The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-06-08

lessened with the result that the scalawags were accepted. Little by little their vices and practices were detected by their superiors. Some were expelled outright. Oth- CTS, who gave promise of reforma- tion and possible salvation, were given another chance.
 Different
 That the promise was not ful- filled is of no real consequence. In view of her divine mission the Church could. not cast the sinners out to perish so long as there was hope for them. And in the eyes of the Church there is always hope. Herr Hitler would have led the unfortunate wretches to the headsman,s axe without scruple overnight. This difference of treatment Is the essential differ ence between Der Fuehrer and the religious institution he is bent on trying to annihilate. Hitler recog- nizes only the law of expedieney. The Church considers always the law of charity. 1t is difference which is irreconcilable.
 How Collected
 How was the evidence CD col lected upon which the trials were held and the convictions based? AS in ell such matters Ceases of violation of discipline or morals by members of the clergy or religious communities), formal accusation is made to the religious superiors, the accused is tried, is punished in various ways, and the record is kept. Not for publication to the world but for future reference if the necessity arises. The Gestapo, the Nazi state police, raided the ecclesiastical centers where the rec ords were kept, seized them, and then rounded up the offenders who were put in the prisoners dock as if the police had detected their OffenSes. The entire value of Hit ler's charge that the Church in Germany is universally corrupt is completely destroyed when one recognizes an all-in.pOrtant fact. If there was any disposition on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities to condone or to tOler- ate violations of the moral law there would be no records kept for the GcStapO to seize. The first thing any gang of racketeers in- vOlved i'm criminal conspiracy does is to destroy the books.
 
 Nothing New
 It is no new thing that scandals should exist in the Church which i3 now under Nazi fire. There al- ways have been scandals, as the pamphlets circulated in Germany on Sunday set forth, and there will always be so long as human ity is what it is. The line of Is- cariot is long and inextinguish- able. 1t is only when the scandals are willingly permitted to cOntine, when no effort is made to do away with them, and when they are condoned that the religious organ ization involved is to be held 7 guilty. At no time since Hitler mounted to power, or at any other stage of the Church's existence have conditions such as are alleged to exist i'm Germany gone unre- buked or unpunished. That the method of rebuke and the n.cans of punishment is not the same as that favored by the political world is no cause for indictment. The Church has at least this much on her side. She has lasted through the ages and the governments which have followed different system of discipline and purgation have disappeared from the face of the world.
 The Truth
 Shortly after the elevation of Plus X to the papacy he threw open the secret archives of the Vatican to research students the world over. But not without ob- jection from certain clerical tim orists in Rome. The archives con- tained data which were dynamite. They held records of scandals compared to which the alleged dis closures of Herr Hitler's Nazi dirt hunters are as nothing. Great harm would come to the Chuch If the archives were thrown open to all the historical snoopers extant. To all the 0bjectOrs Plus X made the same answer:
 "The truth can do no harm."
 
 How Come?
 If 1t were only the truth, how ever putrescent, that the Maxi re- gime in power in Germany was after no on, could find fault. But to use 8 doubtful truth about a few members of nationwide and religious organization and to broadcast the truth in all its un- savory details tG accomplish po- litical end is quite another thing. The ironic feature of the entire situation lies in the fact that from the day he came into power in Germany Herr Hitler with his en- tire outfit has been accused i'm so many words of being guilty of far worse crimes against normal sex than anyone who has been found