The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-04-12

only reason government did not suffer
dry rot in the middle ages under the
aristocratic system which then pre-
vailed was that so many of the men
who were efficient instruments of gov
eminent were drawn from the church;
from that great religious body, which
was then the only church, that body
which is now distinguished from other
religious bodies as the Roman Catho-
lie Church.
The Roman Catholic Church was
then, as it is now, a great democracy.
There was no peasant so humble that
he might not become a priest, no
priest so obscure that he might not
become the Pope of Christendom, and
every chancellory in Europe was ruled
by these learned, trained, and accom-
plished men, the priesthood of that
great and dominant body.
What kept government alive dur
ing the middle ages was this constant
rise Of the sap from the bottom, from
the rank and file OF the great body of
the people through the free channels
Of the priesthood.
The mission Of the Church is from
God, but it is mission to "all ma
tions," TO every creature The
| Church makes mo distinction between
| Jew and Greek, Barbarian and Scy-
| THAN, bond and free, male and female.
All are one with her in Christ Jesus"
Before her altar king and peasant,
governor and governed, learned and
ignorant, white and black-all are
equal 1t is related Of Chief Justice
Taney OF the United States Supreme
Court that while awaiting his turn to
go to confession one Saturday night
in the Cathedral of Baltimore, labor
ing man about to enter the confes-
sional came down the line and said:
Take my place. 1t is not becoming
that the Chief Justice should be kept
| waiting so long" Mr.. Taney replied:
Il am not Chief Justice here. l am
only a criminal at the bar
| The doctrine of the Church is di-
vine, but it proclaims that all men
have the same origin, the same des-
| tiny, t1lat all are redeemed by the
| blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
and that all will appear on a footing
of equality before the same dread tri-
| bunal to give an account of the deeds
done in the flesh
The morality of the Church is the
eternal law Of God written on the
hearts and consciences of all men,
and contained in the decalogue pro-
mulgated by Moses and adopted by
Jesus Christ; but it is law which
obliges all men without exception
the great as we'll as the little ones of
the earth, the wise as well as the IL
literate, the rich as we'll as the poor,
the Pope and Bishops and Priests as
we'll as the layman, the State as well
as the Individual The moral code of
the Church admits no double standard.
1t is founded on the democracy of the
ten commandments.
Church Is Adaptable.
The discipline and legislation of the
Church, though based on the immut-
able principles of dogma and morals,
adapts itself to the genius of peoples,
to their manners, customs and insti-
tutions and to the varying conditions
Of time and place The celibacy of
the clergy, modelled after Christ and
His Apostles and by its example OF
moral heroism predisposing the world
to the acceptance of the gospel, has
not always been enjoined, nor ever
| il11nnCn6 n rtc of
Marriage laws, while never losing
sight Of the unity, sanctity and in
dissolubility of Christian wedlock
have frequently been changed and
are not the same in every country
Clandestinity, for example, made a
diriment impediment by the Coun
Gil of Trent in the Sixteenth Century
was never enforced in all parts of the
United States until Plus X issued the
NE Temere" Decree, which went into
effect in 1908. Likewise, laws of fast
, ing and abstinence have not been the
: same always and everywhere. In g
: word, while refusing to yield one iote
: CT the divine deposit of faith anC
morals, the Church varies her disci
! pline to suit the needs of the times
and the temper Of the people, remem
bering that her mission is to save the
people, not to destroy them.
: Finally, the government of the
Church has many points of resem
blance with our own republican form
OF government The Pope like tn,
President, is elected Bishops ar,
appointed by the Pope, but only aftel
t the priests and Bishops of the terri
tory concerned are heard, just as JUS
9 tices of the Supreme Court and Fed
[ eral judges are appointed by the Presi
e dent but not without the approval O
, the United States Senate. The Ecu
: menical Council, the supreme Law
!, making body in the Church, made Ill
OF the Pope and the Bishops, resem
bles the American Congress compose;
4 of delegates from the various state
with the President at their head. TIL,
4 Pope's college of Cardinals is like th
r Presidents cabinet. The members O
\ the cabinet are the heads of variou
! departments of the administration
+ just as the Cardinals in the Roman
t Curia are heads of the various cor
:. gregations which transact the bus
0 ness of the universal Church. Ever
y Continued Oh page 81