St Vincent Seminary - Symposium Yearbook (Latrobe, PA)

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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 There exist many laws on the statute books of countries, which while not enforced are never repealed or amended.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

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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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wmumnr as . . . . . ,, that voters are not being taken in by 'hokum'. That there does inextricably woven in the action which made these differences more apparent The new citizen assisted in the rare feat of courage that took place in the aforementioned southern city His apostolic work has been noticeable in not a few instances and we must take cognizance of the heritage of years he has discarded. We find men in the great arena of political life unable to adjust their views of certain sharp differences of party policies who are nevertheless, very willing to carefully analyze the position of each policy and arrive at some certainty which they follow to their poss1ble disadvantage from an expedient point of view. The people of today are looking for the real meat of the political nut. Charles Willis Thompson, the veteran pol- itical economist writes. For nothing is more obvious than that political audiences are much less susceptible to dramatics than they were a quarter of a century ago. Platform pyrotechnics are more likely to engender suspicion than support. He further adds, after a review of conditions: These things may serve to show exist a percentage which can be reached and swayed through it, no one will deny. Ours is no millennium. People are approach- ing closer to the truth uttered by St. Thomas, The common good cannot flourish unless the citizens be virtuous at least those whose duty it IS to govern. f This consideration is a guid- ing star in their selection of a standard bearer. The system upon which is directly incumbent the furthering of a most desirable spirit is Catholic education. Rev. P. A. Halpin in his work The Instruction and Moral Training of Children has defined Christian Pedagogy as, a method of education which in all its details keeps in mind those great principles and those great facts which are taught and maintained and sanctioned by the Church of Christ. Such a school makes of its graduates with the recognition of their need, partakers in a work the effects of which are manifold. A citizenry zealous for better government in all its ramifications carries with it a wider understanding and consequent deeper appreciation of the Catholic Church, since the application of her moral principles cannot but secure results worthy of admiration and interest It will give a solid basis upon which to rest respect for law, the means to man s destiny here and hereafter-his own perfection Law, from the performance of man's first responsible act, is constantly present He will recognize the uses of legislation and will consequently recognize the twofold edge of a great force and consider well before determining to use it in attaining an end. 'Summa Theologica I 2 q.-'92 art. I. ki ll59ll N alllllll INIE slwls ' sl ls 'IIIIICIIIIIIIN 7 Jllhllllllllls Ill .lllllllj f-Ill: 'lllllllllllllh C