How GoodA Catholic? • by JAMES A. MAGNER 10 cents eadh; $1.00 for 12 $2.00 for 25; $3.00 for 50; $4.00 £or 100 Nihil Obstat: John B. Fumy, S.J., Censor Librorum Imprimatur: George Cardinal Mundelein, .Archbishop of Chicago Copyright, 1935 . by JAMES A. MAGNER j How Good A Catholic? By James A. Magner, Ph.D., S.T.D. ST. GERTRUDE STUDY CLUB 1420 Granville Ave. CHICAGO, ILL~OIS Deacfdifled HOW GOOD A CATHOLIC? By James A. Magner, PH.D., S.T.D. T HE story is told of an observer who inquired about the nature of a certain long parade of men marching in the rain in one of America 's princi- pal cities. He was told that this was a demonstration of the Holy Name Society, a national organization of Catholic men. The spectacle was edif,y- ing, and he asked what was the pur- pose of the body. "To foster respect for the name of God and of Jesus Christ, and to pro- mote clean speech," came the answer from a 'Catholic who happened to be near by. "Remarkable!" exclaimed the obser- ver. "You mean to say that all those men are Catholics, and that they don't swear? I had no idea there were so ma ny Catholic men in the country." "Oh, indeed," replied the other. "That group represents only the Cath- olics who don't swear. You ought to see all those that do.! " There is a point to that story. Catholics are not of One pattern. Without a doubt the total number of Catholics, good, bad, and indifferent, in the United States, is an impressive figure. There are more than 21,000,000, according to the latest figures of the Catholic Directory. Bound together by the same creed and professing spiritual allegiance to the same relig- ious leaders, they form easily the largest church body in America. From merchant prince and intellectual leader to pauper and the most recent and poorly equipped immi.grant from the Old 'W orld, they are found in every walk and condition of life, raising the largest families in their communities, and giving most promise of the continuance of their stock. The Catholic Faith makes unusual demands upon its adherents, insisting upon their regular attendance at Sun- day ,Mass, imposing laws of fasting and Friday abstinence, and enforcing extensive regulations concerning mar- riage . . Every year takes its toll of Catholics throllgh the processes of marriage with those of other beliefs, of unfavorable educational influences, rebellion against the Catholic code of morals, and sheer laziness . N everthe- less, each year sees a goodly number of these "fallen aways" return to the practice of their first religion, and a -4- constant stream of converts is drawn to it through social, marital, intellect- ual, emotional, a nd spiri~ual consid- erations. In spite of the perennial attacks made against Catholicism, ranging from the ponderous arguments" of ~university professors to the mean insinuations of yellow journals, the Catholic Church still remains in a healthy conditioi1, with a universal appeal. While many other denomin- ations, ·resorting to pulpit novelties and innovations, are barely able to keep their doors open, the average Catholic Church is crowded every Sunday, not for one service but for several, and often from five o'dock in the morning to high - noon and one o'clock. The Ca~holic Appeal What attracts these people and holds them, yea~ in and year out, at least to an external profession of faith and allegiance in the Catholic Church? Is it the enduring impres- sions that are drilled into the Catholic youth? No other religion is so insistent upon the religious element In education. There is scarcely a -5- Catholic who cannot .remember at least something of the questions and answers of the so-called "penny" cat- echism that were hammered into him at home or in the parochial or' the Sunday school. Can it be the pressure of vigilant Catholic relation;; and associates? Particularly in Catholic communities, a lapse from the Faith is equ iv alen t alm ost to treason, and the "fall en away" or «turn coat" often finds his social position subject to uncomfortable q ualifica tions. To some extent p erhaps it is the attractiveness of Catholic services. In o spite of the fact that they are con- ducted in Latin and that the excel- lence of the sermon is ' not always of a compelling character, there seems to be so mething definite and satisfying abo ut a Catholic function, eiVen for those of other beliefs . The array of religious sym b ols , h e placing of the .statues of Christ and the saints, the -central lo cation of the altar, and the mystery of the ritu a l itse lf, exercise .a spec ial charm and leave the impres- '5:011 nf peace and calm. Few Catho- 1ics , who abandon their religion ever fee l at home in a Protestant temple, °no matter h ow much energy they put 1nto' the attempt. Even those who -6- have braken their peace with the Church, such as by marrying against its laws, often cantinue dutifully to. attend its services. Many whase prac- tical appasitian to. its maral principles makes it impassible far them to. receive its penitential ministratians still secretly desire to. go. thraugh the external fo.rms af canfessian and re- ceive the Haly Eucharist. What part daes persanal canvictian and satisfactian with the dactrinal and maral teaching af the Church play in halding the allegiance af Cathalics? With can verts who. have ('reasaned" themselves into. the Church, intellect- ual arguments undaubtedly play an impartant part. The same is trlle af barn Cathalics whase educatian and pragram af reading have been can- sistently Catholic. The necessity af at least a Cathalic paint af view as a requisite far keeping the Faith is aften demanstrated in the complete lass af Cathalic belief experienced by students whase intellectual farma- tian has been directed thraugh can- tacts with irreligiaus praf~ssars . in secandary schaals ar with anti-Christ- ian reading. This fact is all the mare striking when yauths who. have been reared in the atmasphere af a devaut -7- Catholic home discover that, even again.st their will, their Catholic practIces suddenly appear totally in- consistent with the intellectual view- point which they have built up from these extrarteous influences. It is . quite probable, however, that the average Catholic is not particu- larly concerned 'with the deeper aspects of his religion Or disturbed by difficultie s until discrimination against the Church, 0 r personal' attacks, arouse his indignation and make his blood boil, or until ,he is confronted with assertions and ques- tions whose answer he can sense rather- than express. Undoubtedly all these elements en- ter into the composition of the average Catholic; but they do not give an adequate explanation of faith. Many writers who try to explain the success of Catholicism can see Oilly economic . or social m,otives at work, or at most a combination of fear and sentimen- tality in religion : This is especially true when they begin to analyze the appeal of the religious life to those who have embraced the calling of a priest, a brother, or a nun. To adopt this attitude is simply to miss the one -8- greatpoi':1t, outside of immediate divine actIOn, in Catholic Faith. It is the realization of spiritual responsi- bility that gives logic to the body of Catholic teaching and worship, and a profound spiritual aspiration for the ideals of Christ that makes it of uni- versal appeal. Without the spiritual motive as their basis, Catholic observ- .ances become hardly more than a series of mechanical gestures; and without this consideration, the "prac- tical" Catholic may appear as simply a person who manages to be seen at church on Sundays and whose name can be found on the list of contrib- utors. Fulfilling Church Precepts It is sometimes maintained that the best Catholic Faith and morals are to be found not infrequently in places where people are not particularly scru- pulous about Sunday Mass, Friday ab- stinence, and other externals that are supposed to mark a good Catholic. N early everyone is acquainted with the type of militant Catholic who never go es to Mass himself but is ready to blacken the eye of anyone who dares say a word against the Church. Then there is the kind who -9- can be haled into church only for bap- · tism and marriage, but who is partic- ularly anxious to have a Catholic funeral with all possible pomp. The unu sal justification for this broad concept of who may be con- sidered a good Catholic is the state- ment th a t many non-church goers lead better lives than some Catholics who observe all the precepts of the Church. "Woe to you, Pharisees," said Christ, "because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues." In contrasting the Pharisee who boasted, "I fast twice a week: I give tithes of all I possess," with the pub- lican who stood afar off, striking his breast, with the prayer, "0 God, be merciful to me, a sinner," Christ de- clared that the latter "went down in- to his house justified rather than the other." But it is important to note that both the Pharisee and the pub- lican are represented by Christ as uttering their prayers in the Temple. The question at stake is that of hu- mility and a man's hidden motives. In neither case does Christ assert that bad motives should keep a man from his religious obli.gations or that good motives excuse him from their ob- servance. -10 - \ There is an essential difference be- tween the member of a Protestant denomination who fails to attend Sun- day services and a Catholic who misses Mass. The former is under no particular obligation. The latter vio- lates a law ' which the Church imposes under pain of mortal sin. Such vio- lation, particularly if spread over a long period of time, easily can end in the complete breakdown of prac- tical Faith. People who no longer go to Catholic services may be tied to the Ch urch by bonds of history and blood; but their . personal out- look is bound to become increasingly sceptical and indifferent. The person who tries to clear his neglect of Catholic duties with the ' assertion that he leads a good life, in contrast with many church-goers, is! in real- ity, in the position of the Pharisee, who '''gave thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as is also this publican." At the same time the objection stands that mere external observance of Catholic practice is not sufficient to make a person a ,good Catholic. The sneering remark is often made: "Oh, yes, so-and-so is a good Cath- olic, but what about his practical -11- , life? Why doesn't he pay his help a living wage? How are you going to explain the fact that he is a known grafter?" It is difficult to give a satisfac'tory answer in every case to personal ar- guments like these. The full truth can be known only by a searching analysis of the facts. It is impossible to please everyone. Busines s effi- ciency of tens means that incapable persons must give way to those whose ability or industry is more marked. The unfortunate ones who are re- leased, Or left behind when advance- ments are being made, usually feel themselves to be the victims of rank injustice. It is easy to find flaws in the policies or decisions of any respon- sible executive and to accuse him of hypocrisy, or to assume that his re- ligion is merely a cloak for corrup- tion, if he happens to be a Catholic. This is obviously unfair. There is no good reason to assume that the ag- grieved person is always right and the aggressor always wrong. No one has the right of putting himself up as the certain reader of hidden motives or of passing judgment which God has reserved to Himself. -12 - \ Religion in Practical Life Nevertheless it is undoubtedly true that business, politics, and the professions, have always tried to di- vorce themselves from religious and moral considerations. When confront- ed with the need of ethical principles, the business man is tempted to ex- claim: "What has religion or morals to do with this? Why don't you let me alone? Let things take their own course. You can't juggle with profits and losses by introducing religion into the question. A man has to make a living. If that means adulterating goods, p'aying slave wages, crushing out competition, or cleaning up by starting disturbing rumors, what has God or religion to do with it? I always go to Church, and I contrib- ute when I can. ,What more do you 'want ?" Politics has similar arguments for questionable practices. "It's all part of the system; this is what you have to do; everyone is doing it; yOlt may as well get there first; you can't let religion stand in the way," are ex- pressions frequently used to show that political manipulations should be lifted .from the realm of conscience -13 - and practical Catholicism. Sometimes, they mean paying for votes, stealing- or falsifying ballots, creating sinecure' jobs, padding payrolls, juggling with taxes, letting fraudulent contracts. Often the very people who are loudest in their denouncia tions of high taxes are, the first to cry out if an attempt is made to reduce expenses, and improve governmental manage- ment by releasing superfluous and idle employees, and their only concern in voting for a candidate is whether he can land more friends in city. county, state, or federal positions. It does not follow that politics are necessarily dishonest or that civic executives and employees are an grafters, but in many cases it is un- deniable that the Catholic Church has been victimized and made to suffer by persons whose political records. are totally at variance with genuine Catholic Faith. Their only purpose in making a display of their Catholic connections, by conspicuous presence a t Catholic services and well-timed contributions to Catholic causes, see ms to be the advancement of their own personal and political preten- sions . A little investigation will often reveal that politicians whose records -14 _ . are )f a decidedly shady character may be "on the books" as Catholics, but they never receive the sacraments or care to meet a priest on any ex- cept social grounds, until a remorseful conscience on their death-bed prompts them to square their accounts with God. Similar observations might be made in the ranks of professional men who maintain that they are "good to the Church." In Catholic schools of law and medicine the students are obliged to take a course in Catholic ethics, dealing both with Christian moral principles and, so far as possible, their application to practical cases. N ever- theless, many of these students have no intention of allowing such consid- erations to interfere with personal profits or influence their private judg- ment. If "good business" or "humane considerations" seem to call for an illegal operation or advice which the Church brands as immoral, or for the "fixing" ~f witnesses, "stringing" clients along, falsifying report?, or charging ,exorbitant fees, there are many doctor's and lawyers who feel that ethics and religion have nothing to do with the case. "Principles and practice," they say, "are two differ- -15 - ent things. The first are all right for priests and professors. The latter is for us to decide . "Following the mind of the Church," they maintain, "is too much trouble, and it doesn't always pay." Need of a Catholic Outlook This attitude of personal inde- pendence, in opposition to Catholic principles which concern practical conduct or outlook, is by no means confined to the professional classes ' or to fields where profits are at stake. It can be found in all groups, in Catholics who feel they have dis- . c harged their full religious duty by pledging their external allegiance ' to the Church and directing their devo- tions according to its laws. On mat- ters which concern social morality, in particular those dealing with birth 'con tro1, steri1iza tion, experimen tal marriage, civil divorce and remarriage, they prefer to take their viewpoint from current literature, or to consult t he resolutions of their national club; and to consider themselves as arriving at a personal conclusion wi'th which the Church has no right to interfere. If the matter involve s personal action or a state of conscience, they decide -16 - that the Church is wrung and that it is none of the priest's business, even though it concerns the integrity of confession. "This is a matter be- tween myself and God," they say. Later on, they learn to add, "I don't see what God and religion have to do with this matter a t all. They seem so remote from the case, 'and, besides, I am not harming anyone in par- ticular." This unfortunate outlook can be traced, very often, to the lack of acquaintance with the real Catholic viewpoint and the reasons or the lit- erature which set it forth . There is an impression current among many Catholics that the Church's attitude on vital social and moral problems is necessarily antiquated, and that questions of this kind should be set- tled by consulting scientific data rather than religious principles. They wish to suspend their judgment until they have studied both sides of the case. This usually means that they learn "the other side" of the question, without ever concerning themselves with an appreciation of the sources, meaning, and authorities for the Cath- olic side. When a discussion arises, particularly with well informed non': -- 17 - Catholics, they find themselves nodu ing full approval to whatever is said, or crayfishing away from the subject, decidedly embarassed and apologetic, and unable to defend or explain a viewpoint which as Catholics thq are commonly supposed to under- stand and endorse. Defence Versus Progress Just how much should a good Ca th- elic know about his religion? I t is certain, of course, that strength of Faith and purity of morals are not necessarily dependent upon advanced education or always in direct propor- tion to it. Some of. the great~st saints have been, and still are, people of little education. This is no reason, however, for asserting that the simp- ler people are and the less they know, the stronger will be their Faith. Some Catholics seem to have the idea that the ideal state has been reached in people who are simply devout and mind their own business, and that it is o nly when they become inquisitive and ask questions that they become a . problem. Catholics, it is asserted, know all that is necessary if they can say their -18 . - , ;prayers and answer some of the most 'current objections against the Faith. Efforts to stimulate a more general interest in Catholic thought, and in