The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1912-04-06
ROME AND IllEGITIMlCY
BT OTIS L STURGEON

-
corruption within tho church. or read
most OF the books published by ncn
who have left the Roman church ana
then believe Shat they say. How
can ] keep from believing What they
aayf When any person with an ounce
OF horse sense knows that . such we're
not 80 some person or y Sts, would
have a good case OF sland,,e k,, Nc
do not hear OF these proniEato q.
sucing for slandcr. Il must then .0c
main an absolute truth. Dut figures
won't lie and ! am proving that the
paroohial school is far worse than the
public school
According 90 the last government
census OF Brazil. eighteen per cent Of
the population was illegitimate: &C.
eording 10 tho stAtesman's Year Book.
itwentyeevcn per cent OF tho popula.
ton OF Uruguay. according 60 Curtis's
book on Ecuador. ffty per cent of tho
population OF that republic: according
20 the Bolivian military register, TAX.
Ing the proportion from random pages.
thirty-eisht and a half per cent: ac.
cording 10 the estimate OF DR.. Reno.
Il. curator OF the Central university OF
Caracas. than whom there Is no higher
authority In Venezuela. for Veneruela
the figures were slxty-eight ana eight.
tenths per cent. Yet we must not
overlook tho fact that many men and
women live faithfully together without
ever having been legally married.
Mr.. Hale declares in his book on
South America. MALE chastity A.
practically unknown. There Is a tone
OF immortality running through all
South American life" Robt. r. Speer
thinks there are chasto men and thew
mourn deeply their condition. He
asked men who were students in the
cities, regarding the moral phase OF
student life. All these men said they
could count In too small numbers the
students whom they knew who wero
living unsullied moral lives.
have here a pastoral letter OF the
archbishop OF Venezuela 20 the clergy
through the republic OF Venezuela.
printed In full in the leading paper in
Caracas.
Scandal in the parish or town takes
on unmeasured proportions: the dis.
honored priest is lost once for all.
tho enemies OF the church triumph be-
cause Of the shameful fall. and good
souls retire to groan in secret and 10
cry 10 tho Lord 10 FREQ them from this
abomination. And even n tho sin is
hidden. yet Is Il revealed through
every guise In the dead parish, the
deserted church, in tho tiresome
preaching. unfruitful works OF mere
routine. without fervor or piety. in
the house OF the priest, who breathes
only worldly atmosphere: I'm his
reading, in his occupations. and the
tedium OF the things OF God. Why
do We note the sudden spiritual de-
cline OF priest who until yesterday
was active and devout? Why do we
see him destroying little by little that
which promised 20 be n fruitful apos-
tolate, but now approaches mysterious
and mournful ruin? All! n we could
penetrate the veil OF his secret life.
we should know that the one cause
OF humillating and opprobrlous decay
is in nothing other than the hidden
corruption OF his heart and life -
And yet. there are priests who only
rarely go to confession, and others
who never confess at ALI There are
those who select easygoing confessors
who pass over everything and then
give absolution; and there are not
wanting others whose confession Is
more than a sad routine prac. |
ticed between one sin and another, |
10 their own experimentation is |
the life they lead, and where II will |
end"
/ heard Robert r. Speer, in an ad. |
dress at Rochester, New York, in 1910. |
say that while in South America. a |
priest who was showing them the great |
school Of some French fathers in one |
Of the cities OF South America, told the |
man who introduced him 10 the priest.
In answer TO his question, that he |
thought about one-half OF the priests
OF Chile we're men who we're leading
clean. moral lives. He asked a priest
In Colombia, who was iourneying with /
him, how many priests he knew who
we're clean and pure men; and he said
that out Of eighteen priests whom he
knew intimately. there was only one
who was leading a clean. moral life.
have scattered the figures under
my other divisions so that you would
not tire In reading. OF conditions in
South America, and think that ] had
picked out the worst country from
which TO draw comparisons. Now let
Is shift the scene TO other parts of
he world.
According 20 DR.. Albert Letting.
wells 'Illegitimacy" (lss2), England
Ind Wales from 1855 TO 1889 had an
annual average Of forty-seven illegiti.
nate births out of every 1000; Italy
'everses the figures and had an an.
lual average OF seventy-four out of
very 1000. II is true that Protestant
Scotland with seventy-nlne illegiti-
nate out Of 1.O00), Denmark with
Sweden with 10I)
lad more than Italy, show [
ng that Rome cannot say that iIlegit- I
macy Is due 10 hot southern blood: (
iut Roman Catholic Bavaria had still (
nore, l4l. and Australia. I47. One I
ecogniEed cause of the relative high '
ate Of illegitimacy in Scotland and
sweden Is undoubtedly that those /
ountries have not learned TO prevent $
irth as much as the Latin races. [
rance, for example. had only eighty {
our illegitimate births out OF 1000 [
o Sweden's 101, but no one who 1
nows the two countries would cav :