The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-05-25

about time that the people at large
should be exempt from taxation
for the support Of church which
they do not recognize?
The conditions set forth in the
bill seem to be very fair and
should prove acceptable to all.
The main question at issue turns
on the disposition to be made of
the properties which the Estab-
lished Church possesses. On this
point the bill is most generous to
the Anglicans. The Cathedrals
and all churches now occupied by
them remain in their possession
though, as is well known, the
cathedrals were built by Catholics
and were turned over to the An
glicans at the time of the Reforma-
ton. In addition to this, all prop
critics accruing to the Episcopal
Church since the Reformation re-
main under its control.
Since the time Of the Ref
ormation the Anglican Church in
Wales has had an annual income
from an endowment amounting to
one million three hundred thou
sand dollars.
The discussion turned chiefly on
the disposition to be made Of the
pious foundations established
prior to the Reformation. Ac-
cording to the bill, these are to
be devoted, in the main at least,
to educational and charitable pur-
poses. In word, the bill leaves
to the Anglican Church all that
was intended for her and takes
away from her only the moneys
which the pious donors intended
for the support of quite another
sort of religion.
AS soon as the provisions Of the
bill became known several men,
bers Of the House Of Lords pro-
tested against the disposition to
be made Of these endowments and
requests made for religious pur-
poses in pre-Reformation days.
They maintained that to take them
from their present owners would
be nothing short of a 'robbery of
God" Thereupon, Mr.. Lloyd
George, Chancellor Of the Elk
chequer, effectively answered
them by saying that the noble fam
lilies whose representatives were
opposed to the passage Of the bill
on the ground that it pillaged the
Established Church obtained their
vast wealth by spoliation Of the
Catholic Church at the time of the
Reformation.
"These charges, he said, "that
we are robbing the Church ought
not to be brought by those whose
family tree is. laden with the fruits
Of sacrilege at the Reformation.
Their ancestors robbed the Catho-
lie Church, the monasteries, the al
tars and almshouses. They robbed
the poor. They robbed the dead.
Then when we try to recover some
part Of this pillaged property for
the poor, their descendants accuse
us Of theft-they whose hands are
dripping with the fat Of sacri-
lege.''
The statement of Mr.. Lloyd
George is perfectly true. It is a
historical fact that at the time of
the Reformation the Catholic
Church was despoiled Of her pos
pessions-lands, institutions and
pious foundations-to fill the cof-
fers of the henchmen who sup
ported the English rulers in their
sacrilegious spoliation Of the Cath
Ollie Church whose only crime was
, the incubation Of Christ teach
ing, devotion to His poor, and de-
| termined opposition to the unholy
action Of those in authority who
sought to rob her Of her rights.
Those who received the property
Of the Catholic Church as gifts
from the crown waxed fat on their
} holdings and attained positions of
power and prominence by selling
!. their Catholic heritage for a mess
of pottage. During all these years
their descendants have controlled
this property and used the income
from endowments intended for pi-
GUS purposes and for the service
Of the poor In other words, they
enjoyed the proceeds Of the orig
inal fund and did not even at
tempt to put it to the uses for
t which it was intended by the don
ors. They kept for themselves the
: patrimony Of the poor and thrust
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