The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-08-30
CATH0uc|Iy y. SOUTH AMERICA
Flourishing Parishes ~ = : Associations
Religious Communities 4 Charitable In
stitutions- Catholic Schools
Refutation of Slandefous Statements Made
in Women's Federated Gibbs Few
Months Ago.

ago.
ditions in So. America by One Who Has
separate. but work harmoniously to-
gether. By law the President Of the !
Argentina must be Catholic. Each
year Congress votes large sum which
is handed over to the Church to be,
spent in meeting it's expenses. The,
Constitution obliges the Government:
to promote mission work for the con-
version Of the Indian tribes, and re-
quires Cathlic teaching to be given In
the schools. The laws ara based on
Catholic principles. and the doyen of
the diplomatic body in the capital is,
the Papal Nuncio.
There is the same harmonious work. !
ing Of Church and State in Brazil.
Few realize that this is q country lar
ger in extent than the United States,
OF its 100000 Of people 1s, ,oeo, 900
are Catholics. Protestants do not
number more than 100000. In Rio one
secs crowds in the chusches at every
mass from S a. m. to midday and
thousands receiving Holy Communion.
There are no less than e3 Catholic
associations The most important are
the Brotherhood Of st. Yinesnt do Paul
ana the Brotherhood OF. tae Bssssed;
lslsssranaent l:sr b4t: latter ay,lli;s,ad Ia.
Tsvery city. town and village Id Brasil.
Tho separation Of Church and State
on the. proclamation Of the Bra.ilian
Republic has really meant complete
freedom for the Church. Its vigorous
life is a revelation to anyone who has
heard only the accounts Of Catholicity
In South America that appear in Prot
estant newspapers in England and the
United States. To quote the lecturers
words:
Where Stories Originate.
Anti Catholic prejudice is deeply
rooted in the soul Of the Protestant
Britisher. and he cannot, he certainly
does not, look upon us with that fair
ness which is in all other things a
scandalous stories Of the priests and
this prejudice. Of which could give
many an example, and the false ideas
Of the state Of religion in South Am.
erica held in England are due to him.
One hears wonderful, marvellous, often
scandalous sotries Of the priests and
people Of Latin America, which are
rs entirely false, as unsupported w
any semblance Of evidence. as are the
stories which you sometimes hear In
England Of the Escaped Num- the
Converted Priest and the like. There
are good and bad in every nation. and
truth. honor, integrity form no exclu-
sive quality Of those who speak the
English language. The Catholic priest
hood, all the world over, stands mar
velously, miraculously above the faults,
the foibles, the sins Of mankind. There
may be now and then a rare black
sheep in the great flock, but believe
me that the micro percentage of these
Is as microscopic In Latin America. as
any one Of you knows it to be even
in these so-called more enlightened
countries.
What one sees Of the vigor Of Cath
olic life in Rio is to be witnessed ev-
; erywhere else in Brazil. Bahia is per.
haps the most essentially Catholic OF
the great cities. In the city ana the
province Of which it is the capital
there are two and a half million Cath
! olics with IS churcheS. numerous reli-
gious houses and = multitude of char
liable institutions. ..*
| One finds the same Catholic life in
the minor republics. The lecturer told
how In Colombia, where the Church
after . long and trying time. had
; emerged triumphantly from its trou.
!; bles, he found evidence that the faith
Of the people in every part Of. tho in
! terror which he explored. Sometimes
popular devotion took forms that were
unfamiliar to the European. He waa
at the town Of Honda at Christmas
ana the people had their "crib." But
; it was on the High Altar. There wal
no figure Of the Divine Infant, nc
manger, but the kneeling Agures ol
,, Our Lady. ST. Joseph. the Shepherd,
CONTINUED on pe4o 31