St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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It might be that the non-Catholic has been taught to always establish his own position and then consider Rome Some men who have been taught to think of Rome as a sinister political power are now beginning to question the wisdom of that former guiding tenet hence a wider number are baldly labellng the un- warranted d1atr1be as sheer nonsense The losses 1n the ranks of the Protestant churches have been of an unusually severe nature Shortly after the time of the Oxford Movement the same condition existed and was directly the result of Cardinal Newman's excellent reply to Gladstone. The answer in Divided Allegiance seems entirely adequate as a reply concerning the status of the Catholic toward his state. Dealing with the disturbing thought-for a non-Catholic--that the Catholic is bound to blind obedience and that Rome looks forward to securing control of the state by any means possible Hllllllllllllk ffx ' I E---E ,, . su -Nm l ., . - - ,l , M. I Jw, 55k,3v5:',LJ,,i?g:k ammmlm: ' ml T A' I X Newman quotes Bellarmini, who, speaking of resisting the Pope says: In order to resist and defend one's self no authority is required ...... Therefore, as it is lawful to resist the Pope, if he assaulted a man's person, so it is lawful to resist him if he as- saulted souls, or troubled the stale CTurbanti rempilblicamD. 'f This passage from such an authority quite definitely establishes the position of a Catholic citizen towards any attempt of the Pope to usurp state authorityg for any such attempt would obviously be troubling the state. The duties, then, of a Catholic to his church interfere in no way with his duties to the state: for the former are confined within certain well defined dogmatical and ecclesiastical spheres. We have no reason to believe the new citizen anything other than a loyal individual, loyal to his church and state. Certainly the advance made in religious thought and action and a like trend in civil society have clearly proven his loyalty where one could look for some sign of defection New and beautiful houses of worship as well as schools and charitable institutions capable of elaborate programs for the benefit of all are to be found in our cities and rural communities The state IS undertaking and completing vast projects for the common good bridging the great silver ribbons of our waterways unfurling miles and miles of carpet-like roadway, and yet attending to the more proximate wants of its unfortunate people All this in times of prosperity and times of depress1on which alternately affect many districts. Contact with church is essentially followed by consideration of the laws of government The most important factor in this De Rom. ii 29. A an mug 'f 711 .1 :sm u ' - : llll .l Emi' E il :mn 'rf' if 1 r 'I ,, i Il!! I Y 7 Y i l Y 2 i's :umm lil 'u EIIIE .. A , ', X , A q l, , 5-iii 5- 3 ' l 1 , E gunman? W A , ll? i,,i , , , , TE.. 3 ll57l

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Illlitlillllll x W f' 5' -H 'fIF1i ft sl r EQ. f X Ml I gs eff: 1 r' 7 If s . u . . : V: U guuuuau P 7 . ill -51. i. . Kg--Ig , - , - : 5 lx 5 ,,, slams. Elunmuur V - X i b A f each other is s1mply a matter of history, and in spite of the derogatory statements found in the works of supposed scholars upon the result of their respective reactions, it can be safely postulated that the results are good. This mutual reaction has proven most salutary in respect to the new citizen, who has come to the realization of the existence of a potent factor in the social order. This factor is the churchg particularly the Catholic Church. Certainly her advances have been of an outstanding nature in the past few decades. It must be admitted that many people still have rather vague notions as to the position of the church in regard to themselves as individuals and as members of the state, but, at least, they recognize that she must have some place in the scheme of all things. The church will take that place proper to her when these ideas, now so vague, crystallizeg it is a cause of rejoicing that they now recognize some of her rights, for this is the first step. The haze chiefly envelops non-Catholics, fallen-away Catholics, and those who have become tepid in the practice of religion. Members of the church corporate are coming to an appreciation of the deeper and more sublime truths upon which Christ built His edifice. We have witnessed the many societies that have been formed in the last few years, the impetus given Catholic newspapers and periodicals, the interest displayed in missionary activity, and the larger number of catechists work- ing in many of our dioceses. The world saw a magnihcient sermon on the citizenship of Christ's subjects on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress at Chicago. It is not possible for one to be a good citizen of the spiritual state and, at the same time, a poor member of the civil government. The narrow bigotry of certain sections is slowly giving way to an intellectual consid- eration of matters for them sometimes difficult of comprehension, and with this advent comes hope for the future. The views of a person can never be corrected unless he is willing to consider the reason why they should be altered Today we hear considerable discussion about church and state The refiection upon the unification or separation of church and state 1S further 1nd1cat1ve of common thought, even if merely speculative The questlons the non-Catholic asks himself are What is my position towards my church with regard to the state? What is my position, especially, with regard to the.Cath Ol1C Church and the state? The Catholic would ask the second question only Both are natural interrogations considering the modern trend of thought The reason for the first query is easily explained it has a close personal relation. But why the second? K-5 Rl ll56ll 3 1 u L: T N .. f m Ill 1 Q 2 BIIIIIIIMIIIIL --- mmmnmr

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Jlllll IH slll' ammmmr: iff'-9 ' lllllllllllil 3 - . I---S ' 2 S - - - -. L I IIIE E I s E 7 7 7 7 7 Z the veto of the president. The action as to its more remote work- K 7 7 A ' X T f , I I y 1 . 1 , L 7 7 J illls Bllllllllllllh Q-2 - respect is by far moral legislation which has as its ultimate end the adjustment of social evils. This adjustment eventually affects every person and since the time of governments, has been a vital influence in the rise and fall of a people. It is vital prim- arily because It tampers with the free will of man, and herein lies the danger. Here perhaps more than in any other field of public affairs the new citizen may be seen. The evidence of his work in the concrete IS sufficient to make us rueful and confused to some extent. A thorough investigation of his influence on moral legislation leads one to the opinion that indirectly rather than directly the conditions existing can be attributed to him lt seems that basically the zealots in the vanguard of anew citizenry are responsible a slight review of affairs will make this quite evident Several years ago legislation purely moral in tone was rushed through our deliberative bodies and made a law over ings bordered on trickery without becoming nominally a statu- tory fraud. The enactment of the law was greeted skeptically by the people as a whole with an admixture of joy or bitterness according to their personal views. People not supporting this legislation today are honest according to all indications. They are sincere in an effort to correct a condition that all will admit is undesirable in many respects. Regarding the method nothing IS here considered beyond mentioning the confusion resulting we are onlv examining the initiative prompting the support of the movement Now to show that the vanguard of a more common thinking body politic was the prime mover behind the passage of this bill we need but see how agitation for the continuation of this amendment 1S gaining momentum. Many will say that the recognition of self-evident facts is no indication of a more in- telligent or thinking peopleg this is granted. Nevertheless, the experiment had been supported in all good faith and now various plans for its modification are being suggested. There exist many laws on the statute books of countries, which while not enforced are never repealed or amended. The people are not satisfied at present and will never be satisfied with attempts to conceal the inefficiency of this law. The matter must be settled for all time. Time alone can tell of the realization of a change' the entire problem is now merged with the interests of the great. political parties. The various differences of these political parties require the new citizen to face his problems frankly, since his birth is so ' gil ll-5811 K-A EIIIIIIIIIIIIE fm glllg in Qin Wllll llll lllln I 7 I :ll llllllllllli Ellli sllls Hlllllllllllll