South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-10-20
EXPLAINS PAPACY
TO LARGE CROWD
Growing Interest Shown in
Lectures by Rev B. L.
Conway, PauIiSt Priest.

confession" will be the subject OF
the lecture to be given this evening
by Rev Bertrand l.. Conway in the
high school auditorium. The audience
which heard him Tuesday evening
was largely increased over that of
previous evenings denoting an increas-
ing interest in the lectures. Added
interest was shown also in the ques-
tons dropped into the question box.
Twenty were received Tuesday.
The subject OF the lecture last evening
was The Papacy."
Judge Timothy r. Howard intro
duced the speaker and in the interval
between the answering OF the ques-
tons and the lecture proper a delight
ful vocal duet was given by Joseph
Crepeau and Joseph Beckerich. ac-
cOmpanied on the piano by Mrs. j. NJ.
Mccartney. organist OF ~. Joseph's
church.
The Papacy.
In the course Of his sermon on The
Papacy," Fr. Conway said in part:
The two great deniels Of the 18th
century refOrmers were: first, the
denial OF the Pope. viz. that the gov
eminent Of the church is vested in
one man, who is the personal repre-
sentative of Christ; second, the denial
of the essential act OF Christian wOr-
ship the perpetuation of the death of
Jesus Christ upon the cross We shall
briefly consider today the first denial,
that of the supremacy and infalllbility
OF the Pope.
ITO thinking and religious minds
the greatest phenomenon in the world
today is the fact OF the Papacy. Men
behold the marvel OF 300,000,000
Christians subject 20 the spiritual au
tnority and teaching of one ola man
on the banks OF the Tiber; not be-
cause ne is an Italian, "a scholar; not
because he is "a devout teacher, a
diplomat or a philosopher. but be-
cause TO US he is the infallible repre-
sentative Of Jesus Christ. the Son of
God. That IS surely something 10
make men ask on what Scriptural
ground does the Papacy rest; what is
the historical basis for such a claim i?
Gave Us Head.
els IL not natural 10 expect that If
Jesus Christ came down from heaven
10 establish an enduring society He
must have provided visible head for
this divine organization2 That Jesus
Christ did make such a provision is
plain in Holy Scripture. NO body OF
men held together by any set of prin-
ciples or laws can develop and endure
without a directing head. In this
country when there were at one time
two heads. civil war. with all its at
tendant crimes and horrors, was the
result. SO in religion. If Christ came
on earth to establish q church that
IS 10 be the infallib1e teacher and
guide Of men, He must have intended
some one to represent Him, TO inter
pref His laws and teachings. to keep
His doctrines from error and cOrrup-
ton: otherwise there would be an
archy disorder, secession.
Catholics believe that while Christ
gave all His apostles certain powers
In cOmmOn-tO preach, 10 forgive sins
whose sins YOU shall forgive. they
are forgiven them'-to admit mem
beers into His church through baptism,
TO change bread and wine into His
body and blood-He gave to one man.
st. Peter. additional powers that He
gave TO 20 other apostle. Herein lies
the chief distinction between Catholic
and Protestant belief. The Protes-
tant says-all the apostles were equal;
the Catholic says, they were equal i'm
many things, but in one thing Peter
stands pre-eminent among the .. and
that is In the choice our Saviour made
OF him to be His vicar and representa-
tive on earth.
Claim IL Better.
Many nOn-CatholiCs are willing 20
grant TO St Peter q headship of hon
or. They know as well as we do that
ne was the first apostle called; that
he was the oldest. the leader. the
spokesman for the other apostles.
But Catholics claim something more
than this for the chief apostle We
have the Scriptural authority for our