St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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'sllli' H V Sllllllllllllll 4. u ' ' 0 5. ' 6. 1, a I 53352 Sl I' 5 iw xg. ' There IS no priesthood especially set aside and ordained by Christ to continue this work. The Church with her Sacraments was never in- stituted to perpetuate the work of saving men's souls. She 1S purely human in her origin, her growth and her work. The notion of retribution after death for sin committed in the flesh is folly. Man is daily and hourly preparing his own heaven and hell. There is no heaven or hell as taught by the Church Man IS in very truth his own savior. 1' These doctrines are absolutely opposed to Christianity The Church in condemning them, may aptly use the words of St Paul, 'But though we or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathen1a. I The moral grounds for the condemnation of Sp1r1t1sm are not only the dangers mentioned above, but also the intrinsic evil of spiritistic practices. The intrinsic sinfulness of Spiritism is evident from the fact that it is directly condemned by God. The Lord's direct condemnation is found in the Old Testament where it says: A man or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divin- ing spirit, dying, let them die: they shall stone them: their blood ,First Commandment which forbids men to seek knowledge of future and distant events from evil spirits. ln view, then, of the dangers of Spiritism, of the Lord's con- demnation, and of the intrinsic evil of divination, the Church has always condemned the practices of Spiritism, under their ancient, as well as under their modern forms. The decrees of the Fourth Council of Carthage, the Fifth of Constantinople, the Second of Tours and others contain various warnings against practices of this nature More recent decrees set forth this condemnation in still more PFCCISC language In 1856 the Holy Office urged bishops to take every possible means to re- press and uproot all abuses so that the flock of Christ may be protected against the enemy the Deposit of F aith safeguarded .and the .faithful preserved from moral corruption The Second Plenary Council held at Baltimore in 1866 says It seems a well-established fact that many of the wonderful phenomena which are said to be pro- 1'Casu'ist Vol III SLeviticus XX. IGalatian- I 8. Hllllllllllllhf illli gllllll-3 alll: fnnuuuuun' be upon them. Q Spiritistic practices are also forbidden by the. Illllllllllllll. 'numunuui r 1 . . . . . . . . . . - 1 . U . . 1 . , . . , v 1 - n . . . . . , . u - . . , . . , QP I I mm mms , Ki , - L : 5 ,- , glllg 2 u - - I 2 eff.. . I , :lllz nm main n xx ll50ll

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1 ' fi 15 , - I... A , . F, E'f:Y.?::: Z uvxx 51: n mu Jllllllllllllt 1 S E S-.mi I1 f 1 at Q ilfis g---5 . , nsfuu fl , , p,W,g!lll.Q u . . , A . . ,,,!,,- 3 ' lui Williams'-.i . g 0 . l 0 I , . Q . ' Y . . . . t ' Y 1 wnmnmr S53-:Q 'K f disease and if carried to excess or continued long, will result in insanity or 1mbec1l1ty The moral dangers arise from two sources In the first place the direct physical action of the spirits on the nervous system tends to weaken the will and cause a powerful inclination to strong drink and immoral practices In the second place the teachings of the spirits when accepted in good faith, tend to ruin religious and moral principles Many are the instances of this religious and moral downfall. They manifest themselves 1n the form of possession. The real ultimate aim of the intelligence seems to be the control of the sen.s1Itive. The Fox sisters, and Eusapia Palladino, noted mediums, took to evil ways under the rule of evil spirits. Numerous instances of possession are sup- pressed as much as possible, in the interest of Spiritism and of the reputations of the persons themselves. With such perils as these threatening the physical, mental, and moral well-being of the faithful, the Church naturally could not remain silent. As under the law of the Old Testament divina- tion was forbidden, so under the New Law Spiritism is con- demned. This condemnation is based on doctrinal as well as on moral grounds. Let us consider first the doctrinal grounds. Spiritism claims to be a New Revelation with a creed revealed by spirits, and supposed to supplant Christianity. The Casnist explains this aspect of Spiritism when it says: The 'creed' of Spiritism as gathered from its most - authoritative literature and from the disclosure of the spirit intelligence, is anti-Christian. However diverse their teaching may be on secondary mat- ters, there is absolute agreement on the following pomts: Christianity 1S not a special and unique revela- t1on It is one of many forms of high spirit manifestation designed to enforce on man the binding obligation of the moral law inherent in his nature. Christ IS not divine 1n the sense of the Catholic Church. He is 'a purely human being who possessed wonderf ul psychic powers The teachlng of the Church regarding the passion and death of Christ is all wrong due to human error and weakness SDL Hudson Scientzfc Demonstration of the Future Life. Casnist Vol III i l , 1 lllllllllllllll- Elll: -:llll:- 'mn mmm! 3. Q . i . X...Z Il49ll

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glllllllllllla alll! I IIE g:llg glllg 2 Hills gllllllg 2 5 E . 'lllililllllllf' . . . . . 0 D , ' y I I I! 7 . . . . . , I n 0 1 , f I u 0 0 I I 7 1 sl : Hllllmmr XL fy LN . n . . , . T f f. . . angels or demons. Therefore, neither let there be found among 7! ' 519 duced at spiritistlc circles are either altogether fictitious or are produced by a fraudulent con- spiracy among the performers or are to be attributed to the imagination of persons called mediums or to the credulity of the spectators or finally are to beascribed to a certain sle1ght-of- hand such as maglclans practice. However t seems hardly to be doubted that certain things, at least, are due to Satan's intervention since they can scarcely in any other way be satisfactorily explained. After declaring that some of the phenomena are due to diabolic intervention, the Council warns the faithful against attending seances out of curiosity. ' Later, in reply to an inquiry, the Holy Office declared on March 30, 1898, that the practice of Spiritism, either as medium or as inquirer must be condemned as gravely illicit. On April 24 1917, in reply to doubts expressed by Cath- olics it condemned even passive assistance at seances, that is, even in case of a person assisting who protests that he will have nothing to do with any evil spirit As Catholics therefore we are bound to avoid all contact with sp1r1t1st1c practices The cult of Spiritism is a form of super- stition not far above the Voodoo of the savage, in spite of its exalted language It cannot justly claim to converse with the dead even in cases where trickeryis absent. The cause of the genuine sp1r1t1st1c phenomena can be no other than the fallen you anyone that consulteth soothsayers or observeth dreams and omens neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer nor anyone that consulteth pythonic spirits or that seeketh the truth from the dead T Decreta NN. 33-41. 1Deuteronomy XVIII I0-II. 'gl ll51ll .mmm mug -llls 'iv nm n :F