The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-09-06
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field, knows the men, knows the needs.
knows every organization whose as.
sistance can be secured. The first
and greatest need for effective Cath
Olic missionary work at home and
abroad, as far as America is con-
cerned, is central direction from the
Holy See, as the natural head, which
direction should come through the
hierarchy of the Church in America
to unified board, which may make
its own divisions and departments. |
am not the only one to say this, and
any business man would say the same.
l have already referred to unequal
distribution. The Church Extension
Society has been building chapels, and
has built lot of them; but how about
supplying priests for these chapels,
and how about supporting these
priests when we have them? Of
course, there are plenty of young men
willing to suffer; but why let them
suffer, if suffering is unnecessary? A
priest ordained for the missions is
giving up a great deal. He shouldn't
be asked to give up his health and his
strength, in addition to his home. his
family and his country. Then he
| ought to have place wherein men
| destined for the hard places are made
| ready, by special training, for these
hard places; and we ought to have
money enough to see that these men
are at least kept in condition to do
| their work. 1t is no joke for a man
to have all alone parish fifty miles
! each way, with half dozen chapels in
it to attend. If he needs a fiivver to
! go to these places he shouldn't be
asked to starve in order to buy one
for himself. II he gets sick, there
ought to be some fund from which he
the little which his missionary Bishop
can allow. The success of Bishop
LAWYERS plan of putting priests in
places wherein they could not in the
beginning even support themselves
was brought about because the Church
| Extension Society gave each an ad-
! ditional allowance. After two years
| the allowance was no longer needed.
Is the Diocese of Lead different from
other sections of the United States :?
! My missionary reading tells me that
the number of converts to be secured
in India and China depends upon the
number of priests we send and the
| support we give. There is scarcely
need for me to point out an obvious
conclusion. 1t is pitiful to listen, at
our board meetings, to letters from
needy missionaries that we cannot
help. Our machinery is good as far
as it goes. Church extension is well
organized institution 1t is governed
like a bank. 1t has observed every
rule of business for safety; but it does
not go far enough. The same rules
ought to be applied to larger organ
ization, of which Church extension is
only part. We need to get together
We can do that only if the Catholic
people of the United States realize,
every one of them. the opportunities
they have. We could multiply by ten
all the money that comes in through
our haphazard agencies If we had a
unified work reaching every Catholic
in the land; and we can increase it's
efficiency by proper distribution. In
fact, l am almost tempted to say that
we could double it's efficiency.
| The business corporation, that has
an easy field, does not, for that rea-
son, relax it's efficiency and the strict
ness of its direction. Much less does
| it lessen the need for it's complete
unity. Catholic missions have an easy
/ field, comparatively. With one-fifth
less money than our non-Catholic
brethren, we have done five times
more work and claimed five times
more souls. That is why l say we
have an easy field. But we are not do
ing enough. The Church is mission
| arv organization. Her greatest work
should be the work of missions. The