The Irish standard., 1915-12-18
The Astounding wealth, with which

The Astounding wealth, with which
God the Creator, has enriched the
lands that are subject to you, allow
you to go on with the struggle; but
at what cost? Let the thousands
of young lives quenched every day
on the fields of battle make answer;
answer the ruins of so many towns
and villages, of so many monuments
raised by the piety and genius of
your ancestors. And the bitter tears
shed in the secrecy of home, or at
the foot of affairs where suppliants
beseech-do not these also repeat
that the price of the long-drawn-out
struggle is great, too great?
1t is all so true, so noble, that II
wrings ones heart to think that there
is no power in the world to give II
effect. There is something intensely
sad in the Pope's appeal to "all, who
soever are the friends of peace the
world over, to give us a helping hand
in order to hasten the determination of
the war" And the response, so far,
has been disappointing. Still we must
never forget that the destinies of ma
tions and the issues of war are in the
hands of Him "by whom kings reign"
To Him we must turn in humble
prayer He can give effect to the words
of His Vicar, and calm the storm that
is raging in mems hearts. But what
ever be the design of his all-holy Prov
idence, We Catholics should thank and
bless Him for giving us Pope who,
in these days of stress, is so worthily
sustaining the authority of his sacred
Office, and preaching in the midst Of
the storm of human passions the Cos
pei Of the Prince of Peace Like Noe
in a time of wrath, he is being made
a reconciliation, and however men may
seem to disregard his words, we may
be sure that they are awakening re-
Spouse in many hearts.
There is magnificent broadness in
this appeal of the Pope; he addresses
not only those within his own fold, but,
conscious of his sacred mission, he
sends the cry of peace which breaks
from his heart to the friends of
peace the world over" 1t is the cause
of humanity; it cuts deeper than or
binary temporal interests; it is ques-
ton Of saving the greatest, the most
cultured, the most progressive nations
of the world from a wild frenzy in
which they are destroying one another
and blasting the hopes of their chill.
dren for generations. Nothing like it
has ever been seen in the world. One
might be tempted to think that God
has surrendered His government of
this earth to bad demons who drove
men to reject and repudiate the whole
teaching of Christ. We have got down
to the elemental principles that distin-
guish human society from herds of
wild beasts; and therefore it Is time
for everyone who respects our human
nature, who believes in God and our
accountability to Him, who processes
the Gospel of Christ, to do his or her
part to put an end to this revolving
slaughter, which is a disgrace to our
civilization and a scandal to our re-
ligion. We may hope that in the great
United States of America some moral
power may be forthcoming to second
the Pope's appeal, and help the realiza-
ton of his prayer that 1.-The merciful
Jesus, through the intercession of His
Sorrowful Mother, may grant that, at
last, after so horrible storm, the
dawn of peace may break, placid and
radiant, an image of His own Divine
Countenance."
EDWARD THOMAS,
Bishop of Limerick.