The Catholic bulletin., 1920-03-20
POPULAR APOLOGtT|CS
Adapted from the German of Rev.
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev.
James Watcher.
Is. Between God and Me.

Objection: In his inner religious
life the Protestant enters into imme-
date intercourse with God; the Cath
oic layman, however, stands under
the tuteIage of the priest, the Roman
hierarchy, which places itself be-
tween him and God.
Answer: |. According to this, one
should think that the Catholic can
not pray to God without the priest.
What an untruth. Even if there is no
priest in the church the faithful have
their private devotions; they pray dl-
rectly to Christ in the Blessed Sac
rament: they go the way of the Gross
and mediate on the passion OF
Christ. In good Catholic families
there are common morning, evening,
and meal prayers and the Rosary and
other family devotions.
it is Just the priest who instructs
he people to practice this direct in
tercourSe with God; the practice OF
his inward piety and devotion is one
of the principal aims of the priests
IltLlOu VI 6uuCdllOl
,. The Catholic hierarchy is the
mediator between God and the peO
rle not in the sense that it places
itself as a third element between Goo
in the sense that being appointed by
God as the leader of the people the!
lead them to God and make it pos,
Sble for them to be united with God
Christ has made the priesthood the
dispenser of the means of grace. St
Paul writes in this connection: LET
Il man so account of us as of the
ministers of Christ, and the dis
penserS of the mysteries of God
II Cor, 4:D, Through these means
of grace, e. G., the Sacraments OF
Penance and the Holy Eucharist, the
receiver is not united with the priest
but with God; he receives through the
outward sign the inward grace. whicl
effects an immediate union with God
16. CELlBACY.
Objection: The celibacy of the
priests and religious is something un
natural.
Answer: l. Something unnatural
Christ could not do nor recommend
christ remained single and He rec
Ommends to those who can take i
30 remain single. Celibacy is moth
ing unnatural, but something super
natural, which fits very we'll to the
supernatural, spiritual life. st. Pau.
writes: He that is without a wife
is sOlicitOus for the things that be
long to the Lord, how he may please
God. But he that is with a wife, is
solicitous for the things of the world
how he may please his wife: and he
is divided" q Cor, 7:32-33).
2. An American captain recon-
mended non-Catholic missionaries tC
an Indian chief, and the latter an
swered: The Great Spirit has nc
wife and His priests must do the
same; but because yours are married
we do not want them; they are like
to us and therefore are not fit" (Se
gur).
,. Even the goddess Nietzsche says
Luther gave back to the priest the
intercourse with his wife; but three
fOurths of the reverence of the peo
pie, especially of the women, rests or
the faith that a man who is an eX
Ception in this point is also an eX
ception in other points; just here the
popular belief has it's finest advocate
in the superhuman in man, in the
miracle, in the redeeming God il
man. (Froehliche Wissenschaft, page
293).
1t is we'll known how little conf
dence the people have in the married
Russian schismatic clergy, and tha
the Russians hardly ever go to con
fession to the popes (Russian priests)
but rathersto the priest monks (Knie
Die russ.-schismat Kirche, page S3).