Romanism, A Menace to the Nation By Jeremiah J. Crowley, A Roman Catholic Priest for twenty-one years (1912) - Part 1

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 49 III.And now exit Muldoon,He's gone to the land of gloom, 33With harlot petticoat upon him. Kitty'sHis boodle would not go,Nor the vagaries of 34 Lowe,Or the silly tales of Hearst35 or Lawson.38 IV.For the Lord in His power struck the fatal hour,And the wrath of heaven was splendid.Of his comic opera bouffe the people had enough,And now the melodrama is ended.\" The muse of Rev. Michael O'Brien, Rector of St. Syl-vester's parish, Chicago, was also awakened, as will be seen bythe following copy of some lines in his own handwriting, whichhe handed me for publication, telling me at the same time thathe was assisted in composing them by the Very Rev. MichaelO'Sullivan, Permanent Rector of St. Bridget's parish, Chicago. \"ODE ON PETE.37 I. Bishops now are easy made, At man's caprice or whim : 38 his hands on Pete he laid, Martinelli For some American tin. II. And when Pete was mitred, He swore he would have revenge On the men that did oppose him Unto the bitter end.33 One of the women in the case.94 Paul A. Lowe.\"Mr. Hearst, proprietor, Chicago American and Examiner.38 Mr. Lawson, proprietor, Chicago Daily News.37 Peter J. Muldoon. Bishop38 His Eminence Cardinal Martinelli.

SO ROMANISM III.But his enemies said, 'No, Pete, By Jove, you will never succeed; 39Paddy's throne it is too big for you, On it you will never take your seat. IV.Moreover, you're a stammerer, And an awful baboon;The rules of grammar are foreign to you ; Why, you're a stuttering buffoon. V.And now, Pete, where are you? Where but in the mud?There are moths in your mitre, There are wrinkles in your hood. VI.And, Pete, where is your Diocese? It is up in the moon.And where are you yourself, Pete? Up in a balloon, And you will topple down very soon. VII.You were consecrated under fire, Guarded by police ;You have been in the fire ever since, You will never have a day's peace. VIII.Peeler 40 did you take McCarthy, 41Into the Holy Name,Where Martinelli did you make A Bishop just the same.38 Patrick A. Feehan, Chicago. Archbishop40 Policeman McCarthy.\"The Cathedral, Chicago.

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 51 IX. And, now, Pete, you have it, God knows by what fraud ; You will never get a Diocese, Pete, Rome your knows bad record.' \" Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, Permanent Rector of St. Mary'sparish, Evanston, Illinois, and one of the treasurers of ourcrusade fund, wrote me, in part, as follows : \"Our great trouble in Chicago is that our arch-diocese, the greatest in the world, is governed, not byan Archbishop, or Bishop, but by one [\"Rev. No. 14,Celibacy Inexpedient\"] who would like to be one orthe other, or both one who has too many irons in ;th.e fire one who controls both Church and State ; ;one who suspends priests to-day and policemen to-morrow; one who alternately distributes parishes toaspiring pastors and boodle to hungry politicians ;one who can give Chicago a mayor or a bishop, andsecures uniformity of action by holding both underhis thumb. This is our Pooh-Bah, our factotum, ourpower behind the throne. No wonder, then, thatCity Hall methods dominate our ecclesiastical admin-istration. In Chicago we have not one City Hall, buttwo, both adopting the same standard of morality,both applying the same system of rewarding friendsand punishing enemies, and both holding in like con-tempt every principle of morality and justice.\" The suspension of policemen has particular reference tothe summary dismissal of Officer Neilan from the Chicagopolice force, because he stated that he had frequently foundpriests in houses of prostitution, and that of the many hefound there, \"Rev. No. 14, Celibacy Inexpedient,\" and his boonclerical companion, Rev. Flannigan, were the worst offenders.Concerning them Neilan exclaimed, \"I know that they are apair of pimps, and Father Crowley is telling the truth,\"was not the only Catholic policeman who had honestly andopenly expressed himself concerning the immorality of the

52 ROMANISMw6priests, but an example must be made of some one, and hethe victim. The lecherous ecclesiastics of Chicago were com-pelled to have recourse to this summary method of punishmentin order to warn and silence a large body of men, who, in thedischarge of their duties, frequently found priests in brothels,and sometimes in such a state of drunkenness that they had tolock them up over night or send them home in carriages. Whywere they not booked, tried and punished like other Americancitizens guilty of similar misconduct? Some days after his dismissal Neilan was found deadwith a gun beside him. He was supposed to have committedsuicide brooding over his dismissal, and the priests declared itwas a \"visitation of Divine Providence\" for his having dared toexpose \"Ambassadors of Christ.\" Did he commit suicide, orwas that fearless and outspoken officer of the peace murderedin order to seal his lips ? Officer Neilan is not the only personwho met with sudden and mysterious death during the crusade. A woman of Cashman's parish was supposed to havepoisoned herself. She had supplied Cashman with importantinformation concerning the proposals made to her in the con-fessional. Rev. Cashman named the person by whom he said\"her mysterious death could be explained;\" and Bishop Mul-doon in a recent interview named to me the person \"to beblamed for her death.\" The Very Rev. Daniel M. J. Dowling, Vicar General ofthe archdiocese of Chicago, died suddenly and mysteriouslyJune 26, 1900, a few hours after a reunion dinner with brotherclergymen. His sudden but timely removal was strikingly inaccordance with the murderous methods of Pope AlexanderVI. [Rodrigo Borgia], and other \"Vicars of Christ.\" Dow-ling's death removed a serious obstacle to the promotion ofcertain Chicago Borgias. The press said he \"quietly passedaway from heart disease.\" Bishop Muldoon, in my interviewwith him, last referred to above, told me that Dowling diedfrom diphtheria. Was he poisoned at that reunion dinner atthe Holy Name Cathedral?

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 53 Why was there not a thorough post-mortem investigationof these sudden and mysterious deaths? Rome does not be-lieve in ante or post mortem investigations.Other deaths have been unaccounted for in the arch-diocese of Chicago, and the history of the Catholic Churchthere is a blot on civilization and Christianity. Still Arch-bishop Quigley endeavors to placate the Catholic people ofChicago by declaring that the priests and prelates of NewYork are fifty per cent, worse than those of Chicago ! ! ! Thishigh standard of priestly corruption and crime in the arch-diocese of New York may explain Archbishop Farley's recentpromotion to the Cardinalate, ranking him with Princes andKings, and consequently placing him above plebeian PrimeMinisters and Presidents ! ! !Among the many affidavits filed at Washington and Romeagainst Bishop Peter J. Muldoon and other members of theHierarchy, was one by Rev. Daniel Croke, then Rector ofSt. Mary's parish, Freeport, Illinois, and since promoted to St.Cecilia's parish, Chicago, charging Bishop Muldoon with grossimmorality. This affidavit was placed in the hands of theRight Rev. James Ryan, Bishop of Alton, Illinois, and mailedby him to the Vatican. The Vatican ignored it because moraldelinquencies are no bar to ecclesiastical preferment in theRoman Catholic Church indeed, they are a necessity and an ;advantage. During the crusade we also filed with the proper ecclesi-astical authorities an expose consisting of 198 pages of printedmatter, including Court Records and charges against Arch-bishop Feehan, Bishop Muldoon. and other Catholic Churchdignitaries. This was but one installment of what was filedby the protesting priests. It was edited by Revs. Cashman,Hodnett, Galligan and Smyth, prominent pastors of the arch-diocese of Chicago, and myself, and its cost was met by myRoman Catholic clerical supporters. Among those who co-operated are the following priests :

54 ROMANISMSOME OF MY ECCLESIASTICAL CO-OPERATORS IN THE CRUSADE, Very Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, permanent rector, St. Mary's parish, Evanston, Illinois. Very Rev. Hugh McGuire, permanent rector, St. James' parish, Chicago, and Consultor of the Arch- diocese. Very Rev. Michael O'Sullivan, permanent rector, St. Bridget's parish, Chicago. Very Rev. Thomas F. Galligan, permanent rector, St. Patrick's parish, Chicago. Rev. Thomas F. Cashman, rector, St. Jarlath's parish, Chicago. Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett, rector, Immaculate Conception parish, Chicago. Rev. Michael Bonfield, rector, St. Agatha's ' parish, Chicago. Rev. Michael O'Brien, rector, St. Sylvester's parish, Chicago. Rev. William S. Hennessy, rector, St. Ailbe's parish, Chicago. Rev. John H. Crowe, rector, St. Ita's parish, Chicago. Rev. Andrew Croke, rector, St. Andrew's parish, Chicago. Rev. Daniel Croke, rector, St. Mary's parish, Freeport, Illinois. Rev. Michael Foley, rector, St. Patrick's parish, Dixon, Illinois. Rev. William J. McNamee, rector, St. Patrick's parish, Joliet, Illinois. One of the charges in the above-mentioned expose is asfollows : \"Is Your Eminence aware that within the past few months [July 8-12, 1901], in this archdiocese [Chicago], there was held what in this country is denominated a spiritual Retreat, being an occasion

REV. WILLIAM J. McNAMEE.Rev. McNamee, during our crusade, labored day and night pro-curing affidavits against lecherous priests and prelates and photo-graphs of them when they were not saying their prayers. The pictureAof a prominent Chicago priest, \"Rev. No. 13, Ballad Singer,\" withone of his best girls, on page 451, was obtained by McNamee. Amongother incriminating documents procured by this clerical \"SherlockHolmes\" were most shocking affidavits made by respectable CatholicAwomen against Rev. C. P. Foster, \"Rev. No. 23, Debauchee.\"These affidavits, together with others, were filed with the pope andCardinals Martinelli and Gibbons. Rev. McNamee placed certifiedcopies of same in the hands of Archbishop Quigley, soon after thelatter's promotion to the archbishopric of Chicago, with the resultthat the debauchee priest was promoted by Cardinal \"in petto\" Quigley. Archbishop Quigley when recently promoting this Rev. \"SherlockHolmes,\" says in his papal organ, The New World, of October 15,1911 : \"We heartily congratulate Rev. Father McNamee on his appoint-ment as memorable [ ?] rector of St. Patrick's Church in this city[Chicago]. The magnificent farewell reception and presentation of apurse tendered to Father McNamee by the parishioners of St. Mary'sChurch and the citizens of Joliet evidence the high esteem in whichFather McNamee is held by the people of Joliet.\" Was this promotion of Rev. McNamee the price of his good (?)will and silence? Bishop Muldoon calls him the \"sleuth of the Crow-ley crusade.\" Since their conversion to Muldoonism, Rev. McNamee and hisehum, Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, have been qualifying for mitres underthe areful supervision !' Archbishop Quigley.

56 ROMANISM especially set apart for the assembling of the priests of the Diocese for holy meditation, religious lectures, and acts of devotion; that these exercises were held in St. Viateur's College (the only diocesan seminary), located at Bourbonnais' Grove, Kankakee, Illinois, un- der the personal supervision of the Archbishop's Vicar General and in the presence of Bishop-Elect Mul- doon ; that all throughout the period of retreat, which lasted four days and nights, in the college building where the exercises were held, there were kept for sale, and sold, day and night, to the priests present, barrels of beer and whiskey, which in open and no- torious fashion, to the scandal of all devout men, were served out in the same manner as I am told is common in ordinary bar-rooms, by the religious brothers of the college, some of whom were in train- ing for the holy priesthood ; that shameful scenes of intemperance resulted, even to the point of intoxica- tion among a number of those who were actually participating in the holy services. To such outrageous lengths did this unseemly conduct prevail that the temperate and devout were actually kept in fear of bodily injury and compelled to secure themselves at night behind bolted doors. Is the scandal thus wrought against God's Church chargeable to him who exposes it or to those who, having the power and being charged with the duty of correcting it, nevertheless encourage and wink at the iniquity and make their choice of associates among the evil-doers? The like scenes have occurred repeatedly in previous years during the presence and supervision of the Archbishop himself. Is it conceivable, Your Emi- nence, that such things shall be permitted in silence and no voice raised in protest? \"Since when, Your Eminence, has it become a crime against the Church to expose men who are violating her sanctuary ? By what authority has it been proclaimed an offense for a priest, a pastor of Christ's flock, to employ all the strength that God has given him to protect that flock from ravening wolves ? Shall I see the priest's gown cloak a lecherous drunkard and not seek to tear away that sacred garb, and save it from such vile uses? If an exalted pre-

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 57mylate, ecclesiastical superior, charged with evengraver responsibilities in that behalf than an humblepriest, halts in duty, shall I shelter myself behindsuch excuse and hesitate to do my part in the cleans-ing work? When has the Church of the living God,the God of truth and justice and purity, ever sufferedwhen her sons have spoken truth, wrought justice anddenounced impurity? The blood of John the Baptistwas surely shed in vain if a priest of God must keepsilence when lust and intrigue find favor in highplaces, and when to the drunkard's hands are left theministrations of the Holy of Holies.\"A score or more of the prominent priests of the arch-diocese of Chicago jointly and severally filed at Washingtonand Rome at least one hundred documents containing gravecharges against many of the leading members of the ChicagoHierarchy. Some of these documents were sworn to, but theWeVatican paid no attention to them. filed grave chargesour opponents filed great checks I mean bank checks.This explains why Rome remained silent and why wefelt constrained to gain publicity for our cause through thepress; but in this we were sadly disappointed for the timebeing, as the press was muzzled on Saturday, July 20, 1901.We realized then that some extreme measure must be adoptedin order to unmuzzle the press, and consequently we had re-course to the following fearless and open method, whichproved quite effective in removing the papal muzzle.In a few hours we had printed several thousand largeplacards on which appeared in large type the following words : \"The blasphemy of the twentieth century will behurled in the face of God Almighty and the Catholicpeople of the archdiocese of Chicago when Muldoonis made bishop on next Thursday. \"Read Father J. J. Crowley's letter of resigna-tion and his exposure of Archbishop Feehan and hisdemoralized clergy.\"

58 ROMANISM Professional bill posters rode around in open carriagesputting up these placards on the outside walls of nearly everyCatholic Church in the city of Chicago between the hours ofthree and six o'clock Sunday morning, July 21, 1901. On the same morning a leaflet hurriedly set up, consistingof four printed pages, making specific charges, with names,against eighteen of the leading members of the Hierarchy ofthe archdiocese of Chicago, were scattered among the Catholicpeople, already stunned by the posters, as they were leavingtheir churches. Some of those who were not fortunate enoughto secure a copy offered as high as five dollars for same. OnMonday, July 22, 1901, the press of Chicago and of thecountry told the story in brief. These posters and leaflets, while they appeared over myname, were prepared and dictated to me in Cashman's homeby Revs. Cashman and Hodnett in behalf of the score ofpriests. The expense of printing and posting was met by Rev.Cashman, who became one of the treasurers of the crusadefund. Notwithstanding the political power of Rome over poli-ticians and press, the latter is and will be insuppressible andever ready to do its duty, if the people will only do theirs.But as long as the people remain indifferent and allow them-selves to be muzzled by Rome, they should not expect the pressto fight their battle. Let the non-Catholic people awake and do their duty indefense of liberty, enlightenment and progress, and the presswill be ready and willing to join in the battle against the com-mon foe Romanism. Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett said repeatedly: \"The charges we filed at the office of the Apos- tolic Delegate in Washington, and at the Vatican, I am prepared to swear, on my bended knees before the Blessed Sacrament, are true, and if our request for a canonical investigation is granted, we will prove them up to the hilt.\"

TI ill WHIM IT MAT CINCDH I. the undersigned, beg to inform the public that Iam still PASTOR of OREGON, POLO and BYRON,ILLINOIS, and that whoever represents himself as mysuccessor or one temporarily in charge, is an INTERLOPERwithout/ANY. (AUTHORITY, except that which he himselfassumes. That man FINN who attempted to officiate atOREGON on SUNDAY. JULY 28th. 1901, has had nocharge in the Archdiocese of Chicago for the past fiveyears, and belongs to that category of unworthy priestswhom I have already exposed on account of their SCAN-DALOUS LIVES and who now stand CONVICTED beforethe whole world by their silence. And if I did not advertto FINN in my exposure of unworthy priests, it wasbecause he was so absolutely disreputable that 1 did notsuppose he would ever be heard of again. But if he shouldever again obtrude his unsavory presence on the PEOPLEOF OREGON or elsewhere in these Missions I WILL ATALE UNFOLTTJeremiah J. Crowley, Having withdrawn my resignation. I beg to informthe public that I am stm Pastor of Oregon, Polo andByron, Illinois.OUR OGLE COUNTY POSTER. The placard, of which this is a photographic copy, was postedtttashehterrieocduaflgobhuroraouu-atptdhacogmraeiysttilpeeaasaftrliewstta,hhse aAlsuaragemuatesdetymtpiior,merefa.1er0r0yr1Te,dhinaejntuodonncitlsneiyvoentrrheaeptlloyctorhnfeotsreutoxsrtmaa,nindtwheecmroepeiescat- Priest Finn has smyofficiating as pastor of parish.moted by Quigley. >

60 ROMANISM I quote a few lines from a letter written me April 8,1904, by a prominent Roman Catholic lawyer of New YorkCity, a graduate of Georgetown (Jesuit) \"University\" atWashington, D. C. : \"Mv DEAR FATHER CROWLEY : \"Father Unan, of the Paulists, told me plainly you were not a bit out about the condition of the Archdiocese of Chicago; he says every one knows its condition. I fear you are much misinformed as to the attitude of a great many people towards you. You have more friends and believers in your cause than you imagine. The condition in the Church in your city [Chicago] is beyond description, more than one has told me.\" A prominent nun of the Convent of the Good (?) Shep-herd, Chi'cago, said to a Roman Catholic lady : \"We have reason to know that Father Crowley is right. Many of the fallen women and wayward girls in this institution were led into sin and shame by priests.\" In passing, let me state that the Convents or Houses ofthe Good (?) Shepherd, numerous in non-Catholic countries,are Roman Catholic prisons, maintained partially by publictax, but without Federal or State supervision, where the Ro-man Catholic Hierarchy may confine their victims or otherunfortunates, and where cruel punishments can be inflictedupon the inmates generally with impunity. In all so-calledReligious Houses, male and female, there is no accounting forthe sufferings of the inmates, their illness or their death. Ifnot requested, no coroner's inquest is held. The inmates areutterly shut out from light and life, and generally from theprotection of the law. The masses of the people do not knowthat these things are taking place. If they did, there wouldbe an awakening of indignation and action which wouldspeedily put an end to such horrors.

















































A MENACE TO THE NATION. 85 The last picture is of a building covering 40x172 feet, inwhich there is a combination saloon and restaurant, and untilrecently there was a palm-garden in the rear where youngchildren and cheap actors were engaged to amuse the patrons. On pages 86 and 87 are photographs of a check for amonth's rent paid to Archbishop Feehan, Quigley's prede-cessor, for these premises. For the sake of his family I haveconcealed the signature of the tenant who signed this check.On the back of said check appears the signature of theCatholic Bishop of Chicago, P. A. Feehan. I have it on indisputable authority that this house had amost disreputable name until recently. At present the groundfloor is used for a combination saloon and restaurant. As tothe second floor the reader will have to inquire of the priestsand prelates of Chicago. This building is leased by the Archbishop of Chicago forfifteen years, commencing May i, 1901, at $210 per month forthe first 5 years, $250 per month for the next 5 years, and$271 per month for balance of term, leasehold assigned forvalue received to Pabst Brewing Co., 354 North DesplainesStreet, Chicago. These buildings, located in the heart of Chicago, are inthe Paulist Fathers' parish, and convenient to the exquisiteoffices of the Roman Catholic Church Extension Society ofAmerica, whose motto is, \"We come not to conquer, but towin. Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic.\"While not engaged in running church fairs with their usualattachments of gambling, lottery, prize-fighting, fortune-telling,etc., the Paulist Fathers devote the remnant of their energiesto giving missions to non-Catholics. The conversion ofheretics non-Catholics is their specialty, and in 1908 at the\"American Catholic Missionary Congress,\" held at Chicago,they boasted 25,055 \"converts.\" Their church is located in thetenderloin or white-slave district of the South Side, Chicago.Gamblers, saloon-keepers and white-slave-keepers have beengenerous toward it, and particularly so as a result of the work





00 ROMANISMof the Vice Commission recently held in that city. I haveit on the very best authority authority that can not be dis-puted that this Commission was manipulated and controlledby the Roman priests. It serves to furnish them with mostvaluable information which they could not obtain throughthe Confessional or otherwise. Such information in the handsof the Roman Hierarchy affords a new and rich species ofgraft Vice Commission Graft. The Vatican system thriveson ignorance, vice and crime. No wonder the priests andprelates hope to establish similar Vice Commissions in thelarge cities throughout the country. Why did the Postoffice Department hold up the report ofthat Commission for several weeks? Was it inspired by theRoman Hierarchy in order to establish a precedent for hold-ing up and destroying \"matter offensive to the Church?\"

CHAPTER IV. THE CONFESSION OF A \"CONVERT\" TO ROMANISM. Attorney C. C. Copeland, of the archdiocese of Chicago,a prominent, wealthy \"convert\" to Romanism, protested againstpriestly crime and corruption in an appeal which he wrote andsent to The New World, the papal organ, for publication.This appeal was refused insertion and ignored. \"LlBERTYVJLLE, ILLINOIS, \"Oct. 19, '01.\"REV. J. J. CROWLEY, \"DEAR SIR:\"Enclosed I send you that paper to read andbe returned to me. If you may want to use it, I mayrevise it some, as I have thought of doing, and thenlet you have it. I could add a good supplement underhead of \"After Two Years,\" or something of theMykind. intention is to revise it and put it in someunique shape and scatter it through the Hierarchy.I have some notes already on a revision. \"Yours very respectfully, \"[Signed] C. C. COPELAND.\" The following is the original confession: \"Rev. Dr. Dunne [now Bishop Dunne, of Peoria, Illinois],in closing his discourse on the life and character of Very Rev.Thomas Burke, which was no overdrawn picture of that greatpriest, as every one can testify who knew him well, said:'Learn, then, to respect the dignity of the priest, and to ap-

90 ROMANISM HOLY MONKS DOING PENANCE. Poor, obedient, temperate, holy monks doing penance for thegreater glory of God and the suffering souls in purgatory.

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 91preciate the good that he is called upon to perform in theexercise of his ministry. Allow no man or woman to wantonlyassail his character in your presence, for, believe me, in pro-portion as his reputation is lessened in the eyes of the com-munity, his influence for good is weakened. Respect the priestas the Ambassador of your Divine Redeemer. Honor him asthe minister of God. Love him as a friend, as a brother, as afather, who has nothing so much at heart as your eternal wel- fare.' All this will every good Catholic do, and love to do andmore, to a priest who himself respects the dignity of the posi-tion he occupies among men and the obligation which he in-curred when he accepted the sacred mission to 'Go forth andteach all nations,' and who appreciates himself the good heis called upon to perform and the life he ought to lead in theexercise of that mission so that the estimation in which he ;is held, the amount of good he may do, the freedom from as-sault in which he may live, the influence for good he mayexercise, the respect and honor he will receive, as the Ambas-sador of our Divine Redeemer, and the minister of God, thelove and obedience that will go out to him as a friend, as abrother, as a father, who has nothing so much at heart as oureternal welfare, depend upon himself. a Kempis says: 'Great is the dignity of priests to whomthat is given which is not granted to angels.' 'The priestindeed is the minister of God.' 'Take heed to thyself andsee what kind of ministry has been delivered to thee by theimposition of the bishop's hands.' 'Thou hast not lightenedthy burdens, but art now bound with a stricter band of disci-pline, and art obliged to a greater perfection of sanctity.' 'Apriest ought to be adorned with all virtues and to give exampleof a good life to others. His conversation should not be withthe vulgar and common ways of men.' Now, if, instead of being this kind of a man, or of at-tempting to lead this kind of a life, or of fulfilling this kindof a mission, one who accepts the office of priest is a miser,

92 ROMANISMand puts forth all his energies and improves every opportunityto enrich himself and hoard money, or is a drunkard, orgives his life to the enjoyment of sensual, worldly things, oris otherwise decidedly self-indulgent, unpriestly, or grossly neg-lects the duties which that mission imposes upon him, and dis-regards that sacred office, can and ought a good Catholic torespect him or defend his character? He certainly can notrespect him. Unworthy priests weaken the influence, to agreater or less extent, of the whole priesthood; disheartenzealous bishops, priests and laymen and drive large numbersof their fellow-Catholics into doubt and infidelity. It is largelyto them we may attribute the loss of two or three times asmany members of the Church as we claim to have now, andin a great measure because of them that the Church is beingrapidly depleted at this time, and unless their baneful influenceis removed, is there not reason to fear that it has reached itszenith in this country? It looks this way to any one whotravels much and is very observing and deeply interested. But are there many unworthy, self-indulgent, bad priestsin the United States? Too many, far too many, everywhere.The harvest is just now full and ripe in this land which is oursby discovery and settlement, and by the libation of the blood ofmartyrs, but too many of the reapers are blind, or perverse,and are not only going about destroying the golden grain, butare preventing the good, zealous reapers from gathering it in.Has the Church no discipline left? Can it not removethese scandals, this hindrance to the working of the Spirit ofTruth prevent further depletion, and bring back the lost sheep ;to the true fold ?Could not ( i ) more care be taken in sending young mento Seminaries, (2) in ordaining priests, (3) and in weedingout those who have been ordained and tried, and are foundunworthy ? A mission once a year is far better than sending a disedi-fying, disorderly, scandalous priest to take charge of a parish.Is there not too much of the spirit of the world in some of

ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, NEW YORK CITY. \"A National Temple of Roman Catholic Devotion,\" partly built andmaintained by liquor and gambling. It cost four million dollars.

94 ROMANISMour young men, who are being ordained and put in charge ofparishes these days? Many of them seem to want a parish'for what there is in it for themselves.' The people to whomthey are sent are intelligent, observing, and becoming more en-lightened, and when they see this lack of spirituality in the lifeof the priest, his influence for good is lost. It is the intelli-gent, well-to-do members who are leaving us. They cannotendure that they themselves or their families shall be led anddirected by a man whose sensibility has been blunted andwhose passions have been aroused by intoxicants, or who de-means himself in an unpriestly manner, more like a loafer, ora sport, or a dude, or a miser, than like a gentleman. They de-mand that their priest shall be priestly, and unless the Hier-archy in the United States manages to meet this demand, canit be expected that the Church will grow in numbers and im-prove in the character of its members? Can one born in theChurch well imagine the shock an intelligent convert receiveswhen he first meets a drunken priest, or sees one drinking in asaloon, or sitting on a beer-keg at its door, or sees one at thealtar celebrating mass after a night's carouse, or learns thatthe result of years of earnest appeals from the pulpit for theorphans and the hospitals and the schools and the Pope hasbeen the accumulation of a large fortune by the pastor, or seesa priest smitten of a woman and running after her, to theamusement of Protestants and humiliation of Catholics, or seeshim in the company of women of not known unblemishedreputation in unseemly places, or learns of the drinking, ca-rousing and gambling of priests at their places of rendezvous,and of other still more unpriestly conduct, all of which hemay but too often see and know of a truth in this land conse-crated to the One who was 'full of grace?' Will it suffice tosay that there was one Judas among the twelve, or that themajority of the clergy are self-sacrificing, zealous men andrest there? If there is even one such, should he be let toremain to disgrace the whole order? If a Catholic travelsmuch and observes closely, he will be disposed to shun priests

A MENACE TO THE NATION. 95whom he does not know to be priestly, rather than seek themout as most agreeable, proper, profitable company. This isthe case with not only some converts, but some who werereared Catholics. Laymen want protection for themselves andtheir families. An exemplary convert, who was cashier in a bank in oneof our large cities, told the writer with an aching heart howmortified he had often been at seeing priests coming thereunder the influence of liquor where he was the only Catholic,and having the clerks looking sneeringly at him, and how manyhave told him of similar and much worse experiences. Whenfathers know those conditions exist, how can they urge theirchildren, who know them also, to go to their religious duties?'When the man is gone, what becomes of the priest?' And is this the condition and this the conduct and thisthe character of many of the priests in our country? Of fartoo many, and the proportion of such is not diminishing. Havenot Catholics been told too often and too long to hide thesethings out of charity? Was it ever the proper use of charityto overlook or hide such conduct in a priest? Simply for theman, and were he only concerned and affected, it might do forawhile, a Kempis says : 'Admonish thy neighbor twice orthrice.' Here is a mature man, ordained of God, who, by thesimple fact of ordination, is supposed to be intelligent, andto understand the duties of his sacred office, scandalizingwhole communities. It is not the man we are considering, butthe communities and the effects of his life on them and onthe work the Church is trying to accomplish. Has not themantle of charity for this purpose been stretched till it is allin shreds and hides no one ? Under circumstances where somehave said that a priest was sick or had fits, would it not bebetter not to tell a lie and to say that he was drunk? Is notthe truth always best? Does not hiding such depravity onlynourish and encourage it? If some of our priests are of a low,depraved order of men, which is a fact, would it not be wiserto expose them and silence them ? Is not such recklessness and

JOHN H. MAGRTJDJER ). i :< >l, !:<. VL.E AJ\"1> - FINE GROCERIES, WINESMINERAL WATERS, ALES, BROWN STOUTS IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC CIGARS TABLE LUXURIES TODD'S CELEBRATED SMITHFIELD HAMSCOR, CONNECTICUT AVENUE AND K ST.. N. W. j J ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, RECTORY, NUNNERY AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. This church has been made the national church at the capital ofour nation. On Thanksgiving Day, 1909, 1910 and 1911, PresidentTaft, his Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court, Ambassadors andMinisters to Washington, members of the House and Senate, andother politicians of lesser rank, attended Solemn High Mass in thischurch to pay homage to \"Our Lord God the Pope,\" Papal NuncioFalconio, Cardinal Gibbons, Monsignor Russell, and other papalsatellites. In a profusely illustrated Memorial Calendar of the noth anniver-sary of said church there appears on the upper half of the first pagean advertisement for intoxicating liquors, etc., and of which the aboveis a photographic copy; and on the lower half of the same page ap-pears the picture of the church. 90

GLORrWisinston's leading Beer is \"UtUTttE FAMOUS DARK BftEW OF TMABNER-DRliRV BREWING CO.Strongly Recommended by Prominent Physicians as a Great Tonic,Both in Strength and Purity * * SALOONS AND SALVATION! The above are photographic copies of advertisements appearing onother pages of said Calendar. The Cross with the first letters of thesacred inscription, \"lesus Hojiiimtiii Salvator,\" Jesus Saviour of Men,appears on that part of the back cover which partly overlaps the front. Among those who took part in the solemn memorial services wereCardinal Gibbons, Archbishops Ireland and Keane, Bishop Spakling,the then President Theodore Roosevelt, Hon. Henry B. F. Macfar-land. Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and the Hon. WilliamT. Harris, Commissioner of Education. The memorial services cov-ered seven days and nights. I presume these distinguished divines, advocates of Total Ab-stinence, and the politicians, appreciated the artistic skill displayed inthe Calendar and sampled the famous brews and choice liquors recom-mended therein under the Sign of the Cross the emblem of salvation. The then pastor, Rev. Dennis J. Stafford, has since died fromsampling famous brews, choice liquors, etc., and was succeeded byRev. Russell, who, on January 28, 1911. assured me that no man couldbe a loyal American citizen unless he be first a loyal Roman Catholic.Russell is qualifying for papal honors.

98 ROMANISMdepravity contagious? and if not treated heroically and inseason, will it not spread like blood poisoning from a scratchand direful consequences follow ? Can there be too much vig-ilance and severity in discipline in this matter, since the abusehas gone so far already? Should any priest who is worthy of that highest titlewhich any man can bear on this earth a priest of the CatholicChurch blame you, Mr. Editor, for publishing this letter, orme for writing it? Ought not he to thank us rather? It isin defense of the most holy priesthood and for the purpose ofprotecting it against its very worst enemies that it is written. Observing, thinking laymen from the Atlantic to thePacific are aroused at the number and increase of these burn-ing, depleting scandals, and unless something is done soon tostop them, these laymen will make themselves heard at Rome.The Church was instituted for the people, and the bishops andpriests are sent forth to instruct and elevate the people, andthe people have a right to demand that they do it faithfully,and Rome will see to it that justice is done to the people. Our grand ceremonies and towering cathedrals are wellenough, but will they supply the needs and make converts andsave souls in parishes that are much worse off than without apriest? If the outlook for the future of the Church in theUnited States in this respect were not so saddening, so heart-breaking, so discouraging, one might enjoy those ceremoniesand grand churches, and such like things, more. Statistics havebeen taken in many parishes in the West of Catholics who doand those who do not attend Mass, and the figures are appall-ing. As are the priests who are sent out, so will be the greaternumber of the people. 'By their fruits shall they be known.'They are wonder-workers for good or wonder-workers forevil. The writer of this letter, who thought when he becamea Catholic that all priests must be intelligent, good, self -sacri-ficing, humble, pious men, will die before he will be able tounderstand how they can be otherwise. Oh, how his heart hasached when he found any of them otherwise ! And, oh ! how