes to the realities of life.
Yours, gentlemen, Is not an optimistic
idealism. nor an idle dream. The element
of fact in which you all agree. are num-
erous, and are common to the various
Christian denominations. and they can
therefore serve as a point OF departure
for your DISCUSSIONS
=
unity of faith and of religious practice,
and TO work for its realization by the
concentration of all energies Of mind and
Heart. This is work In which We in
our day r,ay we'll co-ooerate.
Now ON what matter and on what prin-
cipies are you agreed, gentlemen? To
my thinking they are as follows:
Man Not Satisfied
Like myself all of you are persuaded
that the pIy steal, ethical and social de-
velopmohts Of life do not satisfy man.
because man. whether he wills 1t or not
Is oppressed by the infinite, and this con-
himself urges him to harmonic his
physical and social conditions with the
supreme reality, which Is God, the source
of all these conditions. and to which they
are su, tIGinate. Without such hdimony.
the ethical aid social life los IS Its Sig
nificancc AMI impresses us with Its insult
ii icncy. Faith, therefore, in Coz, the
Creator, which bestows on human life
an eternal and absolute value. is for you
the primary JOINT OF agreement. You all
share faith in Christ, the Redeemer.
Thus we are united In the VI ofornd
onviction that universal religion Is nee
essa,v, and that this must be lt.e CHI Ia
ian religion; not a cold and formal re-
ligion, thing apart from human life. but
a living IOTCe, pcINhuiuS tHS nulIdH sui
In its essence and its various manifesto
tons, religion. in short, which COM
pletes and crowns our life and which
bears fruition on works Of love and holi-
ness
Again, all of you feel the need OF a
church, which may be the outward mani
festation Of your faith and religious feel
ing, the vigilant custodian now and here
for Christian doctrine and tradition. 1t
sustains and keeps alive religious and in
dividual activity, in virtue of that strong
power of suggestion which collectively
always exercises on the Individual.
IMPLYING Element
Finally, from the various churches ard
religious denominations into which you
Christians are divided, there arises a new
unifying element, noble aspiration, re-
straining too great impulsiveness leveling
dividing barriers and working for the
realization Of one holy church through all
the children of redemption. On this COM
mon ground, gentlemen, having your
minds liberated from all passions or sec
tartan intolerance. animated on the con-
trary by Christian charity. bring together
into one focus the results of your studies,
the teachings of experience. whether in
dividual or collectively. calmly carry on
research and promote discussion. May
truth as shining light illuminate your
consciences and make you all OF one heart
and of one mind. My desire for you is
but the echo of Christ's words which
have resounded through the centuries
Let there be one flock and one shep-