The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-12-25
Tally LEARNS METHODS OF
AMERICAN CATHOLICS VEL.
FARE COUNCILS WORK Ex.
PLANNED TO THE ROMANS
BISHOP GUERTIN GIVES A NO.
TABLE INTERVIEW TO AN ITAL.
IAN PAPER.
(By N. G. w. G.. News Service }

w A>' ~. w. -. NEWS S6rVlCG,)
Right Rev. George A. Guertin, Bish.
op or Manchester, N. H., in an inter.
view published in the Corriere d'Italia
and reproduced in other leading Cath.
ollc newspapers, including the highest
organs of the Vatican, gives a graphic
account of the work being done nv
the National Catholic Welfare Council
IN promoting the interests of the
church in America. The interview
has been received with every sign of
appreciation. Cardinals and other i'm.
portant personages in Rome have
warmly praised it.
Bishop Guertin's Interpretation.
AS originally published in the Cor.
rlere d'ltalia Bishop Guertins inter.
view was, in part, as follows:
In their organization the Catholics
OF the United States have sought a
double object-that of intensifying the
spiritual life, and that of creating and
supporting the material institutions
which are it's expression and neces.
sary consequence The life of our
Catholic people has attained a devel-
opment and an intensity most COM
forting and promising. One has but
10 see IN our parishes the loyalty of
the faithful to the Church, their fire.
quentation of the sacraments-men
and women, young and old-to appre-
ciate the fervor, the conviction and
practical reflex of their religious con.
sciousness.
I'm the United States we have found
ourselves in position quite different
from that of the Catholics of Europe.
The inheritance of the past that pre-
pared for the Church,-through the
accumulation of ecclesiastical patri-
mony and the cooperation of the civil
authority-a safe existence free from
dependence on the future, was not at
the disposal of Americans. We, there
fore, have been obliged to create for
the Church her material foundation
and to provide for her material needs.
This conviction that it is our duty to
support the Church if we are to profit
by her ministry, is felt by every one
in America. Wherever the Catholic
population increases and the nucleus
OF a parish is formed, the faithful are
the first to realize the necessity of
the establishment of church and a
school. The two go together, though
the school often precedes the church.
Give Freely to Church and Schools
"And then the people request the
bishop to authorize the church and
school, and give freely the means to
build and support them. In the United
States there is no risk of a failure
through lack of cooperation. Thanks
also to this disposition of the faithful,
the Church enjoys now in America a
position of secure prosperity. The
debts which the people and the clergy
were sometimes forced to contract for
the building of churches and schools
have been almost wholly paid, and we
can now think without anxiety of the
other works that go to complete the
Catholic life of the country-colleges
scientific and social institutions, char
liable enterprises and extension of the
faith.
"We bishops know very we'll that for
all efforts whose utility and practical
ity are evident we can rely on the
faithful. And it is just to be more
completely united and to develop har.
moniously and efficaciously our com.