The Catholic bulletin., 1918-02-16
WHY X. OF C. SHOULD BE EN-
couRAoED IN WAR WORKS.

THE Knights of Columbus war fund
cannDaign--the Grand Rapids branch OF
which will conduct its drive in Tebru-
ary-has a staunch supporter IN Rev.
Russell H. Bready, formerly OF Grand
Ranids. who is now in charge oi 4
Methodist pastorate at Pontiac, Mich,
in n recent pulpit editorial. Mr..
Bready took stand in favor or thoI
Order being permitted to work II the
camps on the ground that such an ac-|
tivity is necessary to the morale CT
large part of the army. He said:
Ought the Knights Of Columbus.
\ Roman Catholic organization, be at
lowed to work in our army camps?
Some other fraternal orders have tax
en- the ground that there is an unfair
governmental discrimination il favor
Of the Knights of Columbus.
LET us look into the situation. 1t
is very evident that it would be I'M
possible, and impractical II it were pcs
sible, for the government to permit
each of the Protestant denominations
TO do separate work in the army
camps. The Y. NJ. c. A. is strictly Il
Protestant organization. 1t was mani
festly the wise thing for all the Prot
estant churches to center il the Y. NJ.
c. A. This organization is doing w2n-
derful work. and / am free to say th"t
without the Y. NJ. C. A. we canno, viii
this war.
Keeping Up the Morale.
TT is doing more to keep up TIE
morale of the boys, the Protestant
boys. than any other power. Bat Il is
very evident to any broadmlnded
American citizen that the Y. NJ. c. A..
cannot furnish all that the Roman
Catholic soldier desires.
1.-The Roman Catholic soldier boy is
comforted by the presence of a priest
by the celebration of Mass, by the
hearing Of confessions. While the Y.
NJ. c. A. is willing, and does provide
that where their arrangements have
not been completed, Mass may be cele-
brated in the Y. NJ. c. A. huts, yet to
have their own huts, with all the ar
rangements for Roman Catholic ac-
tivity more perfectly provided, helps
to keep up the courage and morale Of
that boy
"'Often, when plant is transplant-
ed to- other soil it dies. When you
transplant a shrub, the more OF its
original soil you can keep around its
roots, the more likely it will be to
thrive and develop.
"I therefore argue that as you
transplant our boys from the peaceful
life to the military life, the more ct
the soil they have been raised in that
can be carried along, the better they
will do when they get away. This
means that if you transplant just as
much of the home life as possible, just
as much of the church life in which
the boy has been raised, the more he
will thrive. The less likely he will be
TO die of homesickness. Ali the Prot
estant churches are centering their
activities on the inside OF the camps
in the Y M. c. A.
X. of C. Work Necessity.
Thousands of Roman Catholic
boys are in all Of these camps. They
cannot help but feel that they are
more or less visitors in the Y. NJ c
A., as welcome as l know they are
Regardless of what you think of the
forms OF worship of the Roman Catho
lie Church, | want every Roman
Catholic boy to be transplanted into
the military life, with all the soil in
which he was raised clinging to the
roots. This means that the Roman
Catholic Church must be permitted tc
do something for them, not as q
church, because Protestant churches
are not so permitted. Therefore the
government recognizes the Knights o
Columbus as the Roman Catholic Y
NJ. c. A., and l say to you, as Prot