2.82.77389 
 B8/c 
 
 — Bishop of Belleville, ILL., vs. — 
 St. Patrick's Parish, E.St. Louis. (1900)
 
 tow* mma sw«t 
 
 
 J
 
 A CELEBRATED CASE. 
 
 >— »-o»«— *- 
 
 THE BISHOP 
 
 OF BELLEVILLE, ILL., 
 
 -vs. 
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, 
 
 EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS. 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND MORAL LESSONS 
 
 BY OWEN ROE. 
 
 ANDREW F. BROWNE, MANAGER. 
 
 Laclede & Vandeventer Aves., 
 
 ST. LOUIS. MO. 
 
 PRICE 50 CENTS.
 
 . 
 
 
 INDEX TO PORTRAITS. 
 
 •o-«- 
 
 Frontispiece — St. Patrick's Church, Parochial Residence and Convent School. page 
 
 Miecislas Halka de Ledochowski.. "i 
 
 (Count of Ledochowski and Cardinal-Prefect of the Propaganda.) 
 
 Most Rev. Sebastian Martinelli, Apostolic Delegate 6 
 
 Very Rev. Father CHalloran ..................... 8 
 
 Mrs. Flynn 9 
 
 Mrs Eugene O'Halloran 10 
 
 Thomas Erwin .... 11 
 
 Group — The Guard of Honor 12 
 
 P. B. Cusack 13 
 
 Miss Margaret Wallace 14 
 
 Robert Cunningham 15 
 
 Prof. Thomas J. McDonough 16 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanifan, following page ..... 16 
 
 <Jronp Misses Birdie Healey, Mary X. Hurley and Mary K. < >' Hanlon ; Messrs. Deniali 
 
 Hanifan and M. Hurley 17 
 
 Dr. John Stack . 18 
 
 Walter J. Broderiok li» 
 
 Group — Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Cashel and Mrs. Ellen Healey 20 
 
 Group — Mi-->- Prances and Agnes Kerrigan and Margaret Flynn: Messrs. Frank Eceles, 
 
 Dan Connelly and M. .1. Hanifan . 12 1 
 
 J. J. Kane 22 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dennis 1'. Sullivan, following page 22 
 
 Frank .1. Healey 2-\ 
 
 Patrick Kerrigan 24 
 
 V. F. (('Sullivan 25 
 
 .John Raleigh ... 26 
 
 Daniel O'Brien 127 
 
 Dennis McCarthy 28 
 
 Walter J. Coonan 29 
 
 P. J. Gainer 30 
 
 P. P. Sullivan 31 
 
 Edward O'Brien.. 34 
 
 P. J. Keely 35 
 
 James Francis Maher .. 38 
 
 John Heffron 39 
 
 Michael F. O'Brien . 44 
 
 We beg leave to call the attention of our friends to the announcement of the Wabash Railroad 
 on the back cover, and assure them that our experience with the management of that road justi- 
 fies us in saying that those who desire first-class accommodations will not be disappointed should 
 they travel along that route.
 
 The cut on the opposite page represents St. Patrick's church, school 
 and parochial residence, extending over an entire block from Sixth to Seventh 
 streets on Illinois avenue, one of the most prominent thoroughfares in East 
 St. Louis. The value of the property and beauty of the surroundings our 
 readers can imagine. All this was paid for by the Irish-American families of 
 the parish with the exception of two or three prominent French families. And 
 yet Bishop Janssen, in his desire to add this magnificent property to that 
 already controlled by his Priester-Verein, was blind and deaf to every appeal 
 of the parishioners for an Irish-American pastor, until Rome, through the good 
 advice of that wise, discreet and holy man, of unquestioned diplomatic 
 ability, the Apostolic Delegate, Most Rev. Bishop Martinelli, said to the 
 good (?) Bishop stop, you have gone too far, remove the ban of excom- 
 munication, they do not deserve it, give them a priest of their own nation- 
 ality. Thus has the most noted controversy in the history of the Catholic 
 Church in America ended in a glorious triumph for the people. And thus 
 our Apostolic Delegate has earned the love, blessings, and everlasting grati- 
 tude of the Irish-American people, not only of East St. Louis, but of every city 
 and town in the United States where an Irish organization exists, as well as 
 that of the people in Ireland, who have watched this case with keen interest, 
 and will honor him for his just decision.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 "Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, 
 Nor set down aught in malice." 
 
 [Othello, v-2.J 
 
 jURING the process of this Celebrated Case before the Apostolic Delegation, 
 and before the court of public opinion, we have advised and others of 
 high station in the Church have advised the publication of this work, giving 
 some sort of logical order to the vast mass of desultory matter which appeared 
 in the public press in reference thereto, and taking occasion to set forth the 
 teaching and spirit of the Church upon the principles involved in the controversy. 
 
 We wish that the work were entrusted to more skillful hands, but while 
 many had expressed the desire to see it done, no one seemed inclined to 
 assume the task. 
 
 To take advantage of the wide-spread interest elicited in this case, the 
 work ought to have been undertaken long ere this. As it is, we do not claim 
 the credit of supplying this want. Indeed, had we not been repeatedly invited 
 to perform the task we would humbly have escaped it. The arguments urged 
 on us, and which finally persuaded us to comply with the earnest request, 
 were that as we were an active participant in the great contest and familiar 
 with its subject matter, we would thus be more fitted for the work than others 
 who would probably give the public a mere hoc post hoc narration of the case. 
 
 The present work opens up ground new to many. Because the Church 
 lays such stress upon the necessity and maintenance of authority, without 
 which there could be no government, no unity, no order, some light minds 
 charge her with absolutism or autocracy. We have endeavored to show that 
 there is no government in the world so democratic in the true sense than the 
 Roman Catholic Church. She knows no acceptance of persons, and therefore
 
 ii Prefaa . 
 
 is she guided in her legislation by the principles of justice and equity. No 
 government has, nor can have, a higher concept of thai supreme law, which 
 is the welfare of the people, than Holy Mother Church. The people are the 
 little ones entrusted to her by Jesus Christ. She cherishes them in her divine 
 maternal instincts as she does the apple of her eye. Who becomes a stumbling 
 block to the people is the enemy of the Church. Knowing this we. never 
 wavered in our belief, during the prolonged contest, that victory would crown 
 the people's efforts to secure those time-honored canonical privileges which the 
 Church has accorded her children from the earliest times. 
 
 The object lesson which this case affords is a most salutary one to clergy 
 and people. Many of our bishops and pastors were little monarch S who se.t at 
 naught the judgment and will of the people. In this they are certainly not in 
 harmonv with the mind of the Church, but in direct opposition 10 her spirit 
 and will. The people will become more Roman as they are taught to turn to 
 the central authority of the Church in their complaints against unjust ecclesias- 
 tical rulers. And in becoming more Roman they become more Catholic. "If 
 you be Christians be you also Romans," declared St. Patrick to his disciples, 
 as recorded in the "Book of Armagh." 
 
 If in our dealing with certain social and religious evils we found it necessary 
 
 to probe and cauterize here and there, we assure our patients that a scientific 
 
 treatment of the case demanded it, and we assure them further that we deeply 
 
 cherish their best interests. After the spirit of St. Paul we say to them : 
 
 "I write not these things to confound, but to admonish you, as my dearest 
 
 children." 
 
 R.
 
 MIECISLAS HALKA DE LEDOCHOWSKI. 
 Count of Ledochowski and Cardinal-Prefect of the Propaganda. 
 
 This illustrious dignitary of the Church is the eldest son of Count 
 Joseph of Ledochowski. He was born October 29, 1822, at the domain 
 of Ledochow in Galicia. 
 
 On leaving the Ecclesiastica Academia he was sent to Madrid as 
 secretary to tne Nunceo in Spain, and subsequently discharged the import- 
 ant functions of Nunceo Apostolic in Brazil, Portugal, Chili and Belgium — 
 in all these countries winning the esteem of the diplomatic corps. He 
 was consecrated Bishop in 1861, was promoted to the Archiepiscopal see 
 of Gnesen and Posen in 1865. 
 
 The Archbishop joined the other Archbishops and Bishops in a protest 
 against the Prussian May Laws of 1873, and on his refusal to appear 
 before a criminal court, was fined repeatedly, till all his property was 
 seized. He was then imprisoned at Ostrowo. At the same time 1,100 
 priests v/ere undergoing prison life in the German empire. 
 
 After his release from prison he was raised to the Cardinalite, and finally 
 advanced to his present exalted position as Prefect of the Propaganda. 
 This distinguished confessor of the faith has proven himself a martyr in 
 the cause of right and justice. When our cause was finally laid before the 
 Propaganda by Archbishop Martinelli, the Cardinal-Prefect dealt with it in 
 a summary manner by peremptorily ordering Bishop Janssen, of Belleville, 
 to withdraw his injudicious pronouncement of excommunication and accede 
 to the wishes of the people. 
 
 Long live Cardinal Ledochowski!
 
 ^ romtPitsttitfH 
 
 MIECISLAS HALKA DE LEDOCHOWSKI, 
 Count of Ledochowski and Cardinal-Prefect of the Propaganda.
 
 MOST REV SEBASTIAN MARTINELLI, APOSTOLIC DELEGATE. 
 
 When St. Patrick's congregation decided to openly protest against the unjust invasion 
 
 of their rights by Bishop Janssen, they resolved to do so in accordance with the 
 
 laws of the Church, and therefore did they send a committee to the Apostolic 
 
 Delegate, who received their appeal most graciously. From that moment 
 
 we felt that Cahensleyism was doomed in East St. Louis. May His 
 
 Grace continue to abide with us. to enrich us by his rare learning 
 
 and prudence and to check every advance towards 
 
 unlawful episcopal monarchy.
 
 A CELEBRATED CASE. 
 
 The Bishop of Belleville, III. 
 
 vs. 
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, 
 
 EAST ST. LOUIS, ILL. 
 
 The East St. Louis Ecclesiastical Case, now happily ended, deserves a place 
 in the history of the Catholic Church in America. Its prolonged discussion elicited 
 the keenest interest of the clergy as well as of the laity of the country. The 
 ignorant and thoughtless saw in it only a petty quarrel or an unwarranted rebellion 
 on the part of a Catholic congregation against episcopal authority, whilst discerning 
 minds, viewing the matter below the surface, watched its outcome with marked 
 attention. To them it was a question of great moment — involving fundamental 
 principles of Church polity. 
 
 To give a true and intelligent history of the unhappy conflict we must go back 
 and trace the causes that produced it. 
 
 A certain German element, by no means representative of that great people, 
 have been cultivating for years a most offensive form of nationalism within the 
 Church in this country. Its literary organs boldly reveal its ulterior design, 
 namely, to make everything as nearly as possible the same as in Germany, 
 " Gerade wie bei uns in Deutschland," as they say. 
 
 In 1884 an ultra German priest of this school, and of the diocese of St. Louis, 
 published two articles in the Pastoral- Blatt under the title, "The Future of Foreign- 
 born Catholics ; and Fears and Hopes for the Catholic Church and Schools in the
 
 8 Tht Bishop "/' Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 United States." Id these articles the writer impugns the wisdom and fair-minded- 
 ness of the American hierarchy in reference to the treatment of German Catholics 
 in the United States. 
 
 The Pastor, a monthly journal for priests, referring to these injudicious letters, 
 used the following prophetic language: "If it provoke retorts, and bitter ones, 
 against German priests being put in charge of Irish-American congregations, the 
 Pastoral-Blati will be itself to blame." 
 
 The German-Catholic Central Verein in 188b' took up this complaint, until 
 finally it was brought to the notice of the Propaganda. "I candidly believe," 
 wrote a broad-minded German priest, "that we German Catholics ought to accept 
 thankfully from the hands of Providence the American surroundings in which we 
 are placed, to conform ourselves to them as far as prudence and conscience may 
 dictate, and not to expect it to be the mission of the Catholic Church to obstruct 
 forcibly with her authority the natural course of events in favor of any particular 
 nationality or language, though this may happen to be our own." 
 
 This sound advice and gentle rebuke incurred the wrath of the Cahcnsleyites. 
 The so-called Catholic papers which echoed their sentiments indulged in the vilest 
 abuse against the American bishops and archbishops. Considering it impolitic to 
 set themselves on record as being anti-American, they substitute the word Irish. 
 Here is an evidence of their dishonesty and un-Catholie spirit. In their petition 
 presented to the Propaganda in 1887 we find the following unmeaning clauses. 
 
 "We ask the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda to define * * * that 
 the German parishes be entirely independent of the Irish, that the rectors of Irish 
 parishes can exercise no parochial rights in relation to Germans who are assigned, 
 or by right ought to be assigned to some German church, whether they be new- 
 comers from Germany, or born in America of German parents, etc." 
 
 The framers of this petition knew quite well that though an English-speaking 
 parish may be composed in the main of Irish or Irish-Americans, it could not with 
 any propriety be called an Irish parish. Did the Irish clergy of America ever 
 petition the Propaganda, as did the Germans in 1887, that "the bishops and 
 priest- be instructed, on the one part, in no manner to endeavor to suppress and 
 root out the language, the manners, the customs, the ways and manner of worship 
 of the (Irish)?" Most certainly No. There are no Irish parishes as such in 
 America nor outside of Donegal or the Highlands of Scotland.
 
 VERY REV. FATHER O'HALLORAN 
 
 Was an ideal man and priest. Underneath that plainness of manner and 
 diction, which characterized him, there were a tenderness of feeling and 
 a purity of mind which were most admirable. He was as intense in 
 his love for America as he was for his motherland. He was 
 eminently practical and a hater of all nonsense and hum- 
 buggery, exceedingly hospitable and appreciative of 
 genial humor. Dear Father O'Halloran was a 
 typical Irish priest who was close to the 
 hearts of his people.
 
 !- 
 
 _:_ 
 
 MRS FLYNN. 
 
 Mrs. Flynn will long be remembered in East St. Louis as an uncompromising 
 
 advocate of the right of the Irish people to be ministered to by a priest 
 
 after their own heart. Even at the point of death Mrs. Flynn 
 
 insisted upon the attendance of an Irish priest to unfold 
 
 her heart to a Sogarth Aroon, and ask him, mayhap, 
 
 whether her soul would pass through Ireland 
 
 on its journey to eternity.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Lewis, Illinois. 9 
 
 It was therefore a low subterfuge to speak of Irish in contradistinction to 
 German parishes. 
 
 Judging from the tone of certain accredited organs of this school, it would 
 appear to be included in their program to speak contemptuously of the Irish people. 
 
 In no country where there is any moral censorship of the press exercised could 
 one find such indecent publications as emanate from this disgraceful school of 
 German nationalism. For impudence and audacity, grossness and vulgarity they 
 are unparalleled.* 
 
 The American Catholic Quarterly Review, as early as 1883, alluding to the 
 appearance of this offensive nationalism, thus speaks: "To foster these national 
 feelings unduly is a great mistake. They breed animosity; and, as the rising 
 generation will be American in feelings, they must look upon this as their country ; 
 and, if their religion is a matter of nationality, it will expire with it. 
 This is a canker eating away the life of the Church in the United States. 
 
 "Those who labor mainly among Catholics of foreign birth, as well as such 
 Catholics themselves, rarely form a conception of the extent to which we Catholics 
 as a body are regarded by the people of this country only as a sort of foreign camp 
 in their midst. * * * A Protestant will point to the map and say : ' Where 
 are your American Catholics? The whole country is laid off in dioceses as though 
 you owned it, but how is it that your Popes have never yet found an American 
 Catholic fit to occupy a see Avest of the Mississippi and Lake St. Clair? ' There are 
 thousands of miles where no American-born bishop has ever been seen." (p. 525.) 
 
 These remarks would appear, at first sight, to refer to Irish-born bishops as 
 well as to Germans, but on reflection we can perceive that such a conclusion is not 
 contained in the premises. What we object to is the character of foreignism in 
 the Church of this country, the canker of nationalism, fostered and promoted by 
 this blind German element to which we have been alluding, and which provoked 
 these above remarks. f 
 
 The brilliant editor of the St. Louis Mirror, commenting upon the action of 
 the Bishop of Belleville, has evidently grasped this difficulty with remarkable force 
 
 * The Hausfreund, the Weisenfreund, the Herold des Glaubens, the Revieio. 
 
 tl consider every priest an American who has been in the country from his youth, and who 
 has been thoroughly identified with the spirit of the country. With this definition of an American, 
 I think any system that forces men of other nationalities upon the country does a great injury to 
 religion. * * * Let there be no question of nationality raised; but if there is, let the bishop 
 be an American. — ('The Bishop and the Priest," p. 63.)
 
 10 The Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 and clearness. "The country at large, he writes, has an interest deeper, perhaps, 
 than it suspects, in tins incident. The issue is whether the so-called Cahensleyites 
 shall establish an imperium in imperio in this country. The Cahensley idea is 
 that the German dioceses shall insist upon the autonomy of those dioceses as 
 Germanic institutions. The German bishops insist that German dioceses shall 
 have German priests and German Catholic schools, and a more or less Teutonic 
 system of discipline for priests and people consistent with the ordinary Church 
 discipline. If Bishop Janssen of Belleville can install a German priest over 
 Irish Catholic parishes in his diocese, he will be enabled to show a solidly 
 German diocese to the authorities at Rome, and if all the German bishops in 
 the country can do the same, they can unite in a powerful presentation to the 
 Vatican that the maintenance of Catholic principles in this country depends 
 upon ;i definite recognition and encouragement of German schools. They would 
 lie able to insist upon the importation of German priests and teachers, upon the 
 maintenance of German Catholic publication societies, and upon the forms and 
 method- of instruction prevalent in Germany. In practical effect the granting of 
 this demand would be to make the dioceses in question branches of sees in 
 Germany. This, to Americans generally, is repulsive. It is a condition that 
 would sap the strength and undermine the authority of the United States hierarchy. 
 It would weaken the Church by dividing it. It would antagonize American 
 sentiment by perpetuating foreign language, foreign customs and foreign racial 
 solidarity against other races in America under cover of the Church. * * With 
 this contention, as represented by the parishioners of St. Patrick's in East St. Louis, 
 the sympathy of the country at large is enlisted. The general idea involved in it 
 is the same as that which led the people in various cities of the Union to vote down 
 the teaching of the German language in the public schools. That it would be well 
 to have German-speaking priests in parishes made up of newly-arrived German 
 Catholics is, on the whole, reasonable. What is objectionable is the evident 
 determination to keep the Germans of the Church in this country Germans in 
 perpetuity, maintaining parishes, not so much as parishes of the Church, but as 
 German colonies within the states and cities. It is a positive fact that 
 
 Cahensleyites in Germany were responsible for the misrepresentation of Archbishop 
 Ireland at Rome. It is known that Cahensleyites made a fight against American 
 professors in the chairs of the Catholic University at Washington. In everything
 
 -• 
 
 MRS. EUGENE O'HALLORAN. . 
 
 Mrs. O'Halloran was one of the leaders among the women of St. Patrick's Parish 
 
 to prevent Father Cluse from entering the church. She is respected 
 
 and loved by her people, and well deserves a prominent 
 
 position in the history of this celebrated case.
 
 MR THOMAS ERWIN. 
 
 Here is the noblest Roman of them all; one of the most conscientious, upright and 
 
 honorable business men of East St. Louis, who entrusted the care of his 
 
 business to others and stood guard with the boys from the beginning 
 
 of the controversy until the final glorious ending of the struggle.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 11 
 
 the German Catholic elements are fighting for separatism in this country, for 
 racial exclusiveness, for the furtherance in their churches and schools of an 
 obscurance of American ideas and principles." 
 
 As we have already intimated Milwaukee and St. Louis have long been the 
 two great camps of this enemy of the Catholic Church in America. Through the 
 indefatigable labors of its chief conspirators in the latter city, a diocese, in the 
 main Irish-American, has now become almost thoroughly Germanized. The late 
 venerable Archbishop Kenrick saw no danger in Germanism. He in fact nurtured 
 it in his manner of legislation. He gave carte-blanche to a certain ecclesiastical 
 official in the German affairs of his diocese. For upwards of forty years that 
 apostle of German nationalism has labored in and out of season to establish a 
 veritable imperium in imperio. The conditions were most anomalous. The two 
 clerical bodies, German and American, seemed to move in parallel lines, literally 
 strangers to each other, though laboring in the same vineyard and under the same 
 divine standard. That unity of heart and soul, " uniim cor et una anima," which 
 characterized the early Christians, was conspicuously wanting, in this portion of 
 the Kingdom.* 
 
 The German language, German manners and customs, German wa} T s and 
 manner of worship were zealously fostered and advanced in that fair city, once 
 styled " The Rome of America." Even sweet charity, which "is not ambitious" 
 and "seeketh not her own," is to flow in German channels, hence the establish- 
 ment of German orphan asylums and German hospitals. 
 
 While, the assignment of an American priest to a German-American district 
 was not even to be thought of, these Cahensleyites endeavored to capture English 
 speaking parishes whenever a vacancy occurred. t And they succeeded to the 
 
 *In issuing invitations to the clergy to participate in the recent Golden Jubilee Celebration 
 of St. Peter and Paul's Church, St. Louis, the names of English speaking priests were omitted. 
 The German assistants at the English churches were not forgotten however. 
 
 f In a certain town in Missouri, where the Catholics were English, French and Irish, a 
 German priest of recent importation was appointed as their pastor by the Vicar-General who did 
 not have the good manners to notify the attending English-speaking missionary of his action. 
 
 Other instances may be given where German priests preside over Irish and American 
 districts in the diocese of St. Louis. We knew one German priest in a rather cultured American 
 town on the Missouri River who honestly acknowledged his dislike of the English tongue. 
 
 If a truth-seeking American were to visit such a church, and hear nothing but the German 
 .anguage spoken therein, he would be inclined to say: The Roman Catholic Church is evidently 
 a foreign institution. She does not adapt herseif to the American people, and seems perfectly 
 indifferent to our acceptance of her doctrines.
 
 12 The Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, m. 
 
 extent — aye to the appalling extenl thai to-day, in the diocese of St. Louis, the 
 Americans constitute only ■"><> per cent of the entire diocesan clergy. 
 
 And this is how such :i condition of things came about. While the late 
 saintly Archbishop was delving into the depths of sacred cosmogony, and most 
 unsuspecting <>f any sinister movements on the part of his trusted officials, 
 Germany was being searched, as with lamps, for raw recruits, to serve in the 
 ministry in these inviting fields. The extreme generosity with which scholarships 
 were offered in the seminary at Innsbruck to any German youth, who would 
 affiliate himself to this western diocese, attracted the attention of American 
 -indents at that institution. Rosy dreams of this new ecclesiastical El Dorado 
 began to fill the brains of German youths as they lay beside that Alpine river. 
 
 The seminary at Cape Girardeau, under the pious sons of St. Vincent de Paul, 
 had long been recognized as a diocesan institution. Through secret influence, the 
 diocesan patronage was practically withdrawn and given to Milwaukee, a most 
 pronounced Germanic institution. Even in details and minor matters, no oppor- 
 tunity was neglected to turn everything into German channels. 
 
 We must remember that Germanism was intended to he a national, if not an 
 international movement. The victories won in Milwaukee and St. Louis encour- 
 aged its votaries all along the line. They soon began to manifest a feeling of 
 unrest under the government of American bishops. As well expect the primitive 
 Jews to coalesce with the Gentiles as to get these extremists to blend their forces 
 with the Church in America. They are essentially separatists. Even in localities 
 where they are in the vast minority, they secede from the English-speaking diocese 
 or parish, and maintain their distinct organizations.* 
 
 When Bishop Ryan of Alton succeeded Bishop Baltes, who ruled over Southern 
 Illinois, Rev. John Janssen, now Bishop of Belleville, and others encouraged a 
 division of the diocese. Meeting with the approval of this element, Belleville was 
 created into a distinct see. 
 
 *In instances where the separated Germans are unable to support their pastor, the German 
 Vicar-General engages to maintain him with the view of establishing the nucleus of a German 
 parish, which may soon become self supporting. Verstehen sie nieht:' 
 
 "Even in several dioceses in which the German Catholics form a comparatively small 
 minority of the members of the Church, there are bishops of German descent. Where, in fact, 
 is there any diocese in which the German Catholic element is in the majority which has not a 
 German bishop?" — (Rev. John Gmeiner.)
 
 THE GUARD OF HONOR. 
 
 The above group, whose faces are so well known to the people of East St. Louis that it is 
 
 unnecessary to name them, were among those who stood guard at the church night 
 
 and day from the beginning of this wonderful controversy until the people's 
 
 cause finally triumphed. They have set an example for the 
 
 young Irish-American element worthy of emulation.
 
 MR. P. B CUSACK. 
 
 Mr. P. B. Cusack, Superintendent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. of New 
 
 York, is one of the leading business men of East St. Louis, and as the above cut 
 
 would indicate, is made of the right kind of stuff. The lessons he learned 
 
 in his school days in Ireland by associating with that intrepid leader and 
 
 sincere patriot Chas. Stewart Parnell, whose class-mate he was, were turned 
 
 to good account when the rights of the people of St. Patrick's parish 
 
 were about to be trampled on by Bishop Janssen. His courageous 
 
 and able leadership will never be forgotten by a grateful people.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 13 
 
 True to the instincts of his party, Bishop Janssen proves himself an apt 
 disciple of this school. He tried to out-Herod Herod until he overstepped his 
 bounds. In his effort to Germanize his diocese, his zeal overcame his prudence. 
 Out of a total of ninety-eight diocesan clergy he has but six who are not Germans. 
 He found five churches in his diocese dedicated to St. Patrick, composed of Irish 
 Catholics over whom he has placed German pastors. That his appointment of 
 Father Cluse as pastor of St. Patrick's Church, East St. Louis, was not an 
 unpleasing duty, but a part of a deep-laid scheme in perfect keeping with his 
 legislation from the beginning, appears on the surface.* 
 
 It is against this unjust and imprudent legislation that the parishioners pro- 
 tested. "Our people are willing to obey the laws of the Church, said they in 
 writing to the Apostolic Delegate, but we have stood German encroachments until 
 we feel that we must do somethingtosave our selves and our Irish organizations from 
 annihilation." j 
 
 The history of the case properly begins with the death of Father O'Halloran, the 
 venerable rector of St. Patrick's, which occurred on Dec. 29th, 1898. 
 
 Having labored for nigh forty years in the sacred ministry in Southern Illinois, 
 few were more observant of the trend of affairs than Father O'Halloran. For 
 thirteen years he had been witnessing the manceuverings of this Cahensleyite 
 bishop, and no one could be more outspoken in his denunciation of this odious 
 policy. He anticipated the bishop's intentions in the appointment of Father 
 Cluse to the pastorate of St. Patrick's, and the thought disturbed his dying hours. 
 He knew and loved his people and, seeing the unfairness and incongruity of the 
 appointment, he requested his people to earnestly endeavor to avoid such an evil. 
 
 *A special telegram to The Bepubhc from Washington, says: 
 
 "The proceedings by which Father Cluse was appointed rector of the parish of St. Patrick's, 
 East St. Louis, were the culmination of a long series of steps in the same direction. The 
 diocese of Belleville over which Bishop Janssen presides, is the head center of the organization 
 of Germans known as the priest-verein. This organization was started in the palmy days of 
 Cahensleyism, which has died out in almost all other parts of the country except this diocese. 
 Its aim and object is to marshal the German forces in solid phalanxes to the exclusion of all other 
 nationalities. It had been almost completely successful in this diocese until the determined stand 
 of the parishioners of St. Patrick's.'' 
 
 t As a proof of the Cahensleyite hatred of everthing Irish: in the diocese of Milwaukee, the 
 Bishop appointed a Cahensleyite priest over an Irish parish dedicated to St. Patrick. He soon 
 changed the name from Patrick to Joseph. Consider the animus of this, and the dense ignorance 
 which it betrays, for it is well known to every ecclesiastical scholar that Germany was Chris- 
 tianized by the spiritual sons of St. Patrick. Scarcely a cathedral bell is rung in Germany 
 that does not sound above the remains of some Irish missionary.
 
 14 Tfn Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 It wa> tin- solemn declaration of a dying father to his beloved children, and it did 
 not fail to reach their hearts and amuse within them burning resolutions to carry 
 out his will in the letter and in the spirit. 
 
 Subsequent events proved the correctness of Father O'Halloran's judgment 
 and apprehension. Ere the grand old soldier of the cross had been consigned to 
 his grave, aye during the solemn services over his remains, an over-zealous German 
 friend pointed oul Father Cluse as the future pastor of St. Patrick's, and a priest 
 close to his Lordship of Belleville confirmed this rumor on the same day. 
 
 The people of East St. Louis, observing the rare merits and ability of Father 
 .lames Downey, for years their virtual pastor, openly advocated his cause, con- 
 sidering him the logical and rightful successor to the late Father O'Halloran. 
 Accordingly a petition, bearing over 3,000 signatures, was presented to Bishop 
 Janssen requesting the appointment of Father Downey to the vacant pastorate. 
 Included in the list of petitioners were the members of the Young Ladies* Sodality, 
 the Boys' Sodality, the Catholic Knights of Illinois, the Catholic Knights of 
 America, the Knights of Father Mathew, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the 
 Queen's Daughters and the Ladies' Auxiliary of the A. <). II. Mayor Stephens 
 was also among the petitioners. The committee in charge of this important 
 petitioD was composed of Messrs. Daniel McGlynn, Thomas Hanifan and Patrick 
 Kerrigan. The Bishop received these gentlemen favorably, and promised to 
 consider their request. 
 
 Weary months of feverish expectation had passed before Bishop Janssen 
 revealed his long-entertained intention. On May 2d appeared the unfortunate 
 announcement that Vicar-General Cluse of Germantown was appointed pastor of 
 St. Patrick's Church. 
 
 Great was the indignation of the people on hearing this news. Within an 
 hour after its publication a meeting was called. Over fifty prominent men of the 
 parish attended. Walter J. Broderick acted as Chairman, Dr. John Stack, Secre- 
 tary. The other officers were W. J. Heilly, \\ . J. Kirk and City Attorney Daniel 
 McGlynn. 
 
 It was resolved by these representative men of the parish to hold a mass- 
 meeting at Music Hall on May 5. 
 
 Pursuant to this call a very large meeting of the parishioners was held for the 
 purpose of protesting against the proposed action of Bishop Janssen of Belleville.
 
 MISS MARGARET WALLACE. 
 
 Miss Wallace is the accomplished daughter of Mr. Edward Wallace, vice-president of 
 the Southern Illinois National Bank of East St. Louis. This beautiful young lady is 
 naturally looked up to by the people of the parish because of her luxurious sur- 
 rounding and social standing, but following in the footsteps of her honored 
 father, this only aided her to accomplish greater results. It is said she never 
 missed a meeting since the church bells tolled a note of warning for 
 the parishioners to assemble and protect their church property against 
 the unwarranted attempt of Bishop Janssen to annex it to the 
 holdings of the Priester Verein until the final announcement of 
 the unprecedented victory. The influence of her presence at 
 those meetings can better be imagined than described. Her 
 patriotic Irish father's heart, ''whose wealth was at the 
 disposal of the committee in their noble work," must 
 heave with just pride as he realizes the extent to 
 which this modest girl unconsciously commands 
 the love and admiration of all who know her.
 
 MR. ROBERT CUNNINGHAM 
 
 Mr. Cunningham has been a member of the City Council and School Board 
 in East St. Louis continuously for nearly twenty years, which speaks 
 volumes for his upright, manly character. He is also one of the 
 most respected members of the A. H. and other Irish 
 organizations. He has endeared himself to his 
 people in this cause by his open, courageous 
 and liberal support in their unprece- 
 dented battle for iustice.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 15 
 
 Former Postmaster of the National Stock Yards, Walter J. Broderick, called 
 the meeting to order. He was unanimously selected permanent chairman and Dr. 
 Stack was selected as secretary. Mr. Broderick made the first speech. He said 
 that the meeting had been called to protest against the appointment of a German 
 priest to an Irish congregation. While he personally was always on good terms 
 with the Germans, he wanted an Irishman in the pulpit of his church. He 
 wanted a man who felt as he did, who knew what the Irish race had to contend 
 with, and of the many trials they undergo which a priest of any other nationality 
 could not understand, and further would not be interested in. 
 
 Upon motion of Mr. Thomas Hanifan, a Committee on Resolutions was 
 appointed, of which Prof. T. J. McDonough was the chairman. Mr. Patrick 
 Kerrigan, one of the oldest and most respected members of the congregation and 
 also one of the oldest residents of East St. Louis, was called upon to make an 
 address. In response Mr. Kerrigan said it was with great reluctance that he 
 appeared on such an occasion, but he felt that the time had come when men of the 
 parish should voice their sentiments. He closed his remarks by saying that the 
 Irish founded East St. Louis nearly a century ago, and established the Church 
 there without German aid. They therefore wanted an Irish or an Irish- American 
 pastor in whom they could feel happy socially and religiously. 
 
 Mr. Kerrigan was followed by Messrs. J. J. Rafter, Daniel McGlynn, Prof. 
 T. J. McDonough, M. J. Walsh, J. J. Heilly and others, all of whom spoke in the 
 same strain. They did not wish to be understood as rebelling against the 
 Catholic Church or Catholic doctrine and authority. But as free men, and men 
 of standing in the community, they felt that they had been wronged, and they 
 wished a trial of their cause on its merits before the proper tribunals, civil or 
 ecclesiastical. They would hand to Bishop Janssen their list of grievances and 
 ask him in a courteous and fair way to consider them, at all times recognizing his 
 authority in the Church. 
 
 In case, however, he turned a deaf ear to their statements of what they 
 considered they had a right to ask, they would then take the matter direct to 
 Archbishop Martinelli, the Apostolic Delegate at Washington. If he decided 
 against them it was the opinion that they would submit to the inevitable and 
 accept the pastorate of Father Cluse, against whom personally they had no 
 grievance.
 
 16 Tin Bishop of Belleville^ Illinois, vs. 
 
 Professor T. J. McDonough, J. J. Rafter, Jerry J. Kane and City Attorney 
 Daniel McGlynn, besides several other prominent members of the parish, spoke 
 in the same vein, all agreeing that the parish, as an Irish parish, should be 
 given an Irish priest. 
 
 Professor T. J. McDonough, Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, then 
 introduced a sel of resolutions, which, after being read amid vociferous cheering, 
 was adopted without a dissenting voice. Copies of these resolutions were sent to 
 Bishop Janssen and Mgr. Martinelli. The resolutions read as follows: 
 
 Whereas, This parish", founded in 1861, and named after Ireland's beloved 
 apostle, St. Patrick, has been in the past thirty-nine years the banner Irish-Ameri- 
 can parish of the diocese; and, 
 
 Whereas, Its splendid church, schools, convent, graveyard and presbytery 
 have been built and paid for by men of Irish blood, and in fullest sympathy with 
 every movement for the upbuilding of Irishmen at home and abroad; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, Irish national life has had no more prolific growth than in this 
 parish and among this people; and, 
 
 Whereas, The Germans who settled in East St. Louis were recognized as far 
 hack as 1866, since which time they have grown to be a great and powerful organi- 
 zation with their own church, schools, convent, presbytery and graveyard, exclu- 
 sively German, of the Germans and for the Germans; and, 
 
 Whereas, St. Patrick's Parish has always done its whole duty towards the 
 support of the diocesan institutions, including the orphan asylum and seminary; 
 and , 
 
 Whereas, The people of St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis, 111., 
 without regard to age or sex, have learned with sincere sorrow of the action of our 
 Right Reverend Bishop John Janssen of Belleville, in appointing, as pastor of 
 St. Patrick's congregation, a priest of German birth, Reverend Father Cluse of 
 Germantown, 111., thereby ignoring the unanimously expressed wish and request 
 of the whole congregation to retain their present beloved acting pastor, Reverend 
 James Downey; and, 
 
 Whereas, The members of St. Patrick's congregation have been loyal and 
 devoted members of our holy mother church, and at all times in the past submis- 
 sive to their ecclesiastical superiors, and in every direction and without question 
 responsive to every demand, legal, moral or religious, as the records of this con- 
 gregation during the past thirty years fully prove; and, 
 
 Whereas, The Reverend James Downey, during the years of his labor among 
 them, as curate and as acting rector, has won the everlasting love and affection of 
 every man, woman and child in this congregation; by bringing erring members 
 back into the fold, by visiting and alleviating, often from his own purse, the wants 
 of the sick and poor; by braving, like a true soldier of Christ, the dangers of the 
 elements and pestilence, in care of his flock; by taking their young men from the 
 streets and the dangers and temptations incident thereto, and organizing them into
 
 PROFESSOR THOMAS J. McDONOUGH, 
 
 Superintendent of the Public School of East St. Louis, possesses a high 
 
 order of genius as a poet and prose writer. He has endeared himself to 
 
 the people by his beautiful traits of character and his upright life. 
 
 He was a soldier in the thickest of the fight to enforce the 
 
 wishes of his dear friend, Father O'Halloran. to prevent a 
 
 German priest from occupying his place. This loyal, 
 
 physical and intellectual giant has made a name for 
 
 himself in this memorable battle that his family 
 
 and friends may well feel proud of.
 
 MRS. TOM HANIFAN. 
 
 We fear our artist has not done justice to Mrs. Hanifan in the above picture, hence we are 
 
 constrained to say that it but fairly represents one of the truest and noblest women ever 
 
 nurtured at the breast of an Irish mother. If anything were needed to stimulate 
 
 and encourage her distinguished husband in his fearless and energetic fight 
 
 to prevent the Cahensleyites from gaining control of St. Patrick's church, 
 
 it certainly was supplied by this brave woman. Her name and 
 
 memory will be cherished by the rising generation of St. Patrick's 
 
 parish long aftei her spirit has gone to its heavenly reward.
 
 MR. TOM HANIFAN. 
 
 Mr. Tom Hanifan, the modern Dean Swift, whose sincerity, determination and 
 
 sarcastic wit had much to do with the great victory achieved. Modest, 
 
 unassuming, yet as brave as a lion, he hoisted the banner of protection 
 
 for the Irish homes of St. Patrick's parish, and with that heroic 
 
 devotion which has characterized his whole life in the cause 
 
 of Ireland, never yielded to friend or foe until it was 
 
 safely planted on the threshold of the church, with 
 
 victory emblazoned upon it. The thousands 
 
 of Irishmen who know him personally 
 
 and will recognize his picture will 
 
 say with one acclaim that is just 
 
 what we would expect 
 
 from Hanifan.
 
 BIRDIE HEALEY. MARY N. HURLEY. MARY E. O'HANLON 
 
 DENIAH HANIFAN. M. HURLEY. 
 
 The above group is a fair representation of the youth and beauty of St. Patrick's parish, who were 
 unyielding in their determination to force Bishop Janssen to recognize the just and reason- 
 able request of all the parishioners for an Irish-American priest. To their everlasting 
 credit it may be said that Hather Downey was their first choice, but having 
 yielded that point, their watchword was: "No Cahensleyite."
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 17 
 
 societies for their religious education, and thereby making their attention and de- 
 votion to Holy Church the wonder and delight of all; by his temperate life, 
 brilliant education and acquirements, zealous care of all who have been blessed by 
 God in being under his care, his life of piety, charity and unquestionable honor, 
 and by his attention to the wants, spiritual and temporal, of his people, he has 
 won their confidence as no other living person could; and, 
 
 Whereas, The appointment of any one, no matter whom or how brilliant, to 
 the position which their beloved pastor now occupies would be in direct opposi- 
 tion to and in disregard of the entire congregation, and would mark the beginning 
 of the decline and fall of a parish built by years of labor and unremitting toil, and 
 which for thirty years has been a credit to the Catholic Church of Southern Illinois; 
 therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, by the members of St. Patrick's congregation, in mass meeting 
 assembled, that we solemnly and emphatically protest against the action of his 
 Lordship, the Right Reverend Bishop of Belleville, in appointing the Reverend 
 Father Cluse of Germantown to the pastorate of St. Patrick's Church in East St. 
 Louis, as unwise and in total disregard of the wishes of the entire congregation and 
 as detrimental to every interest of this parish, present and future; and be it further 
 
 Resolved, That we solemnly pledge ourselves to resist and oppose by all proper 
 and lawful means the consummation of this proposed action, which forebodes so 
 much evil to ourselves, our families and our beloved parish; and. in peaceful 
 defense of our just rights appeal to the representative of the Holy Father, Mgr. 
 Martinelli, to whose wise adjudication we submit our complaints and our prayers 
 for protection. 
 
 Some of the prominent parishioners who occupied seats on the stage were : 
 M. J. Walsh, J. J. Hilley, Jeremiah Coffey, Thomas Hayes, City Attorney Daniel 
 McGlynn, Patrick Wallace, John J. Snowball, Patrick Kerrigan, Thomas Erwin, 
 Thomas Hanifan, John Monahan, Doctor John Stack, Justice Patrick McKane, 
 Professor T. J. McDonough, W. P. Burke, Peter Sullivan, Richard Nash, Walter 
 Coonan, Jerry J. Kane and J. J. Rafter. 
 
 The deliberations of the assemblage, writes the reporter of the Globe- Democrat, 
 
 were marked by due regard for propriety in every respect. Not an unkind word 
 
 was spoken of the bishop or the priest selected for the place. The act, however, 
 
 of sending the German priest to an Irish congregation was condemned in unmeasured 
 
 terms. In illustration of the kindly spirit and dignified bearing of the parishioners 
 
 throughout this prolonged contest, we publish the letter of Dennis McCarthy, to 
 
 the Post-Dispatch. 
 
 East St. Louis, May 9th. 
 Will you kindly grant me space in your columns for a few remarks concerning 
 the trouble over the appointment of Rev. Father Cluse to the pastorate of St.
 
 18 Tin Bishop of Hi Hi rill,. Illinois, vs. 
 
 Patrick's Church in Easl St. Louis. A citizen of Gennantown, in this evening's 
 Post- Dispatch, writes in terms highly eulogistic of his pastor, and I have no desire 
 to take issue with him. Father Cluse is doubtless a very estimable gentleman. 
 Nobody here has any objections to him personally. What the people of St. 
 Patrick's parish objecl to is the anomaly of a German being appointed pastor of 
 an exclusively Irish congregation, just as the German Catholics of Germantown 
 would be certain to do if any but a German priest were sent to preside over them. 
 
 The people of St. Patrick's deprecate any action tending to unfriendly 
 relations with their German fellow citizens, leasl of all with their co-religionists, 
 ami if any such deplorable result must ensue, let the blame rest on the author of 
 this injudicious appointment, the Right Reverend Bishop Janssen. In almost 
 every diocese in the I'nited States in which German bishops preside trouble of this 
 nature has resulted. In Newark, X. J.; Milwaukee and Denver reactionary 
 German bishops have tried to introduce the methods of llerr Cahensley, with 
 results invariably prejudicial to the best interests of the church, and which the Holy 
 Father himself has seen fit to discountenance in no uncertain language. 
 
 Irish Roman Catholics stand pre-eminent as the most liberal and tolerant 
 Christian people in the universe, as the troubled history of the country amply 
 proves. They have never even hated their cruel oppressors on religious grounds. 
 No German, or priest of any other nationality, can show one case of unfriendly 
 discrimination against an Irish-American bishop. The Archbishop of St. Louis 
 selects as his Vicar-General a German, Mgr. Muehlsiepen, to whom he refers all 
 matters concerning the spiritual welfare of German-American Catholics under his 
 charge, whilst the Bishop of Belleville seeks to impose his German Vicar-General 
 on the most Irish parish south of Chicago. 
 
 If it is true that Father Cluse considers he is making a sacrifice in coming to 
 East St. Louis, let him remain where he is appreciated. Nobody here wants any 
 sacrifice from him. We are of the opinion that Father Downey can accomplish 
 more good here in one year that Father Cluse could in twenty. 
 
 Dennis McCarthy, 
 
 Thirteenth and Natalia Avenue. 
 
 Father Koenig, pastor of St. Henry's church, East St. Louis, had the impru- 
 dence to publish a letter in defence of the Bishop's position, taking a most distorted 
 view of the case, and indulging in statements which were not founded in fact. 
 
 The Board of Trustees replied to him at great length and in a very aide 
 
 manner. They close their reply thus : 
 
 We have engaged in a struggle for our rights, and we will never submit to 
 such un-Catholic and bigoted treatment. The Irish Catholics can look the world 
 in the face without a blush. For 800 years the persecutions, infamies and outrages 
 of Cromwell, Elizabeth and Henry VIII. have been unavailing to shake the faith 
 of the Irish Catholic, and to-day they are engaged in an honorable, open warfare 
 for their rights. None of the reasons assigned for the appointment of Father Cluse
 
 DR. JOHN STACK. 
 
 Dr. John Stack is a physician and surgeon of recognized abiiity. He is a native of 
 East St. Louis, and has always been regarded as faithful and true. His intelli- 
 gence and moral courage contributed much to the great victory over 
 German nationalism. To his keen diplomacy, exercised at a very 
 opportune time, may be attributed the unanimity with which the 
 men and women of St. Patrick's parish so heroically resisted 
 the acceptance of Father Cluse as their pastor. He 
 holds a warm place in the hearts of his people, 
 and may well be styled the "grand young 
 man" of East St. Louis.
 
 MR. WALTER J. BRODERICK. 
 
 Mr. Walter J. Broderick, one of the most prominent live stock commission men 
 
 in Illinois, is a man of marked intelligence and keen discernment; in a 
 
 word, a man of most excellent qualities of head and heart. He stands 
 
 high in the community and enjoys a spotless reputation. He 
 
 would defend the honor of a true priest with his life, but 
 
 would not tolerate injustice from the Pope. His 
 
 magnificent letter to Rev. Gough on another 
 
 page will be read with interest.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 19 
 
 are true, and under no circumstances will he be permitted to take charge of this 
 parish. It is purely an attempt to give one of the best parishes in the diocese to a 
 German where there is not one of his nationality. 
 
 His Lordship misunderstands the temper of our people if he imagines that we 
 will ever submit to such outrageous treatment. When our parish was $40,000 in 
 debt a German was not sent to us to shoulder the burden, but good Father 
 O'Halloran was assigned to this difficult task, and after a few years all of this 
 debt, in which was included an indebtedness which was barred by law, was paid 
 in full. Now we are asked to turn the fruits of these years of toil and sacrifice over 
 to one not of our race, in the interest of German nationalism. We will never do it. 
 
 (Signed) W. J. Broderick, President. 
 
 Doctor John Stack, Secretary. 
 
 Wm. J. HiLLEY, Treasurer. 
 
 Thomas Doyle, Trustee. 
 
 James Goff, Trustee. 
 
 A committee, consisting of City Attorney Daniel McGlynn, Thomas Hanifan 
 and Dr. John Stack, representatives of St. Patrick's parish, were appointed to lay 
 their appeal before Mgr. Martinelli. Learning that the Apostolic Delegate was at 
 Notre Dame, Ind., they decided to visit him there. The committeemen say 
 they were received most graciously, and assured by the Delegate that he would 
 send a letter at once to the Bishop directing him not to allow Father CI use or any 
 other priest to go to St. Patrick's parish until the matter could be laid before the 
 Delegate and both sides of the controversy heard. The committee returned con- 
 tent with what it had accomplished. 
 
 Bishop Janssen addressed the following letter to the parishioners of St. 
 Patrick's church: 
 
 Dearly Beloved Parishioners of St. Patrick's Church, East St. Louis, III. : 
 
 The rectorship of your church became vacant on December 29 of last year by 
 the death of your beloved pastor, the Rev. P. J. O'Halloran. Immediately after- 
 ward you petitioned me that I might appoint as his successor the Rev. James 
 Downey, w r ho, for more than six years as assistant to the lamented Father 
 O'Halloran, had endeared himself to you by the zealous exercise of his priestly 
 duties. After mature deliberation and continuous fervent prayer during the time 
 of four months, I deemed it best before God and my conscience to appoint as your 
 rector the Very Reverend W. Cluse, V. G., retaining the Rev. Father Downey as 
 his assistant. I most candidly and emphatically assure you, pledging my word 
 of honor as a Bishop of the Church of God, that my action was not influenced in 
 the slightest degree by motives of race prejudice or national, personal favoritism, 
 but solely by the desire to promote the honor of God, the good of our holy religion 
 and the salvation of your immortal souls.
 
 20 Tin Bishop of Belleville, Tllinoia, vs. 
 
 Instead of dutifully submitting to my appointment and being ready to receive 
 
 the priest whom I selected to send to you as the shepherd of your souls, as it 
 befitted obedient children of the Catholic Church and true, faithful clients of St. 
 Patrick, whom you venerate as the patron saint of your church, you allowed your- 
 selves to be stirred up into passionate feelings of un-Catholic, narrow-minded 
 nationalism, and to break out into open revolt against your lawful ecclesiastical 
 superior. Words are failing me to express adequately how by your proceedings 
 during the past three weeks you have grieved the heart of your Bishop and have 
 given to the world, to Catholics, as well as non-Catholics, the exceedingly scandal- 
 ous and pernicious example of dangerous rebellion against lawful authority. 
 
 There were those among you who had the audacity to convoke a mass-meeting 
 for the avowed purpose of ostentatiously venting their ire against your bishop and 
 baffling his action. Five members of your parish went so far as to invite to this 
 meeting by telegraph not only myself, hut also the worthy priest whom I had 
 appointed as your rector. You appealed to the most reverend apostolic delegate 
 that he might induce me to revoke my appointment. 
 
 I now inform you that his Excellency, Mgr. Martinelli, has ratified my 
 appointment of the Very Reverend W. Cluse, V. G., as rector of St. Patrick's 
 church, East St. Louis, 111., and at the same time I entreat and command you by 
 all that is most dear and sacred to you, to desist at once from your ungrounded 
 opposition. Do not, I beg and warn you, drive your bishop by jour prolonged 
 opposition, into the most unfortunate and unavoidable necessity of leaving your 
 parish altogether without a priest. 
 
 If by next Friday evening, the "iiUh inst., your opposition to my appointment 
 has not ceased, the guards around St. Patrick's Church and parochial residence 
 have not been recalled and full assurance has been given to me that the Very Rev. 
 Father Cluse, V. G., can take charge of St. Patrick's parish without being molested, 
 I shall be compelled, to my sincerest regret, to leave your congregation without 
 the service of any priest until you submit. 
 
 May the Holy Ghost in this octave of Pentecost enlighten and strengthen you 
 to fully understand and humbly acknowledge the deplorable errors into which 
 misguiding leaders have precipitated you. You can yet preclude and repair the 
 sad effects of the scandal already caused by now welcoming the newly appointed 
 pastor who comes to you in the name of the Lord to devote his priestly labors to 
 the temporal and spiritual welfare of your church. 
 
 Do this, I beseech you, by the honor of the Blessed Trinity, by the love and 
 mercy of the sacred heart of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to lead us all to 
 heavenly bliss, by the good of our holy faith and the salvation of your immortal 
 souls. 
 
 In loving solicitude, I affectionately bestow upon all of you my episcopal 
 blessing. 
 
 Given at the episcopal rasidence, Belleville, 111., the 23d day of May, 1899. 
 
 f J. Janssen, 
 
 Bishop of Belleville.
 
 MRS. GEO. CASHEL. 
 
 MRS. ELLEN HEALEY. 
 
 MR. GEO. H CASHEL. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Geo. H. Cashel are here seated with their old and'true friend Mrs. Ellen Healey. They 
 were conspicuous in the gallant fight for the preservation of their church and parish from the 
 baneful influence of Cahensleyism Mr. Cashel is one of the most respected men in East 
 St. Louis, and justly so. No truer Irishman ever lived. He was dreaded by the oppressors 
 of his people in Ireland, "the police and landlords," just as he is feared by those who 
 would endeavor to abridge their rights "even in church circles" in the land of his 
 adoption. The police of his native town in Ireland will never forgive him for 
 encouraging a mischievous spy to betray them into unearthing a large box 
 supposed to contain modern firearms buried in a neighboring graveyard, and 
 hauling it to headquarters only to discover a nauseating spectacle unfit to 
 mention in this publication. He is a man of unimpeachable character 
 and unflinching courage, generous to a fault, and loyal to his friends. 
 May he be spared for many many years to enjoy with his family his 
 worldly accumulations of a well spent life, and may his right hand 
 retain its youthful power to wield with unabated vigor his trusted 
 "ba'tle ax" until the last vestige of the power of that detest- 
 able organization, the Priester Verein, is completely annihi- 
 lated. Should that splendid weapon ever get dulled in 
 the execution of this pleasant diversion we will furnish 
 a grindstone, and a man to turn it too, until it is 
 restored to its normal condition, and then offer up 
 a prayer to heaven for the speedy and success- 
 ful termination of the holy war.
 
 MISS FRANCES KERRIGAN. MISS AGNES KERRIGAN MISS MARGARET FLYNN. 
 
 FRANK ECCLES. DAN CONNELLY. M J. HANIFAN. 
 
 Mr. Dan Connelly, a leader in East St. Louis business circles, whose advice is sought on 
 
 many important matters, is here seated with a few of his young friends who, like 
 
 himself, were in the front line of battle when the fight was hottest. Of the 
 
 hundreds engaged in this righteous struggle none worked harder or 
 
 accomplished more than Dan and his young vo'unteers.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 21 
 
 There was an informal conference of the parishioners in front of the church 
 Wednesday evening, at which it was decided that the position assumed by the 
 communicants would be maintained in any emergency. 
 
 A member of the committee on guard at St. Patrick's church in East St. Louis, 
 in discussing Bishop Janssen's recent letter to the parishioners, said: 
 
 The appeal of the Bishop of Belleville to the people of St. Patrick's parish was 
 unfortunate in that it made reference to the Apostle of Ireland. St. Patrick was a 
 very different man from Bishop Janssen. He had no undying affection for his 
 "beloved mother tongue." He did not introduce German, or American, or French, 
 into the Cathedral of Armagh; he did not encourage young men from the continent 
 to come over to Ireland and till all the rich parishes. He did not encourage the 
 clergy he brought over with him to do all in their power to perpetuate their 
 "beloved mother tongue. " He did not appoint a Vicar-General who was fresh from 
 a parish in Gaul, He did not neglect the Irish language himself nor permit the 
 clergy to neglect it. 
 
 He did not after 11 years of his episcopate have it to say that he had no Irish 
 priests to fill the parishes of his diocese. 
 
 Bishop Patrick, some say, was a Frenchmen, but he did not advertise his 
 nationality by attending all the French and German vereins and conventions 
 organized on the other side of the channel for the purpose of perpetuating the 
 "beloved mother tongue." He did not shut up churches on account of his 
 "beloved mother tongue." He did not close any Irish Catholic schools and turn 
 the children of the Irish adrift, for the sake of the "beloved mother tongue." 
 
 He did not forbid the Holy Sacrifice of the mass in any Irish parish because 
 he discerned some resentment to his "beloved mother tongue." He did not stop 
 the May devotions of the Irish to the Blessed Mother of God because they would 
 not listen to them sung or said in the halting accents borrowed from the "beloved 
 mother tongue." 
 
 No ! The Bishop of Belleville is not like the first Archbishop of Armagh. He is 
 more like the Spanish Queen, who, because she lost her "beloved" child, issued a 
 decree forbidding her people to believe in God for 12 months, so as to teach the 
 Almighty a lesson as Bishop Janssen would to the Irish of East St. Louis. 
 
 In the meantime Bishop Janssen issued orders that St. Patrick's Church be 
 
 closed until the parishioners submit to his appointment. Father Downey, who 
 
 had been in charge of the parish, was ordered to Belleville, and thus were 4,000 
 
 souls left shepherdless.
 
 Th Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, 
 
 PROTESTED IN GOOD FAITH. 
 
 The ,„.,,,,,,. v „-,,,•{ in their Catholic instincts in assuming so definite a 
 
 stand against the appointment of a I German priest to the pastorate of their church. 
 
 They acted in g 1 faith from the beginning, though they were styled by the 
 
 Cahensleyite organs rebels and schismatics. They were assured by many of the 
 
 jywho warmly advocated their cause that they were within their rights, and 
 
 that their protest was in har ny with the legislation of the Church, which tended 
 
 to remove any doubt as Lo the morality of their action. They firmly believed that 
 their episcopal ruler permitted himself to be betrayed into a flagrant violation of 
 justice ami good taste in blindly ignoring the voice and will of the people, and in 
 so unwisely thrusting upon them a German priesl against whose acceptance they 
 
 tpenly declared. 
 Before entering into the merits of their case we cannot do better than to repro- 
 duce their own published statements, setting forth their true position, and the 
 
 sons for their action. Evidently smarting under the gross charges and misre- 
 • ntations urged against them by the enemy, the following communication 
 appeared in the Post- Dispatch of .Inly 30th. 
 
 THE ECCLESIASTICAL VIEW OF ST. PATRICK'S TROUBLE. 
 
 Much has been said and written on our present ecclesiastical difficulty at East 
 St. I.onis, until the topic is becoming tedious and anything but edifying. 
 
 At first sight it seems an unwarranted rebellion against legitimate episcopal 
 authority. If it were SO it were indeed a grievous evil. All well-regulated and 
 conservative minds must deprecate discord and disunion more than all within the 
 household of the faith. 
 
 Authority is the mainspring of government, and, of course, authority implies 
 obedience. These principle- are deeply rooted in the Irish Catholic mind. Asa 
 people we consider ourselves second to none in the world in our deep Catholic faith 
 in the divine episcopate, and in our exalted conception of its -races and powers. 
 Rebellion against Church authority has never been a characteristic of our people.
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 MR J. J. KANE. 
 
 Mr. Kane was City Clerk of East St. Louis for six years, retiring two years ago 
 
 with an unblemished record. He is one of the most popular young 
 
 men in that city, and as in ail other cases where injustice was 
 
 sought to be practiced, was in the front rank in this 
 
 battle pouring hot shot into the enemy's camp.
 
 MRS DENNIS P. SULLIVAN. 
 
 Mrs. Sullivan was one of the bright stars in this wonderful drama. She has 
 endeared herself both to the Irish and American people of East St. Louis 
 by her dignified resistance to the shameful attempt of Bishop Janssen 
 to humiliate the people of St. Patrick's Parish by forcing them 
 to accept a German pastor so closely allied with that detest- 
 able organization known as the Priester Verein. She is 
 a worthy daughter of Erin, and well deserves the 
 position she occupies in the front ranks of 
 the social set in East St. Louis.
 
 MR. DENNIS P. SULLIVAN. 
 
 No truer friend of the Irish people ever crossed the Atlantic, and no one more 
 
 determined to fight for their just rights, either against a Cahens- 
 
 leyite Bishop or an Irish landlord than D. P. Sullivan. He deserves 
 
 well of his people, and they are justly proud of him. 
 
 t Arnni.
 
 MR FRANK J HEALEY. 
 
 Mr Frank J Healey.oneof the bright, prosperous young men of East St. Louis, 
 
 was captain of the guard at St. Patrick's church. With such a true 
 
 Irishman protecting their interests, the parishioners could 
 
 well declare with safety that Father Cluse would 
 
 never enter the church as their pastor
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 23 
 
 The late Pius IX. of holy memory, mindful of our unceasing fidelity to the chair 
 of truth and authority, styled us "the most faithful children of the Church of God." 
 
 In this respect the parishioners of St. Patrick's Church in East St. Louis are 
 true to the traditions of their fathers. They are a faithful, noble and generous 
 people, to whom a true priest is a Sogarth Aroon. 
 
 Our people have been taught to distinguish between the man and the office. 
 They have been also taught that power is a trust gratis data, as theologians say, 
 which is given for the benefit of the people, and not for the caprice or arbitrary 
 will of the possessor. The Church has no place for ecclesiastical monarchs or 
 arbitrary rulers. In consonance with her divine spirit the Pope styles himself 
 "the servant of servants." The Church has always set her face against absolutism 
 in Church and State. She is the mother of liberty in the political as well as in the 
 religious world. She loves the people. She speaks to parents, to political and 
 religious rulers — priests, bishops and popes — after the manner of our Lord: "See 
 that you despise not one of these little ones." In the Catholic Church the people 
 are deemed the vehicle of Catholic thought and principle of which bishops are 
 witnesses and exponents. The Church is not an autocracy. St. Jerome remarks: 
 "Bishops are to remember that they are priests, not lords." The bishop's duty, 
 according to St. Bernard, is "to avoid alienating the faithful." From even the 
 days of the apostles the Church has manifested a democratic spirit. Witness the 
 election of an apostle where St. Peter, with over a hundred of the laity, selected 
 one to take the place of Judas. This democratic principle of consulting the 
 interests and will of the people became interwoven with the Church's general legis- 
 lation. The history of the Church is replete with instances where popes have been 
 compelled to remind ignorant or wayward clerics of the rights and privileges of the 
 people, even in the appointment of bishops. "No bishop should be placed over 
 people against their will," says Pope Celestine I. "When there is question of 
 electing the chief priest," writes Leo the Great, "let him be preferred above all 
 others who is required by consent of both clergy and people; and if the votes 
 should be equal, let the metropolitan prefer him who has obtained most affection, 
 and is a man of greater merit; only give heed that none shall be chosen who are 
 not wished for or asked for; lest the people, being thwarted, should despise and 
 hate their bishop, or lest they should become less religious than is fitting, not 
 having obtained him they desired." What holy horror would be aroused to-day 
 among undiscerning weaklings were a people to protest against the admission of 
 a bishop who would be a stranger to their ways and manners — an intruder, in the 
 language of Pope Julius I. And yet were they to do so they would be acting in 
 accordance with divine tradition and apostolic law. 
 
 Now, if the law of the Church forbids the appointment of a bishop over a 
 people unwilling to receive him, and calls him an "intruder," who dares to assume 
 the charge; a fortiori it condemns the appointment of a pastor over a people who 
 hold him in aversion. 
 
 To come to concrete matters, let us enter into an analysis of the difficulty 
 under consideration. The first antagonistic element, so visible on the surface, is 
 German nationalism. This policy is as un-American as it is un-Catholic.
 
 24 p of BelL >>'il>-, Illinois, 
 
 Cabensleyism is another name for it. and we all know how quickly the broad- 
 minded Leo XIII. Bel bis fool upon it when brought to hie notice by the American 
 bishops. Cabensleyism meant the setting forth a claim for German representation 
 the Catholic Church of America— the very principle denied by Bishop Jan.- □ 
 to his Irish brethren througboul his dioc< 
 . then art a jewel." 
 
 It is this Bpirit of self-interesl that begol the so-called Reformation in 
 
 many according to the opinion of Frederick the Great. It is a spirit unworthy 
 of a Catholic bishop, who Bhould make himself all to all in order to gain all — a 
 
 k to the Greeks and a Hebrew to the Hebrews. Hew unlike our divine Lord 
 is a Cahensleyite bishop. Hear wh.it Holy Scripture Bays: 
 
 ■ \n-l one Baid unto him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without 
 seeking thee. But he answering him thai told him, said: Who is my mother, 
 and who are my brethren? And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, 
 
 aid: Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will 
 of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother." 
 (St. Matthew xii. 47 to •" 
 
 The late Father O'Halloran of blessed memory, though an intense Irishman, 
 was an American ofthemosl broad-minded type. It might have been said of him : 
 "He loved justice and hated iniquity." 
 
 It was refreshing to hear his manly denunciation of this German nationalism 
 and utilitarian principles. This spirit he bequeathed to his beloved flock. Even 
 in his dying hours he nobly resented the Bavage rudeness of the man who almost 
 announced himself as his successor. So correct was the good father's intuition of 
 the matter that he gave expression to the hope that this reverend gentleman should 
 not succeed him. His beloved friend- heard this dying wish, and they secretly 
 vowed that Buch a consummation should never come to pass. 
 
 Now, on the day of Father < )' I Ialloran's funeral it was well known and 
 admitted by the bishop's household that Rev. Cluse was the one slated for the 
 office, as the politicians say. What can an intelligent people think of a bishop, 
 after this, who unblushingly tells them that his ehoice for the rectorship of their 
 parish was the result of long ami prayerful deliberation? The unfortunate man 
 nol only lowered himself in their estimation, hut actually became an object of their 
 
 i and contempt. Action and reaction are equal and contrary. The love and 
 reaped for the pries! and the bishop, so characteristic of the Irish people, gave way 
 to a spirit of abomination for the man who drags his sacred office in the dust; who 
 "Wears the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in." 
 
 Not only was tin- appointment not the result of long and prayerful delibera- 
 tion, but horrible to relate, a matter decided on before the death of our beloved 
 
 >r. \- the andean vulture of the Andes, scenting the odor of death in the 
 still living body, swoops down upon his luckless victim and begins at once to dis- 
 
 of him. bo before the peaceful Bleep of death had visited our beloved pastor 
 the holy bishop set his covetous eyes on the fruitful pasture, and resolved upon 
 carrying out his usual programme.
 
 MR. PATRICK KERRIGAN. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Kerrigan must go down in the history of East St. Louis as one of her 
 most highly honored citizens. Only high-handed injustice and a blind adminis- 
 tration on the part of a bishop could provoke so estimable a Catholic as 
 Mr. Kerrigan, so remarkable for his kindness and gentleness of heart. 
 
 loronto
 
 MR P. F. O'SULLIVAN. 
 
 Mr Sullivan is a liquor dealer and one of the most prominent and popular men 
 
 in his line of business in East St. Louis. His time and money was freely 
 
 given in the glorious fight against Germanizing St Patrick's Parish.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 25 
 
 Our people were aware of his saintly intentions, yet they hoped he would alter 
 them upon their appeal in behalf of Father Downey, who had been ministering to 
 them for years in the capacity of assistant, and who had won their hearts, as only a 
 priestcan do who is in thorough sympathy with his people, and whois one in heart and 
 soul with them. Committees of men and women hastened to Belleville and sought 
 his lordship, beseeching him to grant them the desire of their hearts by appointing 
 Father Downey as their pastor. The good bishop is a gentle as well as a prayerful 
 man. He seemed most gracious. They gave expression to their warm apprecia- 
 tion for Father Downey as a priest and a man. This is to their credit, for he is, 
 without doubt, a priest of eminent qualities of mind and heart. He is highly 
 respected and revered by the non-Catholics as well as by the children of the 
 Church. We felt in our hearts that it would be for the welfare of religion in 
 general, and of St. Patrick's congregation in particular, were Bishop Janssen to 
 acquiesce in our judgment. But German interests were at stake, and how could 
 the good bishop forget his plighted troth? Many months were allowed to pass to 
 give a color of truth to the plea that during all these weary months his lordship 
 was wrestling in prayer for divine light. 0, religion, how many sins are committed 
 in thy name? 
 
 At last came the not unusual pronouncement that a German priest would 
 preside over the Irish congregation of St. Patrick's. Our people, stung to the 
 quick by this contemptuous treatment, and boiling over with indignation at such 
 treachery and deception, beoame awakened to the situation. They said our bishop 
 has proven false to us. He has scandalized us by revealing, in so palpable a man- 
 ner, his nationalistic prejudices. He insults our intelligence by assuming to be the 
 shepherd of our souls, who sacrifices us at the altar of German propagandism. 
 Our request, conveyed in the most respectful manner, and along the lines of right 
 and equity, he rejects with seeming scorn. Instead of cementing the two people 
 in unity, this unwise bishop labors to divide them, and to sow the seeds of mutual 
 contempt by ignoring upon all occasions the rights and claims of the one, and 
 pandering to the selfish interests of the other. We, therefore, resolved to resist 
 with all our might, this outrageous action of our bishop. We resolved that Rev. 
 Mr. Cluse especially, should not be our pastor. We were reminded of the scandal 
 that would be given by our resistance to authority. We answered that we were 
 within our rights, and that, therefore, the bishop would be the cause of the scandal 
 given. We were told that authority must be maintained, but our own good sense 
 and Catholic instincts tell us that ecclesiastical authority is something divine — a 
 power unto edification — and that the blind absolutism of this bishop is the ema- 
 nation of everything low and vulgar. If we had the least ground for belief that 
 his rulings were guided by the holy spirit, our Catholic faith would dictate a willing 
 obedience thereto. "He that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God." 
 But what of a man who abuses power, of a simoniacal spirit who looks upon the 
 parishes at his disposal, not as spiritual vineyards, but as so many fat livings to 
 be dispensed among his favorites. Is resisting such a one a resistance against the 
 ordinance of God? God forbid. Aye, blessed are they who raise their voices 
 against such evil-doers within the Church of God. When a mitred bishop of the 
 
 W Toron
 
 26 
 
 p of Belh ville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 holy Catholic Church will desc< leceil and subterfuge to the detriment of his 
 
 people it is enough to make angele weep, and weak mortals to doubt the promises 
 of Christ to his divine BDOU 
 
 We are nol only unconscious of evil, hut we know and we believe that we are 
 
 < tending in the cause <>i truth and justice. If the one appointed to teach and 
 
 guide us fails in bis duty towards us. it is our.- to complain of his abuses and to 
 -t the baneful influences of ecclesiastical corruption caused by his official in- 
 capacity. 
 
 We personally are now inured to Bcandals. We have been long at such a 
 school at this side of the river. Thanks to God, we are still in the faith, and we 
 hope t<> persevere therein unto the end. Bui what of the future generation? 
 
 •• Ave. then - the rub." 
 
 Would we be true men, true fathers of families, true Christians, if we would 
 lay Bupinely and tolerate evils that would lead to the destruction of faith and 
 morals among our children? We would be worse than infidels were we to permit 
 this. 
 
 We insisl upon having for our pastor a representative priest. A well known 
 Catholic writer says: "The Church in this country needs representative men, and 
 clergy and laity should insist on getting them." This is our contention. It is 
 comforting to know that bishops and archbishops, and other learned ecclesiastics 
 are with as, heart and soul. Never will we yield. We will teach the weak a 
 lesson in nobility of purpose and in self-sacrifice in the cause of truth and justice.
 
 MR. JOHN RALEIGH. 
 
 Mr. Raleigh is a prosperous young business man of East St. Louis and was 
 one of the foremost defenders of the rights of the people. 
 
 Toronto
 
 MR DANiEL O'BRIEN. 
 
 (NO SURRENDER.) 
 
 Mr O'Brien, as his picture would indicate, is cool, calculating and determined 
 
 careful and slow to decide, but when he reaches a decision then "no surrender 
 
 is his motto When the order of excommunication was issued and some few 
 
 were inclined to yield, then it was that his true character manifested itself 
 
 The words he uttered at that meeting, "no surrender or compromise, ' will 
 
 never be forgotten by those present. Ireland and St. Patrick's parish 
 
 has many young men to be proud of, but none more than Dan O'Brien.
 
 St. Pat rich's Pari*}), East St. Louis, Illinois. 27 
 
 "ROMAN LEGISLATION IS TRADITIONALLY 
 FOUNDED ON NATURAL EQUITY." 
 
 The enemies of the Church have been presenting her to the world as an autoc- 
 racy or an ecclesiastical dictatorship ; and yet nothing could be farther from the truth. 
 Cardinal Bellarmine, one of the greatest theologians of the Church, declares that 
 "all Catholic doctors agree that the government of the Church, deposited by God in 
 the hands of men, is limited and moderated by democracy." — (Lib. I. C. V.) 
 
 "A bishop is truly set to govern the portion of the flock of Jesus Christ 
 assigned to him in his diocese, and special graces are undoubtedly annexed to his 
 appointment by the Chief Shepherd as well as to the episcopal character received 
 in Holy Orders. However, his authority is not by any means of an unlimited 
 character; it is hedged in by the natural law of equity and justice, by the divine 
 positive law and by the Canon Law of the Church." — (Dr. Burtsell.) 
 
 The principle laid down by Pope Celestine I. in the early part of the fifth 
 century, "Xullus invitis detur episcopus" (no bishop should be placed over people 
 against their will), has long been recognized in the Church as applying to the elec- 
 tion of popes, bishops and priests. Take the election of St. Martin of Tours: 
 "From the surrounding country and neighboring villages the crowds thronged into 
 the city. All wanted Martin for bishop. The electors at first resisted the popular 
 outcry * * * but the people complain and murmur, and their faith sustains and 
 nurtures their discontent; they implore and threaten, and, disregarding their ordi- 
 nary representatives, they join issue with the electors, and finally the bishops 
 vield and accept the people's choice." — (Cath. Quart. Review, Jan., 1896. p. 91.) 
 
 The bishops of that period, knowing that from apostolic times the people 
 exercised a deliberative influence, a sort of suffrage in the nomination of bishops, 
 did not dare to pronounce a wholesale excommunication against their lay opponents. 
 There were no German bishops in those days. 
 
 Leo the Great found it necessary to reprove the bishops of the Province of 
 Vienna for nominations of prelates who were odious to the people, and who could 
 onlv be put in possession of their sees by military intervention. These abuses 
 have lasted too long already, says the Pope ; let the people express their wishes ; 
 they will quietly make known their candidates, and then you may see how far you 
 satisfy them, or what prevents you from accepting their choice. — (Cat],. Quart. 
 Jan., 1896, p. 87.)
 
 28 The Hishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 Among the clergy of the country, who openly criticized Bishop Janssen and 
 sympathized with the parishioners of St. Patrick's, was the Rev. Francis Kielty, 
 the venerable and learned rector of the Holy Angels' Church, St. Louis. 
 
 The learned Father addressed the following letter to Bishop Janssen with the 
 hope of putting an end to the unhappy conflict: 
 
 St. Louis, May 29, 1899. 
 Bishop Janssen, Belle rill, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Bishop — Proprio motu, I send you this friendly suggestion: I see from 
 the morning papers that no satisfactory conclusion has been reached between you 
 and the trustees. There are two proverbs which say, "Past counsel, past grace," 
 and "It is the part of a wise man sometimes to change; but a fool never." Do 
 please try and let not these find any application in you on the present sad occasion. 
 
 Fleury says, "Such heed was paid to the assent of the people in the first six 
 ages of the Church that if they refused to accept a bishop, even after his consecra- 
 tion, they were not constrained, and another more acceptable was provided." 
 — Disc. I, sec. 4. St. Augustine gives the reason addressed in these words to his 
 people, "We are Christians for our own sakes; Bishops for yours." — Ser. 359. 
 
 Now, here is my friendly suggestion: Have Father Cluse to now decline the 
 place on the ground of their great dislike to him and appoint Father Downey 
 administrator indefinitely. In your doing this you will put a stop to the already 
 terrible scandal. By acting thus you will uphold your authority. This course of 
 action will neither lower, weaken or dishonor the episcopal dignity. On the con- 
 trary, it will greatly elevate it before the religious and non-religious worlds. 
 
 We depend on the people not only for our own support, but also for the 
 accomplishment of those works that develop the action of the Church. In other 
 countries the clergy calculate on the benefactions of a rich and generous aristocracy. 
 In this, our reliance is on the people properly so called. We cannot, therefore, 
 afford to alienate their affections. If we do so, they may not only withdraw their 
 support from the Church, but they may league themselves with our natural enemies. 
 
 Take down your books, my dear Bishop, and read there of the terrible and 
 interminable scandals caused by trustees in New York and Philadelphia. What 
 has happened may happen again. You are familiar with the language of our Divine 
 Lord : "Vae homini illi per quern scandalum venit."* 
 
 Totus Tuus in Domino. F. M. Kielty. 
 
 It was represented to Archbishop Martinelli by the authorities at Belleville 
 that the contention of the people was that no appointee to succeed the deceased 
 pastor would be received except Father Downey ; that not even Fathers Sweeny, 
 Gough or Harkins would be permitted to exercise priestly functions in St. Patrick's 
 
 "Woe to him by whom scandal eometh.
 
 MR. DENNIS MCCARTHY. 
 
 Mr. Dennis McCarthy, whose letters during the controversy attracted wide 
 attention, is so well and favorably known, and his ability so universally 
 recognized that he needs no special praise. He played 
 his part in the great drama to the entire satis- 
 faction of those most keenly inteiested.
 
 MR WALTER J. COONAN. 
 
 Mi Coonan, while yet a young man, has reached quite a prominent position in 
 
 the business community in East St. Louis. He conducts an elegant hotel where 
 
 the boys congregate to consult on important matters. Mr. Coonan was 
 
 one of the main supporters of the people's cause, and his business was 
 
 never too pressing, or the night too dark or too coid, to cause him to 
 
 miss a single opportunity to perfect plans for its final triumph. 
 
 Young Walter will do to tie to ; he is ali wool and yard wide.
 
 67. Patrick'* Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 29 
 
 Church. This was, of course, a malicious fabrication, yet it led the Papal Delegate 
 to write to the committee counseling submission to the wishes of their bishop. To 
 this the paiishioners publicly replied that at no time did they contend that it was 
 their right to have a voice in the selection of the individual who should be their 
 priest. They claimed and asserted the right of petition for the appointment of the 
 priest of their choice, but the petition for the appointment of Father Downey was 
 in the nature of a respectful request, while the petition for the appointment of an 
 Irish priest was an imperative demand. On the same occasion they expressed in 
 a most happy manner their true position in reference to Church authority. "We 
 do not wish to assert, said they, that we have a right to govern instead of being 
 governed." 
 
 Another prominent member of the congregation voiced the sentiment of his 
 companions in a public interview. "We respect the bishop, said he, and acknowl- 
 edge his authority, but his action in this case is going beyond his authority, an 
 overreaching of it which does not bind us and to which we will not submit. We 
 know our rights, and we propose to maintain them. We have been abused and 
 denounced by the supporters of the bishop and some of his advisers, but that has 
 made us more determined." 
 
 From the beginning of the contest Father Phelan became enlisted in the cause 
 of the parishioners. "The position of Bishop Janssen is contrary to the policy of 
 the Pope," declared Father Phelan in a public interview which appeared in the 
 columns of the Globe-Democrat, "The attempt to place a German rector in charge 
 jf St. Patrick's has brought about a national issue in which the parish is uphold- 
 ing the policy of the Church. 
 
 "How thoroughly the diocese of Belleville has been made German will be 
 understood by a glance at the nationality of the priests there. Out of a total of 
 ninety-eight there are but seven who are not Germans. This is out of all propor- 
 tion to the number of Germans in the diocese, who are certainly not in excess of 
 one-half. The German priests are members of the Priester Verein, an organization 
 which is national in character. This policy is contrary to that of the American 
 Catholic Church. Of course it cannot and will not be successful. The Church in 
 this country will always be American and will become more and more so as time 
 goes on.
 
 30 Th ■ Tilt • vs. 
 
 "When tl e opposition first manifested itself, priests near the bishop attempted 
 to stamp it out by abuse and intimidation. Letters were written and published by 
 friends of the bishop, cruelly maligning the character of Father O'Halloran, and 
 thelri-hi Belleville. The writer said much and hinted at 
 
 ... That raising of the nationalistic black flag; and from that moment 
 
 the cause of tl - Patrick's parish became the cause of Irishmen, 
 
 lav and cleric, everywhere. Now compromise is impossible and undesirable. The 
 bishop should ha nded the memory of Father O'Halloran when assailed by 
 
 priests of his own household. He should have remembered the sad night when he 
 and the editor of this paper met in the sick room of the dying rector of St. Patrick's. 
 Tin- grand old Father O'Halloran had scarcely strength to sit, but he rose and 
 advancing to where the bishop and we sat, he raised his arm and with big tears 
 streaming down his cheeks, said : 'If I must die, God's will be done ; but I have 
 this supreme consolation: I have done my duty.' We were thrilled and the good 
 bishop was thrilled at the dramatic manner of the man. It was the noble avowal 
 of St. Paul over again: T have fought the good fight.' Why permit ghouls to 
 desecrate his grave? The man who slandered the cherished dead will have leisure 
 to regret it. 
 
 "The organ of Bishop Janssen, the 'Herold des Glaubens,' has not ceased a 
 Bingle week assailing the people of St. Patrick's parish, calling them the vilest 
 names in the rich vocabulary of German vituperation. We warned it repeatedly 
 to desist; but it seemed only to add fuel to the nationalistic flame. The upshot of 
 the whole matter is now an ecclesiastical cul de sac. The bishop must yield or 
 thousands of souls will be lost. It will be a hard blow to episcopal authority; but 
 bishops should be wise, and remember that only madmen challenge the lightning. 
 We see only two ways out of the difficulty. Let Father Cluse withdraw; or for 
 the sake of the little ones of Christ, let the bishop yield." 
 
 Father Phelan thus referred to this question in the columns of The Western 
 
 hman. 
 
 A very unfortunate difference between the congregation of St. Patrick's Church, 
 East St. Louis, and their Pish..], is giving a good deal of uneasiness to the friends 
 of religion in and out of the diocese of Belleville. The congregation is large and 
 influential, and for forty years has been one of the most zealous and edifying in 
 the Province of St. Louis and of Chicago. They have amassed a valuable property 
 m church, schools, convent and preshytery and have about finished paying for
 
 MR. P. J. GAINER. 
 
 Mr. Gainer is one of the most extensive general contractors in the West. His money 
 
 and influence were thrown on the people's side in this fight. The truth of the 
 
 old adage, that one touch of nature makes the whole world akin, was never 
 
 better exemplified than in this never-to-be-forgotten battle. The rich and 
 
 poor, old and young, professor and scholars, yes, and men and women 
 
 too who were unfriendly for years, all came forward at the cry of alarm 
 
 and joined hands in the battle royal for the purity and sanctity of 
 
 their homes. It is to be hoped that the friendship thus cemented 
 
 will never be broken, and that the members of St. Patrick's 
 
 parish will always remain an united and harmonious family. 
 
 loron
 
 MR P. P. SULLIVAN. 
 
 There were many Sullivans engaged in this noted controveisy, but none who 
 
 rendered greater service than the subject of this sketch, Mr. P. P. Sullivan. 
 
 He was called to Ireland on a special financial mission before the 
 
 controversy ended, and his parting injunction to his friends 
 
 as they assembled at the Relay depot to bid him 
 
 adieu, was, "Never yield. You must have an 
 
 Irish priest to greet me when I return
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 31 
 
 them for the third time. For a long time they were the only congregation in East 
 St. Louis. When the Germans became numerous enough to support a priest of 
 their own one was sent them, and for a quarter of a century a wholesome rivalry 
 stimulated both parishes to generous and persistent endeavor. While the parish 
 of St. Henry's became the most intensely German in America, St. Patrick's 
 became as thoroughly Irish. The rector of St. Henry's is one of the recognized 
 leaders in ever}' German movement; the rector of St. Patrick's was accorded 
 leadership in every Irish and Irish-American enterprise. While the eagles of 
 Prussia on national holidays floated over the parish of St. Henry's, the green 
 banner of Ireland was thrown to the breeze from the towers and steeple of 
 St. Patrick's. While there was rivalry, there was no shadow of unfriendliness, 
 until the other day Bishop Janssen appointed a German priest rector of St. Patrick's. 
 The congregation said no, with a mighty "o" that made the walls of old 
 St. Patrick's shake. The Bishop said "yah" with a thundering big "a" that 
 sounded like a fulmination from the Vatican itself. A merry war of vocables is 
 going on ever since and no one can forsee the end. 
 
 Bishop Janssen is a good and holy bishop. He is known in this diocese as 
 well as he is in his own. No one that knows him will accuse him of any conscious 
 national bias in his late appointment to St. Patrick's. His letter to the Irish 
 people of East St. Louis was the message of a father, and his words were warm 
 and fresh from communion with God in prayer. We admired and pitied him. 
 He had committed a terrible blunder of judgment. If a bishop were to appoint a 
 superior over a religious community as distasteful to its members as is the appoint- 
 ment of Father Cluse to St. Patrick's, he would be guilty of a crime. The bishop 
 has allowed his diocese to become monstrously jughandled nationally. It may 
 not have been his fault; but with the example of the ordinary of Milwaukee before 
 their eyes, we think he cannot escape conviction at the hands of the American 
 public. When he came to the diocese Father O'Halloran was a rural dean and 
 the only priest holding official position in the diocese of Belleville. Almost the 
 first act of the Bishop was to take away the pitiful stripes Bishop Baltes had given 
 good Father O'Halloran, and by another stroke of the pen he made a German 
 his vicar-general. He had the right to do both the one and the other; but it was 
 small and squinted at nationalism. Then he became identified with the Priester- 
 Verein and allowed himself to be pushed to the front in all the offensive efforts of 
 that body to wring from Rome recognition in the hierarchy. He had a right to do 
 the one and permit the other; but it looked bad in a bishop governing a diocese 
 nearly one-half non-German. After eleven }^ears he has just the same number of 
 priests he received from his predecessor. It was his duty to provide priests for his 
 diocese ; and prudence should have dictated that he provide English-speaking as 
 well as German-speaking priests. He says he needed in nearly all of the missions 
 priests who could speak both languages ; and we shall not dispute his statement, 
 beyond saying that there was no need of both languages in St. Patrick's, East St. 
 Louis. English is the language of this country, and should be the language of the 
 diocese of Belleville. 
 
 But the Bishop has appointed a German priest to St. Patrick's parish and the 
 serious question arises now, how to rectify the mistake without damaging episcopal 
 
 *
 
 
 Th '■'■ ■ ville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 authority. rts on episcopal authority. Destroy it and you have 
 
 u -, 3ted in the maintenance of episcopal authority 
 
 lh . (|1 u , itrick's or any or all other parishes in the 
 
 He. For I ■ of religion and to avoid what may prove the 
 
 dition the American Church has known since the Hogan schism 
 
 j n pbiladelphi both parti- .roe on Archbishop Kain as an arbitrator. 
 
 I[, .,, by birth. He certainly lias given the Germans ample proof 
 
 n f ] West. This is an age of conciliation. Let both 
 
 to this • Louis emeute agree to refer their difference to the Metro- 
 
 polii and the whole question can be settled in a week. What say 
 
 y«>u, gentlemen? 
 
 The effort to bring about peace made by Archbishop Martinelli, in counseling 
 
 submission to the bishop, encouraged Bishop Janssen to inveigh against the 
 
 Uioua (?) members of St. Patrick's Church; hence appeared in glaring 
 
 Mines: "A letter from Bishop Janssen! Threatens rebellious flock with 
 
 excommunication! All opposition must cease! Father Cluse must be accepted 
 
 at St. Patrick's!" 
 
 The text of the letter is as follows: 
 
 /' thinners of St. Patrick's Churchy East St. Louis: 
 
 Mv Dear Children : — To my sincerest grief, to the most deplorable detriment 
 of immortal ><>uis, to the utmost scandal and scorn of our Holy Catholic religion, 
 the open rebellion originated in your midst against the lawful ecclesiastical author- 
 ity La contumaciously upheld. 
 
 The representation of our Holy Father, the Pope, the Most Reverend Archbishop 
 tstian Martinelli, Apostolic Delegate at Washington, has most affectionately 
 entreated all the leaders and abettors of the rebellion to return to their better senses 
 and yield to the wishes of their bishop, but so far this fatherly advice has not been 
 followed. Now, once more, I warn and beg the rebellious members of St. Patrick's 
 Church, Bast St. Louis, to consider their own welfare, and to submit to lawful 
 ecclesiastical authority.* From all my heart I entreat you to spare me the painful 
 necessity of inflicting on the guilty ones the severe punishment of the Church. 
 
 John Janssen, 
 Given at Belleville, 111., July 22, 1899. Bishop of Belleville. 
 
 '"It istheold tale, submission, submission, submission, till we have lost heart and hope, and 
 
 ompelled, in utter despair, to let things have their own way, and we become, perhaps, like 
 
 a large number of the Catholics of South America and Latin Europe, a very reproach to mother 
 
 Church. Give the Church perfect freedom in carrying out her laws, that she may ascertain and 
 
 ' the men that have not only the respect, but the confidence and affection of their flocks." 
 
 —("The Bishop and the Priest," p. 72.)
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 33 
 
 When Archbishop Martinelli's letter was read at a public meeting of the 
 parishioners, it was received with respect, but failed to alter the determination of 
 the people. Their action on the matter is thus referred to in the public press : 
 
 "More than 300 parishioners of St. Patrick's Church met in the School Hall, 
 in East St. Louis, last night, to take formal action as to the contents of Mgr. 
 Martinelli's recent letter concerning the church imbroglio. 
 
 Patrick Wallace was chairman of the meeting and Richard Nash secretary. 
 
 There were several speeches commendatory of the spirit of the Martinelli 
 message, but it was the sentiment of the participants in the meeting that the 
 opposition to Father Cluse as pastor be strenuously maintained. It was ordered 
 that each relay of guards at the church be increased from six to ten, and a com- 
 mittee was appointed to draft a reply to Mgr. Martinelli's letter. 
 
 "We have the profoundest respect for the papal delegate," said a represen- 
 tative of the meeting, "and for his views as expressed in the message to us, but 
 the church troubles in East St. Louis will never be settled until the bishop sends 
 an Irish or Irish-American as priest of St. Patrick's. We believe that when we 
 lay our side of the case in detail before Mgr. Martinelli, or his successor, it will 
 result in the attainment of the object for which we are striving, but in any event we 
 will never yield an inch from the sentiment formally expressed at the Music Hall 
 meeting, which is, as we have so many times repeated through the press, that we 
 will not accept a German priest as our pastor." 
 
 The committee decided to prepare a reply to be forwarded at once to Mgr. 
 Martinelli. 
 
 The bishop's threats of excommunication provoked much comment. Bishops 
 and priests waited with anxiety to see if Bishop Janssen would cap the climax of 
 his folly by pronouncing a wholesale excommunication against, to say the least, 
 ten thousand Catholics. To avert so great a scandal and calamity, the people 
 resolved to appeal from Bishop Janssen misinformed to Bishop Janssen better 
 informed, hence the following communication which appeared in the public press 
 with some introductory remarks : 
 
 "In reply to Bishop Janssen's threat of excommunication and in defense of 
 their action in opposing the appointment of Father Cluse, a letter was written in 
 East St. Louis, and, after being indorsed by a number of prominent parishioners,
 
 'lie, Illinois, vs. 
 
 ml committee having in charge the protest against Father 
 
 orwarded to the Bish 
 
 nighi i. of the parishioners, the letter was read in the shape 
 
 | pt( .1 unanimously amid cheering and hand-clapping. 
 
 Mowing day at noon the m rs of the parish who were opposed to 
 
 lerCluse, gathered on the church steps in front of the edifice. The church 
 
 i, the flag was run up to half mast and members of the Board of 
 
 Tru ik up a collection of 5 cents from each person. 
 
 Tli me of open defiance to the bishop, who threatened excommunica- 
 
 tion to all who opposed him if they did not obey his wishes by noon that day, was 
 led '»n at a meeting of the parishioners held the night previous in the school 
 hall. The crowd was the largest ever brought together there. Several hundred who 
 were unable t » » get admission, stood outside. Fully one-half of those present were 
 women. Their enthusiasm in the cause was as great as that of the men. 
 
 M. J. Walsh was selected to preside over the meeting. Patrick Wallace was 
 the secretary. The purpose of the meeting was stated in a few words. 
 
 Daniel MeGIynn, the City Attorney, was the first speaker. He was followed 
 by Professoi T. J. McDonough, who read a copy of the letter sent to the bishop 
 in the morning. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to take the letter as 
 a resolution and to adopt it. Feeling was intense at the unanimous adoption of 
 the letter. Women waved their handkerchiefs and men rose, shouted and twirled 
 their hats. After order had been restored speeches were made by Thomas Hayes, 
 ,hrry .1 . Kane, Dennis McCarthy and others. 
 
 The letter, which was forwarded to the bishop, is as follows: 
 
 East St. Louis, Aug. 7, 1899. 
 Rig1>' !: d John Janssen, Bishop of Belleville: 
 
 Yoi i; Lordship— I have read your letter addressed to the clergy and laity of 
 this diocese, in which you threaten with excommunication a whole Catholic con- 
 gregation for daring to assert and maintain their rights, civil and ecclesiastical. 
 
 We, who realize that we are entering on the dawn of the twentieth century 
 and in a land where the church enjoys a merited freedom, feel a keen sense of pain 
 that one who styles himself a bishop of the Holy Roman Catholic Church should 
 So mi-represent her spirit and misinterpret her laws. 
 
 Bow foreign to the Bpirit of an enlightened and prudent Catholic bishop has 
 been your conduct in our regard. It is you, Right Reverend Sir, who is defying
 
 MR. EDWARD O'BRIEN. 
 
 Mr. O'Brien is another of the rising generation of prosperous young business 
 
 men of East St. Louis, who, forgetting business for the time being, 
 
 promptly responded to the people's cail and never relaxed his 
 
 efforts in their behalf until the great battle was won.
 
 MR. P. J. KEELY. 
 
 Mr Keely is one of the rising young men of East St. Louis. He was an able 
 
 adviser, and an indefatigable worker to render null and void the unwarranted 
 
 acts of Bishop Janssen. He has reason to be proud of the victory
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 35 
 
 ecclesiastical laws by claiming the right to do wrong in your scandalous attempt to 
 coerce a people to accept as their pastor a man who has already made himself 
 odious to them. You are the originator of all these scandals, and you were fully 
 conscious of the results that would arise from your unwarranted action. It is you 
 who have displayed a culpable contumacious.ness on the false principle that even 
 if you have made a mistake your authority must be maintained. You falsely 
 argue that, apart from the wisdom or unwisdom of your appointment, things have 
 assumed such a shape as to make it impossible for you, in virtue of your dignity as 
 bishop, to recede from your position. That you were wrong ab initio is admitted 
 by learned and impartial archbishops, bishops and clergy. Now, do you hold 
 that good order and discipline are served by persisting in your error? But here is 
 authority defied, do I hear you say? Authority, my dear bishop, is a power 
 intrusted to us to pronounce and execute justice and right. Therefore, if you are 
 wrong in the premises you cannot fall back for support on that much-abused word 
 authority. Have you forgotten the lines of Butler? 
 
 "Authority intoxicates, 
 And makes mere sots of magistrates ; 
 The fumes of it invade the brain, 
 And make men giddy, pi'oud and vain ; 
 By this the fool commands the wise, 
 The noble with the base complies, 
 The sot assumes the rule of wit, 
 And cowards make the brave submit." 
 
 Your authority would command far more respect by your humbly acknowl- 
 edging your error and showing yourself a true bishop. The authority of bishops, 
 wrote a great church dignitary, rests on the union of hearts on a holy unity of 
 thought and sentiment which secures to him love and respect. Grant that the 
 Church, in her spirit of divine condescension, speaks and acts through you. Is 
 your decision, therefore, infallible, and does your sentence of excommunication 
 render us guilty before God? It may be well to throw some theological light on this 
 question. St. Thomas says: "But in other sentences which refer to particular 
 facts, such as questions about rights and property, questions about crime and the 
 like, it is possible for the judgment of the Church to be wrong," and Billwart says : 
 "As to particular and personal facts which depend only on fallible human testi- 
 mony, and do not appertain to the government of the whole Church and the salva- 
 tion of all the faithful, it is the common opinion that the judgment of the Church 
 can be wrong." An Irish degenerate from Belleville has attempted to come to 
 your rescue by misquoting St. Augustine, whom he has never read. He wound 
 up a rejoinder to Doctor Stack by this hackneyed quotation: Roma locuta est; 
 causa finita est (Rome has spoken, the cause is ended), intending to convey to 
 his unsuspecting readers that the infallible voice of the Church had pronounced 
 judgment against us. Beware, my dear bishop, of erratic counselors. Cardinal 
 Newman tells us : "I do not contend that popes at all times have understood our 
 own people, our national character and resources ; or that they have never suffered 
 from bad counselors or misinformation." Again, the great Cardinal says: "A
 
 36 
 
 B '">}> of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 Pope is not infallible in his laws, nor in hie commands, nor in his public policy." 
 If this 1"- so, bo\i can your lordship claim inerrancy of judgment, and that your 
 irreformal 
 
 Take I ath chapter of St. Matthew, from which you quote in reference 
 
 authority: "At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who 
 thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus, calling unto 
 him a Hit!.' child, sel him in the midst of them, and said: Amen; I say unto 
 you, unless you become converted and become as little children, you shall not 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself 
 as this little child, he is greater in the kingdom of heaven. And he thatshall receive 
 one little child in my name receiveth me. But he that shall scandalize one of 
 these little one.- that believe in me, it were better a millstone should be hanged 
 neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the 
 world <»n account of scandals. Woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh." 
 
 This portion of the chapter is more applicable to the case than the one you 
 
 ted, for, do you not perceive the seventeenth verse which you have quoted re- 
 
 to the divine magisterium of the Church as the court of last resort. 
 
 It must be the Rev. Mr. Gough who cast your letter into English, for a careful 
 canonist would not use the erroneous and misleading words, "excommunicated 
 from the Roman Catholic Church." Need I remind your lordship that excommu- 
 nication does not put a person outside the fold of the Church, nor does excom- 
 munication deprive anyone of all privileges. It is a spiritual and medicinal 
 punishment, by which baptized and contumacious sinners are deprived of the use 
 of the bona spiritulia, which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Church. 
 
 To excommunicate a whole congregation — aye, a whole city. This surely is 
 the most unkindest cut of all. To use the mighty weapon of the Church to enforce 
 the dictates of a clerical Verein. Whither are we drifting? 
 
 I exhort you. my dear bishop, to refrain from such a rash act. Put away 
 pride, and. as our Lord recommends, be as a little child, humble, docile, guileless. 
 Free yourself from the influence of the Verein. Be Catholic and not nationalistic. 
 Remember, you were not consecrated a bishop unto destruction, but unto edifica- 
 tion to edify in charity those intrusted to your care. How dare you address me 
 thus? do I hear you say. There again is your pride. Did not Peter, the chief of 
 the Apostles, humbly permit Paul to chide him to his face. You answer I am not 
 Paul, and neither are you peter. Come now, remember the lines of Virgil: 
 
 "Tantaene animis celestibus irae." 
 
 Permit mo to speak candidly to you. We appeal to your better judgment 
 and superior nature. Lei bishop Janssen speak to us and we will hear. We 
 refuse to deal with the Verein, clerical or secular. Why excommunicate us for 
 this? And listen, has it occurred to you that most probably 10,000 souls will 
 1 your terrible tlncats? And then the last state will be worse than the 
 What are you to do? you ask. Why, let your love for the salvation 
 of the souls be paramount to all other interests. Try to realize the scandal 
 you have caused and at once retrace your steps, meet the committee and
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 37 
 
 capitulate on honorable terms. Give them a representative priest who will 
 soon bring them back your love and friendship. They are a terrible people, 
 you say. Not at all, but the grandest people in the world, faithful, generous and 
 devoted. You never knew them evidently. What, still murmuring? It would be 
 a bad precedent to establish in church government, do I hear you say. Not at all. 
 The extraordinary sometimes happens. Why, at one time a clerical faction in 
 Rome sought to enslave the Catholic Church in Ireland by making it subservient 
 to the political interests of England. Cardinal Quarantotti, Prefect of the Propa- 
 ganda, ordered the Irish clergy to submit. The Irish bishops were ready to do so 
 until the people, led by O'Connell, gave vent to their indignation. How dare 
 Quarantotti dictate to the people of Ireland, said O'Connell. The people won and 
 brought a cardinal to his knees, mind you. Wonder not then at their resistance 
 to your rulings. You understood they were always a submissive and tractable 
 people. Rev. Mr. Gough has told you so, but do not believe him. That gentle- 
 man knows little of the character or genius of the Irish people. He doubtless 
 never read of their spirited remonstrance addressed to Pope John XXII., nor of 
 their contemptuous repudiation of the Adrian bull, nor again of the Simeoni cir- 
 cular of recent times. The Irish have proven themselves a very discerning people. 
 Treat them with respect and kindness and a more devoted people never gathered 
 round a bishop's chair. Treat them with scorn and contempt and the once proud 
 people of Banba will resent an insult from a Pope. 
 
 Notwithstanding this timely warning, the bishop fulfilled his threat and 
 formally pronounced excommunication against the parishioners and their sympa- 
 thizers. The following is the text of the bishop's letter: 
 
 ALL WHO ATTEMPT TO PREVENT FATHER CLUSE'S ENTRY INTO ST. 
 PATRICK'S RECEIVE THE CHURCH'S SEVEREST PENALTY. 
 
 Every member of St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, or subject of the 
 diocese of Belleville, who. by deed or word of mouth, shall prevent or attempt to 
 prevent Father Cluse's entry to St. Patrick's Church after noon next Wednesday 
 will be excommunicated. This is a text of a letter by the bishop, which will be 
 read in the Catholic churches of East St. Louis to-day. The letter reads as follows : 
 
 Dear Fathers and Beloved Children of the Laity of the Diocese of Belleville : 
 Most of you have heard of the troubles existing in St. Patrick's congregation, East 
 St. Louis. 
 
 The originators and abettors of the open and scandalous rebellion against the 
 lawful ecclesiastical authority in St. Patrick's congregation, East St. Louis, are 
 contumaciously persisting in their so utterly and manifestly unjust, un-Christian 
 and un-Catholic proceedings. They continue to maintain guards* about St. 
 
 * The real motive of the parishioners in maintaining guards around the church was a most 
 moral one. In the first place, such was the excitement and indignatiou of the people against the 
 Bishop of Belleville and his appointee for St. Patrick's, that were they to enter the premises 
 serious consequences could be looked for. 
 
 In writing to the Most Rev. Apostolic Delegate, the parishioners declared: "If we were to 
 permit him to enter the Sanctuary of St. Patrick's Church, a scandal would be sure to follow that 
 would make its abettors shudder." 
 
 Then some unscrupulous enemies of the congregation might have destroyed the valuable 
 property and imputed the act to the congregation and thus bring odium upon an upright people.
 
 p of 11 , Tllino 
 
 revent the lawful rector, the Very Reverend 
 u - Cluse, V. I " the | - iharge of hia sacred duties for the welfare of 
 
 l,i g tl,, During many weeks they have in great obstinacy refused to listen to 
 
 t l, e ,,,11- and threatening voice of the Church, whose Divine 
 
 ,-,„,, | [ and Savior, has declared: "If he (thy brother) 
 
 w ;i] n0 ( hi Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican." The 
 
 t ; mr f ,, n,l Forbearance is at an end. As bishop of the diocese, I am 
 
 • .,(,,1 t',,r the cam for the safeguard of ecclesiastical authority, 
 
 1 of re recourse to the extreme measure of inflicting the 
 
 re punishment of the Church on the guilty ones. 
 
 It is, therefore, with a bleeding heart, but in fulfillment of my sacred duty, 
 that I hereby publish the following decree: All those members of St. Patrick's 
 gation, Easi St. Louis, iil., or any other subjects of the diocese of Belleville, 
 111., who, after midday of Wednesday next, the ninth day of August, by counsel, 
 approval or deed, will abet the rebellion now existing in St. Patrick's congregation, 
 1 -t St. Louis, 111., will help in preventing the lawful rector from fulfilling his 
 duties by officiating in St. Patrick's Church and occupying the pastoral residence 
 without molestation, shall by the very fact of such counsel, approval or help given, 
 or such deed performed, he excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 A.B Buch abettors shall be considered: 
 
 1 . All those who act as committees formed for the purpose of keepmgup the 
 
 llion. 
 
 1. All those who by word of mouth, writing or printing, give counsel, or 
 approval or encouragement for the rebellion. 
 
 3. All those who attend meetings for the purpose of maintaining the rebellion. 
 
 4. All those who contribute material means for the expenses of the rebellion. 
 
 5. All those who act as guards for the premises of St. Patrick's Church, to 
 keep away the lawful rector. 
 
 6. All those who in any way intimidate others from submitting to lawful 
 ecclesiastical authority. 
 
 This communication has among others the following effect. 
 
 1. A person thus excommunicated cannot receive the sacraments of the 
 Church before he or she has repented, retracted before witnesses, and been 
 
 Ived from the excommunication by the bishop of the diocese, or by a priest 
 ugnated by him. 
 
 2. The- excommunicated person is forbidden to assist at mass and other 
 public services held in church or chapel, even on Sundays . and holidays of 
 obligation. 
 
 3. If a person dies under the censure of this excommunication, he or she 
 cannot receive Christian burial and cannot be interred in consecrated ground. 
 
 I hope and pray that before next Wednesday the lawful rector be permitted to 
 take charge of St. Patrick's Church and parochial residence. If suchshould not be 
 
 ase, [admonish all the faithful parishioners of St. Patrick's Church to endeavor 
 as best they can to fulfill their duty by hearing mass on days of obligation in some 
 
 hboring church or chapel until that happy time returns, when mass again will
 
 MR. JAMES FRANCIS MAHER. 
 
 Mr. James Francis Maher, as his name would indicate, was no backslider when 
 
 the rights of his people were threatened. He came from stock that 
 
 never yielded to tyranny, being a near relative of that famous 
 
 champion of Irish liberty — Maher of the Sword.
 
 MR. JOHN HEFFRON. 
 
 If we were called upon to decide who rendered the most conspicuous services in 
 
 the controversy just ended, we would unhesitatingly point to Mr. Heffron as 
 
 being among the few who planted the first battery and directed its fire 
 
 with unabated vigor until the white flag was hoisted by the enemy, 
 
 and ample reparation made for their attempted invasion of the 
 
 rights of the people. From what is said of him by those 
 
 who know him best, his future seems bright indeed.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 39 
 
 be celebrated in their own church. The Very Reverend W. Cluse, V. G., rector 
 of St. Patrick's Church, continues to reside at St. Mary's Hospital, corner of Eighth 
 street and Missouri avenue, to attend to the wants of his parishioners. I have 
 directed him to perform baptisms, marriages and funerals or other sacerdotal 
 functions, either at the chapel of St. Mary's Hospital, or in any one of the other 
 four churches in East St. Louis. 
 
 I implore on all of you the abundance of God's graces. 
 
 Given at Belleville, this third day of August, 1899. 
 
 John Janssen, Bishop of Belleville. 
 
 N. B. — This is to be read in the churches of the diocese next Sunday. 
 
 If the bishop expected to arouse a religious consternation by this mad act, he 
 
 soon became sorely disappointed. On the same day a message came from 
 
 to hold fast and to disregard the excommunication. Later a letter was received 
 by the committee in which this advice was repeated, and assurance given that the 
 bishops and priests of the country would stand by them. 
 
 The following is the published account of their Catholic and dignified response 
 to his ineffectual maledictions. 
 
 PARISHIONERS IGNORE BISHOP JANSSEN'S ACTION AND SAY THEIR PRAYERS 
 
 AS USUAL.— GREAT GATHERING AT CHURCH.— ATTENDANCE AT THE 
 
 MORNING SERVICE, THE LARGEST ON RECORD.— LETTERS 
 
 OF SYflPATHY FROM OTHER PARISHES. 
 
 "Members of St. Patrick's Church in East St. Louis yesterday ignored Bishop 
 Janssen 's action in excommunicating them. 
 
 The largest crowd ever in attendance at a Sunday service gathered at the 
 church in the morning. There was no mass and no music from the big organ. Priest 
 and choir also were lacking, but the parishioners who had been excommunicated 
 because they would not accept Father Cluse as their pastor, met in the church and 
 said their prayers just as if they were at peace with the bishop and all the world. 
 
 Although cast off from the church, (pardon reporter's theology) these Irish 
 people, fighting for what they term their rights, devoted themselves to passionate 
 prayer, some for an hour, and some even a longer time. 
 
 Before and after the prayers the members of the church gathered in groups on 
 the outside and in the churchyard and discussed the situation. Some had not 
 been able to attend the meetings and they spoke of the accounts in the newspapers. 
 
 There were few of the members of St. Patrick's Church in attendance at the 
 services at the other churches. Especially was this true at St. Mary's Church,
 
 /; . Illinois, vs. 
 
 re many , m att encl e the church to whirl, they belong has been 
 
 without a Mi' 
 
 ar.ii there are a number of sympathizers with St. Patrick's 
 
 Chu ,1 the ban of excommunication placed on them as sympa- 
 
 thi/ , ,,, v Bav that they do not believe thai it is correct, and that they think 
 
 linsl the law, of the Roman Catholic Church, and therefore they will not 
 
 gubmil to it. 
 
 Members of the St. Patrick's parish have received letters from members of 
 Other parishes throughout Illinois, and some from even other States. All these 
 letters advise the parishioners to stand up for their rights, and not to submit to the 
 bishop's appointment of Father Cluse under any circumstances. These letters 
 say that the writers are in perfect sympathy with the movement in St. Patrick's 
 Church and they do not fear excommunication because of the views they hold on 
 
 this subject." 
 
 tain priests permitted themselves to be interviewed on the question of the 
 force and meaning of the word excommunication, and its application to the case, 
 said to their credit that all with one exception pronounced Bishop Janssen's 
 sentence of excommunication undeserved. The exception was a German-American 
 gfeling from St. Louis who knows as much on the question as he does of esoteric 
 Buddhism. This theological tenderfoot associated it with the damnation of the 
 soul. "The church teaches," says this learned divine, "that to die without its 
 blessings means the loss of the soul." That the Archbishop permits this young 
 theologue to run at large surpasses comprehension. Father Kielty, whose letter 
 we publish elsewhere, being interviewed on this question, gave out the following: 
 
 I think the affair at East St. Louis is a very melancholy one. The quarrel, 
 of which Bishop Janssen is obviously the cause, is a great scandal in the church, 
 and is in its own way doing great harm, and something should be done to put an 
 end to it. It does more harm to Catholicity than three Bob Ingersolls. Ingersoll's 
 bark was worse than his bite, and his speeches nothing more than a rehash of the 
 utterances of Voltaire and Tom Paine, dressed up in an oratorical way to please a 
 modern American audience. 
 
 Scarcely have we begun to sing Te Deums, when we are forced to return to 
 our Misereres. Scarcely is one quarrel ended when another begins. Scarcely have 
 we gained a triumph when we are visited by a scandal. But we must bear in mind 
 that thi- i.» a world of conflict and of vicissitude amid the conflict.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 41 
 
 The people consider Bishop Janssen's excommunication to be unjust, and, 
 therefore, do not feel themselves obliged to heed it. I read somewhere that an 
 unjust excommunication, though it cannot do spiritual harm, must, nevertheless, 
 be observed until it is set aside by an appeal. 
 
 My opinion is that an unjust sentence can hurt no one before God. I trust 
 the people of St. Patrick's Parish in East St. Louis shall find pardon for having 
 manifested their great desire to have a pastor of their own race and blood in 
 preference to one who is hostile to them. 
 
 There is in this matter, I think, more of the national spirit than of the Catholic. 
 It is an unseemly thing to place over an Irish-American parish a German priest 
 who belongs to an association whose object is to sustain the German language. 
 
 This nationalism which exists in the diocese of Belleville, is opposed to and 
 destructive of all Catholicity. These men will treat others as strangers. How can 
 others not of their union make common cause with such extreme national bishops 
 and priests? 
 
 It is passing strange that because an Irish-American congregation declined 
 to accept a German national priest it is excommunicated. 
 
 Such a reason for excommunication is unheard of. 
 
 Not unfrequently this nationalism develops sectional and sectarian tendencies 
 baleful to humanity as a whole. All come here to seek a home. It is said that it 
 is out of place for Bishop Janssen to belong to any particular national verein, since 
 in his diocese there are Irishmen, Dutchmen, Scandinavians, and Germans, who 
 came here to build up a great nation. The priests who come to America from 
 Germany and Ireland ought, I think, to come here as so many St. Bonifaces and 
 St. Patricks, preaching Catholic unity and seeking to bring all into the kingdom 
 of God — the Church. This is America and never will be anything else. I often 
 said and I repeat now that any one who does not like America should return 
 whence he came. 
 
 The East St. Louis people have the sympathy of all classes, Catholic and 
 non-Catholic. Let me say to you that few Catholic laymen and certainly no non- 
 Catholic can possibly understand the working of Catholic church government. 
 The power of a Catholic bishop is practically unlimited. His power to act in the 
 most unlimited manner, to crush, to break down the spirit and health of those 
 under his rule, may each and all be exercised without even the least public
 
 ,._, , ville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 I icion of injustice and tyranny. Again, another need of the Catholic Church 
 in Alll , i rrity and less show, less talk and more prayers. 
 
 It is my opinion that the time has come when men must speak out against 
 evil opi n whether esiastical or civil if they would save their souls. We 
 
 mu>t a i waj ell in mind that the doctrines of the Catholic Church are one 
 
 thing and the Bins and shortcomings of individual members are another. The 
 laity are made to know, as in this instance, that no hishop, no priest, is person- 
 ally infallible. It is a device of the evil one to cover sin when men try to hide 
 the evil deeds they do under the pretext that to condemn evil is to condemn the 
 
 church. 
 
 There is a time when silence becomes a participation in crime, and when 
 men .an only save the Church, which they certainly love, by denouncing the 
 dangers which threaten her progress. 
 
 11.,- excommunication ever been used in St. Louis?" was asked. 
 Never," was the answer. 
 "Is there any other instance of so large a body of Catholics as that at St. 
 Patrick's Church being excommunicated at one blow?" 
 
 • None that 1 know in a missionary country. The method of excommunica- 
 tion 'in globo,' to my idea, cannot be used in a missionary country like America." 
 " Is a regular form of words used in an edict of excommunication?" 
 •■ Ye-, a regular form is laid down in the books on canonical law. The person 
 who is excommunicated must be named directly." Thus spoke Fr. Kielty. 
 
 The learned D'Avino, in his ecclesiastical encyclopedia, at the word "excom- 
 munication," lays down this principle: 
 
 " If a censure is evidently null, such as one pronounced after a legitimate 
 
 appeal, or which was founded upon an intolerable mistake, it has no effect before 
 
 God or man. And consequently, there is no need of absolution from it. And as 
 
 nullity is thoroughly notorious, there is not any obligation to pay heed to it, 
 
 even outwardly." 
 
 There is an old German proverb, which is very applicable in this case. 
 K- schlagt nieht immer ein wenn's donnert."* 
 
 The calm indifference with which the parishioners treated this sentence of ex- 
 communication much perplexed his lordship. He had now launched out into the 
 
 *'.\ boll 'loes not always fall when it thunders."
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 43 
 
 deep, and begun to encounter dangerous rocks which should awaken within him a 
 salutary fear. It is a remark of Pascal's, that those who are being drifted away by 
 a current at sea never know how fast they are being swept away from their course 
 until they come across some rock or fixed object, when they then at once discover 
 their true predicament. This is doubtless true of Bishop Janssen. Trained in the 
 narrow school of Germanism, he had never come to consider any other phase of 
 the church. To him the Priester Verein was a great propaganda, whose mandates 
 he religiously executed. The American and Irish claims for recognition in the 
 government of the church were unholy thoughts savoring of Americanism. And 
 in this delusive course did he sail until he struck upon the awakening realities that 
 there are other than German interests to be conserved and promoted in this 
 country — paramount interests which a true bishop should ever have at heart. 
 
 "Don't blame the bishop," wrote the editor of the Watchman. "He made a 
 mistake — a very grave and costly mistake, which no one deplores now more than 
 himself. His counsel w T as to blame for that mistake more than himself." 
 
 This is a remarkably weak defense of his lordship of Belleville. The bishop 
 is the shepherd of our souls; the sworn champion of justice and right.* 
 
 The plea put forth by the kind editor, that if Father Cluse would resign, he 
 could thus extricate his friend, the bishop, from his dilemma, is another specious 
 argument, which does not stand the test of sound reasoning. The truth is Father 
 Cluse suffered the severest criticism, and to be almost pilloried, to sustain the 
 bishop's contention in the case. While the bishop entertained the hope of winning, 
 it would be disloyal and ungenerous on the part of Father Cluse to resign, and 
 that vain hope the bishop cherished until the fatal message came, ordering the 
 withdrawal of Father Cluse's name as pastor of St. Patrick's. 
 
 Great must have been the dismay that fell upon the camps of the Cahens- 
 leyites on that day of doom. 
 
 " If you have tears, prepare to shed them now." 
 
 We can imagine Father Cluse falling upon the neck of his episcopal friend 
 
 and crying out : 
 
 " O this is the poison of deep grief."' 
 
 * It is related of St. Bernard that when told such a one was pious, the Saint remarked: "He 
 will do splendidly for the Monastery." When told that another was learned he commended him 
 for the position of teacher and preacher; when a third was spoken of as prudent, "There is a 
 proper person," he remarked, "for a bishopric."
 
 44 
 
 Th> Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 To which hie Lordship responded : 
 
 •• Weep I cannot ; 
 
 But my heart bleeds." 
 
 Fatht r • rough, aside : 
 
 •• Let that grieve him. Some griefs are med'cinable." 
 
 A certain clergyman, present at the scene, and partial to Horatian Satires, 
 aiMi'l : 
 
 "Jnbeas esse miserum qiLitouus facit id libenter."* 
 
 * Lei him be miserable since be does it willingly,
 
 MR. MICHAEL F. O'BRIEN. 
 
 Mr. O'Brien is entitled to the respect of young and old for the effective services 
 
 rendered by him in this cause. Although his business required his personal 
 
 attention almost constantly, yet he never absented himself from a single 
 
 meeting, and was liberal in his cash donations to stimulate and 
 
 encourage the good work He has made a place for himself 
 
 among the progressive young men of East St. Louis.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 45 
 
 MADE A VIRTUE OF NECESSITY. 
 
 To screen his friend from so public a humiliation, Father Cluse resolved to 
 formally resign. 
 
 East St. Louis, Aug. 30, 1899. 
 Right Reverend J. Janssen, Bishop of Belleville: 
 
 Right Reverend and Dear Bishop — In the summer of the year 1862 the 
 first Archbishop of Cincinnati, the Most Reverend John B. Purcell, and the first 
 Archbishop, then Bishop, of Philadelphia, the Right Reverend Frederic Wood, 
 visited the city of Muenster, in Westphalia, on their return from Rome. With the 
 eager hope of inducing some aspirants of (to) the holy priesthood to devote their 
 future priestly labors to the United States of America, they visited three episcopal 
 institutions, accompanied by Bishop of Muenster, the Right Reverend John George 
 Mueller. I was, at that time, studying in one of them, the Ludgerianum, named 
 after Muenster's first Bishop, St. Ludger. In his Latin address to the students, 
 Archbishop Purcell touchingly portrayed the vast field of labor and the great 
 scarcity of priests in the Lord's vineyard across the Atlantic. "Venite ad nos in 
 Americam ; ubi animae salvandae, ibi patria sacerdotis." Thus pleaded the zealous 
 Archbishop, and his earnest appeal did not fail to thrill many a youthful heart. 
 These truly apostolic words became imprinted upon my mind and germinated in 
 me the desire to one day labor as a priest of God in the United States of North 
 America. Four years later I crossed the Atlantic, finished my theological studies, 
 and, having learned the language of the country, was ordained priest to work in 
 the Church of God in America, for Americans, no matter of what nationality. The 
 first thirteen years of my priesthood were devoted to Catholics who, tor by far the 
 greater part were of Irish descent ; afterwards I had charge of Catholics of German 
 descent. 
 
 When, about five months ago, your Lordship asked me if I would be willing 
 to resign the irremovable rectorship which I held at Germantown and take charge 
 of St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis, I consented to do so. I called to 
 mind Archbishop Purcell's words, heard in my college days: "Come to us to 
 America; where souls can be saved, there is the home for a priest." 
 
 I confidently hoped that, leaving in submission to my bishop's wish, the 
 parish which afforded me a happy home for seventeen years, I should surely find 
 a home again there, where, in his opinion, souls might be saved through my 
 ministry. Besides, I was fully conscious that parishioners whose ancestors hailed
 
 [Shop Of Belli Ville, Illinois, VS. 
 
 from Erin'a saint. -.1 soil, evangelized by St. Patrick, were as clear to me as those 
 
 whose ancestors, like my own, had lived and died in the land hallowed by the 
 
 . Boniface; thai I could bring to the former the very same priestly zeal, 
 
 and affection and genuine sympathy as to the latter; and that Ireland's great 
 apostle, as patron saint of my church and parish, would find in me a client as 
 loyal and devoted many's martyred apostle had, whom then I venerated as 
 
 patron saint of my church and parish. On the eighteenth day of last May I left 
 my former home, ready to commence my priestly labors for the parishioners of 
 St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis, intrusted to my pastoral care. But, 
 alas, during more than three months, narrow-minded national prejudice, as un- 
 Catholic and un-American as it is despicable and detrimental in every respect, basely 
 inflamed and eagerly fed by a few individuals, has incredibly succeeded in open 
 rebellion to keep the lawful pastor from entering the church, there to offer up the 
 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to administer the holy sacraments, to preach the word 
 
 id, to labor for the salvation of immortal souls. 
 
 In vain [did] the representative of the Holy Father has admonished [admon- 
 ish] and entreated [entreat]. The actual infliction of the severest censure of the 
 church has been defied and disdained by the few instigators and abettors of the 
 rebellion. There is no home for a priest in a parish while thus his best endeavors 
 to work for the honor of God and the salvation of souls are most scandalously 
 frustrated. Too long the whole of the congregation has been subjected to heart- 
 rending distress and spiritual losses through the guilt of a few. 
 
 The timely recommencement [reopening] of St. Patrick's parochial school, in 
 the beginning of next month, is of paramount importance — an absolute necessity. 
 Therefore, I must respectfully beg, my dear bishop, to hereby tender you my 
 
 nation as rector of St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis, 111., and in 
 all earnestness beseech you to accept it. I hope that the enormous scandal which 
 has lasted so long may be removed, that by the reopening of the parochial school 
 the children may not be deprived of the inestimable blessing of Catholic education, 
 that the salvation of all who are of good will may be secured, and peace and har- 
 mony restored. With sentiments of the highest esteem, I remain, dear bishop, 
 your humble servant, \Y. Cluse, V. G. 
 
 Waiving for the present the acceptance of the resignation of the Very Reverend 
 W. Cluse. V. G., as rector of St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis, I refer 
 the matter of the difficulties in said congregation for final decision to His Excellency, 
 the Apostolic Delegate, at Washington, D. C. Meanwhile, especially in order that 
 the parochial school may be opened without delay, I appoint the Reverend J. 
 Ilarkins as administrator of St. Patrick's congregation of East St. Louis. 
 
 (iiven at Belleville, 111., this thirty-first day of August, 1899. 
 
 John Janssen, Bishop of Belleville. 
 
 What a beautiful example of humility and spiritual condescension is here 
 given us by the resignation of Father Cluse, and the waiver of Bishop Janssen in 
 reference thereto. Why did Burke tell us that the age of chivalry is gone?
 
 St. Patrick's /'(dish, K<i*t St. Louis, Illinois. 4i 
 
 When Father Cluse voluntarily (?) resigned the pastorate of St. Patrick's, 
 the parishioners met in vast numbers to discuss the matter. The following is the 
 press account of the meeting : 
 
 "More than 2,000 men, women and children gathered in St. Patrick's Church 
 yard, East St. Louis, last evening, to discuss the resignation of Vicar-General Cluse, 
 as rector of the parish, and the appointment of Father Harking as administrator. 
 There were handshakings and good old Irish congratulations. 
 
 The meeting had been called for eight o'clock, but half an hour before that 
 time the crowd had taken every bit of available space. The late-comers climbed 
 over fences and on to points of vantage on the church and the parochial residence 
 adjoining. Many were unable to get into the yard and these filled the pavement 
 and street in front of the church. 
 
 The meeting was called to order by Patrick Wallace, and M. J. Walsh was 
 chosen secretary. Dennis McCarthy made the first talk. He spoke of the letter 
 of the bishop, notifying the parishioners that Father Cluse had resigned, and that 
 Father Harkins had been appointed administrator. Cheers which were loud and 
 long interrupted his talk at frequent intervals. 
 
 P. B. Cusack and City Attorney Daniel McGlynn followed. Both advised the 
 parishioners to accept the bishop's appointment of Father Harkins as adminis- 
 trator until the trouble could be settled by Mgr. Martinelli at Washington. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. McGlynn's remarks, Doctor John Stack introduced a 
 set of resolutions which he read and which were unanimously adopted. The 
 resolutions follow : 
 
 Whereas, The members of St. Patrick's congregation have learned with in- 
 expressible satisfaction of the resignation of the Reverend W. Cluse, as rector of 
 St. Patrick's congregation ; and, 
 
 Whereas, The Reverend J. Harkins, rector of St. Mary's congregation, this 
 city, an Irish-American priest, who is a credit to the Church, and beloved by all 
 who know him, has been appointed administrator of this congregation; and, 
 
 Whereas, Said resignation and appointment practically terminates the long 
 and unpleasant controversy between this congregation and his Lordship, the Right 
 Reverend J. Janssen, Bishop of Belleville, which controversy we have so sincerely 
 deplored, and for the settlement of which we thank Almighty God from the bottom 
 of our hearts; and, 
 
 Whereas, Our contention has been for an Irish or Irish- American priest; 
 therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, By the members of St. Patrick's congregation, in mass meeting- 
 assembled, that without reservation or condition, we accept and submit to the ap- 
 pointment of the Reverend J. Harkins as administrator by his Lordship, in Belle- 
 ville, and pledge ourselves to greater effort in the future in behalf of our beloved 
 parish and our holy mother Church ; be it further 
 
 Resolved, That we hold ourselves in readiness to promptly and fully comply 
 with every demand, and obey with alacrity every request of the newly appointed
 
 j g p o/" Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 administrator, whom we welcome to our midst with open arms, and assure him of 
 a genuine Irish welcome. 
 
 M. .1. Walsh and Th as Ilanifan followed with short talks. Mr. Hanifan 
 
 said that the appointment of Father Harkins as administrator was highly satisfac- 
 tory, and that he hoped that the church would soon be provided with a permanent 
 Irish priest. 
 
 The American and rrish flags floated from the flagstaff and parts of the church. 
 
 Father Harkins was notified that he would be accepted as administrator to 
 the parish, and arrangements made to withdraw the guards from the church prop- 
 erty. The parochial school was opened and peace reigned once more. 
 
 A committee was appointed to go in carriages to Father Harkins' parochial 
 
 lenee and escort him to the St. Patrick's parochial residence where he was 
 dnly installed as administrator of the parish. 
 
 The reception committee and escort was composed of Messrs. James Goff, 
 Thomas Doyle, Thomas Irwin, Thomas Hanifan, Dr. John Stack, M. J. Walsh, 
 Daniel BicGlynn and Patrick McKane." 
 
 And thus a far-reaching victory was won, or, at least, was in sight. Some 
 episcopal manoeuverings were to be gone through ere the lowering of the national- 
 istic flag. It would never do, so the bishop thought, to permit his sentence of 
 excommunication to pass down "into innocuous desuetude." He would withdraw 
 his ineffectual fulmination in a formal manner, and on terms most humiliating to 
 his proud opponents. Accordingly a paper is prepared, to be signed by the members 
 of the parish, admitting that they had been wrong in disobeying the ecclesiastical 
 authorities, asking forgiveness and promising that in future their conduct would 
 be along the lines of obedience to Church authorities. The introduction of this 
 document was the height of audacity and infamous dishonesty. The parishioners, 
 though determined never to surrender, yearned for peace and ecclesiastical 
 harmony. They were ready to conform to any empty formality to end the tedious 
 conflict. They learned that it was an indispensible condition in the final adjust- 
 ment of the case. With this view many of the parishioners, and among them 
 some of their prominent leaders, signed the document. They did so, however, 
 under more than a mere protest. They boldly stated that they would renew the 
 fight on the morrow under similar circumstances. And, sad to say, two clergy- 
 men stood by giving moral support, as it were, to the bishop's policy. 
 
 We learn from Lord Bacon not to think that God can be served or pleased 
 "with the unclean sacrifice of a lie."
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 49 
 
 A bishop who would have recourse to such methods of escape from the 
 humiliation of defeat, should get himself to a monastery to acquire the fear of 
 God. Some pious ninny will doubtless condemn the writer for exposing falsehood 
 and rascality in holy places. Listen to the advice of the broadmindei Leo XIII. 
 When investigating the Vatican records Pope Leo XIII. said to Dom. Gasquet, 
 the librarian, "publish everything of interest — everything, whether it tends to 
 the discredit or credit of the ecclesiastical authorities ; for you may be sure that 
 if the Gospel had been written in our day the treachery of Judas and the denial 
 of St. Peter would have been suppressed for fear of scandalizing weak consciences." 
 So Lord Halifax told the English Church Union. 
 
 At last appeared the long-looked-for announcement that St. Patrick's Church 
 gets a representative and acceptable priest. Bishop Janssen appoints Father 
 Charles Sweeny as rector, and thus ends a great public scandal which will never 
 be forgotten by a suffering people, who have borne the burden of a mighty contest 
 against a great and threatening evil affecting the Catholic Church in America. 
 
 As a corollary to the history of this celebrated case, comes the astonishing 
 news that the final decision emanated from Rome and not from Washington. 
 
 The Republic, of October 25th, gives the following evidently authentic in- 
 formation : 
 
 ROME SAYS BISHOP JANSSEN ERRED.— HOLDS THAT THE EXCOMMUNICATION 
 
 OF ST. PATRICK'S PARISHIONERS WAS NOT DESERVED. 
 
 A FAR=REACHINQ DECISION. 
 
 "According to a cablegram received last night by the Republic from Rome, the 
 decision which settled the dispute between St. Patrick's parishioners in East St. 
 Louis and Bishop Janssen of Belleville, emanated from the Propaganda at Rome, 
 to whom it was not generally known that the grievances of the congregation had 
 been carried. 
 
 The decision is considered far-reaching in its effect, and it is thought that it 
 will do away with all future conflict between bishops and their flocks concerning 
 the appointment of pastors. 
 
 It also explains the final action of Bishop Janssen in his settlement of the St. 
 Patrick's Church controversy. The parishioners have never known that the case 
 was decided at Rome. They were under the impression that Mgr. Martinelli, the 
 Papal Delegate, had acted as judge in the case, and drafted the opinion which was 
 instrumental in bringing about the settlement of the differences. 
 
 Strange to say at the time the supposed decision of Mgr. Martinelli reached 
 East St. Louis, every effort to obtain a copy of it proved futile. All that the
 
 50 
 
 Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 parishioners were told was that Father (Muse would resign according to the 
 terms of the decision, and that Father Sweeney would be the pastor of the church. 
 
 The text of the decision is in this cablegram from Rome: 
 
 llowing is the full text of the official instructions from Cardinal Ledoch- 
 owski to the Bishop of Belleville, 111., bearing on the recent controversy in the 
 tholio Church of East St. Louis: 
 
 "Remove immediately tin- excommunication from the parish, as they do not 
 deserve it. Get Father Cluse to resign, and appoint a pastor of their own nation- 
 ality over them." 
 
 Cardinal Ledochowski is Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda, to whom belongs 
 tin- final settlement of all ecclesiastical controversies of this nature. There is no 
 appeal from his ruling. It follows on these instructions that the general practice 
 of the Church for the future in the United States will be that bishops must appoint 
 pastors according to the nationality of congregations. 
 
 Til.- Cahensleyite antipathy towards everything Irish cannot arise from any 
 racial antagonism, for we see no traces of it outside this narrow school of nation- 
 alism. This unsocial and irreligious condition is brought about by the efforts of 
 a Cahensleyite press and the imprudent utterances of Cahensleyite bishops. 
 
 bishop Baltes, in his day, raved at almost every society bearing an Irish 
 character. "The Ancient Order of Hibernians" incurred his chief w'rath, next 
 came the "Hibernian Benevolent," the "Emerald Beneficial Association," and, 
 wonderful to relate, the "Roman Catholic Total Abstinence Society." Even the 
 •Knights of St. Patrick" did not escape his wrathful condemnation. 
 
 It is really pitiable to see a Roman Catholic Bishop "play such fantastic tricks 
 before high heaven." 
 
 Some years ago the Archbishops of the country, in convention assembled, at 
 i' delphia, declared most approvingly of this very order — the A. 0. H. 
 
 he -e is not a more public-spirited body of Catholic men in this country than 
 this ve, der, whose members would die in defence of the faith when their 
 
 Cahensle; ; ad cers would offer incense to Jupiter. 
 
 Bishop Ft •., of Leavenworth, attempted some years ago to play the same role 
 towards the Ancif t Order of Hibernians and other kindred societies. We have 
 always considered a i a nice, poor man, but we have never gotten over the scandal 
 of elevating a green G nan monk to the American Bishopric. We consider it a 
 mortal sin on the pan oi i se who maliciously considered the interests of Germany 
 rather than those of the C holic Church in America. 
 
 Bishop Blondel, of L« Montana, though not a Cahensleyite, is narrow 
 
 enough to see through a .ole with both eyes— to use a Braun figure. We 
 
 i to a broader and more practical view of his duty 
 ain all. 
 
 0. R. 
 
 hope the people will convei 
 — to make himself all to al
 
 
 We notice in an article in the Republic of January 30th, just as we were going 
 to press, that in his mad desire to humiliate the parishioners of St. Patrick's parish 
 and exasperate them to deeds unbecoming good Catholics and law abiding citizens, 
 Bishop Janssen is again attempting to force the church choir to play German 
 music at the masses to this exclusively Irish congregation. 
 
 What manner of man must he be? How long will this bishop, seemingly made 
 insane by worshiping at the shrine of Cahensleyism, be permitted to tyrannize over 
 those people? Will our Apostolic Delegate, whose wisdom and fairness is so well 
 established, suffer this madman to drive those people away from the Church 
 because they refuse to be annexed to his Priester Verein? 
 
 It will bs remembered that Bishop Janssen attempted the introduction of 
 German music in St. Patrick's church during the life of our lamented friend, 
 Father O'Halloran, and actually succeeded in persuading the leader of the choir 
 to use it without the knowledge or consent of the priest; but true to his patriotic 
 instincts, as soon as that Cicilian sound fell upon his ears while offering up the 
 holy sacrifice of the mass, he turned on the altar, and pointing to the choir, said 
 in a manner never to be forgotten by the choir or congregation, "Stop that, non 
 of that here; American music is good enough for me." And thanks v a \ u- 
 sand everlasting thanks, to the members of that splendid choir. Tl v .vould not 
 insult his memory by yielding to the unwarranted order of Bishoj Janssen to sub- 
 stitute German for American music. May their lives be long ; id nappy and their 
 offsprings rise to fame. 
 

 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 51 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 The court fool of the serio-comic phase of this affair was a Rev. Mr. Gough, 
 who thrust himself into the contest in a most unwarranted and ludicrous manner. 
 He wrote a letter to one of the leaders of the opposition assuring him that the spirit 
 of the late Father O'Halloran had appeared to him five times, manifesting great 
 unrest over the conduct of his former parishioners. The ghost asked how was 
 
 D , and the spiritualistic medium from Belleville responded that he was doing 
 
 well. I am glad to hear it, said the ghost, and then melted into thin air. 
 
 Finding that the spiritualistic document only provoked contempt on the part 
 of St. Patrick's parishioners, he next let loose on them the dogs of war. The 
 Post-Dispatch of June 27th, which contained his intemperate attack, thus refers 
 to it: 
 
 "The parishioners of St. Patrick's Church, East St. Louis, are attacked from 
 a new and unexpected quarter. An irate priest of their own nationality denounces 
 them and calls them un-American, un-patriotic, un-Christian — an unprinciple 1 
 degenerate set. He declares that they are in an anarchistic state, and that 1 
 is a total absence of all respect, order and decency." 
 
 Among the shameless falsehoods stated by this Jack-o-the-la'^ ;n from Belle- 
 ville, and repeated by Rev. Koenig and Herr Kirk of the Eo 5t. Louis Journal, 
 is that he was forced to declare emphatically to the bishop th ne would not accept 
 the rectorship of St. Patrick's. This plainly implies th it he was offered the 
 position. Now Bishop Janssen declared emphatical] to a priest of his diocese 
 that he did not offer the aforesaid rectorship to Rev >ough. To whom shall we 
 impute the emphatic falsehood? 
 
 The St. Patrick's Church Committee, consisting f W. J. Broderick, President; 
 P. J. Wallace, Vice-President; Dr. J. Stack, Reco ling Secretary; M. J. Walsh, 
 Corresponding Secretary; W. J. Heil}', Treasurer; , mes Goff and Thomas Doyle, 
 
 A? 
 
 x\V
 
 The Bishop of Bellerille, Illinois, vs. 
 
 Trustees, drew up a caustic reply to the slanderous allegations of Father Gough. 
 When hie Reverence from Monahan saw himself as others see him, he grew furious, 
 had hay in his horn would say. He revelled in personal abuse in a 
 
 mosi indecent style unbecoming a gentleman, not to say a priest. 
 
 Father Gough's reply was as the effort of the fly in the cobweb, entangling 
 him the more he labored to justify his conduct, 
 
 M. .1. Walsh, President of the Catholic Knights of Illinois, replied to the 
 "irate priest" in the columns of the Post-Dispatch, as follows: 
 
 My reason for answering Father Gough is that he attacked me personally 
 because I Bigned an answer to him, as a member of the committee selected by the 
 parishioners of St. Patrick's congregation to do their bidding and carry out their 
 wishes. The answer, as signed by the committee, was from the parishioners and 
 qoI from the committee, as he would have the public believe. 
 
 Alter the gentlemen of our parish defeated him in argument, he then tries 
 
 el revenge for his whipping from the ladies and children, and if he should 
 Bucceed, he will next try the babies. He says he "is a priest of God," but from 
 bis language on the altar last Sunday in regard to the people of St. Patrick's 
 Parish, I would not take him for such. Good priests of the Catholic Church mind 
 their own business and attend to their religious duties. Wherever they travel they 
 wear the Roman collar and don't go in disguise. He speaks of his nationality as 
 an American. He finds great fault with Irish people who were born in the 
 counties of Cork and Kerry, the birthplace of Daniel O'Connel, the Catholic 
 emancipator. 
 
 Now, why docs this man trouble himself so much about our local affairs? 
 We have not asked him. Is he trying to get our mothers, wives and daughters to 
 i in his spiritualistic class and leave mother church and believe in his dreams and 
 -,.iii rappings, and be professing to be a Catholic priest? I have in my possession 
 Letters iiom him where he states plainly that our late lamented Father O'Halloran 
 appeared to \ im five times and was in much trouble, and that if I would turn 
 traitor to St. P< 'k's Parish by helping to allow a German priest for its pastor, 
 it would be all web with our dear deceased pastor's soul. Does he not know that 
 be, lev. Mr. Gough -nore than any living man was the one who stirred up all this 
 strife? For the pafa ght ye .is that I have known him his whole subject of 
 conversation would be al ♦ tb Germans; bow mean they were treating him, and 
 thai it he celebrated mass ast or too slow how they would run to the Bishop 
 
 and report him, and bow the shop would take the week he selected for his church 
 fairs from him and give it to i Germans and make him hold his at another time, 
 and he never lei anything g. by without accusing him of it, and he never had a 
 
 - 1 word for his superiors, id they were leading him a dog's life, and how on 
 
 one occasion he asked for bis release from the diocese. He was the first rebel, 
 and now thai he has succeeded. '., stirring up this strife, he is the first traitor to all 
 ■ -<■ ulio believe his story.
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 53 
 
 From the bad faith in which lie acted, not only toward this congregation, but 
 towards the Bishop, I would not be surprised to learn of his expulsion from the 
 diocese. Then it would be in order for him to establish a spiritualistic church 
 and have all the seances he may desire. 
 
 M. J. Walsh, 
 
 332 Collinsville Avenue. 
 
 DR. STACK TO FR. GOUGH.— ABOUT THE PRIESTER=VEREIN. 
 
 Dr. John Stack, of St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, has asked the Post- 
 Dispatch the courtesy of space for the publication of the following reply to Rev. 
 Father Gough's letter: 
 
 Dear Father Gough: — As you have in your letter of June 29th so kindly 
 referred to me as a good man, I hope you will pardon my addressing you as 
 Dear Father, which I hope you will understand to mean the priest and not the man. 
 
 You say you are an American. So am I, and it is for that reason I protest 
 against the appointment of Father Cluse. If Father Cluse was a true American or 
 a Roman Catholic priest, would he be such a prominent member of the Priester- 
 Verein? If he were a true American he would not be permitted to join the 
 Pries ter-Verein, which is an organization of German priests, with its officers, etc., 
 who pledge themselves to work for the advancement of each other, of German 
 interests, and of the beloved German mother tongue. Shame on them to use their 
 religion for such ulterior motives. If the Priester-Verein is to control the Catholic 
 religion in America, and its members administer the faith in the interest of 
 Germany, 1 say I want none of it. I may be classed as a degenerate for clinging 
 to the Roman Catholic in preference to the German Catholic religion; but, where, 
 in the Belleville diocese, where the bishop himself is pledged to work for German 
 interests and where he has fulfilled that pledge nobly, could one find the Roi^u. 
 Catholic religion if the Priester-Verein with its standard bearer, Bishop J .issen, 
 had not been stopped. 
 
 They have nearly every other church in the diocese and cove* /St. Patrick's, 
 but there they calculated without their hosts, as they will never • et that one. 
 
 As one of the most prominent members of the Priester- /erein, a priest in 
 St. Louis, admitted: 
 
 The appointment was a terrible blunder. It was terr' i?, I suppose, from the 
 fact that the machinations of the Priester-Verein would b : exposed, and they are 
 exposed, and the longer the fight continues the more v; 1 they be exposed. 
 
 This Priester-Verein is nothing less than an exj> rescence which has grown 
 upon the Catholic Church, and has become so intoler it and treacherous, not only 
 against ecclesiastical, but also against civil authority, that the strong arm of law 
 would be justified in using extreme measures in wiping it out. 
 
 Space will not admit of a description of the directory of German Catholic 
 priests.
 
 54 Tin Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 You say Father Cluse speaks English. Well, I am glad of that, as that is 
 more than the Bishop can do, who never thought enough of America to learn 
 tlu . ].„,,, ii,,\v ridiculous you appear when you say that a member of this 
 
 beming organization can minister to an exclusively Irish-American congregation 
 tter than one who is pledged to work for God instead of German interests. Dear 
 father, your reasoning powers must he dulled by lack of sleep due to the nocturnal 
 visits of our late lamented pastor, which you claim to receive. 
 
 You enumerate several Irish-American parishes presided over by German- 
 American priests— more Priester Vercin— but how many exclusively German- 
 American parishes presided over by Irish priests? How many cathedrals in this 
 country where the German language is spoken exclusively, and where any other 
 nationality cannot attend because they cannot understand the sermon? More good 
 work of the standard hearer of the Priester- Verein. 
 
 You say I made my first communion in St. Henry's Church. I pronounce 
 this a fabrication, and you know it, and even if I did, that was at the time when 
 St. Henrv's Church was a Roman Catholic Church, and not a German Catholic 
 
 Church. 
 
 Again, how ridiculous, when you, who claim to be an American, would, as 
 they did in mediaevil times, visit the sins of the parent on the child. 
 
 I attended school there when it was under the principalship of that staunch 
 old Irishman, Humphrey Hartnet, and when it was a public school and maintained 
 by general taxation, 
 
 I am glad you wrote this letter, as you have proven to us that our contention 
 that the pastorate of our church was offered to three Irishmen was a subterfuge, 
 as you say that the demands of the priests of the diocese of Belleville have made 
 it necessary to establish the Vicar-General in East St. Louis. How many more 
 reasons will you give for this "terrible blunder?" 
 
 Since you have undertaken the work of the Priester-Verein (as you are 
 undoubtedly fulfilling the orders of the Bishop), you should have been better 
 instructed. 
 
 They say Father Cluse was appointed because of his great executive ability and 
 his great everything else, even his great love for the Irish, although a Priester- 
 Vereiner. 
 
 You claim that great friendship existed betw r een you and our late lamented 
 pastor. The next time he appears to you ask him why he would not permit you 
 to come into the room to see him but a short while before he died. Now, dear 
 father, in the future stick to the truth. Never mind about the financial affairs of 
 St. Patrick '-. 
 
 Look up the records of St. Luke's after your administration of 13 years, and I 
 don't think you will attempt to throw mud at anybody else. You offer as an excuse 
 for your entering this controversy, that abuse was heaped upon you for fear you 
 would be a candidate for this parish. If this were so, God knows the abuse was 
 well put, and I am glad it had 'he desired effect ; but again your reasoning seems 
 fallacious, as you know you wrote a letter in the very beginning of this fight saying 
 you would not be a candidate, :nd expressing a hope that this most excellent
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 55 
 
 congregation would receive a worthy successor to Father O'Halloran. Then -'a 
 most excellent congregation ;" now, a set of degenerates, hecause we assert our 
 rights and dare maintain them. Since you wrote those letters setting forth your 
 belief in spirits, etc., you were deserving of any abuse which has been heaped upon 
 you. 1 suppose you will be given a complimentary gallery seat the next meeting 
 of the Priester-Verein for your loyalty to the cause. 
 
 Now, dear father, this is from me personally, and not as a representative of 
 St. Patrick's congregation. 
 
 Dk. John Stack, 
 
 5034 Missouri Avenue. 
 
 AN OPEN LETTER.— ADDRESSED TO REVEREND FATHER JAMES GOUGH, OF 
 
 ST. LUKE'S, BELLEVILLE. 
 
 East St. Louis, III.. July 11, 1899. 
 
 In public prints published in Belleville and in St. Louis I find what purports 
 to be an extract from a sermon delivered by you to your congregation on Sunday, 
 June 25th. As I find no denial of these extraordinary utterances, I must assume 
 that they were made as reported, and cannot allow them to pass unchallenged. 
 The space I can reasonably expect to be allowed to occupy in this open letter pre- 
 cludes the possibility of a categorical reply to your tirade, and I shall confine 
 myself to a few of your statements. 
 
 You call the desire of East St. Louis Catholics of St. Patrick's congregation to 
 accept none other but an Irish priest, un-American and non-Catholic. 
 
 I wish to say to you that to protest and battle against wrong is never un-Amer- 
 ican, nor can it be non-Catholic. The power and glory to which the Catholic 
 Church has attained is due to its unremittent, aggressive and heroic struggles for 
 the right as seen by Catholics and taught by the church. Tyranny and oppress, 
 are abhorrent both to the Catholic and American, and he would be a poor Americ n 
 citizen and a poor Catholic who would bow to either. 
 
 You charge the East St. Louis Catholics of St. Patrick's with being an 
 unprincipled and degenerate set, who have brought the blush of shame to the 
 Catholics of America. This is indeed a serious charge. Who are the men and 
 women that compose this degenerate set? They are those who, up to this time, 
 have stood well in this community as among its best citizens, until you discovered 
 their degeneracy. They are an important part of this community, which has 
 brought East St. Louis from a mud village to its present state of prosperity, the 
 pride of Illinois and the Queen City of Egypt. They are the men and women who 
 had fought the battles of adversity and emerged conquerors. 
 
 They unprincipled ! I challenge you to point out a community more devoted 
 to the principles of morality, of honorable businers methods, aye, and of true 
 religion, than the men and women of St. Patrick's congregation. This charge, 
 sir, is false; shamefully unfounded. 
 
 I deny also that this congregation has been gailty of maligning the three Irish- 
 American priests first in line of succession to the 'rectorship of St. Patrick's. The
 
 The Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, vs. 
 
 demand ol the congregation has been from the first, an Irish-American priest for 
 this Irish- American congregation, and this is the head and front of our offending. 
 The jt is true, or has existed, a preference for Father Downey; this 
 
 preference, however, was humbly expressed in petitions, verba] and written, and 
 
 I do not believe that even you will assert that an American citizen has not a right 
 a his preference to the appointing power; and it is simply untrue that 
 the contention from the beginning has been, as you state, that they would have none 
 but a "vouug priest lately from Ireland." No such demand was made, nor is 
 intended to be made. 
 
 "After two years' practical administration of the gentleman they so badly want, 
 the Bishop discovers the total absence of all respect, order and decency." 
 
 This charge thai the nun and women of this congregation are lacking in order 
 and decency is too ridiculous to notice, were it not so vile. All who know any- 
 thing about the members of this congregation must be astounded at the audacity 
 which gives utterance to such falsehood. 
 
 You have not been drawn into this controversy. You have entered it of your 
 own accord, and from the malignant spirit you evince, it would seem that you 
 have entered it for some special purpose. Is it to curry favor with your superior, 
 the Bishop, or do you hope to strengthen yourself with your own congregation? 
 
 It it is the first consideration, let me remind you: '"Put not your faith in 
 princes." It' it is the second, I wish to say that you misjudge your congregation. 
 
 False, also, is your charge that the financial affairs of this parish have been 
 mismanaged. All who know the tacts, know that during Father O'Halloran's 
 administration the financial condition of this parish has been changed from a 
 deplorable state of bankruptcy to nourishing prosperity. 
 
 And during the last seven years, not two, as you stated, Father Downey has 
 been the able co-adjuster of Father O'Halloran. 
 
 And now you will allow me to very briefly advise you of the true condition of 
 controversy. 
 
 "hen the question of choosing a successor to Father O'Halloran arose, the 
 unanimous lesire of the members of St. Patrick's congregation to have Father 
 Downey appointed as his successor was made known to the Bishop in various 
 ways. At that t me no one dreamed that the Bishop intended to impose the now 
 threatened indignity upon us. It is a well-recognized rule, and I believe a law of 
 th< church, that no r< -tor shall be appointed ignorant of the language used in the 
 congregation. This rule has been considered to go so far as to prohibit the 
 appointment of an officii ting priest of a different nationality from the congregation, 
 where the congregation is all of the same nationality, as in this instance. Whether 
 a law or not, it seems that t >e first principle of justice, equity and decency would 
 require that the appointing , ower in making a selection would consult, or if that 
 is asking too much, would ai >i to please those who are directly interested in the 
 appointment, of those who arc asked, not to commit their spiritual welfare to the 
 appointee, but also to bear the entire burden of the expense of maintaining the 
 church; but in this instance, wi I. a high hand and lordly manner, the Bishop 
 has declared that he will not heei the wishes of the parish, that he will not trv to
 
 St. Patrick's Parish, East St. Louis, Illinois. 
 
 57 
 
 please the members of the congregation, but having ascertained their wishes he 
 will over-ride them, because he has the power to do so. He will "discipline," he 
 will scourge them, he will deny them spiritual consolation when in distress, and 
 deny them the holy sacrament when death claims them, unless they submit tamely 
 and patiently to tyranny hitherto unknown in the annals of the church. I say to 
 you it would be un-American, un-Catholic, unmanly to take any other course than 
 that of opposition to this high-handed tyranny. 
 
 And, Reverend Sir, no power on earth can alter the determination of the 
 members of St. Patrick's congregation to allow none other than an Irish- American 
 priest to administer the affairs of this parish. 
 
 I regret exceedingly to have been compelled in this letter to use towards you 
 terms which may seem harsh, but you have precipitated yourself into this arena 
 with an ill-advised ardor, and have made such serious charges against the integrity, 
 morality and decency <>f those of whom you seem to know hut little, that you must 
 take the consequences. 
 
 In conclusion, 1 pray you do not take amiss this advice: Confine your holy 
 zeal to your own affairs and your own parish. 
 
 W. J. Brodekick. 
 
 Thus were Rev. Mr. Gough's batteries silenced. He came to East St. Louis 
 crying for mercy. — Poor Father Gough ! 
 
 "The best and wholesomest spirits of the night envelope you." 

 
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