davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
Russia and CathoIicity
RUssIA's NEW MINISTER TO THE
HOLY SEE A CATHoLlc--HoPE
FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM is
BRIGHT = ACTUAL STATE OF
CHURCH STILL IN DOUBT.

. -
The Holy See has been asked for it's
agreement to the name of M. LISA
kovsky as minister of Russia to the
Vatican and has given it. The new
minister is welcome in that the old
one never came to Rome to take up
his post, and as he was not Catholic;
whereas his successor is. AT the same
time there must be discrimination in
accepting news of matters affecting
Russia and the Holy See. It is quite
true that pleasure and hope have been
aroused by this appointment and by
official acts of the new government
such as the formal declaration of lib
erty of worship. On the face of it,
this would seem to do away with the
old trouble, the main trouble, the per-
secution of Catholics by the Holy
Synod, forced perversion of INMATES
and open refusal to allow Orthodox"
to pass over to allegiance to the Pope.
Rome hopes that this may be SO and IT
has confidence in the intentions of the
government. but i'll has long expert
ence Of the Holy Synod, knowing the
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
IN WORLDLY AFFAIRS WE TRUST
THE EXPERT WHO KNOWS HIS
BUslNEss-THE SAME PRINcl-
PIE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED IN
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND
IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
"cathoIicus.")

During the long history of the Cath
Ollie Church there have been debates,
and sometimes stormy ones, on prac-
teal questions of discipline and con-
duct, and on speculative matters of
doctrine. At the right moment the
supreme authority of Rome inter
vened and decided the question. The
loyal Catholics. Their motto was the
historic one: Roma locuta est;
causa finita est" Rome has spoken;
the case is decided.
This splendid Catholic loyalty to
the Vicar of Christ has produced that
marvel of Catholic unity, which is the
envy and the despair of all other re-
ligious, and non-religious and anti
religious bodies-for there are fac
lions among the Socialists and the
Atheists as well as among Protestants.
These bodies owe their existence to
the reputation of the very principles
of unity and of loyalty. In self-de-
fence they claim that their anarchical
license is real liberty, while they have
no better names for Catholic author
ity than tyranny, and for Catholic
loyalty and unity than slavishness.
The war has submitted this to a
merciless test. While America chung
to the difficult role of a neutral, citi-
zens discussed the rights and the
wrongs of the war pretty freely. But
Washington, the supreme authority of
America, at length spoke in no I'M
certain tones; and from that moment
all loyal Americans have regarded the
issue as definitely settled. The deci-
sion was at once accepted without
reserve or qualification by American
Catholics; and President Wilson's
letter of acknowledgment in answer
to the loyal address of our Cardinals
and Archbishops will remain as one
of the most important historical docu-
ments of this stirring time.
Meanwhile, where are the super
patriots who used to say that Catho-
lies cannot be loyal Americans?
Where is the melodious Cats of
Florida and the erudite Tom Watson
of Georgia?
Since America decided to go into
the war, quite bundle of periodical
literature of "super-patriotic" origin,
has had to be handled with pair
of tongs by Postmaster General Burle-
son; that long suffering man has not
waste baskets enough for the Jeffer-
sonian and the Masses and the rest
of them.
1t is very interesting just now to
recall that the last Mayoralty cam
paign in Chicago was disgraced by
the injection of anti-Catholic feeling.
Mayor Thompson's opponent was Mr..
Sweitzer, Catholic. A large num-
Der of Protestant ministers opposed
Mr.. Sweitzer on the ground that a
Catholic is not good enough for Chi
cago. Don't they wish now they had
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
RICHES AND SUICIDE
EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT WEALTH
. DOES NOT OF ITSELF BRING
HAPPINESS SUICIDE AM ON G
RICH AND POOR.

4 =
\ That suicide is a crime of the rich
rather than of the poor is a striking
fact noted with some perplexity by a
correspondent of the New York Sun.
In my fifty years of business
life,' he writes, Il have employed
thousands of poor men from Maine
to Virginia men who suffered ills of
the flesh, hard knocks. of poverty and
bruisings of the spirit. | have seen
men whose lives had no light, whose
careers offered, apparently, nothing
but unhappiness and sorrow. Yet of
the thousands of men in such cases
that / have known only one commit
ted suicide.
"On the other hand, remember
that the successful man who built up
the, largest American steamship line
in the United States, the head of
I 3 r4a51 : =
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

another influential American steam
ship line, the head of the Oldest house
connected with the American sailing
vessels, whose name is known to all
old time shipping merchants, commit
ted suicide. In Brooklyn, the owner
of the largest warehouse, and in Wall
street the president of bank, in the
freighting business a prominent brok-
er, member of the produce ex-
change, one of the members of our
largest sugar refining companies, also
killed themselves. | wonder what led
them to self-destruction when miser-
able wretches whose every moment is
spent in suffering are so tenacious of
life?"
There are many evidences TO prove
that riches, far more creating happi-
ness, do much to destroy it (says The
Catholic Universe), and that the love
OF life is almost never the product of
those things commonly supposed to
make it worth living; but the chief
reason that existence is more toler-
able to the miserable poor than to
the miserable rich is probably be-
cause the poor are more likely to
cherish belief in the power of God.
They are nearer to God because
they are nearer to the realities of life.
and they are saved from that fatal
arrogance which makes man forget
his own size in the size of his pos
sessions. Suicide is less the coward
ice of those for whom this life has
proved too much than the effrontery
OF those for whom the future life
means too little.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
THE CITY OF RIGA
IT WAS FOUNDED BY CATHOLIC
BIsHoP-cAPTuRE OF CITY BY
GERMANS RECALLS EARLY
CATHOLIC ACTIVITIES IN LII
VONIA.

Riga. the capital of the Baltic PROV
nee OF Llvonia, was founded in the
year 1901, by the German Bishop AL
pefl,. VINO IS known as the Apostle of
Llvon1a. The colonization of Liyonia
mad begun in the year 1853, when Ger
man merchants from Lubbock were
stranded ct the mouth of the Dyina
river. In 1158, the Augustinian,
Melnhard, set out from Bremen to
evangelize the land. Two years later
Urkul, southeast of the future Riga,
became an episcopal see..
After the inhabitants of Iiyonia
had relapsed into paganism, Albert
Won Appeldern of Bremen organized
crusade. Sailing up the Dvina river,
ne conquered the territory on both
sides. At the mouth of the Dyina.
Albert thereupon founded the forti-
fed city of Riga in 1901. Albert sub
sequently became Bishop of the city
which he founded. The knights of
the Sword were organized in the fol-
lowing year for the protection of the
city. The commercial progress that
riga made aroused the envy of the
Order of German knights and in 1897
they gained partial control and finally
gained entire control.
Riga remained thriving German
trade center until 1881, when it ca
pltulated to King Stephen Bathory of
Poland. In 1921, it was captured by
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Peter
the Great of Russia, who routed
Charles XII of Sweden at Poltowa,
invaded Livonia and captured Riga in
ITO.
Riga preserved it's German tradi-
lions despite its frequent change of
hands. Until 1889, the use of the
German language was permitted in Of
ficlal transactions. The present popu-
lation is estimated at SIS 900, of whom
about 100000 are Germans. The Let's,
who are closely related to the Lithuan-
1ans, and who are Lutherans, are the
most numerous section of the popula-
ton, the Russians comprising only six
teen per cent. The Catholics, who
have three churches in the city, con-
stitute about ten per cent of the
population.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL
CARDINAL REFUSES TO ACCEPT
SUGGESTION THAT CHURCH BE
TURNED INTO A MUSEUM
WILL PROBABLY REMAIN AS
CATHEDRAL.

Suggestions are being publicly adj
vanced as to the destiny of the
Rheims cathedral, says a dispatch
Discussion centers on whether it
should be restored as a cathedral
transformed into some sort of national
memorial dedicated to those who have
lost their lives in the war, or left as
monument to Teutonic barbarism.
The question cannot be definitely
decided, perhaps, until the German
guns have been driven from Fort Bri
mont and the final condition of the
historic fame, after so many months
OF bombardment, can be ascertained
Meanwhile Cardinal Lucon, Arch
bishop of Rheims, who has remained
beside his beloved cathedral through
out the bombardment, is firmly de
termined that Rheims shall always
have it's temple.
I'VE shall repair the Cathedral" he
has said. ct must be so. We have
casts of it's statues, and colored pho
tographs of its glass. Our architect
at risk of his life, is working under
the damaged arches to save what can
be saved.
''The day will come when the doors
will again be opened for religious
services, for | hold fast to one thing
above all, that the Cathedral where
the first Christian king of France
was christened shall remain the first
church of France.
Il protest with all my energy, and
/ shall never cease protesting, against
any project that seeks to make
Rheims Cathedral into some kind of
a museum Or metropolis. Those who
have such ideas do not consider what
Rheims is for the Church, for France
and for the whole world. All such
proposals are impossible.
with one suggestion only, that has
been made, can I associate myself
with all my. heart. Let there be,
every year, a solemn celebration in
the Cathedral in memory of those who
have died for the safety of the coun-
try. The whole Catholic world would
join to found perpetual mass, and
| hope that God will spare me to
celebrate it myself for the first time. Z
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
FAVORING THE CLASSICS
PRACTICAL VALUE OF THE LATIN
AND GREEK LANGUAGEs-THEY
ARE ESSENTIAL TO A THOR
OUCH KNOWLEDGE AND APP
PROBATION OF OUR OWN
LANGUAGE.

There are still, and in all prob.
ability there always will be, earnest
advocates of the study of Latin and
Greek. Sir Andrew Noble once said
that, "as a sharpener of the young
intellect, it would be difficult to i'm
prove the curriculum which, in the
main, has been in force for many cen
turtles" At a conference on classical
studies at a convention of the Ma
tional Educational Association, which
was held in Minneapolis. fifteen years
ago, one professor maintained that
Greek course is that the results more
than pay for the exertion, not only
in the esthetic line, but in the
strength of character produced and
another professor stated that "the
question is not what your boy will do
with Latin, but what Latin will do
for your boy" Modern languages, !"
said another professor at the same
conference, do not produce the re-
suits and discipline which are derived
from the ancient classics. 1t is more
difficult to get real work out of pupils
with modern languages, and it is the
work that tells.
An Oxford professor, Francis Pal
grave, declared that "the thorough
study of English literature is hopeless,
unless based upon an equally thorough
study of the literature of Greece and
Rome. To know Shakespeare and
Milton, is the pleasant and browning
contamination of knowing Homer and
Aeschylus, Catullus and Virgil, OBJ
serves an Exchange And upon no
other terms can we obtain it, A
noted New York publicist wrote sew
eral years ago that IF few of our
American colleges would stand firm
upon the traditional course in Greek,
Latin, mathematics and philosophy,
teaching each student the elements of
one natural science and of two at
least of the modern languages, the
experiment would be justified by its
practical results" The history of
this country is filled with proofs of
the utility Of classical studies. Thirty
five per cent of the signers of the.
Declaration Of Independence had
made those studies. OF the commit
tee of five who drafted that immortal
docuent three sixty per cent-had
made them; and the men who wrote
it Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
had both been classically educated.
It has been the same with our famous
1urists and political leaders. Yes; a
study of the ancient classics pays
we'll.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
CATHOLIC PRINCIPLES IN War TINE

been less patriotic" then? Among
the hard things that are being said
about big Bill nobody has been I'M
kind enough to remind him Of the
"super-patriots." The willy patriots"
and gardens" themselves are lying
| low, and don't want to remind us of
the delightful way they put their foot
in it. But it is just as well for us
| to haul them out and let everybody
| have a good look at them and their
funny brand of patriotism and loyalty.
Many "super-patriots' are less wise
than Mr. Sweitzer's opponents in
Chicago; the caterwauling of Cats
and the buster of Watson and the
rest of the "patriotic(?)" noise afford
the American public much-needed
lesson on the merits of bluff and hot
| air.
There is another Catholic principle
which has been beautifully Illustrated
BY the attitude of loyal Americans in
the present crisis. The writer of
these lines has heard an old New Eng
land Yankee declare that the only
reason he knows for loyalty accept
ing his country's belligerent stand is
my country, right or wrong" though
he has been reading everything the
President says, and trying his best to
believe it. Not SO bad type of
Americanism. Sensible men realize
that they cannot know everything,
and that they are by no means infalli-
BILE. Hence they hire an expert and
trust him. The President is our ex-
pert on international affairs. That is
all there is to it. -
Now there are tangled and intricate
problems of personal conduct too
You don't know enough, you are not
keen enough, and above all you are
not fair and unprecedented enough, to
guide yourself Alright in all possible
circumstances. What's the remedy?
Trust the experts, that is, the Con-
fessors. This is the essence of casu-
istry-a word that stands for very
necessary and useful thing, but which
has been persistently misunderstood
and often wilfully misrepresented by
persons who never tried to be just
right in Gods sight at all times. The
very same principle cannot be ignored
by loyal citizens today who happen to
be muddled and confused by the
Babel of war-talk. You picked your
expert-trust him then and go ahead
There can be no private judgment
in wartime. 1t simply paralyzes the
nations will. 1t is lunacy to hold
debate in theA middle of the street
when the fire department is on the
job, and of course it would be crimi-
nal lunacy in the case of fireman.
The Catholic idea is that it is sui
cidal to argue with the devil, or to
palter with your own conscience.
Consult the expert and make up your
mind according to his advice. If
every man is to be his own expert
to hear nobody and obey nobody ex-
cept one who agrees with. himself
why, then, letqus have the Russian
debacle and defeat while anarchy
reigns and the. enemy conquers the
world bit by bit and at last brings in
the tyranny which is the natural con-
sequence of anarchy.
1t is just the same in regard to diff
cult ethical problems. To scorn the
expert is to invite spiritual anarchy
and assure easy victory for the
Enemy of Man.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
The CHURCH THE CHAMPION OF THE SLAVE

sure upon the Shareholder. On the
one side mild treatment of the slave
was always spoken of as one of the
important evidences of Christian
spirit; on the other side the churches
and monasteries were recognized
places of refuge for the fugitive or
abused slave, the priest or the abbot,
before giving the slave over exacting
an oath or promise from the slave
|owner to do the refugee no further
harm"
Influenced Kings. VI
Not only was the Church, however,
actively the champion of the slave,
but what power the king, had to ex-
ert in the slaves behalf he owed to
the influence of the Church. For,
as the author writes: 1T was like
wise due to the influence of the
Church that the kings mind acquired
the all-encompassing protective power
which it very soon came to have, in
asmuch as to the Church the kings
position alone seemed stable enough
to offer successful resistance to the
violence and contempt for human life
which certainly characterized Ger
manic society,"
Again we are told "the Church also
favored liberation of the slaves to
degree which far exceeded that of any
private or public slave-owner." While
it is true that at times and in some
places churchmen and monaster1es
owned slaves, the author goes on to
say that gin this respect, as in many
others, the Church had to conform
to the economic condition of the time,
and in her struggle for material de-
pendence, which alone could secure
success to her in her ideal pursuits,
she needed cheap labor and took this
from whatever source it was offered.
In holding slaves as cultivators of
her enormous estates the Church
made servitude as comfortable an eX-
istepce as it could ever become. The
slave of the Church was more esteem
ed by the law than anyone's except
the kings, and the churchmen were
| the first who, in Judgment of case,
made a distinction between inten-
tional and unintentional acts, thus by
degrees paving the way to a more in
telligent jurisprudence, even for the
slave
We might thus multiply the many
passages in this excellent work which
so fairly and intelligently points out
the splendid stand of the Church ON
SO difficult problem in an age when
slavery was as much part and parcel
of the social and economic state of
society as it was in the south before
the Civil War. There should be Gre
ated certain appetite for further re-
search into the rich mine of historical
lore dealing with the multiform influ-
ence of the Church on the various
stages and phases of human prog
ress. An intelligent understanding of
history would go far to overcome the
social apathy of our average Catholic,
because it would prove so conclusive
ly that we have right at hand thou
sand forces to apply to the ameliora-
ton of many vexing problems.
&C b. ofC v.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

Christ descended after His death on
the cross. st. Peter describes this
descent: "in which also coming He
preached to those spirits that were
in prison. CT Peter III-19). Limbo
is also used to designate that place,
or state, of infants who die without
baptism. These do not see God; yet
they undergo no punishment; they
are preserved in a place and state of
natural happiness. These places are
called Limbo" for lack of better
and more definite term.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

tend the State balls, which were con.
sidered too worldly an amusement
a resolution which Frontenac resent
ed. The old missionary had estab.
lished the congregation even among
the Onondagas, SO that it has the dis.
tinction of being New York's first so
dality.
In spite of their hardships and ex.
posture, or perhaps on that account
these old pioneers generally lived to a
great age if they escaped the toma
hawk. lie pauyre Hechon." the
man who drags the load,' as Chau
monot called himself, gave up his
work in 1892, and after lingering for
year went to heaven February 81
1893. He had been a missionary since
1859, that is for more than half a
century.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
HISTORY SHOWS THE PART THE
CHURCH PLAYED IN BETTER
ING THE LOT OF THE SLAVE
SHE AIMED TO PROMOTE THE
SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL
WELFARE OF THOSE UNFoR-
TUNATES.

That the Church has ever been a
force making for true progress; that
she has championed liberty and fought
all forms of ensIavement, spiritual
and physical, has come to be for many
of us somewhat of truism. 1t is
only upon detailed and careful study
Of the various phases of human adj
[vancement that we fully realize and
learn to appreciate at it's true value
this power of the Church in the So
cial progress of the world.
Such detailed study of one of the
phases of human advancement is Of
fered by Agnes Wergeland, late pro-
fessor of history at the University
of Wyoming, in a book entitled "Slav-
cry in Germanic Society During the
Middle Ages" but recently from the
press. In it's pages we find most
cry as it existed in the beginnings of
what are now the great states of cen
trail and, northern Europe. Scattered
through the pages of this scholarly
work we find many tributes to the
share which the Church had in the
amelioration of the condition of slav-
cry, in the attempts, gradual, it is
true, but eventually successful for it's
total suppression. After showing the
various causes of enslavement, among
them theft and murder and debt, we
are told how perpetual slavery was
c,,onnn1n1 hxy fau IF
slavery, lasting until the debt was
entirely Cancelled. Here it is" the
author writes; "the, Church which in
it's attempt to live up to the ideal of
brotherly love, to the Mosaic prohibit
ton of usury of man, succeeded in
changing the previous atrocious Gus
tom. The same desire to break the
rigor of the law caused the Church to
prefer seeing the prisoner of war; the
unredeemed hostage, the exiled cu[
prit, enslaved rather than killed"
Again in the chapter dealing with
the amelioration of the condition of
slaves, after showing the influence of
a strong kingship in combating the
harshness of individual shareholders,
the author thus describes the .func-
tion of the Church in dealing with the
condition of the slave: Another
stronghold" she writes, ''of the hope
for the slave was the power of the
Roman Catholic Church. What the
king represented within the political
sphere the bishop represented within
the moral There is no doubt that
but for the constant good offices of
the Church through her ministers the
Improvement in the condition of the
slave would have been of far slower
growth. The bishop, of course, could,
as little as the king, interfere with
the actual ownership or abolish slav-
cry; but he tried to exercise re-
ligious as we'll as a practical pres
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
Government Insurance

The bill to insure soldiers and sail
ors has passed the house and is likely
to pass the senate. 1t provides help
for dependent relatives, compensation
for injuries or loss of life, and insur-
ance up to $4,000 at So a thousand
per year. 1t is expected to cost $176,-
100000 the first year and $2,O00OOO,0OO
the second year It is a substitute for
pensions.
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

What is Limbo2
Limbo is the name adopted to sig
Nifty the place where those souls were
detained who had died, in the Lord,
before the coming of Christ Adams
sin had closed the gates of heaven;
paradise was closed to men until
Christ's death. During the years that
interviewed between Adam and Christ,
millions of men and women had lived
good lives and had saved their souls.
They were not admitted into heaven,
but were detained in a place now
called Limbo. It was into Limbo that
The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

These were Chaumonot's Indians.
He had placed them especially under
the Blessed Virgins protection and
she took care of them. It was the
same devotion to the Mother of God
which prompted him to found the
Congregation of the Holy Family,
which IS still potent factor III Cana
dian religious life. It gave great
trouble in Frontenac's days by the
refusal Of IFS austere members To att