Part 11 (2/2)
”The experience of every day shows ers are entailed upon Catholic youth by their frequentation of Public Schools in this country Such is the nature of the syste therein e Catholics froer to their faith and morals; nor can we ascribe to any other cause that destructive spirit of indifferentis, such rapid strides in this country, and that corruption of morals which we have to deplore in those of tender years Faions, or of no religion; the daily use of authors who assail with caluion, its practices, and even its saints--these gradually ior and influence of the true religion Besides, the enerally so corrupt, and so great their license in word and deed, that through continual contact with them the modesty and piety of our children, even of those who have been best trained at home, disappear like wax before the fire
These evils and dangers did not escape the knowledge of our predecessors, as we learn fro decrees:
”'(_a_) Whereas many Catholic children, especially those born of poor parents, have been, and are still, exposed in several places of this province, to great danger of losing their faith and ood masters to whom their education may safely be intrusted, we consider it absolutely necessary that schools should be established in which the young may be imbued with the principles of faith and morality, and at the same receive instruction in letters'”--_Council of Baltis of the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IX_
In fine, to show the union of the Bishops throughout the world with the Apostolic See in their teaching respecting education, I add the words of the Supre to the Archbishop of Freiburg, in Germany, His Holiness clearly expounds, as the Infallible Teacher of the faithful, the truth I a for the instruction of Catholics:
”It is not wonderful that these unhappy efforts (to spread irreligious and revolutionary principles) should be directed chiefly to corrupt the training and education of youth; and there is no doubt that the greatest injury is inflicted on society, when the directing authority and salutary power of the Church are withdrawn from public and private education, on which the happiness of the Church and of the Commonwealth depends so much For thus society is, little by little, deprived of that truly Christian spirit which alone can permanently secure the foundation of peace and public order, and proress of civilization, and give man those helps which are necessary for him in order to attain, after this life, his last end hereafter--eternal happiness And in truth a systee of natural things, and does not pass beyond the bounds of our life on earth, but also departs frouided by the spirit of error and lies; and education, which, without the aid of the Christian doctrine and of its salutary moral precepts, instructs the minds and moulds the tender heart of youth, which is so prone to evil, uide but its oicked passions and wild conceits, and which will be a source of the greatest misfortunes to the Commonwealth and their own families
”But if this detestable system of education, so far removed from Catholic faith and ecclesiastical authority, becomes a source of evils, both to individuals and to society, when it is e, and in schools frequented by the better class, who does not see that the sareater evils, if it be introduced into primary schools? For it is in these schools, above all, that the children of the people ought to be carefully taught from their tender years the ion, and to be trained with diligence to piety, good ious teaching ought to have so leading a place in all that concerns education and instruction, that whatever else the children , therefore, are exposed to the greatest perils whenever, in the schools, education is not closely united with religious teaching Wherefore, since priive the people a religious education, and to lead them to piety and Christian reater degree than other educational institutions, all the care, solicitude, and vigilance of the Church The design of withdrawing primary schools from the control of the Church, and the exertions n into effect, are therefore inspired by a spirit of hostility towards her, and by the desire of extinguishi+ng aht of our holy faith The Church, which has founded these schools, has ever regarded thereatest care and interest, and looked upon theovernment; and whatsoever removed them from her, inflicted serious injury both on her and on the schools Those who pretend that the Church ought to abdicate or suspend her control and her salutary action upon the primary schools, in reality ask her to disobey the coe she has received fro all men to salvation; and in whatever country this pernicious design of re the schools from the ecclesiastical authority should be entertained and carried into execution, and the young thereby exposed to the danger of losing their faith, there the Church would be in duty bound not only to use her best efforts, and to employ every means to secure for them the necessary Christian education and instruction, but, ed to warn all the faithful, and to declare that no one can in conscience frequent such schools, as being adverse to the Catholic Church”
I exclaiustine: ”Securus judicat orbis terrarum” The Bishops of the universal world, united to the Vicar of Christ, speak with authority; their judgh Pius; the question is settled; would that the error, too, were at an end!
_Testimonies of Enemies of the Catholic Church_
However, it is not froers of bad education Our opponents, too, the eneion, dee our children froreatest enemies of the Catholic faith in the first half of the last century, Pri the notorious ”Charter Schools,” writing to the Bishop of London on the fifteenth of May, 1730, said:
”I can assure you the Papists here are so nuhly concerns us in point of interest, as well as out of concern for the salvation of these poor creatures who are our fellow-subjects, to try all possible ion; and one of the most likelyand converting the young generation_; for instead of converting these that are adults, we are daily losing o off to Popery”
And with respect to mixed education in particular, we have the opinion of another Anglican prelate, who, in despite of his professions of liberality, ly classed with Primate Boulter in his conteion by the means of education--the late Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, Dr
Whately We are inforhter, that on one occasion he said: ”The education supplied by the National Board is gradually under the vast fabric of the Irish Roman Catholic Church” (_Life of Dr
Whately_, pp 244, first edition) Again: ”I believe, as I said the other day, that _ the ive the only hope of weaning the Irish from the abuses of Popery But I cannot venture openly to profess this opinion, I cannot openly support the Educational Board as an instruht its battles with one hand, and that e of the Church, then, and even that of the eneion, is quite plain on the subject of Godless education The good Catholic understands this language of his spiritual mother; he listens to it; he repeats it to hio the Catholics of Ireland presented a requisition to the English Government to show their unanimity, and their determination to secure a Catholic education for Catholic children What a glorious array of signatures is attached to it! There we find the honored names of the only Catholic lords that the operation of penal laws has left in that land ever faithful to the Church There we read the names of the Lord Mayor, and the alderreat City of Dublin, of many baronets and deputy lieutenants, of several yuished in the various scientific and literary professions or pursuits; of country gentlemen, traders, artisans, and of all the classes that constitute the bone and sinew of the country In a word, the requisition is signed by ree May it not be considered as a great plebiscite? Is it not a proof that the laity and clergy are all of one mind? Is it not a solid refutation of the foolish assertion of some Presbyterians, that the Catholic laity take no interest in the education question, and that, were it not for the priests, the laity would be perfectly satisfied to accept Godless instruction for their children? Those who attribute this baneful indifference to the laity, norance of their real feelings, and of the efforts which Catholics in Ireland, in Belgium, in Germany, and in other countries, have ood Christian education for their children The principal Catholic gentleo published an important declaration, presented afterwards to Parliament, in which they proclaimed their adhesion to the principles held by the true Church in regard to education
As for the Catholic laity of Ireland in general, feeling, as they do in a specialthe true faith, and knowing that it is a priceless treasure hich, far more precious than worldly substance, they can enrich their children, their love for Catholic education is proved to evidence by theevery Catholic school, and especially every school in which the presence of Christian Brothers or of Nuns gives a guarantee that religion shall have the first place, and shall inate the whole atmosphere which their little ones are to breathe for so many hours of the day They have proved, also, their dislike and fear oftheir faces away from schools in which no expense had been spared, on which thousands of pounds of the public ainst which their Bishops deemed it their duty to warn them Hence, in several Model Schools erected in populous cities and tohere the great majority of the inhabitants are Catholics, sometimes not ten, sometimes not two of their children are found within the unhallowed precincts of those mixed institutions
In fine, the opinion of all the Irish Catholics on this subject of education is so well known, that nearly all of the Liberal candidates who sought their votes at the last elections for the House of Co addresses their adhesion to the principle of denominational education, and their determination to uphold it, and push it forward in Parliaood reason are they steadfast in those principles, for they know the necessary connection between good education and the ion in their country And they are deterle for the establishment, in Ireland, of a sound Catholic system of public education, and never to relax their efforts till they obtain the recognition of this, their own and their children's right, even as they wrung Catholic emancipation from a hostile Parliament
Thus the Catholic laity practise what their pastors teach; and in Ireland and other countries, both pastors and people are united in holding that nothing so effectually destroys religion in a country as a Godless system of instruction, whilst they believe, at the saood Christian education contributes to preserve true religion, and to spread the practice of every virtue and of good works through the land
Though the Catholic Church and her children are so anxious for the progress of knowledge, and have htenment of the world, yet they do not indiscriminately approve of every system of education Every one kno ion, to poison the sources of knowledge, and to under the liberal arts and sciences In order to give a proper i protection for it, some insist that the full control of public instruction should be given to the government of each country, to be carried on by Ministers of State, or public boards; others attach so much importance to the development of the intellectual faculties, that they call for coreat degree of culture to all classes; and others, in fine, de that God should be banished fro subjected to any religious influences The Catholic Church and her pastors, being charged to feed the flock of Christ with the food of truth and life, and to preserve the laion of error, cannot approve such systems, which seem to have been invented by the fashi+on of the day, a desire of innovation, or a spirit of hostility to religion
It was to His Church, and not to the State, that Jesus Christ gave the command, ”Go and teach all nations”--(Matt xxviii) ”As the Father hath sent Me, so do I send you also”--(John xx) ”Feed My lambs, feed My sheep”--(John xxi)
The office of the Church is to teach and sanctify all men She receives the child on its first entrance into the world, and, by means of holy baptisroom, she says: ”Suffer the little children to come to me”