Cottonwood chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-current, 1918-07-19
Patriotic Address by
Rev. Father James

Rev. Father James of St. Ger
trude's Convent at Cottonwood
was one of the prominent speak
erks at the Silver Jubilee celebra-
ton of Rev. Father Rompe at the
Catholic church in Nezperce on
July 3. His address, which neat
ly suggests the spirit of the occa-
sion, was printed in the Nezperce
Herald, and is reproduced in the
Chronicle by request of a number
of our friends and patrons. Fol-
lowing is his address:
'In the eventful days through
which we are now passing, it can
not but prove highly beneficial to
re-assert the principles on which
rest our allegiance to our Holy
Church and to our country, so as
to bring out from these principles
the truth that the former, allie
glance to our church not only does
not interfere with the latter, 10y
atty to country, but that, on the
contrary, it gives it its strongest
support. In other words, the bet
ter Catholics we are, the more 10y
al and unstinted will be our at
tachment to our country.
The truth of this proposition
thus laid down in general terms
can be established, l presume,
from a threefold source:
From the teaching of our Cath
Ollie church, who, following in the
footsteps of her divine Founder,
has never ceased to proclaim and
uphold that her children must
render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesars and to God the
things that are Gods" There
fore, there are for us all two things
which are paramount in this
world, two things which claim
our attention, that is, the things
of God and the things of Caesar,
and we have specific duties to-
wards both. We must love and
revere our church because she is
our spiritual mother, because in
and thru her we find happiness
and salvation; and we must love
and cherish our country, because
we look up to her as fulfilling the
condition of earthly existence, and
consequently ordained by God.
The state is necessary for our ma
ture, and what is requisite for our
nature is divine origin. In obey
ing and respecting civil authority
we show respect to our nature, we
lose no dignity; for we bow our
wills, not to mandate of men like
ourselves, but to the will of God.
Such is the teaching of the Cath
olic church concerning our rela-
tions with the state. The Ameri-
can Bishops assembled at the
Third Plenary Council of Balti-
more spoke to the mind of the
American chruch in the following
words: eve claim to be ac-
quainted with the laws, constitu-
tions and spirit of the Catholic
church, and with the laws, consti-
tutions and spirit of our country,
and we emphatically declare that
there is no antagonism between
them"
More than this: Having shown
that the Catholic of America as
we'll as of any other country draws
from the teaching of the church
the inspiration of his patriotism,
we shall now bid the American
Catholic in particular to look
around him, and the result of this
glance will be a clear conviction
which will force itself upon his
mind that, irrespective of sense
of duty and conscious, he should
love his, this country, with a
strong, natural affection. The
ties that bind the American Cath
Ollie to his country are old and
strong. Every page in the history
of our country speaks to us in ac-
centsthat are Catholic. The great
man of destiny who opened up our
country to the world, was an ar
dent Catholic. History has re-
| corded the fact that ChriStODbor