The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-02-22
Continued from page ~
RELIGION IN THE SOCIAL ORDER

kltiusUS IN Inc 0Ub1AL UKU[K
the best and truest friend OF man. In
the sunshine Of prosperity, when the
blessings of peace bring contentment,
religion ministers to all the needs Of
happy humanity. Schools flourish, in
telligence is widely diffused, the
widow and the orphan, the weak and
the weary, the sick and the sorrOWing
are cared for in the name OF Him,
Who had compassion on the multi
tude."
In the din Of battle, within sound of
the lannon's roar, in the trenches, in
the hospital ward, in the Red Cross
ambulance, the benign angel Of relig-
ion ministers to the suffering victim
of wars mad hate. All the wonder
ful agencies of philanthropy during
the awful terror Of the great war just
brought to a close, were inspired by
the Hottest ideals Of religious hero
ism. All their various representatives
were generous rivals in the lavish eX-
penditure of their time, their money,
their love and their very lives, help
ing to mitigate the horrors of war.
The forces of irreligion, the noisy
champions Of materialism, the carping
critics Of the church and Of religion,
are all inactive, invisible, and unknown
On the bloody field of battle with our
dying soldier boys, sacrificing their
precious lives, that liberty might not
perish from the earth.
The world must learn valuable les
sons from the past four years OF war.
Among such lessons none can be more
wholesome or enduring than the les
son that religion is the great essential
in the life Of a nation. Christianity
has rot failed in this critical emer-
gency. Christianity has never disap-
pointed human hope. 1t is brute force
that has met it's merited doom. All
| the energies of most cleverly organ
| lied military force had been mustered
during the past fifty years for the am
bilious purpose of world mastery. God
! is more mighty than vast armies in
battle array. Right has humbled
might. Prince Bismarck, the maker
Of the Prussian empire, gloried in the
| title Of the man OF blood and iron. -
! He ignored the sacred rights of relig-
| ion in the ''kultur kampf' of 1870,
| and, with q spirit worthy of the worst
/ of the Roman emperors he aimed to
suppress the church in the German
empire, rob it of it's hallowed right to
| freedom, and force it to submit to his
! imperious and unjust eXactions. Prus-
sian militarism is shattered, let us
! hope forever. The worship of the
state is a revival of pagan ido!atry
! God governs the world Man must not
render to Caesar what belongs to God
The visionary philosophy of German
mystiCs is powerless to rescue the
! fatherland from the humiliating dis,
asteT into which over-confidence in
shrapnel and shell had led the Ger.
man nation.
France had, for more than a thou.
sand years, outstripped all rivals in
its glorious work of uplifting the chill
dren of men. Her messengers OF
hope and joy had carried the glad It'd
ings Of the Gospel to every land. I!e1
tiers, the vanguards of civilization
They explored our western wilder
ness, they navigated our streams, they
revealed to wondering world the linn
itless possibilities of the new world
They lifted thousands of our Indian
tribes from the degradation in which
they found them. With no thought OF
personal gain and no motive Of con
quest fer their beloved France, they
left their hallowed bones to repose in
the virgin soil Of America, and the
memory of their sainly lives to edify
the world. No people have been the
equals of the people of France in
works and institutions of practical
Christian beneficence. The cynica
philosophy of Voltaire had, however
corrupted the minds and hearts OF
many of the leaders of the people an6
for the sins of its political chieftains
With weakening religious faith amons
the people of France, has come also
internal decay. The population Of
France. during the past century has
been slowly, but with alarming Ger
tainty, diminishing. Some of her pc
litical leaders have boosted that they
had banished forever Christ, the SoI
Of God, from the soil of France, anC
eXtinguished the light of heaven itself
The people Of France are more wise
than their leaders. They will not be
ungrateful for the service that relig
ion has rendered in the hour of theil
affection, and the lofty patriotism O.
the clergy of France, who have giver
their lives with such generous devo
tion in defense of their beloved coun
try, cannot fail to win the nation!
love~and gratitude.
A league of nations, inspired by love
of justice, and fidelity to high ideal.
of righteousness, must bear rich frui
= -.z- =