Evening star., 1927-04-18

ated only as a matter of favor and
that there should be an established
church You may find some dream
of an ideal of Catholic state, having
no relation whatever to actuality,
somewhere described. But, voicing
the best Catholic thought on this sub
iect. DR.. John A. Ryan, professor of
moral theology at the Catholic Uniyer.
sity of America, writes in the state
and the Church of the encyclfcal of
Pope Leo XIII, quoted by you;
"Tn practice, however. the forego-
ing propositions have full application
only to the completely Catholic state.
The propositions of Pope Plus
TX condemning the liberation of non
Catholic sects do not now, says Father
| PohIe, apply even to Spain or the
South American republics, to say
nothing of countries possessing a
greatly mixed population" He lays
down the following general rule:
"When several religions have firmly
established themselves and taken root
| in the same territory, nothing else
remains for the state than to eXer-
else tolerance toward them all, or,
as conditions exist today, to make
complete religious liberty for individ-
| nal and religious bodies a principle
| Of government"
Good Americanism and Catholicism.
"That is good Americanism and
good Catholicism. And Father Pohle,
one of the great writer's of the Cath
olic Church. says further:
eff religious freedom has been ac-
cepted and sworn to as fundamental
/ law in a Constitution, the obligation
to show this tolerance is binding in
conscience.
1.-The American prelates of our
church stoutly defend our constitu-
| tional declaration of equality of all
| religions before the law. Cardinal
| O'Connell has said, Thus to every
American citizen has come the blessed
inheritance of civil, political and re-
4 lgious liberty safeguarded by the
American Constitution the
right to worship God according to the
dictates of his conscience
Archbishop Ireland has said, The
Constitution of the United States
reads, Congress shall make no laws
respecting the establishment of re-
ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof" 1t was a great leap forward
on the part of the new Nation toward
personal liberty and the conservation
of the rights OF conscience
Archbishop Bowling, referring to
any conceivable union of church and
state says, so many conditions for it's
accomplishment are lacking in every
government of the world that the
thesis may we'll be relegated to the
limbo of defunct controversies
/ Calls Issue a Dead One.
II think you have taken your thesis
from this limbo of defunct contro.
versies.
Archbishop Ireland again said,
Religious freedom is the basic life
through all its walls and battlements,
the safeguard of its peace and pros.
perity. Violate religious freedom
against Catholics, our swords are at
once unsheathed. Violate it in favor
of Catholics, against non-Catholics, no
less readily do they leap from the
scabbard.'
Cardinal Gibbons has said, Amer.
lean Catholics rejoice in our separa.
ton of church and state, and | can
conceive no combination of circum.
stances likely to arise which would
make union desirable to either
church or state. For our.
selves, we thank God that we live in
America, lin this happy country of
ours" to quote Mr.. Roosevelt, where
religion and liberty are natural al.
lies"
And referring particularly to your
quotation from Pope Plus TX, DIR.
Ryan, in The State and the Church.
says. Pope Plus TX did not intend
to declare that separation is always
unadvisable, for he had more than
once expressed his satisfaction with
the oh tot i,;y, to-,
United States'"
With these great Catholics" wrote
the governor, Il stand squarely in
support of the Constitution, which
guarantees religious freedom and
equality.
Church and State.
"I come now" Gov. Smith said
"to the speculation with which the
orists have played for generations as
to the respective functions of the
church and state. You claim that
: the Roman Catholic Church holds
that, if conflict arises, the church
must prevail over the State. You
, write as though there were some
Catholic authority or tribunal to de-
eide with respect to such conflict. OF
course there is no such thing. AS DIR
Ryan writes: The Catholic doctrine
comedies, nay, maintains that the
state is coordinate with the church
{ and equally independent and supreme
in it's own distinct sphere.
! What is the Protestant position or
this subject? The articles of religion
CXXXVID declare. The power Of the
civil magistrate extendeth to all men
, as well clergy as laity, in all things
: temporal; but hath no authority ir
things purely spiritual
! Your church, just as mine, is voicine
) the injunction of our common Savior
) to render unto Caesar the things that
; are Caesars and unto God the things
that are Gods.
What is this conflict about which
you talk? 1t may exist in some
s lands, which do not guarantee re-
, ligious freedom. But in the widest
i dreams of your imagination you can
not conjure up possible conflict be-
, tween religious principle and political
} duty in the United States, except on
the unthinkable hypothesis that some
+ law were to be passed which violated
! the common morality of all God-fear-
! ing men. And if you can conjure up
such a conflict, how would Protes-
! tant resolve it? Obviously by the
! dictates of his conscience. That is
, exactly what Catholic would do.
There is no ecclesiastical tribunal
which would have the slightest claim
upon the obedience of Catholic COM
I munlcants in the resolution of such
conflict"
7 AS Cardinal Gibbons said of the
supposition that the Pope We're to
: issue commands in purely civil mat
, ters.
) He would be offending not only
/ against civil society, but against God,
and violating an authority as truly
. from God as his own. Any Catholic
! who clearly recognized this would not
, he bound to obey the Pope; or rather
) his conscience would bind him abso-
lutely to disobey, because with Catho-