The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-08-07


In reading a religious work | came
across something about the Neander-
thai man. Please tell me something
about him.
He is not exactly a man, only pOr-
ton. In 1857 there was discovered IN
cave near Dusseldorf, Germany, a
uart of 4 human skull. This specimen
WAS so different from the ordinary hui
man skull that scientists began to as
sign the age in which the owner prob
ABLY lived. Besides this relic. there
were several other bones, ostensibly
PARTS of the same skeleton. FROM
these fragments scientists deduced
that the original was man about hNe
feet three and One-half inches IN
hei4ht. He was, they say, powerfully
built and able to cope with the ami
mails of the forest. The object some
men of science had in thus exploiting
this fragment was TO show that men
actually lived thousands OF years be
fore the time of Adam and Eve. who
are SHlu 10 nave tAlS'Eu "DN"' 1'''
years before Christ.
Now. all this is beside the marx.
For the Church has not stated how
old the human race is, nor does she
hold that our first parents lived Just
j O0O wears before Our Lord. In fact,
some of the best Biblical scholars in
the Church maintain that the human
race is many thousands vi years old,
and that the period between Adam
and Christ is far and above over 1000
wears. so whether the Neanderthal
man lived five or fifty thousand years
before Christ makes no difference so
tar as the Bible is concerned.
We're the six days, mentioned in the
Bible regarding creation, days of
twenty-four hours each?
The Bible does not say. The lie
brew word, Yem. meaning day, is used
throughout the OId Testament very
often in the sense of period. AS when
we say, The man Of our day, meaning
our age or period. Some Catholic the
ologians think that these six days
We're each long periods of time. They
say. for example, that when we are
told that God created the trees, etc.
the meaning is that He placed the
seeds or germs of these in the earth
and allowed long time 10 elapse I'M
til the vegetable creation had grown
to full maturity. And so with the
other days. The Church has not def
nitely declared as to the actual length
of these Biblical days.
is it necessary to re baptize con-
vert who has already been baptized by
a Protestant minister?
There are certain essentials re-
CURED in administering the sacrament
of baptism. In the case Of a convert
it is not always certain whether his
FIRST baptism was valid: hence it i
customary for the priest to admins
ter conditional baptism in order to re-
move all uncertainty.
Is it sin to refuse to stand sponsor
in baptism because one of the par
ents of the child is 4 non-Catholic?
AS there is no obligation on a GER
tain individual to stand sponsor il
baptism. there can be no sin in his re
fuSing to do so.
May Il person stand sponsor for {
Yes.
What is the meaning of the words
"Venti Settembre" one often read:
about?
VENT Settembre is Italian for Sep
TENDER 20. The expression refers tt
September 20, 1870, when the Italian
army entered Rome against the pro
test of Pope Plus TX. The militar.
commander of the invading force.
had demanded the surrender of thu
city; but the little army of a few
GhOusand men, chiefly ZOUaves an(
foreign volunteers, who stood by tn
Pope ard justice, refused until the
We're overwhelmed by numbers. TIL
Holy Father did not desire useles
bl0Odshed, SO he had ordered hi
faithful few TO lay down their arm
after making an armed resistance t
show the enemy that the Papacy re
scented the unjust invasion. The Ital
ian government in Rome usually cele
brates this anniversary. The day i
a welcome one to all the hoOdlum
and outcasts of the city who wer
permitted almost every license A
present, however, the tendency is t
repress such excuses on the part @
the unbridled mobs.
oinuIorlIMn LII IIhIu