Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1940-02-01

= and proved it by his record. Whe
: he was captured and degraded froT
the priesthood by the Bishop o
Oaxaca, when his cOnsecrated hand
: were scraped, by the bishop, VIII
wept while doing this, to have t
!, remove, as far as possible the sa
: cred JUNCTION from those priestl
z hands forever, Morelos, who wa
immoveable during most OF tn
ceremony, now wept himself, an
great tears rolled down his cheeks
yelling up from repentant heart
those tears could touch the poo
: hands and cleanse them from th
| guilt of blood. 1t is not easy 70
most people to understand sucl
priests. They do not fit into th
popular conception of what a prizes
should be. They scandalize Cath
olics, puzzle Protestants and rejoic'
the unthinking The scandal sucl
men give is testimony to. the fl
deity of the great body in which
by choice they made themselves ex
ceptions. The humdrum work o
care for Souls fails to satisf,
them. They have yen for 'fDie
Things" Even learning does no
appeal except as display They nev
er secure mastery over them
selves, and therefore never can un
derstand the virtue of humility
i France had lots of them, and Tai
leyrand was the outstanding. They
usually won admiration, because OF
their cloth which helped, but no one
4 would ever dream of asking spirit
| L.
cause of unjust laws made by such
men that the church-the priests
monks and religious orders of sis.
| ters, were compelled like moles to
dig into the earth and carry on
their religion and worship in Sc
, cret. If there were and are Clan
destine Converts in Mexico, it is be-
cause the church in Mexico is un-
dergoing another persecution like
the early Christians endured, and
if it were not for the fact that the
early Christians practiced their re-
| ligion and kept it alive, even if in
secret. we Christians of all denom-
| nations would not have the faith
we have today.
The church will come forth from
| the Mexican Tomb as she came
forth from the Roman Tomb and
| will walk amidst the .rotting car
cases and ashes of Juarez. Alvarez,
| Hidalgo and Morelos as she walks
amidst the ashes of Nero and 9TH
ers who thought they could kill
| Divinity, and today, the Spiritual
Leader of Christianity for the Cath
olic world, sends out his pronounce
ments on Faith and Morals to the
| world, from the very capitol from
where once went out the emperial
DEGREES of "The Christians to the
Lions"
If the laws which the innocent
| nuns disobeyed were put into effect
in the United States, which were in
effect in Mexico, no minister of any
denomination could conduct SER
vices, no church own property, or
homes or orphan asylums or sem
inaries to train students for the
ministry, no prayer could be said in
the home. no funeral service held
and hundreds of other prohibitions
/ could mention. Who wouldn't dis
obey such laws? The description
as given by the writer, of the con-
vent, to my mind is much over
drawn by play of words, arous-
ing queer ideas leading perhaps to
even suspicious ideas of convent
life. Such words as ''mysterious
rooms" with queer ''secret
| DOORS" etc. The early Christians
! had the same secret hiding places
and for good reason, or else there
would be no ministers of religious
+ sects today. The manner in which
this article was written was Liable
to create the impression, that there
is something in the Catholic relig-
ion that the Hierarchy don't want
exposed to the light of day. There
is nothing in the Catholic faith that
has to be kept secret, save when
there are just causes for secrecy
during times of prosecutions. Any
religion would do the same
Regarding the fasts, vigils, pen
ances, discipline, etc, and means Of
torture, such as irons like nutmeg
graters, crowns of thorns and whips
for lacerating the body. The Rev
erend Doctor undoubtedly saw such
things-but that he understands
the meanings of such things and
practices in the Catholic church |
seriously doubt. Penances as prac-
ticed by the members of religious
orders and the faithful among the
laity are sometimes exaggerated, es-
pecially when enemies of the church
have stolen the property and are en-
deavoring to build up justification
for their sins of violence and plum
der against the church One can
not honestly expect an enemy to
give fair and favorable account of
someone. AS Catholic priest. /
think | am in position to know the
rules and practices of the Catholic
church. I can honestly say that I
know of no religious order in the
church that officially makes such
practices a part of their life. 1t is
true that some individuals inflamed
to excess with religious ferver,
sometimes will impose severe phys
lcal pain upon themselves, and re-
ligious superiors at times must
check such individuals from going
to excess. But whatever such phys
1cal tortures the members of these
orders lmpOse-the greater part is
voluntary and done out of personal
and private zeal for their own souls
spiritual welfare and the souls of
others. Again, could not these in
struments of pain, have been plant
ed there to create or gain the favor
OF Americans to justify the oppres-
sion and crimes committed against
the church and to vindicate the sup
preston of religious institutions in
their campaign against God and re-
ligion?
Gales was not a 'Strong Man."
He was a "Strong Man" only in the
sense that he was a mechanical
man. The levers, wires and pulleys