at! Inside Fadls : : ABOUT THE : : Catholic Church I nside Fadts : : ABOUT THE : : Catholic Church BY THOMAS F. COAKLEY, D. D. TABLE OF CONTENTS Catholics and the Republic . 8 The Catholic Church and the Salvation oi Non-Catholic».. 4 Modern Progress and the Catholic Church 5 The Multiplication Table and the Catholic Church 7 The American Supreme Court and Papal Infallibility 9 Object of Catholic Church Is Exclusively Supernatural. .11 Things Which the Catholic Church Does Not Believe IS freedom of Thought and the Catholic Church 15 Science and the Catholic Church 16 There Are No Fifty-Seven Varieties of Catholicity 18 Dogmas and the Catholic Church 20 The Church and the Bible.. . 21 The Catholic Church Stands by the Bible 22 Bad Catholics and the Holiness of the Catholic Church 24 Darwinism and the Catholic Church 25 When the Pope Is "Not" Infallible . .27 The Catholic Church and Faith . . . 28 Science Proves the Existence of God 29 Things the Catholic Church Does Believe 81 Evolution and the Catholic Church 39 The Reason for Three Persons in God 34 Mysteries Not So Mysterious After All. 85 Some Facts About Popes 36 The Pope Is the Executor of the Will of C h r i s t . . . . . . . 38 The Reasonableness of the Blessed Trinity 39 Evolution Supposes the Existence of God 40 Your Watch Proves the Existence of God 42 The Reason for a Personal God 43 The "Real Presence" Versus the "Real Absence" of Christ in Holy Communion... • 45 What Does the Bible Say About the Mass? .47 Religion in the Public School 49 Catholic Schools Do Not Experiment on Your Child 50 Catholic Schools Cost Less Than Public Schools.. 51 Catholic Sisters the Most Efficient Teachers in the World. .52 The Catholic Church and Public Schools 52 How to Tell If You Belong to the True Church of Christ. .55 Why the Roman Catholic Church Uses the Latin Lan-. . guage 56 Catholics Would Not Go to Confession if Christ Did Not Command It . . . . . 5 8 The Human Eye Proves That God Exists 61 luman Reason and the Catholic Church 62 God's Foreknowledge and Man's Free Wil l . . . 64 The Problem of Evil 65 Why Believe What You Cannot See? 66 Catholics Do Not Fear Evolution 68 What the Catholic Church Is Doing for the Missions 69 Nihil Obstat RT. REV, MON. J. H. OECHTERING, V. G. O w n D e a c k f f b d Inside Facts About the Catholic Church CATHOLICS AND THE REPUBLIC. The Catholic Church can exist under any form of a free government, but she seems to thrive best under a Republic. There are about twenty Republics in the world today; in every one of them, the population is either overwhelmingly Catholic, or else the Catholic population forms a very large part of the total. This proves that the Catholic Church favors the free- dom of peoples, and aids and supports them in the attain- ment is modeled after the Government of the United States, government under which they exist. The oldest Republic in the world was once a portion of the Papal States. The Republic of San Marino had its Re- publican Constitution approved by the Pope half a century before our Declaration of Independence. When Napoleon wished to bring the Republic of San Marino under the domination of the French Empire, and thus stifle the political freedom of the smallest Republic in the world, it was the Pope who declined to permit it, thus prov- ing that the Popes are the champions of liberty under a Re- publican form of Government. The most ancient Republic in the world was the Republic of Venice, and it flourished most during its most Catholic days, and during the times when the Popes had most influence with the Venetians, and with whom the Popes maintained friendly relations. The oldest and most flourishing Republics in the world in past history were precisely those in Italy, where Papal power was at its maximum ,thus indicating that the Papacy has been the constant champion of the political freedom of the people. In the New World, nearly all the Republics of Soutit America are dominantly Catholic, and their form of Govern- ment is modelled after the Government of the United State«. Nearly all o f ' these South American Republics wer* founded during the time when Papal Supremacy wm acknowledged throughout the greater part of the world, sua the Pope as a Temporal Sovereign, was one of the first to recognize them. Canada is the only government in th» western hemi»- 4 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> phere that is not a Republic; the Catholic Church is flourish- ing there, too, showing that the Church can exist and prosper under any form of government. This does no,t mean that freedom is had only under a Republican form of government. There can be freedom in other than a Republic, and the more freedom there is, the more the Church prospers. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE SALVA- TION OF NON-CATHOLICS. Catholics do not believe that all Protestants will be lost. Neither do Catholics believe that all Catholics will be saved. No Catholic can save his soul if he disobeys the laws of God and of the Church and dies impenitent, in the state of sin. Neither can any Protestant save his soul if he disobeys the laws of God and dies impenitent and in the state of sin. No person, whether he be Catholic or non-Catholic, can save his soul if he lives and dies in a state of mortal sin, and refuses to repent of his sins, and to make an act of genuine sorrow for sin before his death. It is possible for a bad Catholic to die and lose his soul, just as it is possible for a good Protestant to die and go to neaven, if he is in the state of grace. The Catholic Church teaches that she is the only Church founded by Christ. She teaches that she is the exclusive agency in the world for saving men's souls, and as a con- sequence every person in the world should belong to the Catholic Church in order to save his soul. But the Catholic Church also teaches that if it is alto- gether impossible for a person to become a member of the Catholic Church, there still exists a possibility for that per- son to save his soul. The Catholic Church has never condemned any one to be lost, whether they were members of the Catholic Church or not. Judgment belongs »to God alone, and God will not condemn any person unless that person ardently desires to be lost, and repudiates God with his last breath. It is much easier for Catholics to save their souls than it is for those who are not Catholics. Catholics have the benefit of the Sacraments, which communicate God's grace to them when received worthily ,whereas non-Catholic«, by INSIDE FACTS •¿i> neglecting the Sacraments, have deprived themselves of this wonderful aid to salvation. Those who without sin, without knowledge, without malice, without prejudice, remain outside the Catholic Church, may save their souls if they die in the grace of God. But it it difficult for them to be sure they have the grace of God, whereas Catholics have the assurance of the Sacraments. Therefore, Catholics invite all non-Catholics to investi- gate the claims of the Catholic Church, to remove any pos- sibility of remaining outside the one true fold of Christ, and thus jeopardize eternal salvation. Non-Catholics, who doubt the divinity of their own church, or who are not satisfied that Christ founded their own sects, are bound to investigate the claims of the true Church of Christ; otherwise they are in bad faith, and im- peril their chances for salvation. But God never demands impossibilities, and all the Cath- olic Church and the laws of God require is that a person should investigate, and satisfy his conscience. Salvation is impossible only for those who deliberately, sinfully, will- fully, and without any extenuating circumstances, remain outside the one true fold established by Christ for the salva- tion of mankind. MODERN PROGRESS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. There has been astounding progress in every department of the human mind in the last 300 years; there has been astounding progress of the Catholic Church in the last 300 years. The more the world progresses the more the Catholic Church makes progress, for progress and Catholicity go hand in hand. The Catholic Church has kept steady pace with the increasing progress of the age, and the remarkable progress of the scientific world has been a real help to the progress of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has made the most wonderful pro- gress in precisely those enlightened countries of the modern world where scientific progress has reached its greatest heights. The Catholic Church loves education, and her greatest tì INSIDE FACTS •¿i> conquests have been in those countries where there has been a high degree of education, such as in the United States, The Catholic Church has made its greatest gains in those very countries where there is compulsory education. In countries where there is no compulsory education, the Catholic Church has made gains only in proportion to the ability of the people to become enlightened; ignorance has always been a hindrance and a handicap to the progress of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has made unexampled progress in spite of the fact that in her doctrines she is irrevocably com- mitted to the past. She cannot change her truths to suit the whims of the latest theorizer, or amateur theologian, any more than the multiplication table can be changed to suit the whims of dishonest stock gamblers. The Catholic Church has the burden of nineteen cen- turies on her shoulders, but no one can accuse her of losing her influence over people and nations because she is old. No other form of religion has made enduring conquests at all comparable to hers, none can keep pace with her, and she still is "up-to-date" with an answer for every difficulty, a solution for every problem and a solace for every ill of the modern world. The Catholic Church has made this immense progress because she preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified, and has not betrayed her divine Founder by turn- ing the Institution established by Him into an uplift or- ganization, a social welfare club, a community center, or a socialistic group for the dissemination of merely humani- tarian doctrines. The Catholic Church has made immense progress in the United States simply because she has steadfastly kept be- fore her eyes the one great purpose of Christ in founding the Catholic Church, namely, to save men's souls. To develop their bodies, to keep them clean, to teach them to play, to instruct them in folk dancing, to entertain them at the "movies," to become an adjunct for political parties, may well be the object of other organizations, but it is not the end for which the Catholic Church was instituted by Christ. The Catholic Church has made immense progress in the United States and in other parts of the world in spite of enormous difficulties. She has not had wealth on her side INSIDE FACTS •¿i> she pays double rates for the education- of her children, she has been the victim of organized and subsidized opposition on a colossal scale, and her children have been deliberately excluded from positions of prestige and honor in both public and private life. No human institution could make progress under such terrifying conditions; therefore the Catholic Church must be divine. The Catholic Church now numbers more than 300,000,000 human beings. That is more than three times the total number of all other forms of Christianity combined. In other words, all the other forms of Christianity taken to- gether do not number more than 100,000,000, or just about one-third the number of Catholics in the world. The progress of the Catholic Church for the last 300 years presents the most remarkable phenomenon of all time. She is the only institution in the world's history that has never revised her constitution, recast her doctrines, or re- shaped her truths to suit the changing fancies of the hour. She teaches today the century old truths that Christ taught, and those will she teach forever, for like Christ Himself, she ds the same yesterday, today and forever. THE MULTIPLICATION TABLE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. God Himself could not change the multiplication table; neither could God Himself change the truths of the Catholic Church. The truths of the Catholic Church are as fixed, permanent and unchangeable as the truths of the multiplica- ¡ ;on tabic. There has been no progress in the multiplication table for the last 1900 years; so also, there has been no progress in the truths of the Catholic Church for the last 1900 years. As long as the world lasts the multiplication table will remain as it is now. As long as the world lasts, the truths of the Catholic Church will remain what they now are, and always have been. No possible discovery of modern science can ever change the multiplication table; twice two will always be four, no matter what new inventions or fresh discoveries re 8 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> made in the realms of science. So also, no possible discovers of modern science can ever change the truths of the Catholic Church. The world has made immense progress during the last 1900 years; but no amount of progress has changed a single truth of the multiplication table. So also, in spite ol the immense progress of the last 1900 years, not a singll truth of the Catholic Church has been changed . There is no more necessity for changing a single truth taught by the Catholic Church than there is for chang. ing the truths of the multiplication table. Each is true, and truth is immovable, eternal, inflexible. Those who condemn the Catholic Church for not changing her doctrines, should also condemn the professors of mathematics for not changing the multiplication table. The multiplication table was formulated centuries ago, and no educated person ever accused it of not being "up-to-date." So also, the truths of the Catholic Church were formulated centuries ago, but no educated person evet accused them of not being "up-to-date." No one would think of calling a professor ol Mathematics narrow-minded who held tenaciously and in spite of all opposition to the truth that twice two are four. So also, no one would think of calling a Catholic narrow- minded who held tenaciously and in spite of all opposition to the truths of-the Catholic Church. The Divinity of Christ, and the Divine origin of the Catholic Church are as clear and certain and true to a Catholic, as to say that twice two are four, or that tht square of the hypothenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides of a triangle. The Catholic Church wants people to be consis- tent; that is, to treat the truths of the Catholic Church in exactly the same way that the truths of other branches of knowledge are treated. No matter how wealthy, or how highly educated we may become, we can never dispense with the truths of the multiplication table; so also, no matter how wealthy, or how highly educated we become, we can never dispense witfc the truths of the Catholic Church. To attempt to change the Ten Commandments, or to bring the doctrines of Christ "up-to-date" is on a pal INSIDE FACTS •¿i> with the attempt to change the multiplication table. When, let us ask, was the multiplication table "out of date"? Not until the multiplication table, gets "behind ..the times" and needs revision will the Catholic Church think about revising its doctrines to bring them "up-to-date." No person who knows the truths of the multiplica- tion table can be excused from accepting them; so also, no one who knows the truths of the Catholic Church can be excused from accepting them. No reasonable person can object to the multiplica- tion table; so also, no reasonable person can object to the truths of the Catholic Church. All the Catholic Church desires is that the truths of Catholicity be investigated. If you do not find the same infallible certainty for the truths of the Catholic Church as for the truths of mathematics, do not accept them. THE AMERICAN SUPREME COURT AND PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. The Supreme Court of the United States is judicially infallible in defining, declaring, expounding and defending the Constitution of the United States, just as the Pope is infallible in defining, declaring, expounding and defending the doctrines revealed by Christ, and no others. The Constitution of the United States has conferred judicial infallibility upon the Supreme Court; Christ has con- ferred infallibility upon the Pope. The Constitution of the United States erected only ONE supreme infallible tribunal to decide disputes, just as Christ erected only one supreme infallible tribunal to decide con- troversies. The Supreme Court of the United States is not judicially infallible in passing judgment on matters not contained in the Constitution, just as the Pope is not infallible in passing judgment on matters not revealed by Christ. In expounding the Constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States cannot err. There is no legal power any- where to question its decisions. In expounding the doctrines of Christ, the Pope cannot err; there is no power anywhere on earth to question his decisions. The government of the United States would be totally 10 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> defective without a quasi infallible tribunal, the Supreme Court, to decide disputed questions; so also the Church of Christ would be totally defective without an infallible tri- bunal, the Pope. Christ would not make His Church as defec- tive as human institutions, when He possessed the wisdom and the power to make it perfect. If judicial infallibility is necessary to interpret the laws of the United States, it is much more necessary to interpret the laws of Christ, which contain a code of legislation the most extensive, and the most wonderful ever given to man, embracing not only plain and obvious truths, but truths of the most sublime and abstruse character, regulating all our duties to God, our neighbor and ourselves. The founders of the American Republic did not dispense with the Judicial Department, and make each individual the judge of the law in his own case, just as Christ did not dis- pense with the Judicial Department in His Church nor make each individual governed the judge of the law of God. The laws of the United States cannot be interpreted by each individual citizen, who is to be governed by those laws, just as the laws of Christ cannot be interpreted by us, since we are the parties to be governed. The Constitution of the United States erected an infal- lible tribunal to finally settle and determine controversies, just as Christ furnished His Church with an infallible tri- bunal to finally decide and determine controversies. The United States formed a union; union cannot exist without peace; peace is impossible without a competent means to end disputes; the Supreme Court is that means in the United States, just as the Pope is that competent means in the Catholic Church. There are only three ways in which a law-giver could produce certainty in the interpretation of his laws: a. by an inspired revelation to each individual as often as occasion arose. b. by enumerating in advance all the uncounted incidents of each particular case, and pronouncing, centuries in advance, a judgment on each. c. by establishing an infallible tribunal, confining its decisions to a single point at a time, adjusting its language to the precise state of particular miscon- ception, repeating the explanations until the matter INSIDE FACTS •¿i> was understood, and always prepared to meet every new difficulty as it arose. The first course is open to a multitude of fatal objec- tions; it does away with government entirely, it strikes 8+ the heart of authority, and there is no sure test by which others may be assured of the genuineness of individual in- spiration. The second course would require an infinite amount of labor, and by its very nature would be so vast as to be useless. The third course is the only logical and consistent one, and it is the one followed by the government of the United States, and by Christ Himself. Each of the infallible tri- bunals erected by the government and by Christ, namely, the Supreme Court, and the Pope, is accessible at all times, to all persons, for the decision of matters within the com- petency of each. The Supreme Court defines and explains the Constitution of the United States; the Pope defines and explains the Constitution of Christ. "I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:18-19). SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: THEY GIVE TESTI- MONY TO PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. OBJECT OF CATHOLIC CHURCH IS EX- CLUSIVELY SUPERNATURAL. Every organization in the world has a specific object which it pursues. It must be weighed and judged by the efficiency it manifests in attaining that object. Every organization in the world should be judged by the achievement of its primary object; that is, it should not be blamed if it does not attain other objects altogether foreign to the one for which it was established. We do not blame the Pennsylvania Railroad for not making a good brand of Catsup, because making Catsup is not the object for which the Pennsylvania Railroad was built. We do not criticize the H. J. Heinz Pickle Company for not running cheap excursions to Atlantic City, because the Heinz Company is not engaged in the railroad business. 12 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> So also we should not criticize the Catholic Church if it does not bend all its energies merely to attain natural, human, worldly objects. The Catholic Church was not organized for that purpose; on the contrary, its purpose is altogether supernatural, divine, and to seek the things of the next world, not of this. Christ did not found the Catholic Church to be a mere humanitarian uplift organization, to teach civics, folk dances, domestic science, and modern business methods. Such objects are good in themselves, but they are to be at- tained by other societies than the Church. Christ did not found the Catholic Church to open bath houses, establish play-grounds, or furnish amusement and recreation for the masses. Such subjects, perfectly legiti- mate and praiseworthy in themselves, are to be achieved by other organizations. Hence, the object of thé Catholic Church is divine, not human; it is supernatural, not natural; it is eternal, not temporal; it is of the next world, not of this. The object of the Catholic Church is to bathe men's souls with God's grace, not their bodies with Ivory soap. True, cleanliness is NEXT to Godliness, but many people now confuse the two, whereas the proverb says clearly that it is NEXT to Godliness, not synonymous with it. It is the business of the Catholic Church to save men's souls, not to frame a tariff law, or to improve our inland waterways. It is the business of the Catholic Church to purify the hearts of men, not to construct an electric locomotive, or to tunnel the South Side Hills. It is the business of the Catholic Church to keep men from sin, and to reconcile their sinful souls to God, not merely to better their housing conditions. Sanitary sur- roundings do not always mean saintly surroundings. It is the business of the Catholic Church to keep men, women and children pure in heart, not merely to teach them methods of national prosperity and political aggrandizement. It is the business of the Catholic Church to keep men's souls afloat on the stream of God's grace, not merely to teach them physical culture, or aesthetic dancing. The Catholic Church tries to do just what Christ and His Apostles did, namely, to preach the Gospel of Christ and INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Him crucified, and to let merely human organizations attend to the business of attaining merely human and world)*: objects. We do not read in the Bible that Christ Himself wa supremely anxious to establish playgrounds in the hill towns of Judea, or to promote amicable trade relations with neigh boring nations. As well might you expect the Catholic Church to build steamboats to ply on the canals in Mars, as to expect her to give first attention to any merely worldly undertaking. Her object is to seek out lost souls, and reclaim them for Christ. This is her business, and she has plenty to do to attend to her own business, and to leave to worldly organizations the achievements of purely worldly objects. THINGS WHICH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES NOT BELIEVE. Catholics do not worship statues any more than the people of Pittsburg worship E. M. Bigelow, whose statue is in Schenley Park. Catholics do not worship the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, any more than the people of Pittsburg worshipped Shakespeare, when they put flowers and wreaths on his statue at the entrance to Cargegie Gallery a few weeks ago. Catholics do not worship relics any more than the people of Pittsburg worshipped the Liberty Bell when they turned out by the thousands recently to greet it. No medieval saint ever had such honor paid to him as the Liberty Bell. The Catholic Church does not allow her people to read certain sinful and immoral books, just as the Carnegie Library authorities very justly will not allow obscene and immoral books on their shelves. The Carnegie Library has an "index" just as Rome has. The Catholic Church does not teach that God created the wrorld in six days of twenty-four hours each. The Bible does not say so, for the Bible says that the sun itself was not created until the fourth "day," and the "day" of Holy Scripture is an indefinite period. The Catholic Church does not believe that all of the Word of God is in the Bible. The Bible itself says it is not 14 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> complete. The Bible was not all written for more than sixty years after the death of Christ, and there was no Bible, as people have it today, until the year 397. The Catholic Church does not teach that all Catholics will necessarily be saved. The Catholic Church does not teach that all those who are not Catholics will necessarily be lost for all eternity. The Catholic Church does not teach that all unbap- tized children or adults will be sent to hell. The Catholic Church does not worship angels, or saints, or the Mother of Christ. They are all creatures, and worship is due and reserved to God alone. The Catholic Church does not believe that a valid and complete marriage can ever be dissolved ,except by death. Hence there can be no dviorce in the Catholic Church. The recent Gould-Castellane marriage trial in Rome should be evidence that all the money in the world, and all the in- fluence of great names, has not the slightest effect when the doctrines of Christ are at stake. The Catholic Church does not believe that the true Church of Christ is composed exclusively of saints. Sinners, also, are members of the Church, for it was to save them that Christ came on earth. The true Church of Christ must save men from their sins, not cast them out, excommunicate or repudiate them. The Catholic Church does not believe that the true Church of Christ exists merely as an adjunct to civic bodies, uplift organizations, political demagogues or other humani- tarian welfare societies. The Catholic Church has for its object the keeping alive of supernatural religion in the world She would rather save the soul of one single ragged beggar of the slums of Pittsburg than build a hundred lines of double track railway through the length and breadth of the United States. The Catholic Church does not believe that sensible people will judge the Catholic Church by so-called "ex- priests" and other immoral lepers, reprobates, castoffs, drunkards and derelicts, who form the garbage pile and the refuse of Catholicity. Judge the Catholic Church as you would any other institution, by its finished product, not by its scrap heap. The Catholic Church does not believe that the Pope INSIDE FACTS •¿i> has anything at all to do with the rights of Catholics as citizens. It is not any of his business what political party Catholics belong to. The present European war is proof of this, with Catholics fighting on both sides. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. There is no freedom of thought in the scientific world. Thought in scientific circles is not now, never was, and never will be free. When science comes in free thought goes out. Once science discovers a TRUTH with certainty, we must perforce renounce all right to question or deny. Thought cannot be independent of the laws of thought, and the laws of thought are as rigorous and as exacting as the laws of mathematics. We can no more say that two times two are five than we can say that two times two are ninety-nine. Moreover, when scientific men discover a TRUTH they set about earnestly to propagate that truth, and they use every effort to subject as many people as possible to its yoke, because they consider the service of truth a bondage worthy of intelligent beings. Any scientist who would deny the laws of gravitation, or the rotundity of the earth, or the American War of Inde- pendence would be set down, not as a noble champion of in- tellectual freedom, but as an ignoramus or a fool. This submission to scientific truth does not interfere with our freedom. It is no infringement of my liberty that there are parapets on the Sixth Street bridge to keep me from walking into the Allegheny River. If thought were free we could utter the most absurd fallacies, and the most patent contradictions. We could say, for instance, that two times two are seventy-five. We could call ourselves Abraham Lincoln, or affirm that the moon was made of green cheese. None but the feeble minded are disciples of free thought. The highest prerogative of the human mind is its utter lack of freedom. We must say that two times two are four, and in doing so our intellect manifests an absolute lack of liberty. Our intellect is chained down, unalterably and irre- 16 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> vocably, to the data given to it. It is a slave, an irredeem- able slave, a slave that will never be emancipated. We would not call the captain of a transatlantic liner a slave for obeying scrupulously the warning signals flashed out from the coast; neither should Catholics be censured for obeying the dogmatic decisions of the Church. Christ is the Light of the World, and He has flashed out to us the warning signals that will guide us safely to eternity. The dogmatic decisions of the Catholic Church no more interfere with the intellectual freedom of Catholics, than the dogmatic decisions of mathematicians or chemists, or his- torians. The doctrines of the Catholic Church no more impede the freedom of Catholics, than do the beacon lights set along the rocky coast impede the voyage of a navigator. When astronomers tell us that an eclipse of the sun occurred so many thousand years ago, we are not free to deny the fact; neither are we free to deny the fact that God created angels, or the fact of the Blessed Trinity. When astronomers tell us that one hundred years from now an eclipse of the moon will take place, we are not free to deny it, any more than we are free to deny the fact that the General Judgment will take place at the end of the world. Before objecting to any doctrine of the Catholic Church, be sure you know the precise and complete and official mean- ing of the doctrine. This definition must be obtained from Catholics. Always go to headquarters for your information about Catholicity. In investigating Catholic doctrine, bear in mind that for 1900 long years the Catholic Church has been teaching exactly the same truths. They have, therefore, stood the test of time. They have been accepted by the greatest in- tellects the world has produced, and they have consequently the quality and stability and permanency that are an ante- cedent proof of their credibility. SCIENCE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Catholic Church rejoices in the wonderful scientific progress made in the last 300 years, because many of the world's most foremost scientists have been Catholics. There- fore, there can be no conflict between the Catholic Church and genuine science. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> One instance out of a million is enough: watch the Pitts- burg daily papers for the next announcement of an earth- quake in some distant part of the world. You will find that Jesuit priests are among the first to record these earth tremors on their Seismographs. Hence, when you hear of some uneducated persons de- claring that there is opposition between religion and science, you may be sure that one or the other, or both, are counter- feits. It is either not genuine religion or else it is not genuine science. No scientific fact can possibly contradict a religious fact. Facts cannot under any circumstances be opposed to facts. Where there is apparent conflict, there are not two facts, but only one, or perhaps none at all. Science deals with this world; religion deals with the next world. There can be no more collision between science and religion than there can be a head on collision between the mountains on the moon, and the Pennsylvania Limited. There will never come a time when science will triumph over the Catholic Church, simply because science and the Catholic Church deal with two entirely different things; science deals with the seen, and the Catholic Church deals with the unseen; they run in parallel lines, and no clash is possible or thinkable. Science and the Catholic Church are absolutely distinct, separate and independent from every point of view, and there can never, until the end of time, be a dispute between them. If ever a dispute arises, it is because some scientist gets beyond his scientific realm, and begins to treat of Theology, or else some Theologian begins to discuss things of science. If each sticks to his last, there will be no collision or con. flict, for no one should ever attempt to handle problems lying outside the range of his knowledge. Science is concerned exclusively with physical pheno- mena, such as comes within the range of the senses. It deals entirely with the natural; it is of the earth, earthy. The Catholic Church, however, reaches out beyond the natural, and deals with the supernatural; it considers things that are not at all within the range of the senses. Hence there never can be a disagreement between Science and the Catholic Church; there can be no intercom- munion; there can be neither jealousy nor collision. 18 INSIDE FACTb There call be no more conflict between science and the Catholic Church than there can be between the laws of sub- marine warfare, and the laws of portrait painting. As well might you look for conflict between an archi- tect and an aviator as to look for a dispute between science and the Catholic Church. The two things are as far as the poles apart. Catholic theologians keep within the bounds of their own sphere; so also scientists should keep within the bounds of their own sphere, which is the realm of material facts, which they can handle and touch and measure and see, and con- cerning which they can conduct experiments. We do not accept as true the absurd and misleading statements appearing from time to time in the public press in the name of science; such things are the merest pretense of genuine science. So also, we should not accept the unfounded and un- authorized statements of Catholic doctrine appearing in print from the pens of those who know nothing at all of Catholic doctrine. Get your scientific facts from scientific experts, and have nothing to do with the gong-men of science, who form the back wash of the journalistic world. So, also, get your Catholic doctrine from experts, and have nothing to do with unauthorized persons who form the dead wood, and the refuse and the scrap heap of Catholicity. THERE ARE NO FIFTY-SEVEN VARIETIES OF CATHOLICITY. It is just as easy to distinguish the true Church of Christ as it is to tell a Pierce Arrow car from a Ford. Christ gave His Church many trade marks or distinctive qualities, which are woven into its very life, and which can- not be separated from it. One of these trademarks is Unity. There can be but ONE GOD; hence there can be but one true religion. You might just as well think of worshipping fifty-seven Gods, as think of having fifty-seven different kinds of religion. Human reason is one, Humanity is one, God is one: therefore religion must be one. Christ prayed for Unity, and He and His Apostles con- INSIDE FACTS •¿i> stantly warned the early Catholics of the dangers of heresy and of division. Christ wants all the world to belong to His Church; we have no choice in the matter. We must accept his doctrine completely, and without reserve, or not take it at all. No man can reject one or more portions of Christ's teaching, and stil) call himself a Christian. Christ taught that all who belong to His Church must profess exactly the same faith, believe in exactly the same doctrines, and in every way manifest the unity which Christ claimed to be a distinctive characteristic of His religion. Christ taught that all who belong to His Church must believe in the seven (7) Sacraments which He instituted. Christ taught that all who belong to His Church must obey the Pope, in matters of religion, of course, whom He constituted His Vicar and representative on earth, and to whom He gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Hence refusal to recognize the Pope, ipso facto, cuts one off from genuine Christianity. Christ taught that His Church must be exactly the same all over the world. There cannot be a different religion, un- der a different name, in every country. All the world was created by One God, and there must be one only religion in which One God can be worshipped as God wants to be wor- shipped. The Apostles and the early Catholics suffered martyr- dom, rather than deny a single doctrine taught by Christ. There were no fifty-seven varieties of the Christian religion in the days of the Apostles. They all believed the same things, professed the same faith, partook of the same sacra- ments, and were united under the one head, the Pope. Church unity will never be an accomplished fact until all the world is Catholic, for to the Catholic Church was given the high command to go and teach all nations, and to preach the gospel to every creature. There is no excuse for any person in the world who in- vestigates sincerely remaining outside the Catholic Church. The true Church of Christ can be discovered just as easily and just as surely as the location of Saloniki, and we can demonstrate the truth of the Catholic Church just as easily and just as surely as we can demonstrate the theorems of Euclid. 20 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> DOGMAS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Dogmas are truths. Scientists have dogmas; so has the Catholic Church. Dogmas are short, simple, clear, clean-cut statements of truth, whether the truth pertains to science or faith. Scientists use dogmas to clearly state truth in precise language, so that they themselves and others may know what to think. So does the Catholic Church. To say that Hydrogen and Oxygen in certain propor- tions are the elements composing a drop of water, is a dogma of Chemistry. To say that there are three Divine Persons in One God is a dogma of the Catholic Church. To say that two times two are four is a dogma of Mathe- matics. To say that Christ founded but one Church, and that the Catholic -Church, is dogma of Catholicity. To say that light travels faster than sound is a dogma of Physics. To say that Christ is really, truly and substan- tially present in the Holy Eucharist is a dogma of the Cath- olic Church. To say that Pittsburg is in Pennsylvania is a dogma of Geography. To say that Christ gave to His Apostles and their successors the power of forgiving sins is a dogma of Catholicity. To say that the earth revolves around the sun is a dogma of Astronomy. To say that Christ is God is a dogma of Catholicity. To say that life can only come from life is a dogma of Biology. To say that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the successor of St. Peter, and the Vicar of Christ on earth, is a dogma of Catholicity. To say that Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo is a dogma of history. To say that Baptism is necessary for salvation is a dogma of Catholicity. No sane man would dream of asking scientific men to get rid of their dogmas. No sane man would ever dream of asking the Catholic Church to do away with its dogmas. Scientists would laugh at you if you protested against their dogmas. For a similar reason, the Catholic Church laughs at you if you protest against her dogmas. Religious truth is as much truth as scientific truth. When scientists show that they can live without their 23 INSIDE FACTb dogmas, then, and not until then, will the Catholic Church think about abandoning its dogmas. The dogmas of science are unchangeable. So are the dogmas of the Catholic Church. A modern university professor is more dogmatic in his utterances than any Pope or prelate of ancient, medieval or modern times. Engineers have their dogmas, electricians have their dogmas, chemists have their dogmas, mathematicians have their dogmas; so has the Catholic Church. Scientists have been more dogmatic in expressing the truths of their own branches than all the Popes from St. Peter to Benedict XV. Every man who thinks at all, and who knows what he is thinking about, cannot help expressing his thoughts in dog- matic form. We can no more avoid using dogmas than we can deny our existence, or prevent our intellect from func- tioning. All the Catholic Church desires is that people be con- sistent. Don't object to the Catholic Church doing what you do yourself. Use the golden rule occasionally. The Catholic Church has as much right to use dogmas as scientists have. THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. The Catholic Church existed before the Bible; it is pos- sible for the Catholic Church to exist without the Bible, for the Catholic Church is altogether independent of the Bible. Even if the Bible shoultl suddenly perish from the earth, through some great calamity, it would not affect a single doctrine of the Catholic Church, nor imperil its existence. The Bible is the Word of God, and the Catholic Church reverences it as such, has been its constant champion and defender, and makes use of it because it is the divinely in- spired Word of God. But the Bible is not all of the Word of God. The Bible itself says it is not complete. St. John in two different pas- sages in his Gospel, states emphatically that the Bible is not complete. We know that two of the Epistles of St. Paul are lost, for there is no vestige of their contents in the New Testa- ment. 22 INSIDE FACTS •¿i> The New Testament was written, not for the purpose of establishing new churches, nor for doing pioneer missionary work among infidel nations. The New Testament was written for use in churches al- ready in existence ,and in a flourishing state. Consult, for instance, the opening sentences of St. Paul's Epistles, and observe how he addresses them to the churches already es- tablished. The Bible does not give any systematic, complete and exhaustive treatment of the doctrines of Christ. In many respects it is like a stenographer's note book, partial and fragmentary, to be supplemented later on in more elaborate detail by other agencies. Christ never wrote a word of the Bible. One might naturally expect Him to have set the example by writing at least some portions of the Bible if he intended His followers to take their entire religion from it. Christ never ordered His Apostles to write any part of the Bible. We might well expect such a command from Him if he desired the members of His Church to have recourse to the Bible for their religion. Christ never ordered His Apostles and disciples to circu- late the Old Testament. It is not unreasonable to suppose Christ would have done this, had He wished His followers to make the circulation of the Bible the only means of knowing His doctrines. Christ could not have intended that the world should take its religion from the Bible, since so many millions of the human race today, to say nothing of past ages, cannot read or write. Nor could Christ have intended His religion to be de- rived exclusively from a Book, when even learned men dis- pute about its important passages. Learning and erudition and holiness are no guarantee of a proper interpretation of the Bible. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH STANDS BY THE BIBLE. The Catholic Church has always stood by the Bible. It is the only institution in the world that believes the Bible, and the whole Bible, to be the divinely inspired Word of God. The Catholic Church refuses to treat, the Word of God INSIDE FACTS 23 as a mere human document, or to disrespectfully criticize it as one would criticize the remarks of an irresponsible newspaper man. The Bible is the Word of God only when it is inter- preted as God means it to be interpreted. To give a different meaning to the words than God intended they should have is to make it cease to be God's Word at all. For this rea- son, the Catholic Church, which produced the Bible, is the only genuinely authorized interpreter of God's Word. The Catholic Church got along without the Bible for nearly 400 years; it could get along again, even if every book of the Bible were suddenly blotted out from the entire world. Christ constantly told His Apostles to PREACH and to TEACH. So also, St. Paul tells us that faith comes, by HEARING. Observe he does not say by writing, or by read- ing the Bible. The Bible was not always a splendidly bound volume such as we buy today in book stores. It was originally written on separate parchment leaves. These parchment leaves were scattered over a great portion of Europe and Asia. They were not all collected and definitely and for all time fixed as the Bible until the Church, decided what was and what was not the genuine Word of God. Thus, for some generations after Christ, there was no Bible as we have it now. This is another proof that Christ founded the Catholic Church to be His representative on earth. Hence any Church which claims to be founded exclusively on the Bible, and to teach only the things that are in the Bible, and to reject things not found in the Bible, proves its own undoing, for it thereby admits that it could have no existence for nearly 400 years after Christ, and therefore is no Christian Church. LONG LIVE THE BIBLE, THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD! LONG LIVE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE ONLY AUTHORIZED, COMPETENT AND INFALLIBLE IN TERPRETER OF THE BIBLE! 24 INSIDE FACTb BAD CATHOLICS AND THE HOLINESS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. When we say that the Catholic Church is "Holy," we do not mean that every so-called Catholic is a paragon of virtue. Judas was a Catholic, and he was no paragon of virtue. More than eight per cent of the Apostles betrayed Christ; it seems at times today that the percentage is almost as high; yet neither the iniquity of ancient nor modern Judases imperils the holiness of the Church. You would not judge the Pittsburg Coal Company by the gob piles, the mine refuse, and the dirt at the mouth of a coal mine; so also do not judge the Catholic Church by its refuse and derelicts. If Judas, who knew Christ, talked to Him, walked with Him, dined with Him, finally betrayed Him, it is not sur- prising that bad Catholics today do the same thing. You would not judge the Pennsylvania Railroad by the wrecked locomotives and cars piled up after a collision; so also you should not judge the Catholic Church by the wrecks of those who have collided with the laws of the Catholic Church. You would not judge the Carnegie Steel Company by the slag discarded from its blast furnaces; so also do not judge the Catholic Church by the so-called hypocrites and whitened sepulchres, parading under Catholic names, but who never go to Mass, or receive the Sacraments. In other words, judge the Catholic Church just as you judge any other institution, namely by its finished product. The Pennsylvania Limited is a better evidence of the excel- lence of the Pennsylvania Railroad than a freight wreck blocking the main line. The Pennsylvania Railroad cannot run its trains without the co-operation of its employees, who must obey train regu- lations. So also the Catholic Church cannot save souls, and take them on their journey to eternity, without the co-opera- tion of its members, who must obey the regulations of the Church. One careless engineer, disobeying the* clearly expressed orders of his trainmaster, will cause a wreck, but no man of sense would thereby condemn the entire Pennsylvania Rail- road. So also one bad Catholic, by disobeying the clearly expressed commands of the Catholic Church, will wreck his INSIDE FACTS •¿i> own and other lives, but his failure does not thereby involve the Catholic Church, whose orders he ignores. This is a constructive age; people and institutions are judged by what they do and do well. Take a look around you, and see what the Catholic Church is doing for those who listen to her teachings. The Catholic Church puts holiness before any other con- sideration in the world; and in order to impress it still more emphatically on her members she dedicates every one of her churches to God, in honor of some person who was dis- tinguished for holiness. Catholic churches are called after saints, holy people, and not after the names of streets, or by numerals. For a like reason, every Catholic receives the name of a saint in Baptism, to warn him that he «aust imitate the virtues and holiness of the illustrious saint whose name he bears. DARWINISM AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Catholic Church is not a scientific institution. She has nothing at all to do with physical science. She was not founded for the purpose of promoting natural science, or to further scientific research. It is a matter of complete indifference to the Catholic Church whether or not Catholics believe in Darwin's theory that the present lion and tiger, for instance, were evolved from some common type by an immense number of in- finitesimal variations. As an extension of his theory, for it always remained a mere theory, Darwin assumed, but of course did not prove, that man was only another instance of gradual evolution from an original ancestor common to ourselves and the ape family. Darwin thus assumed, proof always lacking, that man and beast were the same in kind, and differed only in the degree of their development. Thus Darwin totally ignored the spiritual element in man. The Catholic Church teaches that man is a creature composed of both body and soul, and that man's spiritual soul is superior to his body. The bony and fleshy structure of man, like that of the beast, may indeed be resolved into its chemical constituents. 26 INSIDE FACTb But no man can dissolve the spiritual soul of man into its chemical elements. The body of both man and beast is subject to conditions of time and space, but no power on earth can limit man's soul to such narrow borders as time and space; man's spiritual soul transcends both. The body of both man and beast decomposes and disinte- grates. Man's soul, on the other hand, is immortal, and wili never disintegrate; it can never be resolved into parts, for it has no parts, and it retains its identity always. The body of both man and beast has neither intelligence, nor moral free will; but the spiritual soul of man is endowed with both intelligence and liberty, rendering every man a free agent, without predetermination. As a theory Darwinism is generally regarded as a failure all along the line. There is not a shred of geological evi- dence to support the theory of the gradual transformation of species; on the contrary there is much evidence of a posi- tive nature against it. Darwin himself did not deny the existence of God. Rather he supposes God's existence, and implies His creative act. Darwin's theory is one of transformed species; but there must be something to transform before Darwin's theory is a workable hypothesis. No one will deny that Darwin greatly stimulated scien- tific thought and research. He placed the Evolution theory on a basis of systematic observation. But the theory which he himself advocated has been so modified by subsequent scientists that Darwinism has now been definitely rejected; it is embalmed, cremated and buried. Hence to attempt a refutation of Darwinism is like at- tempting to slay the slain. Darwinism has been dead and buried these many years. Darwinism was a theory; only that and nothing more It hrid four periods. First, when it found favor with young scientific men. from 1859 to 1870. Then came the stage of growth, when Darwinism was the fad, for the twenty years from 1870 to 1890. But truth alone is mirhty and will prevail, and the third stage from 1890 to 1900 witnessed a period of criticism, and ^o-'bt and indifference, to be followed bv a stage of rapid decl me from 1900 to tlie present day, when the theory hsA INSIDE FACTS •¿i> been relegated to the lumber room of scientific history, a fossil, a curio, a warning for half educated people to go slow before asserting that science has taken the place of God. WHEN THE POPE IS "NOT" INFALLIBLE. He is not infallible in his private capacity, as an indi- vidual, even though he then discusses matters revealed by Christ to the Church. He is not infallible when he carries on a private con- versation with his Cardinals, or Bishops, or visitors. He is not infallible when he gives a public and official audience to a diplomat of a foreign government accredited to the Holy See. He is not infallible when he appoints a Bishop to a vacant see in any part of the worid. He is not infallible when he orders prayers to be said in the churches of the world for any purpose whatsoever. He is not infallible in matters pertaining exclusively to the discipline of the Church, for instance, in matters relating to the marriages of Catholics. The recent marriage laws were not an infallible pronouncement of the Pope. The Pope was not infallible when he made Gregorian Music the official music of the Church. The Pope was not infallible when he issued the recent decree regarding dancing. The Pope was not acting infallibly when he mitigated the Lenten fast in certain countries for the duration of the war. The Pope was not infallible when he created three American Cardinals. The Pope was not infallible when he wrote a letter to the President of the United States regarding the European war, and urging peace. The Pope was not infallible when he changed the calen- dar, or fixed the date of Easter, of rebuilt the Vatican Ob- servatory. The Pope is infallible only when he acts in his official capacity, as the Vicar of Christ, and the Head of the Catholic Church, speaking to all Christians of the world, on some doc- trine of faith or morals, originally given by Christ to the Apostles. Hence infallibility does not admit of any new 28 INSIDE FACTb doctrine, nor a doctrine for a few people, but it means the same thing for all times, all persons, all places. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND FAITH. Faith is believing something on the authority of an- other. We believe because we rely upon the veracity and truthfulness of those who tell us. A very large part of the knowledge on which we act day after day is based not upon vision, not upon personal experience, but upon Faith. Having faith in our fellow-men, and trusting in their word, lies at the very foundation of society. We do not think it absurd to believe what our parents, relatives and friends tell us. We make an act of faith in them. We trust them because we feel that they are truthful, and will not deceive us. All that faith requires is that the person who tells us something should know what he tells us, and that he should desire to impart the truth. In religious matters, it is the All- knowing God Who tells us the truths, and He desires most earnestly to tell us nothing but the truth. If faith is required in ordinary every day matters and in things of this life that are of little consequence, it is much more required in the case of matters of greater consequence, and in things of eternity. The rule that applies in natural truths, applies also in truths of the supernatural order. We do not test every truth by our own personal experience. Life is too short; we have no time for it, and as a result God has mercifully provided for our adequate knowledge by basing it upon faith in Him. There is no more difficulty in believing the truths of religion than there is in believing the facts and events of every day life. It requires a greater act of faith to be shaved in a barber shop than it does to believe in the Blessed Trinity. Only our absolute faith that the barber will not sever a vein permits us to allow him to pass the keen edge of a razor over our throat. It requires a greater act of faith to submit to a surgical operation than it does to believe in the Last Judgment. It requires a greater act of faith to make an ocean voyage than to believe in the Infallibility of the Pope. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> We have more of a guarantee that the Holy Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ than we have that the food we partake' of daily at our tables is genuine food, and not poisoned or adulterated. The Holy Eucharist is based on the unmistakable Word of God; whereas we have only human authority for our daily food. We have a greater guarantee of the certainty an<* reality of the next life than we have for the existence of tb North Pole. God Himself has guaranteed the existence of «» future state; whereas only human beings have told us about the North Pole. We have more certainty for the existence of Purgatory than we have for the existence of the canals on Mars. The infallible Word of God has guaranteed the fact of Purgatory, but the canals on Mars are doubtful existence, and astrono- mers still dispute about them. The world would perish without faith. Our Courts of Law, our banking institutions, the whole credit system of the nation and of the world are based upon our faith in the veracity and honesty of others. Every time we accept a check in payment of a bill, we make an act of faith. Why should we deny in religious mat- ters that which we use every hour of the day in active busi- ness life. Every time a jury listens to a sworn witness in a trial, they make an act of faith in his veracious testimony. Every time we take a railroad journey we make an act of faith in the railroad employes not desiring deliberately to wreck the train. SCIENCE PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Science tells us that the amount of energy available for the work of the universe is steadily growing less. In other words, much of the energy of the world is being lost day by day, being radiated off into space under the form of heat. None of this energy is ever destroyed, however, since it exists under another form, namely heat. But under the form of heat it can never be brought under the dominion of man to do the work of the universe. Science speaks in clarion tones of diffused heat as the great waste heap of the universe, and it is growing larger •"very year, 30 INSIDE FACTb The heat now stored up in the sun will in the process of time be distributed throughout space, and even though this should take a thousand million years, they are nothing to eternity. lhe universe has been in a constant process of deteriora- tion and degradation. Therefore the universe cannot be eternal. Imagine the universe as a lighted candle; it cannot have been burning from all eternity, otherwise it would have been burned out long ago. Therefore, it must have had s beginning. So also, a time will come when it will cease to burn at all; hence the universe will likewise have an end. The universe must at some time or other arrive at a con- dition of complete stagnation, when all motion will cease. The heat of the universe will be so completely radiated and diffused throughout space that it will be as incapable of doing work, as water between two lakes on the same level will be incapable of turning a mill. The point of this argument is that if the Universe had existed from all eternity, it would have been reduced to this stage of utter stagnation long centuries ago. The fact that it has not been so reduced, but that there is still abundant energy in the world, proves that the world1 is not eternal, but that it began to exist in time; therefore it had an origin, it had a Creator, it had a First Cause. Modern science has completely established that this First Cause must be a Single Cause, because we find a marvellous unity everywhere in the universe. We find, for instance, the same materials used through- out; many of the elements which exist on the earth are found in the sun and stars. The all pervading force of gravitation, applying with majestic unity to the most gigantic distant stars, and to the) most minute particles of the earth, all argues for a Single; First Cause, whom we call God. Modern science, therefore, cries aloud through all of: nature's wondrous works that God exists, and that He is the; First Cause and Beginning of all things. Scientists have but to open their eyes to realize that God exists, and every fresh scientific discovery in any laboratory Ji the world is but another proof of the exi ir tw^ Q^. INSIDE FACTS SI THINGS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES BELIEVE. The Catholic Church believes that religion should be reasonable, and that every Catholic should be able to give a reason for the truths he believes. If any doctrine of the Catholic Church can be proved to be unreasonable, the Cath olic Church will reject it. The Catholic Church believes that every person should investigate the reasons for his faith. Don't take any person's unsupported word for it. Prove it yourself, sound the origins of your religious belief, trace them back to Christ, compare Christ's teachings with what you believe today, and see whether there is any harmony, or whether you are deviating from the unadulterated Word of God. Christ wants us to believe all of his doctrines, every one of them, not merely one or two or a few. There can be no elective course in Christianity. Hence any Church minimiz- ing the doctrines of Christ, or denying any of them, cannot bj the tr_.e Church of Christ. The Catholic Church teaches that it is utterly impossible for two contradictory things to be true at the same time. The true Church of Christ cannot believe Christ is God in Pittsburg, and deny that he is God in New York. The true Church of Christ cannot believe that Baptism js necessary for salvation in San Francisco, a matter of in- diiference in Chicago, and not necessary at all in Boston. Such contradictories make religion a mockery. The Catholic Church must preach the Gospel of Christ to all the world, all the time. Hence she cannot limit or restrict her territory, or cease for a moment in her mis- sionary activity, both at home and abroad, or consent to re- main away from certain missionary fields, because other forms of religion are already there. The Catholic Church is the greatest institution in the world today. She numbers more than 300,000,000 persons, in every land. She has been in existence for 1900 years, "she has seen all fortunes, she has encountered all adversaries, she has shaped herself for all emergencies." The Catholic Church believes therefore that all per- sons claiming to be educated or cultured should know the Catholic Church, and what it teaches, otherwise they lay themselves open to the charge of not knowing the history, 32 INSIDE FACTb teachings and practice of the greatest institution in the . world's history. The Catholic Church believes that the Catholics in Jerusalem 1900 years ago believed the same truths that the Catholics in Pittsburg today do, no more, no less; hence there can be no additional truths which Catholics will some day be called upon to believe. The Catholic Church is the same, yesterday, today and forever. The Catholic Church believes that it is not necessary to prove every doctrine of Christ from Holy Scripture. We might just as well ask St. Paul who died in the year 67, to prove his doctrines from the Bible, which was not all written until about 30 years after his death. The Catholic Church believes that she will exist for all time and that no power on earth can destroy her, because she is not a human institution, but of divine origin, and sup- ported by the divine power of Christ Who promised to be with her to the end of the world. The Catholic Church believes that if she were a mere human institution she would have ceased to exist within a few years after Christ. But since she has witnessed the birth of all the governments and all ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world, she will likewise chant their requiem, hence there is a power higher than human that sus- tains her. The Catholic Church believes that Christ established but' one Church, not many conflicting ones, and until there is the one fold and one shepherd that Christ desired, the Catholic Church will labor incessantly for Christian unity. The Catholic Church believes that the peace and good will of the community will be vastly increased if all the com- munity knows exactly what it is that the Catholic Church teaches. Know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the Catholic Church. Apply to headquarters and be sure you are getting the truth when you read about the Catholic Church. EVOLUTION AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Catholic Church has no objection whatsoever to the theory of Evolution in the mineral, plant and animal king- doms, so long as the primary creative action of God be ad- mitted. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> The world as created originally by God may have con- tained latent forces by which after a long series of ages evolution was accomplished. But in no case could the human soul have come into existence through evolutionary processes. The human soul owes its origin to the direct creative act of God. The Catholic Church has no objection to the hypothesis that animal iind plant life were evolved from forces hidden in primary matter, even though at the present time there is utterly no proof for any such hypothesis. The Catholic Church teaches the ultimate creation of the world, and the spirituality of the human soul. Piolding fast to these fundamental doctrines, a Catholic may hold to the theory that life developed out of forces latent in non- living matter. It would not affect a single doctrine of the Catholic Church in any way at all if a scientific man should one day succeed in producing life from non-'.iving matter, or turn electrified slime into protoplasm. A Catholic may hold, without prejudice to his faith, the theory that God created the world in successive ages, first the material world, then the plant -.vorld, then the animal world. A Catholic may hold, without doing violence to his faith, the theory that God created in the beginning nothing but a nebulous mass, endowing it with certain latent powers and energies which by a process of evolution should finally arrive at the world which we observe now. A Catholic may hold, without detriment to his faith, that God in the beginning by a distinct creative act introduced into brute matter certain life germs, which under given con- ditions would issue in the form of life. Of course, the scientific world proclaims with an un- animous voice that life cannot issue from non-life; it cer- tainly is impossible in the present state of scientific know- ledge, and the presumption is that it was always impossible. Hence as a theory it has no scientific basis whatsoever. A Catholic may hold that by a distinct creative act of God dead matter was endowed by the Creator with latent forces of life, which only have to wait for suitable condi- tions of temperature or environment to pass from latency into actual life. 34 INSIDE FACTS So long as the theory of Evolution does not contradict any revealed doctrine of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church remains indifferent to it, and leaves every Catholic free to accept or reject it, according as the evidence produced supports or discredits it. The theory of Evolution has been taken for granted, without any proof, by the uneducated, because it is on the lips of every cheap popular scientific camp follower, and soap box orator, and so-called high thinkers, whose high thinking is usually done for them by some one else. The Catholic Church has the highest reverence for real science and genuine scientists. But the Catholic Church has no patience with scientific charlatans. The Catholic Church has stood the test for 1900 years; it has attracted into its fold many of the greatest scientific thinkers of all ages, and every real discovery is hailed by the Catholic Church as but another evidence of the existence of God, the author of physical science and of revealed religious truth. THE REASON FOR THREE PERSONS IN GOD. God is not only a Personal Being, but He is also a Moral Being, and all moral qualities, that is, everything connected with right and wrong, can only be thought of as existing between two persons. No one can be good unless there is another Person to whom he can be good. No one can be good to a drop of water; no person can be unjust to an atom of hydrogen. Moral attributes, in their highest perfection, as they are in God, can exist only between two Persons. Therefore, since God possessed His attributes from all eternity, it follows that there must exist more than one Per- son in God from all eternity. Love is a quality of God, and love itself requires a plurality of persons, and since love has always been an at- tribute of God from all eternity, it requires more than one Eternal Person to be loved. Not only this, but love in its perfection, as it is found in God, can exist only between two beings of the same nature; hence the plurality of persons of the same divine nature is required. The human family itself is an image of the Blessed 37 INSIDE FACTb Trinity. The family consists of Father, Mother and Child. We cannot conceive of a family without these three. A father supposes a mother, a mother implies a father, and a child supposes both mother and father. • If three candles are placed together and lighted, they will form but one flame, a crude, indeed, but intelligible instance of three and one. White light itself is not a single beam of light, but is a trinity of rays. It can be divided into its component parts, red, yellow and blue rays, neither one of which can exist separately yet they are all three distinct, and nevertheless their union forms but one beam of white light. The soul of man has three faculties, memory, understand- ing and free will, all of which functions are but different manifestations of the one spiritual substance, the soul. This is still another ordinary analogy of three and one. Still another would be solar light, color and heat. Each of these is in a sense solar radiance, and each is distinct from the others, and yet they are so closely united that in conjunction they form but one radiance. Each of the three extends wherever the other extends, either in time or space. You cannot imagine sunlight without color and heat; each is in its true nature unknowable, and each is, as a rule, invisible. The mysteries of religion, therefore, even the most dif- ficult of them, such as the Blessed Trinity, are not without their analogies in ordinary every day life. We ought to accept the mysteries of religion more readily than we accept the mysteries of the universe around us, for the mysteries of the Catholic Church are guaranteed to us by God Himself. MYSTERIES NOT SO MYSTERIOUS AFTER ALL. The mysteries of the Catholic Religion are not, as some persons imagine, a sort of intellectual puzzle. On the con- trary they are fairly intelligible. When we reflect that God is Infinite, Eternal. All Wise, All Powerful, All Holy, there must be of necessity soma things about Him that we, with our limited capacities, can- not understand. Mysteries, therefore, follow as a necessary consequence from the existence of God. 36 INSIDE FACTb The nature of God must be beyond human understanding, just as the nature of man is beyond the grasp of animals. The very mysteriousness of revealed doctrine is quite appropriate to the mysteriousness of the Infinite God, of Whom it treats. That there are mysteries in religion is' not surprising, since there are mysteries wherever we turn in the world. Religion is not required to be more intelligible than are things of every day life. We know next to nothing of God's real nature; but this is to be expected, when we remember that we know next to nothing of man's nature, notwithstanding all our oppor- tunities for studying it. Man's nature still remains a mys- tery to us. we cannot understand the growth of plants, trees and animals; we cannot understand the nature of electricity and magnetism. We cannot understand how part of the meat, eaten by a chicken, turns to feathers, and when eaten by a man does not. We cannot understand how the color red, for instance, is formed by the vibrations of ether at the enormous rate of 130 million vibrations every second. We cannot understand how the color violet, for instance, is formed by the vibrations of ether at the still more enor- mous rate of 260 million vibrations every second. Let us not demand more of religion, nor of the Catholic Church, than we demand of science. Treat the truths of the Catholic Church the same as you treat the truths of the natural order; one is just as intelligible as the other. SOME FACTS ABOUT POPES. The Pope need not be an Italian. All Catholic Americans hope there will some day be an American citizen elected Pope. The Pope need not be the most learned man in the Church. It is possible that many priests, Bishops, Arch- bishops and Cardinals are more highly educated than he. The Pope need not be the most saintly man in the '""h rrh It is possible for many millions of persons, in every 'irt o* 'he worM to be'just as hr!r - T even holier than the p ope INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Not every Pope has been a canonized saint, although great numbers of them have been distinguished for their saintly lives. Thirty consecutive Popes were martyrs, giv- ing up their lives rather than betray their high trust. Out of the 260 odd Popes, who reigned for 1900 years, in the most difficult situation in the world, you can count on the fingers of one hand the Popes who have failed to live up to their exalted place as the Chief Shepherds of Christendom. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, but he can leave Rome if he desires, retaining all the while the Bishopric of Rome. That was the Episcopal see of St. Peter, and the Pope suc- ceeds St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome. It is not necessary for the Pope to reside permanently in Rome. Some Popes have never set foot in Rome at all during their entire Pontificate. Temporal Power is not absolutely necessary for the Pope. Indeed he has no temporal power now, and for the first few hundred years of the Catholic Church, he had no temporal power either. This, however, does not exonerate the Italian Government from the crime of seizing the tem- poral patrimony of the Pope and of the Universal Church. There have been Popes of many different nationalities. One Englishman, Nicholas Breakspeare, became Pope. He was called Adrian IV, and he reigned in the years 1154 to 1159. The Pope is the chief Bishop of the world. He appoints all the Bishops in the world. They all take orders from him; they all report to him; they are all responsible to him; they all must visit him at regular intervals to render an account of their dioceses. The Pope can resign his office if he wishes. Some Popes have done so, thinking the burden too great for their powers. The Pope is elected by the Cardinals. The Cardinals are not required to elect one of their own number. They could elect a priest, or a Bishop, who was not a Cardinal at all. If a simple priest were elected, as happened during the nineteenth century, he would have to be consecrated a Bishop first, then crowned Pope. It is not necessary for the new Pope to be elected im- mediately after the previous Pope's death. Sometimes, due to extraordinary circumstances, a long period may intervene between the death of a Pope, and the election of his sue- 38 INSIDE FACTb cessor. At one time a period of about two and one half years intervened. The Pope lives in Rome, in a building called the Vatican. The Vatican was formerly the site of the gardens of the Emperor Nero. It was Nero who put St. Peter, the first Pope, to death. Nero little thought that St. Peter's suc- cessor would occupy the Vatican as his residence. THE POPE IS THE EXECUTOR OF THE WILL OF CHRIST. The Pope is the executor of the last will and testament of Christ. That is his exclusive occupation. He stands in the place of Christ to explain for us the Will of Christ. No executor in the world can change a syllable of the last will and testament of a testator. He can neither add to it, nor subtract from it, nor change its meaning. It must stand for all time just as the testator made it. So also the Pope cannot add one syllable to the doctrine? contained in the Will of Christ; nor subtract therefrom; nor can the Pope change the Will of Christ, nor in any way alter or misinterpret the meaning of Christ. Catholics owe spiritual obedience to the Pope, in his capacity as Executor of the Will of Christ, defining, explain- ing and interpreting for us the Last Will and Testament of Christ. Catholics owe allegiance to the Pope only in those mat- ters that are contained in the Last Will and Testament of Christ, namely in the realm of faith and morals. In past ages doubts have arisen, questions have been raised, and perplexities have been encountered as to the pre- cise meaning of the doctrine of Christ, and then the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, his Executor, speaks out with authority, defining, deciding, interpreting, explaining and resolving the matter. When Rome speaks, the question is settled. In future ages, it is quite probable serious doubts may arise concerning one or other of the doctrines taught by Christ, and then the Pope will be appealed to for an official decision, and as the representative of Christ on earth, he will decide for all time just what Christ intended by the doctrine involved. There is no appeal beyond the Pope in matters concern- INSIDE FACTS •¿i> ing the Will of Christ, because Christ made the Pope the court of last resort. What the Pope, as official interpreter and executor, binds on earth is bound in heaven. Hence, when the Pope, as Christ's executor, speaks of- ficially on matters of faith and morals, it is the same as if Christ Himself spoke, and the words of the Pope must be accepted as if they were Christ's own. No Pope has ever made an error in defining, declaring, explaining, or interpreting the doctrines of Christ. As long as the world lasts, ncr Pope can possibly fall into error in so doing, since Christ has guaranteed His Divine assistance to His executor. There will never be religious unity, for which Christ prayed, without obedience to the very center of unity, the Pope. The Will of Christ would have been useless without an executor, and Christ's executor is the Pope. Where the Pope -is, there is the Church of Christ, and without the Pope there is no genuine Christianity—so believed a united Christendom for centuries. THE REASONABLENESS OF THE BLESSED TRINITY. While we do not claim to understand perfectly all the mysteries of religion, there are many analogies to them, al- though these parallels must not be pressed too far. Take, for instance, the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. As an aid to partially understanding it, take the case of three men. Each man is a distinct, separate human person, but all three men have a common human nature. This human nature, or humanity, or manhood, has, of course, no existence apart from the men whose nature it is. You never saw humanity, or human nature walking down the street. Humanity is merely that which the three men possess in common, and its possession makes each of the three men a man. Any attribute belonging to human nature as such would belong to each of the three men, so that each, for instance, would be subject to death, to growth, to sickness, to joy and to sorrow. • In the Blessed Trinity, each of the three Divine Persons possesses the Divine Nature, and all the attributes of t in 40 INSIDE FACTb Ixodhead are possessed by each of the three Divine Persons. Hence each of the three Divine Persons is Eternal, and yet there are not three eternal natures, but only one divine aature, which is Eternal. None of the analogies to the Blessed Trinity is satis- factory, since the universe cannot afford an adequate ana- logy to its Maker, any more than the words of man himself can afford an adequate analogy to man. These analogies are inadequate because they are out- side the range of human experience. We cannot express in human language that of which we have no human experi- ence, and we have no experience whatever of the nature of God. The three men, even though each of them has complete human nature, do not make up the whole humanity, whereas the case is different in the Blessed Trinity, where the three Divine Persons make up the whole of Divinity. The names given to the three men are independent names, each one of whom might exist separately; whereas in God, the names of the three Divine Persons are relative names, each one implying and supposing the others, no one of which could exist apart from the others. The Father implies the Son, for Fatherhood would be meaningless without the Sonship; and an Everlasting Father implies an Everlasting Son, without any priority in time. Similarly the Son implies the Father, and the Holy Spirit implies the Father and the Son, whose Spirit He is. Human reason itself, therefore, cries out to us that the Blessed Trinity is a reasonable doctrine, worthy of the as- sent of reasonable beings. EVOLUTION SUPPOSES THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Evolution, no matter under what form it is studied, necessarily supposes a previous Involution. You cannot get more out of a bag than is in it, and you cannot evolve forms of life from the first form, unless they were previously in- volved in it. Creation by means of Evolution is in reality a far more wonderful proof of Godd's existence than if He had created all things directly and immediately, without any slow gradual process of development. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Creation by Evolution appears to be the highest form of creation, since it implies so much wondrous foresight on the part of God who designed the results to be attained after long ages of evolutionary processes. Even supposing, for the sake of argument, that our present natural organs were all evolved from similar ones, which is, however, a mere theory, and wanting in scientific proof, nevertheless this in reality would increase our admira- tion for the Great Designer who from such elements and rudimentary organs could in the lapse of time produce such astounding results. Evolutionists claim that the whole of nature forms a continuous process of development, but this only proves all the more emphatically that God who designed the universe foresaw clearly the results of all those processes from the very beginning. The marvellous unity of nature demands one designing mind", and evolution supposes no less imperiously that this design apparent everywhere in nature be foreknown from the very beginning. We cannot fall back upon the Theory of Natural Selec- tion to get rid of God. Natural selection selects; only that and nothing more; that is, it supposes something already existing in order to be selected. Briefly, Natural Selection weeds the garden; it does not plant it, and the growing garden, awaiting selection, sup- poses a Gardener. Neither will that other Theory, the Survival of the Fittest, explain away the Designer of the Universe, because it does not tell us how the fitness arose in the beginning. Neither can we fall back upon the assertion that the laws of Nature do away with a Designer of the Universe. A law of nature explains nothing; it is simply a summary of the facts that must be explained, merely an observed uni- formity in nature. Evolution is a process, not a cause. It is merely the method used to tell us that certain changes have occurred, but it does not give us the cause of those changes. Evolution no more accounts for the modifications in nature than the laws of nature account for the effects they indicate. The law of gravitation, for instance, never moved 42 INSIDE FACTb a body, any more than the laws of navigation steered a ship, 3r the laws of architecture erected a Cathedral. The conclusion then is that every modern scientific theory that attempts to do away with God, turns out upon examination to be a most convincing proof of God's existence as the Creator and Designer of the Universe. YOUR WATCH PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Pull out your watch. Its various parts are put together for a purpose. In other words, it indicates some voluntary action combined with foreknowledge of the results that will follow from such action. All parts of your watch are so shaped and arranged as to produce motion, and this motion is so accurately regulated as to point out the hour and minute of the day. If the many parts of the watch had been differently ar- ranged, or made of different shapes, either no motion at all would have resulted, or else the result would not have answered the purpose of keeping accurate time. Therefore, your watch proves that it had an intelligent maker, a designer, sometime, somewhere, and this designer must have understood the construction of a watch, and so made it as to achieve the purpose which it actually serves. We are not required to actually see the watch made to reach this decision. The conclusion is valid, even though we never saw a watch in process of construction, or knew a watchmaker who made one. The completed watch itself is a luminous proof of its having been designed. Neither are we obliged to understand perfectly all the intricate mechanism of a watch to conclude that it was de- signed. On the contrary, because we do not know much about its construction is a circumstance that rather tends to increase our opinion of the unknown watchmaker's skill. The conclusion from this is plain. Wherever we find evidences of design there must have been a designer. So when we find marks o± design in nature, we immediately conclude that Nature must have had a designer. The various parts of your watch were not assembled blindly, and in hap- hazard fashion; neither is Nature the accidental aggrega- tion of atoms. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Indeed, there are vastly more evidences of design in Nature than there are in your watch. Your watch runs down; Nature does not; your watch requires continual re- winding; Nature does not. Your watch loses time; Nature does not. Nature is teeming with evidences of design. Take for instance the cells of bees. They are built on the most per- fect mathematical principles, the three rhombs which close the hexagonal columns having the exact angles so as to contain the greatest amount of honey, with the least expen- diture of wax. It takes an advanced student in mathematics, and a book of logarithms to work out such a problem, and it is hard to see how the bees can do it. We cannot allege heredity on the part of the bees, be- mse the bees which build these cells are all workers, as i.hey are called, and have no descendants; while those which propagate the species are either drones or queens, and they do no building at all. All these cells are built by bees, none of whose ances- tors have ever built cells. The design consequently cannot possibly be ascribed to anything they have inherited from their parents. Every one of the countless objects in Nature bears marks of having been designed by a free agent, with foreknowledge of the results, and this great Designer we call God. THE REASON FOR A PERSONAL GOD. The world everywhere gives evidence of design. Just as a watch must have a designer, so also the universe. Any being who can design is a person. A person who designs must first think about it, then wish it, and finally ac- complish it. No one but a person can design anything, and as the universe had a designer, that designer must, there- fore, be a Person, whom we call God. The designer of the universe is a Person for the addi- tional reason that God has created man, and man is a person. Since God has produced man, God cannot be a mere imper- sonal being, or a blind force. No effect can be greater than its cause, and as man is a person, his Creator must be a Person. The existence of a Personal God is certain even thougi. 44 INSIDE FACTb we cannot discover God by any physical means. The tele- scope cannot find God in the heavens, just as the microscope cannot find the soul in man on earth. We see only the house as it were, and not the tenant within, and yet the existence of each is most certain. Since God is a Person, He must have free will; that is He is a Free Force. But every free force must be a super- natural force, since no merely natural force is free. Natural forces are fixed, chained, unalterable, since they always and everywhere act according to the same rigid and inflexible laws. This Free Supernatural Personal Force who designed the universe must have, unlimited wisdom, considering the vastness of the design he has made. He is consequently Omniscient. So also he must have unlimited Power, since he has ac- complished his colossal design. He is therefore Omnipotent. Since God designed the universe He is likewise its main- tainer, otherwise the world would sink back into its original nothingness. And since God maintains every part of the universe, He is present in every part of it, therefore He is Omnipresent. And if God is present in all places, he must necessarily be invisible, because to be visible means to be localized, to exhibit some definite and restricted outline that can be seen, so that we can say it is in one place and not in another. Therefore, unless God is invisible, neither is He Omnipotent; but our reason tells us He has both of these qualities. We don't know much about God; neither do we know much about man, or about science. Yet we do know some- thing of all three. Our knowledge is none the less real, true and certain because it is incomplete. Partial knowledge is all we require. We don't know all about the force of gravity, for instance, but we know what it means to us; if we jump off the Washington monument, we will fall to the ground. So also, we do not know all about God, but we do know what He is to us. He is our Creator to whom we are responsible, and this is the practical know ledge we need. It is not so much what we know that m? ters; it is what we do. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> THE "REAL PRESENCE" VERSUS THE "REAL ABSENCE" OF CHRIST IN HOLY COMMUNION. Catholics believe in the REAL PRESENCE of the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. Those who are not Catholics believe in the REAL ABSENCE of the Body and BLOOD of Christ in Holy Communion. These two doctrines are as much opposed to each other as any two precise op- posites can possibly be imagined. Now Christ is either present or absent in Holy Com- munion. If He is present, Catholics are right; if absent, those who are not Catholics are right. How are we to decide it? Let the Bible decide it. Take up your New Testament, and read St. John's Gospel, chapter 6, verses 48 to 60. While reading these texts call to mind the invariable practice of Christ in addressing the multitudes. Where they took exception to any of his statements because they MISUNDERSTOOD Him, He al- ways corrected them. There are very many examples of His procedure under these circumstances. See John 3-5; John 8:56; Matt. 16-6 and Matt. 19:24; John 11:11; John 8:21 and John 6:33. On the other hand, where the multitude took exception to Christ's statements because they UNDERSTOOD HIM CORRECTLY, He repeated the same words over and over again, to which His audience objected. For instance see Matt. 9:2; John 7:56. With this invariable rule of Christ before our eyes, turn to St. John's Gospel, chapter 6, verse 52, where Christ says: "The bread that I will give is MY FLESH." At once His hearers, after their custom, strenuously object to the words "MY FLESH." Hence if Christ had not meant His FLESH, He should have corrected His hearers, as was His unwaver- ing custom when misunderstood. Instead of correcting them, however, he repeats over and over again, in several different ways, the very words to which His hearers manifested such opposition, namely MY FLESH. Just listen to Him: 54. Amen, Amen, I say unto you; except you eat THE FLESH of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. 46 INSIDE FACTb 55. He that eateth MY FLESH and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. 56. For MY FLESH is meat indeed; and My blood is drink indeed. 57. He that eateth MY FLESH and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him. 58. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that EATETH ME, the same also shall live by Me. Here we see that Christ used five times in five verses the very expressions to which his hearers so vehemently raised objection, namely, HIS FLESH. Moreover, Christ used two different formulas, the negative and the positive He warns them of the penalty in store if they do not eav HIS FLESH and drink His blood, and then He takes the positive method, and tells them the direct results of partak- ing of HIS FLESH and blood. Hence the very objection of i.he multitude manifests the fact that they understood Christ to be speaking of HIS FLESH and blood, for their very objection is based upon this plain, obvious, literal interpretation of His words. They ob- ject to His speaking of HIS FLESH, for no other idea could give rise to the objection they made. Hence the multitudes understood Christ literally, and He wanted them so to under- stand Him. This is only one of very many arguments from the Bible that could be presented to prove the REAL PRESENCE of Christ in the Holy Communion. We find the four Evange- lists, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John and finally St. Paul writing explicitly and abundantly on the subject of the REAL PRESENCE of Christ in Holy Communion. The testimony of any one of these sacred writers would be enough to prove the doctrine, without taking them col- lectively. These five inspired writers give their individual testi- mony to this great central doctrine of the Catholic Church, because they foresaw, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who wrote through them, that this doctrine would exact a strong exercise of our faith, and would meet with opposition from those who wish to change the infallible Word of God to suit the erring standard of their own judgment. The many texts from Holy Scripture can be divided inte INSIDE FACTS 47 three different classes; namely ,those which speak of the promise of Christ to give us HIS FLESH and His blood; secondly, those which speak of his actually doing so; the third, indicating quite as clearly the belief of the early Christians as to whether or not Christ was REALLY present, and the precise manner in which they approached Holy Com- munion. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES; THEY GIVE TESTI- MONY TO THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN HOLY COMMUNION. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE MASS? We must turn to the Bible for the first Mass. In the New Testament we find the root of the entile Mass in the account of the Last Supper. It was because Christ told us to do what He had done, in memory of Him, that we have the Mass. We must obey the command of Christ, namely to do THIS, that is, what Christ Himself had done, and in the four accounts of the Last Supper, we have the essential nucleus of the Mass. Read the passages in Matt. 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, I Cor. 11:23-25. From these Scriptural accounts we note: 1. Bread and wine are brought to the altar; 2. The celebrant gives thanks; 3. He takes bread, blesses it and says the words of consecration; 4. He does the same over the wine; 5. The bread is broken, and the consecrated bread and wine are received in Communion. Hence the Mass is that form of religious worship that we find first not in the laws of some Medieval Pope, or ancient Council, but in the Holy Bible, in the Gospels, in the Epistles, and in the Acts of the Apostles. Farther back than this no Christian can go; hence the Mass stands out in bold relief from the days of Christ in the Upper Room at Jerusalem, down to this very day in any Catholic church. The New Testament is quite clear also regarding the manner in which the Apostles celebrated Mass. After the death of Christ, the early Christians had their own religious assemblages, where they worshipped God. These meetings were on Sundays. (Acts 20:7,1 Cor. 16:2). 48 INSIDE FACTb At these exclusively Christian gatherings, there were readings from the Old Testament (Acts 13:15). St. Paul tells Timothy to read, as well as to preach (I Tim. 4:13). St. Paul orders his own letters to be read to all the brethren (I Thess: 5:27, Col 4:16). This clearly indicates that the early Christians had their own books, as well as the Old Testa- ment. This part of the Mass is known today as the "Epistle" which is read immediately before the Gospel. After the readings came sermons and explanations of what had been read (I Cor. 14:26, Acts 20:7). They then sang psalms (I Cor. 14:26) and hymns (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16). There are fragments of rhymed prose in St. Paul's epistles which are supposed to be examples of the. first Christian hymns (Rom. 13:11-12, Eph. 5:14, I Tim. 3:16, II Tim. 2:11-13). There were prayers said publicly for all kinds of people (I Tim. 2:1-2, Acts 2:42). At these Christian assemblages collections of alms were made for the poor (Rom. 15:26, I Cor. 16:1-2, II Cor. 9:10-13). The people prayed standing, with uplifted hands (Phil. 1:27, Eph. 6:14, I Tim. 2:8). The men were bareheaded, the women with heads covered (I Cor. 11:6-7). Women were not allowed to speak in Church (I Cor. 1-4:34-35). There was a kiss of peace (I Thess. 5:26, Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, I Pet. 5:14). There was a public profession of faith, that is, the Creed was recited (I Tim. 6:12). The people used the word AMEN at the end of their prayers (I Cor. 14:16). The Consecration of bread and wine by the words of Institution formed the principal part of the Mass (Matt. 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, I Cor. 11:23-25). After the Consecration came prayers in memory of Christ's death (Acts 2:42, I Cor. 11:23-26) because the cele- bration of the Holy Eucharist must be in memory of Christ (Luke 22:19). The people present partake of the consecrated bread and wine (Matt. 26:26, Mark 14:22-23, I Cor. 11:26-29). St. Paul tells his brethren that it is not necessary to par- take of the consecrated wine, since Holy Communion under INSIDE FACTS 4» form of bread is receiving both the Body and the Blood ^ „fie Lord (I Cor. 11:27). A thanksgiving prayer was part of the Mass (I Cor. 14:16, I Cor. 11:23, I Tim. 2:1). The Mass was a well known service among St. Paul's converts (I Cor. 10:16) when St. Paul was alive. It was a recognized standard by which Christians were known (Acts 2:42-46) just as Catholics today are known to be Catholics because they go to Mass and receive the Sacra- ments. Hence if you are present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in any Catholic church in the world you will see that the Mass today follows exactly the lines of Our Lord's own action at the Last Supper. His command was to do THIS, just what He had done, and the celebrant at Mass repeats those actions and says those words ,by which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ Himself, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This has been the historical worship of God on Sundays since the days of the Apostles. There is abundant evidence of the Mass in the old catacombs; the Greeks and all the old Christian sects of Asia still have it. "SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES." THEY GIVE TESTI- MONY TO THE MASS. RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. Imitation is the siiicerest flattery. The trend of the non-Catholic educational world is toward religious instruc- tion in the public schools. The clamor for it is increasing in volume and emphasis from year to year. The currents of the entire non-Catholic educational world today are towards the ideals that the Catholic Church has been consistently fol- lowing for centuries. In this respect, as in all others, the Catholic schools are not only up to date, but they are setting the pace, for they are actually ahead of the times. The best educators in the United States today are on record as favor- ing some kind of religious instruction in the public schools. Catholics have that instruction now in their own schools. They have always had it. It is a part of Catholic life. In asking Catholics to support existing Catholic schools, and to erect new ones, Catholics are being asked no new or strange thing. It is no sudden departure from the practice of former centuries. Catholic schools are an integral part 50 INSIDE FACTb of Catholic tradition and Catholic life, and Catholic life can- not flourish without Catholic schools and Catholic ideals of education. It is just as necessary to erect Catholic schools as it is to erect Catholic Hospitals, Orphan Asylums, and other in- stitutions of charity and zeal. Catholics can feel a justi- fiable pride in the fact that it has taken the public school authorities many generations to assimilate Catholic ideals of educating children. We knew all along that non-Catholics must some day think as we do, and it should encourage our Catholic people, and stimulate their enthusiasm, to erect and support in every hamlet, village, town and city in the land our own Catholic schools, where religion forms a vital part of the instruction. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS DO NOT EXPERIMENT ON YOUR CHILD. Catholic schools are the result of 1900 years experience in education. They are not mere laboratories or clinics for trying out half-baked theories or untried ideas, or testing crude experiments on your children. The dissatisfaction everywhere apparent with the public schools is largely due to the introduction of so many fads every year. In many places it seems as if the public schools had given up the three "R's" entirely. Each new term brings something novel to "enrich the curriculum," and the course of studies is in a constant state of change, and is being continually adjusted and re-adjusted after every fresh educational convention. Teachers no sooner get settled in the plan devised for this year's work, than it is unsettled by a newer plan, the out- come of a later conference of so-called educational theorists. Not so, however, in our Catholic schools. We are past the experimental stage. Our Catholic schools are built ac- cording to standard plans and specifications; they conform to all the requirements of the most enlightened building con- struction; they are scientifically lighted, heated and venti- lated; they are provided with playgrounds; they have voca- tional training; physical culture is part of the regular course. The curriculum is supervised by a body of educators as learned as any in the wide world, men and women who have devoted their immense erudition and their great abilities to INSIDE FACTS •¿i> the enormous task of teaching children, and they do this for the pure love of God, expecting no salary in return. They leave no stone upturned to keep abreast of every solid im- provement that will in any way enhance the spiritual, moral, intellectual and physical welfare of the children. This in- tensive work on the part of Catholic educators has in many cities of the United States placed our Catholic schools ahead of the public schools. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COST LESS THAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Catholic schools furnish exactly the same kind of prac- tical education as other schools, and they do it at about one- fourth the cost. They are able to effect this vast saving by reason of the immense sacrifices made by the Catholic Sister- hoods of the United States. These devoted nuns constitute the very flower of American womanhood, teaching for their bare living expenses 1,500,000 Catholic children in more than 7,000 Catholic schools in this country. Catholic schools cost about $10.00 per child per year for maintenance, whereas the public schools of the country run all the way from $40.00 to $50.00 and often more per child per year, and the tendency everywhere is to be still more extravagant. Costing less does not mean that our Catholic schools are less efficient, or that the children graduated therefrom are less capable of making their way in the world. Competitive tests in many cities in so commercial a thing as stenography and business practice show our Catholic schools are capable of turning out graduates the peers of any in the land. The recent success of the Catholic schools in Pittsburg, where in a contest thrown open to all the schools of the city, the Catholic schools captured ten out of eighteen prizes is but an indication of what goes on every time there is a fair comparison made between the two systems of education. At every point of contact our Catholic school children rank with the children from any other school, public or pri- vate, and this high degree of excellence is attained at about one-fourth the expense required to maintain the public schools. Our Catholic schools save millions every year to the nation. Catholics contribute more to education every year than Carnegie and Rockefeller have given away in a lifetime for their educational endowments. 52 INSIDE FACTb CATHOLIC SISTERS ARE THE MOST EFFICIENT TEACHERS IN THE WORLD. Catholic schools are the best schools in the world because they have the most efficient teaching corps in the world. The average teaching life of a teacher in the public schools is four and one-half years. A teacher in Catholic schools spends her entire life in teaching. It requires no emphasis to realize that those who have consecrated their whole careers to doing one thing, can do it better than those who intend to spend but a short time at it. The nuns teaching in Catholic schools come from the best families in the land; they have all been highly edu- cated; they are all cultured women, of gentle, birth and re- finement; they have all been trained in sound pedagogical methods; they have specialized in teachers institutes; they have been subjected to rigorous examinations for many years. They are not allowed to teach without a certificate of their fitness; many of them have college and university degrees; they keep alive in their own convents the noble and sacred traditions of teaching, a thing that is well nigh impossible without continuous teaching for many years. All this native ability, added to laborious and expert training, plus the ripened experience of a lifetime, and the stimulus of constant association with lives devoted to the same occupation, and all sanctified by the supernatural motive of the pure love of God, make our Catholic schools the best in the United States. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The Catholic Church is in favor of the public schools for those who are not Cathoiics. She is so much in favor of them, that if people could not receive an education without her help, she would provide funds from her own slender re- sources to erect them for those who are not of her own faith, because the Catholic Church realizes that the greatest foe to the peace and happiness and good will of the com- munity is ignorance. The Catholic Church loves the light; the very breath of her life is knowledge; and her oppor- tunities for serving the community are never so great as >?hen the community is highly educated, and where ignorance INSIDE FACTS 63 has been utterly dispelled. Religious prejudice, misrepresen- tation, suspicion, always arise and flourish precisely in those communities in which popular education is neglected, or is in a backward condition, where there is a high percentage of illiteracy, and where men's passions, rather than their intellects govern them; where there is the rule of ignorance, rather than the rule of reason. You will never find a well educated person fostering prejudice, unless it be a politician with sinister motives. But for her own children, the Catholic Church stands for religious education in her own schools. To this end she is displaying before the eyes of the American people one of the greatest phenomena in all his- tory, that of voluntarily educating all her own children at a vast expense, and then joyously consenting to taxation for the purpose of educating millions of children who are not of her fold. A million and a half of American Catholic children are in the Roman Catholic parish schools. They save the nation more than fifty millions of dollars a year. And yet the Catholic Church will go on forever bearing this unequal burden of double taxation because she stands for a principle as old as God is. That principle is that you can- not divorce religion from education. To separate education from religion, to rend asunder intellectual from moral in- struction, is to run counter to all sound educational tradi- tions. It has no counterpart in past ages. Until the last century, throughout the whole history of Christianity, schools were the creation of the Church. The Church is the divinely appointed teacher of men. "Go teach all nations" (Matt. xxviii:20) was the precept laid upon her by her Divine Foun- der. It was the Catholic Church, in pursuance of this high mandate, that erected schools, provided them with teachers, and endowed them. And she did so because she recognized that the primary purpose for which man was created was to know and love and serve God in this world, and gain heaver, in the next life, and that she alone was the divinely consti- tuted agency whereby man's supernatural destiny was to be attained. The Catholic Church fully realizes that the great object of education should be to develop the whole man, to bring out every one of his faculties, to train the man entire, and to round out all his powers. She understands that eternal life is the only complete life; hence the primary im- 64 INSIDE FACTb portance of religion in education, and her teaching through- out the ages has been that any system of instruction thai passes over the supernatural and religious elements can never be anything but incomplete, narrow, contracted, par- tial, broken and fragmentary. In the balanced scale of those things which go to make up a nation's life, we find that virtue is always indispens- able; whereas knowledge is merely useful. No man is a great man unless he is also a good man, and good men can make a great and noble nation, even if they be uneducated, for a nation takes its rank from the virtue of its citizens more than from their knowledge. If we thumb over the pages of history, we see that the decline and fall of nations and dynasties was accomplished not by illiteracy, not by a lack of education, but by a lack of virtue, by a lack of piety, by a dearth of saintly characters, by a lack of holy men and women, educated in the fear and love of God. It is a truism that whatever currents we wish to see introduced into the life of the nation must first find their way into the schools. And as the chief asset of a nation is the virtuous character and the moral integrity of the indi- viduals composing it, character formation should be the one great end of our education. Virtues, not sharpened wits, are the backbone of nations. It is wot man's high destiny to be a mere machine for calculating. The inculcation of virtue should be the primary object of education, the implanting of the strong, rugged virtues that wear well, faith and hope and charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, purity and humility. These are the virtues that are the bed rock of a Christian character. But before we can raise up a nation of individuals practicing such virtues, they must first be introduced into the process of education. Nor can it be objected that moral and religious training should be confined to church. This jeopardizes man's eternal salvation, because it restricts the most important part of education to one or two hours a week, and in addition, it is only the children of the most devout who attend church on Sundays. The great army remains away from all religious influences. Furthermore, it has a tendency to dethrone re- ligion from its pinnacle of primary importance and relegate it to a post of secondary consideration. Hence the anxiety of the Catholic Church to establish parochial schools in which INSIDE FACTS •¿i> religion is taught quite as well as secular branches; other- wise the rising generation would grow up without any re- ligious education whatsoever. The Catholic Church recog- nizes the absurdity of "setting up a program of education which teaches of plants and earths and creeping things, of beasts and gases, about the crust of the earth and the changes of the atmosphere, about the sun and moon and stars, about man and his doings, about the history of the world, about sensation, memory and the passions, about duty, about cause and effect, about all things imaginable, except one—that is about Him that made all these things, about God." HOW TO TELL IF YOU BELONG TO THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST. Open your Bible. No other document or book or argu- ment is necessary to prove which is the only, true, genuine Church of Jesus Christ. Christ commanded us to fast. He gave us rules for fasting. "When thou fastest anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast" (Matt. 6:17). The Apostles themselves fasted before engaging in their sacred functions. "They ministered to the Lord and fasted" (Acts 13:2). "And when they ordained priests in every city they fasted" (Acts 14:22). The Catholic Church, obeying these commands of Christ and the Apostles, prescribes fasting at stated times, par- ticularly during Lent. A Catholic priest is always fasting when he officiates at the altar. He breaks his fast only after he says Mass. Catholic people must be fasting when they receive Holy Communion. When Bishops ordain priests they are always fasting, as also the candidates to be ordained. No non-Catholic denomination commands its adherents to fast. Indeed many members of such denominations cast ridicule on fasting. Neither do their candidates for the ministry, nor the ordaining ministers, fast on such occasions. The Catholic Church has never deviated a hair's breadth from the sacred words of Christ and His Apostles regarding the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony. Christ and His Apostles taught the utter impossibility of divorce. Speaking of marriage, our Savior said: "Whoever shall put away his wife, and marry another committeth adultery 56 INSIDE FACTb against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband and be married to another she committeth adultery" (Mark 10:11, 12). St. Paul is no less emphatic. "To them that are married the Lord commandeth that the wife depart not from her husband and if she depart that she remain unmarried. And let not the husband put away his wife" (I Cor. 7:10-11). Following literally, and with absolute fidelity, these solemn words of Christ and His great Apostle, the Catholic Church forbids the husband and wife to separate from one another; or, if they do separate, neither of them can marry again during the life of the other. "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6). No non-Catholic denominations obey these awful words of Christ; they have relaxed this rigorous law of the Gospel of Christ, they freely allow divorce for various and even trifling causes. The inspired Apostle, St. James, tells us in his Epistle: "Is any man sick among you, let him call in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14). One of the most ordinary duties of a Catholic priest is to obey this inspired command of the Holy Ghost, speaking through the great Apostle St. James. Catholics when they fall seriously sick are careful to send for the priest, that he may anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. This explains why Catholic priests are always found at- tending the sick and dying, and they must risk their lives to carry out the command of God Himself, in the text of St. James quoted above. But no such ceremony as that of anointing the sick is practiced by any non-Catholic denomination, in spite of the injunction contained in the Bible. WHY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH USES THE LATIN LANGUAGE. Almighty God understands the Latin language, and our prayers are said to Him, not to the congregation. The Catholic Church is ruled by the most learned and most brilliant intellects in the world. Consequently, they must have a good reason for everything they do or believe. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Hence in advance, we ought to assume that if there is any- thing in the Catholic Church we do not understand, the fault is our own, not the fault of the Catholic Church, and that more education on our part will reveal the reason for such belief or practice of Catholics. The Catholic Church has been in the business of saving men's souls for nineteen hundred years. She has had more experience than any other institution in the history of the world. She must therefore, have a good, solid reason for everything she does, otherwise she would not continue the custom. Therefore, when she uses the Latin language in her public and official religious services we know that a very wise motive lies behind the use of Latin. The Catholic Church uses the Latin language because Latin is NOT a foreign language. The use of Latin makes the Catholic Church the only international, cosmopolitan, uni- versal Church, and prevents it from being a mere national Church. The Catholic Church uses the Latin language because Latin is fixed, stable, permanent, unchangeable. So is the Catholic Church fixed, stable, permanent, unchangeable. A Catholic learns in his earliest years to follow the services in the Latin language, and wherever he roams over the broad earth, he finds the same holy Latin tongue, the same sonorous Latin phrases, the same unchangeable Latin sentences, the same century-old Latin diction, saturated by the blood of martyrs, and consecrated by saints and sages. This is one of the things that makes a Catholic feel at home anywhere in the world. Every Catholic prayerbook contains an exact transla- tion of the Latin prayers at Mass and at all other public re- ligious services, so that every Catholic is quite familiar with everything that is said. Ask your Catholic neighbor for a prayerbook, and see for yourself. The Latin language is used only at the official, public religious services of the Catholic Church. In private devo- tion, Catholics can say their prayers in whatever language they please; and prayers said by the priest with the congre- gation are always in their own language. The Catholic Church is the Church of all nations; there- fore it uses a language intelligible to educated people in all nations. It would be difficult to think of the Catholic Church 58 INSIDE FACTb as the universal, world-wide Church of Christ if it used the English language exclusively. Modern languages are changing continually. The un- changing, Catholic Church does not use a changing medium as the vehicle of its expression. The Catholic Church uses Latin because Catholic priests and vast numbers of Catholic people know the Latin langu- age. The possession of such knowledge should be a badge of distinction, rather than an object of complaint. To assist at religious services in the Latin language no more interferes with our devotion than assisting at Grand Opera in Italian, French, or German, interferes with our appreciation of the music. It is not necessary to understand every word of Latin said by the priest at Catholic religious services, any more than it is necessary to understand every word enunciated by Caruso or Gadski in Grand Opera. If you want to know what Schumann-Heink or Tetrazzini is singing, you must take a libretto with you; if you wish to know what the priest is saying at Mass, take your prayerbook with you. The use of Latin beats down national and racial bar- riers, and tends toward the universal brotherhood of man, since all nations kneel side by side, and recite the self-same prayers, in the self-same sonorous Latin tongue. Objection to the use of Latin comes, not from Catholics, who appreciate the verbal dignity of Latin, but from non- Catholics who do not know Latin at all. Catholics do not bother their heads about what non-Catholics do; they have quite enough to do to attend to their own business. This would be a good rule for every one to follow. CATHOLICS WOULD NOT GO TO CONFESSION IF CHRIST DID NOT COMMAND IT. Catholics are reasonable people; they have common sense; they have education; and as there are about 300,000,- 000 Catholics in the world there must be some very valid reasons for their faith in Confession, otherwise they would not practice it. It is absurd to suppose that so many hund- reds of millions of sane and sensible and educated people can be deceived on so important a point. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> What they are the reasons? There are many of them, and space permits the discussion of only one. Christ, speaking to His Apostles, and through them to their successors to the very end of time, said "Whose sins YOU shall forgive they are forgiven: whose sins YOU shall retain, they are retained" (John 20:23). Christ did not limit this wondrous power to His twelve Apostles. He knew they were to die within a few years, whereas sin was to be forgiven until the end of time. From the above plain, obvious and explicit passage, it is clear that our Lord conferred upon the Apostles, the power to forgive or remit sins. But there was also another power bestowed upon the Apostles, the power to retain sins. And not only were these powers bestowed upon the Apostles, but our Lord expressly pledged Himself that the exercise of these powers should be ratified by Him, in the same way that He pledged Himself to ratify in heaven what they should do, under the power to bind and loose (Matt. 18:18). In conferring these important powers, our Lord did not intend to do an idle and useless thing. He wished thase powers to be put into practical operation. The very act of conferring these powers was in itself a command to use them for the purposes intended. When the Constitution of the United States confers certain powers upon the different de- partments of government, it intends that they should be put into practical operation, and the officer who fails to do so is guilty of a dereliction of duty. These powers having been given for practical applica- tion, the Apostles had the right to use all the means neces- sary to carry them into full and complete operation. To give them the power, and to withhold from them the means to exercise the power would have been foolish. Confession is the only means whereby they can exercise those powers. Hence sins committed after baptism could be forgiven only through the exercise of this power held by the Apostles. For let it be observed, the powers given by Christ were not merely to forgive, but also to retain sins. If the transgressor could obtain remission without re- course to the Apostles or their successors, then the power of forgiving and retaining sins would have been utterly idle and futile. Christ would not give the power to the Apostles, require them to exercise it, and promise to ratify their acU 60 INSIDE FACTb in heaven, if, at the same time, He could have allowed the offending party to escape the exercise of this function. Christ said explicitly: "whose sins you shall retain, they are re- tained." Therefore, He could not violate this promise. Hence without recourse to the Apostolic power there can be no for- giveness. Consequently, the Apostles and their successors have the exclusive power to forgive sins. What is sin? It is a viola- tion of the law of God. Each transgression constitutes e separate and distinct offense. Thus the Apostles have the power to remit or retain each particular transgression of the law. How could the Apostles remit or retain sins unless they knew what they were? Christ did not intend that the power of forgiving and retaining sins should be exercised blindly. He did not intend that the Apostles should have the power to remit and to retain sin in one undistinguished mass. Remember, the authority of the Apostles was to remit sins, not sin. If they could remit and retain sin, without dis- tinguishing between different violations of the law, then the whole end and purpose of these powers would have been substantially defeated, and the exercise of their power would have been utterly useless. Christ told His Apostles to for- give and retain sins, not sin. How could the Apostles and their successors tell what sins to remit or retain unless they first knew what they were 1 Could you, dear reader, if you were a criminal, go into court, into the presence of the Judge, and say: "Judge, I am guilty?" Would not the Judge immediately say, "Guilty of what; what crime have you committed?" Hence the Apostles and their successors do not know whether to forgive or retain a sin until the sin is told in Confession. Hence the very nature of the judicial power given by Christ to His Apostles demands a confession of sins. The power given to the Apostles of either forgiving or retaining sins demands for its intelligent exercise the statement of the sins to those whom Christ clothed with the tremendous power of absolving or retaining them. The power given by Christ has two opposite effects; it is either for forgiveness, or non-forgiveness, and no judge can de- cide a case until he knows what it is; the evidence must be presented to him, and this requires Confession. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> THE HUMAN EYE PROVES THAT GOD EXISTS. Glance into a mirror and observe your eye. You will find in the reflected image a proof of God's existence. In the human eye, as in a telescope, the light rays must be refracted so &o to produce a distinct image; the various humors in the eye resemble somewhat the lenses ill a tele- scope. Indeed, it was not until lens makers began to imitate in glasses made from different materials the effect of the different humors in the eye that the telescope was perfected. But the human eye is far more wonderful than the most elaborately contrived telescope. It sees objects at different distances, from inches to miles. In a telescope another lens is required, or some intricate focusing arrangement is necessary. We do not know how this necessary and swift readjust- ment is done in the human eye, but it is done with marvel- lous correctness. A landscape of several miles is brought within the space of half an inch, each object being dis- tinguished in size, shape, color and position, and yet the same eye that does this, can also read a book at a distance of several inches. Quite as remarkable, is the adaptation of the human eye to different degrees of light. The eye is self-adjusting; if the light is too strong, the pupil at once contracts. What a useful contrivance this would be in photography, and how we would hail its inventor! Note, too, how the eye can see objects in different direc- tions; it can turn with the rapidity of lightning right or left, up or down, without moving the head. The eye must be kept moist and clean, and for this purpose a special fluid is constantly supplied, the superfluous moisture passing through a hole in the bone of the nose, where it is evaporated. More astounding still, this valuable instrument, the human eye, is provided in duplicate, the two eyes being so arranged that while each one can see independently, they can nevertheless see together in the most perfect harmony. But the climax of wonders is reached, when we realize that all this was done before our -birth. It was what may be called a prospective organ, of no use at all when it wai 62 INSIDE FACTb made, but designed to be brought into use at some future time, all of which shows evidences of the most accurate design. Evolution cannot explain away the marks of design. The mere wishing to see, or trying to see, will never enable us to see. Neither can any part of the design be attributed to our parents. They usually know nothing whatever about it, and they have not calculated the proper shape for the lenses, nor the mechanism of the iris. Hence, if only one eye existed in the universe, and there were not a single other mark of design in nature, one human eye would justify us in concluding that it must have had a designer. The evidence is stronger still when we find hundreds of millions of men in the world, each with eyes showing marks of design, and each separately requiring a designer. Then, too, when we ponder the fact that the human eye is only one out of hundreds of organs in the human body, each showing marks of individual design, and wondrously adapted to each other, and to that add the mind of man, we arrive at the necessity for a great Designer, the All Wise, All Powerful God. HUMAN REASON AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The most reasonable thing in the world is the Catholic Church, because it has no unreasonable doctrines. The Catholic Church never has taught, does not now, and never will teach one, single, solitary truth contrary to human reason. Nothing in the Catholic Church can be unreasonable, because God, Who is the Author of the Church, is also the Author of human reason, and God cannot be self-contradic- tory. There is not a single doctrine of the Catholic Church in which human reason can find a flaw. If there were anything unreasonable in the Catholic Church, it would have been rejected centuries ago by the authorities of the Church. • The very fact that the doctrines of the Catholic Church INSIDE FACTS •¿i> continue to endure, unchanged and unchangeable, century after century, is, in itself, a strong argument for the entire reasonableness of those doctrines. No one who thoroughly understands the doctrines of the Catholic Church can ever, by any possibility, object to them as being unreasonable any more than a person could object to the sun being unreasonable for shining for ages. Human reason has its well defined limits. It is sovereign within its own province, but it should not attempt to pass upon truths altogether outside its proper realm. Human reason, like the shoemaker, should stick to its last. There are many things in the world entirely above the range of human reason, but those things are not contrary, therefore, to human reason, or repugnant to it. The mystery of the Blessed Trinity is not opposed to human reason, although human reason cannot comprehend it, any more than electricity is opposed to human reason be- cause human reason cannot comprehend it. The mystery of the Incarnation is not contrary to human reason, any more than wireless telephony is contrary to hu- man reason, for human reason is powerless to fully under- stand either of them. The mystery of the Holy Eucharist is not against human reason, any more than the existence of the universe is against human reason, since Almighty God is the author of both the one and the other. The Catholic Church possesses some of the greatest thinkers in the world, men in whom human reason has been pushed to its farthest limits. If there were any contradic- tion between human reason and faith they could not remain in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is attracting to its fold year after year some of the greatest reasoners in the world. It is precisely because they exercise human reason upon the truths taught by the Catholic Cuhrch that they see those truths to be thoroughly in accord with human reason. Human reason is supreme in the sphere of those things which can be judged by human reason. But human reason is powerless to judge of things above its reach, just as an aviator flying 10,000 feet in the air cannot mine, at that height, coal imbedded 10,000 feet in the earth. The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from reason- 64 INSIDE FACTb able people, nor from people who use their human reason The only enemies of the Catholic Church are unreasonable people, and those who refuse to use their human reason. GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE AND MAN'S FREE WILL. It will readily be admitted that man has free will. It is the most universal and most certain conviction of mankind. Man's conduct is variable, utterly unlike the rigid uni- formity we find in Chemistry and Physics, where there is no free force, but where everything results in accordance with fixed laws. The possession of Free Will, enabling man to act or not as he chooses, makes man a supernatural force, since natural forces are not free, but always act in the same way. It will likewise be admitted that God knows all things, past, present and future. God is omniscient. But the problem immediately rises. How can we reconcile man's boasted freedom with God's foreknowledge of how he will use that freedom? Even though man is free, it is not impossible for human beings like himself to know in advance how he will act under given conditions. In other words, even among human be- ings there is foreknowledge. For example, you know how you will act tomorrow. Provided you are in good health, provided nothing happens, etc., you will go to your work tomorrow morning sometime. Yet your foreknowledge is by no means the cause of your going to your office or factory. Neither does your fore- knowledge of your act prevent your action tomorrow morn- ing from being1 an entirely free act. Man's foreknowledge of a future event is in no sense the cause of that event, neither does it obligate him to bring the event about. He only knows what use he will make of his freedom. If you, being human, may have this foreknowledge of your own actions, so also your fellow men may have like foreknowledge of your actions. But this again does not interfere with your freedom. This foreknowledge is in no sense the cause of your future actions. Your freedom, in other words, is inviolable. INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Now if you grant this foreknowledge and free will to be consistent in the case of human beings, it must certainly be granted to God. Surely you will concede to your Creator in an infinite degree what you concede to your fellow men in a finite degree. God has foreknowledge of all of man's actions. Yet this antecedent knowledge on God's part does not in the least impair man's freedom. My Creator knows for a cer- tainty in advance just what I will do in the future; yet that future action is still free on my part. In brief, God's foreknowledge means that it is certain how I will act at any future time, but it does not make my action at that future time necessary. This is the great dif- ference. Necessity is not the same as certainty. God leaves me free. I am under no compulsion whatever. Yet God knows for a certainty how I will use my freedom in the future. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL. To believe in God is the only solution for the problem of evil in the world. Neither Atheism nor Agnosticism can answer the question at all. The real or alleged sufferings of animals cause much nonsensical talk. In any event sickness and pain are the exception among them, and their life, except when subjected to the brutality of man, seems on the whole to be one of continual enjoyment. Pain is necessary to animals. It does sentry duty for them, warning them of dangers. If they felt no pain from hunger, for instance, they might die of starvation. If they felt no pain from heat, they might be burned to death. So pain is very often a life preserver, not an evil, but a good. Even the most material of Evolutionists must admit that pain is a distinct advantage to the apecies; otherwise how can Evolutionists explain that pain has survived? how has it been evolved?'why does it endure? If we turn to the physical sufferings of man, it will be readily admitted that most of the pain and sorrow in the world is not of God's doing, but has been brought about by the folly and wickedness of man himself. We should remember, likewise, that most of the evils of life do not imply any suffering at all. For example, the loss 66 INSIDE FACTb of an eye is looked upon universally as an affliction, simply because we always had two eyes. Furthermore, the sorrows of life must in reality be nothing compared to its joys; otherwise why would people cling to life so tenaciously? There is far more happiness than unhappiness in the world, because we can be happy without knowing it at all, whereas unhappiness is conscious, and makes itself known. Just as in the animal kingdom, so also with man, pain serves as a beacon, warning man of dangers that lead to destruction. So, too, much of the suffering in the world is inevitable, because men will not take warning, nor will they avoid the evil that they foresee. For instance, the force of gravity will cause a weakened wall in a tenement house to fall, and yet people will continue to dwell in it, and finally will be injured by its fall. So also, Italian peasants will continue to live on the slopes of the smoking Vesuvius. Hence they can only blame themselves, and not God, for the sufferings they will endure from an eruption of the volcano. For God to prevent theii injury would require a miracle, which means the interference with natural laws. Even in the case of great calamities, which cannot be foreseen, such as an earthquake, it is open to question whether it means any more suffering in the long run for s great mass of men to die suddenly, rather than to die singly one after another, after a long and torturing period ot illness. Let us not forget, either, that suffering develops the highest and noblest qualities in man, his fortitude, bravery, patience, compassion, sympathy, self-sacrifice and charity. These qualities cannot be purchased ready made in a de- partment store. They must be cultivated slowly and gradu. ally, hence suffering must be constant. WHY BELIEVE WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE? I believe in the existence of God, whom I do not see, just as I believe in the existence of electricity, which I do not see. I believe that Jesus Christ is God, although I never saw INSIDE FACTS •¿i> Him, just as I believe that Napoleon was Emperor of the French, yet I never saw him. 1 believe there is a place in France called Verdun, al- though I never saw it, just as I believe there is a place in the next world, called Purgatory, although I never saw it either. I believe that Christ founded the Catholic Church, al- though I was not present on that solemn occasion, just as I believe our patriotic forefathers founded the United States, although I was not present on that historic occasion either. I believe that Christ made St. Peter the Head of His Church, even though I did not see Him do it, just as I believe that the Continental Congress made George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary forces, although I did not see them do it. I believe that St. Peter, the first Pope, lived and died in Rome, although I did not attend his funeral, just as I be- lieve that Julius Caesar lived and died in Rome, although I did not attend his funeral either. I believe that Pope Benedict XV, is the legitimate suc- cessor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ on earth, just as I believe Woodrow Wilson is the legitimate successor of George Washington, and the President of the United States. I believe that St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John wrote the four Gospels that bear, their names, although I did not see them write them under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just as I believe that Shakespeare, Moliere and Dante wrote the works bearing their names, although I did not see them write them either. I believe that Jesus Christ exists really, truly and sub- stantially in the Holy Eucharist, although I cannot see him with my bodily eyes, just as I believe that ether waves exist all about me, even though I cannot see them. The birth, life, miracles, death and resurrection of Christ are facts as easily proved and just as clear, certain and un- deniable, as are the birth, life and death of Abraham Lincoln. You cannot see your blood circulate, yet you have not the least doubt about it, simply because? physicians who would not deceive you tell you it does. So also you cannot see Heaven, yet you believe it exists, because Christ, the Son of God. who would not deceive you, has told you it does. We can only know from others the facts of our birth 68 INSIDE PACTS and infancy, yet we believe them absolutely, because our parents would not practice deception on us. So also we only know from Almighty God, our beneficent Father, the facts about the origin of the world, and the human soul, and its destiny, but we Relieve Him absolutely, because truthful Father that He is, he would not practice deception upon us. The news in today's papers, with an imposing array of facts I did not see, actually requires a greater strain upon my belief than the facts recorded in the Bible, which I did not see. Most of our knowledge comes, NOT from personal ob- servation and individual experience, but from the testimony of others. The great majority of the facts of every day life come to us from authority, not from sight. It is not at all necessary to see things with our two bodily eyes to believe them. All that is required is a truth- ful witness, able and willing to inform us, and in religious matters we have that competent and reliable witness, namely, the Catholic Church, founded by Christ Himself. CATHOLICS DO NOT FEAR EVOLUTION. There is no necessity for any one, least of all Catholics, being alarmed at the word "Evolution," for the simple rea- son that Evolution proves one of the great doctrines of the Catholic Church, that is, the existence of God. Evolution reveals to us that this material universe on which we play the wise and foolish, must have had a be- ginning a certain number of years ago, no matter what the number may be. The atoms composing this material universe, that is the sun, moon, stars, earth and all they contain, cannot possibly have existed from all eternity. If Evolution had begun in the eternal past, it would have been completed long ages ago. Science, however, tells us that Evolution is still observable in the universe. The fact, therefore, that Evolution is still going on is a proof, luminous and self evident* that it did not begin in a past eternity. Consequently, a state of progress cannot be eternal. This is only another way of saying that Evolution must have had a commencement at some time or other in the past. 71 INSIDE FACTb In other words, it began; that is the point of the argument. It began. Nothing can begin without a beginner; nothing can start without a starter. Evolution, therefore, supposes a previous Evolver, because Evolution could not possibly have been going on for all eternity, and of course it could not have started itself. Evolution could not have started itself, for that would suppose a plain contradiction; it would require Evolution to be already in existence in order to start itself, and it would at the same time require it NOT to be in existence, in order to be started on its career, which is an utter absurdity, since it supposes it to exist and not to exist at the same time. Occasionally one meets with a half educated, or unedu- cated Evolutionist who denies the existence of God, but this is only a proof of his monumental ignorance. If he only knew what Evolution means, he could prove the existence of God as easily as he could prove that twice two are four. The theory of Evolution, therefore, is an easy scientific proof of God's existence, because it demonstrates with the compelling force of a "problem in Geometry that the uni- verse must have had a Cause, and that cause is God. WHAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS DOING FOR THE MISSIONS. There are more Catholic missionaries at work among the mission fields in the East and the Far East, that is in Asia, Africa, India, China and Japan, than of all other forms of Christianity combined. This is, add together the total num- ber of missionaries employed by all forms of Christianity; that figure does not begin to equal the total number of Cath- olic missionaries laboring to preach the Gospel to the heathen in the East and the Far East. Not counting lay catechists nor Nuns, Sisters, and other employes, the following statistics of Catholic missionaries and of the Catholic population in a few of those far distant countries may be of interest: Ih India, there are 2,300 Catholic priests, and 2,600,000 Catholic people. That is there are nearly twice as many Catholics in India as there are in England. In Africa, there are 2,600 priests, and a Catholic popula- 70 INSIDE FACTb tion of 1,500,000. That is, there are nearly as many Catholics in "Darkest Africa" as there are in England. In China, there are 2000 Catholic priests and 1,400,000 Catholic Chinese, almost as many Catholics as there are in England. There are 2,500 Catholic priests working to spread the Gospel in the Turkish Empire. There are 370 Catholic priests in Japan. There are 630 Catholic priests missionaries in Malaysia, Australasia and Polynesia. In all, there are more than 60,000 Catholic missionaries laboring to preach the Gospel in the East and the Far East, quarters which are commonly looked upon as heathen lands. Of this vast number, 12,000 are priests, 4,000 are teaching brothers, and 40,000 are Sisters, and the remainder are catechists. Sixty thousand missionaries is an immense number, laboring in distant fields, a noble army of men and women who have left their country, their brothers and sisters, houses and lands, and all the blessings they hold most dear in this world to bring the still greater blessing of the faith to those who are yet deprived of it. The Catholic Church is a vast foreign mission society. Its very purpose is to preach the Gospel "to every creature." Hence it must be at home everywhere. And as an indica- tion that it is not neglecting the great work of preaching the Gospel in the United States, some few statistics of its work in this country may not be without interest as a means of comparison. In the United States there are 14 Archbishops, and 97 Bishops, under whose spiritual authority there are 19,572 priests. These 19572 priests are located in 15,163 churches. For the work of educating young men who desire to be priests, there are in the United States 85 Seminaries, each with its staff of Professors. In these 85 Seminaries, there are today 6,200 candidates for the priesthood in the United States, nearly all of them American boys. In addition to these Seminaries, there are under the control of the Catholic Church 210 Colleges, exclusively for boys, and 685 Academies for girls, showing the desire of the INSIDE FACTS 71 Church to furnish opportunities for higher education to her people. But above and beyond all this, there are 5,588 parochial schools in the United States, with 1,500,000 children attending. It costs about $45.00 per child to educate a boy or girl in the public schools of Pittsburg. On this basis, the children educated in the Catholic parochial schools save the country 45 times one million five hundred thousand, or about sixty- seven millions of dollars a year ($67,000,000). The Catholic Church maintains 283 Orphan Asylums in the United States, and in these Asylums for the fatherless poor there are about 50,000 homeless little ones. There are in the United States 112 Homes for the Aged, under the direction of the Little Sisters of the Poor. In all the world there are more than 300,000,000 Cath- olics, and in the United States we can only guess at the number; however, it is anywhere between 18,000,000 and 20,000,000, with the majority of statistical experts on the side of the larger figure. The Catholic Truth Society 136 North Craig Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. Has published the following pamphlets by f THOMAS F . COAKLEY, D. D. Price Fire Cents Each $3.00 per 100 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, For What Does She Stand? WHY I AM A CATHOLIC? CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, A Deadly Parallel. CREEDS AND DOGMAS. SOCIOLOGY OR CATHOLICITY. Which? WHY CATHOLICS HAVE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS GUARDIANS OF LIBERTY AND ROMAN CATHOLICS. A Few Facts for Bigots. HOW CATHOLICS GET MARRIED. ADVANTAGES OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR CATHOLICS. MEETING HOUSES OR CHURCHES.