The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-06
LETTER
OF THE BISHOP OF CROOKSTON
ON CATHOLIC EDUCATION

soul of man, but is to him indispens-
i able. This is a truth accepted by the
ablest intellects, from Plato to the
most renowned philosophers Of mod
ern times. Plato states: You may
| find cities without palaces, without
| towers and without walls, but never
without temples or without Worship
Without religion" says Plutarch
imam sinks to the level of the brute
| for man apart from religion may pro
gress as a brute but not as a man"
| Napoleon oddly expressed the neces-
| sity of God in this matter: IF there
were no God, we should have to create
one" The worldly truly sins in at
tempting to educate the child without
| q knowledge of God. Undoubtedly
education must recognize the claims
Of the intellectual man but at the same
time must insist on the rights Of con
science. Mere secular instruction
sharpens the intellect, but frequently
nourishes, refines and propagates vice
No amount OF intellectual culture will
make men good, honest, pure, faithful
and obedient. A scholar without re
| ligion is standing menace to society,
as learning without conscience makes
the dangerous individual.
knowledge, the flower of the intel
lect, is power knowledge fails only
when directed by right and noble mo.
tives. Given the correct direction, it
serves well; given the wrong direc-
| ton, it proves fatal. Power needs
control and intellectual power de-
mands moral strength for it's control
| A moral monster is man who
has no restraint on his knowledge for
| it's proper use. Without due restraint,
all power is destructive, as amply eX-
emplified in nature. Religion does
not make man stupid. No conflict ex.
| lists between true religion and true
science, God, the eternal wisdom, be
ing the author of both. The brightest
geniuses, that ever shone in the intel
! lectual world, were profoundly relig-
ious, among whom figure in large
number monks, priests and Catholic
| laymen, the product of religious
schools. Religion does not stop the
advancement of art and science; for
to write the history thereof is often to
write the history of religion. Relig
ion is most justly styled the mother
of science. Under her protection, in
spiration and support, scientists, ar
lists and litterateurs produced their
masterpieces. Europe. evidently,
holds the sceptre of science and art,
because of the Christian and Catholic
spirit fostered by our forefathers in
the faith. European Universities of
the best renown were primarily
schools of theology founded by Cath
olic intellect, Catholic money, Cath
Ollie labor and often under immediate
papal inspiration. Religion saved
sciences from destruction, rescued the
arts from oblivion, preserved the doc
uments of the past and gathered them
under her protection, while all seemed
wreck and ruin abroad through the
destructive invasons of the barbar-
ians. In the eloisters of the monks
arts were honored and sciences culti-
vated.
Religion, the source of life and light,
fears only pride, ignorance and dark
ness. The Church proclaims that no
fountain of human knowledge should
be neglected. The human mind must
be cultivated to form eminently intel
lectual Catholics; but at the same
time the human heart, soul and will
must be trained by religion. The bet
ter instructed men and women are,
the more converts to Catholicity; and
the more ignorant men and women are,
the less chance there is of making
them Catholics.
No Morality Without Religion.
Eradicate religion FROM people
morality will soon vanish; morality
} gone, then physical condition will de-
generate and corrupt. History am
ply proves that the human intellect
unaided by divine revelation, leads
people into monstrous errors, degrad
: ing vices and utter ruin. Nothing is
there so low and so base as men voi6
of religion, who do not hesitate tc
5 render divine honor to the most abom
inable human passions, so necessary
is religion for human being to lear
? on to ensure proper and rational con
2 duct. Never has there been any true
} civilization apart from religion, for tt
7 educate rightly is to civilize. Europe
: owes its civilization to Christianity
4 fostered and propagated by the Cath
e olic Church. No people, ignoring re
Iligion and failing to promote the re
t lligious culture of each generation, vii
: eventually endure, for goddess trainini
e of youth has in its wake physical an
Il moral decay. The grandeur of a pee
/. pie depends on the solid Christian edr
l. cation of its youth. Mere intelligenc
l. will not produce upright and loya
l. citizens. The increase of juvenil
o crime in this country is becomin
l. more and more alarming, because c
L the lack of religious instruction. VII
:, tue and knowledge must clasp hands
n virtue, the actual living well, and d.
r ing good, virtue, the product of II
e ligion. Mere secular instruction vi
2. not check the growth of vice, bl
is tends to promote the wicked inclini
y tions of youth. The development {
% mere intelligence without the form
N ton of moral character makes tl
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