The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-12-05
CATHOLIC WOMEN
IN SOCIAL WORK
THEY HAVE BECOME A POWER
Full NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ACTIV-
lTY ,Is WELCOMED BY THE
CLERGY.

1t may be admitted, without apol-
ogy or self-condemnation, that the
great body of Catholic women, wheth-
er in Europe OF America, have been
slow to enter into any of those move.
ments of the present day which have
tendency to withdraw woman from
the domestic circle, and thrust her
into the lime-light of publicity, says
M. Johnston in America"
The Catholic women, conservative
both by training and heredity, shrank
from whatever might be construed as
forcing herself into the arena of pol
itics. AS consequence, a movement,
wide and deep and far-reaching, has
developed in which Catholic women
have taken slight interest, and in
which they have been practically I'M
represented. Nevertheless, this move
ment has continued to gather strength
and momentum until it has become an
element to be reckoned with among
the forces of this restless age. An
cient usage and ong-established prec-
edents have been broken down, and
new avenues for the ambition and
activities of woman have been opened
up. A German Catholic paper has
summed up the woman's movement
as, the recognition, cultivation and
development of the feminine individu-
ality, with the ultimate view of the
widest extension of her beneficent
influence on present and future gener-
ations, the most perfect realization of
the feminine and through it of the
spiritual and human IDEAL"
German bishops were first among
the hierarchy to discern that the ac-
tivity of lay women, when properly
directed, is an ever-growing power for
good which should be enlisted in the
cause of the Church; and they have,
therefore, given their cordial encour-
agement to the formation of women
into associations for the purpose of
working at the solution of social ques-
tions of the day according to Catholic
principles. This work had been
hitherto left principally, if not wholly,
in the hands Of men and women who
were agnOstics or else members of
Protestant churches. This circum-
stance has had weighty effect upon
those whom the movement sought to
reach, since much of the work has
been accompanied by Protestant or
anti-C Christian propaganda. The awak-
ening, however, though long delayed,
has come at last. The first book
upon the woman's question was by
the German Redemptorist, Father
Rassler, in 1895, and it was received
with indifference and even with ridi-
Guile; but the meeting of the Interna-
tional Council of Women at Berlin in
1904 Jared the German Catholics from
their apathy. They began to realize
what they had lost for the want of
organization. The intense anti-Chris-
tian spirit Of the organization excited
apprehension, and with very good
reason. Of the two hundred who took
part in proceedings of the convention
only four were Christians, and but
one was a Catholic; all the rest we're
infidels or agnostics. 1t was quite
enough to make thinking people sit
up and begin to take notice. Profess
sor Mausbach, Professor of Theology
at the University of Munster, pointed
out the Catholics that the achieve
ments of women as represented at
this Congress demanded attention
from the whole world. Thus encour-
aged, the German Catholic women de-
termined to organize and bring into
the field the influence of religion in
their work. This was the beginning
of the Frauenbund (Women's Associa-
tom, which has accomplished so
much for the Church and society in
ten years of it's existence. 1t is mod
elled upon the Volksverein, and has
had at it's back that magnificent body
of men who compose the Centre party
in the Reichstag. Besides Professor
Mausbach, Father Auerbacher, Ca
puchin, and Father Cathrein, a Jesuit,
were powerful advocates of the Catho-
lie woman's movement, and lent their
aid in directing it into the right chan
nels. The work done in Germany,
where the Catholic woman's move
ment originated, not only shows what
can be done by organization, stimulat-
ed by zeal for the faith, but also en-
phasizes the necessity of such organ
izatiOn, il American women are to
do their part in saving morals and
religion at home. Happily our women
are awakening to the situation. AS
sociations are springing up in most
of our large cities, and the recogni-
ton given to women at the National
Conferences of Catholic Charities, at
their biennial sessions in Washington
shows the change that has come over
public sentiment within few years
past and how cordially the Church
authorities in the United States have
welcomed women into their councils.
1t is a fact freely commented upon by
the secular press, that the trend of
the woman's movement to-day in the
United States is toward infidelity and
emancipation from the restraints of
morality. Many of the leaders open
ly advocate free love and the aboli-
ton of what they term "the bondage
of the marriage tie" and these loose
ideas of morality are propagated by
them in their literature and from the
platform.
In view of these conditions Catho-
lie women can not remain aloof from
social movements without neglecting