The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-09-28
A GRAND TRIBUTE
TO THE CHURCH
A Protestant Contributes to the
COurier-JOurnal a Rev.eW of
its Moral Force.
Manifests q Remarkable Genius in
Developm mt and Organization
OF tuDllc Charities.
Perfect Accord Without a Conc0rdat,
Between the church and stale
in free America.


Coincident with the opening of the
of the American Federa- ,
ton OF Catholic Societies in Louis !
vile, KY, the Courier-Journal of that
city published on its editorial page
a two-column article from the pen
of Boyd Winchester reviewing the
purpose and history Of Cath
olicity. In every line Mr.. Winchester
praises the benefcent aims and
deeds OF the Catholic Church, and the
publication of his article In journal
of the standing and the influence of
the Courier-Journal must be counted
not the least amongst the benefits of
the great Catholic convention held in
Louisville. We quote:
The Convention of the American
Federation of Catholic Societies rep
resents a great Church, which stands
alone. among Earring sects and
creeds, majestic. venerable and inyul-
nerable, which time could not crumble
nor revolutions change.
With transcendent calm the Cath
Ollie Church requires of her clergy and
religious orders that they shall re-
nounce home, forsake their kindred.
labor without reward and die without
notice. The chosen ideal Of life in
Catholicism has always been asce.i-
cism, the standard heroism. A good
priest or Sister Of Charity is Injured
to self-denial and ready for self-sac-
rifice and expects to be found in some
minority which wins by suffering.
The Sisters of Charity bind them
selves to service by the triple vows.
for life. for poverty, chastity and
obedience; they take needful food to
the cottage hearth, attend the dying
bed of the humblest and administer
consolation in hfe's EXTREMIST hour.
Every one must respect and revere
the priesthood for their learning,
their talents, their piety and their un-
firing labors in the diffusion of light.
hope and consolation; postponing all
the qualifications of worldly pride to
the severe but heaven gaining glories
|! of their poverty.
In them there remains the consol-
ing evidence that the simplicity Of
the patriarch, the piety of the saints
and the patience of the martyrs have
not wholly vanished. Lamartine
writes of the priest as "a man Of no
, family. but who belongs to every
family; man who belongs to all
classes, to the lower on account OF
his poverty and often by humble
birth, and to the highest classes by
virtue of his culture and the exalted
sentiments which his religion inspires
! and commands"
Americanizing and Christianizins
of the millions who are coming t1
. this country from all parts of the
world, is one of the greatest problcnls
! to which the Catholic Church has
rendered signal service. For Ions
| years she has been receiving, con.
trolling and assimilating, one int!u,
after another, of foreign people. TN.
der her fostering care come, it is esti.
mated, fully one-half of the vast mum.
ber of immigrants daily arriving a
our ports. She has held them for re-
citizenship. No one can soberly re-
fleet upon this great labor of educa
ton and restraint without being con
vinced that it has been a potent sorc'
J in our public life. Nothing but ,
venerable and universal institution
which has weathered so many c:n
turtles, always the same, could hav
taken her incoming children and don
for them what the Catholic Churcl
has accomplished. .
!. Under the same fostering care ar
!, the great majority Of our workin
men and women, boys and girls. VIII
, worship in any church; for no mat
I ter how prosperous some Of her mem
bers may be. this Church never de
: sists from serving the laborer, tn
i, poor and the friendless. - He
t spect for authority, regard for per
. sonal and proprietary rights and hah
itaal submission 70 law. inculcated,