The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1916-01-01
PROSANNERS ARE R[BIJK[D

At the reception granted by the /
Holy Fathers to the members of the !
commission for the preservation of
the Faith in Rome, His Holiness spoke
with special emphasis against the
attempts of proselytizers to rob the
Italians of their religion.
Dealing with questions of war and
peace and with nations blinded by
passion, Benedict XIV. has to balance
every word he utters or writes, but
as bishop of his own diocese and
speaking to the people who have been
entrusted to his most direct and in
innate care he is more free to express
his judgment and feeling. And the
subject of his discourse was one
which caused the deepest anxiety to
his predecessors Leo XIII. and Plus
X. For the last forty-fve years at
tempts, brazen and insidious, have
been made to undermine the faith of
the Roman people. The chief and
most characteristic culprits have been
the American Methodists. Every year
they spend immense sums of money
on their propaganda, they have en-
deavored on all occasions to make
capital out Of the unhappy conflict
between church and state caused by
the events of 1870, they have not
scrupled to ally themselves at times
with unclean papers, like the Socialist
Asino, they have exploited renegade
priests, they have published shocking
calumnies about the teaching and
and practices of the Catholic church,
they have traded on the poverty Of
the people to fill their Mission Hall
in Via VENT Settembre.
In it's report of the Holy Fathers
denunciation of the work of Protest
ant proselytizers in Rome, the Lon
don Times" says His Holiness lost
another opportunity of choosing his
language carefully" The truth is that
in the condemnation of the practices
to which these proselytizers resort
no language could be too strong. In.
stead of presenting their own views
whatever they may be, to the people
they continually libel and SANDER the
Catholic clergy.
Quite recently one of the Protestant
sheets published in England con
tanned statement taken from paper
issued by these people in the Eterna
City, and in it the writer did not hest
tate to make the charge that large
number of the Italian Catholic clergy
had been convicted of traitorism. A
correspondent in Rome showed tina
this was lying charge, not one of the
Italian priests having been convicted
of treason. but we have not heard OF
read of any steps being taken by The
proselytiZers or their Protestant sym
pathizers in England to acknowledge
that the charge was false and to und
the mischief caused by it's publication
Supplied with abundant funds, which
they received from America, thes
proselytizers unscrupulously endeavo
to bride Catholics who are struggling
with poverty and make them and thei
families renounce their faith by min
istering to their corporal wants. Thei
whole system Of promoting Protestant
ism is that known in Ireland a
"souperiZing" 1t deserves to b.
branded as an infamous method o
religious propaganda.
The address of the Holy Father re
ferred to in the foregoing was mad
on the occasion of an audience grant
ed to the Roman Society for the De
Tense of the Faith. Replying to al
address read by Cardinal Pompilli, tn
president of the society, His Holmes
praised the work of the society, bu
expressed surprise that it did no
meet with more support and was no
more widely extended. He said pee