The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-08-30


oLIcs ON ACCOUNT OF NOM
CATHOLIC ENVIRONMENT AND
COMPREHENSIVE - JOHN AVS
COUGH DEALS WITH coNDI-
TIoNs IN ENGLAND SIMILAR
TO THOSE IN THIS COUNTRY
AND SUGGESTS A REMEDY.
Monsigner Bickerstaffe-Drew better
known by his pen name of John Avs
cough, delivered a striking address the
other day on Catholic isolation and
federation, pointing out that the Cath
Ole press was an antidote to the dan
gers of isolation and urging that Cath
Ollie newspapers should be read by
every family. The Monsignor was
dealing with Catholic conditions in
England
The Lonely Catholic.
"The business of the Catholic
Church." he said, lis not merely ex-
tension in the way of conversion, but
it is her business to keep that which
she has already, and if sometimes we
hear with bitter pain that some have
lost the faith, the explanation in many
cases may be summed up in the one
word isolation If it could happen to
you to go away in different direction
tonight and go to different places, dis
tant small towns all over the country,
I firmly believe that in every one of
them, although there may be no priest,
no mission, you would find there an
isolated Catholic or two. l am con-
stantly finding it myself. If you go
and stay in Protestant household far
away from a Catholic Church you will
find perhaps there is one Catholic SER
want. What is happening to those
Catholics? | am afraid that what is
happening is that their faith is dying
away. How could it be otherwise?
They are so situated that it is human
ly impossible for them to hear Mass.
They never have any contact with any
Catholic influence. Not single thing
happens to them from morning to
night to remind them of those things
which are sacred to Catholics.
ION the other hand they hear all
day long and throughout the year
opinions which are at variance with
the principles underlying our Catholic
faith. I do not mean that they are
brought into contact with vehement
bigotry, but rather with that influence
which is based on the assumption that
the Catholic religion does not exist
The way they hear marriage spoken
of is the way you see it written of in
thousands of novels and papers nova
days, viz, that marriage is mainly an
inconvenience, becomes intolerable, can
only be remedied at certain cost,
and the costliness of the remedy is the
only fault which | can perceive is
found with it. These people know
nothing of the Catholic Church, it's his
sumo that it is an old-fashioned ar
rangement which has mostly died out
What must in common-sense be the
result on the isolated Catholic? The
result will be the final whiting away
of his faith to nothingness. We are
not supposed to think the man was
bad man to start with. He never in
tended to give up his faith. He never
denies that he is a Catholic, but new
ertheless he ceases to be Catholic.
We cannot take on board at our bap-
tism a cargo of Catholic religion to
last us the rest of our lives. No man
has received any promises that he
should carry inviolate his Catholic
faith to the grave no matter how
much he plays the fool with it.
Isolation in Large Cities.
Besides that kind of isolation there
is another kind of isolation we have'l
in large town, where there is huge
Catholic population, and where people
choose to isolate themselves out of a
kind of wilfulness. You find that |
whereas there are some Catholics who |
constantly live in Catholic surround
ings, there are some who make their |
surroundings non-Catholic. They |
choose nom Catholic acquaintance.
am not for a moment advocating that
Catholics should be so stupid, so big |
oted or so narrow as to admit none to
their friendship who do not share |
their faith. / speak of those who |
choose deliberately to shut them
selves off from Catholic intercourse. |
Their going to church is almost the
only Catholic thing they do. Ali the
rest of the time they are perpetually |
living in an atmosphere which is non
Catholic. These people are weaken
ing the fabric of religion in them
selves. If they constantly meet and
Catholic thought and dis
cuss the things which are of interest
to Catholics, they warm themselves,
as it were, in their faith. Each
the other. Does anybody
in England imagine that the things
which have been done by trade union
lists could have been done by the men
who make up the trade unions had
they worked alone? We also know
that because the trade unionists
choose to speak together there is no
whether conservative or lib
eral, that has not to listen when they
speak, and there is no reason what
ever why the Catholic population of
England should not be listened to also
when it speaks to any ministry.
When our bishops speak, they are