The Irish standard., 1919-02-01
Pope Foresaw
German kuItur
English PreIate in Discussing Allied
Triumph Recalls Condemnation of
kultur by German Bishops.

The Archbishop OF Liverpool, the
Most Rev. DR.. Whiteside, in an Advent
Pastoral, dwells on the victorious end
of the war. In the Allied victory the
Archbishop sees the directing hand of
God, and ascribes the victorious con-
clusion to the power of prayer
In referring to the much vaunted
German kultur, the Archbishop recalls
how the German Bishops, in joint
Pastoral, issued shortly after the be-
ginning of the war, solemnly de-
nounced German Kultura as hollow and
worthless, unwholesome and corrupt,
anti Christian and impious. In sum-
marizing the aims and character of
this Kultur, Archbishop Whiteside pro-
ceeds:
"Everything German above every
thing else 1t aspres to rule the world.
by force, if possible, if not feasible,
then by peaceful penetration. 1t
recognizes no right. no liberty no con-
seriousness, outside the boundaries of
the German nation. In a word. it is
the rationalism of the German philoso.
piers adopted as a national creed.
"The bombastic talk, then. Of the
late ruler of Germany; the claim that
small nations had no right to exist.
but should be absorbed by the super
for Kultur of Germany the claim that
Germany must have it's place in the
sun, with opportunity of spreading
Kultur abroad; the references to the
God of the German nation, and to the
battles fought under the gaze of the
past heroes Of Germany; the total dis
regard of international law when it
suited their purpose; the ignoring of
, the natural and divine law; all these
things are not as many thought, the
f1gments Of a diseased brain, but are
still for the greater part of the Ger
man nation outside the Catholic
Church part of their intimate con.
victions. Can it be wondered that the
Catholic Bishops of Germany have
denounced German Kultur as anti
Christian and impious? No wonder
that Kultur has found the Catholic
Church it's chief antagonist. The per-
secution of the Church in the seven
ties of last century was the attempt
to secure the submission of the Church
to the dictates of kultur.
1T failed, as so many similar at
tempts have failed in past centuries
and Kultur in the person of Bismarck
had to go to Canossa And by the re-
cent collapse of German Kultur the
lesson is shown to the whole world
that unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it,
"One further point needs emphasiz-
ing, and it is this. The latter devel-
opments of Kultur were years ago de-
scribed by Pope Leo KILL He traced
it back to the rejection of the prin-
ciple of authority in religion at the
time of the Reformation One of the
leading writer's Of Germany at the
present day admits this when he tells
his fellOw-countrymen that no German
l
German State is rooted exclusively on
Professionalism, and that it was the
German nation, above all, which
developed the root idea OF the Reform
alton, that is, the right of unrestrict-
ed and unprejudiced inquiry, and
that it also holds the leadership in the
domain Of free spiritual development.
The Leadership Of Germany.
The question our fellow-c country
men have to face, then, is whether
they are going to be content to fol-
low the leadership of Germany in the
social and moral reconstruction that
may be before us in this land This
needs an answer in these days, when
it is proposed to teach the future citi-
zens of this country religion formu.
lated on the principles of the Reforma-
tion, by Moral Instruction Leagues and
by promoters of interdenominational
Syllabuses.
I'VE too, as Catholics, have our re-
sponsibilities. Never perhaps in re-
cent centuries have we had the same
opportunity of securing from nom
Catholics dispassionate considera-
tiOn of the claims of the Catholic
Church. From what so many of them
have witnessed on the field of battle,
or in Catholic countries, there is
spirit of inquiry into the doctrines of
the Church. 1t is for US to be in
position to satisfy this craving. This
we can do by obtaining fuller knowl-
by offering explanations to others as
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