Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-01-11
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Continued from Page One)

----- XII
Continued from Page One)
Of the knights OF Columbus in part as
follows:
AS knights of Columbus we are not
unmindful OF our responsibilities as
faithful sons of the Church and as
loyal citizens OF the republic. 10 us,
the long list Of Catholic discoveries,
explorers, colonizers and missionaries
| is sacred, and we glory in the fact
! that the association or Catholic zeal
with the infancy OF our country is in
delibly imprinted upon mountain and
cape, river ana valiey, where III me
early days the piety Of the explorer
led 10 his giving to each neWly-lound
. landmark rHe name OF saint or festl-
val commemorated by his Church up
on the fateful day OF discovery. There
! is no part vi inns Ialr lana OF ours
which mas not been sanctitied either
/ W lue Gloss vi tic Ca.nOIlc MISSION
airy or the DIOod, freely sned, Ill us
upDullding anu lefense, by the Cain
one pioneer and solder. II the spirit
or Columbus could witness the panOr-
anna or this great country, whose ear
~ rescue from savagery was made
possible by his indonlitable courage,
1t might marvel at the ma.erlal pros
perity for which the world of his time
ueIu no pareIlei, pat 1t WOul0 feJOlce
most OF ali at the endless vista OF the
cross on village church and city cath
edral, glittering beneath the rays OF
the rising and setting sun as brightly
as did the same emblem on che stand
ard with which he dedicated the new
found land 10 Catnolicity. And where
have Catholics greater reason to be
devoted lovers VI their country than
here in this great land where the
cross is uplifted by the side of the
banner Of Liberty, and protected from
every assault beneath the folds OF that
flag, which in turn it sanctifies and
consecrates to it's great cause Of hui.
man freedom and progress. There
fore we do not wonder at the marvel.
Gus growth OF the Catholic Chuch in
our beloved country, when from negli-
gible numbers in revolutionary days,
it has grown to its present proper.
tons, which demonstrate the tremen-
dous possibilities OF expansion OF a
Church rooted in the love and conf |
dence Of its followers, and subsist-
ing without state protection or state
subvention. In this land today
10000 priests serve God at the affairs |
of $4,000 churches, lninistering to a
Catholic population of between 49,
SOC, 900 and 100000, while in our
possessions in the Seas more than
S,250,00O more are united to us by |
common ties of belief. More than /
$4,000 orphans are cared for by the {,
devoted religious, whose members as
we'll minister to 115 homes for the
aged In the Catholic public schools
of the country 1,456,20O children are
now receiving both a secular and re-
ligious education which, at the very
conservative estimate of ten dollars !
per year cost, represents not less !
than $14,562;OO0 annually contributed
by the Catholics of this country in |
testimony of their belief in the bene-
fits of combined religious and scholar
training, while to the public school
system of the country whose average I
cost per pupil is about $38 a year,
Catholics are contributing as we'll |
their proportion, which is not less
than $S7,000,000.
ITO those who know what this Or
der has done, is doing, and hopes to
do for the betterment of conditions in
this country, no better proof could be
adduced Of their earnestness and sim
cerity as American citizens in striv-
ing to do all in their power to bring
about, by the dissemination of the
truth respecting the history OF our |
Church and it's followers in our land,
a better appreciation of what it has
accomplished and the elimination of
those Misunderstanding of the his
tory and purpose of the Church,
which are responsible for most of the
intolerance and bitterness which have
heretofore caused so much sorrow
and are still doing so much damage.
1t is the great glory of Catholic Amer
leans that in the few sections Of the
country where they were potent in
colonial days, religious freedom was
established by them, as instanced in
Maryland and in New York, where !
Calvert and Dongan gave posterity
good reason to bless their memories.
Realizing that the only remedy for in