The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-11-06
DEFENDS PUBLIC
 GOLF COURSE IN
 HIS NIGHT SERMON
Father Coyle Replies to Questions Submitted by Member of His Con-
 gregation on Subject

SIcSdtlOI1 OH OuDJeCt
 l At the regular services at St. Paul's
 church on last night the pastor, Father 1 Coyle, after the recitation of the Rosary and Litany, answered some questions that
 had been placed in the box during the
 week. Although the greater number of 1 questions sent in are inquiries regarding l Catholic faith and practice, occasionally | queries not purely religious turn up. Last week among other questions ap- | peared this three-branched query, which, i now that municipal golf is being agitated, 1 may interest some of The Age-Herald
 readerse: Do you not think the municipal i golf movement a scheme of the evil one l to clido the good work the Holy Name 1 society is doing? If you do not think so, 1 will you please give the members of your l Holy Name society who wish to play | some substitute words and phrases which l would not violate our holy name pledges? | Speaking of golf, will you also kindly ex- 1 plain something that has puzzled me and 1 my friends: How was it that Jerome D. 1 Trayers, the renowned golfer. was lately 1 married by a double ceremony, a Cath l ollie and a Protestant? l am anxious to
 
 l A. Duffer.
 l Father Coyle answered these religio- | golf questions as follows: What MT. ! Barrett and The Age-Herald agents of 1 Satan! Banish the thought Rather are | they agents of a Providence beneficent
 and kind. Although I do not in the ] least doubt that players over the mu- nicipal links, will betmes forget them l selves, and, like Uncle Toby's armies in
 Flanders. swear terribly still, the good 1 to be gained in health, recreation and 1 the removal from temptations worse than swearing will far outweight the evil of an occasional lapse from polite society i English. i.
 1 For holy name men and others who 1 would fain eschew what is supposed to l be, but really isn't golf language, l l would recommend that they initiate the 1 poor Irishman, who, when really and 1 truly provoked over anything. was wont 1 to pray thus: Bad luck to the devil 1 If they want a more elegant model, let them take that dignitary of the estab- l lished church in England, who, more en- 1 thusiastic than skilful with his 'mashie 1 shots,' relieved his feelings as the ball 1 rolled into bunkers, by murmuring softly: 1 'Assouan.' A partner of his once in Tonderment consulted the proper name
 supplement of standard dictionary and | found the definition, the biggest dam in 1 the world Where there's a will there's l a way, and the adoption of either of 1 these methods will reduce profanity to | a minimum.
 With regard to the wedding of the
 author of The Winning Shot, book
 dedicated among others, to myself, I will 1 simply quote the comment of America.
 our leading Catholic review: Are two
 ceremonies allowed?' said that periodical: | New York newspapers stated a week ago that marriage had taken place l which had the unique distinction of being celebrated with two ceremonies, the 1 Catholic and the Protestant Minor varia-
 tons appeared in the accounts, for thero
 was a good deal of confusion as to which
 ceremony had the priority, but there was unanimity about the fact of a double
 celebration Circumstantial details were
 not wanting as to the Protestant service; l but no one seemed to know when, or 1 where, or by whom the Catholic ritual was employed. The story would not be
 worth noting, were it not that one of | the persons concerned is an international l figure in the world of sports, and as 9 | consequence the account of the efforts of | this much-married man to enter wedloCk has been industriously making it's way
 north, south and west. and will soon pc quoted as another instance of the lncol- 1 sistency of Catholicism. The whole .hing, | of course, is a reporters mistake. Non- Catholics would be inclined to question 1 it, and to well-instructed Catholics it IS
 intrinsically incredible
 ! " No Catholic can be married by a
 Protestant minister The word can, as
 opposed to may, is to be noted, for there | is question here not merely of licity but
 of validity. A Catholic who gets or per- | mits a Protestant minister to officiate at | his marriage, goes through a ceremony,
 it is true, but a ceremony that nas no power whatever to establish the matrI- | n1Onia1 ha r.
 ried than if he had dispensed with the
 ceremony altogether. This was not the
 case before Easter; 1908. Prior to that
 date such a marriage would have been | grievously sinful, it would have involved
 excommunication, but it would have heen
 a real marriage Since Easter, 19OS It is not only sinful and carries with it eX-
 communication, but it is in addition null
 and void Therefore, if one of the per-
 sons in the marriage referred to had been a Catholic, it would have been quite ] erroneous to speak of Protestant mar | riage. The Protestant ceremony, whether
 it preceded or followed the Cathcllc ceremony, would have been an empty | form and nothing more.
 " Besides, unless there were fraudu- l lent concealment and deceit on
 the part of the Catholic, which
 the publicity given to the marriage | in question rendered impossible, the Catholic ceremony simply could not have taken place. Had the Protestant ce1c-
 mony preceded, it would have brought down on the head of the Cathode the communication of the church. which 1 fact would have barred him from the
 licit reception of the sacrament, so that
 no priest would have married him untn he had been dissolved from his censure.
 Public cooperation in the Protestant rite of matrimony would have made the Catholic suspect of hersey, and would
 have called for public reparation Of this there is not sign in the case. On the
 other hand. no priest would have mar ried Catholic, when he knew that q subsequent Protestant marriage was con
 templated, a marriage that savored of | heresy and involved excommunication.
 The whole matter, therefore may be I F
 garded as blunder or forgery, and, as
 such. may safely be consigned to the limbo of misrepresentations.'
 After benediction Sacred Song con- l cert was beautifully rendered by St. Paul's choir A large congregation at l tended the devotions and the song servlce. Miner Relates Narrowing