Catholic Problems in Western Canada
G >> George Thomas Daly >> Catholic Problems in Western CanadaAny one who has kept in touch with the stream of modern fiction is well
aware to what extent its waters are polluted and have contaminated the
mind and heart of our present generation. When the world has been
slaking its literary thirst at sources such as H. G. Wells, Galsworthy,
Ibanez--only to mention a few--should we be astonished that public
opinion is drifting to paganism? If theories of "Free Love" and
Divorce are rampant in our society, the responsibility to a great
extent lies with our modern novel. The novels that are written and
read, indicate the mind and morals of a people.
What could we not write of the _Moving-Picture_ and the _Stage_?
Suffice it to state with Rev. R. A. Knox--then an anglican minister,
and now a catholic priest: "When a nation has lost its hold of first
truths and its love for clear issues, which has had its morality sapped
by sentiment, thinks of Christian marriage in the light of the
problem-play . . . the moral fibre of that nation is gone." For, the
vision of life and the interpretation of its pleasures and sorrows,
that come from the glare of the foot-lights, or the dimness of the
Movie-Screen, are surely not that given by the Catholic Church. Over
the screen of the movies and the proscenium of the stage could we not
very often write what the author of the play "Enjoy Life," Max Hermann
Neisse, said lately to a Berlin sensation-seeking audience that was
underlying with frantic applause the unsavory remarks and filthy
inuendos of the closing act: "Pardon me, I did not write this act.--You
dictated it to me."
In pandering to the morbid curiosity and lustful passions of a
pleasure-mad world, the stage, the moving-picture, the novel, the
illustrated weekly are leading Public Opinion to depths before unknown.
The abyss calls to the abyss. Ways of living always follow ways of
thinking. Should we then be astonished that crime-wave after
crime-wave is sweeping the shores of every country.
Existing conditions in our universities, public academies and schools
are not of a nature to conciliate Public Opinion with the Catholic
Church. We know perfectly well that in our seats of higher-learning
the Church is looked upon as an effete Institution, as something of the
past that has kept a certain air of respectability. Her teachings and
her history are there viewed in the light of the "evolution theory."
Who has not read, a few years ago, that terrible indictment against the
antichristian education of the American Universities, as it appeared in
a celebrated article, under the title: "Blasting at the Rock of Ages?"
In our legislative assemblies, here and abroad, do we not find the
educational problem the burning problem for Church and State? Over the
head of the child swords clash, for the child of to-day is the man of
to-morrow. The stand the Catholic Church takes on the educational
problem--from which She never deviates--has always stirred Public
Opinion against her in political and social circles. We have only to
mention "separate schools" to awaken the memories of a long and bitter
struggle.
The same inimical relations dominate the International Order. Rome and
its world-wide moral influence have been deliberately ostracized in the
recent and unhappy attempt to form a League of Nations.
So the tide of Public Opinion sweeps upon tide. Everywhere its heavy
waves break into a foamy froth on the Rock of Peter. We conclude:
_Public Opinion is against the Catholic Church_.
_Our Duties to Public Opinion_.
The antagonism against the Catholic Church is an overt fact. What are
the causes? _A distorted vision_, born of misrepresentation of facts
and misrepresentation of doctrine and practice; the _blind prejudice_
against which our refutation of facts and explanation of principles are
of little avail: _these are the two main causes to which can be traced
this universal opposition_. And indeed no one will tax us with
exaggeration were we to repeat here what Tertullian wrote in his
"Defence of the Church," a hundred years after St. John's death: "_They
think the Catholics to be the cause of every public calamity, of every
national ill_." Have we not in our own country, organizations that
live and thrive only on enmity to the Church of Rome? They cannot meet
without passing resolutions of condemnation of the Church, of the Pope,
of separate schools, etc. We all know how often Public Opinion, in our
country, has been inflamed by prejudiced appeals to racial and
religious feelings. Racial antagonism itself is only a cover for
anti-Catholic fanaticism.
Let us, by clear and sound thinking, by definite and bold expression
_enlighten Public Opinion_. To-day Public Opinion is shifting as the
winds, swinging like a boat with the ebb and flow of the tide. These
are days of loose thought, wild words, catchy phrases, especially in
social and religious matters. Words and phrases are passed off as
ideas, and fragments of an idea as the whole idea. Let ideas always be
clear-cut, with a sharp, definite relief. Hazy notions are of no
constructive value, and always full of danger, particularly in times of
intellectual ferment, such as we are now going through. They are on
the great sea of Truth as the smoke-screens, behind which lurk the
destroyers of error.
Cardinal Newman concludes one of his letters on "The Position of
Catholics"--which bears on the subject of Catholics making themselves
known: "Protestantism is fierce because it does not know you; ignorance
is its strength; error is its life; therefore bring yourselves before
it, press yourselves upon it, force yourselves into notice against its
will. Oblige men to know you. Politicians and philosophers would be
against you, but not the people, if they knew you."
_Create Public Opinion_ by _individual and concerted action_, that is
our next duty. Truth spreads, not like the devastating torrent, but
like the tide. From individual to individual as from pebble to pebble
it slowly creeps in and spreads the silent power of its rising waters.
"No one ever talks freely about anything without contributing
something, let it be ever so little, to the unseen forces which carry
the race on to its final destiny. Even if he does not make a positive
impression he counteracts or modifies some other impression, or sets in
motion some train of ideas in some one else, which helps to change the
face of the world." Godkin "Problems of Modern Democracy." 221-224.
By the continued repetition of truth and the persevering refutation of
falsehood we will help to create around us, in our limited sphere of
action, a sane Public Opinion. But it is above all by the radiance of
our moral life that truth, particularly religious truth, will spread.
Religion, as we know, is of the moral order; its dogmas, precepts and
sacraments reach out into that domain. Paul Bourget, the celebrated
French writer sums up one of his most striking novels in this phrase:
"_At Forty-three_" which he calls the noon hour of life--"_man must
live what he believes or he will eventually believe as he lives_." To
live up to our principles is always the best proof of our belief in
them.
_Concerted action_ will extend the benefits of this individual action
to the creation of Public Opinion in the Community, in Society at
large. As all great powers, Public Opinion is courted; this courtship
is "_Propaganda_." Truth requires propaganda as life needs
transmission. An efficient propaganda takes myriad forms but its
purpose is always the same, i.e., give to others our ideas and through
them organize the public mind. Distribution of literature, lectures,
the press, the novel, the cinema, bureaus of information, active
participation in public life are vital factors of an efficiently
organized propaganda. The recent Northcliffe propaganda, followed by
the Hearst propaganda are typical illustrations of how the public mind
of a Country was swayed from a pro-British to an Anti-English attitude.
_The Direction of Public Opinion_ is the ultimate triumph of
propaganda. This is obtained when our principles pass into the warp
and woof of the social textures which are always in the making on the
great loom of our nation's life. Ideas have their full value when they
are extended to social and political issues. It is only then that they
influence a nation as such. For our lives are knitted with the lives
of others, and their action and reaction upon them form our public
life. "In the formation and guidance of the public opinion which
ultimately determines public action, Catholics bear responsibility and
must take their part." (Cardinal Bourne, at the Catholic Congress of
England, 1920.)
As Catholics we have a contribution to make to the great upbuilding of
our Country. There is in every problem an ethical side, an unchanging
and unchangeable principle, the bedrock on which it rests. This
principle, the Catholic doctrine possesses; we know it, we are sure of
it. Why not then have that aggressiveness of militant Catholics who
take advantage of every opportunity, without being obtrusive? Are we
not too apologetic in our Public life? We would not suggest in the
least to be discourteously aggressive, although at times we are tempted
to do so and seem justified in our retaliation. But there is no reason
why we should apologize for our principles, for the solutions we have
to offer. The sun of Canadian liberty shines also for us and for what
we stand; we have our place under the shade of the "Maple Leaf."
May we add a word for our non-Catholic friends. They also have duties
towards Public Opinion in its relation with the Catholic Church.
_Receptiveness of mind_ is, in our estimation, the first and most
important duty of the non-Catholic. Open-mindedness was named by
Confucius "mental hospitality." It opens the door to truth by allowing
ourselves to be convinced by the strength of argument and the weight of
evidence. This state of receptivity permits the mind to correct its
distorted vision, and to see facts and principles as they really are.
Freedom of mind enables those who possess it to see things in their
true proportions.
_Fair-mindedness_ will overcome prejudice, the great obstacle in
matters of Religion. Prejudice is made of a coarse and impenetrable
fibre, of a close woven texture; it is the product of numerous and
various influences. The ordinary causes of this pre-judgment or mental
torsion are an habitual intellectual outlook resulting from education
and surrounding influences, and a mental laziness which fails to
question its own attitude and to pursue principles to their logical
conclusions, and problems to their solution. This explains how
reluctantly the mind, in religious matters particularly, will accept
views contrary to those with which it has been familiar since early
youth and which time and surroundings have but strengthened. A
straight-forward appeal to _fairmindedness_ is alone able to break down
this barrier.
Duties are in proportion to the responsibilities they entail. Public
Opinion, as we have seen, is a tremendous power but it is the power of
a high explosive which misdirected and ill-used will spread disaster.
Leadership is the spark that ignites the charge, is responsible for its
driving force. In the days of real intellectual leadership the mastery
of ideas prevailed and Public Opinion was considered as the triumph of
an idea. But in our days of so called democratic equality the centre
of gravity of this power has shifted from the leader to the multitude.
De Tocqueville in his book "Democracy in America" [1] has a remarkable
page, illustrating this point. "The nearer the people," he writes,
"are drawn to a common level of an equal and similar condition the less
prone each man becomes to place implicit faith in a certain man or
certain classes of men. But his readiness to believe the multitude
increases and opinion is more than ever the mistress of the world. Not
only is common opinion the only guide which private judgment retains
among democratic people, but amongst such a people it possesses a power
infinitely beyond what it has elsewhere. At periods of equality men
have no faith in one another by reason of their common resemblance; but
this very resemblance gives them almost unbounded confidence in the
judgment of the public; for it would not seem probable, as they are all
endowed with equal means of judging, but that the greater truth should
go with the greater number. The public has therefore among a
democratic people a singular power which aristocratic nations cannot
conceive of; for it does not persuade to certain opinions, but it
impresses them and infuses them in the intellect by a sort of enormous
pressure of the minds of all upon the reason of each."
To this prestige of vast numbers Bryce has given a name. "Out of the
mingled feelings that the multitude will prevail and that the
multitude, because it will prevail, must be right, there grows a
self-distrust, a despondency, a disposition to fall into line, to
acquiesce in the dominant opinion, to submit thought as well as action
to the encompassing powers of numbers."
"This tendency to acquiescence and submission, this sense of
insignificance of individual effort, this belief that the affairs of
men are swayed by large forces whose movements may be studied but
cannot be turned, I have ventured to call it "_The Fatalism of the
Multitude_." It is often confounded with the tyranny of the majority,
but is at the bottom different though, of course, its existence makes
tyranny by the majority easier and more complete. . . . In the
fatalism of the multitude there is neither _legal_ nor _moral_
compulsion; there is merely a loss of _resisting power_, a diminished
sense of personal responsibility of the duty to battle for one's own
opinion, such as has been bred in some people, by the belief of an over
mastering fate." [2]
One can readily grasp the dangers of Public Opinion at the mercy of
blatant agitators and unscrupulous leaders. They have no idea to
promote, but only a feeling to exploit. They flatter Public Opinion to
gain it. They appear to consult it when in reality they are creating
and directing it. They catch the restless and undirecting currents of
popular feeling when they are seeking an outlet and swing them slowly
at first but with a growing impetus in the channels of their own
interest or of the party they represent. The people are deluded into
thinking that they are their own leaders and masters. The feeling of
unrest that now prevails is due to this abuse of Public Opinion. Like
children the leaders of nations have been playing with this wire of
high voltage. Should we be surprised to see the world suffer deadly
shocks from whence it should receive light and power?
We are now at one of the most momentous periods of history. Never
have clear thinking, earnest expression and concerted action been more
needed than now. The world is ringing with wild words and dying from
loose thinking. "The persistent statement of principles and the union
of all true conservative forces are absolutely necessary, if we wish to
bring the nation safe through this agonizing period and make the world
safe for democracy," as President Wilson said.
Therefore we claim that it is for the greatest benefit of the community
at large to have Public Opinion enlightened as to the value of the
Church as a reconstructive factor.
"_Great have been the Problems of War_!" But, with Clemenceau, we also
are realizing--and some countries, with bitter deception and depressing
sorrow, "_That greater still are the Problems of Peace_."
[1] Vol. II., Chap. II.
[2] Bryce--"The American Commonwealth," Vol. II., Chap. 84.
CHAPTER XIV.
TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE[1]
(Jo. VIII, 32)
_Facts--Principles--Policy of the Catholic Truth Society--Its value for
the Church in Western Canada._
Truth and liberty, error and license are inseparable partners. The
measure of truth gives the measure of true liberty, just as the degree of
error tells the degree of bondage. This is a logical necessity, a
natural consequence. The Master emphasized it when He said: "And you
shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." These pregnant
words of Christ are the charter of Christian civilisation and mark the
passing of expediency as the supreme rule of human liberty.
This explicit confidence in the abiding power of Truth and in its
necessary relation with our moral and religious life has prompted the
creation of the Catholic Truth Society and inspired its policy. Never
was any Society more useful nor so well adapted to the conditions of
present times.
The world nowadays is fast drifting from its Christian moorings and
taking to the high seas of modern paganism. The outlook on human life is
as in the days of Greece and Rome. The old cry: _panem et
circeuses_!--is to be found on the lips of our multitudes and reflects
the aspirations of their life. In the social realm, State-monopoly is
fast absorbing the individual and the family, and is heralded as the
supreme ideal of human society. A speedy and complete return to
Christian principles will alone re-establish the world on its proper
axis. Christian Truth shall again make the world free and save it from
the bondage of neo-paganism. For, history and experience prove that
there is nothing more tyrannical than that bondage--let it be the bondage
of Czardom or Bolshevism--which comes to man under the cover and name of
liberty. In the present universal unrest, so widely and so emphatically
voiced throughout the world, the mission of the Catholic Truth Society
appears as most providential. The spreading of Catholic Truth will help
the world to reconquer its liberties and, with them, true civilization.
To state facts, discuss principles and advocate policies, in connection
with the Catholic Truth Society of Canada, particularly in the West, is
the object of this chapter.
_Facts._
The Catholic Truth Society was born in England; November 5th, 1884, was
its birthday; Mr. Britten,[2] its honored and devoted parent. The
activities of the Anglican Church inspired this great Catholic layman to
counteract the influence of its propaganda. Tract for tract, pamphlet
for pamphlet, lecture for lecture, advertisement for advertisement was
the plan of campaign of our new militant leader. To marshal all the
tremendous forces of the "printed word" for the service and defence of
Mother Church was his noble ambition. He had implicit faith in the
everlasting vitality which lies concealed in the divine seed of the Word
of God. He knew that by spreading it broadcast, it would necessarily
fall on prepared and expectant soil, germinate and produce a hundred
fold. With the approbation of the Hierarchy and the generous support of
a few intelligent associates, the Society issued devotional,
controversial, historical and dogmatic pamphlets. Small in form, compact
in doctrine, living in expression, these messengers of Truth winged their
way through the world. Little by little the Society's influence has
spread everywhere and proved beyond doubt to be a great factor of
Catholic apostolate in our time.
For twenty-one years (1888-1909) the annual meeting of the Catholic Truth
Society was the outstanding event of Catholic life in England. It became
the field on which Catholic forces--clergy and laity--met yearly to
exchange ideas, formulate plans, co-ordinate purpose and concentrate
activity. This gathering gave rise to the "National Catholic
Congress"--which now stands out as the annual review, the
"mass-manoeuvre," of the Church militant in England. These meetings have
made of a handful of Catholics, many but neo-converts of yesterday, the
aggressive body we all admire, and from which we, in Canada, have many
things to learn.
The Editor of the "Universe" in his issue of Sept. 22, 1919, on the
occasion of the C.T.S. Conference in Nottingham, paid a beautiful tribute
to the Society. "This summing up of its activities is in itself an
inspiration and incentive. We are reminded by this Conference of the
debt and duty we owe to the society under whose auspices it meets. The
debt is all-pervading. How many Catholics in this country are there,
teachers or taught, who have not profited directly and personally by the
labour and enterprise, freely given, of the comparatively few who, since
that memorable day of its foundation, November 5, 1884, have maintained,
written for, and contributed to the expenses of the Catholic Truth
Society? It has provided the apologist with an armoury and the teacher
with material; it has saved the scholarly many an hour of troublesome
research; it has given the unlearned instruction suited to their needs;
it has given the masses of our people the popular Catholic literature
they want; it has been a veritable sleuth-hound on the track of traducers
of the Church; it has explained and commended her cause to even greater
numbers outside her pale who were simply ill-informed; it has helped more
souls than anyone will ever be able to count, into the Fold. Moreover,
it has been the fruitful parent of progeny (not always filially grateful)
which extends to-day to the uttermost parts of the earth. And always it
has maintained a standard--which, in fact, it created amongst us--of
material high quality, of intellectual respectability and of religious
solidity, the more worthy of grateful appreciation because not everywhere
fully appreciated. Nor can we forget that the Society is in a real sense
"the work of one man," though never has it been that very different
thing, a "one-man work." No one layman (and very few ecclesiastics) has
done a larger definite and objective work for the Catholic Church in our
time than Mr. Britten."
Such a record should shame the faint-hearts among us who seem to think
that no corporate efforts are of any use in the world now rushing on to
its own destruction. That it should shame those who take no interest at
all in the progress of their religion, would be too much to hope.
The mustard seed has become now a great tree; branches have been detached
from the main trunk and transplanted in the various parts of the world.
Ireland, Australia,[3] India,[4] America, Canada, each now has its own
Catholic Truth Society.
In 1887, six years after the foundation of the parent Society in England,
Canada had a first branch in Toronto. Halifax,[5] Montreal, Winnipeg,
Regina, Saskatoon, Vancouver soon followed suit. Silent and powerful as
the incoming tide, the Society in Canada is working its way into every
diocese and parish of the land. The Society is now incorporated by act
of Federal Parliament, with Head-Office in Toronto, 67 Bond St. Its
noble and just ambition is to weld into one great efficient organization
the various other branches that are in operation here and there
throughout the Dominion. Organization means efficiency, strength and
success.
The time has come for the Catholic Truth Society in Canada, to create its
own literature, to issue its own pamphlets dealing with the needs and
problems of our own Country. We have been importing from other countries
and have lived until now on their mental activity. But this move demands
unity of purpose and concentration of effort. Moreover, should not this
Dominion-wide organization serve marvellously to rally our dispersed and
disunited forces? There is indeed a sad need of unity in our ranks
to-day.
_Principles._
The assured possession of truth and the pressing obligation for Catholics
to spread it: these are the two main principles upon which is founded and
exists the Catholic Truth Society. As Catholics, we are absolutely sure
that we have the Truth; as Catholics worthy of the name, we feel in
conscience bound to give it to others.
The Catholic Church, like Christ, stands at the cross-roads of humanity
and cries out to the passing generations as they come tramping down the
avenues of time: "_Ego sum Veritas, Via et Vita_--I am the Truth, the
Way, the Life." Her kingdom is that very same Kingdom of Truth of which
the Master spoke to Pilate when the latter had asked Him so insolently:
"What is Truth?" Faith gives to everyone of Her children the right to
all the wealth of that Kingdom.
The self-assurance of the Catholic mind in matters of Religion is a noted
and universal fact which implies necessarily the tranquil possession of
Truth. This certainly is not a blind adherence dictated by fear or
fatalism as some would lead the unwary to believe; but rather, as St.
Paul states, the reasonable subjugation of the mind . . . "_Rationabile
absequium_." The universal unrest and chaotic condition of Christendom
outside of the Catholic Church are in sharp contrast with the unity and
tranquillity of the Catholic mind. This is not the place to prove for
our own pleasure and benefit the security of our position. Christian
Apologetics have vindicated it.
This security of the Catholic mind extends beyond the sacred domain of
Religion. Catholic philosophy has been justly named the "scientific
justification of common sense." Its principles do not rest on the
capricious fancies of the versatile human mind, as is the case with the
philosophy of the dreamer of Koenigsberg. We only mention here Kant, for
his influence has in our days been tremendous and far reaching. In
Catholic philosophy the mind indeed reflects the objective order of
things and from that order evolves universal laws. This basic truth of
our mental attitude is still more evident when considered in the moral
order. For, when God becomes but a "pure abstraction," and the moral law
solely dependent on the human will, one readily sees where such
philosophy may lead. This "_ego-centric philosophy_" is responsible for
the frame of mind which gifted the world with German "Kultur." Nietzche
taught Germany how to think, and Germany had set out to teach the world
the lessons she had received. As some author remarked, Kant and Nietzche
are responsible for the firing of the Krupp guns. Thus the war has shown
the fallacies of anti-Catholic philosophy.