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T H E 

A D V A N T A G E S 
O F B E I N G A 

C A T H O L I C 
By R O B E R T A R N O L D 

Published by 
B E L L A R M I N E P U B L I S H I N G C O M P A N Y 

MOUND, MINNESOTA 

FIRST EDITION 

All rights reserved. This booklet may not be reproduced by any 
means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. 

Copyright 1955 by Bellarmine Publ. Co. Printed in the U. S.A. 



To Rt. Rev. Msgr. William L. Mulloney, 
Rector of St. Joseph's Cathedral 

Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

Benefactor and dear friend. 

Dedicated in a spirit of friendship to 

peoples of all religious faiths and to 

those who have no religious affiliation 

in the cause of truth and mutual un-

derstanding. 

Nihil Obstat: R. G. Bandas, Ph.D., S.T.D. et M. 

Imprimatur: flj John Gregory Murray, S.T.D. 
Archbishop of St. Paul 

February 3, 1955 



F O R E W O R D 

To many Americans the Catholic religion poses a 
great and implacable mystery, this despite the fact that 
Catholic Churches are everywhere about them, despite 
the fact that Catholic people are numbered among their 
closest friends and relations and despite the fact that the 
Catholic religion, its tenets and practices, is very much 
an open book. The real mystery is that it should be 
regarded as a mystery at all; for anyone can learn all 
there is to know about the Catholic religion if they but 
set aside the rumors in favor of a personal inquiry or 
two in the right places. That is what Mark, college senior 
and one of the principals in our story, found out. Maybe 
his story is your story in which case the following narra-
tive should prove very illuminating. If not illuminating 
then certainly entertaining, because here is typical 
American youth in a typical American situation discuss-
ing a controversial subject with typical American candor. 
Fictional though the characters may be you are bound to 
enjoy their company. 





I T WAS FREEZING COLD that particular Sunday morn-
ing—typical of Minneapolis weather in January. And to add 
to the discomfort of those who dared to venture forth from 
their domiciles fierce little gusts of snow laden wind buffeted 
the city from all directions, wind that chilled right to the 
marrow of a person's bones. 

Certainly it was a most illogical day for a drive to the coun-
try. 

But the fraternity friends, Bob and Mark, would not be 
dissuaded. They had been looking forward too long for the 
opportunity this day afforded: Bob's Uncle Nils had written 
him several weeks before that if he and Mark could make it 
to the farm this week end he would show them "the best ice 
fishing in the whole state of Minnesota"—and Bob's Aunt Julia 
promised one of her famous chicken dinners into the bargain. 

Besides, what was a little wintry weather to a couple of 
linemen on the University of Minnesota's varsity football 
squad, to a couple of robust young Minnesotans who naturally 
relished the outdoor life? T o them it was just another brisk 
winter day—the kind of day ice fishing was at its best on 
the lakes. 

So at the crack of dawn they were on their way, taking 
it cautiously at first because the main hazard on a day like 
this was the city streets which were always icier than the 
country highways. There was also another city hazard as they 
soon found out: 

"Hey! Look out for those people coming out of that 
church!" Mark warned his companion behind the wheel. 

Bob had noticed them through the snowy mist at the same 

En 



instant and was already easing down on the brake pedal, care-
ful lest the car should slide out of control on the glazed pave-
ment. Deftly he brought the car to a halt at a safe distance 
from the crossing in front of St. Joseph's Church where they 
waited for the people, young and old, with coat collars pulled 
snugly up over their ears, to pass. 

Bob and Mark did not mind the interruption. It was an 
intriguing spectacle, this early morning display of faith they 
had happened upon. The people were funneling out of the 
beautiful Gothic structure in a seemingly endless stream, ob-
viously conscious of the inclement weather but just as obvi-
ously defiant. They had been to Mass, that was the important 
thing. Now they would return to the comforts of their homes, 
the day made complete. 

At least that was how Bob interpreted the mood of these 
people. Bob had turned Catholic himself a few years before. 
H e knew what motivated people who have the Catholic faith. 
In fact he might have been one of this very same congregation 
had he not gone to an earlier Mass. 

But Mark, who was a Protestant, was affected differently. 
To him there was a certain incongruity here that drew a 
big blank. Of course he admired the "raw courage" of these 
Catholics, but that mysterious something which underlied it 
all, that was what he could not fathom—and he did not mind 
saying so: 

"Beats me!" he exclaimed in a flabbergasted tone of voice. 
"What beats you, Mark?" Bob inquired as he put the car 

in gear and proceeded down the road again. 
"The popularity of the Catholic religion," Mark said 

blundy, "these overflowing Catholic Churches, this loyalty 
which manifests itself even before sun up while the rest of 

C 6 ] 



Christendom sleeps. Tell me, Bob, what is the big attraction? 
What does the Catholic religion have to offer that other de-
nominations do not have? I honestly don't know of any other 
denomination that could induce their members to turn out 
en masse at this time of day and in this kind of weather—un-
less perhaps for a very special event—certainly not for just an 
ordinary church service." 

Mark did not feel that such questioning was treasonable 
to his own religious convictions. He considered it a perfectly 
normal curiosity and one that he had noticed in many other 
Protestants, even in some ministers, though in a more re-
strained and guarded way. Once he heard a minister remark 
in his sermon about " the phenomenon of the Roman Catholic 
Church." 

Bob did not answer immediately. The frankness of his 
friend's query had caught him very much by surprise. "I 
know what you mean," he said at length. He was thinking 
back to his own pre Catholic days. "But I am afraid it is a 
question that cannot be answered in just a few words. Cathol-
icism is not as simple as that. There is really nothing complex 
about the Catholic religion but it is a big subject nevertheless. 
Like the U.S.A. is a big country Catholicism is a big religion, 
and like the U.S.A. many things contribute to her greatness 
—and each one needs a little explaining. However, if you really 
want to know and are willing to give me the time . . ." 

Mark thought of all the time they had on their hands dur-
ing the trip ahead of them. "Fire away!" he invited. 

Bob glanced admiringly at his companion out of the cor-
ner of his eye. N o wonder Mark chose to major in Science 
at the U., he thought, the guy just has to know what makes 

i n 



things tick. Someday he would be a famous scientific person-
age. 

"Well, one aspect of the Catholic religion which inspires 
great loyalty in her members," Bob began, "is the antiquity of 
the Church. According to history Catholicism is the oldest 
Christian denomination in existence, and that, in the mind of 
the Catholic, constitutes one of the greatest proofs of the divine 
character, the Christian authenticity of the Catholic Faith. 

"What has age to do with authenticity? Quite a lot once 
you think it over. Take a painting claimed by its owner to be 
an authentic Rembrandt, for example. Before the owner could 
convince the critics that it is indeed an authentic Rembrandt 
he would have to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that its 
age corresponds to the interval of time between Rembrandt's 
day and the present. It might have all the surface character-
istics of the genuine article but unless its age can be proven 
the art critics will declare that it is at best nothing more than 
a well executed copy. The same would be true of a manuscript 
purported to be written by the hand of Shakespeare, or a 
violin attributed to Stradivarius—their age would be a major 
factor in determining their authenticity. 

"Catholics feel that the same rule applies to the Church 
founded by Christ: if the genuine article is in the world today, 
and H e solemnly promised that it would be, then the best 
way to distinguish it from the copies is to establish its singular 
antiquity." 

Mark turned and gazed critically at his friend. "Yes, I 
know Catholics believe their's is the oldest Christian denom-
ination," he interrupted, "but some Protestant denominations 
claim that they can trace their history back just as far, in some 
instances even farther. And what about the Coptic Church of 

C 8 ] 



Egypt and the Greek Orthodox Church?—they claim that 
they can trace their existence all the way back to the Apostles." 

"Making such claims is one thing, proving such claims is 
something else again," replied Bob. "Observe that the Catholic 
Church can show where her name, her teachings and her gov-
ernment is mentioned with almost monotonous frequency in 
the preserved writings of the primitive Christian era. The 
letters of Polycarp who was a disciple of the Apostle John, for 
example: he signed them: 'Polycarp, Catholic Bishop of 
Smyrna.' Then there is a letter by Ignatius of Antioch ad-
dressed to the Christians of Smyrna in the year 110 A.D. where-
in he wrote: 'Where the Bishop is there let the multitude of 
believers be; even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic 
Church.' The Catholic Church can also show in the historical 
records of subsequent centuries bountiful evidence of her con-
tinual, uninterrupted growth from the primitive Christian era 
up to the present time, proving beyond any vestige of doubt 
that the Catholic Church of primitive times and the Catholic 
Church of today are one and the same Church. 

"The other claimants to apostolic origin, on the other hand, 
can furnish no such evidence to back up their claims. Nowhere 
in the records of primitive Christianity are they mentioned, 
either by name, by doctrine or by activity. On the contrary, 
history is quite explicit in placing the origin of the Coptic 
Church in the fifth century A.D.; the origin of the Greek-
Russian Orthodox Churches in the ninth century A D . ; the 
origin of the Waldensian Church of Italy in the eleventh cen-
tury A.D.; and the origin of the first Protestant denominations 
in the sixteenth century, A.D. Look in any popular encyclo-
pedia, Mark, and see for yourself if this is not true." 

Mark thought it over. "Come to think of it, I never have 

IT 9 ] 



run across the names of those other denominations in primi-
tive Christian history, but I have run across frequent mention 
of the words Catholic and Pope." 

Again Mark indulged in a little deep meditation. "Alright," 
he said at length, "I will grant that the Catholic Church is 
the oldest Christian Church. However, I still fail to see why 
an older Church is necessarily a better Church. I don't see 
why someone well versed in Sacred Scripture and eager to do 
Christ's bidding cannot organize in our own day and age a 
denomination just as thoroughly Christian as one organized 
many centuries ago. After all, the main objective of Christian-
ity is to preach the Gospel, to convert sinners to Christ. What 
difference does it make whether this is done by an old denom-
ination or a new one?" 

They were out in open country now and the safer driving 
conditions permitted them both a greater freedom of thought. 

"It makes a big difference!" Bob answered very matter-of-
factly, "because it stands to reason that the older a church is 
the more time it has had to study the Scriptures and all the 
other evidence of divine revelation; hence the more learned 
it will be in what constitutes the Word of God. A good ex-
ample of this truism can be seen in the evolution of Protes-
tantism: the theology of the older Protestant denominations 
covers a considerably wider range than the theology of the 
newer ones; whereas the older denominations—Lutheran and 
Episcopal—cling to a goodly measure of traditional Christian 
dogmatics, the newer ones—Baptist, Pentecostal, etc.—have a 
pared-down theology which amounts to little more than an 
emotional 'brother are you saved?'—and all of them claim a 
resolute devotion to the Bible, all of them claim they are doing 
the bidding of Christ. 

L*10 3 



"However, be that as it may, it is not the main jist of 
my argument. With all due regard to the sincerity of their 
convictions and aspirations the newer Christian denominations 
could not possibly measure up to the oldest one, even if they 
preached the Word of God in its fullest and purest essence— 
a very important element would still be lacking." 

Mark shook his head disdainfully. "And this important ele-
ment, what might that be?" he inquired. Catholics were given 
to making some awfully arbitrary claims, he thought to him-
self, but this was the most audacious one he had ever heard. 

"I realize that what I have just said sounds disgustingly 
presumptious, Mark," Bob said sensing his friend's feelings, 
"but let me explain: We have established that the Catholic 
Church is the oldest Christian Church, have we not? Should 
we not therefore also conclude that the Catholic Church is the 
original Christian Church? 

Mark pondered for a moment then replied: "Yes, that is a 
reasonable deduction. Either the oldest is the original or the 
original has ceased to exist." 

"Precisely! and since Christ pledged that the original would 
not cease to exist, saying, 'the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against my church', it would be foolhardy for any sincere 
Christian to believe that it has ceased to exist." 

Bob looked inquiringly at his companion. "Do you see 
what I am getting at? Since the Catholic Church is the oldest 
Christian Church and therefore the original Christian Church, 
it naturally follows that she is the only Church personally 
founded by Jesus Christ, the only denomination personally 
commisioned by Christ to carry on His ministry of salvation 
in the world. That is the special something I had reference to 
when I stated that no matter how faithful the newer Chris-

c i i n 



tian religions might perchance be to the Gospel of Christ they 
still could not compare favorably in every way to the Catholic 
religion." 

Mark was still disposed to argue the point. "I follow your 
line of reasoning, all right," he responded, "but it seems to 
me that your hypothesis overlooks two possibilities: the pos-
sibility that Christ's true Church was not constituted as a vis-
ible, human organization, but as a spiritual union of all Chris-
tians, regardless of denomination; and the possibility that the 
human founders of Protestantism might have been inspired 
by God, that God might have founded the Protestant family 
of churches too, indirectly, using mortals as instruments of His 
Divine Will." 

Bob smiled. It was like hearing a playback of his own 
thoughts recorded years ago when he too was debating the 
issue of Catholicism. "No, Mark, my 'hypothesis' as you call 
it does not rule out the possibilities you mention—but sacred 
Scripture certainly does. Concerning the first possibility, ob-
serve that the Apostles and their disciples were very definitely 
a visible, human organization. Further, note in Luke 10:16 
that Christ told His followers they were very definitely subject 
to the authority of that human organization. Did not Christ 
say, 'He who refuses to hear the Church, let him be to thee 
as the heathen?' Matthew 18:17. One could not very well hear 
a spiritual church now could they? 

"Elementary logic also rules out the possibility that the 
Church Christ founded is a spiritual union of believers em-
bracing all denominations; because how can the various de-
nominations constitute a union of believers, spiritual or other-
wise, when it is precisely for the reason that they are divided 
in belief that they are separate denominations?" 

n 1 2 ] 



"Well, I must admit that the beliefs of the various Protes-
tant denominations vary, some of them quite radically," con-
ceded Mark. 

"Concerning the second possibility, Christ would have con-
tradicted himself had H e inspired Luther and the others to 
create separate, independent Christian denominations. For H e 
declared very catagorically that His Church would consist of 
' O N E fold and O N E shepherd.' John 10:16. As added in-
surance against a split in the ranks of the faithful H e peti-
tioned God the Father for the preservation of unity. John 
17:22-23. Why was Christ so insistent on one fold? Because, 
as H e had previously pointed out: 'A house divided against 
itself cannot stand.' Mark 3:25. If His Church was to stand 
and He guaranteed that it would, it would have to remain 
undivided. 

"It is inconceivable, therefore, that after having gone on 
record as an unremitting foe of disunity, Christ would con-
done even a minor schism within His Church, much less in-
spire the creation of hundreds of rival bodies and conflicting 
doctrines such as characterizes Protestantism." 

Mark did not want to admit it but the reasonableness of 
Bob's argument was undeniable. "All right, so Catholics have 
the satisfaction of knowing that theirs is the only church which 
qualifies as the Church founded by Christ." H e made it sound 
more like a courtesy than a concession. After all, origin may 
be important but it wasn't everything. 

"Now tell me," queried Mark, "what other advantages 
do Catholics enjoy?" 

Bob motioned to the glove compartment. '"How about 
getting the thermos bottle out and pouring us a little hot cof-
fee first." 

L*13 3 



"Good idea," Mark agreed cheerily. 
After a couple of swallows of the stimulating drink Bob 

continued: "What we were just discussing contained a hint of 
another advantage enjoyed by Catholics, Mark, and, I might 
add, a very great advantage. It is an advantage, moreover, 
which I don't think you will be so apt to challenge me on— 
it is simply too obvious." 

Mark laughed. "Don't be too sure that I won't challenge 
you," he chided. "I feel in a challenging mood." 

"I have reference to the unity of the Catholic Church," Bob 
said. "And by unity I don't mean a bond of sympathy, a loose 
kind of fellowship between heterogeneous groups, but real 
honest-to-goodness unity: unity of belief, unity of membership 
and unity of authority. In short, Catholics are O N E in the 
strictest sense of the word—all 460 million of us—whether 
located in Europe, Africa, North America or South America 
—whether in Timbuctoo or Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

"Why do Catholics attach so much significance to unity? 
Why do Catholics believe that their unity gives them a dis-
tinct advantage over other Christians? Well, for one thing it 
means that God's Will is being done. That is the primary 
satisfaction. But there is another satisfaction of a more per-
sonal nature: the satisfaction of being a member of a real 
world brotherhood. 

"To illustrate: suppose I should journey to some remote 
corner of the globe, any remote corner of the world, and desire 
to worship in the local Catholic Church. Would I have any 
fear that the faith and worship of that Church might differ 
in some respect with the faith and worship I am accustomed 
to? Would there be a likelihood that this was not the same 
Church I belonged to back in the States but a branch, or a 

IT 1 4 ] 



type, of the same Church, like one of the Lutheran Synods 
of the U. S. is a type of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of 
Germany? No! If it is a Catholic Church it is the same Cath-
olic Church I belong to, the same Church, the same faith, the 
same priesthood, the same worship; of that I could be abso-
lutely certain. The skin of the other worshippers might be a 
different color and the clothes a different fashion but we 
would be members of the same spiritual household—under the 
skin we would be brothers who share identically the same 
faith, loyalties and aspirations. Under no circumstances would 
I have the feeling that I was among strangers." 

Mark had been listening intently. "That would be very 
gratifying," he averred. "I went with my family on a vacation 
trip to the deep South a few years ago and I remember how 
disappointed I was when we attended church services and 
found it so different from church services back home. The 
reason for the difference, I found out later, was that the 
church there came under a separate jurisdiction—the same 
denomination but a separate board of governors. And I don't 
mind admitting that I felt very much a stranger." 

"Something else worth remembering, Mark," Bob con-
tinued, "is the historical fact that unity has always character-
ized the Catholic Church. Never have Catholics been parti-
tioned off from one another by national or continental boun-
daries, by upheavals either from within or from without. That 
is what Catholic means—universal—and certainly no one can 
say the Church has not lived up to her name. 

"Sure, there have been attempts to divide the Church. On a 
number of occasions ambitious, power hungry individuals have 
challenged the authority of the Pope and endeavored to set 
themselves up as head of the Church; but invariably they have 

L*15 3 



failed. Invariably when it appeared that the unity of the 
Church was in jeopardy the world wide episcopate, clergy and 
laity rallied around the true Pope leaving the imposter the 
alternative of either recanting—which most of them did—or 
going his own separate way as a schismatic or apostate. 

"Nor is there any reason to believe that Catholic unity will 
diminish, or even falter, at any time in the foreseeable future. 
In fact the evidence points to an even more perfect unity in 
the centuries to come; for Catholic fervor, the spirit of sacri-
fice and esteem for the Pope and all he represents is definitely 
on the increase. Witness the sacrifice of millions of Catholics 
behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains in defense of their faith. 
Christian heroism like that hasn't been seen since the days of 
the Roman persecutions. And witness the utter failure of the 
Communist regimes to nationalize the Catholic Church in 
their respective countries, to divert the loyalty of their Catholic 
citizens away from the Pope to someone appointed by them. 
Certainly if anyone ever entertained any doubt about the in-
vincibility of Catholic solidarity the example of the Church 
today should remove that doubt." 

"Yes, there is a solidarity among Catholics which is cer-
tainly without equal," agreed Mark. "And I must confess I 
have always secretly admired that aspect of Catholicism—no 
quibbling over doctrines, no membership competition, no bick-
ering over who is to have the final say—it is an ideal situation. 
N o wonder the Catholic Church has made, and is still mak-
ing, such great progress; for without the distractions of in-
ternal disorder she is free to concentrate on the main objec-
tives." 

Mark felt a little conscience stricken then for having 
thrown such a big bouquet of verbal flowers Catholicism's 

C 1 6 3 



way. The best way to redeem himself, he thought, would be to 
throw a similar bouquet Protestantism's way. 

"Catholic unity is indeed a remarkable thing and a fine 
Christian attribute," continued Mark, "however, let us not for-
get that there is a movement, gaining momentum all the time, 
toward unity in the Protestant Church. Who knows, maybe 
we will see in our lifetime a unity within Protestantism that 
will compare favorably with the unity of the Catholic Church. 
Then Catholics won't have that particular advantage over 
other Christian denominations, will they?" 

There was a note of triumph in Mark's voice as he said 
this and he turned confidently to face his companion, eager 
to hear the response. 

Bob reflected for a moment, then said: "I am aware of the 
movement you speak of, Mark. I think it is called the Ecu-
menical Movement. And, believe me, I hope it succeeds, be-
cause if Protestantism can unite the eventual uniting of all 
Christendom will be that much farther along. However, if you 
will pardon my pessimism, I am afraid there is little prospect 
of its succeeding, either in our generation or in any future 
generation. And that, incidentally, is an opinion, a pessimism, 
shared by many leaders of Protestantism themselves." 

Mark turned his head the other way in a gesture of dis-
paragement. 

"Let me point out a few of the obstacles in the way of a 
united Protestantism," Bob said. "First, in order to achieve 
true unity all of the Protestant denominations would have to 
merge into a single denomination; they would have to com-
pletely overhaul their governmental structures to conform to 
the new constitution. That would mean that the great majority 
of the existing denominational heads would not only have to 

[ 1 7 3 



change their methods of procedure, which in itself would 
meet with considerable opposition, but many of them would 
have to step down from their high places and accept subordi-
nate positions. Whereas before they were the rulers, in the new 
scheme of things they would be among the ruled. You can 
imagine how they would like that. 

"But what would pose an even greater obstacle: the various 
denominations would have to submit to a theological over-
hauling: each would be obliged to embrace some strange new 
doctrines and reject some cherished old ones, because unless 
they did there would not be uniformity of belief which is the 
thing most essential to true unity. In the minds of most Prot-
estants, particularly the old timers, that would be a terribly 
high price to pay for unity. It would mean that the basic tenet 
of Protestantism—freedom to interpret Divine Law and wor-
ship as one pleases—would have to be abandoned. Worse than 
that, in the eyes of every militant Protestant it would mean a 
betrayal of conscience, a sort of mass apostacy. 

In other words, Mark, you don't indoctrinate millions of 
people with a particular theology and teach them to cherish a 
particular tradition and then refashion their thinking at will. 
The clergy in particular—they are, for the most part, theo-
logical diehards who would not bend unless crushed under an 
avalanche of God's grace, and God would not send such super-
abundant grace unless it was wanted, unless they were willing 
to admit that maybe they have been entertaining some false 
precepts after all. 

"And, mind you, I am not touting for Catholicism when 
I say that. If anything I am touting for Protestantism—explor-
ing the possibility of Protestant unity." 

L*18 3 



"I understand that," Mark said. H e had been carefully 
weighing and measuring everything Bob said. 

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, then Mark vol-
unteered to voice his conclusions: "It does seem that the Ecu-
menical Movement's chances of producing within Protestant-
ism a unity comparable to that which prevails within Cathol-
icism is very remote," he observed. "I certainly cannot, for 
example, conceive of the Lutherans and the Episcopalians giv-
ing up their liturgical forms of worship to please the Baptists 
and Methodists; or the Baptists and Methodists accepting the 
dogmatic norms of the Lutherans and Episcopalians." 

The whole idea of Protestant unity suddenly became an 
enigma to Mark which he could not for the life of him un-
scramble. "In view of the futility of the situation, which cer-
tainly must be as apparent to the leaders of Protestantism as 
it is to us, what reason can they have for pushing the Ecumen-
ical Movement?" he inquired. "There must be a reason! They 
are not doing it just to pass the time of day!" 

"Very simple," Bob offered. "They are pursuing the ideal 
of unity without due regard for its practical application. And 
they do not feel that their efforts will be entirely futile because 
if they only succeed in achieving a more harmonious, cooper-
ative relationship between the denominations they will have 
accomplished much to strengthen the position of Protestant-
ism in the world. The Ecumenical Movement is, therefore, to 
them a worthwhile undertaking, even if it does belie its 
name." 

"Still, mere cooperation is no substitute for real bonafide 
unity," averred Mark. 

"I'm sure Christ would not accept it as a substitute," Bob 
said. "When Christ called for 'one fold and one shepherd' H e 

H 9 3 



meant just that, not a cooperative arrangement between a 
great assortment of folds and shepherds. The same goes for the 
Apostle Paul when he told the primitive Christians that they 
were called in 'one body, one faith, one spirit, one baptism.' 
Ephesians4:45. Paul's words can hardly be construed to mean 
anything but absolute unity—the \ind of unity which distin-
guishes the Catholic Church. 

Mark smiled in agreement. "Alright, you have made your 
point," he said. "Now what do you say we get on to the next 
advantage enjoyed by Catholics—that is, if there are any 
more." Mark was beginning to find their little discourse ever 
more intriguing. 

Bob's enthusiasm was mounting too. It was wonderfully 
gratifying, he mused, to be able to speak candidly on the deli-
cate subject of religion and in such a spirit of objectivity. He 
just hoped that candor and objectivity would mark the next 
phase of their discussion as well, for now he was going to 
touch on an aspect of Catholicism considerably more contro-
versial. 

"Another advantage Catholics believe they have over other 
Christian denominations and which definitely is the source 
of much of the Church's great strength and vitality, Mark, is 
the scope and orthodoxy of Catholic doctrine. Most other de-
nominations—all Protestant denominations—have a very re-
stricted version of what constitutes the Christian way of life. 
Believe in God, read the Bible, believe in the Messiahship of 
Christ and have faith that through His Blood H e has re-
deemed us from our sins and you will have fulfilled all that 
is expected of a Christian, they teach. A few teach the neces-
sity of baptism and a few teach that 'the Lord's Supper' makes 
an edifying repast; but for the most part faith in Christ as 

C 2 0 3 



Personal Savior is all that is mandatory, all the religion we 
need in order to secure our eternal salvation. 

"The Catholic Church, on the other hand, reaches in and 
draws from the Sacred Scriptures, and the Gospel narrative 
in particular, a lesson applicable to practically every phase and 
circumstance of human conduct, so that Catholicism can truly 
be called, not just a Christian religion, but a Christian way of 
life. Belief in the Triune God, the Messiahship of Christ and 
all it implies is, of course, the central theme of Catholic belief, 
but the Church teaches that in order to receive the full efficacy 
of those beliefs it is necessary to supplement them with the 
other lessons contained in Divine Revelation." 

Bob was conscious that Mark was eyeing him with an ex-
pression of incredulity and suspicion. "I know—you have 
heard that a large part of Catholic doctrine has no Scriptural 
basis. You may even have heard it said that the Church, fear-
ing 'exposure,' discourages her members from reading the 
Scriptures. But, believe me, such accusations are a lot of hog-
wash and completely untrue. It is an old bugaboo the enemies 
of the Church employ to frighten people away from her. 

"For Catholic doctrine is as firmly rooted in Sacred Scrip-
ture as Christianity itself. Nowhere is the Bible honored more 
or used more than in the Catholic Church. During Mass a 
Missal containing the Sacred Scriptures is read aloud by the 
priest, then kissed by the priest as a sign of veneration and 
respect for the Word of God. At High Mass the Gospels are 
incensed along with the other sacred objects on the altar. And 
not only are priests required to read and meditate on the Scrip-
tures privately for about an hour every day of the year, the 
Church rewards the laity with a 300 day grant of Indulgences 
every day they read and meditate on the Scriptures for at least 

C 2 1 ] 



fifteen minutes. Now I ask you, does that sound like the 
Church has little regard for the Bible as her critics allege?" 

"Sounds to me like a very high and reverent regard for 
the Bible," Mark replied, astonishment written on every syl-
lable. It was amazing, he thought, how little he really knew 
about the Catholic religion, how little most Protestants know 
about it. 

"Several dogmas of the Church are not mentioned in the 
Bible by name," continued Bob, "a coincidence that befuddles 
most non Catholics and which no doubt makes it easier for 
them to believe all of the vicious rumors concerning the 
Church's attitude toward the Bible; but if they would only 
stop and think, neither are several doctrines they believe in 
mentioned in the Bible by name—the Holy Trinity, the In-
carnation and the Resurrection, for example. The important 
thing, as any thinking Christian should realize, is whether 
the outline of a doctrine is contained in the Bible, either ex-
plicitly or implicitly; and if a person will examine the texts 
of the Bible thoroughly, without the mental impediment of 
past prejudices, he will find that Catholic doctrine is outlined 
there just as clear as day." 

At that moment a pair of pheasants glided across the road 
perilously close to the car. Mark's hunter instinct prompted 
him to unload two quick shots at them with an imaginary 
shotgun. 

Then he unburdened a series of questions that had been 
accumulating in his mind: "Sounds convincing, Bob, coming 
from you; but you know me—I am like the people from Mis-
souri—I have to be shown. Take all the great ado Catholics 
make over the Blessed Virgin Mary, for example; what justi-
fication is there in the Sacred Scriptures for that? And the 

IT 2 2 ] 



teachings of the Catholic Church concerning Purgatory, con-
fessing to the priest and the Infallibility of the Pope—where 
do you find those things mentioned in the Bible?" 

Bob smiled his satisfaction. These were questions he had 
both expected and wanted Mark to ask. 

"Glad you asked me," he said. "First, concerning the great 
honor and tribute Catholics bestow on Mary, it is to be ob-
served in the Bible that God himself bestowed on her great 
honor and tribute, that by selecting her for His own Mother, 
by appointing her the Media through which Salvation would 
come into the world, God favored her as no creature has been 
favored by Him before or since. 

"Now I ask you, can there be anything wrong in follow-
ing God's example? Are not true Christians obligated in con-
science to give great honor and esteem to what He has given 
great honor and esteem? But of course. 

"Then there is a question of gratitude for what Mary has 
done for us. After all she did lend her body as a dwelling 
place for the Incarnate God for nine months, succor Him dur-
ing His infancy and watch over Him most tenderly until He 
was ready to manifest His Messiahship. After all, it was she 
who gave Christ the Flesh and Blood He offered on the Cross 
for the Redemption of the world. No one rendered Him a 
greater service than that. And who profited by it? Why you 
and I and all Christianity, of course. The least we can do by 
way of gratitude, therefore, is to show her a profound love and 
veneration. 

"But why worship her? Why pray to her?" Mark de-
manded. 

Bob could not hold back a laugh. "There is that old bogy 
again," he said. "Boy there have been some awfully distorted 

n 2 3 ] 



versions of Catholic belief foisted on the public but the one 
labeled Mary worship is, without a doubt, the classic of them 
all. 

"Mark, get this straight in your mind once and for all," 
Bob said getting down to cases, "Mary is not worshipped by 
Catholics in the sense you use the word. I have never wor-
shipped her as a diety, I have never observed any other Cath-
olic worshipping her as a diety and I know for a fact that the 
Church does not teach that she should be worshipped as a 
diety. Whatever prompts the Church's critics to make such 
an accusation is beyond me. For, get this, if any Catholic, 
whether lay person or high ranking prelate, gave divine wor-
ship to anyone other than God they would be branded a here-
tic and summarily excommunicated from the rolls of the 
Church. Only divinity is entitled to divine worship says the 
immutable law of the Church, and Mary is not divine; she is 
a human creature, a very exceptional human creature to be 
sure but a human creature nevertheless. Check in any Cath-
olic catechism or book of Canon Law, Mark, and see for your-
self if this is not the case." 

"Alright, so Catholics don't worship Mary," Mark said 
apologetically. "Apparently I have been grossly misled on that 
score. But, Bob, you cannot deny that Catholics pray to her. 
How do you explain that?" 

"Concerning the Catholic practice of praying to Mary, that 
can be easily explained. I think you will find it most reason-
able and thoroughly Christian. Turning to the Bible let us 
note that the Christian Church, properly defined, is a body, 
the head of which is Christ, the members of which are all the 
faithful. 1 Corinthians 12:27 and Colossians 1:18. Now con-
cerning this body, the Church, it follows does it not that she 

C 2 4 ] 



who is the Mother of the Head of the body'is also Mother of 
the members of the body? To say that she is not would imply 
the preposterous: that the Head is not connected to the body. 
The relationship of Mary to the Church, therefore, is inescap-
able: if we are truly one with Christ, united to Him in His 
Church, His Mother must be regarded as our Mother also— 
our spiritual Mother to whom we should go in prayer for 
spiritual aid and comfort." 

Mark had been seriously considering everything Bob said. 
"Yes, I can believe that by virtue of her being the Mother of 
Christ, by virtue of the fact that she gave birth to our Salva-
tion, she is also the spiritual Mother of the whole Church. 
Christ inferred as much when H e pointed out Mary to the 
Apostle John and said: 'Behold thy mother.' 

"But," Mark remonstrated sharply, "I still fail to see the 
need, the justification, for praying to Mary when we can just 
as well go directly to Christ! After all, Mary, for all her won-
derful attributes, is still a human creature—she has no super-
natural powers or prerogatives. It would seem, therefore, that 
prayers offered up to Mary, prayers soliciting spiritual aid 
from her, is both a waste of time and an affront to God." 

Bob veered the car to avoid a patch of ice on the road, then 
replied: "You are quite right when you say Mary has no super-
natural powers or prerogatives. Catholics are very much aware 
of that. And permit me to inform you that the great majority 
of Catholic prayers are offered up directly to God. But when 
you say prayers offered up to Mary are a waste of time and 
an affront to God you are very very wrong, because she can 
help us through her intercessary powers, that is, through her 
influence with God. She can do nothing for us independently 
but she can intercede before the throne of her Divine Son in 

C 2 5 ] 



our behalf and her Divine Son will not turn her down. The 
God who issued the commandment 'honor thy mother' would 
certainly not turn a deaf ear to the pleas of His own Mother. 

"As for God being offended when we pray to Mary, that 
is preposterous. Would H e give the Church a mother if H e 
did not expect the Church to go to her for a mother's aid and 
comfort? Of course not. Rather He would be more offended 
if the Church did not go to her, for no one likes to see a 
mother ostracized by her own children, least of all God; and 
that applies, of course, to spiritual children as well as flesh and 
blood children." 

Mark's air of resentment had given way to wide-eyed, open 
mouthed surprise. "Do I understand you correctly: when 
Catholics have recourse to Mary in prayer they are not asking 
spiritual favors from her but asking for her assistance in ob-
taining spiritual favors from God—like a boy enlisting his 
mother's support in getting something from his dad? In other 
words, when Catholics pray to Mary they are, in affect, pray-
ing to God through Mary?" 

"That is exactly what I mean, Mark," Bob replied. "That is 
the Church's teaching on the subject pure and simple." 

"Well that is more like it!" exclaimed Mark visibly relieved. 
"I see nothing unreasonable, nothing heretical, about that! In 
fact it seems the natural thing to do. Strange that I was never 
able to see it that way before." 

"It just goes to show you how easily an incomplete picture 
can produce false impressions," explained Bob. 

"Now how about the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory?" 
Mark asked enthusiastically. 

"That too reveals itself as a most reasonable and thor-
oughly Christian doctrine once all the facts are known. And I 

C 2 6 ] 



mean facts that can be gleaned from the Bible. The word 
Purgatory does not appear in the Bible, of course, but that is 
a very minor detail. I have already pointed out that the com-
mon designation for many Christian doctrines do not appear 
in the Bible. The important thing to establish is: can it be 
shown that the place Catholics call Purgatory is mentioned 
in the Bible?" 

"I'll be darned if I can find it mentioned in the Bible," 
opined Mark. 

Bob laughed. "I must confess it is difficult to find, Mark, 
especially when one has a vague conception of what Purgatory 
means—but it is there nevertheless as you shall see. 

"Purgatory, as you may know, means a place of purgation. 
It is a place where souls go for purification, a sort of proba-
tionary period to be served out before they are entitled to enter 
heaven. We find clear references to such a place in several 
Scripture passages. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 the 
Apostle Paul declared that some people, despite an imperfect 
life, will be 'saved, yet so as through fire.' Paul could not pos-
sibly be referring to hell because once a person arrives there 
salvation is lost to him forever; and he could not possibly be 
referring to heaven because in heaven a person is already 
saved. H e must, therefore, have reference to a place of purga-
tion somewhere in between heaven and hell. Again in He-
brews 12:23 Paul states that heaven is inhabited by two kinds 
of souls: 'the Church of the firstborn' and 'the spirits of the 
just made perfect.' The Church of the firstborn can only mean 
those whose great holiness entitled them to immediate en-
trance into heaven and the spirits of the just made perfect 
can only mean those who had to make some reparation before 
they were acceptable. Otherwise why the distinction? Again 

C 2 7 ] 



in the Greek Septuagint Version of the Old Testament there 
is a passage which says 'it is a holy and wholesome thought 
to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins.' 
II Machabees 12:46. Obviously the dead Machabees has refer-
ence to are not in hell for in hell the dead cannot be loosed 
from their sins, nor can they be in heaven because in heaven 
there is no sin. Where can they be then if not in a third place, 
a place where souls are neither lost nor altogether saved?" 

It was still beyond Mark's comprehension. "But, Bob, we 
are all sinners! None of us lead perfect Christian lives. The 
Bible makes that very clear. If what you have just said is true, 
therefore, we are all destined for Purgatory, or to hell. No, I 
cannot accept that!" 

Bob had half expected this reaction. "Give me time to 
elaborate," he replied. "Of course we are all sinners! And 
of course it is possible to attain heaven without first spending 
some time in Purgatory. The teaching of the Church is very 
clear on that score. The Church teaches that no matter how 
sin stained our souls may be, if we repent and make proper 
atonement for our sins before we die, God in His Mercy will 
forgive us and remit the punishment, making it possible for 
us to enter heaven straightway. It is for those who at the time 
of death still have a blotch on their souls, who have not made 
proper atonement, who must go either to Purgatory or to hell 
—to Purgatory if their sins are minor ones, to hell if their 
sins are serious ones. Because as the Apostle John pointed out: 
'Nothing defiled shall enter heaven! Revelations 21:27." 

Mark pondered for a moment before commenting. "In 
other words—if I understand you correctly—God feels that 
some people deserve another chance; He feels that while they 
are not good enough for heaven they are still not bad enough 

C 2 8 ] 



for hell—so He sends them to Purgatory to get straightened 
out." 

"That is the idea exactly." 
"Well I must say, that sounds only fair," Mark said. "Come 

to think of it our society here on earth bases its conception 
of justice on the same principle: when a man is brought to 
trial in a Court of Justice and found guilty of a minor offense 
he is not acquitted along with the innocent, nor is he con-
demned to life imprisonment along with the serious offenders, 
but rather he is given a punishment commensurate with the 
minor offense—temporary confinement. The temporary con-
finement our Courts of Justice metes out to the minor offend-
ers against our earthly society corresponds to the temporary 
confinement in Purgatory God metes out to those guilty of 
minor offenses against Him." 

"A very good analogy," complimented Bob. "So you see, 
Mark, justice demands that there be a place of purgation in 
between heaven and hell. We would have to conclude that 
such a place existed even if there was no specific reference to 
it in the Bible. For justice is justice, whether in this life or in 
the next life." 

Mark took a package of peppermints from the glove com-
partment, offered one to Bob who declined, then put one in 
his own mouth. "Now that I see the doctrine of Purgatory in 
its proper perspective it does seem necessary that such a place 
should exist," he said. "For some reason or another I never 
looked at it that way. Like most Protestants I have simply 
tossed it off as another example of arbitrariness on the part 
of Catholic theologians, a sort of superstitious holdover from 
the Middle Ages. Obviously I have been wrong. 

IT 2 9 ] 



"Now how about auricular confession to the priest—explain 
that for me," Mark said. 

"Auricular confession, called the Sacrament of Penance in 
the Catholic Church, is one of the most obvious teachings of 
the Bible, Mark," Bob said. "In the Bible Christ said to the 
Apostles in the plainest possible language: 'Receive ye the 
Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven 
them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.' John 
20:22-23. T o Peter whom He described as the 'rock' upon 
which he planned to build His Church Christ said: 'Whatever 
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what-
ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' Mat-
thew 16:19. 

"In view of these clear cut statements no one who believes 
in the Bible can really deny that Christ gave to His Apostles 
the power to forgive sins. Nor is that the real controversy. The 
controversy apparently revolves around the disposition of this 
grant of power after the Apostles were gone. Did Christ mean 
that the power to forgive sins was to be exercised by the Apos-
tles alone? or were their successors in the Church to have it 
also? Those are the questions we will want answered in order 
to validate, or invalidate, the Sacrament of Penance. 

"However we need not look far for the answer—no far-
ther than the same Bible. There Christ himself supplies the 
answer and does it so articulately there can be little room left 
for doubt. After His Resurrection Christ gathered the Apostles 
together and in the most unequivocal tone of voice told them 
that their mission was to "teach all nations whatsoever I have 
commanded you.' Then He told them not to worry about the 
obstacles that would confront them in the execution of their 

C 3 0 H 



mission because H e would be with them 'all days, even unto 
the consummation of the world! Matthew 28:19-20. 

"Does that sound like a temporary arrangement to you? 
Does that sound as if Christ was addressing a small group of 
men who would soon be gone from the world taking their 
ministerial authority to the grave with them? No! Obviously 
H e was addressing not one generation of humans but the 
human nucleus of His indestructible Church; because it 
would be impossible for the Apostles alone to teach 'all na-
tions' and the Apostles would not be around 'until the con-
summation of the world.' Obviously the directive to teach 
'whatsoever I have commanded you' did not allow for any 
exceptions." 

"I see what you mean," Mark said: "If the Church did not 
inherit the authority to hear confessions and forgive sins from 
the Apostles then there is no reason to believe the Church in-
herited any other authority—authority to baptize, confirm, or-
dain, etc.—because Christ delivered all authority to be exer-
cised by the Christian ministry to the Aposdes. If the Sacra-
ment of Penance died with the Apostles then so must have 
every other Sacrament." 

"Yes, I am sure those who repudiate the Sacrament do not 
realize it but that is what their Biblical interpretation implies. 
Fortunately for those who might be confused by the two con-
flicting interpretations, however, there is abundant evidence 
outside of the Bible by which the validity of the Sacrament can 
be established—tradition. It is an historical fact that primitive 
Christianity accepted it as part of the Christian deposit of 
faith, an historical fact that for sixteen hundred years all of 
Christianity accepted it as part of the Christian deposit of faith 
and a fact visible to all the world today that four fifths of 

C 3 1 ] 



Christianity—Catholic, Coptic, Greek Orthodox and Russian 
Orthodox—still accepts it as part of the Christian deposit of 
faith. Surely the testimony of tradition alone should remove 
any skepticism." 

Mark wore a puzzled expression. "It does seem rather 
strange that no one repudiated the Sacrament of Penance until 
comparatively recent times," he reflected. "But you know why 
Protestantism objects to it: Protestant theologians maintain 
that priests are trespassing upon the special province of Christ 
when they presume to forgive sins, that the Sacrament of 
Penance is in direct conflict with that passage in the Bible 
which states that Christ is the sole Mediator between God and 
man. I must confess that has been my objection too. I find 
it extremely difficult to believe that a priest, a human being 
like you and me, can make decisions for God." 

"Yes, I am familiar with that argument," Bob replied, "but 
Protestant theology fails to take two things into account: it 
fails to appreciate that the true Christian Church—as I ex-
plained earlier—in a very real sense is Christ. Colossians 1:18 
makes that abundantly clear. It fails to grasp that the Church 
is not merely the living representative of Christ but the living 
body of Christ on earth, that when confessions are made to the 
Church they are not made to a strictly human body but to 
the Body of Christ, the sole Mediator. 

"Secondly, Protestants fail to understand that priests them-
selves do not by any power of their own forgive sins—it is 
by the power of God that sins are forgiven—it is God who 
does the actual forgiving. The priest, God's minister, merely 
serves as God's audible voice in the matter; he counsels in the 
Name of God and pronounces the words, called Absolution, 
which lets it be known to the one who has confessed that his 
sins have been forgiven." 

IT 3 2 ] 



Mark was not convinced. "But suppose the person making 
the confession is not truly sorry for his sins and has no inten-
tion of mending his ways; and suppose the priest, who, after 
all, is not a mind reader, fails to discern this and pronounces 
the words of Absolution; are that person's sins forgiven? 
Would the priest's voice then be the voice of God?" 

Mark was laying it right on the line. This was the con-
tingency that had always ruled out the reasonableness of au-
ricular confession so far as he was concerned therefore he anx-
iously awaited Bob's answer. It would have to be good, he 
thought to himself, otherwise no amount of Scripture quoting 
and fancy deductions would sell him. 

If Bob was disturbed by the question he did not show it. 
"In a case such as you mention, where there is not true sorrow 
and a genuine purpose of amendment, the Sacrament is ren-
dered null and void and the one making the 'confession' is 
charged in conscience with a terrible new sin: the sin of sac-
rilege. Thus the words of Absolution have no affect other than 
to further incriminate the sinner. God will not be made a 
dupe. Catholics realize this, they realize the utter futility of a 
mock confession, so you can bet your bottom dollar that it 
seldom if ever happens. 

"Sure, Catholics are apt to fall into sin after confession. 
Catholics are human with the same human weaknesses, the 
same free will, as other people. The Church does not claim 
that the Sacrament of Penance immunizes a person to sin. 
The purpose of the Sacrament simply is to clean the soul by 
gaining God's forgiveness for sins previously committed, there-
by making room for an increase of God's grace which, in turn, 
gives a person a much greater resistance to future occasions of 
sin. And this, my friend, is not mere conjecture. It is a proven 

L*33 3 



fact that the best Catholics, those who sin the least, are the 
ones who receive the Sacrament of Penance most frequently." 

"Well I'll be darned!" Mark exclaimed in amazement. 
"Here I have been entertaining the notion that priests were 
interfering where they had no business, that Catholics were 
not communicating with God in the confessional but with 
the priest, and it turns out that just the opposite is true. Be-
lieve me, from now on I am going to investigate before jump-
ing to conclusions, and I mean investigate where I can have 
confidence in the accuracy of my information. No more hear-
say evidence for me!" 

Bob laughed sympathetically. "No need to feel embar-
rassed, Mark. I was taken in by the subtle arguments of the 
Church's critics for many years too. And countless others, some 
of them highly educated people, have let themselves be taken 
in. People, it seems, are just too apt to forget that there are 
two sides to every argument. 

"But to get on with the discussion: you wanted Papal In-
fallibility explained for you; you want to know why Catholics 
regard the Pope as legal head of the Christian Church, the 
supreme authority in matters relating to faith and morals. 

"First let me straighten you out on what Papal Infallibility 
really means: It does not mean that the Pope personally is 
outside of the pall and consequences of sin. H e must give an 
accounting of himself on the day of judgment the same as 
everyone else. Nor does it mean that he is completely immune 
to error of judgment. He is possessed of a finite intelligence 
the same as all humans. You may have heard that it means 
the Pope is absolutely above all reproach but that is not the 
case at all. He is usually a man of outstanding intelligence and 
piety—he is chosen for these qualities—and he is, therefore 

C 3 4 ] 



highly esteemed by all the Church, but Papal infallibility has 
an altogether different connotation. 

"What Papal Infallibility really means is: the Pope is pro-
tected from error by the Holy Spirit of God on those specific 
occasions when it becomes necessary for him, as supreme pas-
tor of the Church, to define an article of faith about which 
there is some question, and when he declares whether or not 
that article of faith has been divinely revealed. Mind you, he 
does not formulate anything new; he merely eliminates all 
doubt concerning an existing Christian belief; then if the be-
lief thus defined is deemed essential to Christian orthodoxy 
the Pope binds it upon all the faithful—he proclaims it a 
dogma of the Church." 

"In other words," put in Mark, "the Pope acts as a sort of 
theological Supreme Court; he interprets God's Laws for the 
Church in much the same manner our Supreme Court in 
Washington interprets the nation's laws whenever a dispute 
arises." 

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but the Pope does not arrive 
at his decisions wholly independent of the rest of the Church. 
Before he makes an ex cathedra pronouncement, as it is called, 
he enters into lengthy consultation with the Church's foremost 
theologians—sometimes these consultations last for years—and 
he polls the opinion of the world wide bishopric. But while 
these contacts exert a great influence on the Pope he is not 
bound by them—it is he who makes the final decision." 

Mark helped himself to another peppermint. "How do you 
\now the Holy Spirit of God protects the Pope from error 
when he makes an ex cathedra pronouncement?" he inquired 
dubiously. 

"Because Christ guaranteed it and because reason demands 
[ 3 5 : 



it," Bob replied. "In John 15:26 Christ stated very emphatically 
that after His Ascension into heaven H e would send to His 
Church 'another Advocate, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds 
from the Father' to guide and protect it all days. H e re-
peated this promise again in John 16:7-15 lest there be any 
doubt. Being the supreme pastor of the Church and therefore 
chiefly responsible for the safekeeping of the Sacred Truths 
the Pope would naturally be singled out by the Holy Advocate 
for special protection. 

"Reason demands it because the Church of God would not 
be the Church of God if it was subject to doctrinal error. God 
would not give us a Church for the purpose of teaching His 
truths, truths upon which the salvation of our souls depended, 
if that Church was liable to teach errors that would have the 
opposite effect of depriving us of our salvation. There would 
have to be some assurance, some guarantee, that in the vital 
matters of faith His Church would be absolutely infallible. If 
there was not this assurance we could not know with any 
degree of certainty whether in church we were hearing the 
Word of God or the word of Satan; we could not look with 
any degree of confidence to the Church for direction in the 
way of salvation—there would always be the feeling that the 
Church might possibly be wrong." 

"Aren't you forgetting that we have the Bible?" countered 
Mark. "I would be inclined to believe that the Bible, not any 
human leader of Christianity, is the infallible teaching au-
thority God gave us; that H e sends the Holy Spirit of Truth 
not to any one group or individual but to all who read the 
Bible and strive to abide by its teachings." 

Bob glanced affectionately at his friend. "No, Mark, I am 
not forgetting that Christianity has the Bible. But I am also 

[ 3 6 H 



not forgetting that for four centuries there was no Christian 
Bible; that it was the Catholic Church, by direction of the 
Pope, which collected the writings of the Apostles and their 
disciples and decreed, at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, 
which of them were divinely inspired and therefore worthy to 
be included in the Canon of New Testament Scripture; that 
it was the scribes of the Catholic monasteries, also by direction 
of the Pope, who produced all of the Bibles until the fifteenth 
century when the printing press was invented; that for six-
teen hundred years, until the advent of Protestantism, all of 
Christianity accepted the Catholic Church's interpretation of 
the Bible. These, Mark, are facts which can be found in any 
authoritative, unabridged history of Christianity. 

"Now I ask you, which authority has precedence over the 
other: the human authority of the Church which was consti-
tuted by Christ, or the Bible which was constituted by the 
human authority of the Church? If the Bible, according to 
the Protestant theory, is the supreme and only divinely au-
thorized teacher of Christian truth, how did the Christians of 
the crucial first four centuries come by their faith? Did God 
whisper it in their ears? Or is it possible that Christ gave 
supreme authority to the human leaders of the Church for 
the first four centuries then transferred it over to the Bible? 
And if the Bible did become the only divinely authorized 
teacher of Christian truth from the fourth century on wasn't 
it rather derelict of God to hold up its availability to the masses 
by waiting until the fifteenth century to inspire someone to 
invent the printing press?" 

"I must admit you have a point there," Mark said thought-
fully. 

"I would say a very good point, especially when the opinion 
L 3 7 ] 



of the Bible itself is taken into consideration: nowhere in the 
New Testament, to which we must look for Scripture evidence 
of Christ's teachings, are the faithful told that the Bible is the 
supreme and infallible Christian teaching authority. In fact 
the New Testament is not even mentioned in the New Testa-
ment. All references to the 'Scriptures' in the New Testament 
have to do with the Old Testament, which is understandable 
because the authors of the New Testament books were long 
dead before their writings were regarded as Sacred Scripture. 

"On the other hand, observe that the New Testament, the 
Gospel of Christ, does say that the Church is the supreme 
arbiter of the faith, and says so most emphatically. In Matthew 
18:17 Our Lord tells his followers in no uncertain terms that 
'he who refuses to hear the Church let him be to thee as the 
heathen and the publican.' In 1 Timothy 3:15 the Apostle Paul 
states very categorically that 'the Church is the pillar and 
mainstay of truth.' And lest anyone get the mistaken idea 
that supreme teaching authority was not vested in the human 
leaders of the Church, Paul declared: 'Let everyone be subject 
to the higher authorities . . . those who exist have been ap-
pointed by God . . . he who resists the authority resists the 
ordinance of God and brings upon himself condemnation . . . 
for they are the ministers of God.' Romans 13:1-6. Again in 
1 Thessalonians 5:12 Paul says the same thing. 

"Secondly, there is the evidence of Protestantism itself. 
Ironically those who believe that the Bible and not the Church 
is the supreme and infallible teacher of Christian truth are, by 
their own example, the most eloquent witnesses to the falsity 
of such a belief. For, as you yourself have already admitted, 
there exists within Protestantism several hundred conflicting 
interpretations of divine truth—hardly the work of an infal-

C 3 8 I ] 



lible teacher. If the Bible was the infallible teacher Protestant-
ism says it is, if the Spirit of God really safeguards all those 
who read the Bible from error, there would not be even two 
conflicting interpretations, much less several hundred." 

A strong resentment welled up inside Mark. That business 
about Protestantism being a testimony against itself was a 
bitter pill to swallow. But then what, Mark asked himself, 
could he say in rebuttal? There was no denying that Protes-
tantism subscribed to a wide variation of Biblical interpreta-
tions, some of them as diametrically opposed to the others as 
darkness and light. There are the Baptists, for example, who 
believe that Baptism is not necessary for salvation while the 
Lutherans steadfastly maintain that it is necessary for salva-
tion. 

These deliberations within himself soon calmed Mark's 
resentment. "There is food for thought in what you say," he 
demurred. "I cannot bring myself to agree with you whole-
heartedly right at the moment—one does not on the spur of 
the moment shake off the prejudice of a lifetime—but, in the 
face of the evidence you have presented, neither can I bring 
myself to disagree with you. I will have to mull over it some 
before forming a definite opinion. 

"This much I will say, however," Mark continued, "con-
trary to what I have been led to believe, the doctrine of Papal 
Infallibility definitely is not based on presumption. You have 
made it clear that there is an abundance of supporting evi-
dence for it in the Bible—and in logic too. Several of the im-
plications contained in the doctrine may be a little difficult to 
grasp at first—none of us like the idea of bowing to a human 
authority, whether religious or secular—but it is easy to see 

n 3 9 n 



why the Catholic Church regards it as a valid Christian doc-
trine." 

Bob felt that he should elaborate on Mark's statement: 
"The Catholic Church ought to know what is and what is not 
valid Christian doctrine, Mark," he said; "after all she has 
two thousand years of theological experience behind her. If 
experience means anything at all, and in every other walk of 
life it means everything, then we should have confidence in 
her judgment, the Presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church 
notwithstanding." 

Mark could not suppress a hearty laugh. "Boy if you don't 
sound like a one man Chamber of Commerce for the Catholic 
Church . . ." 

Bob, who appreciated a good pun, smiled broadly. "Well, 
you asked for it," he retorted, "you wanted to know what 
makes Catholics so sure of themselves and I am giving it to 
you straight. If I seem to go overboard at times it is only be-
cause I don't want to leave out any pertinent information." 

"I understand," Mark said talking in a serious vein once 
more. "All kidding aside, Bob, I am grateful for the informa-
tion. Already you have removed from my mind many false 
impressions of the Catholic Church so that I am beginning to 
comprehend why so many people want to become Catholics. 
Go on with your analysis—I promise not to poke any more 
fun." 

Bob did not mind the fun. In his opinion a little joviality 
was a big help in assuaging sensitive feelings. But a glance 
at his watch told him that he had best proceed if he was to 
finish before they reached Uncle Nils' farm. They had time, 
he decided, for one more topic. 

"Another aspect of the Catholic religion which contributes 

IT 4 0 ] 



much to its universal appeal, Mark, is the incomparable beauty 
of its worship. And I don't mean external beauty, although 
the externals of Catholic worship are indeed very beautiful. 
Anyone with an appreciation of aesthetics cannot help but be 
stirred by the color and artistry of the church appointments, 
the profoundly expressive liturgical music and the regality and 
solemnity of the ceremonies. In fact, so strikingly beautiful are 
the externals they attract many people to Catholic services who 
don't have the least idea of what is actually going on but who 
come simply because, as one non Catholic explained: 'it is a 
grand spectacle.' 

"I have always regarded the fancy ornamentation and ritual 
of Catholic worship as a holdover from ancient Pagan wor-
ship," interjected Mark. "In other words, beautiful but un-
christian." 

Bob did not reply directly to Mark's comment but con-
tinued with his train of thought. "As beautiful as the externals 
are, however, they do not constitute the true and intrinsic 
beauty of Catholic worship; they are only the accidents, a re-
flection, so to speak, of a far greater beauty: the spirit of the 
worship. During the course of their worship Catholics are not 
conscious at all of the externals, the man made symbols, but 
have their hearts and minds centered on the heavenly things 
they symbolize: on God, His Majesty, His Love and His 
Mercy, on what they as His creatures and subjects owe Him 
in the way of love and adoration. The spirituality of Catholic 
worship, that is what is truly beautiful." 

"But why such expensive 'accidents' as you call them?" de-
manded Mark. "Would not all that money be better spent on 
the poor? After all, religion pure and undefiled before God i§ 



giving aid to the poor and suffering—that is what the Bible 
says." 

"A good question, Mark, but I would like to pose another 
question: Does one give a diamond to a loved one wrapped 
in burlap? or hold a reception for a king in a barn? Of course 
not if they are able to do better. Neither do Catholics consider 
it fitting that the precious gift of their worship should be of-
fered to God in crude, mundane fashion, or that the King of 
Kings should be invited to a church which does not reflect in 
all its furnishings the love and devotion of His subjects. Cath-
olics feel, and justifiably so, that if these things were missing 
their sincerity would not be up to God's expectations. 

"And let me ask another question: What Church gives 
more aid to the poor and suffering than the Catholic Church? 
It is a matter of record that the Catholic Church supports more 
orphanages, homes for the aged, hospitals, dispensaries, lepro-
sariums and sends more food, clothing and medical supplies 
to disaster areas than all other religious bodies combined. 
Check with the International Red Cross and find out for your-
self if this is not true. 

"So you see, the Catholic Church is not putting on a show 
at the expense of the poor. This show, if you want to call it 
that, is put on for one purpose only: to give glory to God, and 
surely you would not consider that a waste. Did Our Lord 
consider it a waste when the penitent woman bathed His head 
with precious oils? No! H e praised the woman very highly 
for honoring Him thus and rebuked the Apostles very sharply 
when they suggested that the oil should have been sold and 
the money given to the poor. Matthew 26:6-11." 

"It begins to make sense to me now," Mark said. "I can 
see now that the beautiful embellishments involved in Catholic 

IT 4 2 ] 



worship is not extravagance but a sign of respect for God, a 
physical expression of a spiritual sentiment." 

"That is correct. Catholics believe, and I am sure you will 
concur, that man is not a disembodied spirit, but a creature 
composed of both body and spirit-, therefore if man is to wor-
ship God with his whole being there must be both a physical 
and a spiritual expression of worship." 

Mark pondered for a moment, then said: "Yes, I must con-
cur with that; it is only too obvious that man is composed of 
both body and spirit." Then something else occurred to him. 
"Come to think of it, Bob, the Jews of the Old Testament 
had a very elaborate ritual and embellished their temple with 
religious finery. One could hardly say their form of worship 
was contrary to God's Will." 

"Since God prescribed the ritual and finery for the Jews, 
going over it point by point with Moses, their form of wor-
ship very definitely was His will; more than that, it was His 
commandment. 

"Also of significance to Christians," continued Bob, "is the 
fact that Christ attended the Jewish services regularly before 
manifesting His Messiahship; and the fact that the Apostles, 
while they dispensed with the profane elements (animal offer-
ings) of the Old Covenant worship, replacing them with the 
Pure Oblation of the New Covenant, continued to worship 
according to the outward form of the old Jewish ritual after 
Christ's death. The Apostles, as we note in the Bible, called 
the Christian version 'the breaking of bread' after the cere-
mony performed by Christ at the Last Supper. 

"In fact all of Christianity worshipped in the ritualistic 
manner prescribed by God in the Old Testament until the 
advent of Protestantism and four fifths of Christianity still 

C 4 3 H 



worships in this manner. It has been made more beautiful, 
thanks to the Catholic Church, and the title, the Breaking of 
Bread, has long since been changed to the Mass, but the form 
and the essential elements inserted into the worship by Christ 
remain identically the same." 

Mark had taken the thermos botde from the glove com-
partment and was pouring the last of the coffee into two paper 
cups for Bob and himself. While he did this a question kept 
building up in his mind. 

"What do you mean when you say the essential elements of 
traditional Christian worship has remained the same?" Bob 
asked. "What are the essential elements?" 

Bob took a quick swallow of coffee. "Briefly, the essential 
elements are (1) that which is accomplished by the ritual and 
(2) the instruments that must be employed in order to accom-
plish it. Before you can fully understand what is meant by 
that, however, it will be necessary for you to know more about 
the origin of traditional Christian worship: 

"Recall to your mind the Last Supper. This may come as a 
surprise to you, Mark, but the Last Supper was the first Mass. 
The Mass is a repetition in our own times of that great and 
momentuous Biblical event. At the Canon of the Mass the priest 
momentarily assumes the role of Christ, takes first bread and 
then wine into his hands, pronounces over them the words, 
'this is my body . . . this is my blood," just as Christ did, 
thereby changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood 
of Christ just as H e did; then, still following the example of 
Christ, the priest offers up the Sacred Species to God the Father 
for the remission of the world's sins. It is an exact duplication 
of what took place at the Last Supper except that today's faith-
ful are in attendance instead of the Apostles." 

IT 4 4 ] 



Mark wore an expression of sheer amazement. "Do you 
mean that all those motions and prayers in Latin at the altar 
is a duplication of the Last Supper? I went with a friend to 
Mass once long ago and thought it very beautiful but I'll be 
darned if I could see any resemblance to the Last Supper!" 

Bob smiled understandingly. "Well, you would have seen 
the resemblance if you had paid close attention," he said. "If 
you had not allowed yourself to become distracted by the in-
cidentals—the ringing of the chimes, the prayers of the congre-
gation, et cetera—you would have seen the priest take a wafer 
of bread and a chalice of wine, solemnly make the Sign of the 
Cross over them, then lift them up toward heaven. It is really 
the most conspicuous gesture the priest makes at the altar, be-
cause, after all, it is the high point of the whole Mass Ritual." 

"I must confess my eyes and mind wandered around quite 
a bit," reminisced Mark. "Next time, thanks to you, I will 
know what to look for. It should be very interesting." 

Bob drank the last of his coffee then threw the empty 
container out of the car. "Interesting perhaps but unless you 
are conscious of one other thing you still will not be able to 
grasp the full Christian significance of the Mass. The Last 
Supper, you recall, was not just a farewell banquet, and Christ 
did not perform the miracle of changing bread and wine into 
His Body and Blood just to provide entertainment. The Last 
Supper was a prefigurement of the Offering He was soon to 
make of His Flesh and Blood on the Cross in order to secure 
the Salvation of mankind. Protestant as well as Catholic theo-
logians understand that. Hence the Mass is not only a repeti-
tion of the Last Supper it is, in the truer sense, a reenactment, 
in an unbloody manner, of the great drama of Calvary. 

"Think of it, Mark! The Epic of Epics occurring again and 
IT 4 5 ] 



again right on the altars of the Catholic Church! And no 
mimicry either, no mock Calvary, but the real thing with 
Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine, truly, physi-
cally present. Again and again in the Mass Christ, God Incar-
nate, pays a personal call on the faithful, letting them share 
in the Act that redeemed the world, giving Himself to them, 
Body, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion. It is really a 
tremendous, soul stirring thing, the magnitude and eternal 
implications of which mere words cannot even begin to ex-
press." 

Mark thought it over, then said: "Yes, I can see the connec-
tion between the Mass and Christ's Sacrifice on Calvary, al-
right. That must be why it is sometimes called the Holy Sac-
rifice of the Mass. And I agree, it must be very edifying. 

"But that part about Christ being actually, physically pres-
ent," continued Mark, "I find that hard to believe. Tell me, 
Bob, how can you be sure, absolutely sure, the bread and wine 
is changed on the altar into the actual Flesh and Blood of 
Christ? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to regard Christ's 
presence in the bread and wine as a symbolical one, or more 
reasonable yet, as a spiritual one?" It was Mark the scientist 
speaking now. 

Bob paused momentarily to arrange in his mind the evi-
dence he was about to present to the dubious Mark, then said: 
"Catholics are as sure of the Real Presence of Christ in the con-
secrated bread and wine, Mark, as they are sure of the truth 
of Christianity itself. I will tell you why: 

"First there is the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures: In 
John 6:52 Christ himself prophesied that He would give him-
self to the world under the appearance of bread, saying: 'The 
bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.' 

C 4 6 ] 



Then lest anyone misinterpret His words to mean simply the 
Sacrifice of His Body on the Cross, or bread in which He 
would be present symbolically or spiritually, H e added: 'Amen, 
amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, 
and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you . . . for my 
flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.' John 
6:54-56. Obviously there is no connection between giving him-
self on the Cross and giving himself as eat and drin\\ obvi-
ously one does not receive life from eating a symbol; and 
obviously one does not eat or drin\ a spiritual presence. 

"That was the Real Presence prophesied. Now for the ful-
fillment of the prophecy—the miracle at the Last Supper: Ob-
serve that at the Last Supper Christ did not say of the bread 
and wine: 'this is a symbol of my body and blood.' In the 
plainest possible language H e said of the bread and wine: 
'This is my body . . . this is my blood.' And in the plainest 
possible language H e said to the Apostles: 'Do this in com-
memoration of me.' Luke 22:19-20. 

"How about the Apostles, did they believe that the bread 
and wine, duly consecrated, is changed into the Flesh and 
Blood of Christ? Very definitely. In 1 Corinthians 11:29 the 
Apostle Paul declared: 'He who eats the bread and drinks the 
wine unworthily, without distinguishing the body of the Lord, 
eats and drinks condemnation to himself.' 

"And how about the Church Fathers, those venerable lead-
ers of the Christian Church who succeeded the Apostles, did 
they believe in the miraculous change? Very definitely. Igna-
tius, disciple of the Apostle John, wrote in the second century 
concerning the heretics of the period: 'They have abstained 
from the Eucharist and prayer, because they do not confess 
that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.' The 

IT 4 7 ] 



Eucharist, incidentally, is still the common designation for the 
consecrated bread and wine. Justin Martyr, another illustrious 
Church Father of the second century had this to say: 'This 
food is known among us as the Eucharist . . . We do not re-
ceive these things as common bread and common drink; but 
as Jesus Christ our Savior, being made flesh by the Word of 
God.' Similar statements by the leaders of the primitive 
Church could be multiplied almost without end. 

"Finally, what is the opinion of the other Christian denomi-
nations which can trace their histories back a goodly number 
of centuries—the Coptic Church of Egypt and the Greek-
Russian Orthodox? Observe that each one of them believe un-
qualifiedly in. the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucha-
rist of the Mass, and always have. Their Mass, except for a 
few liturgical differences, is identically the same as the Mass 
of the Catholic Church. 

"Significantly, only Protestantism, a comparative late comer 
on the Christian scene, has seen fit to throw out the Mass and 
with it the Real Presence. 

"So there you have it, Mark—either the Catholic Church 
is right in believing that Christ actually takes up His abode 
on her altars or the Bible is wrong and with it all of Chris-
tianity for sixteen hundred years. Think it over and let your 
conscience settle the question in your mind once and for all." 

Mark's eyes had been closed, the better to concentrate on 
what Bob was saying. He opened them now and with the de-
cisiveness of one who has swept aside the last vestige of doubt 
and suspicion said: "I'm convinced! The testimony of the 
Bible notwithstanding, I cannot bring myself to believe that 
God would allow all of Christianity to be wrong on such a 
vital precept of faith for so long a time." 

L * 4 8 3 



After another moment of meditation Mark continued: "No 
wonder there is so much solemnity in the Mass! N o wonder 
you Catholics flock to Mass come hell or high water! I would 
too if I realized that I would be meeting Jesus face to face. 
Sure we Protestants hear some wonderful and inspiring ser-
mons in our churches, sing some beautiful hymns in praise of 
God and are led by the minister in some very moving prayers, 
and undoubtedly God appreciates our devotion; but there still 
is not that penetrating aura of holiness, that intimate personal 
contact with Christ, you speak of—there is not the realization 
among Protestants there is among Catholics that their form of 
worship was prescribed by God." 

"Those were my sentiments when I first learned about the 
Mass too," Bob said. 

There was a pause during which both reflected on what 
had been discussed, then Bob volunteered to break the silence. 

"Well, I guess that just about covers it, Mark," he said. 
"There are other advantages to being a Catholic; for example, 
the Church's policy of aiding and abetting science—her uni-
versities are world renowned in that field of studies. Then 
there are the Church's progressive and humanitarian social 
policies—she is always in the front lines of the battle to pre-
serve and further the rights of the so-called little man. But no 
need to elaborate on these. I think that by now you have a 
pretty fair idea where the Catholic Church derives her strength 
and vitality, why she commands so much loyalty from her 
members." 

Mark brushed his hair back with his fingers and breathed 
a sigh of satisfaction. "Yes, it is quite a religion," he averred. 
"And I take my hat off to you, Bob—to think that you had 
the courage to set aside past prejudices in favor of a thorough, 

C 4 9 J 



objective study of the facts; then once you were convinced of 
the truth of Catholicism to have the courage to embrace it. It 
isi not easy to switch religions, especially from Protestantism 
to Catholicism. So often it means losing friends, being prac-
tically disowned by your own family, having to quit old hang-
outs. It would be a tough decision to make." 

"Granted, it does take a certain amount of courage," agreed 
Bob, "but then so does going to the dentist, so does a lot of 
things we know must be done for our own good. The relief 
that results from it, though, is worth every bit of the pain 
suffered during the operation. 

"But it really was not such a difficult move for me to make. 
I found that very few of my friends begrudged me my new 
found religious convictions. The great majority of my former 
friends are still my friends. Those few who did ridicule my 
action and choose to leave my company I considered poor 
friends to have anyway; because if there is anything I expect 
of a friend it is that he respect my conscience the same as I 
respect his. After all, a man's conscience is the voice of his soul, 
it is God speaking out of the soul telling us what we must or 
must not do under certain circumstances; so what right has 
some earthly bloke to interfere? If we let some would-be 
friend interfere and persuade us to go counter to the dictates 
of our conscience, what would God think ? 

"As for the members of my family, none of them much 
liked the idea of my becoming a Catholic. They were not 
bigoted against the Catholic Church but after hearing so many 
unsavory rumors they were terribly suspicious. But their dis-
approval did not last for long. After I explained why I did it, 
in much the same manner I have explained the advantages of 
Catholicism to you, they thought that maybe it wasn't such a 

II 5 0 ] 



bad idea after all. In fact one of them has since followed me 
into the Church and I have reason to believe the others will 
in time, too." 

Mark thought of his own family. They would undoubtedly 
take a dim view of him becoming a Catholic; but like Bob's 
family they would soon become reconciled to it; being intelli-
gent people they would realize that he must live his own life. 

Bob pointed to a prosperous looking farm some distance 
ahead and well off the highway. "That is Uncle Nils' place 
over there," he said. "It did not take as long to get here as I 
thought it would." 

Mark appraised the farm then glanced down at his watch. 
They had taken longer to get there than Bob had predicted. 
That just goes to show you, he philosophized to himself, how 
relatively unimportant time can sometimes be. 

Soon they were off the main highway and heading down 
a narrow dirt road toward the farm. They could see Aunt Julia 
waiting for them in the doorway. 

"By the way, Bob," Mark said just before they pulled into 
the yard, "thanks a lot for the information on the Catholic 
Church. You cleared away a heap of misconception and ap-
prehension. Don't be surprised if you see me in the Catholic 
Church someday too." 

Bob threw his friend an affectionate glance. "I enjoyed our 
little religious tete a tete as much as you did, Mark," he re-
plied. "And as for being surprised at your joining the Church, 
knowing how you like the better things of life I will be sur-
prised if you don't." 

They both laughed and soon were thinking about other 
things, like ice fishing and delicious fried chicken. 

The End 

H 





For a more comprehensive study of Catholicism 
the following books are recommended: 

F A T H E R SMITH INSTRUCTS JACKSON—Noll. $1.00 
Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, Indiana. 

F A I T H O F MILLIONS—O'Brien. $1.25 
Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, Indiana. 

I BELIEVE—Hurley. 50 cents 
Paulist Press, 401 W. 59th St., New York 19, N . Y. 

CATHOLICISM—CHRIST'S T R U E FAITH—Short. 35c 
Bellarmine Publishing Co., Mound, Minn. 

The books listed above may be purchased at any Catholic 
book store or by ordering direct from the publisher. 

For information on how to become a Catholic see a priest. 
You will find him most friendly, understanding and help-
ful, and you will be under no obligation. 



I • 

I 



H O W I CAME T O BE A CATHOLIC 

B Y P A U L W H I T C O M B 

I WAS BORN A N D RAISED in an atmosphere of agnos-
tic intellectualism. My father was a neuropathic physician and 
a disciple of Sigmund Freud and my mother a disciple of 
my father. My own favorite dish as a youth was Voltaire and 
Schopenhauer. So that by the time I had reached maturity I 
was quite thoroughly baptized in the psuedo religion of Hu-
manism. I was a member of the fashionable modern set. 

Always of a speculative turn of mind, however, with strong 
leanings toward the more challenging fields of dialectics, I 
eventually took up the study of metaphysics—again strictly 
out of academic curiosity. This study intrigued me, indeed 
captivated me, in a way no other had before. Here, I discov-
ered, was the Science of Sciences, the root measure, insofar 
as man's mind was capable of measuring it, of the law of 
Creation. Not only did it stir my imagination but it snapped 
the sophistication right out of my conscience. The existence 
of God could be proved, mathematically proved. That thrill-
ing thought kept turning over and over in my mind. 

Toppled at last from the vainglorious perch of agnosticism 
I immediately set about making another intellectual ascent, 
this time up the great imposing structure of Christian theol-
ogy. I procured a Bible and spent every free moment absorbed 
in its sacred contents. I had established the existence of God 
in my mind, now I must know something of the nature, the 
personality, of God. The Bible, I figured, would give me the 
clue. 

Much of what I read in the Bible was vague—I was not, 

L*55 3 



after all, familiar with the customs and language idioms of 
the ancient Jews and Greeks—but I could grasp the central 
theme, to-wit: God, in addition to being Omnipotent and All 
Intelligent, is the Essence of love, justice and mercy; and 
Jesus Christ was God personified, come into the world not 
only to make vicarious atonement for the sin of Adam and 
Eve but to reassert His Sovereignty, to elaborate on His Laws 
and to illuminate with an even greater light the pathway to 
heavenly immortality; and the torchbearer of this light was 
to be His Church founded on the Apostles, endowed with His 
authority, imbued with His Holy Spirit and guaranteed di-
vine protection all days until the final judgment. 

Here, I concluded, was the divine plan of redemption, 
life's real purpose, brought into clear and beautiful focus, and 
by the Author of the plan, God himself—here was man's 
only real hope. Only one thing was missing from my conclu-
sion to mar its lucidity: God's Church—where midst the vast 
galaxy of the world's churches was His true Church to be 
found? "Seek and ye shall find . . . knock and it will be 
opened unto you," Christ said. So I embarked upon the great 
search—I undertook an extensive study of comparative re-
ligions, concentrating naturally on the Christian religions— 
and after three years, and by the grace of God, I found the 
object of my search. 

With painstaking impartiality I held every Christian de-
nomination up to the light of Scripture, history and reason, 
checking and double checking lest I overlook some vital piece 
of evidence, and finished up with one name superimposed in 
great bold letters on my conscience—Catholic. On every 
ground I found the claims of the Catholic religion valid and 
altogether irresistible. I embraced it. It convinces my intellect, 

[ 5 6 1 1 



solaces my heart, gratifies my conscience and fills my soul with 
a peace such as I had never before dreamed possible. 

Now that I am in the Catholic Church I have a much 
clearer vision of its true image. I see in all its vitals the 
image of Christ. In the reception of its Sacraments I feel His 
comforting hand; in its pronouncements I hear His authorita-
tive, cogent voice; in its manifold world wide charities I see 
His love and compassion; in the way it is harassed and vilified 
I see His agony and humility; in its worship I feel His Spirit 
girding my soul. 

This compels my obedience. All else is shifting sand. 

[ 5 7 1 1 









I