Why Catholics are criticized






WHY CATHOLICS
ARE CRITICIZED

ANTHONY THOMAS O’GRADY



Printed in the United States of America

Copyright, 1931, Anthony Thomas O’Grady

MM



I ESPECIALLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO

Converts to the Catholic Faith

In giving this book to the public I want to assure you I have taken all

precautions as to my honest opinion and the freedom of thought that is a

"God-given right” to everyone. I have considered all the slanderous

criticism that has been published about the Catholics and the Catholic

Church, and it is my sincere hope that by this book those who have been

led to believe all the falsehoods and criticisms about the Catholic Church

and its members will be enlightened to a cleaner thought and a better

understanding.

Now I want you to be fair to yourselves.

I thank you.

Anthony Thomas O’Grady.



I
n publishing the names of prominent Catholics who were inventors and

discoverers I do not wish to boast, but to place before the public the

fact that there were Catholics who did many things to help, not only our
country, but the world in general, and not, as has been stated by anti-

Catholics, that they have done nothing.

There have been Catholics from the beginning of our country doing

wonderful things to help build it, and there will be Catholics until the

end, still doing wonderful things. There is nothing in the Catholic faith

preventing intellectual development to the highest peaks of achievement

in every department of human activity, and Catholics have contributed
their full share to the upward and onward march of humanity.

The beginning of school days means for nearly every family the be-
ginning of an entirely different routine of life. This is true of religion.

When one comes to understand its precepts there is no sweeter routine of
life than a religious life, when one makes a practice and a study of it and
abides by its precepts.

There is no other way that you can spend a few minutes with so much
comfort and peace to the human mind than the few minutes spent in the
House of God.

Anthony Thomas O’Grady.



I
would like to suggest that

when you read this book you

do not do so in haste, but read it

slowly and study its contents,

bearing in mind that wherever

throughout this book I have

repeated I had a purpose for

doing so.

Anthony Thomas O’Grady.



Catholic Churches protect the bodies of the apostles of Our Lord,Jesus Christ

!

In Saint Peter’s Church in Rome, Italy, lies the body of Saint Peter.
The Church is named after him.

% *
s

Rome has seven of the bodies of the Apostles of Christ. Peter, James
the Lesser, Philip, Jude, Bartholomew, Matthias and Simon all sleep in
Rome. In fact, the Kingdom of Italy has ten of the bodies of the apostles
of Jesus Christ. Three are in the Kingdom of Naples, Italy : Matthew’s
body is at Salerno, Andrew’s body is at Amalfi, and Thomas is sleeping
at Ortona. One of the bodies of the apostles of Christ is in Spain, the
body of James the Greater is at Saint Jago De Compostella. Of the body
of Saint John the evangelist there is no knowledge, and no one knows
where the remains of St. John lie.

The evangelist bodies of Saint Mark and Saint Luke are also in Italy.
Saint Mark’s remains lie at Venice, Italy; Saint Luke’s remains are at
Padua, Italy; and Saint Paul’s remains are in Italy also. The bodies of
St. Peter, St. Jude, and St. Simon are in St. Peter’s Catholic Church in
Rome, Italy.

The bodies of James the Lesser and of St. Philip are in the Catholic
Church of the Holy Apostles. St. Bartholomew’s remains are in the
Catholic Church on the Island in the Tiber called after him. Saint
Matthias’ remains are in Santa Maria Maggiore, under the great altar of
the renowned basilica.

No wonder Italy is such a religious country, and then to imagine the
Pope, who is the successor to Saint Peter and the rest of the apostles of
Christ, would leave their resting place.

How silly the imagination of some persons can be.



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED!
These words are very significant ; they fulfill the importance and truth

that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of when He instituted the Church and
religion that He foretold would withstand all criticism until the end of
the world. ...

For nineteen hundred years the Church has withstood all the criticism

and slander that have been published about it in millions of different kinds

of periodicals and literature, but it is today just as it was the day our Lord

instituted it.

Nineteen hundred years is a long time—it covers approximately two-
thirds of the period of time from the dawn of civilization to the present

day.

That is to say, through two-thirds of man’s life as a civilized being,

Catholicism has been in existence, and there is nothing more impressive

in human history than the steady and unfailing growth of the Catholic

Church against all obstacles, under, at many times, the most difficult and

discouraging conditions; but it was not meant for Catholics to get dis-

couraged, for their founder was Jesus Christ, and He made it plain that
His Church would last until the end of the world.

He warned his followers of being slandered and criticized and told
them, “Behold ! I am with you always, even to the consummation of the
world.”

The Catholic Church was organized on the feast of Pentecost, 1900

years ago, by a little group of uncultured and unlearned men, who evidently

had not the faintest idea that they were setting in motion a universal

religion that would spread to all four corners of the earth; yet, within

the lifetime of some of these men it had spread to every city of the vast

Roman Empire, although the most cruel efforts were made to destroy it.
The Catholic Church grew in numbers and in power until by the first

century it had become the dominant religion of all Europe. There is

nothing in History comparable with its growth.

Mohammedanism spread over a great territory, but that was by force

of arms, by military conquest; but anything forced upon people cannot

be called a religion.

Catholicism in those first centuries carried no swords, exercised no com-

pulsion, making its way over the face of the earth by its appeal to the

heart and the mind, by the spirit of the unique personality which it repre-

sented—the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ—and it has never ceased its
efforts to extend the work of Christ throughout the world; it has never

changed in one thing, or in any part of its doctrines ; even the vestments



8 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

used by Catholic Priests have not changed, for they were
authorized by

Holy Scripture. How many times have you heard some ignorant person

say : “Why does the Catholic Priest wear a dress like a woman at Mass
?”

How can they be so ignorant ? Does not God in the old Law prescribe to
the priests the vestment which they should wear while engaged

in their

sacred office ? Does He not say : And these shall he the vestments

which they shall make for the priest—a rational and an ephod, a tunic and
a straight linen garment, a miter and a girdle—they shall make the holy
vestments for thy Brother ‘Aaron’ and his sons that they may do the

office of priesthood unto Me?” They, like the Church, have not changed

for nineteen hundred years. Modern styles of clothes change, but the

unchanging Church adheres to an unchanging style of vestment.

In her ceremonies, their richness and splendor are a tribute to God in

whose honor and services they are worn. Those who condemn the Catholic

Church for not changing her doctrines should condemn the professors of

mathematics for not changing the multiplication table.

Bear this in mind

—

truth is unchangeable. That is why the Catholic

Church cannot change ; because it was founded on the Truth of our
Lord

Jesus Christ. And to the Church founded by Him for the salvation of

mankind, Jesus Christ has always given and will forever give most effica-

cious assistance—the church which the plague of error has never defiled,

which scandal, criticism and persecution by the most cruel and wicked men

have not sullied—although carried to the utmost of atrocity. He assures
His Church of His protection when He tells Peter: “Thou art Peter; and

upon this rock I will build My Church

,

and the gates of Hell shall not

prevail against it. He refers to Peter as a rock, because he knew Pete) s

faith was solid for Him.

The multiplication table was formulated centuries ago, and no
well

educated person ever considered it out of date ; also the
Truths of the

Catholic Church were formulated centuries ago, and no intelligent
person

ever thought of them as not being up to date. No well informed person

would stoop to such an ignorant idea—certainly not—only the uninformed
would so lower themselves, those who think they know it all. Those who

are always changing and adding to the Holy Scriptures cannot say
they are

teaching the word of God, because they are not. Chi ist did not tell
them

to add to what he taught, but to teach as he taught them. I Cor.
1 :10.

“Now I beseech you, Brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no division among you,

but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judg-

ment.” Those who are always adding and changing force us to the old

adage, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” One does not have to be

educated to know that when they are always changing they are not teaching



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 9

the word of Christ. All Christians may believe
in Christ and still not be

of the Kingdom of Christ. Jesus Christ came
into the world mi a mission

of unity. He declared that His Church would
be one and that His fol

lowers
3

would be one and that there would be
only one faith and one

Baptism, just as there is only mic God.
This proves that there is only one

Church which represents Him. It stands
to reason that two or three

thousand churches cannot represent
Him when their doctrines are a

different and their teachings all contrary
to the teachings of Jesus Christ

I want you to remember that He said His
Church would be one in a

teachings, and have one faith and one
Baptism, but yet the gates oi hett

would not prevail against it. Think of that
a while and you can readily

convince yourself which is His Church and
you don t have to be educated

to do this. Catholics have contributed
their full share to the upwaid an

onward march of humanity and the Catholic
Church has done all it could

to Christianize the world.

There is not a single nation that was originally
evangelized and received

its Christianity from the missionaries of
any other church except e

CaSilcLlk. All Europe professed Catholic
or over a

thousand years. If the Catholic Church
was Christ s Church at that time

it is His Church today, because Christ
did not establish two churches. He

said “I will build My Church”, not churches. Note
the singular number

of the word, church; and no person can
say that our Lord Jesus Chr s

did not know what He was talking about, and when
He said church He

truly meant
"
church” and not churches. The Catholic Church

has always

done her part toward the educating of
all nations into Christianity

teaching them the truths. It has done as
much as any other institution

toward the upward march of humanity; it
has done more than any other

to bring the people out of paganism to
civilization and Christianity.

The Catholic Church had been teaching all
nations for fifteen hundred

vears before the origin of protestantism,
and if all the nations then recog-S her as Christ's Church she is also ChrisCs Church today ; and the

Catholic Church today, as any day, is still
teaching the truth of our Lor

and dome everything to help humanity. There is
one thing sure she did

not ignore and she never has ignored the
teachings of Christ concerning t re

sacraments of Baptism and Confession and she
has never broken the Com-

mandments of God nor permitted them to be ignored ;
not even at

request of a king. Many other churches, no doubt, would
have considered

it an honor to grant a king such a request,
but the Catholic Church did no .

KinCT Henry VIII asked the Pope to grant him
a divorce, but the pope

would not grant him one because he could not
(What God had joined to-

gether, let no man put asunder). And the Pope, being an
ordinary man,

could not take this authority away from God. Had he granted
King Hemy



10 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

VIII a divorce he would have permitted him to break the Commandments
of God, for Christ said: “Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry
another, and whosoever shall put away her husband and marry another,
committeth adultery. So the Pope would not grant King Henry VIII a
divorce, and when any church or man permits these sacraments to be
ignored they cannot say they are representing Jesus Christ, because to do

these things is contrary to our Lord's teachings. The Gospel itself for-
bids a man to have more than one wife, and a wife to have more than one
husband. Our Savior Himself said : “He who made man in the beginning
made them male and female

”

He also said: “For this cause shall a man
leave father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they two shall
be in one flesh.” The women of the world certainly owe great gratitude
to the Catholic Church, because she has ever protected the sanctity of the

home regarding matrimony. How many churches of today permit divorces ?
Any number of them, I say.

Distributing of Slander

Such ignorance, criticism and slander as is distributed by some people
must be stopped or it will ruin our young generation.

When an epidemic prevails in the country, the public takes steps to
determine its source and then stamps it out. This will have to be done

with ignorant slander of this kind ; it must be stamped out or it will ruin

those who believe that kind of teachings.

It was ignorance like that which caused the uprising in Ireland, and the
result was that some of the natives of Ireland had to leave their own land
and settle in Europe—mostly in Austria and Germany—all on account of
ignorant, slanderous teachings. Then they emigrated to America, the
Land of the Free, the land founded by a Catholic and named by and after
a Catholic. Now I say this as a native born American that I, for one, do
not intend to leave my own native land on account of a few silly heads who
start religious hatreds

;

no, I will die in my own footsteps first ; and I think
there are fifty million others who think the same as I. Give up what all
my life has been so dear to me

,

give up my freedom of thought and free-
dom of conscience and belief to their silly and ignorant ideas

?

Never!

Klan Criticism

The Ku-Klux Klan certainly did criticize the Catholics, but it did more
good to the Catholic Church than harm. The Klan really harmed itself,

because of such criticism toward the Catholics and slander without founda-

tion, that some of its own members were ashamed to belong to an organiza-
tion like that

;
but there are still some people who are so narrow minded as



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 11

to believe what they preached even after the
truth was published in all

leading magazines and newspapers. . r , v
“Collier’s”, The National Weekly, published the entire

story of the Ku-

Klux Klan by William G. Shepherd in its issues of July 14,
1928; July 21,

1928; and July 28, 1928. Those three copies
certainly did the people ot

the United States an abundance of good, because
they placed the truth

before the public and enabled the public to convince
themselves that they

were deceived by falsehoods; moreover, it placed
the truth before members

of the Klan who were inclined to believe those falsehoods
which were told

about the Catholics, Jews, and Negroes. The Klan knew
that they were

not going to run the Catholics, Jews, and Negroes
out of the United

States, because their own members would not stoop to such
an ignorant

idea. There were no Klansmen to help make our country
during its colonial

days, but there were many Catholics. The signer of the
Declaration of

Independence, Mr. Charles Carroll, was a Catholic.

It is amusing to follow the criticism against Catholics.
For instance the

American Protective Association in 1898 and 1900 did the same
thing the

Klan did, but it lasted just long enough to get a few dollars
for some of

its leaders, then, like the Klan, it died out. In a certain
city, during the

A.P.A. drive for more members, there were many pamphlets
distributed

about the coming of the Pope to Washington, and it so
happened that a

change was made at this city whereby another priest would come
there.

The A.P.A. found this out and at once issued pamphlets saying the
Pope

was coming to this city. It was very amusing to see how ignorant
people

can be fooled. Do you think the Pope will leave St. Peter’s church
in

Rome, Italy, where the remains of St. Peter lie and of whom he is succes-

sor, and leave the resting place of the saints and apostles of
Christ who

are' buried in Rome, Italy, and the rest of the apostles of Christ
who are

buried in Italy to come over here and be subject to more criticism
and

slander by a bunch of silly, prejudiced people? Don’t be foolish,
get wise

to yourself. Do you think he is going to leave these holy bodies
of the

apostles of Christ of whom he is the successor, and especially of Saint

Peter who is resting in the Church of St. Peter of Rome, Italy,
where

the Pope stays, and of the other apostles who also rest in Rome—Peter,
James, Matthias, Philip, Jude, Bartholomew and Simon?

How can people

be so silly and ignorant

?

The existence of the Klan, the A.P.A., and other anti-Catholic orders

was very important to the Catholic Church because by their ci
iticism it

was proved that the Catholics were the followers of Christ. It
was a

supernatural gift for such organizations to exist for a while,
because our

Lord Jesus Christ wanted it so to prove to the world who His followers

were! He made it very plain that His followers and His Church would be

slandered, criticized and persecuted. Isn’t that proof? Why, certainly
it



12 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

is. You cannot deny it. You do not hear of any other church being
criticized as much as the Catholic Church. Evidently Christ established
only one Church for He said: “I will build My Church (not churches) and
the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”

So if the gates of Hell are not powerful enough to prevail against the

Catholic Church, how in the world can so small and indecent a thing as
human criticism prevail against it? Humanity cannot gain by fighting
against God, and when you fight the Catholic Church you certainly are

fighting God's Church. We know this to be true, because a million evi-
dences around us have proved it. Trace any other church back as far as

you like but you cannot trace it as far as you can the Catholic Church.

You can trace the Catholic Church back to Saint Peter, Christ's apostle

,

and

if it was Christ’s Church then, it is His Church today. This no one can deny,

because St. Peter was Christ's Apostle and he also was the first Pope of

the Catholic Church. Does not this prove that the Catholic Church is

Christ’s Church today? Certainly it does, beyond any doubt. If it was

Christ’s Church during St. Peter’s time, then it is Christ’s Church today.

Some anti-Catholic writers not only criticize, but blame the whole Catho-
lic Church for mistakes made, probably, by some pope, bishop or priest.

This is very ignorant. Why blame the whole church for one man’s mis-
take? When a child gets its face dirty, we don't cut its head off; no, we
wash its face

;
or when a member of some family violates the law, for in-

stance, the father, the law does not have the whole family arrested. Cer-

tainly not. So why blame two hundred million people for one man’s
mistake? It is very amusing to note the silly ignorance and prejudice of

some people.

The Catholic Church does not have to give free dinners, free photographs

and the like to get its members to attend mass; no, they will go to church

just the same. Hot weather, cold weather, or pleasant weather they at-

tend mass just the same, because they know by the criticism that they
receive from others that theirs is the only church of Jesus Christ, and

because their reason and a million evidences around them prove there is a

God, and while Jesus Christ the Son of God lived on this earth He founded
a Church. Consult your Bible, Matt. 16: 18. “And I say also unto thee:
Thou art Peter; and upon this rock (meaning Peter) I will build my
church (not churches).” He refers to Peter as a rock for he knew
Peter’s faith in Him was solid as a rock. Observe the use of the singular
name. Don’t you think Jesus knew what He was talking about? Certain-
ly, he did. History proves conclusively that His Church was the Catholic

Church, and you cannot deny truthful history. What else could they be-
lieve? Doesn’t our Lord make it plain that His Church and His follow-
ers would be criticized, slandered and persecuted, and doesn’t He say to



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 13

His followers, 'Tear not, for I am with you always, even unto the consum-

mation of the world, I am with you at all times?”
He warned His apostles of hearsay and division and vile slander. He

also promised them He would send to them the Holy Ghost. That would

enlighten them so they would teach no error. And this He did. This has

been proved by the Catholic Church for it has always taught the same doc-

trines, it has not changed for nineteen hundred years ; it is the same today

as it was, and it will remain the same to the end.

Now just why all this injustice toward Catholics. Why? Is there any
reason for it? No! Just religious hatred. Remember the just will be

rewarded, also the unjust punished, and if you will follow the laws of

nature with those who created all this injustice you will readily convince

yourself that “They are paying back everything they borrowed.” No mat-
ter what we do in this world it reacts upon us. If we are good we get

repaid, and if we are not we get punished in some way. All intelligent

people admit that “We always pay back what we borrow.”

Now suppose someone slanders a member of some family ; he can be
punished by our laws by being arrested and a fine inflicted upon that per-

son who did the slandering. Don’t you think God thinks as much of His

laws as we do of ours? Certainly He does, and when you are slandering
a member of His Church or a follower of His, what do you suppose He
is going to say ? Don’t you think His sanctity can be hurt by such ignorant

criticism when there is no reason whatever for it but low down prejudice f

Doesn’t He earnestly say “for the least you have done to one of these
Brethren you have done to me?” He tells you that the least you have
done to one of His followers you have done to Him. No matter in what
regard it is. Whether it is criticism, falsehood or slander, when you do

these things to His followers you are doing them to Him. Do you think
He is just going to forget about all this injustice? Well, if you do you
have another thought coming, because he says, “woe to that man by whom
scandal cometh.”—St. Matthew 18: 7.
You may escape the laws of man, but you cannot escape the laws of God.

You are going to pay in some way, by sickness, by misfortune or by the

loss of those you love so dearly. God strikes where it hurts the hardest.

You may get by the laws of man in only paying a few dollars fine, but
by the laws of God you are going to pay and pay dearly. It will be wise

for some of these narrow minded people who are always creating religious
hatred to keep this in their minds. “The least you have done to one of these

Brethren you have done to me.”

Such ignorance as religious prejudice cannot be overlooked either by the

laws of God or man, especially when grown men and women teach it to
their children for the truth when they know that it is a lie. Through these



14 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

lies the innocent have been persecuted and killed. Hearts have been broken,

reputations ruined, hideous injustice inflicted by ignorant people repeating

silly lies.

Those who start falsehoods should be ashamed to look anyone in the

face, because the intelligent public knows very well that those doing all

that false blabbing are shut off from real information. There is power in

truth, yes, plenty of it ! But in falsehood there is waste—ignorance, lack

of character, and at last the doom of those spreading such silly lies.

I can’t understand why the people who criticize the followers of our

Lord Jesus Christ in time of trouble can be so indifferent in this regard.

Of course in prosperous times and smooth seas they are apt to forget, but

when they are in trouble or danger, when someone they love dies they look

for something supernatural, something beyond themselves to help and

comfort. How can they expect to receive all this after they have been
so indifferent to the followers of Christ? Remember Jesus said, ‘‘For the

least you have done to one of these Brethren you have done unto me!” If

you knew of some person criticizing a member of your family would you

grant him favors, I ask you? Would you? How then can you expect
favors from our Lord Jesus Christ? He also tells us, “and whosoever
shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into

the sea.” How many times has it occurred that grown people would make
fun of small children for going to a Catholic Church or Catholic school,

and how many times has it occurred that a Catholic student in a public

school has been advised wrongly on subjects, and given the wrong ex-

planation of some problem, just because he or she was a Catholic ? Count-

less of times, I say! I know this to be true because I for one have been

treated that way when I was going to school, and I know what I am talking
about.

Now were there any reasons for such actions, other than that Jesus
Christ spoke of, Himself—that his followers would be slandered, criticized
and persecuted? “But fear not for / am with you at all times even to the
end of the world

”
Right and intelligent thinking people never find satis-

faction in the sorrow of others. Those who criticize and teach hatred have

proved to themselves and the rest of the world by such criticism that the

Catholics are the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then too, just imagine the miracles that have been performed in the

Catholic Churches throughout the world
;
people being healed of illnesses,

crippled persons going there to pray and when they get up they leave

the Catholic Church entirely well. Doesn’t that prove that Christ truly

dwells therein? It would be ignorant to think otherwise. The Lady of

Lourdes Church in France has thousands of crutches and the like, that



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 15

cripples who came there to pray, and left well, left there. Doesn t that

prove that Christ dwells there?

When Jesus Christ told Peter, “To you I give the keys to the Kingdom

of Heaven,” He truly meant, I give to you, Peter, the religion to the King-

dom of Heaven. And who was Peter, but Christ’s apostle, and later
the

first pope to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church can
trace its

origin back to Peter and Christ in an unbroken line of popes, numbering

261 up to the present time. None of the other churches can do that. Cer-

tainly not. The only religion there was in that time was the Catholic

religion, and Saint Peter was its pope and Christ its founder. And it

lasted that way for fifteen hundred years until Martin Luther s time.

Criticism toward the Catholics has proved to the whole world that
the

Catholics are the followers of Christ, because Jesus made it plain that He

and His followers would be slandered, criticized and persecuted. Narrow

minded people have proved this by their constant criticism of the Catholic

Church.
Other Churches Founded

All other churches were founded by some man. For instance, the

Methodist Church was founded by John and Charles Wesley, the sons of

an Anglican minister. And the Anabaptist Church was founded by Nich-

olas Storch in 1521 ; and King Henry the VIII was one of the founders

of the established Church of England, and on February 7, 1531, they de-

clared him Supreme Head of the Church of England. At one time King

Henry VIII was a Catholic. He and his wife were married Catholic;
later on he fell in love with Anne Boleyn, a member of the Queen’s house-

hold
;
and he wanted to get a divorce from his wife so he could marry this

woman. The Pope would not grant him a divorce (which he could not)

(What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder), so King Henry

VIII became angry and left the Catholic faith. And after that he had

five other wives. Catherine of Aragon was the first wife, then Anne

Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine

Parr.

The other churches were all founded by man. The Catholic Church was

not founded by man, but by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and

the salvation of all men, and the sole hope of the world in the year thirty-

three. Jesus proved himself to be also God, when he conquered death by

His resurrection.

We know, and history has proved conclusively, that the Catholic Church
was founded by Jesus Christ, and that St. Peter was the head of the

Church after Christ’s death, and that the present Pope today is also suc-

cessor to St. Peter. Now in school if we copy our lessons from some other
student, we know very well that we are only trying to fool the teacher



16 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

that if the teacher asked us about the subject we copied, we would not

know it, that we would lack the real information and knowledge—we would
be only hurting ourselves. This is true of religion ; why would I want to

belong to those churches that copy from the Catholic Church when I can

just as easily belong to the Catholic Church? If a person had his choice

of obtaining either a new or a second-hand automobile for the asking he

certainly would not take the used car when he could just as easily get a

new one ; certainly not. Then why believe in second-hand religion, when

you have the real religion instituted by Jesus Christ and His apostles?

Do you suppose that Catholic Priests, who are all very intelligent, would

give up the opportunities of becoming executives or managers of various

concerns, which they could easily become with their education do you

think they would give up all those things to become priests and ministers

of God if they did not believe in a hereafter and in a reward for their

many sacrifices in God’s Kingdom in heaven—and that the Catholic Church
is God’s church ? Do you suppose that men like the protestant bishop and
writer of ecclesiastical topics of one of our great states or the priests and

bishops of some of our large cities who at one time were protestants would

join the Catholic Church if they were not sure that it is the true church of

Christ ? Men as intelligent as these who had the opportunity of studying
the protestant religion and its origin from A to Z and who then give it up
and join the Catholic Church, do you think men of such intelligence would

join the Catholic Church if they were not sure that it is the Church founded

by our Lord Jesus Christ? Don’t be foolish 1 They knew just what they

were doing. But they knew that there was a Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

who died for all mankind, and for the sins of the world.
Tradition and Holy Scripture tells us this, it is a bit of history we have

to go by. Now some Atheist tells us there is no God, or that there was no
such person as Jesus Christ; but the excuses which they give will not

bear examination for they betray a false and one-sided view of the Chris-

tian faith—that faith which heals sorrows and comforts the afflicted and
lends patience and resignation in the hour of severe trial. All intelligent

people admit that it is a part of our Christian teaching ; that not only does

the full practice of the Christian faith prepare us for the life of Heaven,

but that it adds immeasurably to the happiness of our earthly sojourn.

Every book on Christian ethics shows that God alone is the necessary

object of human happiness. Experience and common sense also verify

these statements.

Holy Scripture and history tell us there was a Jesus Christ, and by the

miracles which are performed today it is proved beyond any doubt that

there is a Jesus Christ and God in heaven. The reason so many of us

do not understand Christianity is we live too far away from it in our

minds; we think of it as a thing which people of long ago believed in and



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 17

that is about all the thought some of us give to it.
Some persons even try

to get us to believe that there is no such thing,
and they even tell us the

world and all its planets are just “phenomena”. But
when we think of the

great trees in our forests, of the rivers, lakes
and mountains, and the

beauty of it all, we come to only one conclusion; intelligence
and sound

reason assure us that these things must have been created
by a Supreme

Being, because if they happened as phenomena they
would not be placed,

as they are, just where they are most needed. One can study
the world in

general and one will find that its rivers, lakes, mountain's,
forests and even

the oceans and all the rest of its contents are all so
placed that their pur-

pose is best served—and then to think it all happened as
phenomena. How

absurd. These things alone prove that there is a God.
Did the automo-

bile happen just as a phenomenon? No, it was built; so
was the earth

and its planets. ,
There is no sweeter thought, and no words are so

comforting and

soothing to the human mind as the words we see hung over the
doors of

many church houses when we awake upon Christmas morning:
Rejoice

and Be Merry, for today is born to you a Saviour who is Christ
the Lord!

To the intelligent mind which understands the meaning of
those words

there is nothing more soothing. There is something more
to Christmas

day than just December 25th ; there is something
supernatural, beyond our

comprehension ; we know that it is the birthday of our
Lord Jesus Christ,

but the spirit that awakens us upon that day of days
is something super

natural, beyond our knowledge. Then after all that, not to
believe, there

was a Jesus Christ is far lower than ignorance. Are we going to
ignore

the writing of our Lord’s disciples—of St. John, St. James, St. Matthew,
St. Thomas and the rest who were with our Lord during His

teachings

and heard Him speak with His own voice? We dare not ignore them,
because the holy Bible speaks plainly on what happens to

those who do.

As I said before, to ignore these is far lower than ignorance.

Miracles

Not so long ago, in the state of Massachusetts, there was
a Catholic

priest’s grave where thousands of persons went to see and
try to touch

some part of the grave to be healed of some kind of ailment.
Many hun-

dreds were healed and the crowds became so many- in
number that the

authorities had to guard the cemetery to keep it from being
ruined by

trampling feet. Doesn’t that prove that he was a representative
of Jesus

Christ here on earth or this miracle could not have happened?
Certainly

it does Father Power was his name, and He was a Catholic priest,
and

there are many cases of this kind. To doubt this would be ignorance,
be-

cause there are records of this, and it was published by all
leading news-

papers.



18 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Then, too, did not God in many instances recorded in Holy Writ make

man the instrument of his power? Did not Moses convert the rivers of

Egypt into blood? Did not Moses cause the water to flow from the bar-

ren rock? Did not the sun stand still in the heavens at the command of

“Josue” and didn’t the prophet Eliseus raise the dead to life? Did not

Jesus Christ promise to remain with the ministers and His Church to

the end of the world? Oh! How can people be so foolish as not to be-
lieve. Did not Jesus Christ Himself tell Peter and his apostles that if

their faith was only as small as a grain of mustard seed, just so it was

real, and their faith in Him, they would have this power ? Then why can-

not one of his priests heal the sick? Does He not promise them this power
if their faith is real and sincere? He certainly does.

This proves again that the Catholic Priests are representing Christ here

on earth, and the Catholic Church is Christ’s Church or this could not

happen.
The Origin of Protestantism

Martin Luther was the originator of protestantism. He was a Catholic
monk and he became angry because he was not selected to preach the

indulgences in his native country. Disappointed over this, he started a

religion of his own, and he was the sole founder of all protestant religions.

You may ask why I say Luther was the sole founder of other religions

when Nicholas Storch or Stork founded a church in 1521, and Luther’s

church was not organized until 1524. Well, here is my answer. Nicholas
Stork did not organize a church in the year 1521, but in that year he went

to Wittenberg to see Martin Luther about organizing a church, for he

had heard that Martin Luther was angry because he was not selected to

preach the indulgences in his native country, so he thought he would take

advantage of Luther’s anger, knowing that Luther was an intelligent man.

But when he proposed his views, Martin Luther, himself, called Stork an

imposter and a fanatic. So Stork was angry with Luther and left Witten-

berg. Martin Luther started his protest in the year 1517, and Nicholas

Stork was never heard of until 1521, when he came to Luther in Witten-

berg, his place of residence; and from the year 1517 to 1524, a period of

seven years, Martin Luther himself did not know whether he should go

back to the Catholic Church or start one of his own. For seven years he

argued with his conscience, then in 1523 Nicholas Stork called on Luther

again and tried to get him to start a different religion, but Luther refused.

Stork then founded the Anabaptist church, with what few followers he

had, and said he founded it in 1521, just because it was in that year he

conceived the idea and called upon Luther when he learned Luther was

angry with the Pope. After Luther found out Stork had started a church

he became more determined than ever, and in 1524 organized the Lutheran



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 19

Church. But Martin Luther started his protest and rebelled
from the

Catholic Church in 1517, a period of four years before
Nicholas Stork

was ever heard of. That is why I say Martin Luther was the sole
founder

of other religions, because he first began his protest and rebellion
in the year

1517. That was the first protest anyone had made against the
Catholic

Church. The Catholic Church had then been in existence 1517 years.

Some writers, even Catholic writers, give Nicholas Stork or Storch
the

credit of being the first to establish a different church, just
because he was

the first to file records of it. But they are giving credit where
it does not

belong. Martin Luther is the sole originator of other religion
because he

was the first to rebel from the Catholic Church. Then when he
learned

that Nicholas Stork had started a church he became more
determined to

establish one, not just because he was angry with the Pope, but to
oppose

Stork in his teaching. It has been said that his mother remarked
that if it

had not been for Nicholas Stork, probably her son would have
gone back

to the Catholic Church. Storch, or Stork as some spell it,
first conceived

the idea when he learned that Luther was angry, and he went to see
Luther

in Wittenberg in 1521 ; but he did not start his church
in that same year.

Some writers spell the name Nicholas Stork, while others spell it
Nicholas

' Storch, but it means the same. Stork or Storch is one and the
same word,

with the same meaning ; in English it is Stork, in Saxon,
Storch.

Celebrating a Mass

The celebrating of Mass as the Catholic Church does is truly
the way

Jesus Christ wanted it to be. At His last supper He broke bread
an g^vc

to each of His apostles saying: “Eat you all of this for
it is My Body,

and He also filled the chalice with wine and said : “Drink you all
of this

for this is My Blood which shall be shed for the remission of sins.
If you will attend Mass at any Catholic Church you will

also come to

the conclusion that the Catholics are the followers
of Christ, because every

act of the Mass is truly the way our Lord wanted it to be,
and every act

is in service and honor to God.

Why Mass in Latin
I have had quite a number of persons, ask me why Mass is said

in Latin.

I, myself, would not want Mass said in English, because
when the priest

is saying Mass he is reading the same words that I am reading
out of my

prayer book. Now should he read them aloud in English as he does
in

Latin, he would be sure to confuse me, for either he or
I would be reading

faster or slower than the other. For an example, take
two different per-

sons reading the same article out of a book or newspaper,
and have them

read them aloud ; this will prove to you that they
will confuse each ot.ier

in doing so. This would happen if mass were read in
English, whereas, it



20 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

said in Latin, no one is confused. Then, too, during
the time the Catholic

Church was organized on the Feast of Pentecost 1900
years ago, Latin was

universally used. There was no English language during
that time. 1 he

English language, as it is now called, only established itself
during the

later centuries. I hope I have made it clear enough now, why
Mass is said

in Latin. The priest reads the same words at the altar
in Latin as the

others read out of their prayer book in English, or
whatever language

their prayer book is printed in.

It is easy to understand the Catholic religion if one
wants to. Very easy.

The changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood
of our Lord as

is done in the Catholic Church at Mass is just as our
Lord Jesus asked

them to do. He said, “do this in remembrance of Me If your
church

does not do this, then it is ignoring what Christ wanted
done, for He tel s

His church to do this, He instituted this sacrament at His last
supper;

so if your Church does not do this then it cannot say
it represents Jesus

Christ, when it will not do the things asked by Him. In
regard to con-

fession, our Lord also instituted confession as a sacrament,
when He told

His disciples “whose sins you forgive they are forgiven
them, and whose

sins you retain they are retained.” Confession was also
commanded by

God in the old Law : “Son be not ashamed to confess thy sins,
but submit

not thyself to every man for sin.” Ecclesiasticus 4: 31. He that
hicleth

his sins shall not prosper ; but he that shall confess and
forsake them sha

obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28: 13. Then in the fourth century
Saint Augus-

tine wrote, “Let no man say I do penance in secret and before God.
W as

it said to no purpose by our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘whose
sins you forgive

they- are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain they
are retained

.

Saint Augustine tells us here we dare not ignore the teachings of
our

Lord, and our Lord certainly instituted confession as a sacrament,
and any

church which does not practice these things cannot say it
represents our

Lord Jesus Christ. As Saint Augustine said, Let no man say I do
penance

in secret and before God. Any church which says it has no such
power

of forgiving sins cannot say it is Christ’s Church because Jesus
Christ

gave His Church this power. Then for any church to ignore this
sacra-

ment after Christ gave it to them would be to reject his
teachings. As

Saint Augustine tells us, Was it said to no purpose by our Lord Jesus

Christ, “Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven them, and whose
sins

you retain, they are retained.” He also tells us, “Let no man say I do

penance in secret and before God.” So why ignore these sacraments after

our Lord Jesus Christ gave them to us. No Church can say it represents

Jesus Christ when it ignores His principal sacraments.

Here I quote a remark made by a one-time protestant minister, who be-

came a convert to the Catholic Church. Orestes Brownson, who had been

a Congregational and Presbyterian minister of the protestant
faith, and



21WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

who therefore, should be able to speak
with authority dedared that the

major portion of any service in a
protestant church could be held in honor

of a man, as well as in honor of God.

This is not possible in a Catholic
Church. It is impossible to worship

anyone but God in a Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church was the first to establish
church unity. She re-

sets the division of many churches, all trying
to represent Jesus Christ,

each different from the other and contrary
to the teachings of Christ. She

invites them all into that unity for which
Christ came into this world an

for which He suffered and died. I Corinthians 1 : 10- .
Now I beseech

you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all

speak the same thing and that there be no
division among you, but that you

be perfected together in the same mind,
and in the same judgment.

St Paul pronounces accursed the one
who will preach a different gos-

pel even if it should be an angel from heaven.
Reason assures us that

Christ could not establish two churches if
they were different one from

the other because, as God, He cannot be self contradictory
He founded

only one Church and that was the Catholic
Church. Christ came not

merely for the people who lived in His day but for
all nations to the end

of the world. And the way He reaches them after
His death is throug

His Church. Thou, art Peter ; and upon this
rock (meaning Peter) 1 will

build My Church. All power is given to me in heaven and on earth ;
as the

Father hath sent me so I send you. Christ said
this to Peter and Peter

was the first Pope of the Catholic Church ;
then if Peter s church was

Christ’s Church at that time, it is Christ’s
Church today, and the Catholic

Church can trace itself through 261 Popes
back to Peter, the first Pope

of the Catholic Church.

The one great problem of the world in all its
history has been religion.

The greatest geniuses of all nations have lavished
their best thought upon

it and from the time of Christ and onward,
the world’s literature gives the

first place to religion. Then not to give
religion some thought is to reject

what has most concerned humanity in
all the ages. Millions have died

for it millions still live for it.
Religion promises an eternity of happi-

ness to those who live by it, and it threatens an
eternity of misery to those

who reject it. You cannot afford to ignore it.
There are mysteries in

religion, and there are also many natural things
that mystify us. If you

cannot understand nature, do not be
surprised if you do not understand

nature’s God.

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or
who hath been His

counsellor.” Rom. 11 : 34.



22 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Divine Miracles

As Jesus Christ proved by His miracles that He was also God, so have

His Church and His ministers again proved by people being
healed of

illness at some of their graves and in churches that they represent
Jesus

Christ or these miracles could not have happened. If the
Catholic Church

was founded by man it could not have lasted under the criticism which it

has gone through. But Jesus Christ, the founder of the Catholic
Church,

did not intend for it to fall. For he said to Peter, Thou art Peter,
and

upon this rock (not rocks), meaning Peter, I will build my church (not

churches), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew

16: 18. So if the gates of hell are not powerful enough to prevail
against

the Catholic Church, how in the world is a thing so small and indecent as

human criticism going to prevail against it. Humanity cannot gain by

fighting against God, and when you fight the Catholic Church you are

fighting God’s Church. We know this to be true because a million evi-
dences around us have proved it to be true.

Again Christ said, “there shall be one fold and one shepherd,” not many

folds and many shepherds. Christ meant to have one Church only (and

only one church He founded). And all men to love one another as He

loved all. Christ did not intend to have thousands of churches
trying

to represent Him. He meant only to have one to combat evil. And one

fold and one shepherd, meaning Christ the Shepherd, or he whom He

asked to represent Him here on earth, and we all know it was Peter ; be-

cause he said, “Peter, here are the keys to- the Kingdom of Heaven”—giv-

ing Peter all rights to control His flock while he went to His Father’s

Kingdom in Heaven. As the Father hath sent Me, I send you, for all

power is given to Me in heaven and on earth. And when our Lord Jesus
Christ said to Peter, “here are the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven,” He

truly meant, I have taught you, Peter, the religion to the Kingdom of

Heaven. There is no other meaning you can get from “Here are the

keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.” All intelligent people admit this to be

true.

And who was Peter, but the first Pope of the Catholic Church. St.

Paul and all the rest of the apostles looked to Peter as the head, and

respected him as such.

Holy Scripture and human reason attest that Christendom is really one

big church, uniting men in unity of doctrine and organization and in the

bond of Christian love—not a confusion of churches more or less contra-
dicting each other in prejudice and hatred.

Thou art Peter; and upon this rock (not rocks) I will build My Church
(not churches). Matthew 16: 18. Again Christ said, “there shall be one

fold and one shepherd.” John 10: 16. In his last discourse the Saviour



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 23

craved “Holy Father, keep them in Thy name,
whom ihou hast given

Me
5

- that they may be one as we also are.
Sanctify them in truth ia

thev may be made perfect in one and the
world may know that Ihou hast

sent Me”—John 17:11, 24. Christ makes it plain here when He prayed
to His Holy Father to sanctify them

in truth and make them perfect as

He was, and that they could teach no error.
He prayed to His Ho y

Father to keep Peter and those whom He trusted to
represent Him on earth

so that they would be one as He and His
Father also were, and so that

they could not teach error. If Peter
did not teach error as Christ prayed

fo/him not to, then the Catholic Church does
not teach error. Because

it teaches as Jesus Christ taught,
and as Peter Christ s representative,

taught it to teach, for Peter was the first
head of the Catholic Church.

St. Paul and Baptism

Saint Paul to the Ephesians, 4: 5. Insist
upon one Baptism, one Faith.

Remember, one faith not many faiths. That
there can be but one true

Church may seem narrow at first, but the Church
is avowedly t eeac er

of divine truth. Truth is but one and
cannot contradict itself. Error is

manifold. If a hundred school children
obtain different answers to the

same problem all of them are wrong or but
one at most can be right. So

when hundreds of churches, all claiming to
teach the same truth of God,

give contradictory answers as conditions
of salvation, they, too, are eit er

III wrong or at most only one can be right.
For God, whom these churches

claim to represent, cannot contradict
Himself.

Saint Paul said to prove all things before
you believe; do not guess;

question the soundness of your judgment first
of all (if you have any

iudement), and prove all things, then hold fast
that which is goo .

Thessalomans 5:21. That is the advice of Saint
Paul, How much good

it would do if we would only follow the advice
of that Great Saint who

surely knew what he was talking about. The
advice of that Great Saint

if followed by us all “Prove all things and
hold fast that which is good.

Investigate and make sure before you speak. If
this advice were followed

it certainly would abolish prejudice.
All men would come to a better un-

derstanding; there would be less falsehood among us
and we would learn

to love one another as Jesus Christ
intended, and we would serve Him

better.
The Church and the Bible

The Catholic Church and the Bible mutually support
each other. If the

Bible is the constitution of God’s
Kingdom on earth, God s Church is its

living; authoritative and infallible interpreter.
Though the Catholic Church

was first in her foundation, the Bible is
here constantly as the prime witness

and authority bearing testimony to that
foundation.



24 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

The Church in the First council of Carthage held in 397 A. D., deter-
mined which books among those contending for recognition should be re-
garded as divinely inspired. They agreed on the Bible. Down through the
ages she zealously guarded and preserved the Sacred Scriptures. When
printing was not yet invented it was the life study and work of the medieval
monks to carefully transcribe the entire Bible by hand. The medieval
monks were Catholics.

The Bible in turn lends the first and most convincing proof for the
doctrine, law, and constitution of the Catholic Church. The Catholic
Church obliges her clergy and urges the laity to read and meditate daily
with reverence and devotion the Sacred Scriptures.

For fifteen hundred years the Catholic Church was the only custodian of

the Bible. She preserved it before the invention of printing. The first
work of the printing press was the Bible. No less than 626 editions of the
Bible, printed in the different languages of Europe, were in the hands of

the people before the origin of protestantism, and protestantism was never

heard of until the last 15th and early 16th centuries.

Among these editions there were 30 German editions, 26 French, 20
Italian, 19 Flemish, 12 Hebrew, 6 Bohemian, and 1 Slavonic edition. In

the University Library of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, U. S. A.,
there are exhibited for inspection two German Bibles one of which was
printed in the year 1470 by Sensenschmidt & Frissner; the other by An-
thony Koberger, in Nuennber, March, 1483, seven months before Martin

Luther was born. Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, in Saxony, in

1483, and died in 1546. But the Bible which was printed by Anthony Ko-
berger in Nuennber of the same year was printed seven months before
Luther was born. This proves that the Catholic Church had the Bible
published before Martin Luther was born, and many years before Luther
was old enough to preach. Martin Luther was the sole cause of the other

religions other than Catholic and at one time he was a Catholic monk
himself. But his false pride caused him not to have nerve enough to come
back to the Catholic faith, so he started to protest against the Catholic

Church, and that was the beginning of protestantism. The Catholic Church
had then been in existence for over 1,500 years. This proves that there

was no church but the Catholic Church for 1,500 years, or until the time
Martin Luther became angry because he was not selected to preach the
indulgences of the Catholic Church in his own country ; and he remained
away for seven years before he started a church of his own.

If it was Christ’s Church for 1,500 years, until Martin Luther’s time,
then it still is Christ’s Church today. There was no church for 1,500
years but the Catholic Church, so if it was the only church which repre-
sented Christ then, why would it not be now? If it represented Jesus



25
WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Christ for 1,500 years before any
other church, then it still

represents

Why don’t people investigate their religion and
find out where it

natecP When a person buys a house or
buys bonds of some kind he

investigates first before he puts any
money into them; he makes su

his money is safe. No person would just
pay out money blindly, certa y

n
°This should be true in regard to

religion. Why don’t other people do

likewise and prove to themselves where
and when their rehgioi^'^pen

Tt is a very easy task, does not take
much time, and is very simple wne

o ,e traces^ onlyChurches ; but to find
the whole source of protestant

sn

one must trace to Martin Luther
and the 15th century .t at was

^e
winning of protestantism. And twenty-five

years before Luther rebelled

ae-ainst the Catholic Church Christopher
Columbus, a Catholic,

?sr discovered America and established a Catholic
colony here m

America and named America after one
of his crew, Americus espuc ,

an Italian and a Catholic. Columbus
discovered America, October 12,

1492 and Luther began his rebellion
in 1517, twenty-five years

later.

Catholics had already been in America
building churches and schools and

nreachimr the gospel before
protestantism had real y begun this

no one

Sn deny because history repeats it for us. The
originator of protestant-

ism was Martin Luther, a Catholic,
a Saxon monk, who became angr\

because he was not selected to preach
the indulgences in his native

country

so he rebelled against the Catholic
Church, and started one of his own.

S
°
Luther rebelled against the Catholic

Church in 1517^«d away
fcr cpvpn vears not sure of what he wanted to

do. Nicholas btoic

learned that Luther was angry with the
Pope and the

d f
to Wittenberg, the residence of

Luther, thinking he could
.

take advantage

of Luther’s anger, but when he proposed
his views Martin Luther ca

him an imposter and a fanatic.
This was in Wittenberg m l 521 fou

vears after Luther rebelled against
the Church. Until 1521 Nicholas

Storch was never heard of. Storch
thought he could take advantage of

T nther’s movement in fact he did to some
extent and started the Ana

baptist Church. When Luther, in 1524,
learned of Storch s movement

he organized the Lutheran Church.
Storch really organized his church

in 1523 but he said he founded
it in 1521 just because in that

year he

talked to Luther about organizing
a church; but Martin Luther was

tie

first to start such a movement ; in
fact, Storch only copied Lut er s l

and beat him to recording it ; but
Luther’s rebellion started m 1517 fou^

years before Nicholas Storch
was ever heard of. Martin Luther s

pa

ents were Catholics, and he was a
Catholic monk.

. .

Dr. Maitland, the non-Catholic
English historian writes in his Dark

Ages”: “The writings of the Middle
Ages (which were Catholic) are



26 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

made of the Scriptures.” They certainly thought and spoke and wrote

the words and thoughts of the Bible, and a person as intelligent as Dr.

Maitland must know what he is talking about. He was a protestant, but
he tells you in his ‘‘Dark Ages” that the Catholics certainly thought and

wrote the words of the Holy Bible. During the so called “Dark Ages”

there were no other writings but those of Catholics, and, if they wrote,

spoke and thought of the Bible then, they surely do it now.

Are the protestant people going to ignore the writings of one of their

own intelligent authors? Why certainly not, and Dr. Maitland was a man
whom the world could rely upon as being truthful.

True Church of Christ

The true Church of Christ still exists today and will exist until the end

of the world, because Christ did not intend it to fall ; it was His Church

and He intends it to last to the end of the world, and I certainly feel sorry
for those who try to destroy God and His Church.

Fear not Peter, for I am with you at all times, even to the end of the
world

;
and the least they have done to one of you brethren they have done

unto me. Christ gave Peter and his Church that consolation and protec-

tion.

Gamaliel counseled wisely when he quieted the fears of his associates

concerning the rapid spread of the Catholic Church by saying, “If this

work be of men it will come to naught, but if it be of God you cannot

overthrow it lest you be found fighting against God” ; and Gamaliel in his

day was a very wise man and had a great following. This is just what
anti-Catholic leaders and followers are doing when they are fighting the

Catholic Church ; they are fighting against God. As Gamaliel said, if this

work be of men it will come to naught, but, if it be of God you cannot

overthrow it
;
had the Catholic Church been founded by man it could not

have withstood the criticism it has withstood for nineteen hundred years,

and the cruel efforts that are made to destroy it. The Catholic Church

proves to all that she teaches as Christ wanted it taught. The Bible, the

early Christian tradition and sound reason agree that the church founded

by Christ was an infallible church in the teachings of faith and morals;

then any present day church that disclaims such infallibility forfeits its

claim of being the true Church of Christ.

If Christ's Church forbade the remarriage of a divorced person

,

then

any Church which permits divorce forfeits its claim of representing Jesus

Christ. If Christ’s Church received the power of forgiving sins in God's

name

,

then any Church which admits that it has no such power again for-

feits its claim of being the original church of Jesus Christ.

Because Christ made it plain when He told His apostles after His resur-
rection, “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 27

sins you shall retain, they are retained.” And this power was
passed down

from the apostles of Christ to their present day
successors, just as surely

as was the power to preach. And when any Church
permits divorce it

permits its members to break the commandment of God,
Ihou snail no

commit adultery.” Christ said, “whosoever shall put
away her husband

and marry another committeth adultery ; and
whosoever shall put away

his wife and marry another committeth adultery;” so
any church that per-

mits this to be done cannot claim to represent Jesus
Christ, because it is

contrary to His teachings. . . ,,
When churches contradict one another in essentials they are

either a

wrong or but one can be right, for truth is but one and
error is mamfo .

The Catholic Church does not permit divorce. It
believes^ and teaches

confession because it was instituted by Christ Himself,
for He instituted

this sacrament after His resurrection when He said to
His apostles,

“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them;
and whose sins

you shall retain, they are retained.” John 20 :
23. This power passed

down from the apostles to their successors as surely as
did the power

to preach or baptize. . •

The apostles could not, however, decide whether to
forgive or retain

unless the sin was made known to them by confession.
Confession is the

natural punishment for sin. It was commanded by God m the old Law:
“Son be not ashamed to confess thy sins, but submit not

thyself to every

man for sin.” Ecclesiasticus 4:31. “He that hideth his sins
shall not pros-

per, but he that shall confess and forsake them shall
obtain mercy. rrov-

erbs 28: 13. . ,

Confession has been a sacrament and a practice in the
Catholic Church

from the time of the apostles of Christ, and is now and
will remain so

until the end of the world, because it was commanded by
God in the old

Law, and again by His Son, Jesus Christ, at the time of
His resurrection.

When He said to His apostles, “Whose sins you shall forgive they
are for-

given them; and whose sins you shall retain they are
retained, isi not this

enough proof that confession was instituted by Jesus
Christ Himself . Cei-

tainly it is. Does not the Catholic Church do all
things as asked by her

Saviour to do? She certainly does. You have never heard of
a Catholic

Church taking any stand to prohibit Sunday baseball,
Sunday shows, or

recreations of any kind just because people do not go to
church. No, she

does not have to.
,

.

Catholics will go to their church first and then to a
baseball game, i heir

church comes first, before recreation. The Catholic Church
has never pro-

tested against any kind of recreation that is helpful
to humanity, and the

only protest she makes is against the evil things.
The Catholic Church

does not have to have a moving picture show closed
down in ordei to get

her members to church ; no, they will go there first and
other places after-



28 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

ward. The Catholic Church has never made the House of God
a society

institution

,

whereby only those who meet certain qualifications can be a

member. The Catholic Church knows no color, no nationality,
and all

are invited to attend the Church. Y ou do not have to
have a certain

amount of wealth or a certain social standing to be a member of the
Catho-

lic Church, and sinners are not barred. They are invited to
the Church,

for God instituted the Church to save mankind, of which there
are many

sinners. Christ compared His kingdom to a field in which both
wheat and

cockle would grow—to a net which would contain both good and bad
fishes. Is not the purpose of the Church to save the

sinner? Certain!)

it is. Such was Christ’s intention—to save the sinner. If this is so,
then many sinners may be expected. All the evils which may have

existed

in the Catholic Church at any time are far less serious
than the one evil

of divorce which is permitted by many other churches of today,
despite

the fact that the Bible states so plainly that a valid
marriage is indissoluble.

I can only say this, follow Saint Paul’s advice,
prove to yourself all

things and hold fast that which is good. If I were going to
New Orleans

I would not get on a train or buy a ticket to Chicago when I
wanted to go

to New Orleans. No, certainly not. Thus, in regard to my opinion
on

religion if I want to go to heaven I shall believe in the
religion which in

mv mind and opinion will help to take me there. It is my privilege to
be-

lieve what I want to believe, and I shall always believe the
Catholic Church

is the true Church of Jesus Christ because it teaches what
Christ asked it to

teach and, by the slander and criticism it receives, I
cannot believe other-

wise
;

it would be ignorance for me to believe otherwise, especially when

our Lord Jesus Christ said to Peter, the first Pope of the
Catholic Church,

“Here are the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.” Why should I leave the

teachings of our Lord for the teachings of man

?

And there is no other

meaning you can get from ’’Here are the Keys to the
Kingdom ot

Heaven”, but here is the religion to the Kingdom of Heaven.

No other Church under the sun is criticized and slandered as
much as

the Catholic Church—which again fulfills our Lord’s prophecy,
"Peter,

you will be persecuted, slandered and criticized. But
watch and pray that

you and your followers do not fall into darkness with
them.

In the fourth century Saint Augustine wrote,
Let no man say I do

penance in secret and before God. Was it said to no purpose by our Lord

Jesus Christ, “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them ;
and whose

sins you retain, they are retained ?” Jesus Christ asks His
church to practice

this sacrament and any church that says it has no such
power cannot say

it represents our Lord Jesus Christ.

That one must pay to have their sins forgiven is an oft-refuted
lie. When

a church does not believe and teach confession, when a church
believes in

divorces and permits them, it cannot say it teaches the doctrines
of Jesus



29WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Christ, because these things are contrary to
the teachings of Christ I

suppose after these facts are laid before the
public some of the other

churches will forbid divorces, something they have
always permitted, and

will begin to teach and practice confession just as
they used to laugh at

the Catholics for saying the Apostles’
Creed. Now a great number of

other churches say it themselves. It would not
surprise me to see them

having statues of our Blessed Mother of Jesus in
their churches before

long—another thing they criticized Catholics for doing. Once
they criticized

Catholics for holding Lent and Fast days. Now they do that very
thing

themselves. Funny, isn’t it? In all homes we all of us,
Catholic and prot-

estant have pictures of our Father, Mother,
Brothers and Sisters, tiey

may be dead, but these pictures remind us of them; for
that reason we

keep them. This is true in the Catholic Church.
The Blessed Mother of

Jesus is dead, so also are the apostles of
Christ and all the Saints ; but the

Church has pictures and statues of them to remind us
of them Oh, how

amusing it is to know how silly some people are in trying to
find fault with

things which Catholics do. But was it not so in the time
of our Lord, also

Did not all His enemies try to find fault with
everything He did? And

doesn’t this prove what He said, that His Church and His followers
would

be criticized and slandered ? The words that Christ
spoke, which are writ-

ten in the Bible, prove that the Catholic
Church is His Church, beyond any

reasonable doubt. And when anyone who reads this book hears
someone

saving that Catholics worship idols and
pictures, and that they pay for

confession, call them one Big Liar for me, please. Let
me remind you

what Saint Chrysostom in his thirtieth homily
says : “Lo, we have now at

length reached the close of Holy Lent ; now especially we
must press for-

ward in the career of fasting and exhibit a full and
accurate confession

of our sins, that with these good works having
come to the Day of Easter

we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord!” Then why
poke fun at Catholics

for doing these things? Are they not spoken of in
the Holy Bible. Cer-

tainly they are ; everything the Catholic
Church does is authorized by the

Bible • and confession certainly was instituted by God in
the old Law and

by His Son, J'esus Christ after His resurrection,
when He told his apostles,

“whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven
them; and whose sms

you shall retain, they are retained.” The
famous German philosopher,

Leibnitz, admits that it is a great benefit
conferred on men by God, that

He left in His Church the power of forgiving sms. Surely these
famous

men could not be wrong in their remarks. Dr. Leibnitz, the
famous Ger-

man philosopher, frankly tells you it was a great benefit to men
for God

to leave in His Church the power of forgiving
sins. He, like all other

intelligent men, will admit the truth. For truth is but one.

Christ made it plain that one should confess his sins.
It is just as easy

to distinguish the True Church of Christ (if
one wants to) as it is to tell



30 WHY CATHOLICS -ARE CRITICIZED

the difference between a cow and a railroad train.
Christ gave His Church

certain indelible trade-marks. One of these is unity,
human reason is

another, humanity is one and God is one; therefore, religion
must be one.

That is what Christ prayed for, and He and His apostles
constantly

warned the followers of Christ of the dangers of
hearsay and division.

For 1900 years the Catholic Church has been
teaching exactly the same,

identical Truths. Those truths have successfully
stood the test °f time.

They have been accepted by the greatest intellects the
world has produced,

and they are, consequently, the quality of stability
and permanency that are

an antecedent proof of their credibility, because
error and falsehood can-

not endure. „ , , ,
The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, true

God and true

man. He proved His claim to be God by credentials that
successfully

stood the test of countless assaults during nineteen
hundred years.

The Catholic Church has seen the birth of every institution,
society and

government that exist in the world. She has chanted the
requiem of all

those that have disappeared during the past nineteen
centuries. Still full

of life and youthful vigor, she is the solitary
survivor of the past. This

alone is a superhuman fact of history that proves
her divinity and her

claim to a hearing from reasonable people.

Jesus Christ celebrated the first Mass the night before
He died. He

then ordained His Priest and gave him power to celebrate
Mass in which

bread and wine are changed into His Body and Blood.
Catholics go to

Mass because it is the highest form of worship to God.

Saint Paul says in I Cor. 1 1 : 26 that the Mass was instituted by
Christ

to show His death until His second coming. After one
knows all these

things and then slanders and criticizes the Catholics, doesn't
that prove

to all the world that the Catholics are the followers of Jesus
Christ.-' You

never hear of anyone criticizing the protestant churches like
you hear them

criticizing and slandering the Catholic Church. No, it was not
intended

for them to criticize any but the Catholic Church, because it was
a super-

human act of God, so that he could prove to all which was His Church.

“Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church ; and the gates
of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Is not that

proof that the Catholic

Church is God’s Church? Certainly it is, to anyone having a sane
mind and

who wants to admit the truth.
Christ told His apostles that they and their followers would be

perse-

cuted, slandered and criticized, and He also said, "watch and pray that you

do not fall into darkness with them."

Our Lord wanted to prove to the world who his followers were by hav-

ing humanity to criticize and slander them, for He makes it plain when

He Himself remarked that I and My followers will be criticized and perse-
cuted. He also told His disciples that they and those who followed them



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED
31

would be slandered. And He also said "Fear

ways even until the consummation of
the wor d.

vears of
the

3
Catholic Church it could not have

stood throughout 1900 year.

constant criticism and slander.

Yet as much as Catholics and the church
are criticized and slandere

some people are not broad-minded
enough to understand that^they m

be th/foUowers of Christ or our
Lord’s prophecy would not be fueled.

It has been fulfilled millions of
times, because every day you hear

someone

andering the Catholic Church and
its members. Does not this prove

without a doubt that they are the
followers of ChnsL

^H-Sng of sick—lame made to walk-is not that proof? What
more do the people want our Lord to

prove

.

I, should be sufficient when they
criticize the Catholics, to know ^

doing just as our Lord said they
would do ; that He and His followers

would be criticized, slandered and
persecuted.

No day passes without someone saying
unkind words about Catholics,

and I have seen congregations that
the only way they cou ge g P

“gather was by preJLfrg ,11 feeling
about Catholics and si andenng them

to the fullest extent. It only
makes me think this : That if I must do a

niurv to be popular than I will
remain unnoticed the rest of my life.

And I were a preacher and the only
way I could get a congregation

tnp-ether was bv criticizing others, then I
would certainly close my doors

ancl get a job If it takes
ignorant criticism and falsehoods that are

only

%tesU certainly would be ashamed to face the public, because
sooner

or later they will find out the
truth, and then what ?

If I could not preach the word of
God, then I would not preach.at a/C

furthermore I would not be so low as
to mur the word of God with sue

indecent things as crticism and
religious prejudice in a sermon, because

and slander and He earnestly tells; us that
House

•

Q tn he tue House of Prayer—not criticism. My House
shall be called

the House of Prayer to all nations,
but you have made it a den of thieves

St Mark 11: 17. Some preachers
have made it lower than a den of

thieves when they preached from their
pulpit ignorant criticism and slan-

der Let me remind some of those who
preach criticism and slander wha

Saint Matthew said in Chapter 18:
"Woe to the world because of scan-

dals For it must needs be that
scandals come, but, nevertheless, woe to

that" man by whom the scandal cometh.”
He tells us plainly that He fore-

saw that there would be scandals.
He could readily see that people would

be wicked and would scandalize
otherswhetherthey had a

„
r^onjorit

or not But He tells us that our Lord
Jesus Christ said Woe to that

man by whom the scandal cometh.”
What will some of these ministers



32 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

say when their congregation asks them to trace their church, that the}'

want to know the truth.
St. Luke, chapter 6, tells us: “Blessed shall you be when men shall

hate you and when they shall separate you and shall reproach you and cast

out your names as evil for the Son of Man s sake. Be glad in that day and

rejoice for behold your reward is great in heaven.” Who was St. Luke?
He was an evangelist who joined the apostles of Christ in originating the

Catholic Church. This you cannot deny, for sacred Scripture tells us this,

and history proves it for us. I can’t understand why some people who say

that they want to believe the teachings of Christ and want to belong to

Christ’s Church will still go to churches whose teachings are contrary to

those of our Lord Jesus Christ, when they know positively that those teach-

ings are contrary to those of our Lord’s. Yet the only reason they will not

belong to the Church founded by Jesus Christ is that they are ashamed

to, on account of the criticism it receives from others. Let me remind you

that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke plainly in regard to His teachings. For

he that shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of Him the Son of man
shall be ashamed when He shall come in His majesty and that of His

Father and of the Holy Angels. Then why should one be ashamed of

going to the Church founded by Christ just because a few silly heads

criticize it. “For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world

and yet lose his soul?” Scripture here tells us what does it profit us

if we do gain all their friendship, their flattery or compliments; the things

they give us are dirt cheap and worthless, because the friendship that

comes from silly, ignorant minds is not worth holding. Criticism is the

lowest and foulest weapon a person can use—it only makes the person who
uses it ill mannered, and proves him ignorant beyond any doubt.

Find Real Bible

The real Bible has the truth which was written by men who personally

knew our Lord’s apostles, men who had authority to write because they

heard our Lord’s own voice, and because of books written by them, as one

of our great saints tells us. Many things did our Lord say and do that are

not written in the Bible, but you will find them in other books written by

His apostles and by men who knew His disciples and who had authority to

write—men who lived in the early centuries ; not some one who wrote in

the 18th and 19th centuries.

P'01* example, suppose you were born in the State of Illinois and
had

lived in that state all your life and your parents passed away while you

were young. If the neighborhood in which you were raised knew nothing

about your parents and you knew they knew nothing about them or where

they came from, only that which your parents had told them, that they came

to Illinois from Texas, you would not ask your neighbors to tell you about



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED
33

S'i%XHa7ry^hefytu
1

kn^
wSe tost hmgfning things and telling them

to yon to get on the good side

'Z^ZX and the things He preached you must g;. a Me
!lSrd

W
Him s£ah X His ownXcX able written by men who had tile

SXbl"XL^dttXTtoSMSwK
every Tom, Dick and Harry, especially

when they are °nly lmngining

aS writing them to keep lgroup of followers
for themselves The Bible,

written hv the men who were our Lord s
apostles, ma y P

which is the church of Jesus
Christ. A person does nol. have to» be edu-

cated to find out the truth—all you
have to do is get a Bible wr tte y

«

by sonieoneto WOO or 1900 who had

X7aXeXto
e

g77X
d
a;

d
w”as SentX w7o personally

£SZ“TS‘by^rSSnM
Tnrd st okeTnd who add everything to it

just to favor themselves If

vo^ w 11 get a Bibfe written by the apostles
of Christ you can easily find on

you win gei
, hecause He makes it plain which is His

c“h
SXr„ HeZyPSis chuZ Zt be one in alf teachings, in Bap-

t
-

fajth infallible in all doctrines
—and the gates of Hell shall

prevail against it-that His Church
and His followers would be slandered

and criticized.
Ku-Klux Klan

You remember how the Ku-Klux Klan
criticized the Catholics, and no

,

Y °U ^pTnr have heard the false oaths the Klan and its sympathizersSouXS «S Sofa and tie Knights of Columbus All tins again
was proving to the public that

Catholics were surely the followers
of Christ.

Rut I sav here that to the intelligent
protestant the Klan was only a joke

fhev laughedT he Klan ; the Klan did not fool the intelligent protests
i^Se mSt ^ of them read books and knew that

the bogus oath the Klan



34 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

put out about the Knights of Columbus had been used many times. It
was used against the Negroes in the South many years ago and in England
against most anyone they did not like, especially the Jews and the Catholics.

What good did the Klan do? No good at all. They themselves did the
very thing that they accused the Catholics of doing, and would have done

worse had not the public become wise to their falsehoods . It certainly was

a shame to see so many ignorant people believe what the Klan put out about
the Catholics. But it did the Catholic Church more good than damage. It

brings our minds back to the old saying, “When one criticizes another the
one subject to the criticism surely must be a good one.”

For instance: If you had purchased some bonds with your money at
interest, and a little while later you heard it said that they were no good,

you would at once begin an investigation to find out for yourself whether

you had purchased wisely or unwisely. Certainly you would. And bear
this in mind, that is just what the public did when they heard so much
criticism about the Catholics. They investigated the Catholic Church and
found out that all the Klan and its leaders, preachers and Klan papers said

about the Catholics were falsehoods and that the things the Klan accused

the Catholics of doing they were doing themselves. This was proved in

Court and an account was published by all leading newspapers in the

United States. They stated that the general program of the Klan was to
get control of first the county, then the state, and then the United States.

They also stated that Sunday school publications were used to carry Klan
political slates. They also spoke of gun toting preachers. The papers
stated that for eight hours a witness revealed the story of how the Klan
stuffed ballot boxes and used whiskey to win elections

,

raided men in bad
with the organization, and boycotted Catholics and Jews, who were in
business. Not one dime, the witness added, of Klan finances, so far as he
ever heard, was spent for charitable purposes. These articles cannot be
denied, because they were admitted by Klansmen themselves when placed
on the stand.

Fake Oath
The fake oath the Klan put out about the Knights of Columbus, this fake

oath that was published and distributed about the Knights of Columbus
certainly was amusing to all Catholics and to all intelligent protestants as
well

;
it proved again the ignorance of the people who believed it. But

permit me to say here that it was not the intelligent protestants who believed
the fake oath, but the ignorant, who are really silly, but think they are
intelligent. (Those know-it-all fellows.)
The intelligent protestants know very well that if the Knights of Colum-

bus had such an oath, they could not get a charter to operate such an
organization under the constitution of the United States, and the Knights
of Columbus certainly have a charter.



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 35

The fake oath the Klan accused the Knights
of Columbus of ta g

published word for word before the Klan was
ever heard of. It hrs>t

appeared in England some time in the year
1680 and was published a

Cheltenham, England, by an anti-Catholic
writer, 1 he original author^of

this bogus oath was one Robert Ware, a
notorious forger who flourished

during
§
the days of the oath plot in the year

1680 m England. Next we

pass from 1680 to December, 1847—one Robert Bolorn offered the same
bogus oath, word for word. Where did

Robert Bolorn get the oath.

From Robert Ware of course. This has been
proved because the Bolorn

document is found in the 1689 edition of
Ware’s Foxes and Firebrands

("third part) Here is the whole history of the
fake oath. This fake oath

wasfirsTiised against the Catholics in
England in 1680, by Robert Ware

,

and by Robert Bolorn in 1689 against the Jews
as a Jew oath each oa

being word for word the same except the
names of the parties whom it was

used against Then in 1898 and 1902 we find it
in the tinted States in

two anti-Catholic books, published in
1888 and 1889; but The oath first

came to light here in the United States in
1898 and 1902, although it was

also published in 1888 and 1889 ; and from
1902 to 1912 it was known as

a Tew’s oath. Again in 1912 it was
edited by one William O. Black, an

anti-Catholic writer, who added three paragraphs not
in previous editions

and tried to fasten it onto the Knights of
Columbus

I know a person who absolutely refused to work
for a Catholic firm a er

he read the bogus oath that was put out
about the Catholics and Knights o

Columbus. He had a good job with them, and as he
and I were dining

together one evening he asked me if I had seen the
oath of the Knights of

Columbus. I told him yes; he looked very
surprised and then remar e

that he had the oath in his pocket. I asked
him to let me see it ; he did.

did everything to assure him it was a bogus
oath the Klan were distributing

in order to get more members, and I also
told him that I was surprised a

his being so ignorant as to believe that
falsehood, and asked him if he did

not know that the constitution of the United
States would not permit an

organization to have an oath of that kind.
He said no. I asked him

where he got the oath and he told me his mother gave
it to him I asked

him if his mother believed that fake oath
and he said yes, and that she

knew it was true. No wonder he believed it. A few days later he
told me

he had a nice, easy job distributing those
oaths for the Klan.

That was the last time I saw him, until
several years later my wife and

I were standing in front of Hotel Statler
on Washington Boulevard in

St. Louis, watching the parade in honor
of Col. Chas. Lindbergh just after

he completed his trans-Atlantic flight.
All of a sudden someone touched

my arm and called me by name. It was this same
person. He apologized

for not listening to me during the Klan days. I told
him it was not I le

should apologize to, but to our Lord ; and I
recited the eighth command-



36 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

ment to him, “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. I

also told him he should do as St. Paul said, “Prove all things first, and hold

fast that which is good.” Now why didn’t he investigate the bogus oath
first ? He was ignorant, or he would have.
Now, if some of these ignorant people would read books they would

readily see that they have been fooled by a bunch of hypocrites who are

after easy money. And they laugh at them for believing what they wrote.
Not only that, it has ruined many of its readers, because those who were

really ignorant of these things later taught them to their children.

I know a man who used to play baseball with the same club I played

with. Many times he has told me that he was raised by his parents with

ill feelings toward all Catholics ; but now that he has become a man in age
and knowledge he is ashamed of his parents because they taught him false-

hoods about Catholics, which later on he found out were only silly lies.

I often wonder what some parents will think when their sons and daughters

come to them later in life and tell them that they taught them nothing but

ignorant lies about Catholics—taught them nothing but falsehoods without
any foundation at all and only things that an ignorant person could believe.

What will the parents of these children think when later in life their own
children become aware that these ill feelings taught them were only ig-

norant lies

?

I know another person who has been torn by remorse from being

taught falsehoods in his childhood by his parents, and later from reading

and believing periodicals which were written by anti-Catholic writers. He
was a civil engineer, and I worked with him at one time, and he certainly

was very accurate in his work.

Once as I came through Chicago from the East where I was playing

ball, I had a few hours before my train time, so thought I would stroll
around the “Loop” until time for my train going South. Before I went
two blocks I came upon a person unshaven and unconcerned. I stared

at him and finally I called him by name, for by this time I was positive

I knew him. I did, it was this engineer. I asked him what in the world

had gone wrong; because I knew he had a profession and an education

whereby he could easily make a living. He told me that he quit his job
because he had read and heard so much slander and criticism about

Catholics that he was ashamed to work for a Catholic firm. Many times
they asked him to come back, but he told me he never had the nerve to
go back after what he had at that time believed to be true about Catholics,

being reared from childhood on silly lies and all kinds of falsehoods about

them. I assured him they would be more than glad to give him another

chance and would do anything to help him if only he would laugh it ofif

and get a new grip on life. He told me that the remorse of that thought and
those teachings had such hold of him that it would be hard for him to do so.

c>



37WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Now just think for yourself how near that person s life
came to be g

ruined, all on account of ignorance and falsehoods
taught him from c -

hood—and later on from reading and believing anti-Cathohc periodica
until he could hardly shake them off. r-

That kind of ignorance and belief is very
damaging, not to Catho ,

but to those who are inclined to believe them. All
I ask you is be fair to

yourselves. Do as Saint Paul said, “Prove all things first,
and hold fast

that which is good.” Question the soundness
of your judgment, and re-

member the lies you teach your children will some day
turn them against

vou when they become men and women and find out
the truth.

Now in regard to this falsehood, why don’t the people
investigate the

Catholic Church and see if its members take such
oaths as some people

say they take. Why don’t they? Because they know what
some people

have said about the Catholic church is a “lie
’

. Why don t they do as St.

Paul said “Prove to yourself all things and
hold fast that which is good.

And again the Eighth Commandment, Thou shall not
bear false witness

against thy neighbor. What are they going to say to that,
because it forbids

lying against our neighbors anywhere, any time
or any place; it forbids

rash judgment of our neighbors. .

A lie is a foul blot in a man (Eccl. 20:26). Remember that
Lying

lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22).
Judge not, that you

may not be judged. (Matt. 7:1). The calumniator
or slanderer loads a

terrible responsibility upon his soul. He is obliged to
retract all lies to

restore his reputation, and make good all losses—not only by the law o
God, but by laws of man, also. And intelligent people do

not associate with

Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be
called the children of

God. (Matt. 5 :9). Cursed are the trouble
makers for they are the children

A noble character will always be sincere, bridle his tongue and protect
his own and his neighbor’s good name. If any man offend

not in word,

the same is a perfect man (James 3:2).
What are these trouble makers going to say to this : Jesus

said, and

whosoever shall scandalise one of these little ones
that believe m me, it

were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck and he were

cast into the sea. Saint Luke in Chapter six, verse
thirty-one, tells us very

plainly : “And as you would that men should do to you, do
you also to

them in like manner.” And what about those who do not
go to church

and make fun of those who do, because Jesus says in
the ninth chapter

of St. Luke: “For he that shall be ashamed of Me and of My words,
ot

him the Son of Man shall be ashamed when He shall come in His
majesty,

and that of His Father, and of the holy angels.

Not only does Christ empower His priests to preach in
His name, but e



38 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

commands their hearers to listen and obey. “Whosoever will not receive

you or hear your words going forth from that House or City, shake off

the dust from your feet, Amen. I say to you it shall be more tolerable for

the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that

city. He that heareth you heareth Me ; and he that despiseth you despiseth
Me and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.”

Everyone who reads the Bible knows of Sodom and Gomorrha. But

for the benefit of those who do not, it was destroyed by God with fire and

brimstone, and do you think that Jesus spoke these words just for fun?

You dare believe that

!

Does not He earnestly tell you ‘ heaven and earth
will pass away but my words will not pass away

A

He guarantees us that
His will be a fulfilled prophecy.

Jesus also said, “For the least you have done to one of these brethren

you have done unto me.”

Just recall to your mind the lives that were ruined just because one was

a Catholic and their parents objected to their association for that reason;

it really is a shame on the part of such parents, because it certainly ruined

the lives of their children; it is really distressing for their parents to be

so stupid. Love and reason are God-given attributes, and no one can

ignore that fact. Human nature is a strange thing and, regardless of
religion, it will act as its own initiative tells it to, no matter how severe
the discouragement may seem. Has not this been proved countless of
times by actions taken by those who were subject to this ignorance?

Carlyle once made a wonderful statement when he said, “Men’s hearts

ought not to be set against one another, but set with one another, and all

against the evil thing.” These words ought to be remembered by those

who start racial and religious hatreds in a country whose citizens should
all be united in friendship.

Edmond Burke, the great orator and statesman born in Dublin, ex-
pressed the power and duty of union well in these words. “When bad
men combine, the good must associate elsewhere, lest they will fall one by
one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Here in the United

States people should unite, not in separate groups to oppose and denounce

each other, but in a great national movement for the benefit and good of

the entire country. And especially here where religious hatred is so
easy to start yet so hard to control.

Religious hatred has completely ruined many small villages and even
businesses, and not so long ago it nearly ruined one of the greatest base-

ball clubs this country ever had, and it has created indescribable conditions.

Prejudice is one of the "lowest" weapons a person can use; I would

rather be a dumb-bell than to be prejudiced. I know several small towns
where everything was going nicely until the Klan came along and began

its lies and created hatreds until it became so unbearable that those who



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 39

were the subjects were compelled to abide by
the old adage, birds of a

feather flock together and when this was done
it ruined business and

many strong friendship ties were broken for life. Just
think, for life.

Many persons were compelled to quit their professions—
employes were

out of work on both sides—all on account of
ignorant prejudices. It is

a very silly thing when one thinks about it, but a
very damaging thing also.

And to think that nothing but ignorance was the cause of
it all. One can-

not begin to count in dollars and cents the
business which was ruined, and

most of all one can never repay the damage done
to friendship, just on

account of religious prejudice and ignorance.
The Ku-Klux Klan has

caused more friendships to cease than any other
organization that ever

existed No anti-Catholic Book that was ever written has
created the

hatred that the Klan did. The Klan even had tin
horn preachers out in

their own pulpits preaching and distributing its
falsehoods, when tiey

should have been preaching the word of God—men 30 and 35 years o ,
reading and believing that kind of stuff, and then

telling it to others for the

truth. Can one imagine such ignorance? ...
It would be advisable for some of these ignorant

people to keep in mind

the old saying that the wise when they are to travel by
night with lamps

will also take oil to burn and give them light, but the
ignorant will take

the lamps only. This applies to the believing of
these falsehoods about t ie

followers of Christ. AT
Cursed are the trouble makers for they are the

children of Satan. Now

study the character of some of these trouble makers
they never did any-

thing to help our country ; but the Catholics have.
From the day Christo-

pher Columbus, a Catholic, discovered America there
have been Catholics

who have done wonderful things to help our country and
all the world,

and until the end there will be Catholics who will help to
build and no

dC

When Columbus set out to discover America he did so principally
to

preach the Gospel of our Lord to the Indians. It was
his Catholic faith

that urged him to unlock the greatest secret of ages.
His three greatest

friends were a Catholic priest, Father Perez, a
Catholic Queen, Isabella,

and the Catholic Church, which furnished him the
money. His flagship

was called Santa Mark or, in English, Holy Mary. What a sweet
name,

indeed.
. . „ •

Columbus was a “Catholic.” It was his staunch, unwavering
allegiance

to his Catholic faith that made it possible for him to be
introduced to his

royal Catholic patrons who enabled him to set out on his
unparalleled

voyage of discovery.

The primary scope and object of Christopher Columbus
was to prop

agate the Catholic faith, and it was Catholic money
furnished by tie

Catholic church that purchased and fitted out his sailing
vessels.



40 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

There were Catholics here in America doing good and teaching the

truth long before protesiantism ever came to our shores. The Catholics
were in America building schools when protestantism was still in its
infancy. The first school in the United States was a Catholic school, in
Saint Augustine, Florida, in the year 1600. Protestantism was then only

beginning. Catholicism had then been in existence for 1600 years. Most

of our great men during the “early” days of our country were Catholics.
Lafayette, the great French General who came to help the United States,

was a Catholic. There was no Ku-Klux Klan in those days to help build
our country. No, but there were many Catholics.

If anyone has the right to be called one hundred per cent American, as

the Klan called it, a Catholic certainly has the right to that honor, and not

a Klansman.

The mainland of North America was discovered by a Catholic, John
Cabot, June 24th, 1497.

America is named after a Catholic, Americas Vespucci, the state of

Florida was discovered by a Catholic, “Ponce de Leon”

,

and Catholic

France furnished the greatest help to America during the Revolution.

Then why all this slander and criticism against the Catholics ? The reason
is that Jesus Christ Himself wanted humanity to criticize the Catholic

Church so that he could prove to the world which is His Church. Does

He not say His Church and His followers will be criticized and slandered,
and He also told His followers, “fear not for I am with you until the end
of the world.” I have had many people tell me that they would join the
Catholic Church, but they don't like to because so many foreigners belong
to the Catholic Church. But foreigners belonging to the Catholic Church

again proves that the Catholic Church is an old church and not a new one,

because their being from a foreign country proves it was also their church

over there.

To us Christ was also a foreigner—He was not reared in the New
World, but if we are so particular, not going to a church just because
some foreigners belong there, then why trade at the same store or do
business with the same bank they do business with? Tell me if you can.
What difference is there in it? Christ's Church was not established for
one class of people, but for all the world, regardless of nationality or

color. Christ built His church to save all men—not just a certain class
of men—but all. If I were so narrow as to be ashamed to worship my
God and Saviour in His Church, then I would also be ashamed to say there
was one. A person does not have to be educated to know which is Christ's
Church. There is no excuse for such a remark. For Jesus Christ makes

it plain which is His Church and I don't think He will overlook such
ignorance on the part of anyone who is ashamed to admit and attend His
Church and partake in the beautiful ceremony which He Himself instituted



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 41

for the salvation of mankind by His death on the cross.
If you are

ashamed of Jesus Christ and His Church now, what alibi
are you going

to give Him on judgment day ; for He tells you, what shall it profit a
man

if he gain the whole world and yet lose his soul; and He also tells
you,

“He who shall be ashamed of Me and My words and My Church, of him

the Son of Man shall be ashamed when He comes in all the glory of
His

Father and the holy angels.” Then, after He has told all this to us

if we do not listen—what excuse are we going to give Him on judgment
day? What action would you take toward your wife if she were

ashamed

of you as her husband, I ask you? Then what action do you
suppose our

Lord is going to take if you are ashamed to go to His
Church? He

tells us plainly what action He will take.

Catholics in America

In Saint Augustine, Florida, there still stands today a
house, which was

occupied by the Catholic monks of the Saint Francis order, to
prove that

there were Catholics here to help build our country.

The house has an inscription on it that reads as follows : The
oldest

house in the United States under three flags, Saint Augustine,
Florida.

It is recorded in the archives of the Catholic Church that
this house was

occupied by the monks of St. Francis, from the year 1565 to 1590.
The

chapel they used can still be seen. In 1590 it came into possession
of a

deputy of the Spanish government and descended in the same
family until

1882. The present owner has documents proving this to be true.
The

picture of this house is in the old geographies. It has not been
remodeled

and is today as it was then. Now this house is proof that the Catholic

monks were here in America, teaching the truth of our Lord Jesus
Christ,

long before protestantism had a start. The originator of all
protestant

religions died in 1546, and until that time one hardly heard of any
other

religion except Catholic. The Catholic Church had then been m existence
for over 1500 years, and if it was Christ’s Church at that time it

certainly

must be Christ’s Church today, beyond any reasonable doubt.

Catholic missionaries were first to discover the copper mines in
the

Lake Superior Region. General Phil Sheridan, one of the greatest
Union

leaders in the Civil War, was a Catholic, and don’t forget that John

Barry, the
u
Father” of the American Navy

,

was a Catholic. The founder

of the RED CROSS

,

Saint Camillus of Lellis, was a Catholic, and we

must all admit that the Red Cross is a very helpful and wonderful organiza-

tion. .

The first American soldier to die in the World War was a Catholic,

Thomas Enright, from Pittsburgh, Pa.—yet it has been said that the

Catholics did nothing to help our country. There were as many Catholics

in service during the World War, and also in all other wars as non-



42 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

Catholics. Everyone who was over seas remembers the gratitude and

kindness of the Knights of Columbus in France and here, during our

last war.

Dante, the world's greatest poet, was a Catholic, and Magellan, who

first sailed around the world, was a Catholic. West Point Military

Academy was started by a Catholic, Count Kosciusko. And don t forget

this—Pope Gregory gave the world its present calender. It is my opinion
that this is the only reason some people want the calender changed, so that

one can’t say Pope Gregory gave us our present calendar.

Now do you suppose the people who know all these things are going to
believe those lies that were published about the Catholics? No, certainly

not. The intelligent protestant knows all these things; it is only the

ignorant who will not listen to sound reason, those silly heads who think

they know it all. There is no excuse whatever for such ignorance,

especially when grown men and women read such anti-Catholic periodicals

and believe them, and then tell what they read to others for the truth.

Many have called my attention to the book, “Thirty years in Hell,” written

by a Catholic priest, and they tried to tell me that he had a purpose in

writing that book; and someone mailed the book to me. Well I had a

good laugh out of the book, but my laugh came because of the ignorant
people who believe that stuff. For the benefit of those who read that book

here is the priest’s confession and affidavit where he admits it all was a

lie, like all other anti-Catholic books. They all are lies.

Affidavit

STATE OF TEXAS,
COUNTY OF POTTER.

“Know all men by these presents that I, the undersigned, Bernard Fresenborg,

an ordained Roman Catholic Priest of the diocese of Belleville, Illinois, having had

the misfortune to become estranged from the Catholic Church about thirty
years ago

and having spoken and written things derogatory to the Church and having
held a

pastorate in a protestant Church for a period of one year, and

“WHEREAS, a certain book entitled, “Thirty Years in Hell”, bearing my name
as its author, containing defamatory writing against the Catholic

Church and the

Hierarchy has been published and circulated, and

“WHEREAS, I now wish to make peace with God and His Church, being truly
contrite of heart I come voluntarily and of my own accord to the Right Reverend

R. A. Gerken, D.D., Bishop of Amarillo, Texas, and being sworn attest
and declare

on oath as follows
: ^ t ,.

“I abjure all my errors against the Roman Catholic Church, including every

suspicion of heresy as well as all that I have written or spoken of a
defamatory nature

against the Roman Catholic Church, the supreme Pontiff, and the Hierarchy, and I

formally repudiate the authorship of the aforesaid book, entitled,
Thirty Years in

Hell,” and

“WHEREAS, I have been the occasion of great harm to the Roman Catholic
Church, I respectfully request that this abjuration and declaration be given

all possible



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 43

publicity in the Catholic and secular press so as to undo the harm caused, and
while

seeking reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church, I wish to state that I am

fully disposed to accept any spiritual penalties that may be imposed on me in the way

of satisfaction.

“WITNESS my signature this thirteenth day of June, 1930, at Amarillo, Texas.

“BERNARD FRESENBORG.”

Even the writer of “Thirty Years in Hell” wishes to make peace with

God and His Church and frankly admits the Catholic Church is God’s

Church.
These writers were not hurting the Catholic Church, they were only

proving to themselves again the truth that the followers of Christ would be

criticized and slandered. They were also showing their ignorance to their

fellows who were intelligent and did not believe that kind of stuff.

The following is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Speed, August

24, 1855, on “Know Nothingism,” “Our progress in degeneracy appears

to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that all men

are created equal. We now practically read it, all men are created equal
except Negroes, foreigners, Jews and Catholics. When it comes to this,
I shall prefer to emigrate to some country where they make no pretense

of loving liberty. To Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken

pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.” Those were the words of

our president, Abraham Lincoln, and his opinion about those spreading

religious hatreds in our country—the “Know nothings”—and the Klan
are the same because they spread religious hatred and created indescribable

conditions by falsehoods that are only silly lies.

The ignorant are the Christ-haters ; they are the men who would abolish

private morality, who would crush the intelligence which is taught to

American youth and would eradicate religion. Who would deny men the
right of trial by jury, of freedom of speech, of religious and political

liberty

t

Their hatred is ignorance. For years now it has torn some people of this

country, leaving behind it a wake of ignorance, of cruelty and injustice

such as has not been witnessed in ages. Their leaders are at work in the

United States and Europe, spreading their vicious propaganda through the

public press and from the public platform. This vile ignorance and

hatred is not confined to one country, but is working to bind all nations

in its net.

They are the Christ-haters and freedom haters. The brutality of their

hatred sets the world aghast. The ignorance of this teaching of religious

hatred has seeped into some people of our country and is trying to poison

our most sacred institutions.

The Christ-haters are preparing for destruction ; they are not only cut-



44 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED
•

throats who would kill us and take our property, they are
the deadly

assassins who would destroy the soul. The Christ-haters did not
begin

in the South and they will not stop there. Their
ignorant attack is leveied

against the honor and righteousness of the world. It is
these enemies of

humanity that the intelligent people of our country have
resolved to expose

It is their ignorant ideas that the intelligent
public, both Catholic and

protestant, have resolved to combat. All intelligent men and women eveiy-

where should join the public in stopping this ignorance
and hatred.

During the last (1928) presidential campaign I was very
much amused

by hearing as I walked by a lady and a gentleman arguing
about who should

be our next president. The man, I presume, was a
salesman, from his

vocabulary. He frankly asked this lady why her attitude and bitterness

toward Governor Al. Smith. He also asked her if it were not true
that

Governor Al. Smith did more for the State of New York than anyone

else and had done more for the child and woman labor laws than
anyone.

She finally said, yes, but he is a Catholic. He asked her what
difference

that made, and remarked that had it not been for a
Catholic we probably

would not be here. He asked her if she did not know that the
discoverer

of America Christopher Columbus

,

was a Catholic, and that Amctica

was named after a Catholic. She said no. She said that
from her child-

hood she had been taught that Catholics were no
good. It was very

amusing to see her display her ignorance, a woman of 33
years, still

believing silly lies. She also remarked that Al. Smith
wanted to immigrate

foreigners over here so that there would be more Catholics
in America.

Can you imagine such ignorance? She certainly did not
understand his

views on immigration. Now suppose you came from the State of
Texas

to the State of Illinois, and in the State of
Illinois you found a good job,

bought you a home, and desired to settle down in Illinois and
sent for your

family back in Texas, but the State of Illinois would
not permit them to

enter. Would that be fair to you? Not at all, certainly not.
And 1

believe that is just the view of Governor Al. Smith on
immigration. He

did not wish to immigrate all of them. Now if I have misunderstood
Al.

Smith’s views, I apologize to him, but I think these
were his views. They

certainly were not the views she had been told were
his. The trouble is

too many people give their mind to the “they say and I hear*
stuff.

This man remarked that she should get some books and read
the truth

and become civilized. Finally she became so ashamed
of herself for being

so ignorant that she just gave up the argument, because
she, herself, came

to the conclusion right then that she had been taught
falsehoods that had

no meaning at all, but was proving her ignorance to
intelligent P^°P ê -

And that is just what happens to people zvho believe silly lies of that
kind

,

later in life it proves them ignorant and silly beyond any doubt.
I have

been told other women let their household duties go unattended
foi an



WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED 45

entire month just to campaign against Governor Smith ; not
because they

were for the Republican party or against the Democrat party,
but because

from childhood they had been taught to hate a Catholic.

Now why is all this ignorance taught to children? You never hear of

Catholics teaching their children to hate other people.
No, you never will,

because that kind of ignorance is contrary to our Lord's
teachings. Be-

cause He says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," and remember that
the

“Least you have done to one of these brethren you have done
unto Me.

Those words were spoken by our Lord Himself. If you criticize
a member

of a certain family and soon convince yourself that this
person s farm y

is not very friendly to you because of that criticism or
remark, don’t be

surprised if nature’s laws are not friendly to you because you
have been

criticizing some of God’s believers, for God thinks just as much of
His

laws as we do of ours.
Read more and become civilized. That would be good advice

to some

parents who are teaching their children to believe falsehoods without
any

foundation and reason at all, teaching them silly things which
have no

meaning.

Because if their children grow up in an environment of that sort
it will

make a fool of them when they become men and women. There
will be

instances in their lives whereby they will come into contact with
intelligent

people, and when they do, if they have believed all that rot they are
bound

to show their ignorancey and it will certainly go hard on them
through later

life, because such ignorance has ruined friends, families,
businesses and,

most of all, the religion which teaches them such things.

The Rosary

The Rosary—why Catholics say it. The Rosary used by Catholics in
their prayers is a string of beads, divided into five

equal parts, each com-

memorating some great event in the life of Christ. On them the Lord s

prayer and the Hail Mary (Luke 1-28) are recited and, when using
tieir

beads, Catholics meditate upon these events. Also, during the
Lenten season

when Catholics meditate upon the passion of Christ by their
"Way of the

Cross,” each station represents some of the suffering which
Christ under

went until the crucifixion. On the hillside paths of Sainte Anne
De

Beaupre, "The Lourdes of the New World” in Canada, near Quebec,
can

be seen life size bronze figures of Christ representing
the "Way of the

Cross”. And it certainly is a touching ceremony to all who witness
these

stations during Lent.

Again let me remind you what Saint Chrysostom in his thirtieth homily

said: Lo, we have now at length reached the close of holy Lent ,
now,

especially, we must press forward in the career of fasting and
exhibit a



46 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

full and accurate confession of our sins. That with these good works

having come to the Day of Easter we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord.
There is no other church which has such devotions as the Catholic

Church, and there is no other church which undergoes such criticism and

slander as the Catholic Church does.
Remember this, for the least you have done to one of the Erethren you

have done unto Me. Those are the words of our Lord Himself. Does

not this prove what Christ said about Him and His followers, that they and
His church would be criticized and slandered? Certainly it does, beyond

any reasonable doubt. And He also said, “Fear not for I am with you at
all times even unto the consummation of the world.”

Let me again remind you to follow Saint Paul’s advice: Prove all
things first and hold fast that which is good.

“Beware thou strike not. Beware thou hurt not. Beware thou trample

not.” These are the last words of Christ at the point of going into Heaven

(according to St. Augustine).

In closing this book, may I ask you to follow the advice of St. Paul,
Prove all things first, and hold fast that which is good.

And always remember that the eighth commandment was instituted by
our Lord and He earnestly tells you, “Thou shall not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.” Your neighbor is any person, not just the one resid-

ing next door to you. It means thou shall not lie about anyone. Lying lips

are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 12 :22. Blessed are the peace-

makers, for they shall be called the children of God. Matt. 5 :9. And
cursed are the trouble makers for they are the children of Satan.

I sincerely hope that your mind has been enlightened by this book and

that you now know the truth which has been hid from you. Read more
and enlighten your mind on the truths of the world and not on funny, silly

lies that have no meaning at all, but do make yourself foul to intelligent

people regardless of what their religion may be.

END.





46 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

full and accurate confession of our sins. That with these good works

having come to the Day of Easter we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord.

There is no other church which has such devotions as the Catholic

Church, and there is no other church which undergoes such criticism and

slander as the Catholic Church does.

Remember this, for the least you have done to one of the Brethren you

have done unto Me. Those are the words of our Lord Himself. Does

not this prove what Christ said about Him and His followers, that they and
His church would be criticized and slandered? Certainly it does, beyond

any reasonable doubt. And He also said, “Fear not for I am with you at

all times even unto the consummation of the world.”

Let me again remind you to follow Saint Paul’s advice: Prove all

things first and hold fast that which is good.

“Beware thou strike not. Beware thou hurt not. Beware thou trample

not.” These are the last words of Christ at the point of going into Heaven

(according to St. Augustine).

In closing this book, may I ask you to follow the advice of St. Paul,

Prove all things first, and hold fast that which is good.

And always remember that the eighth commandment was instituted by

our Lord and He earnestly tells you, “Thou shall not bear false witness

against thy neighbor.” Your neighbor is any person, not just the one resid-

ing next door to you. It means thou shall not lie about anyone. Lying lips

are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 12 :22. Blessed are the peace-

makers, for they shall be called the children of God. Matt. 5 :9. And

cursed are the trouble makers for they are the children of Satan.

I sincerely hope that your mind has been enlightened by this book and

that you now know the truth which has been hid from you. Read more

and enlighten your mind on the truths of the world and not on funny, silly

lies that have no meaning at all, but do make yourself foul to intelligent

people regardless of what their religion may be.

END.





46 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

full and accurate confession of our sins. That with these good works

having come to the Day of Easter we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord.

There is no other church which has such devotions as the Catholic

Church, and there is no other church which undergoes such criticism and

slander as the Catholic Church does.

Remember this, for the least you have done to one of the Brethren you

have done unto Me. Those are the words of our Lord Himself. Does

not this prove what Christ said about Him and His followers, that they and
His church would be criticized and slandered? Certainly it does, beyond

any reasonable doubt. And He also said, “Fear not for I am with you at
all times even unto the consummation of the world.”

Let me again remind you to follow Saint Paul’s advice: Prove all

things first and hold fast that which is good.

“Beware thou strike not. Beware thou hurt not. Beware thou trample

not.” These are the last words of Christ at the point of going into Heaven

(according to St. Augustine).

In closing this book, may I ask you to follow the advice of St. Paul,

Prove all things first, and hold fast that which is good.

And always remember that the eighth commandment was instituted by
our Lord and He earnestly tells you, “Thou shall not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.” Your neighbor is any person, not just the one resid-

ing next door to you. It means thou shall not lie about anyone. Lying lips

are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 12:22. Blessed are the peace-

makers, for they shall be called the children of God. Matt. 5:9. And
cursed are the trouble makers for they are the children of Satan.

I sincerely hope that your mind has been enlightened by this book and

that you now know the truth which has been hid from you. Read more
and enlighten your mind on the truths of the world and not on funny, silly

lies that have no meaning at all, but do make yourself foul to intelligent

people regardless of what their religion may be.

END.





46 WHY CATHOLICS ARE CRITICIZED

full and accurate confession of our sins. That with these good works

having come to the Day of Easter we may enjoy the bounty of the Lord.

There is no other church which has such devotions as the Catholic

Church, and there is no other church which undergoes such criticism and

slander as the Catholic Church does.

Remember this, for the least you have done to one of the Brethren you

have done unto Me. Those are the words of our Lord Himself. Does

not this prove what Christ said about Him and His followers, that they and
His church would be criticized and slandered? Certainly it does, beyond

any reasonable doubt. And He also said, “Fear not for I am with you at
all times even unto the consummation of the world.”

Let me again remind you to follow Saint Paul’s advice: Prove all

tilings first and hold fast that which is good.

“Beware thou strike not. Beware thou hurt not. Beware thou trample

not.” These are the last words of Christ at the point of going into Heaven

(according to St. Augustine).

In closing this book, may I ask you to follow the advice of St. Paul,

Prove all things first, and hold fast that which is good.

And always remember that the eighth commandment was instituted by

our Lord and He earnestly tells you, “Thou shall not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.” Your neighbor is any person, not just the one resid-

ing next door to you. It means thou shall not lie about anyone. Lying lips

are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 12 :22. Blessed are the peace-

makers, for they shall be called the children of God. Matt. 5 :9. And
cursed are the trouble makers for they are the children of Satan.

I sincerely hope that your mind has been enlightened by this book and

that you now know the truth which has been hid from you. Read more

and enlighten your mind on the truths of the world and not on funny, silly

lies that have no meaning at all, but do make yourself foul to intelligent

people regardless of what their religion may be.

END.



ft





Thanks to criticism, it has made my book possible.
I may have hurt the feelings of some of my non-Catholic friends by this

book, but I sincerely hope that they are intelligent enough to remember that

my feelings, too, have been hurt many times by falsehoods that were told
for the truth from ignorant prejudices.

Anthony Thomas O’Grady.

“There are some things which we do not believe unless we understand

them, and there are other things which we do not understand unless we

believe them.”—St. Augustine homily on p. s. 119.
A two-sentence catechism of my own.
Question

:

Why are Catholics criticized ?
Because they are the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Slander and criticism against the Catholic Church have proved this.

Anthony Thomas O’Grady.



Christopher Columbus, a Catholic and Italian, Discovered
America,

October 12, 1492.

America Is Named After Americas Vespucci, an Italian
and a

Catholic.

The First Celebration of American Independence Day,
July 4, 1779, Was

Held in a Catholic Church in Philadelphia (St.
Mary’s), and If' as At-

tended by the President, Members of Congress, and
Many Prominent

Citizens.

Magellan, Who First Sailed Round the World, Was a Catholic.

The Founder of the Red Cross, St. Camillas of Lellis,
Was a Catholic.

The First American Soldier to Die in the World
War Was a Catholic,

a Pittsburgher, Thomas Enright.

John Barry, the Father of the American Navy,
Was a Catholic.

The First School in the United States Was Opened by
Catholics in St.

Augustine, in 1600.

The First Hospital in the New World W
7
as a Catholic Hospital in Mex-

ico City, in 1524.

A Catholic, Charles Carroll, Signer of the Declaration of
Independence,

Began the First American Railroad.

The Laying of the First Atlantic Cable Was First
Proposed by a Catho-

lic, Bishop Mullock, of Newfoundland.

The Oldest University in America Is the Catholic
University of St.

Mark, Lima, Peru, Begun in 1551.

The Finest Stained Glass in the World Is in the
Catholic Cathedral at

Chartres.
Twenty-five Million Catholics Today Give Allegiance

to the Stars and

Stripes.

The First Public Library in America Was in a Catholic
University.

Ampere, Discoverer of the Unit of Electric Current,
Was a Catholic.

West Point Military Academy Was Started by a Catholic,
Count

Kosciusko.

Verdi, One of the World’s Greatest Musical Composers,
Was a Catholic.

Pope Gregory XV Gave the World Its Present Calendar.

The First Book Printed in the New World Was a Catholic
Catechism.

Copernicus, World’s Greatest Astronomer, Was a Catholic
Ecclesiastic.

Raphael, the World’s Greatest Painter, Was a Catholic.



The Mainland of North America Was Discovered by John Cabot , a

Catholic, June 24, 1497

.

Catholic Missionaries Thirst Discottered Oil in Pennsylvania.

Catholic Missionaries Grezv the First Wheat in the United States.

Pasteur
,
Leading Scientist of 19th Century, Was a Catholic.

Catholic France Furnished the Greatest Help to the American Revolu-

tion.

St. Augustine, Florida, Oldest City in the U . S., Was Founded by a
Catholic, Peter Menendez.

Catholic Missionaries First Introduced the Sugar Cane to the South.

The First Book Ever Printed in the World Was a Catholic Bible.

De Rossi, the Founder of the Science of Christian Archceology, Was a
Catholic.

Leverrier, Discoverer of the Planet Neptune, Was a Catholic.

The State of Florida Was Discovered by a Catholic—Ponce De Leon.
Gutenberg, Inventor of Printing, Was a Catholic.

The Barocyclonometer, Which Predicts Typhoons, Was Invented by
Father Algue, a Catholic Priest, Who Saved Dewey's Fleet at Manila.

Canada Was Discovered by James Cartier, a Catholic.

Catholic Missionaries Grew the First Oranges in the United States.

Dr. John B , Murphy of Chicago, One of the World's Greatest Surgeons

,

Was a Catholic.
Father Damien, the Apostle of the Lepers of Molokai, IF as a Catholic

Priest.

The Catholic Church Flourishes Most in a Republic.

Religious Liberty Was First Granted in America by a Catholic, Lord
Baltimore, in 1649.

Lavoisier, Father of Modern Chemistry, Was a Catholic.

Saint Paul Was a Roman Catholic.

The Largest Single Subscriber to the Liberty Loan of Revolutionary

Days Was a Catholic, Thos. Fitzsimmons.

The Laws of Heredity Were First Established by Mendel, a Catholic
Priest.

Jenner, Discoverer of Vaccination, Was a Catholic.

Stensen, Father of Modern Geology, Was a Catholic Bishop.

Morgagni, the Father of Modern Pathology, Was a Catholic.

Roentgen, Discoverer of the X-Ray, Was a Catholic.

Catholic Missionaries First Discovered the Copper Mines in the Lake

Superior Region.



General “Phil” Sheridan, One of the Greatest Union Leaders in the

Civil War, Was a Catholic.

Galvani, Discoverer of Electricity, Who Gave the World Galvanized
Iron and the Galvanic Battery, Was a Catholic.

Leonardo da Vinci, Greatest Architect, Engineer, and Painter of His

Time, Was a Catholic.
Balboa, Discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, Was a Catholic.

Laennec, Father of Physical Diagnosis, and Discoverer of the Stetho-

scope, Was a Catholic.
Latreille, Prince of Entomologists, Was a Catholic Priest.

Paderewski, World's Greatest Pianist, Is a Catholic.

The Submarine Was Invented by Holland, an Irish Catholic Christian

Brother.

Marshal Foch Is a. Catholic.

Lake Huron Was Discovered by a Catholic Priest, Father Le Caron.

Lieut. Fitzsimmons, First American Officer Killed in
the Great \\ ar,

Was a Catholic.
Most of the World's Greatest Musicians Were Catholics.
The Word “Volts” Comes from Volta, The Great Catholic

Electrician.

Midler, the Greatest Biologist of the Last Century, Was a Catholic.

The World’s Greatest Architect, Bramante, Was a Catholic.

The World’s Largest Building Is St. Peter’s Cathedral at
Rome.

St. Peter Was a Roman Catholic.

Vesalius, Father of Anatomy, Was a Catholic.

Lord Howard, Victor over the Spanish Armada, Was a Catholic.

Schwann, Discoverer of Cell Theory in Medicine, Is a Catholic.

Catholic Poland Sent Some of Her Most Famous Military Men to Help

Us Gain Our Independence.

Gioja, the Father of Scientific Navigation and
the Discoverer of the

Mariner’s Compass, IV as a Catholic.

Valentine, the Father of Analytical Chemistry, Was a Catholic Priest.

Chauliac, the Father of Modern Surgery and the Modern Hospital, IV as

a Catholic Ecclesiastic.

Becquerel, the Father of Electro Chemistry, Was a Catholic.

Hauy, the Father of Scientific Crystallography, Was a Catholic Priest.

Nicholas of Cusa, the Father of Mathematical
Mechanics, lias a

Cardinal.





id