The Irish standard., 1913-12-27
RELIGIOUS ANOI
cv|L)L|BERTy

CIVIL LIBERTY
Cardinal Gibbons Answers Those
Who Appose Catholics in
Public O.f:de.
Declares Church Prospers Better
Under Her Own leadership.
American Planpust.
"on the 2Sth of October. 312, Con.
stantine the Great achieved his men,
orable victory over Ma3entius at the
Milvian bridge, along the Tiber, a
short distance above theScity of Rome.
In gratitude to God fdr this signal
triumph over an enemy vastly sur.
passing him in numbers, Constantine
issued his famous edict} of federation
in Milan in 313, in which absolute lib.
erty of worship was proclaimed
throughout the Roman Empire. And
thus, after a long and dreary night of
persecution extending over period
of 300 years, the Christians at last
breathed the life-giving air of religious
liberty.
This is suitable occasion for me
to make some remarks on the subject
of religious and civil liberty.
| "a man enjoys Il religious liberty
whenashe has the 4ntrammeled right
of worshiping God saccording to the
dictates of his conscience and of
practicing a form pf religion in ac-
cordance with his honest convictions.
Any act .infringingson this freedom
ts justly styled religious intolerance.
"a man enjoys civil liberty when
tEhsis sproteptsd blythe state in his
Ilffss liberty sM pursuit of happiness.
So long as ihf common with his fel.
low-citizens he observes the laws of
his country, an exceptional restraint
imposed upon him in the exercise OF
his rights as citizen is a violation
of his civil liberty. I u
Il now, my brethIen, assert the
proposition which hope to substan
tiate by historical evidence that the
Catholic church has always been the
Jealous promoter of religious and civi
liberty, and that, whenever any en-
croachment on these sacred rights o.
man have been made by PROCESSING
members of the church, these wrongs
far from being perpetrated with hel
sanction, were committed in palpa
BILE violation of her authority.
Her doctrine has always been that
as man fell from grace of his owr
free will, so of his own free will mus
he be restored to grace. Her doc
trine is that conversion and coercion
are terms that can never be reconciled
and that they are Numerically op
posed to each other.
"St. Augustine and his companions
who were sent by Pope Gregory thu
Great to England in the hope of con
verting that nation at the end of thu
sixth century, had the happiness O
baptizing King Ethelbert and som.
members of his court. The king, il
the fervor and extent of his zeal al
a convert, was desirous of compellinf
his subjects to follow his example
but the missionaries forbade him tt
have recourse to force, telling hin
that the Christian religion must b.
voluntarily embraced. The same
Pontiff Gregory exercised great mod
Grafton and forbearance toward those
who had drifted away from the
church. He became a warm protect
or Of the prosecuted Jews. When g
certain bishop had taken possession
of their synagogue, he was ordered by
the pope to restore it, saying that
the Hebrew people were not to be
brought into the church by coercive
measures, but of their own free will
Innocent III. the most illustriouf
pope Of the thirteenth century, wal
likewise an ardent defender of the
oppressed Jews. Let no one,' he
says, presume to baptize any Jews
against their will. Let no one SEIZE
their property or disturb their festi
walls or invade their cemeteries.
Perhaps no man can be considered
a fairer representative of the age ir
which he lived than St. Bernard, Alb
bot of Clairvaux. He was the EN-
bodiment of the spirit of the Middle
Ages. When he learned that fanat
ical preacher was arousing the popu
lace to deeds Of violence against the
Jews, he rushed to their defense ant
gsscued them from the danger will
Which they were threatened.
Il will cite one more example.
shall quote for you from the beautiful
letter written by Fenelon, Archbishop
of Cambria, to the son of James II
heir apparent of the English throne
Above ALL he writes. never force
your subjects to change their re
ligion. No human power. can restcl
the impenetrable recess of the fre'
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