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Facts About Abortion
The "Arians," founded by Arius,
an ambitious priest of Alexandria, who denied the divinity of our Lord, and
said that He was not born of the Father, but made by Him; that He was not
equal to, but inferior to the Father. Their heresy was condemned at the
Council of Nicea, a town in Bithynia, A. D., 325, under Pope St. Sylvester I.
The Nicene Creed was drawn up at this Council.
The "Collyridians'' an obscure
sect in the sixth century which gave undue rank to the Blessed Virgin. They
offered sacrifice to her and worshiped her. Denounced by St. Epiphanius.
The "Manicheans," who taught
that our Lord did not take to Himself a real body, but only the appearance of
a body, something similar to what the angels assumed when they visited holy
persons, as mentioned in Scripture. They also said that there were two Gods, a
good one and a bad one. These heresies commenced about A. D. 280, but were not
heard of until after the sixth century. They were finally condemned in the
fourth Lateran Council by Pope Innocent III, A. D. 1215, because of their
reappearance in various forms.
The "Macedonians" were
founded by Macedonius who had usurped the see of Constantinople. He denied
the Godhead of the Holy Ghost, and said that He was only a creature like the
Angels, but of a higher order. This heresy was condemned at the First
Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, under Pope St. Damasus I
The "Pelagians," founded by
Pelagius, a native of Britain. He denied the existence of original sin in the
soul of man, and taught that without the aid of grace, man is perfectly able
to fulfill the law of God. This heresy was condemned at a council of African
Bishops held at Carthage, A. D. 416, the decision of the council being
confirmed by Pope St. Innocent I.
The "Nestorians" was founded by
Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople. He taught that there were two separate
persons in our Lord, one the Son of God, and the other the Son of man; and
that the Blessed Virgin was not Mother of God, but only of the man Christ.
This heresy was condemned at the Council of Ephesus, A. D. 431, under Pope St.
Celestme I. The latter part of the "Hail Mary" was then added: "Holy Mary,
Mother of God," etc.
The "Eutychians," were founded
by Eutyches, who taught that there was only one nature, the divine, in our
Lord. Eutyches said that at the moment of the Incarnation the human nature was
absorbed by, or changed into, the divine. This heresy was condemned at the
Council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451, under Pope St. Leo, the Great.
The "Semi-Pelagians" taught
that the beginning of faith and first desire of virtue came from the powers
of man alone, unassisted by divine grace. They also said that the grace of
final perseverance can be merited by our own efforts, and is not a free gift
of God. This heresy was first taught by some priests of Marseilles. It was
condemned at the Second Council of Orange, A. D. 529, the decrees of the
council being confirmed by Pope Boniface II.
The "Monothelites" said that
Jesus Christ had no separate human will, but only a divine one. They were
condemned at the Third Council of Constantinople, A. D. 680, under Pope St.
Agatho.
The Iconoclasts, or breakers of
holy images, rejected the use of holy images and pictures, and the practice of
paying them due respect. They were condemned at the Second Council of Nice, A.
D. 787, under Pope Adrian I.
The Greek Heresy and Schism was
commenced by Photius, who, though not a priest, took unjust possession of the
See of Constantinople. This schism was consummated in A. D. 1054, by Michael
Cerularius, who broke entirely away from the supremacy of the Popes, and
established what is called the "Greek Church." The Greeks say that the Holy
Ghost proceeds from the Father alone, instead of from the Father and the Son,
as taught by the Catholic Church from the beginning. Photius was deposed and
condemned at the Fourth Council of Constantinople, A. D. 870, under Pope
Adrian II, and St. Ignatius was restored to his See.
Berengarius
The Heresy of Berengarius, who was Archdeacon of Angers. He said that the body
and blood of our Lord are not really present in the Holy Eucharist, but only
in figure. He was condemned at Rome, A. D. 1078.
The Albigenses taught that
there were two Gods and two Christs; they condemned marriage, denied all the
Sacraments and the Resurrection of the body. It was whilst he was preaching
to these heretics that the devotion of the Rosary was revealed by the Blessed
Virgin to St. Dominic.
The Waldenses taught that it
was a heinous sin for a magistrate to condemn to death for any crime; that it
was a mortal sin to take an oath, and that the clergy became reprobates by
holding one farthing's worth of property. The Albigenses and Waldenses were
condemned at the Third Lateran Council, under Pope Alexander IIT, A. D. 1179.
The Jansenists, so called after
their leader, Jansenius bishop of Ypres, in Flanders, maintain that
man was not free; that it was impossible to keep some of God's commandments;
that all good works of unbelievers are sin; that God will punish us for not
practicing virtues which are not in our power; that our Lord died only to save
a few privileged souls, and not the whole human race. Two illustrious French
Bishops, Bossuet and Fenelon, defended the truth against these heretics.
Christopher de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris (1746-1781), was also a great
champion of the true faith, and by his virtues and labors did much to put down
this heresy, which had already been condemned by Pope Urban VIII, A. D. 1642,
and by Pope Clement XI, A. D. 1705.
The Heresy of Wyclif in
England taught that the Pope is not the visible head of the Church, that
Bishops have not pre-eminence over priests; that all ecclesiastical powers
are either forfeited or are in abeyance during mortal sin; that man is bound
to sin; that God approves of sin; that confession is quite useless; and that
temporal princes should cut off the head of any ecclesiastic who sinned,
etc. These doctrines were, after the death of Wyclif, preached by John Hus
and his followers in the towns and villages of Bohemia. Condemned at the
Council of Constance, A. D. 1414.
John Hus—The Hussites—Utraquism
John Hus was born in Bohemia in
1369, and became interested in the teachings of Wyclif, helping to circulate
them in his native country. After their condemnation, he continued to preach
the heretical doctrines and was excommunicated by the Church in 1410.
The distinctive tenet of his followers is seen in teaching the necessity of
communion in both species for both priest and layman, hence the name attached
to his followers, Utraquists, from the Latin word Utraque, meaning both. Hus
never preached this, but it became the most prominent feature of the teaching
of those who called themselves his followers. The introduction of a lay
chalice was regarded as a schism in the church, yet the spread of the
innovation was very rapid. Trouble arose within the kingdom, and religious
feeling ran high, until by force of arms the clergy, who refused to admit the
introduction of the teachings, were removed from their churches and Utraquist
clergy installed. In 1419, the king ordered the expulsion of all such
interlopers and the return of the original clergy. Resort to arms followed,
and the trouble makers went farther, rejecting in time other teachings of the
Church.
Finally the Hussites became completely masters of the country, and, involved
in difficulties with Hungary, were defeated by the neighboring country in
battle. Peace brought new arrangements, and the Utraquists settled down, side
by side with the Church, in churches of their own. The king gave equal
rights to both; and the results seem to justify the action. The Utraquists
gradually returned to all Catholic teachings and practices, except the
Communion in both species. In Reformation times, they successfully resisted
the attempted inroads of the Lutherans, remaining faithful to their practices.
The Anabaptists
The
Anabaptists were a radical body of social and ecclesiastical reformers which
originated in Saxony in 1521. The name denies infant baptism and is an old
heresy under a different setting. They aimed, they said, to restore primitive
Christianity in all its forms. They rejected oaths and capital punishment, held
the Scriptures as the sole Rule of Faith, and proposed to found a new kingdom of
God to reconstruct society. Communism including, for some of them, the community
of women, was the underlying principle. They believed in private interpretation
of the Scriptures and in inward teaching of the Holy Ghost, which led to their
extreme views. They spread into other parts of Europe, but never reached
America, except in the varied form known as Mennonites.
Old Catholics were a sect which
refused to accept the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope when solemnly
defined. Their first Synod was held in 1874. The leader, Dr. Dollinger of the
University of Munich, celebrated for his literary labors, was excommunicated.
He died in 1890 without being reconciled. Professors from universities at
Freiburg, Breslau, Prague, Munster and Bonn were prominent among the leaders
of the movement. German bishops who previously had opposed the doctrine,
withdrew their opposition after the definition by the Church. The Old
Catholics received the favor of the government and for a time flourished. They
added to their opposition to the Holy Father, ideas about a married
priesthood, a vernacular liturgy and made confession entirely voluntary. Their
membership is confined to Germany and Austria and is gradually decreasing.
Martin Luther was a monk of
the Order of St. Augustine and professor in the University of Wittenberg.
Pope Leo X having granted a plenary indulgence, Luther first attacked the
Dominican monk who preached it, and then the doctrine of Indulgences itself.
He also taught that faith alone will save mankind; that the sacrifice of the
Mass is an abomination; that there is no necessity for confession;
abstinence, fasting, or any mortification whatever. He said that priests
might marry; he denied the supremacy of the Pope; he wrote against
Purgatory, free-will and other articles of Christian belief. (See Part 2,
Chap. 12.)
Calvin, who is regarded as second only to Luther, was the founder of
Presbyterianism. His chief stronghold was Geneva. He taught, among other
things, that God created men on purpose to damn the greater number of them;
that God is the author of all sin and that man has no free will. He
denounced not only the Pope, but bishops and priests also.
At the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563, A. D., the heresies of
Luther, Calvin and others were condemned. The "Creed of Pope Pius IV" is
grounded on the decisions of this council.
Modernism
The attention of the world was directed to this error in 1907 when Pope Pius X
issued a decree condemning it. Not only did Pope Saint Pius X condemn this
error, but he lamented the fact that it was present "even in the very veins of
the Church", speaking of lay people and more so the clergy and religious. It
is the most predominant error that is currently penetrating Holy Mother
Church. It was condemned for the following
reasons:
1.
Modernism destroys
the rational foundations of all religious faith and therefore the possibility
of all religion, natural or revealed.
2. It denies external revelation, that is, that God has communicated with
man in external form.
3. It holds that truth taught by God is no more than speculative description
of feelings experienced by men.
4. It rejects the Bible as a collection of documents of no historic value
when they relate supernatural and miraculous events.
5. It teaches that Christ, as a historic person, was a man and not God; that
the Godhead in Him was known by faith; that He was not always aware of the
fact that He was God.
6. It denies that the dogmas of Faith came from God .
7. It recognizes no church as founded by Jesus in person, but one grown up
by force of circumstances.
8. It claims the Sacraments were not instituted by Christ personally.
These are some of many points
selected from the document of denunciation, pointing out that its teaching was
in direct opposition to the teaching of Christ and His Church.
The Young Men's Christian
Association is a Protestant organization, in which Catholics are admitted
only as associate members. They have no voice in the management of its
affairs and are not eligible to office. Catholics are only tolerated.
Officials admit that the Y. M. C. A. is essentially a Protestant
institution. Even an anti-Catholic spirit appears now and then in lectures,
bubbling over with calumnies and lies, delivered in its halls and under its
auspices. Catholic young men should not suffer themselves, therefore, to be
duped by an organization for the sake of bodily advantage, a position or
social standing. Catholics possess the precious heritage of the Faith of
nearly twenty centuries. They belong to the grandest organization the world
ever witnessed. How far, then, is it beneath the dignity of a Catholic to
forget the tradition of his Church, to disregard the precious jewel of
Faith, unflinchingly held by the blood of his forefathers amidst the worst
of persecutions, and to trample under foot all sense of honor by becoming a
secondary member of that Protestant organization called the Y. M. C. A ?
If any doubt of the sectarian character of the Y. M. C. A. exists in the
minds of Catholics, it will be expelled by the tabulated statements of
Commission VII of the Protestant Panama Congress. The largest proportionate
appropriations for Protestant mission work in Latin America, according to
its official report, was made by the American Bible Society, the Southern
Baptists, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Y. M. C. A. The
latter has shown more zeal in a financial way for Protestantizing Latin
America than the Protestant Episcopal, the Presbyterian and the Methodist
Churches and other denominations enumerated in the order of merit for their
contributions to this cause. The status of the Y. M. C. A., therefore, could
not be more definitely determined than by this report. With such evidence
before their eyes Catholics can have no excuses for continuing to delude
themselves
The professed aim of the
Young Women's Christian Association is the moral, social, and intellectual
well-being of young women. They are banded together to encourage thrift,
purity, and to afford help in cases of sickness. The means adopted are
evening classes, reading-rooms, gymnasiums, holiday-homes, circulating
libraries, total abstinence, saving funds, intelligence bureaus for securing
positions, and aid to travelers.
Opportunities are afforded for instruction in religious knowledge (Bible
classes) and for common worship, but attendance at these is not obligatory,
nor a condition of membership. These adjuncts are offered as opportunities
for improvement.
There is no restriction of membership or of the enjoyment of the benefits
which the association offers. It takes the membership fee and offers the
members in return athletic sports and other good things. But there is
restriction in the management. Catholics are not eligible to managerial
positions in any capacity.
Giving due recognition to the estimable service rendered by the Y. W. C. A.,
it is an organization which few Catholics care to join. There are many who
say no self-respecting Catholic should join such an association which, like
the brother organization, the Y. M. C. A., debars Catholics from holding
office, and thus discriminates against such a large portion of our
population. Perhaps the strongest reason is not to be found in this fact,
which many consider as an insult, but in the non-Catholic influences
everywhere to be found working insidiously and all the more to be feared as
a danger to Faith
Martin Luther. His Work and Influence.
Martin Luther was born at
Eisleben, Saxony, November 10, 1483. His father was a poor man who gave his
son an elementary education in Mansfeld. Here, the boy's, Martin's, gifts were
marked from the very first. He had a beautiful voice and attracted attention
to his singing in the choir and on other occasions. At fourteen he entered the
Franciscan high school at Magdeburg; later he went to Eisenach, where his
singing attracted the attention of a wealthy lady who assisted his further
education.
At first he went to Erfurt to study law, taking the degree of Master of Arts.
He was known for his research into pagan philosophical works, yet he seems to
have ignored the regular university course in Holy Scripture. During this time
he developed strong religious leanings, being of an ardent and impulsive
temperament. In the year 1505 he became much depressed by the sudden death of
a very dear friend while in his company. He endured a very great shock to his
highly strung nervous system, and while it does not appear that previously he
had considered the idea, yet suddenly he announced his intention of becoming a
monk (1505), and at once entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. His
intellectual powers soon impressed his companions and his piety appeared to have been sincere. He went through the customary discipline and was
ordained priest. His ability in teaching soon earned him a professorship at
Wittenberg University. Here his ability was so marked and his zeal so apparent
that he was chosen to visit Rome on business of the Order.
But at no time does Luther's mind seem to have been wholly at rest, nor were
his convictions clear on certain doctrinal points. Only at this stage does he
appear to have made a study of Holy Scriptures (1512). One author states that
as early as 1515 he was denounced as a heretic. But his eloquence in
explanation seems to have set the minds of his hearers at rest. His mind was
always big with projects of various kind. He had made friends with some of the
rulers of the country and with others rich and powerful, and he also aroused
the admiration and enthusiasm of the ordinary classes by means of his powerful
and eloquent discourses.
About this time an effort was made by Pope Leo X to complete the Basilica of
St. Peter's at Rome. Contributions were sought from the faithful everywhere.
This found a widespread feeling of opposition in Germany. It is true that
appeals of this kind had found such opposition before. On this occasion,
Luther took the lead among opponents of the suggestion and because of its
popular disfavor, he soon found himself a leader with great influence. Answers
to his arguments, on the part of the person officially appointed to promulgate
the measure, only aroused Luther further. He replied with heat and haste and
the controversy thus begun drifting farther away from the point at issue.
Luther, particularly, struck farther and farther away from the doctrinal
truths he had previously taught. Yet he always proclaimed that he was in
perfect accord with the teachings of the Church.
Perhaps none of the parties in this controversy realized the lengths to which
it was drifting, until a court was appointed by Rome to try the case, and
convened at Augsberg, 1518. Here Luther declared formally his reverence and
obedience to "the Roman Church in every word or deed whether in time past,
present or future.' ' This was followed by a Bull explaining the true teaching
of the Church on the point in controversy (Indulgences). A short time after,
at a public discussion, in which lay people took a prominent part, held at
Leipzig, questions were brought up, such as the condition of man after the
fall, freewill, grace, penance, indulgences, primacy of the Church. Luther
declared that the Pope had no more jurisdiction than the Archbishop of
Magdeburg. Here, too, he openly gave expression to his doctrine that faith
alone, without good works, secures salvation. He denied free-will in man and
the infallibility of ecumenical councils. Later in response to others who
condemned his utterances, he issued pamphlets in which he taught that the
Bible was the only source of faith, exterior worship was unnecessary, the
Sacraments
were profitless (which last contention he afterwards modified). Many other
easy doctrines which appealed to the people because of their entire absence of
restraint were presented, and at once they spread like wildfire. He appealed
strongly to the spirit of nationality and greed. He urged this government to
confiscate the property of the Church, to abolish feasts and holidays and to
substitute the language of the country for Latin.
In June, 1520, The Pope condemned Luther's teaching in a Bull specifically
mentioning his errors. At the Diet of Worms (1521), Luther refused to submit.
Popular feeling favored his utterances, and in time the country divided on the
question. He so inflamed the people with his easy doctrines that they rose
against the nobles. Luther was compelled to preach against those whom his
doctrines had so aroused, and for fear of losing his influence among the
nobles, he urged them to slay the poor peasants whom he now called "children
of the devil." In 1525 he married Katherine von Bora, an ex-nun. He urged the
adoption of a constitution which gave each congregation complete control over
its own ecclesiastical discipline. Preachers were appointed by a committee of
laymen. The head of the State became the head of the Church. The country being
at war, made it difficult for the emperor to discourage the spread of his
views.
At this time (1529) disputes arose among the Lutherans. Zwingli's figurative
interpretation of the words "This is my Body" made trouble. Luther
denounced him and to settle the difficulty invented the theory of
"consubstantiation." Having the support of some princes, Luther and
Melanchthon advocated supporting their cause now called Protestantism, by
force of arms—the subsequent warring being ended by the peace of Nuremberg, in
a concession granted them by the emperor. Their adherents increased in
numbers, but difficulties also increased. Philip of Hesse asked Luther to
authorize him to marry a second wife, to commit bigamy, in fact, and fearful
of losing the prince's assistance, the "Reformer" granted his request, in
order "to provide for the welfare of his body and soul and to bring greater
glory to God."
Armed interference began in several places, and dissolution of his
organization continued. Luther, his health and spirit broken, expressed grave
doubts of the efficacy of his work. "Since we began to preach our doctrine,"
he said in the pulpit at Wittenberg in 1532, "the world has grown daily worse,
more impious and more shameless. Men are more impure, more avaricious and more
repulsive, than of old under the Papacy. Peasants, nobles—men of all degrees
—the highest as well as the lowest, are alike slaves to avarice, drunkenness,
gluttony and impurity, given over to shameful excesses and abominable
passions." "Let us go from this Sodom," he writes to Catherine in 1545,
quitting Wittenberg in disgust. He died at Eisleben in February, 1546.
Owing to wars and internal disturbances, Lutheranism spread rapidly, more so
in some countries, of course, than in others. In some places, Lutheranism came
to be supplanted by the work of other "reformers," as for instance that of
Calvin in Hungary, and after the first few years, Lutheranism made no advance
in territory. A government edict by the king of Prussia united the Lutherans,
Zwinglians and Calvinists in what was called the "Evangelical Church," much to
their disgust. This action caused the first emigration of Lutherans to America
in 1630. The Lutherans in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have preserved much more
of the original Catholic doctrine and traditions than have the German
Lutherans. The masses of the Lutheran population in Germany no longer attend
church. There are about 40,000,000 Lutherans in the world, about half being
Germans. In the United States there are somewhat less than one million
Lutherans. This ordinarily would mean a population of from three to four
millions.
"What then remains of Luther?"
asks the Protestant Theologian Braun after reading Denifle's "Luther and Luthertum" and Father Hartman Grisar's (S. J.) "Luther." He saw that no one
could be more courteous or more considerate than the last named author. "Every
sentence carefully documented," "The quiet and objective language of the book"
are quotations from his remarks which, from his point of view, only make it
the more dangerous. Father Grisar quotes Protestant theologians and
authorities in great number, and proves from their own writings that theirs is
a dethroned hero. Luther speaks in this volume in his own person. There is not
one misrepresentation of fact, no attack upon Protestantism, simply an
historical narrative which completely refutes the objection that a Catholic is
unable to write about Luther in a spirit of fairness. Luther in a letter to
Queen Mary of Hungary, 1526, refers to some of his followers who would not
rest content with following his example in rejecting the Church, but proceeded
farther and rejected some of his own pet doctrines. "That pack," he says, "is
never converted * * * * one or a few come back * * * the others remain in
their curse and hold it to be a precious thing."
Laws made by Queen Elizabeth
I and
carried along further up to the time of George III, aimed directly at
driving out the Catholic religion. Persons failing to comply with them
incurred a penalty of some sort—fine, imprisonment, exile, death—hence the
name penal laws. According to them, Catholics could be fined for absenting
themselves from Protestant service on Sunday—for attending their own—for
acknowledging the Pope as their spiritual head.
Catholic priests were declared outlaws, a price set upon their heads, and
all who sheltered them made liable to confiscation of property.
Catholics were forbidden to teach. Catholic children could not obtain an
education. Catholics could not become guardians of their own children, and
if a child became Protestant, his parents at once lost legal control of
property owned by them.
Catholics could not purchase property, could not hold a lease longer than
thirty-one years, and if a Protestant found that the property of a Catholic
yielded more profit than one-third of its lease value, he could take
possession of it.
Catholics could not hold office and could not vote.
These laws relaxed gradually, from about the close of the reign of George
II, (1760) and it is only fair to say that, at the present day, in no part
of the world does Catholicity enjoy greater freedom than under the once
bitterly intolerant British government—although it is true that the spirit
of anti-Catholic bigotry still prevailing in London prevented a great
Eucharistic procession there but a few years ago.
Irish Martyrs Under Penal Laws
Interest in the
Beatification of Oliver Plunkett, archbishop of Armagh and Primate of
Ireland, martyred in 1681, which took place in Rome in May, 1920, recalls
the fact that there were many others who gave their lives for the faith in
Ireland during the persecution period. Blessed Oliver Plunkett is only the
first of a large number, whose cause is on the way of consideration.
On March 16th, 1915, a papal decree was published in Rome under the above
title, concerning the "Beatification or Declaration of Martyrdom'' of over
three hundred Irish men and women. This decree declared that the
Commission for the Introduction of the Beatification of 259 Servants of
God should be instituted. This was ratified by the Holy Father. The
others are in course of consideration.
Archbishops and
Bishops
Four archbishops head the
list, Dermot 0'Hurley, Cashel; Richard Creagh, Edmund MacGauren, Armagh;
Malachy O'Queely, Tuam. Ten bishops, Terence and Murrough O'Brien of
Emly; Redmond O'Gal-lagher, Derry; Edmond Dongan, Conor O'Lavany, Down;
Owen Mc-Egan, Boetius Egan, Ross.; Wm. Walsh, Meath; Patrick Healy,
Mayo; Heber MaeMahon, Clogher, follow in order.
The classification of secular and religious order clergy, laymen and
women follows the order set forth in the decree:
Secular Clergy
Eugene Cronin, Lawrence 0'Moore, Richard French, Aeneas Power, John
0'Grady, Maurice 0'Kenraughty, Andrew Stritch, Bernard Moriarty, John
Stephens, Walter Tiernan, George Power, Vicar General; John Walsh, Vicar
General; Nicholas Young, Daniel O'Moloney, Donough 0'Cronin, cleric;
John 0'Kelly, Brian Murchertagh, Donough O'Falvey, Bernard O'Carolan,
Donatus Mac-Cried, Patrick O'Derry, John Lune, Patrick 0 'Loughran,
Ludovicus O'Laverty, Philip Cleary, Henry White, Theobald Stapleton,
Edward Stapleton, Thomas Morrisey, Thomas Bath, Roger Ormilius, Hugh
Carrigi, Bernard Fitzpatrick; Daniel Delaney, Daniel O'Brien, James
Morchu and James O'Hegarty.
Religious
Orders
Order of Premonstratensians: John Kieran of Mulcheran. Order of
Cistercians: Galasius O'Cullenan, Nicholas Fitzgerald, the prior and his
companion members of Holy Saviour; Patrick O'Connor, Malachy O'Connor,
the Abbot and Monks of the Monastery of Magia; Eugene O 'Gallagher,
Bernard O'Trevir, James Eustace, Malachy Shiel, Edmund Mulligan and Luke
Bergni.
Order of Preachers P. MacFerge with his companions, thirty-two
religious of the Monastery of Londonderry; John O'Luin, Wm. MacGollen,
Peter O'Higgins, Cormac MacEgan, Raymond Keogh, Richard Barry, John
O'Flaverty, Gerald Fitzgerald, David Fox, Donald O'Neagh-ten, James
O'Reilly, Dominick Dillon, Richard Overton, Stephen Petit, Peter
Costello, William Lynch, Myles McGrath, Laurence O 'Ferral, Bernard
O'Ferral, Ambrose Aeneas O'Cahill, Edmund O'Beirne, James Woulf, Vincent
G. Dillon, James Moran, Donatus Niger, William O'Connor, Thomas
O'Higgins, John O'Cul-len, David Roche, Bernard O'Kelly, Thaddeus
Moriarty, Hugh MacGoill, Raymond O'Moore, Felix O'Connor, John Keating,
Clement O'Callaghan, Daniel MacDonald, Felix MacDonald and Dominick MacEgan.
Order of St, Francis: Conor Macuarta, Roger Congaill, Fergallus
Ward, Edmund Fitzsimon, Donough O'Rourke, John O'Louchran, Cornelius
O'Rorke, Thaddeus or Thomas O'Daly John O'Dowd, Daniel O'Neilan, Philip
O'Lea, Maurice O'Scanlon, Daniel Himrecan, Charles MacGoran, Roger
O'Donnelian, Peter O'Quillan, Patrick O'Kenna, James Pillauns, Roger
O'Hanlon, Phelin O'Hara, Henry Delahoyde, Thaddeus O'Meran, John O'Day,
Donatus O'Hurley, John Cornelius, Dermitius O 'Mulroney, Brother Thomas
and his companion, John O'Molloy, Cornelius O'Dough-erty, Galridius
O'Farrel, Thaddeus O'Boyle, Patricius 0'Brady, Mattheus O'Leyn, Terence
Magennis, Lochlonin Mac O'Cadha, Magnus O'Fodhry, Thomas Fitzgerald,
John Honan, John Cathan, Francis O'Mahoney, Hilary Conroy, Christopher
Dunleavey, Richard Butler, James Saul, Bernard O'Horumley, Richard
Synott, John Esmond, Paulinus Synott, Raymund Stafford, Peter Stafford,
Didacus Cheevers, Joseph Rochford, Eugene O'Leman, Francis Fitzgerald,
Anthony Museaus, Walter de Wal-lis, Nicholas, Jeremiah de Nerihiny,
Thaddeus 0 'Caraghy, William Hickey, Roger O'Mara, Hugh Mac-Keon, Daniel
Clanchy, Neilan Lough-ran, Anthony O'Farrel, Antony Broder, Eugene O 'Cahan,
John Ferall, Bonaventure de Burgo, John Kearney and Bernard Conneaus.
Order of St. Augustine: Thaddeus O'Connel, Austin Higgins, Peter Taaffe,
William Tirrey, Donatus O'Kennedy, Donatus Serenan, Fulgentius Jordan,
Raymond O'Malley, Thomas Tullis and Thomas Deir.
Carmelite Orders:
Thomas Aquinas of Jesus, Angelus of St. Joseph, land Peter of the
Mother of God.
Order of the Blessed Trinity: Cornelius O'Connor and
Eugene O'Daly.
Society of Jesus: Edmund MacDaniell, Dominick
O 'Collines,
William Boyton, Robert Netterville and John Bath. Laymen and Noblemen.
William Walsh, Oliver Plunkett, Daniel Sutton, John Sutton, Robert
Sherlock, Matthew Lamport, Robert Myler, Christopher Roche, Edward
Cheevers, John O'Lahy, Patrick Cana-van, Patrick Hayes, Daniel O'Hannan,
Maurice Eustace, Robert Fitfigerald, Walter Eustace, Thomas Eustace,
Christopher Eustace, William Wogan, Walter Aylmer, Thaddeus Clancy,
Peter Meyler, Michael Fitzsimmons, Patrick Browne, Thomas MacCreith,
John de Burgo, Brian O'Neill, Arthur O'Neil, Roderich O'Kane, Alexander
MacSorley, Francis Tailler, Hugh Mac-Mahon, Cornelius MacGuire, Donatus
O'Brien, James O'Brien, Bernard O'Brien, Daniel O'Brien, Dominich
Fanning, Deniel, O'Higgins, Thomas Stritch, Louis 0 'Farrell, Gaefridius
Galway, Patrick Purcell, Theobold de Burgo, Gaefridius Baronius,
Thaddius, O'Connor, John O'Connor, Bernard MacBriody, Felix O'Neill,
Edward Butler.
Women Martyrs
Eleanor Birmingham, Elizabeth Kearney, Marguerite de Cashel, Brigid
Darey, Honoria de Burgo, Honoria Magan.
Reformation's Effect on Ireland
If ever a country was made
desolate by the burning, fanatical zeal of people who sought to force their
own views upon their neighbors, it was Ireland. No man can speak or write
the history of this bloody persecution without feeling keenly the recollection
of wrongs, of cruel and persistent violence used for generations to stamp out
religion from the hearts of faithful people. Spencer, the poet, a Protestant,
one of those who obtained confiscated property after one of the uprisings in
Ireland, says that the people were forced even to eat carrion; "they spake
like ghosts crying out of their graves.''
Priest hunting became a
pastime. A scale of prices was set, and the priest most hated by the English
became most loved by the Irish. Every effort that malignity and hatred could
suggest was made with the idea in mind that the loss of the Catholic religion
could make the Irishman less Irish and more amenable to the changes being
forced upon him. But the words Irish and Catholic remained synonymous, and
hence the curse of religious antagonism which for centuries drenched the
country in blood. The Irishman remained through these centuries devotedly
faithful. He had to lie hid in caves while the usurper sat in the state
church, usually a confiscated building, built by his own people. He felt
through bitter experience that any attempt, even in argument, to change his
faith was the act of a spy to persuade a soldier to desert his flag.
Protestantism represented to
the Irishman the authority which had oppressed his fellow countrymen for ages,
and hunted them for being Catholics and had hanged them for being Irish, and
the State Church in Ireland remained to the Catholic Irishman a sign of defeat
and oppression. The positive hostility to the State Church diminished in time
as the penal laws mentioned above relaxed. The armed military force with its
accompanying bloodshed ceased to come for collection of the tithes demanded
for the support of the parson, and the Irishman ceased at the same time to
trouble about it. Sydney Smith describes the Sunday of his day in Ireland:
"The bell of a neat parish church often calls only the parson and an
occasional conformist clerk; while two hundred yards off a thousand Catholics
are huddled together in a miserable hovel pelted by all the storms of heaven."
This condition prevailed until the Disestablishment.
The Oxford movement began in
England about 1850 and emphasized the desire for reunion on the part of those
members of the Anglican Church who believed in the apostolic succession and
that theirs was a separate branch of the Eoman Church. Again it drew into the
Church the various denominations whose ancestors had come out in the
Reformation. This originated with J. H., afterwards Cardinal Newman.
This movement followed a condition of things in the English Church expressed
by Lord Chatham, "We have a Popish Liturgy and Calvinistic articles," Froude,
the Protestant historian says, "It is historically certain that Elizabeth and
her ministers intentionally framed the Church formulas so as to enable
everyone to use them, who would disclaim allegiance to the Pope."
The writings of John Keble, scholarly and beautiful, prepared the way. Froude
in his scorn of the reformers continued, and Newman completed the work.
Newman's early life showed great strength of character and bitter resentment
against the narrowness of his religious horizon. "Oh, that thy creed were
sound, thou Church of Rome," he cried. Cobbett and Froude had dethroned the
Reformation heroes by their vigorous indictment. A great spiritual unrest
followed. Disunion was everywhere felt, and Newman in his search for light
drifted farther and farther away from his associates. His researches only
confirmed his doubts and the movement towards the light ended in Newman,
Faber, Dalgairns, Oakely, Northcote, Ward, Seager, Morris and a host of others
becoming Catholics. Manning became a convert later in 1851. The lectures and
writings of Wiseman helped very much to allay stormy religious outbreaks that
followed this unusual movement towards the Church, a steady stream of converts
following in the wake of this stream of souls returning to the faith of their
fathers.
Darcy McGee says no one could
help seeing that under pretense of suppressing rebellion the war was directed
against the Catholic religion. The Archbishop of Cashel was tied to a tree in
Stephen's Green, Dublin, his clothing, even his body saturated with oil and
alcohol. Alternately they lighted and quenched the flames which enveloped him,
prolonging his tortures for four days. Four Archbishops and ten bishops are
recorded as martyrs. Hundreds of priests, whose names are entered elsewhere in
this volume, were taken and tortured to death in various ways
Needless to say, after this
period, the miserable hovel soon gave way to a handsome church. Some of the
penal laws remained even up to our own day, while their effect is even yet
felt throughout the country. Almost the first to help the oppressed Catholics
were the enlightened Protestant settlers who became disgusted with the
inhumanities practiced. Flood, Grattan and Curran are illustrious examples.
The tide of toleration and religious equality, once having set in, flowed
onward with steady measured movement. The Catholic cause gradually improved
until it received its triumph in the Catholic Emancipation bill under Daniel
O'Connell in 1829.
Source:
Our Faith And The Facts
What Catholics
Believe and Practice, Heresies Against the Church, Answers to the
Charges Made Against the Church, Church Teaching Misunderstood, The
Bible, Explanation of Our Devotions, Catholic Feasts, and The Sacraments
A Home Library
Compiled by
THE REVEREND C. F. DONOVAN, M. A.
Former Managing Editor of The New World, Official
Catholic Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago
_______________
Nihil Obstat: VERY REV.
F. X. McCABE, C. M., D. D. Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur: +GEORGE CARDINAL MUNDELEIN
Archbishop of Chicago
March
2, 1925
Copyright , January , 1927, by Patrick L. Bain (All Right Reserved)