The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-08
DEATH OF VIM. H. SLOAN

tltudlnous Emergencies of doctrine
and practice, an arena of mutual con-
fiict and condemnation. The foulness
OF the lives of the converts from Cath
olicism was awfully scandalous. And
the wholly artificial and unreligious
basis of the effort to de-Catholicize
Mexico was undeniable Can all this
be of divine institution he tells us
he asked himself; is this what God
wants? Does the Holy Spirit, indeed,
guide these people, or are they guided
by misled, if unconscious egotism, and
desire to live comfortable worldly
life on sufficient salary And he
knew that the fatal defects of Protest
antism are essentially inherent in it
everywhere
But Mr.. Sloan, like any honest
Protestant, must be turned to Catho-
licity by an overwhelming totality
OF proofs, and he therefore now more
radically investigated the Scriptural
evidences of the Church. He tells us
that he labored seven years on the
compiling of a Spanish Concordance
of the Holy Scriptures, and | scruti-
nized every text that could bear on
found the authority of the Church as
pillar and ground of the truth" the
primacy of Peter, the power of the
priest to forgive sins, transubstanti-
alton, the efficacy of the sacraments
and one or two greater dogmas to be
so clearly taught in Gods word that
| dare no longer close my eyes to the
truth. Once l was convinced of the
truth that ultimate authority lay in
the Church, and that she was the au-
thorized interpreter of Holy Writ, the
rest followed as a natural consequence.
The Holy Spirit said to me: This is
the way; walk in it." 1t was more
difficult for me to accept the discipline
of the Church, its ceremonies and
ritual, but here again | was aided by
Him who guides into all truth when
the seeker is willing to be led.
Ion the other hand, I asked my
self: By what authority am | per-
suading these people to give up the
faith of their fathers? No church has
given me such authority, for none in
Professionalism claims any, the mission
airy board is not a New Testament in
stitution, and does not pretend to be.
Did Christ send me? If so, how is it
that hundred others around me
claim the same authorization, and yet
each one leads the people along diff
ferent road? For not only among the
multi-colored Protestant churches, but
in my own church there were a score
or more of different faiths, nay, even
in Baptist congregation of which I
had been pastor. There was no au-
thority anywhere to deliver a distinct
message of Christian. truth. ("Roads
to Rome in America" Curtis).
ITO become a Catholic meant the
, severing of old ties, the grieving of
loved ones, the tears of wife and chill
dren, the cutting Of every means of
support for myself and family, the en-
tire overturning of the old life and the
forced adjustment to a new and
strange one - somewhat difficult
thing for a man of sixty-four years of.
age. l consulted no one but God,
talked with no man or priest, until
was about ready to stand publicly
by my conscience. Then l called upon
| Father J. A. Refs, pastor of the Eng
disappearing Church of San Lor-
EMO, City of Mexico; and later |
called upon the Archbishop, whose
pious advice, given me only a short
time before his lamented decease, l
shall never forget. And on the goth
of January, 1908, I was baptized by
Father Refs, General Frisbie and
Judge Ignacis Sepulveda being my
sponsors. l have found the peace of
God which surpasseth all understand
ing"