The Irish standard., 1914-08-08
STORMS OF BIGoTRY,


of every day life. AS, for example,
periods Of financial depression which
economists tell us are due every GER
tain number of years in a new anad
growing country to re-established
values and give us new era of re-
adjustment of prices. 1t we notice
we will find that every period of our
general prosperity finds certain can
cerous growths enjoying the same
prosperity as do the legitimate
growths of any era during which
financial, intellectual, and spiritual
fruits are produced in abundance.
The storms of bigotry, the storms of
depression, whether this depression
be spiritual or financial has its origin
in about the same source in our hui
man natures. During the depression
the populace, or at least a certain
portion of it, becomes frightened.
They imagine the ruin of their spir-
itual or financial fortunes. Taking
advantage of this fear andthe tend
ency of a wavering class to ever
become frightened and panic strick-
en- at the storm cloud. However
harmless, we have the effect upon
nervous natures. We are witnessing
the panicky effect from one end of
the land to the other at the present
time among class that is easily
frightened. They believe it is time
to seek shelter. They suppose the
spiritual fortunes of the class to
which they belong are in danger of
being wiped out, that evil liberty is
apt to be curtailed anad that the
funds of human happines are apt to
be ruined. Thus is expressed the
inherent nature of the wavering
frightened class in the possibility of
ruin. Financial institutions other
wise sound have been destroyed
through the evil gossip ofthose who
either innocently or wilfully spread
statementas regarding their liability
in times when the creditors were
subjected to being frightened be-
cause of conditions. So, too, we
have seen people engaged in HOSTILE
ties in physical and wordy battle
heaping denunciations because for
sooth some expressed a belief in the
distrust of his neighbor and his
neighbours motives. Dire calamity
has overtaken communities where
neighbors have been put at odds with
each other and man has been set
against his brother because he is
led to believe that the funds of hui
man credit and his neighbours good
will and good wish are about de-
pleted. The human element in the
Church makes it target for those
who seek to malign this human ele
ment because of self-sacrifice.
They are those without the Church
who cannot understand that the
Catholic Church is sufficiently spir-
itual to call forth from human beings
such noble sacrifices as are made
by those who give up their lives to
the cause of Gods work. They
chafe when they are not rebuked and
their statements denied, forgetting
that it is the business of sanity souls
to serve God in silence. The enemies
of Catholic sisterhoods and brother
hoods and the priesthood are unable
to understand why the individual
members do not rise as individuals
or collectively to refute the charges
that are made against. them. again
forgetting that when the Divine Mas
ter was accused he hung his head in
silence. This is the answer that
makes the maligner fret and rage,
and bite the changes of nature.
Wherever refutation is made it is
not because of the Church but be-
cause of those who seek to know the
truths of the Church when they
might mistakingly take the sign for
the things signified and impute the
human imperfection of the members
of the Church, societies, and organi-
cations to the Church itself. True,
no right thinking individual is guilty
of such reasoning but there are
many who reason thus. The cycle of
bigotry, like the cycle of business or
financial depression find the same
element of human weakness which
is responsible for the nervous to be-
come frightened and with no refer
ence to instances and individuals to
substantiate their incoherent reason.
Such cycles of spiritual depression,
such storms of bigotry have ever
been periods of fruitful rejoicing to
the Catholic Church because ever in
the midst Of storm people will seek
solace in God and in the true spirit
of religious devotion and turn with
the promise of better things in the
days to come and are thus led to the
fold of the Church. The anti-Cath-
Ollie storm and the anti-Papal panic
as it now exists are subject to the