The Irish standard., 1918-07-13
HIGHER EDUCATION
Catholic Church Founder of More
Schools Than All Sects Put
Together.

their pulpits more than anything else
besides religion ITSELF enemies of the
Church have repeated, so often, the
libel that the Church is opposed to
education that many outside the fold
actually believe it. The Very Rev.
Thomas P. Smith, Chancellor and
Vicar General in Curia of the Altoona
diocese, showed in his address few
days ago at st. Francis College COM
mencement in Johnstown, Pa, that
the Church is "the Mother of Educa-
ton" for it was under her auspices
that the first free schools were estab-
lished, and she today has far more
universities than the combined Pro
testant churches. In part he said:
The Catholic Church, the pillar and
ground of truth, has always been, is
at present, and will in the future be
the leader par excellence as we'll in
religious as in secular education. She
has been said to be the enemy of en-
lightenment especially as far as secu-
lar education has been concerned and
of her it has been written that she dis
couraged investigation particularly in
the realm of the secular sciences. The
Dark Ages, Calico, Sayonarola, the
Spanish 1nquisition, the Chained Bible
are slogans and catch words that those
ignorant of history have been fond of
using against her. At the present day,
no writer or speaker of repute, it is
true, refers to the shibboleths; for all
who are acquainted with the true his
tory of records of the past, admit
some with reluctance perhaps, that
notwithstanding the persistent at
tempts Of her enemies to besmirch
her character, in relating these and
other episodes of history, her record
is clean and in it there is nothing of
which she need be ashamed.
During the so-called Dark Ages
and by the way who will tell me the
exact period of the worlds history, in
which this darkness enveloped the
earth, for by different historians diff
ferent centuries are alleged as to have
been those of deep ignorance and I'M
fortunate superstitions - during the
period from the 9th to the 18th century
call those, if you will the Dark Ages
under the auspices of Popes, Bishops
and priests were inaugurated the first
free schools for the benefit of the
children of the poor. Many decisions
of councils and synods might be quot
ed to prove this. I will, however, re-
fer to only two dioceses in which
synods, held in the year $50, formu-
lated enactments, calling upon the
parish priests to erect and maintain
public schools, public in the true sense
of the word. call attention to those
two dioceses because the towns in
which the Bishops sees were located
are or should be familiar to us at the
present day; the towns of Toul and
Metz, in whose vicinity our gallant
soldierss are doing valiant service now
in the cause of liberty and democracy.
Throughout France and Italy and in
every land in which the Church held
sway, were established common
schools in which both religion and the
liberal arts, grammar, mathematics,
history, literature, painting and music
were taught. Colleges for advanced
oourcoo ond ,,p;voro;tioe for oo,,op1o+o
education received not only the ap-
probation but the aid and practical
assistance of the churchmen in every
land and to their doors came students
from every walk of life and the only
requisite for admittance was the de-
sire for advancement in learning. The
brightest lights, in those days, conse-
quently, were not found among the
families of wealth or position but
sprang from the peasants whose tai
ents were recognized and developed
by the Church in her various schools.
This very fact gave origin to that we'll
known saying, There is no royal way
of learning"
Before Luther's time, besides in
Vulnerable schools and colleges, 81
complete universities were established
and maintained by the teaching orders
of the Church. Twelve of these uni
versities were appropriated by the
Protestants, and their very names pro-
claim their origin as we'll as the fact
of their appropriation, to use no harsh
er term. Since the sixteenth century,
sixty-six universities have been estab-
lished throughout the world by Protes-
tants and eighty-seven by Catholics;
so that, at the present time, there are,
according to the Encyclopedia Amer
icana," seventy-seven Protestant and
148 Catholic universities in existence,
of which, as we have above, stated,
twelve were stolen from the Catholic