The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-11-04

of our faith, not for any other reason.
They arrested sisters for teaching
little colored children in the city OF
st. Augustine. They deprived our
Catholic men and women OF their
positions because of their religion.
They elected Governor on this plat
form: / will make all priests marry,
/ will abolish the confessional.
will have State troops open up con-
vents, and l will never let the Pope
live in Palm Beach,
Left to Fight Alone.
"We had no practical sympathy
from our fellow-C Catholics of America.
When our sisters were arrested for
teaching colored children in the
schools, we tested the law from the
standpoint of it's constitutionality.
OF course one of the sisters had to be
arrested-technically The Judge des-
ignated the convent Jail and made
the vicar-general of the diocese a
sheriff. And after long fight and one
that cost great deal of money, the
law was declared unconstitutional.
When the fight was won, Catholics
from all over the United States wired
us congratulations. There were
'swhereases" and "whereases" and
resolutions and resolutions. But fl
nancial assistance, money to help us
for what that fight had cost us? Yes,
think received one dollar-from
Alabama.
"The Bishops, therefore, as I said,
thought that it was time for them to
have an annual meeting, to come to-
gether so that they might take advice
one with the other upon the great
questions Of the hour Many ques-
tions remained after the war, questions
of reconstruction, and questions in
which the Church was forced to take
action for the welfare of America,
for the welfare of Gods Church.
We felt that the most important
question of the hour in America was
the question of education 1t is i'm
portant, from the standpoint of the
country, because education without
religion is not the education that
would fit our people for the best citi-
zenship. They must be taught relig-
ion and morality. 1t was Washington
himself who said that the future of
the country depended on religion and
morality.
From one end of the nation to the
other there is a force, nationally or
ganized, attempting today to deprive
us Catholics of the right to educate
our children as we want to educate
them. We recognize, as every Ameri-
can does, the States right to demand
education in its children We recog-
nize the States rights or right to
make education compulsory. But the
State never had right, and the State
has no right, to take your children
from you to determine that they must
be educated in one narrow groove and
in no other. That is depriving parents
OF their fundamental natural right,
that is simply a case of our country
going into Socialism. Such is the
movement of today.
Here in our land there is move
ment to so secularize the bringing
up of our little ones that they shall
not hear the name of God mentioned
from Monday to Friday. Men are
thinking that. they are doing we'll for
the children when they are doing that.
They are blind, they are blind. They
have not the interest of America at
heart. They are determined to fight
the Church that during all the years of
its existence has been bringing up its
children worthy to be good citizens OF
the Nation and State. I have on my
desk in my home in Baltimore CODY
| of a well known Masonic magazine
one OF the organs of the Scottish Rite
Masons, and it is. devoted to this one
issue destroy the Catholic School,
Wake up, men. That is the issue today
The very center of that force where
is it? Right here in Washington. YOU
live in Washington. Wake up.
Il want to tell you, friends that in
every republic, even in republic tha,
has the best and finest form of govern
Iment. the price that you pay for liber
| ty is eternal vigilance You will under
stand, therefore, why the Bishops ol
the country appointed one man as the
head of the department to study oa
| the problems of education, and tt
bring before the people cur views il
the matter OF education"
| Archbishop Curley then referred tt
1 the Department of Social Action
stressing the work it was doing in be
half of immigration and then describ
ed the work Of the Department of Leg
| islation.
Legislative Work.
| II want it understood he said
that the Legislative Department wa
not established for the purpose O
having new laws passed, but for th
purpose of presenting the Catholi
viewpoint and Catholic rights befor
| Legislature when legislators are inten
| on passing laws that are inimical t
| the Catholic faith.
i During the past twelve months i
| the city of Washington some fiftee
or twenty bills came up in which ".
of the faith should be intensely intel
| ested, and these bills, if passed, woul
have worked great injustice to us q
the faith.