The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-06-17
FATHER 0'DONOCHUE
!. - =..@s-- Ss L. -
" ANSWERS BISHOP

ANSWERS BISHOP
Rev. Father Martin O'Donoghue of
Washington, D. C. who delivered sew
eral addresses on the Nonpartisan
League has written an open letter to
Bishop Vincent Wehrle of Bismarck.
The letter follows:
..# Washington, D. c..
..... .@- June 9Th, 1920.
AN OPEN LETTER TO BISHOP
WEHRLE. DID
My Dear Right Reverend Bishop
Wehrle,
You have forced upon me very
painful task. Were I alone to be con-
sidered, I would pay no attention to
any attack you, or any one else, had
to make upon me. I had no intention
of dealing with strictly state politics,
or, personalities, nor did I deal in
them. That the Nonpartisan League
asked priest to lecture under their
auspices is not reprehensive in them
or in the Church. You find fault with
their asking me, and with my acceed-
ing, but what about the arguments in
the case?
I spoke in Moorhead, MINI. Friday
evening" May the 21st. In that ad-
dress, as in every other address that
1 have delivered at any time or place,
1 have never swerved from Catholic
doctrine, or American doctrine. Why
have you seen fit to bring personall-
ties into it, instead of attacking state
ments and arguments? Does this
strengthen a case before thinking
men? l am not silenced, or suspended
priest, and never have been.
Found League Satisfactory
It has been said that I left Fargo
beca.se l had discovered unWorthi-
ness IN the leaders of the League. This
is al absolute falsehood. have dis
covered that Der ocracy, the rule OF
the eople, lives in them and in the
League. My appearance in Bismarck
is sufficient proof of this. What is
the standard Of honor and gentlemen
ly conduct by which men who make
these statements expect to lead the
American people? In regard to me
personally, what I am in your eyes, or
in any ones eyes, makes little differ
ence: for we are what we are in the
eyes of God and nothing more.
Taking me at the worst that you, or
the Right Reverend Bishop Shanan,
Rector of the Catholic University, at
Washington, could make me might
not be allowed, even as Magdalen, as
the Thief on the Cross, or fallen Pet
er, to pay tribute to the truth? In the
event of my being anything evil that
YOU. or, Bishop Shanan, could say,
would it not be Christian and human
to lend aid to the unfortunate,
teach him what you preach-the for
piveness of sins which is the ressur-
rection of the soul-and enable hlm
to get on the right path and follow
It? The Salvation Army blazons the
truth of Christ that "a man may be
down, but he is never out" Since
when did it become the part OF Chris
tian preachers to become members OF
the 'sbetter than thou" club, and con-
demning others by their superior up
rightness, blast their future before
men?
: What the Bishop said
Here is letter from a just man,
a Catholic:
"rO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
On Sunday May 2Srd., 1920, l at
tended mass at Bismarck, N. Dakota.
During the service Bishop Vincent
Wehrle told the people that ne nao
heard that the Nonpartisan League
were bringing a Catholic priest into
the state to lecture for them; that up
on hearing the same he had sent a
telegram to the Catholic University
at Washington, D. c. to ask about the
man. and had received reply say
inp that the said priest, (Rev. Fatn-
er O'Donoghue) was not a memner
of the faculty of the said University,
and had never been; that the SAID
nriest was a very unfortunate man,
and that he '(the bishop hoped that
his people would tell their Protestant
neighbors what kind Of a man TINS
priest was, so that they would kno"
the truth about him.
Signed: Joseph Coghlan, Bismarck
N. D. May 10th, 1920"
know the timbre Of my fellow clu-
zens Of any creed or no creed, fairly
we'll, and I believe they would ratner
help than destroy this poor lno1vlouaa.
I have never said to anyone-at any
t;me-publicly, nor privately-that !
as or ever have been, member Of
the faculty Of said university. What 9
message for Bishop to send out . on
pentecost when we commemorate the
coming down Of the Spirit Of Love
and Truth! / wonder what meaning
we should give to the Epistle OF TO-
morrow
"A Question for the Bishop