The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-04-03

S0lIOilS IHatl may Hob ldNCt & OOSS
Christ say in the Scriptures that His
Church will be prosecuted as He was
prosecuted?
l. No, there is no oath required of
the President of the United States
which Catholic cannot conscientious
~ take and there is no constitutional
provision debarring a Catholic from
this high Office. 2. Yes, there are
many passages in the Bible which may
be cited to show that the Church of
Christ will be prosecuted and that His
followers are not above their Master.
1. What do the ashes used in the
Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday
signify? 2. Why is dispensation
necessary when Catholics and non
Catholics wish to marry? Why is
there charge connected with it? 3.
Why are the Jews condemned by most
Catholics and Protestants, in fact by
all Christians, when they worship
Christ Who was a Jew and the Cath
olics worship His Mother who was a
Jewess?
1. The ashes placed upon the fore
heads of the faithful on Ash Wednes-
day is symbolic of the spirit of pen
ance which should animate them in an
especial manner during the season of
Lent. At all times in the worlds his
tory ashes was sign of penanGe.
Thus the Ninivites strew their heads
with ashes to atone for their sins and
David says figuratively: 81 have eat
EN- ashes instead Of bread" Besides,
the use of ashes reminds proud and
naughty man of his nOthingness and
tends to make him humble. 1t is for
this reason that the priest, in distrib-
uting the ashes, says: Remember,
man, that thou are dust, and unto dust
thou shalt return" Furthermore, in
order the more forCibly to impress the
faithful with the vanity of all earthly
things and particularly with the per
ishable nature Of all worldly joys and
greatness, the Church prescribes that
the ashes used on Ash Wednesday be
prepared from the palms that were
blessed on the Palm Sunday of the
previous year and which then served
to express the JOY of the Christians at
the glorious entry of Christ into Jeru-
salem. 2. The sixth precept Of the
Church forbids Catholics to marry non
Catholics, that is, members of other
churches than the Catholic or of no
church at all. The reason for this is
1 Al
Catholic Church is the Church founded
by Jesus Christ, that the Catholic re-
ligion is the true religion, and that
Catholics, therefore, should not form
any alliance with members of any of
the sects or of no particular sect at
all because of the danger to the faith
of the Catholic party or Of the children
born of the marriage. This is the gen.
eral law Of the Church and is to be OBJ
served by all her children. But the
Church does not wish to impose too
great hardships on the faithful and,
and sufficient reasons, she allows a
Catholic to marry a non-Catholic, pro-
Vided the non-Catholic does all that
she asks in order that the faith of the
Catholic party and OF the prospective
children be safeguarded. The non
Catholic party must promise not to in
terfere in any way with the religion of
the Catholic party and to bring up all
the children born of the marriage in
the Catholic Church. The marriage
must take place in presence of a
priest and two witnesses. Under these
circumstances the Church grants what
she calls a dispensation which eX-
empts the individual Catholic from the
obligation of obeying the law which
she has laid down for all the faithful.
The Church which made the law, has
also the power to abrogate the law,
either entirely or in a particular in
stance, when the observance of it
would work a hardship upon the indi-
vidual. Before the dispensation is
granted the Bishop of the diocese must
receive assurance that the non-Cath-
olic party has signed the required
promises and the petition for the dis
pensation must assign the reason for
NltlSlA II IN tlohSh. II 10 NhoIolACilJ blitl
the Catholic party in whose favor the
dispensation is granted make an offer
ing if he is able to do so. This is a
sort Of charge or tax, part of which
is used to defray the expense of print
ing the form of the dispensation and
the clerical work connected with the
issuing of it and part of which rs put
in the general treasury of the diocese
to be used for charitable works. No
fee is expected if the person to whom
the dispensation is granted be poor.
There is just as much reason for eX-
acting a fee in connection with the
granting of dispensation as there is,
for instance, in paying a certain
amount of money to the clerk of the
court who issues a marriage license.
The forms for the different kinds of
dispensations have to be printed and
have to be filled out in each particular
case. Is it unreasonable to expect an
offering to help defray the cost of the
printing, etc? Civil officers demand
q fee for the issuing of official docu-
ments to individuals, and those who
receive these documents make no pro
test against paying the cost 8. Why
do YOU say that the Jews are con-
demned by most Catholics and Prot
cstants? We do not understand what
YOU mean by the statement. You are
rather unfortunate in the use of the
word worship" The Jews do not
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