The Irish standard., 1917-10-06
AnTI-CATH0lICS
make PROTEST

CONTINUED from Page ~
War sobers and steadies men,
makes responsibilities weigh more
heavily, and brings stern realities be-
fore nations and individuals. 1t calls
for sacrifice, it demands service, it ap-
peals to the hearts of those who must
serve and suffer. Home will be de-
stroyed. Men will be wounded, mutt
lated, driven insane, taken prisoners,
die lingering or sudden deaths. Sor-
row will enter thousands of American
homes. There will be no question of
religious belief separating those
stricken by common grief when the
casualty lists are published. Grief
stricken Jewish mothers, wives and
sweethearts will stano beside Chris
tians and non-believers; sorrowing
black women will press forward side
by side with whites TO receive the
sadness Of death, wounds or captivity
of their loved ones. Each will try to
comfort the other.
Yet with men arrayed in khaki,
drilling side by side, serving beneath
the same flag, filled with the love and
sense of duty to America, their coun-
Try, comes the religious bigot, who
strives to prevent a great Catholic
society from spending it's money and
the constitutions of Catholics and
non Catholics to keep the soldiers I'M
occupied time one Of healthy diver
sion of sound physical and moral
care. of distinct effort towards main
tanning and improving the morale and
the spirit of the army. The Y. M.
G. A. by it's own laws, forbids the
Jew, the Catholic and the Unitarian,
as we'll as the atheist and non-believ-
err, from holding office. The initials
stand for the Young Mems Christian
Association. The Catholic is a Chris
tan. BY the testimony of history the
Catholics were the first Christians. BY
race the first Christians were Jews.
The Unitarian does not believe that
Christ was God. Neither does the
Jew. But the Catholic worships that
Christ as his Redeemer.
The organization which carries
christian" as a part of it's title re-
fuses the Catholic Christian the right
to hold office in it's ranks. Asserting
that the Y. M. c. A. can care for the
Catholic as we'll, or better than, the
Knights of Columbus. The bigots who
object to K of G. army centers wish
the great Catholic society, whose first
requisite of membership is that the
candidates be Catholic, debarred
from taking care of Catholic young
men. The knights of Columbus offer,
admittedly, is made in as broad a
spirit of charity and patriotism as is
the offer of the Y. M. G. A. The lat
ter, by it's own avowals, laws and
acts, is exclusively Protestant in its
citizenship, yet there are those who
wish to exclude from Christian chart
table patriotic work an organization
ayowedly Catholic and, of course,
Christian.
That spirit is selfish to degree
that would be unbelievable had it not
been demonstrated. Over 80 per cent
of the United States forces are com.
posed of Catholics. There are regi-
ments, like the Seventh Illinois, which
are wholly Catholic, from the Colonel
down to the last man. Is there, in the
United States service, a regiment ex-
clusively Protestant? There are Ma
jor-Generals, like Thomas H. Barry,
Francis J. Herman and John F.
O'Ryan, who are Catholics. The rank
ing Admiral of the navy, William
Shepherd Benson, is Catholic. Yet
some persons would have all recrea-
ton work put into the hands and un-
der the control of men who will not
admit to office Catholic, while the
United States of America gladly vel
comes and honors Catholics in its serv.
ice, from Major-Generals and Admirals
down to privates in the army and
landsmen in the navy!
The Secretary of War and the Sec
rotary of the Navy will not heed the
request of the bigots, who take this
untimely hour in which to display
their anti Catholic animus. The Cath
olic soldier and the Catholic sailor
and the Catholic marine will fight for
his country, gladly unto the supreme
sacrifice.
The Catholic not in the armed
forces of the country, will protect
those Catholics in the service In the
fullest enjoyment Of their rights and
privileges, against religious or other
bigotry, or fail to merit the name OF
Charlottesville religion that has en-.
dured under persecution for nineteen
hundred years and is the strongest