The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-02-19

HOLY OFFICE DECREE ON SOClE.
TIES THAT CORRUPT FAITH
AUTHORITATIVE TRANSLATION
OF THE MUCH COMMENTED ON
CONDEMNATION OF Y. M. C. A.
AND LIKE ORGANIZATIONS.
The N. G. w. G. News Service here
with presents an authoritative trans
lation OF the decree of the Holy Office
on societies corruptive of the faith.
This decree. has occasioned wide.
spread comment in the United States
comment based upon meager ex.
tracts sent out by. the secular press.
Because of the general interest the
decree aroused and the criticism it has
called forth from some, the N. C. w.
G. Service, which carried a cable re-
port on the substance of the decree at
the time of its assurance, delayed Civ
ing out the text until a translation of
unquestionable accuracy was made.
The following is the full text of the
decree:
Text of Decree.
The Most Eminent and Most Rever-
end Cardinals who, together with the
undersigned, are Inquisitors General
in matters of faith and morals, de.
sire the Bishops to note with vigilant
attention the activity of certain newly
formed non-Catholic organizations
which, aided by their adherents in
every country, have for long time
been laying snares of a most danger
GUS sort for our Catholic people and
especially for our Catholic youth.
While they provide facilities Of every
kind under the guise of physical train
ing and Of intellectual and moral cul-
ture, in reality they shatter the in
tegrity of Catholic faith and wrest her
children from the arms of Mother
Church.
Considering indeed that these asso-
Citations are supported by the good
will, the resources and the active CO.
operation of highly influential per-
sons, and that they render efficient
service in various lines of beneficence,
| it is not surprising that they deceive
inexperienced minds who fail to de-
tect their inward nature and purpose
But their true character can no long
er be matter of doubt for any one who
is well informed; their aims, hitherto
but gradually revealed, are now open
ly declared in pamphlets, newspapers
and periodicals which serve as their
means of publicity. Their avowed OBJ
ject is the intellectual and moral cul-
ture of young men through educative
processes, and this culture, which for
them is religion, they define as un-
limited freedom of thought quite apart
from any form of religion or denom-
ination whatsoever. Thus, under the
pretext of enlightening youthful
minds, they turn them away from the
teaching authority of the Church, the
divinely established beacon of truth,
and persuade them to seek in the
depths of their own consciousness,
and hence within the narrow range of
human reason, the light which is to
guide them.
""f 9 Dangers TO Youth. '.''2's.
It is chiefly students-young men
and young women. who are drawn
into such snares. They, above all 9TH
ers, need help and direction in order
| to learn Christian truth and to pre-
serve the faith handed down from
their forefathers. Instead, they fall
| into the hands of men by whom they
are robbed of their great inheritance
and gradually led away until they hes
| itate between opposing opinions, then
come to doubt about everything and
finally content themselves with a
| vague indefinite form of religion
| which is altogether different from the
religion preached by Jesus Christ.
Far greater, however, is the harm
done to those-too many, alas-who,
through the neglect or ignorance Of
| their parents, have not received at
home that earliest instruction in the
truths of faith which above all else
the Christian needs. In consequence,
they forsake the Sacraments, give up
| Tic pldSLlCO VI pIClys SAoW oSSuo1oA1
ed to pass judgment with absolute
freedom upon all things even the most
| sacred, and finally sink into religious
indifferentism so-called which, re-
peatedly condemned by the Church,
| involves the denial of all religion.
Thus, in the flower of their youth,
cropping without a guido amid the
darkness and distress of doubt, they
| wither away: the rejection of single
| dogma is sufficient to make shipwreck
of faith. If indeed, they still retain some
vestige of piety-a word upon their
lips or fading trace in their hearts;
| if they show no little eagerness. for
doing good--this is readily explained:
| it is the result of inveterate habit, of
| kind and tender dispositions, or of
purely human and natural virtue
which of itself does not avail to the
gaining of eternal life.
| Y. M. C. A.
Among these organizations it will,
suffice to mention one, the parent of
many others and the most widely
known of all lowing especially to its
work in relieving large numbers of
| fboco ppco whom, tho wor hr0,roht