The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-11-22

I. Is it true that the Catholic
Church has condemned the book "Quo
Vadis?" If so, why? 2. Please give
the facts regarding the practice in the
Church some time ago of burning and
torturing so-called witches? Also adj
wise If the Pope at that time approved
of such a practice? 1t will not be
necessary to relate the facts regard
ing Joan dare as you fully covered
that subject in a recent issue. 8.
Kindly state the facts and circum-
stances in marriage ceremony per-
formed in ST. Paul between divorced
Catholic, Mr.. -, believe, and
Catholic girl which took place in
church. mention the name so you
can tell to what marriage refer. a.
If priest asked person a question
in confession which referred to a sin
already confessed and forgiven in
former confession Is it necessary to
repeat that sin?
1. No. 2. Where did you learn
that it was ever the practice of the
Catholic Church to burn and torture
done some time ago?" That is GER
tainly vague enough to suit even the
Menace. You can surely realize how
easy it is to find out who was Pope
at that time and how far he zap
proved of such practice! If any
one asked you this question why
didn't you insist on something more
definite? Get at the facts first of ALL
Now what are the facts of the case
In word, it may be stated that the
Church not only never tortured or
burned witches but never approved of
the practice. Witchcraft, as ordinarily
understood, implies the production of
effects beyond mans natural powers
by the aid of evil spirits. Witches
were supposed to ride on broom
sticks through the midnight skies" and
to perform all sorts of preternatural
things by the aid of the devil and his
imps to whom they sold themselves.
The question of the reality of witch
craft is one upon which it is not easy
to pass a confident judgment. Theo-
retically, one may admit the posi-
bility of pact with the devil and of
diabolical interference in human af-
fairs; and the literature on the subject
shows that this belief led to the in
Fiction of the greatest cruelties on
those who were supposed to be in
league with the, evil one. Witches
were tortured and put to death, it is
true, but this was not done with the
approval of the Church. It was the
work of the secular power as a gen.
eral rule. The few instances of the
kind that have been attributed to &C.
clesiastical persons do not prove that
the Church lent itself in any way to
such a practice. AS matter of fact,
she did her best in all ages to dis
abuse people of their belief in witch
craft. Pope Nicholas l prohibited tor
ture in all such cases, and Pope Greg
DRY VII wrote to King Harold of Den
mark forbidding witches to be put to
death on presumption of their having
caused storms, pestilence, etc. The
witch trials in the sixteenth and seven
teenth century were, for the most part,
attitude of the Church was from that
of the Reformers is shown by the fact
that, at the Reformation under Luther
and Calvin, belief in witchcraft de-
Veloped greatly among their followers
and Luther himself advocated the ex-
termination of witches. Jansen in
his History" attributes large part,
if not the greater share, of RESPONSE
bility for the witch mania to the re-
formers. There was a much greater
activity in this regard among the
Professionals of Germany than among
the Catholics. Hence, the Church
cannot be held responsible for the tor
ture and burning of witches, nor did
the Popes ever approve of it. There is
no need to cite the case of Joan of
Arc because the Church had nothing
to do with putting her to death. A
few misguided ecclesiastics aided the
English in carrying out the sentence
of death imposed upon her on trumped-
up charges; but it was the Church
which afterwards rehabilitated her and
stamped it's approval on her life and
works by raising her to the Catholic
altar. 8. In the case to which you
refer the Catholic man was not di-
vorced. He ran away with another
mans wife and, after securing legal
separation from her, there was moth
ing to prevent his marriage to al
Catholic girl in Catholic Church. 4.
1t is not necessary to repeat in con-
fession any sins which have already
been confessed and forgiven.
What is the difference between the
Latin and Greek crosses and that of
ST. Andrew?
The Latin cross is the one with
which we are all familiar. The lower
limb is a good deal longer than the
other three limbs. The Greek cross,
on the contrary, has all the limbs of
equal length-two pieces crossed in
the middle at right angles. ST. An
drew's cross is in the form of the let
ter X The Greek cross is sometimes
called the cross of ST. George, and is
blended with that of st. Andrew to
form the flag called the Union Jack.
May a priest who is not fasting say
Mass? II so, under what circum-
stances?
A priest who is mt fasting 10 not