The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-05-20
THE PRIESTS CRITICS.

Lately a Protestant gentleman asked
us if the ugly and slanderous criti-
cisms of bishops and priests would
not do good, i'll so far that they would
make clerics more careful at their
work and more prudent in waving
even the semblancoS Of conduct that
could be misinterpreted by the ma
licious, writes the Rev. James II.
Cotter, Ii. d., in the Catholic Co
lumbian We do not think so. Priests
learn nothing from the devil, and it
would be the equivalent Of this were
they to be moulded in manners by
hells agents.
The scverest ccnSOrS of the priest,
however, are his own people. They
generally are Of two classes. One part
expects great things, because Of their
knowledge of their faith, and, as a
sequel, they are conscious of the dig
nifty of the priesthood. Their piety
gives them a worshipful character in
their treatment Of all ecclesiastical
authority They quote the priests
words; yes, they will even tell you
what his reverence said as he tapped
their baby's cheeks thirty years ago.
They note his conduct with pride and
they look after him as if he were a
walking mystery. The quality of awe
is mixed with their respect, which in
turn is compounded with admiration.
The other class, a very, very small
minority, is in direct contrast to all
this devotion. They adopt the tactics
Of the cuttlefish and rifle the whole.
stream Of humanity around them so
that their own abominable natures
will not be seen. Some become mono
maniacs in calumny, so that the priest
is carved as a dish at every meal.
They mistake notoriety for fame, and
believe themselves all the more inter-
estng, according to the degree of their
startling falsehoods. The children are
raised by those parents in the hearing
of the maGdest onslaughts on the pas
tors character Some children, when
grown to mans estate, will tell you
that the eason why faith was lost or
indifferently treated was because
SANDER of authority was their youths
sole entertainment. AS result of
lessons in disrespect for the Church
the parents authority was eventually
disregarded, and heart-scald was the
bitter result These parents generally
come to the villainous conclusion that
there is no such thing as virtue, but
only degrees of vice. They mistake
their own thefts for the dishonesty of
every man-their own lying character
for the general quality of the race
their own sroveling meanness as the
yardstick that measures what they
conceive as the maggoty purposes of
their fellows-their own dirt for the
absence of all cleanliness and honor
According to their ignorance, and
arrogance is always its consequence
if the priest is kind in word it is be-
cause he is weak and fears their YER
diets: if he is generous, they declare
him prodigal; if he is thrifty, he is
stingy; if he is powerful he is proud;
if he scorns pretense, he lacks piety;
if he is fervent, he is a hypocrite; if
he is obedient to authority, he is
slavish; if he is accomplished, he is a
shining mark for infamous fancy; if
he rebukes superstition, he is lacking
in faith: if his sermons are short, he
is limited in intelligence; if they are
long, he is prate-boX
Such oddly malicious characters
will not cure the priests faults. The
measure of respect for the priest is an
index of the profundity of faith. Con-
gregations like men in general, do not
make fine distinctions between per-
sons and principles, and SO their rev.
erence for the priest is an indication
Of their love Of the faith. The priest
is regarded as the oracle of principle,
and no logical distinction is made be-
tween the teacher and the teaching.
For ourselves we never had trouble
with others Our only trouble to self
was ourselves. This we declare to
the credit of the people, and so that
our words will not be weak by being
conceived as written in angry retalia-
ton.
Our thoughts have been inspired by
the wanton criticism. given priests
whom we met in over three decades of
sacerdotal career-priests the
latches of whose shoes we were ''un-
worthy to loose"-priests whose poor
est deeds were eulogized, whose best
ones were seorned by those who had
the obligation of being fair. When
death came how changed were the
voices of those who one time broke
their heart.
To hear them, then, was to marvel
at mans stability. An old book of
the dead is treasured as precious
heirloom, but they continue their in
consistent and malevolent course by
making contrasts of the ineffciency of
the living superior to the superiority